Ryan and Olivia sat outside of Ryan's coach watching the fireworks go off in the distance. It was the Fourth of July and they had just arrived at the track earlier that day. Ryan smiled as Olivia oohed and aahed at the colorful display.

"What are you so quiet for?" She asked.

"Just thinking. Do you remember that summer, I think it was between our junior and senior year of high school, we were all hanging out by the lake watching fireworks?" He said.

"I remember. A few of us got a little crazy that night." She laughed, and nudged him in the ribs, caught up in the memory.

"You wouldn't go skinny dipping though." He laughed along with her.

"Oh God no. I was way too embarrassed and too shy for that. I couldn't believe you did though." She giggled.

"Well, I might have had a few drinks in me that night, and got my ass kicked later for it." He said.

"I was such a miss goody two shoes." She groaned.

"I almost kissed you that night."

"I know, and I was so mad that you didn't.

Flashback

"Want a beer Livvy?" Ryan asked, popping the top on a can of Miller Lite and handing it to her.

She shook her head. "You shouldn't be drinking Ry. How many have you had now?You are going to get in so much trouble."

He laughed, then took a sip. "Wanna go swimming then?"

"I didn't bring my suit." She replied.

"Who says you need a suit?" He said, as he pulled his shirt over his head.

He caught her by complete surprise when he began to pull his shorts down.

She forced herself to look away, thankful that it was dark and no one could see how red her face was. She could feel it burning.

"What are you doing Ryan?"

"I'm going swimming." He took off toward the water. She turned around long enough to see his bare backside just before she heard the splash. Cute backside, but there was no way she was going skinny dipping.

"Come On Livvy. Lighten up have some fun." He called out to her from the lake.

She wished she were bold enough, brave enough, but she wasn't.

"I am having fun. I'm just going to watch the fireworks." She said, and turned around and looked up at the night sky.

After several minutes, he sat down next to her on the blanket. Thankfully he had put his shorts back on, but he was still shirtless. Water running from his chestnut curls. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She had just seen him naked, well, the back of him anyway, and it did funny things to her body. Aside from the pounding in her chest, and the butterflies in her stomach, she felt a funny twinge down there, and him sitting right next to her, so close, was only making it worse. She had such a mad crush on him, but there was no way he felt the same. She shouldn't feel like this around him. He was her best friend.

"You okay Livvy?" He asked, putting his arm around her.

She nodded, but noticed his eyes were staring at her lips, and his head inched closer to hers. Is this really happening? She asked herself. He looked like he was about to kiss her.

As quickly as the moment happened, it was over. He pulled away, then stood up. "Are you sure you don't want a beer?" He asked.

She was embarrassed, and a little upset. She really thought he was going to kiss her. It had to have been all the alcohol he was drinking. Ryan didn't see her that way. He never would. She was just Livvy. His brainy, slightly dorky friend. She was not girlfriend material.

"No, I don't. I think you've had enough as well." She scolded.

Before he could comment, the group they were with called out to him. He shot her a look, that she really couldn't read, then took off to join the group without another word. She could feel the hot tears burning behind her eyes. Why did she have to be such a stick in the mud? Why couldn't she just relax, have fun? Why did she always have to be the good girl?Why couldn't she just make a move? Tell him how she felt?

"I really did want to kiss you that night." He said softly, drawing her closer.

"I really wanted you to."

"If I could go back in time and change it, I would, but I can't. Now, at least we get a do over." He said, running his fingers through her hair, then resting his hand at the back of her neck.

"You're not planning on going skinny dipping in Lake Lloyd are you?" She joked.

"No, but I can do this." He kissed her slowly, deeply. "And this time, we can make our own fireworks."

********

Rain, rain and more rain. That's all it did pretty much over the next couple of days after they arrived in Daytona.

The race scheduled for Saturday night was postponed until Sunday afternoon, and even then, the weather still didn't look all that promising.

"Happy Birthday beautiful." Ryan work Olivia up Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and breakfast.

"You're so sweet." She smiled at him and gave him a kiss.

*******

Ryan was having a good race, leading a few laps, finishing the first stage in third and the second stage just outside the top ten.

As anticipated, rain was definitely going to be a factor, and all the drivers knew this and began driving more aggressively.

Olivia was a bundle of nerves. This was her first super speedway race, and she knew at any moment the big one could happen. She wasn't prepared for when it actually did happen though.

The leaders were battling for position when a bad block was thrown by the 3 of Austin Dillon on the 14 of Clint Bowyer. Contact was made and the 3 shot up into the wall, right in front of Ryan, who was running the high side in fifth place.

Ryan's car slid down the track, where it was hit by several other cars, including his good friend Chase.

The car came to rest in the grassy area with the hood up, completely destroyed.

The wrecks were still going on, but Olivia's eyes were only focused on the #12 Body Armor Mustang, as she waited for a sign that he was okay.

After what felt like an eternity, the window net came down, and she was finally able to release the breath she did not even realize she was holding.

He climbed out of the car and made his way to the ambulance for a mandatory evaluation at the infield care center. This was the first wreck she had seen Ryan involved in, and it shook her to the core. She climbed down off of the pit box to make her way to the care center to not only check on the man she loved, but to do her job as well. Her job. She didn't even want to think about her job right now. She just wanted him to hold her and tell her he was okay, but regardless, she had a job to do first, then she could be the girlfriend.

It was a rough day for Team Penske overall, as all three of their drivers were involved in the accident, and Joey was the only one who was able to continue. She talked to Mike, Brad's PR guy while they waited, both of them ready to put this day behind them and get back to North Carolina.

Finally, he emerged from the care center and was immediately surrounded by a swarm of reporters, all shoving microphones and cell phones in his face. She pushed her way through until she was at his side. She listened as he gave his statement and said he was alright. Her shoulders sagged with relief.

The reporters moved on, and they were finally alone. Good thing they had decided to go public because she was about to put on a PDA. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, when she noticed he winced slightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked concerned.

"Yeah. Just a little sore. Let's go back to the coach. I need a shower. I'm all sweaty."

He didn't look right to her though. Something was off. He said he was fine, so she dismissed it. He was just in a high speed crash, of course he wasn't feeling one hundred percent.

They got back to the coach, and Ryan went off to shower while Olivia began getting all their stuff together. After a few minutes she realized she never heard the shower turn on. Growing concerned, she knocked on the bathroom door.

"Ry, are you alright in there?"

He opened the door. He had stripped off the firesuit, but still had his T-shirt and compression shorts on. His eyes were glassy. He was pale and had sweat beads on his forehead, but his skin was cool to the touch.

"I just started feeling dizzy, and weak, and now my head is killing me and I feel kind of foggy."

Her medical training began to kick in, and she came up with two possible conclusions: concussion or dehydration. Both were highly possible, and both had a lot of the same overlapping symptoms.

"Did they do a head CT in the care center?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No. I answered all their questions, and other than being sore, I felt fine, so we didn't feel it was necessary."

She knew concussion symptoms weren't always apparent immediately, sometimes it could be days before you notice them. Dehydration symptoms were usually noticed right away, but could be delayed, especially if your running on a lot of adrenaline. She was leaning more towards dehydration, but a concussion certainly couldn't be ruled out, and it was nothing to mess around with for sure.

"Get dressed. We're going back to the care center. You need a head CT or fluids. Probably both." She ordered.

To her surprise, he didn't argue with her. Either he felt that bad, or he just knew better than to play around with a possible concussion. He removed the sweat soaked underclothes and put on a t-shirt and shorts. He smiled weakly at her. "I always knew you'd make a great doctor."

She helped him into the golf cart outside the coach and drove to the care center.

********

"You are definitely dehydrated, so we are going to give you fluids, but just to be on the safe side, we're going to do a head CT. We won't have the results back for a couple of days, so I'm sure you know..." The female doctor stated.

"I'm not cleared after all." Ryan said flatly.

"No. I'm sorry Ryan, but you know the drill." She said apologetically.

Olivia sat next to him and held his hand while they waited on the IV drip to finish. Already some of his color was returning, so that made her more confident that it was just dehydration they were dealing with. They would just have to wait and see.

"Really crappy birthday huh. I'm sorry baby." He squeezed her hand. "I'm going to make it up to you I promise."

With everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten. She didn't even care.

"I'm not worried about it. I just want you to be okay. That's all that matters."

He took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. "I love you."

"I love you too. Everything is going to be fine." She reassured him.

By the time the IV drip had finished, he was feeling better. He still had a slight headache, and of course some soreness from the wreck, but overall, a big improvement.

"Let's go home." He said.

The race had been under red flag for rain, and was finally called. She didn't know who won, she didn't really care. She just wanted to go home and take care of Ryan.