_{Hannah turned to him, glad he finally had some clothes on. It had been rather awkward, if he had been sober, she was sure he would have agreed with her on that. She chuckled, a part of her wanted to totally mess with him but that wouldn’t be fair on him. He genuinely couldn’t remember, he’d need to know what actually happened, but there was no harm in having a little while she was at it. “Oh not of course not, you only confessed your undying love for me” she teased, flicking her hair over her shoulder.}

_{Of course, one of his first thoughts was about his car, it didn’t surprise her really. The level of defence he had when she drove it he first time proved her point further. Hannah wasn’t dumb enough to get drunk around people like him, it wouldn’t end well for either of them, that was for sure. Handing him a plate, she rolled her eyes. “Your car is fine, it’s out the front if you don’t believe me” she went and sat down at the table with her phone and a plate of food in front of her. Nibbling on a piece of bacon, she checked her phone. Classes had started 10 minutes prior, she had a few messages asking where she was.}

_{“so, you want to know what happened last night? Because if your face didn’t give me enough ammunition to bully you, you certainly did last night” Hannah teased, cocking an eyebrow at him.}

_{Hannah watched him sit, before putting her phone down. It had been rather entertaining watching him make a fool of himself the night before, but that didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t mad about it. Hannah just realized that she would have preferred that over waking up with the police knocking at her door. He knew things that would easily get them both behind bars, with their current records, she wasn’t about to risk everything just to be petty. She smiled to herself. Hannah was partly surprised he was even still here, she had half expected him to run off the moment he saw her, but it didn’t matter.}

_{Starting at the beginning, she informed him of the night’s events, starting at the end of the race, when he was with that girl. Hannah assumed that was when he started forgetting things, pretty soon after that, he was driving around drunk, ten seconds away from driving straight into a tree. Soon she finished telling him what had happened. Hannah watched him carefully, keen to see his reaction. They both knew if she hadn’t helped him, he’d be either in a cell or likely dead, none of the three options were ideal, but she kind of needed him alive and not incarcerated for the next phase of their game.}

_{Hannah subtly left out the shower bit, it didn’t seem important and there wasn’t much point in bringing it up, he had been drunk, that was all. Besides, it’d be too much of a pain to try to explain why, because in all honesty, she didn’t really know either. Hannah had taken pity on him, she had known very well she could have cared less and just gone home but there wasn’t much point in letting him suffer the entire night and likely get them both thrown into prison when she could have just helped him and let herself forget about it later.}

_{Hannah sighed, picking at her food. “Don’t flatter yourself, I had nothing better to do than babysit you, since you seem incapable of being responsible for more than five minutes. Plus, I needed an excuse to get out of classes today, I really wasn’t feeling like a fight today” she told him, trying to play it off as nothing. Hannah rubbed the back of her neck, looking down at her plate. She began fidgeting with the case on her phone, tracing patterns onto the thin rubber case that covered the back of it, the screen face down on the table.}

_{Hannah didn’t want to linger on the subject, it was awkward enough having the memories of it, let alone attempting to explain it to him. Most of the night, she had been frustrated at his immaturity. Hannah had been gone for all of 20 minutes, maybe, and he somehow had gotten himself drunk. Yet, his ego for once didn’t seem to want anybody’s help, it was rather frustrating just to think about. Hannah got up, putting the empty plate into the dishwasher, before grabbing her phone and heading upstairs. With a second thought, she turned to him, “Your stuff is near the front door, along with your shoes. Stay, leave, whatever, I don’t really fucking care” Hannah told him before making her way up.}

_{(It’s fine, I’m in the exact same boat with that situation)}

_{Hannah went back to her room, grabbing her keys. She had been sent a message about a party, apparently celebrating her return to the racing game. There was no way she was inviting Sergio, still pissed at him for the night before. Sighing in frustration at the mess her room was in, she ignored it. Hannah needed some time to get her mind off things, a part of her didn’t even want to continue with this game, not because she didn’t trust him not to snitch, because he was too irresponsible about the things he was doing. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to land himself back into prison and he’d have nobody to blame but himself.}

_{Hannah heard him leave, relief crashed onto her. She knew he likely didn’t believe the bullshit excuse she had given him, and he likely guessed at what was really going on. Hannah also knew he didn’t trust her, similar to how she didn’t trust him fully either. They’d need to figure out a compromise if they wanted to continue this game of theirs, otherwise, there was no point in bothering with it. Hannah wasn’t about to put herself into a situation where she was likely to get caught, especially not with Sergio.}

_{Angrily, she got into her car, pulling out of the driveway smoothly. Checking her phone, she called her racing friends. Putting the call on speaker, she asked them about the party, hanging up after they told her they were on their way to it. The party was being held at an abandoned dock, it was the usual place for this kind of thing. The last time she had been to one of these, there had been well over two hundred people there. Everybody knew everybody, it was a pretty tight-knit community. If somebody was snitching, they’d all know about it within minutes.}

_{Hannah got onto the freeway, there wasn’t any other cars on the road. Within seconds, she could see Bailey, one of her close friends in his car. Nodding at him, she pressed on the acceleration, hearing him do the same. The two of them flying down the road, slowing the tiniest bit as the turnoff came into view up ahead. Sharply turning the wheel, the two of them just made the turnoff, their tires drifting across the road. It had only been this way, Hannah and Bailey competed with everything they did, when it came to racing or driving, it was always Hannah winning, others were his strengths. It was all light-heartened fun.}

_{Hannah could hear the speakers blasting music over her own. She watched people arriving from all directions, the cars spread all over the area. It was lucky that the dock was so huge, there was plenty of space for everyone’s cars, the main party area, plus a variety of private areas if you needed them, the freeway right next to them if they wanted a race. The two of them found their usual spots up the front. Almost at once, cheering could be heard, as people heard her arrival.}

_{Hannah smiled, making her way over to a small group of people standing aside. Her friends knew better than to immediately approach, rather than waiting for her. It was always difficult in these sorts of situations, when lots of people knew her and wanted to talk to her. She smiled, joining them away from the ridiculous blast of the speakers. The regulars to these events had their signature spots. Hannah was glad she had left her leather jacket in her car, it was her signature look in this environment. Thankful she had kept her makeup simple, a pair of dark lashes with eyeliner, it was a suitable but good look for this place.}

_{Hannah shook her head at the offer of a drink, after the night before, she wasn’t going to go down that road. Pretty soon, she noticed Noah’s arrival. With a nudge from one of her friends, she turned back to the conversation in front of her. Sighing, Hannah noticed the conversation had steered towards the rumours about her and Sergio. “let’s not have this conversation now” she told them, a warning looks on her face. They took the hint and dropped it, but she got a few weird looks from Bailey. She’d have to explain to him everything later, minus the game of course.}

_{Hannah nodded, waving to her friends as she made her rounds at the party. The sky had grown dark, huge spotlights lighting up the docks. Pretty soon, there’d be a race starting if there was going to be one tonight. These races were different, there wasn’t any bidding, it was just all for fun. Hannah was debating whether or not she’d participate if there was one. Chatting with a number of people, she was informed of the race within the next couple hours. Apparently, it was invite-only, between the Reigning Champions. The invitees were going to be informed by text within the hour. Which explained the nervous tension she could feel within the crowd.}

_{Everybody knew a few people that were guaranteed an invite to compete, there was no way they’d throw a party about Hannah’s return to the race and not have her compete. A few others were a little too confident about their invites, she doubted majority of them would be invited. The ones who felt the need to brag about their confidence in themselves to everybody were the least likely. These events were usually for seeking out the years’ top competitors and the wild cards of the competition.}

_{Pretty soon, the hour was nearly up, everybody had gravitated towards the main party section. The invites were about to be sent. They were told once they got their invite, to go to the sectioned off area for the reveal of the track. Almost at once, Hannah’s phone vibrated. Pulling it out, she checked the notification, smirking at the invite. The text consisted of her race line-up and current ranking. Not surprised she was on top of the leader board, placed in the front of the line-up, she saw majority of heads turning towards her. Nodding to her friends, she made her way over to the competitor’s section, resulting in a loud cheer from the non-competitors and a sigh from the other familiar faces she recognized making their way in her direction.}