(no subject)

[alotbluer]

Tobey's garage has been doing well for once, well enough that an old friend of his gets the news she has a new sponsor. They spoke on the phone and he chuckled a bit at her surprise. They reminisced about the old days which always made him smile. He always liked hearing her voice and over the years they have flirted, had a few intimate moments. He was looking for a little of a change of scenery for a bit, so while they spoke on the phone she didn't know he was closer than she knew.

So when they ended the call they spoke as usual of sometime soon getting together and spending some time together. He hung up the phone and smiled thinking of that. He checked into a hotel room seeing as he didn't want to give the surprise away just yet. He showered and unwound after the flight before he slipped out of the room locking up. He grabbed a quick meal from a nearby restaurant, enough for both of them, and then simply showed up at her house and rang the bell.

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[shelbycobra]

Shelby had settled into the picture of blue-collar America. She lived in a cute four-bedroom house on a cul de sac in a quiet part of Indianapolis, just minutes away from the speedway. It was far too big for her but she was already planning on raising a family there someday. When the time was right, of course. For now she was just taking some much needed time off between seasons, cleaning and working on the book she had agreed to write.

She'd been glad to hear from Tobey and know that the garage was doing well after she had paid off its debt. That was all she had ever wanted for him. But she didn't think he'd be standing on her doorstep. "This is a surprise!" she said, stepping back to let him in. Just dressed down in jeans and a T-shirt. "When did you get in? I would have come to get you from the airport..."

[alotbluer]

"Well if I told you I was coming then I couldn't see the look on your face now."

He smirked a bit as he walked in, taking a look around before she got his full attention once more. He set the food down.

"I actually got in earlier today, so when we were talking I was already here."

[shelbycobra]

Shelby shook her head with a laugh. "You're always so sneaky," she admitted. This was not the first time he'd surprised her somewhere. That was how it went with them, in and out of each others' lives. He couldn't leave the garage and she couldn't leave her career. So they contented themselves with whenever their paths crossed, whatever time they could steal.

She hated to feel like she was stringing him on, but she was just glad to have him back in her life after having to leave New York five years earlier.

She helped him plate the food and carry it to her living room table. No need to use the dining room for just the two of them. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of you surprising me this time?" she asked. "Just to tell me about that new sponsorship or did you miss me already?"

[alotbluer]

"Already? I missed you the moment I said goodbye. I decided to come see you though because I missed you too much."

He followed her and sat down with her smiling, it was always an easy feeling when he was with her. He just felt...at peace.

[shelbycobra]

That made Shelby blush slightly as they made themselves comfortable on her couch. "I miss you too," she said quietly. She cared deeply for him and she always would. They shared a deep and unbreakable bond because of what they'd been through, having come together at the most unpredictable time in both of their lives.

But she knew they were both creatures of habit and tied to the places they were from. She was just overjoyed that they had been able to reconnect, and to get the time with him she did have. So she didn't worry too much, just was always there whenever he wanted her. In whatever form that took, though it had been more than friendly in more than one occasion.

"At least you get to see the house now. What do you think? I've had it for about two years, I can't wait to raise a family here. Once things slow down that is. If they ever do."

[alotbluer]

"It's a nice house, definitely a nice one to raise a family in."

He relaxes with his plate, its not a conversation that makes him falter. It doesn't scare him in any type of way.

"Besides I think you'd make a kick ass mother."

[shelbycobra]

"We'll see. Two things have to happen first. I have to get married and I have to stop racing." Because it wouldn't be safe for her to risk her life like that with a baby on the way. So Shelby had always deferred her dreams of a family to the end of her career, which was still a few years away if she retired when she planned to.

She's relaxed beside him, eating and enjoying the company. They're friends first and it's easy to unwind with him. If it ends up becoming something more intimate than that then it does. But they've always just let it be whatever it wants to be. No pressure, just knowing they have each other in whatever way they're needed.

"If you need a place to crash, you can stay over," she tells him. "I mean I don't know what your plans are. But this place has three extra bedrooms." And hers, but she wasn't going to be presumptuous and just assume he wanted to be in the same bed with her. He could if he wanted but she didn't expect he'd come there for that.