THIRTEEN

"Tal, can you look after Angie for an hour? I've got to meet Gina."

Mick Schumacher questioned as he walked in to his best friends apartment that she shared with George Russell.

Angie, Mick's dog, followed after her owner with a happy bounce, having recognised the scent of her second favorite human being, second only to Mick because he was always with her.

Tala dropped to her knees to meet the large dog, seeing her running straight to her, her paws landing on her shoulders causing the young woman to wrap her arms around the animal in order to give her a cuddle.

She loved Angie.

She had two favorite dogs, both of which she would happily steal, that being Angie and Roscoe, the pair always enjoying the treats, cuddles and runs that Tala would give them. She even bought Christmas jumpers for them both to wear, which everybody knew looked absolutely adorable.

They often matched Tala's.

"Sure, I'll look after her for a month."

Tala Villanueva gave her German friend her signature grin, happiness evident within her eyes as the light sparkled within them.

The Schumacher boy rolled his eyes with a smile upon his face, happy to see Tala being this happy but he figured that was due to being with Angie since his dog always made her happy.

"Tell Gina that I said hi." Tala waved as the boy began to leave the apartment, seeing the blonde man nodding his head up and down a couple of times.

As soon as he was gone, Tala stood to her feet in order to stare down at the dog, seeing the dog staring at her intently.

"On the sofa, Ang!" Tala clicked her fingers in order to get the dog to jump up on to the sofa, finding her immediately obeying, jumping and laying down on the sofa, patiently waiting for her to rejoin her.

Tala rushed to the kitchen in order to grab some dog treats, as well as some snacks for herself, adding them to a basket that also held some skincare items since she always liked to have little pamper nights with Angie.

Angie liked it too.

The dog soon laid down on the lap of the Filipino girl, her paws and belly pointing upwards so that she could receive belly rubs at the same time as wearing a sheet face mask like the young woman.

It also meant that if Tala dropped any snacks, that Angie would be directly beneath her to be able to catch them.

They stayed like that for a good while, at least five hours until eventually the front door opened, with multiple formula one drivers entering the room to see two beautiful women with fluffy headbands and face masks on their faces.

The group stood in shock, small smiles lighting up their faces as they began to remove their phones from their pockets, lifting them up in order to take some pictures of the amazingly cute scene before them.

"My favorite idiot!" Tala cheered as her eyes fell upon a tall, slim man, his face filling with a smile as soon as she recognised him.

"Hey, Tal."

Alex Albon laughed as he walked his way in to the apartment, pressing a soft kiss to the top his friends head, climbing over the back of the sofa so that he could sit next to her, grabbing a face mask of his own, placing it carefully on to his skin.

Soon, every single one of the racing drivers joined them, with George moving Angie so that he could sit next to his Tala, the dog laying across the pair of them.

"Face masks for everyone!"

Lando Norris cheered, his hands being raised in to the air in happiness of spending time with Tala, since he had thought that she would not be there when they went to George's, instead she was pamper night with the goodest of good girls.

Tala slowly rested her head on the shoulder of the Russell boy beside her, since she hadn't been to his most recent race which had made him concerned that she was struggling with the grief.

Instead, she had decorated the apartment with balloons and other decorations for when he returned, having achieved first place in Austria, with the theme being that of gold.

Since Mick was no longer in Formula One, if she didn't attend races, then he would bring Amgie around so that she wasn't alone, wanting her to have some company, knowing that she loved her time with his dog.

The group of friends decided to watch a movie together whilst having their pamper night, and Tala took great comfort in laying across George's lap, cuddling Angie in the process and in a way that made the British boy laugh, his hand running softly through her hair in a way to comfort her.

George wasn't even paying attention to the movie, he was only ever looking down to see Tala, his eyes sparkling with happiness, adoration and love as he watched her switch being paying attention to the movie and the dog, as well as him.

Their eyes met in the darkness, smiles growing the longer that they stared at one another. It was strange, they were best friends, they had been for a while, they were the survivors, and yet as they stared at one another, it was as if they were lost, alone with only each other, as of they were able to see each others weaknesses, strengths and more.

A strange feeling appeared with a slight stabbing pain inside the chest of Tala Villanueva, a different feeling appearing inside of her stomach, a strange unusual feeling that felt as if her stomach was floating, almost.

What was that feeling and why did it so suddenly appear?

The Russell boy stared down at his Tala with the look that he usually held just for her, his lips sneaking open until he held such a large grin that it began to hurt his cheeks, butterflies appearing inside his stomach just like they always did.

But, as he stared down deeply in to Tala's beautiful brown eyes, he couldn't help but notice a shift, a subtle one but noticeable.

After all, he had memorised every single part of her eyes, all of the emotions that she ever had to the point where whenever her mood changed, he could tell purely by looking in her eyes.

So why did they look so different now? What was changing?

Then suddenly, within a single beat of his heart, it seemed to click in his brain.

Her feelings were changing.

A/N

Another one down!!

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 🇵🇸🇨🇩🇸🇩🇸🇸🇺🇦🇾🇪🇱🇧