"So...any plans for the next race, Uncle?"

"Nothing much," replied Alan, easing himself on the couch, sipping coffee from his mug, "Just a few repairments here and there. They'll get done by Friday I hope. I'm trusting the mechanics well."

"Don't worry Uncle," Babe reassured, putting down his coffee mug and looking around the garage, "I'm sure our mechanics won't fail us. Besides, since the arrival of that kid, I can assure you, every car has become almost a brand new one. He's really a talented one, I promise."

Alan nodded in response, a faint smile curling up his lips, as he took another sip. The garage was slowly filling up with mechanics and other people, and the hustle and bustle was gradually increasing. Finishing his coffee, Alan stood up from the couch and quickly collected his jacket and car keys.

"Where are you going?" Babe asked.

"Oh, Way didn't tell you?" Alan turned around, facing Babe, "We're going to meet someone today."

"Who?"

"Uh...let it be a surprise, okay?" Alan replied, smiling a bit, "If everything goes according to the plans, then once we come back, we'll tell you everything."

"But what about me? I-"

"You're not going-"

"B-But-"

"Stop whining like a five year old and go practice for the next race. There ain't much time left. Ugh! Where is Way- Oh there he is! Eyy Way c'mere!"

The tall racer made his way into the garage and stood in front of the two. He was plainly dressed, white shirt and black jeans, complete with a black jacket. There wasn't something too lavish about his style, yet the boy looked dashing.

"Whoa! Going to impress someone Way? Looking special I see," Babe remarked, looking at his best friend's attires.

"It's just normal attires, Babe," Alan replied, not understanding why would someone called a shirt and a pair of jeans 'special'.

"No it's not Uncle," Babe began, "First of all, every cloth of his is ironed which is something very uncommon in Way. Second, boy's glowing. Look at his face. It's obvious he did something to it 'cause it's looking brighter than a tubelight! Third, it's not 'just any jacket' that he's wearing. Have you checked it's brand? It's Guc-"

"You know what kiddo," Alan spat, "No time for your bullshit. C'mon Way!"

"B-But what about me?" Babe cried out, quickly standing up from the couch, "Why aren't you both taking me?"

"Babe," Way walked up to his friend, smiling at him, "It's business stuff. You hate business stuff, don't you? So why not focus on your next race? You need to-"

"Yeah yeah I know, stop with your pep talk," Babe grumbled, rolling his eyes, "But I swear Way, you have to tell me everything! Everything that will happen. Otherwise-"

"Yeah yeah I will I will! Now go. Go and practice."

"Mn. Bye."

"Goodbye!"

* * *

"You...You're sweating, Way."

Alan and Way were seated at a couch, enclosed within a luxurious room. It was a cool and a pleasant environment, and the office room seemed spic and span, slightly describing the characters of the owner. Almost an hour had elapsed since their arrival and the person they wanted to meet wasn't available yet. Perhaps...busy?

"I'm not," Way replied hesitantly, trying his best to look away from Alan.

"Ohoo stop lying Way," Alan laughed, "I'm literally sitting beside you and I can see how drenched you are. Gosh. Open that jacket dumbass, you're sweating mad."

"N-No I'm n-not," Way spoke, pulling his jacket close to his chest, reluctant to open it. Sweat had already drenched half of his shirt underneath and beads of perspiration were visible on his forehead and cascading down his neck. Whether it was out of heat or nervousness, no one could say. But, no matter how much Alan tried to make the boy take off his jacket, Way wouldn't budge.

"Way, I know the jacket looks excessively cool on you but boy, it's hot as fuck- Oh shit! He's here."

A door in front of them opened and immediately, Way and Alan stood up to greet the person who walked through the door. The man walked inside, an air of dominance and pure confidence embracing his presence. He walked over and sat down in a seat opposite to the two other man and ordered his P.A to leave. Then, he looked directly at the two men and spoke.

"Mr Alan, I presume?" He looked at Alan, and smiled. Alan was glad the man remembered him from their previous meeting. He quickly stuck his hand forward and smiled back.

"Yes, Mr. Pete. It's Alan."

"Oh, please drop the honorifics," came the response, as Pete accepted the handshake, "Just Pete will do fine. And," he turned to the other one, "Who do we have here?"

"Ah, this is Way," Alan responded, looking at him, "Way is one of the top racers of X-Hunter, just like Babe, as I had mentioned before. Way- Ey Way? Way?"

A heavy shook from Alan brought the boy back to reality, slapping him out of his train of thoughts. Alan had noticed his face looking flushed and the sweat glistening on his face was much more than before. Needless to say, Alan was completely confused as to what was wrong with his friend.

"Sorry about that Pete," Alan replied, "Way, introduce yourself, dumbass!" He whispered to the boy beside him, who was still in a weird daze.

Way quickly extended his hand out, his eyes casted a little low. He waited for a while for the other to take his hand but when he didn't feel it, he slowly looked up...only to find Pete staring back at him.

Way felt a little weird, as if something was going on within his stomach. He felt his cheeks heating up under that sharp specific stare and couldn't help but avert his gaze once again. Way was about to drop his hand but before he could do it, the other man quickly grabbed it and completed the handshake.

"I'm Pete. Nice to meet you, Way."

The way his name fell out of the man's lips made Way shiver and look up once again. And gosh! He couldn't look away. Way's gaze now finally met Pete's and the boy finally noticed the man's extreme presence in front of him. Hot. That was the only word that immediately came in his mind. Even though he had been hopelessly in love with someone else for the past several years and had made up his mind not to move on before he makes him his own, even after all that, Way couldn't deny the fact that the man in front of him was making his heart beat faster and faster and made his cheeks and ears grow warmer. There was nothing too special in the man, who was just in a simple set of formal dark attires and nothing too much. Yet his dashing features and handsome visage, his sharp eyes gazing at him making him feel way to hot under his expensive jacket, his strong figure and his overall calm and collected personality made Way baffle. He kept on staring at Pete's eyes for a few second until Alan had to pull Way out of his thoughts for the second time.

Poor Way was embarrassed that he was awkward to the person who was sponsoring their team for the second time in one day. Way started to blush, while Pete couldn't stop himself from chuckling due to Way's embarrassment.

Suddenly, the silence was broke due to Alan's phone ringing. Without thinking twice, the man got up from his couch and after informing the two about the important call, he quickly walked outside to pick it up. Now it was only Way and Pete inside. The poor racer was shocked, as he sat still on the couch, not daring to move. He didn't even want to breath, as he thought it would make a sound. The only sound audible to him at that moment was the rapid beating of his heart and he prayed that Pete couldn't hear it.

The room continued bearing that awkward atmosphere for a few seconds before Pete decided to break the ice.

"So, you are one of X-Hunter's racers? I have heard about you when Alan was on the phone with me about sponsoring the team," Pete told Way, making the latter shocked once more. Alan talked about me? He had no idea Alan had praised him when he was talking to Pete.

"Ye-Yeah, I am one of the racers here," Way responded back, not wanting to keep shut and look rude, "The other racer who will be here pretty soon is Babe. He's the one who always wins races, though."

"We are not talking about Babe right now, we are talking about you," Pete finished cooly, making Way's heart jolt again.

"I-I know, I ju-just want to let you know that Babe is our other racer who is always in first place. He is talented and I'm glad we have him i-in our team," Way finished the rest with a lot of enthusiasm, talking about his best friend always brought a smile on his face. What Way didn't notice in his excitement was the billionaire in front of him secretly smiling at his smile.

"I'm back," Alan announced as he walked in, "It was some important stuff. Pete, I think Way and I have to return soon. I guess you have I'm understood the stuff. I'll send you the paperworks soon." Pete nodded in response, his eyes still lingering on Way.

"Thank you for informing me about everything Alan. It was nice meeting you and Way," Pete replied, "Perhaps meet y'all again at your next race?"

"Sure and maybe you can watch Way performing live with your own eyes," Alan giggled, making Way go red again.

"I'll be glad to witness such a skilled racer on the track," replied Pete, eyes looking at Way once more, "See you all soon."

* * *

"What was it all about?" Alan blurted out no sooner did he and Way got into the car.

"What?" Way responded back, looking nonchalant. He removed his jacket and fanned himself with his hand, soon pulling out his handkerchief and dabbing the sweat off his face and neck.

"Don't pretend Way," Alan said, "I saw everything."

"What did you see?" Way looked at the man, looking confused.

"The way you looked at Pete and the way Pete looked at you," cried Alan, smiling, "Gosh! What's the tension Way? Things definitely didn't look normal. Wassup?"

"I-I-" Way didn't know how to respond, but quickly tried to get a hold on himself and continued, "It was nothing, Alan. Stop assuming stuff."

"Assuming?" Alan fake gasped, trying to looked completely shocked, "You call it 'assuming' Way? The way Pete looked at you was Oh My God!! Way you got yourself a billionaire!"

"St-Stop it," Way snapped back, looking out if the car window, "You know I'll never like anyone except-"

"Way," Alan edged a little closer to the boy, leaning towards him from the driver's seat. His voice had now changed from the mocking one to a serious, calmer tone. "You have been chasing him for ten years. You love him. You want him. But did he ever show the same towards you? Did he ever do anything that made your hopes high? Did he?"

Way shook his head, so Alan continued, "Then why are you running after him, Way? Why don't you let it go and be with someone who'll actually love you, want you and return your feelings, maybe more but not less? Why die with an unrequited love?"

Way kept silent. He didn't know what to say, how to say. His fingers fidgeted with the hem of his shirt and the older's words kept on echoing in his head.

"Remember my words Way. Either make your move or move on."

With that, Alan drove his car away from the place.

* * *

"North this isn't how-"

The moment Sonic called his name, North turned his head away from the mirror to face Sonic. Immediately, Sonic burst into a loud laughter.

"What?" North asked, looking miserable.

"Look at yourself, you fool!" Sonic cried, clutching his stomach, still laughing.

North turned to the mirror, only to see his face completely white.

"But isn't this how-"

"How much did you take?" Sonic asked, still giggling, as he took the container from North. He looked into it and saw almost two thirds of the sunscreen scooped out. The lad was astonished.

"THIS MUCH?!?!" Sonic gasped, hitting North on his shoulder, "Who puts this much of sunscreen, idiot? No wonder you look like a ghost."

"I was in a hurry. To see you."

"To see me?" Sonic was confused, "But I'm right here at the garage. Why the hurry? And why do you need that sunscreen on to see me-"

"Uh it's like, I wanted to show you something and then," North paused for a while, still slapping his face from multiple directions, "Take you out for lunch. So yeah, the sunscreen."

Sonic rolled his eyes to show his annoyance, yet couldn't help but hide a smile of glee at what North said. After he had finished dabbing the sunscreen completely on his face and finally looked a little more decent, North quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket and after rummaging through it for a while, he finally found what he was looking for.

"C'mere Nic. Look at this."

The two boys sat down on the nearest couch and for the next two minutes, had their eyes glued at the screen. Suddenly, Sonic cried out.

"Isn't that Charlie?" He pointed at the screen, once again looking closely at it, "But what is he doing there? And who is that other man? And why are they together? And where was Babe then? And-"

"Do I look like I know?" North retorted, looking so done with Sonic.

"Ugh! Just asking."

"Hey, do you think we should send it to Way?" North asked, "You know he asked me to keep an eye on Charlie and inform him if anything was fishy. Now this definitely looks fishy."

"Uhm," Sonic thought for a while, "Maybe you should? After all, Way gave you the work, right? You must do it."

"Mn. Hold on."

After sending the video clip to Way, the two of them sat for a while, talking, bickering and muttering gibberish as usual.

"You know Nic, I think, Way likes Babe a lot," North said suddenly, his voice sounding a little serious.

"It so evident North, anyone can see it. He has been in love with him for like the past ten years. Duh! How is Babe so dumb not to notice it?"

"Mn. They're like us, you know. If we were any closer than what we are now, we would end up liking each other."

North's words made Sonic look at him once more and both didn't speak for a while. They kept on staring at each other, completely stunned and not sure of what to say next.

"I-I...if I had to date you, I would have broke up with you long back," Sonic replied, finally breaking the ice.

"Oh ho! As if I would have dated you," North mocked as the two stood up and chased each other out of the garage.

-----------------

This took a long time. Sincerely sorry for the delay.

Hope y'all enjoyed it.

Next part rolling up, but might take time.

Stay tuned~