Chapter 4: The Damage Is Done

On a sunny Friday afternoon, Sparky entered the garage of the Racers' home to see Speed working on the Mach 5.

Upon hearing someone walk in, Speed backed out from under the hood, and rolled his eyes when he realized that the footsteps belonged to Sparky. Shaking his head with aggravation apparent, he ducked back under the hood.

"Hey, Speed. Is something wrong?" Sparky asked walking over to his buddy.

"I'm just checking the oil," Speed said in an unfriendly voice as he stood up from under the hood and walked away from Sparky.

"I don't mean is there something wrong with the Mach 5. I meant with you," Sparky said scratching his head as he watched Speed grab a rag to wipe off his hands.

Speed shot a resentful look at his friend and said, "You just came from Trixie's place. Didn't you?"

Sparky watched as Speed continued to forcefully wipe the oil from his hands. "Uh...yes. I did just come from Trixie's place," he said as he leaned under the hood of the Mach 5 as if to check what Speed had just checked. He was hoping it would change the subject.

"Is something going on between you two?" Speed demanded to know as he threw the rag to the ground.

Sparky's head popped up so fast that he almost hit the back of it on the hood. Once from under it, he saw how serious Speed was and couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Speed asked getting angrier as he folded his arms.

Stopping his laughing, Sparky became worried that Speed was going to push him back under the hood of the Mach 5 and then close it on him. "Speed," Sparky said holding both of his hands up in front of him as if to keep Speed away. "You know that Trixie and I are just friends and nothing more. I've just been checking on her."

"More like checking her out," Speed said seriously but then he unfolded his arms and broke out into a smile.

Sparky was relieved to see Speed's bad mood start to ease away. They didn't need a girl to come between them, even if Trixie wasn't just some girl.

Running his hand through his dark hair, Speed said, "I'm sorry Sparky. It's just that she's still avoiding me and it's been two weeks since we broke up. I thought for sure that she would be talking to me by now."

Walking over to Speed, Sparky put a hand on his shoulder, "Look, Buddy. She's still trying to get over you and seeing you now is still just too hard for her."

"I guess the damage is done and we'll never be friends again," Speed said sadly.

Sparky backed away from Speed and leaned on the Mach 5 taking note of how sad Speed really looked. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to be more than friends with Trixie again?"

Not being able to stop himself since Sparky had been so blunt, Speed said seriously, "I'll admit that I miss her, but I still want to be free." With concern in his voice, he asked, "Does she know that I've been seeing different people?"

Shaking his head no as he folded his arms, Sparky said, "I'm not about to tell her that I see you with a different girl every night. She's depressed enough."

"Look, I don't need a guilt trip," Speed said tired of feeling guilty about his decision to break up with Trixie.

"Good," Sparky said looking away from Speed, "Because I don't need a guilt trip for...taking her out tonight."

"What?" Speed exclaimed making Sparky look back at him.

"Speed, you know you're my very best friend, but I've got to get her out of her apartment."

Calming himself down, Speed paced a bit then stopped to take a breath and said, "Fine. At least she values your friendship."

"You know it's not a date, but I'm sure you have a hot date tonight," Sparky said as he nodded his head yes, so sure that he was right.

Speed smiled as he thought of Sandy. He had met Sandy two nights ago when he was with Diane, another pretty girl. Sandy had long, long sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes; yet another knock out. "Okay, so I do have a hot date tonight." Speed's smile disappeared as he said with concern, "I hope you and Trixie have a good time tonight even though you're only friends."

"That's all we'll ever be. Trixie just needs to be cheered up, and...you don't."

Smiling again, the young racer said, "I am having fun."

Sparky shook his head hoping Speed knew how lucky he was to always have girls flocking around him. "I have to tell you something," Sparky said very seriously as he looked Speed in the eye.

"What?" Speed asked as Sparky pushed off the Mach 5 still staring at him.

As if warning him, Sparky said, "I know that Trixie's not ready to see you with someone else yet."

"Don't worry. I think I'll just take Sandy out for a drive," Speed said making eyes as if planning on running out of gas so they could be stranded alone together somewhere.

.

That night Sparky headed over to a sport's bar with Trixie. He knew that she was still hurting but he was glad to get her out of her apartment, even if her smile was forced.

She knew she was lucky to have Sparky as a friend while she told herself once again that she would never turn Sparky against Speed since they were best friends.

Once at the sport's bar, Trixie tried to forget about the times she threw darts with Speed and played pool with him. She knew she had to move on with her life without him. In the bar with Sparky, she acted like she was having more fun than she actually was for Sparky's sake. He had been so tremendously good to her making her laugh; especially this night as he told guys that she was single.

One guy introduced himself to Trixie but when she was able to get away from him, she told Sparky she just wasn't ready to see other people yet. Sparky said he understood and talked her into throwing some darts. She had just thrown her last one when she headed to the board to pull all of her darts off of it.

Sparky waited to shoot his as Trixie began removing hers from the board.

"Sparky," someone said surprising him, "I didn't see your car here."

Turning to the familiar voice, Sparky saw Speed's surprised expression and the beauty who was practically glued to his side.

"Hi, Honey," Sandy said in a sexy voice as she checked Sparky out. "Speed didn't tell me how cute you are."

Sparky ignored her flirting and turned to Trixie. Trixie was looking at the darts in her hand as if she saw something funny. Walking back to Sparky as she continued to look in her hand she said with a laugh, "Sparky, I bent this dart." When she looked up, her smile immediately disappeared at seeing Speed; especially at seeing him with someone else.

Speed watched Trixie slowly began to back away as she then turned and headed towards the door to leave.

"Damn," Speed said running his free hand through his hair just before pulling away from Sandy.

"Damn it is right!" Sparky said upset. "I told you she couldn't handle seeing you with someone else yet!"

As Sparky ran to find Trixie, Speed called behind him, "Sparky, I swear I didn't see your car!"

About an hour later, Speed wasn't in the mood to be with Sandy anymore so he dropped her off as soon as possible and headed over to Sparky's apartment.

It was late when Sparky heard a knock on the door. He wasn't surprised to see Speed when he opened it. "What are you doing here?" the mechanic asked looking aggravated with his good looking friend, "I thought you'd be with Sandy."

"I wasn't in the mood to stay with her. I was too worried about Trixie."

"She's okay," Sparky said just before letting out a deep breath. "She told me she wanted to be alone so I left her at her apartment."

"Oh...okay," Speed said hoping that she really was fine.

"Why are you so worried about her?" Sparky asked, hoping that Speed would say he still had feelings for Trixie.

"Sparky. You know I still think of Trixie as a friend," Speed said as he turned around to leave, not waiting for a response.

Sparky watched as Speed got into the Mach 5 and pulled off. "Speed, I think you are feeling more for Trixie than you are even ready to admit to yourself."

Speed decided to pass Trixie's apartment knowing that he'd feel better if he saw her car parked outside, meaning that she was home safe and sound. To his disappointment her car was not there. "Did she go out by herself?" he whispered as he headed to the main highway.

For twenty minutes he drove through the parking lots of bars and one dance club but he didn't see her car anywhere. He was about to give up and check her apartment again until he spotted her car in the parking lot of a Karaoke Bar. "She's singing," Speed said as if he should have known.

Just as Speed walked into the crowded club, he heard Trixie's name being called over to the stage to sing the song she had chosen.

Speed quickly turned towards the stage to see her walk on looking very unenthused. He shot a nasty look at some guys who were whistling at her as she looked so down.

"Sing for us, Baby!" one of the guys yelled.

"Who cares about that?" another said checking her out. "I could just look at the pretty little thing just standing up there all night doing nothing."

The guys didn't know that Speed was staring at them very unhappily. He didn't like Trixie being thought of as a piece of meat.

Suddenly, a slow song started to play. At first Trixie started singing so low that she could barely be heard. As she got a little louder the crowd began to get very quiet so they could hear her beautiful voice more clearly.

"Man, this chick can sing," a guy behind Speed said.

The whole room listened as she belted out the song. It was amazing that someone so small had a voice so huge. Her emotions while singing the words to the song came straight from her heart. Her face expressed how hurt she was and singing that song became her therapy. She sang of how she had something special with someone and it would never, ever be the same again. He broke her heart, broke her trust in him, leaving her not knowing if she could ever fall in love again. What was she suppose to do? Would she ever be happy again?

Speed watched her pretty face on the screen above the stage. The sad state she was in was evident in her eyes.

"I'll make you feel better!" one guy yelled onto the stage after thinking she did indeed mean everything she was singing.

When the song was finished, she looked down at her feet, while the crowd went wild with applause. She lifted her head surprised at the loud applause. With the bright lights on her, she hadn't seen the crowd when she was pouring out her feelings while singing, and forgot about them. She had really been singing to try to start healing herself, not for attention.

Suddenly a guy screamed, "More!"

The crowd as well started to chant, "More, more, more!"

The crowd instantly fell in love with her because of her fantastic singing talent. Speed watched her shocked face and had to smile. Though his heart ached since he had been the cause of her misery, he was happy that people were letting her see how great they had thought she sang.

The DJ played another song by the same artist the last song was by, assuming that Trixie could sing that one too, and she did. The crowd was just blown away. She hit high notes so easily and in this fast song, she smiled. It was her first real smile in two weeks and she lit up the screen above with it. When she finally left the stage, Speed watched as guys approached her. She looked embarrassed, but she let one wearing a baseball cap take her hand and escort her over to his table full of friends. Speed knew he wanted her to meet new people, but not a whole table of guys under the influence of alcohol. He told himself to just remain calm and keep an eye on her. He was going to be her friend whether she liked it or not. For about an hour, he watched as the guys at the table bought her drinks and was surprised that she drank them very willingly as if trying to forget her pain.

Trixie couldn't believe the attention she was getting from the cute guys she was sitting with. Glad to be feeling better for a little while, she didn't care to know much about the guys but to just have a good time. These guys made her feel special and helped take her mind off of Speed. With her careless drinking, her morals went right out the window as she began to hang on the two guys she was sitting between.

Speed was furious as he watched her behave nothing like herself. To him there was just no excuse for her to be acting this way.

Not much after midnight, Speed watched as the guy with the baseball cap stood up from the table and pulled Trixie up along with him. She was laughing and almost fell over when the guy caught her by putting his arm around her waist.

Looking up at the guy, Trixie saw three of him as she looked into his dark, blue eyes and at his brown hair, which was coming out from under his baseball cap.

Fuming, Speed knew that this guy wanted nothing more than to take advantage of her. The young racer watched them walk to the door and then followed them out of the club. He was walking behind them in the parking lot when he yelled, "Hey. Let her go. She's coming with me."

The guy turned to Speed with his arm around Trixie and said, "Sorry, Buddy. But I saw this little hottie first. We're going to have a little fun with each other."

"Look," Speed said confidently as his temper started to boil over, "You don't want a fight with me."

"Who are you?" the guy asked, obviously not a racing fan.

"I'm a very close friend of hers," Speed said ready to pound the guy.

"You can have her later, but right now she's coming with me," the guy said with a smile as he looked at Speed. "After she gets a taste of me, she'll be begging me for more."

"I don't think so," Speed said positively, not liking what was on this guy's mind.

"You don't think so!" the guy said becoming angry. "If you want to fight, you've got it!"

"Who needs a long fight when all I have to do is throw one punch!" Speed roared and then decked the guy knocking him to the ground.

Trixie had almost fallen down with the guy till Speed grabbed her away from him. She laughed as if the whole thing was funny as Speed put his arm around her shoulders moving her towards the Mach 5. "I feel so weird," she said between laughs. "I think I need to sit down." She then tried to sit down in the middle of the parking lot.

"Stop it, Trixie," Speed said as he pulled her up putting her arm around his neck so that she had to stand as he continued on to the Mach 5 with her.

"You sound like Speed," she said laughing. "He gets so uptight sometimes."

Speed was afraid to tell her that he was Speed in fear that she'd tell him to get lost. But, who did she think he was? Didn't she care?

As if reading his mind even in her drunken state, she said in a serious voice, "I don't care who you are. Just take me to your place."

Speed looked at her and knew she didn't know what she was saying. "You can't do this again. What if that guy would have taken you to his place?" Speed shook his head feeling upset, knowing that Trixie would have never gone home with that guy if she was sober.

Finally, after they were both in the Mach 5, Speed pulled off heading to her apartment. On the way there he began to lecture her, "Trixie, I can't believe that was you back there, that you drank like that."

Trixie didn't answer him and he realized that she passed out.

When they got to her apartment, Speed tried to wake her, but she only turned her head and mumbled sadly as if she was dreaming about him, "I still love you, Speed."

Speed didn't say anything as he slipped his arms beneath her to lift her and then he carried her to her apartment. Luckily he had been able to find her key in her purse easily.

Once in the apartment, he carried her to the sofa and laid her sleeping form down on it. He knelt down on the side of the sofa and pushed her hair off of her forehead as she rested. "I'm sorry," he whispered and then kissed her softly on her cheek. Standing up he stared down at her, glad that he had found her that night before that jerk took her home. Shaking his head about the sad circumstances, he looked at her face again to see to his surprise, that her eyes were open.

Trixie felt lightheaded, not being able to see clearly where she was and how she had gotten there. She could just barely see someone standing over her wearing a blue shirt and white pants. "Speed?" she asked in a confused whisper.

He missed her sweet voice saying his name as he leaned very close to her and whispered, "Yes, Trixie. It's me."

Not knowing what reality was at that moment, Trixie reached her arms out and then wrapped them around Speed, making him lose his balance. As he fell on to the top of her, she tightened her arms around him.

With his hands on the sofa, Speed tried to push away from her but soon felt her lips on his. He knew he should stop her since she obviously was quite out of it, but he stopped trying to pull away because of the strength her kiss. As she deepened the kiss, he began to melt into her. He sighed as his arms slipped under and around her as they continued with their feverish kiss. He couldn't believe how he was responding to her after he had convinced himself two weeks ago, that he didn't need her anymore. What was worse was that over the last two weeks, he never felt this kind of pleasure with the other girls he had dated and he couldn't understand why. Every time he and Trixie had ever kissed, it was as if they were in another world. The fireworks he felt with her now were undeniable. Maybe Trixie just kisses good, he thought then dismissed that thought knowing down deep that there had always been a kind of magic between them. During the kiss he suddenly felt her arms slip from around him. Immediately he stopped kissing her and lifted his face to see that she had blacked out again. He started to feel worthless because he knew damn well if she hadn't been drunk, she wouldn't have kissed him. Lifting himself off of her, disappointment in himself took over. She was only supposed to be his friend now, and he wasn't even sure if she wanted that much with him. He began to feel very guilty for kissing her.

In another world, he walked into her bathroom. He ran the sink and began splashing cold water on to his face. When he was finished, he looked at himself in the mirror and yelled, "What the hell were you doing! You broke up with her! She's just your friend!" Calming down, he thought, I hope she doesn't end up remembering that kiss.

He suddenly jumped when he heard his named whispered. Turning to the bathroom door, he saw Trixie standing there with tears running down her face. Sadly she said, "It's so hard letting you go."

Speed looked down feeling like a supreme jerk and then lifted his face to hers again and noticed that she was looking very sick.

"I don't feel so good," she said holding her stomach.

Speed immediately pulled her over to the toilet and leaned her over it. He remembered a time he had too much to drink and she had been there to help him. Now it was his turn to help her, and he didn't think twice about it.

They had been in the bathroom a good hour while she got sick. Speed did help her, too. He rubbed her back and wiped her face with a wet rag. He even got a pillow for her to kneel on in front of the toilet. When he realized that she looked like she wouldn't be sick anymore, at least not for a little while, he left her and walked into her bedroom. Flipping the lamp on by her bed, he pulled the comforter and sheets down. Shaking his head sadly, he noticed that the picture she once had of him on her nightstand was gone. Walking back into the bathroom, he helped Trixie stand up from hugging the toilet. Gently, he leaned and lifted her exhausted body up and carried her to her bedroom. After laying her down on her bed, she closed her eyes and he began to take her shoes off. Covering her with the sheet, he sat down on the bed next to her and pushed her hair out of her face with a damp rag. Shaking his head, he said, "Tomorrow you won't remember anything that I'm about to say. Trixie...I think I love you, but I'm just not sure if it's as a friend or more. Tomorrow I will try to convince you that we need each other...at least as friends. I don't want you to avoid me anymore. Can't you stay in my life while I figure out what I want and who I should be with?" He leaned and brushed her cheek with a kiss and then sat in the chair that was by her window. He refused to leave her alone in her condition.

.

Will Trixie tell Speed to get out when she wakes up? Will she remember that kiss?

Does Speed think she'll wait around while he makes up his mind about who or what he wants? Doesn't he remember her saying she'd never take him back?