Chapter 147: Arguing
Nico
Alaric’s reaction was not at all what I had expected.
As soon as those words left my mouth, he threw off the blanket, stood up completely naked, and began pacing back and forth across the hardwood floor.
He ran both hands through his messy blonde hair, his face pale and his chest heaving as if he had just finished a grueling forty-lap stint.
I leaned back against the headboard, watching his frantic movements with a light, teasing smile. "Why do you keep pacing around like that?" I asked, giving him a playful, questioning look. "Do you want another round, Alaric? Is that why you’re walking around naked, trying to seduce me?"
Alaric froze mid-step. He slowly turned his head toward me and cast me a furious glare.
"Do you have any idea what you are saying right now?!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the bedroom walls.
Alright. That was definitely not the reaction I expected either.
My playful smile quickly faded, replaced by genuine confusion. "What? Why are you shouting at me?"
"You are planning on giving up your career because of me?!" he demanded, gesturing wildly with his hands before running one of them through his hair again. "How could you even think of doing something like that?!"
I shifted uncomfortably on the bed, pulling the bedsheet up over my waist. "I am not giving up my career just because of you, Alaric. It’s just... it feels like the right time. The main reason I became a Formula 1 driver in the first place was because of you. I wanted to reach your level. I wanted to stand on the same grid as you. And now that you are back, it feels like my job is done. It’s time for me to leave, right?"
"Really?" Alaric asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.
I nodded, thinking he would understand the romantic logic behind it.
Instead, Alaric let out a sudden, bitter laugh. He shook his head, looking at me as if I had completely lost my mind. "So, what? Are you pitying me now, Nico? Is that what this is? You’ve been winning basically every single race this season, and now you feel sorry for me, so you’re just going to walk away and hand me the championship on a silver platter?"
"No! Of course not!" I blurted out, sitting up straighter. "That’s not it at all, Alaric! Don’t put words into my mouth. The only reason I pushed so hard in every race was because I wanted to get closer to you. I am not—"
"Enough!" Alaric yelled, cutting me off instantly.
He took an aggressive step toward the bed, his hazel eyes burning with raw anger. "I hate this! I hate that you are pitying me! I hate that you are babying me like I’m some fragile piece of glass! And most of all, I hate that you are throwing away your entire career because of me!"
"I am not throwing it away!" I argued back, my own temper flaring up. "I am making a choice for my life, Alaric!"
"It’s a stupid choice!" he snapped. "You are a great racer, Nico! You are at the absolute peak of your career! You just won P1 in China! If it’s not pity, then there is literally no logical reason for you to quit right now!"
"I just told you my reason!" I yelled back, throwing my hands in the air. "I want a normal life with you! I don’t want to hide in secret apartments anymore! I don’t want to lie to the press and pretend I hate you!"
"And you think retiring solves that?!" Alaric countered, his voice rising higher with every sentence. "You think walking away from the sport you love is going to make everything magically better?! I never asked you to sacrifice your passion for me, Nico!"
"It’s not a sacrifice if it’s what I want!"
"It is a sacrifice, and you know it!" Alaric shouted, pointing a finger directly at my chest. "You’re acting like a martyr, and I refuse to be the reason you ruin your life!"
"I am trying to protect us!" I yelled, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Why can’t you see that?!"
"Because you’re not protecting us, Nico! You’re making decisions for both of us without even asking me!"
We stood there, breathing heavily, the air between us thick with anger and frustration.
I had never seen him this upset with me since we got together.
Finally, I heaved a deep sigh and stood up from the bed, completely unbothered by my own nakedness. "This conversation is not getting anywhere," I said, trying to soften my tone. "I know you are angry about what I just said, but it’s the truth. I love you, and I want a future with you."
I took a step toward him and reached out, trying to touch his arm to calm him down. But the second my fingers brushed his skin, he slapped my hand away.
Alaric’s fierce hazel eyes met mine, and he shook his head with absolute determination. "I am not going to let you change your mind about everything because of me, and I don’t want your damn pity!"
Without waiting for me to respond, he turned around and looked around the room aimlessly, searching for his scattered clothes. He spotted his trousers near the couch, marched over, and pulled them on with hurried, jerky movements. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and shoved his arms through the sleeves, buttoning it up completely wrong in his haste.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice rising in panic as I watched him dress.
"I’m leaving," Alaric said bluntly, not even looking at me as he looked around for his shoes. "There is no point in staying here right now."
"Alaric, wait! Why are you acting like this?!" I rushed forward, stopping a few feet away from him. "We literally just had an amazing, perfect night together! We were happy five minutes ago!"
"It’s not about tonight, Nico!" he snapped, shoving his feet into his shoes without unlacing them. "I just can’t stay here right now. I refuse to sit in this room and listen to another word of this bullshit!"
"Fine! I’ll take it back!" I said desperately, spreading my hands wide. "I take back what I said about retiring! Okay? Just please... don’t leave like this."
But Alaric was already making his way out of the bedroom, walking briskly down the hallway toward the front door.
"Alaric, please! Can’t we talk about this?!" I called out, following right behind him in nothing but my sweatpants that I had quickly pulled on. "Instead of walking out, you can just tell me what I should do! Tell me what you want me to do to make this work out, and I’ll do it!"
Alaric reached the front door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open. He stopped right at the threshold, turning his head slightly to look at me over his shoulder. His expression was completely closed off, guarded by the high walls he used to keep up between us.
"We should probably give ourselves some distance," he said quietly, his voice dangerously calm now. "We have a race coming up, Nico. We both need to focus."
"Distance?!" My stomach dropped. "No, Alaric, don’t do this. Let me come with you down to the car. Let me walk you out—"
"No," Alaric cut in sharply, stepping out into the hallway. "Do not follow me. Remember, we are lying to the world. Our relationship isn’t public, and you already made that very clear to the media. Someone could see us."
His words felt like a sharp slap to my face.
He didn’t give me a chance to reply. He turned on his heel and walked straight toward the elevator at the end of the quiet hallway.
I stood in the open doorway of my apartment, my chest aching as I watched his back recede. I couldn’t just let him walk away like this—not when everything was so broken between us.
"Alaric!" I called out, my voice cracking in the silence of the corridor.
The elevator doors chimed, sliding open in front of him.
Alaric paused for a split second right before stepping inside. He didn’t look back at me, but his voice carried clearly down the hall, cold and distant.
"Nico."
The silver elevator doors closed between us, cutting off his face, cutting off his scent, and leaving me standing alone in the dark hallway.