All is Never Enough | ✓

Chapter 27

Nora Johannes

(Four weeks later)

You know that really bad feeling in your gut you get whenever you know something is going to happen? Like, you can't put your finger on the future but you can anticipate it and the feeling is not good. It's not reassuring, nor is it comforting or motivating.

It's terrifying. That's how I was feeling right now. And the feeling just wouldn't go away. Not even after I munched away at Cliff's bag of chips, or after the hug Mason gave me once I told him how I was feeling, not even when Aj managed to give me an actual smile. A gesture of acknowledgement which was more than just a nod. None of that was comforting me.

The boys and I, excluding Hero who was downstairs preparing himself, were sat in one of the rooms we were directed to where we had a perfect view of the racecourse. If I thought our own tracks back home were impressive, this was on a whole other level: the lights were brighter and taller, the tracks were clean and professional, you even had guards and important-looking people occupying the booths in front and around us. It was beyond intimidating.

On the drive here, Hero was calm. Like usual. He had trained and done everything right and he wasn't nervous. But I was. I had been since I put my first piece of clothing into my suitcase when I was packing for this 'trip'. I was glad that I persuaded Hero to let me come here but now I felt almost regret: I didn't want to be here. I wanted Hero at home, with me, snuggling in either one of our beds as we watched a movie on Netflix. Like we did every other day.

"Still worrying?" A voice asked me. It was Aj. I was staring out the window at everyone, trying to find a peek at Hero, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I nodded. "I don't feel good about this, Aj. This whole thing is terrible and sketchy a-and not a good idea."

"Hero will be fine." He insisted. He didn't look at me when he spoke and instead stared right out the window at everyone busily preparing. "He isn't worried and neither should you be worried. You know him, he'll pull through with this. He always does." I gulped. I hoped he was right.

Aj walked back to where the others were, probably making himself comfortable with a can of beer, but I stayed put where I was with my hands crossed on my chest and one hand supporting my chin. I remained there, spacing out then blinking myself back to reality when I finally turned around and sat down next to Declan. I sighed and tried looking at the television to distract myself.

The distraction worked. I managed to get in a laugh too, until Aj's phone rang and he answered it by the door. He talked into the phone for a few minutes before hanging up, turning back around to face all of us. "That was Hero. He said the race is starting in fifteen-ish minutes so we can go down there to see him for a bit."

We all got up immediately and piled out of the room, following Aj as he directed everyone to the downstairs area where Hero was. It only took another minute before I saw him, stood next to his car as he looked at the tracks. The boys all cheered loudly and obnoxiously when they saw him and successfully caught his attention.

"There's the man!" Cliff cheered, laughing as he jumped on an unprepared Hero. Even he cracked a smile then told him to get off, shoving him playfully as one by one everyone greeted him.

"How you feeling?" Maddox asked him. Hero shrugged.

"Pretty good." Too confident for his own good. "Bigger crowd than usual though." That was his way of saying he had a tiny bit of nerves. There was the human Hero I knew; even if he didn't exactly admit it.

Aj nodded. "That's normal. The nerves will help though."

Hero shrugged again. "Guess so. Where's Nora?" I raised my hand jokingly and walked up to him, smiling when he reached for my hand and tugged me to his chest. We shared a gentle kiss until he pulled away slowly, staring at my eyes once he had opened them and gave me the cutest grin.