FOURTEEN

"How did it go?"

Gina Schumacher spoke with a soft smile upon her face as her best friend returned to their shared apartment, her body full with anticipation as to how their dinner had gone.

"He spent most of the night staring right at me."

Lennox Knight muttered as she stepped against her best friends body for a hug, finding that she had needed one after being out in public where there were a lot of people.

She could talk to Mick for hours and hours, but with all the servers approaching to ask about the food, plus the chef questioning them about their dinner, it was just a lot for her handle.

It always would be.

She had made progress in being in places where Gina and Mick were regularly, and she had started to become more sociable with other formula one drivers, but it was never going to go away because it was part of her.

It was part of her, and it wasn't going anywhere.

It had been a few months since she had used Kevin as a model for sports jackets and had created some for other drivers, so now thanks to both Kevin and Mick, every single driver on the grid had a personalised sport jacket that was made by her.

She had been given a lot more work at her studio because of it. Her designs were appearing on runways and magazine covers, she had multiplied her income by nearly three hundred percent due to the success of her jackets, and it blew her mind completely.

She had been able to buy the house that her father had lived in and rented for the past twenty five years, and whilst she always felt the guilt of distancing herself from him, she did feel a little bit better knowing that her father didn't have to work as hard in order to pay the bills.

Maybe he would enjoy early retirement and be less lonely.

"Well, that's good! It means that he can't take his eyes off you because you're so beautiful." Gina released a small gasp, her eyes lighting up with joy.

"Next time, I want to go somewhere more quiet because I thought my head was going to explode." Lennox released a small groan from her lips as she moved to get changed out of the dress, happy that it was comfortable to wear whilst also being one of her designs.

"Well, your next date can be at a small cafe or something."

"Yeah I- wait, date?"

The Schumacher girl couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips at the look of pure confusion on the face of her best friend, her eyebrows furrowed together, a soft pout causing her bottom lip to protrude outwards, her nostrils flaring slightly.

The German woman lifted her hand up to her best friends face in order to cup her cheek, her thumb softly brushing over the smooth skin.

"Do you love my brother?"

"Of course, he's my best friend, like you, and I love you." Lennox spoke in confidence, her head nodding up and down a couple of times, her chest expanding as a deep breath of oxygen was inhaled.

"Len, this is different, okay? I know you love me as your best friend, and part of you loves Mick like that too, but I think the rest of you loves him in a different way." Gina Schumacher reassured her best friend, not wanting to throw her in to the deep end of her feelings because she knew that it would overwhelm her and cause her to shut down.

She had to take it slow.

"You do?" The Knight girl whispered, her voice quiet and soft, her dark eyes softening as she stared at the face of her favorite human being.

"Tell me, what do you see when you look at Kevin and his wife? Or Sebastian and his wife?"

"Somebody who loves and married their best friend." The French-American girl uttered, a look of surprise filling the face of the woman in front of her, though the Knight girl pulled a face of disgust after a moment.

"I'm not marrying you, I'd want a divorce after the first snore." Lennox deadpanned as she stared at her best friend, her arms folded in front of her chest.

"Of course not, I'd never be able to shower because of how long you take... but is that how you see things with Mick? That he's your best friend that you'll marry like they did?"

"I don't know, maybe? I love Mick, he makes me feel safe and I enjoy being with him. He's also great to cuddle until I fall asleep." Lennox giggled softly at the thought of the last time that they had slept in the same bed, her heart beating faster as a soft and happy smile lit up her face.

"Well, let's plan a date at a cafe for you then."

_____________________________________________

"What are you doing?"

"Supervising."

"I'm not a seven year old on a school trip."

Lennox Knight spoke with confusion as she stared straight at her father, who was sitting a couple of tables away from her at the cafe, a large newspaper in his grasp.

"I know, but you're my daughter. Plus, Gina asked me to cover her because she wanted to be here, but her mother had asked for her help. Hence why I'm here being a super spy, mon rayon de soleil."

Leon Knight smiled up at his daughter as she towered over him whilst he was seated, an awkward yet comforting smile upon his lips because all he had wanted to do was to look out for his little girl.

"But I can see you. Mick will be here any minute so why don't you just sit next to us?" Lennox furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, not sure as to why her father was desperately trying to hide and spy on her.

"You don't want a protective dad on the scene, so I'm just a regular at the cafe, who happens to have a giant newspaper in front of their face. Trust me, mon rayon de soleil."

Leon gently patted his daughters arm before lifting her hand in order to press a soft loving kiss to the top of her hand, the giant newspaper then being placed in front of his face so that nobody would see him.

He watched his daughter walk back to her seat, he watched Mick arrive and greet her with a hug, he watched them holding hands and seeming so in love that it almost made him miss his ex wife.

Almost.

"It's a lot quieter here, I'm sorry it was so busy last time, Lex."

Mick Schumacher spoke softly as he stared at the woman before him, his heart beating frantically as if it was trying to escape his chest.

Lennox Knight took a deep breath of oxygen in to her lungs and waited for a couple of seconds before releasing it, her hands ever so slightly shaking that the man before her started to become worried that she was overwhelmed and having a panic attack.

She had listened to what Gina had said, taking both mental and physical notes so that she would not forget the words.

She just hoped that it wasn't going to go wrong, otherwise the embarrassment that she would feel would be enough for her body to shut down.

"I love you like Kevin loves his wife, and I think I want to marry you."

A/N

We are so so so close to end of this, I can't believe it, my baby Lennox is nearly complete in her story,

What do you think?

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all soon for the next one,

I'm so proud of all of you, my loves

Love you all,

-RUBY 🇵🇸🇸🇩🇨🇩🇸🇸🇺🇦🇾🇪🇱🇧🇦🇫