royal_musings | Being There for New Friends [for Shelby]

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Being There for New Friends [for Shelby]

It had been a while since she'd been back in the US - not since she'd finally gone over to make peace with everything that'd happen. Since then, Piper had been staying at either Adonis' stupid and ridiculous penthouse or the house that she'd promise to return more often. But it was okay. More importantly she was okay. Or would be.

She had made a decision to herself around Halloween, that she would return to the places that she'd put off for so long, being too afraid of the memories that had haunted her on occasion.

Truth be told, Piper had hesitated on taking Shelby up on her offer of visiting. It was one thing to meet in the Nexus where whoever may be still out for Piper's blood decidedly wasn't but it was another to bring any potential trouble to Shelby's literal front door. Which was why when she decided to visit Indianapolis, a city she hadn't been to in a number of years, she opted to stay at least the first night in a hotel in downtown Indianapolis. This gave her plenty of time to get a good feel of the city and see if it was a hotbed of supernatural activity - or if she'd have anything to worry about. She didn't get this far by being laxed in her own personal safety. Piper was sure that most ended up closer to Chicago which was only a few hours away.

Once she was settled into her room, somewhere around mid afternoon, Piper pulled out her phone and shot a text over to Shelby.

Hey, I know this is random but I'm in Indianapolis for a few days. Are you free for dinner and/or drinks?

She didn't want to put pressure on the other woman by any means, especially since it was her who randomly showed up in town.

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"Thank you, Shelby," Piper said with a smile, holding onto a small bag that was usually used for wine. She was dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a nice top, not going overboard but still something that was comfortable. "And thank you for having me over - dropping in on you like this," she said, stepping inside and looking around the beautiful home.

"This is for you and Peter," she said, handing over the bag with a bottle of Jameson. She was sure they probably already had plenty but she couldn't help herself.

"Oh, thank you. That's really nice of you." Shelby smiled and set the bottle on her kitchen counter; they might open that later.

She was quite proud of her house. It wasn't the biggest or the most expensive but it was a lot like her: blue-collar and with a lot of heart put into it. Shelby had done most of the renovations herself to make everything exactly the way she wanted, because she had no plan to ever move from this quaint suburban street maybe ten minutes from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Let me introduce you," she continued, walking with Piper through the living room (where two of her four Astor Cups sat encased on either side of the massive television) to the kitchen. "Peter, this is my friend Piper. Piper, this is Peter Fowler."

Even without the introduction, Peter would have been recognizable based on Shelby's earlier description of him. He was 6'2" and a bit lanky, well in shape but not athletic. Clean-shaven with a light in his green eyes, the dimples gave him a certain boyish look despite him being 36. And of course, there was the accent that rolled over every word perfectly.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said, and would have offered a hand if he wasn't finishing things up in the kitchen. "You two make yourselves comfortable and I'll grab this."

"I figured you probably already had some in stock but I've had the bottle around for a while from my last trip to Dublin and thought the two of you may enjoy it," Piper said with a smile. Shelby's home felt nice. It was warm and inviting; the perfect place to raise a family in. She took in the small details as Shelby lead the way into the kitchen.

He was just as Shelby had described him and she couldn't help but smile at the accent. "It's wonderful to meet you too," Piper said then nodded. "Thank you both for letting me drop in on you like this."

It had been longer than she'd care to admit that she's done something like this. Going to a friend's house for dinner, where it just felt normal. Going to Adonis' didn't exactly count and her feelings about the vampire were complicated at best.

"You have a beautiful home," Piper said to Shelby.

"Thank you. The moment I saw it, I knew it was my dream home."

Shelby's first goal for herself once she'd won the 2015 championship and had some extra money had been to buy herself a house. She wanted to move on from her apartment, as awesome as it had been, to something more permanent. That's what she had here now, someplace big enough for a family and a future.

She showed Piper to the dinner table before turning around to help Peter carry plates to the table. Even in domestic things the two of them were a team. It came from being stuck in the same house for the last eight months.

Once everyone was settled at the table with their chicken carbonara and their drinks, Shelby was happy to start the conversation. "What brought you into town?" she asked.

"I can absolutely relate to that feeling," she said with a smile. It had been the same feeling she'd felt when they arrived in London and saw the house David and Ben had bought years prior.

Piper settled in at the table and watched the two work together. She recognized the ease and familiarity as they worked together. Truthfully, they seemed good together and it was actually pretty cute to see. There was a part of Piper that wondered if they realized it themselves. Last she knew, Shelby was in a relationship with someone else. It wasn't her business really and she wasn't about to make it her business.

She took a sip from her drink before setting it down. "After Halloween, I decided I needed to face some of my memories. I flew into Chicago yesterday and will eventually head down to New Orleans. I haven't been back in about ten/eleven years. It's finally time to go back," she explained. "Along the way, I figured since I haven't been to Indianapolis for a bit, I could stop in for a few days and see the city," she explained with a smile. "It'll be a long drive but driving has always helped clear my head."

Shelby nodded knowingly. "It seems ridiculous to say, but I don't get to drive just to drive much anymore," she admitted. "I'm on the go so much for work, so when I do get home it's running errands or the time Peter decided to borrow my car."

She was giving him a playfully flat look at that. "You deserved it," he retorted. "Complaining about how bored you were laid up with your back." But they both knew she wouldn't have let him drive her Cobra unless she trusted him; that was her first car and she rarely handed over the keys.

"He had to nursemaid me for a bit when I threw my back out," she told Piper. "It was actually nice. Having someone here to look out for me while I recovered." And she reached over and gave Peter's free hand a squeeze as if to thank him again.

"Do you do a lot of traveling?" he asked Piper. Between him and Shelby the only traveling they did was to the cities in which their next races were.

"It doesn't seem ridiculous at all," Piper said, shaking her head. "When you drive so much for work, I can imagine you wouldn't always want to when you're not working." She took a bite of her food as she watched them with a smile. It was good to see someone so at ease with another like they were.

She laughed at the playful look Shelby shot at Peter and remembered a time or two she'd given the same look to David. She missed that more than she even realized or allowed herself to remember. "To have someone help you and look out for you while you recover is a great person to have," she agreed.

They were adorable.

At the question, Piper nodded. "A ton of traveling. Ever since I was 18. My friends and I did a bit of traveling after our high school graduation. We settled outside of London for a while but it wasn't long before I was traveling again. For work, primarily." It was perhaps the simplest explanation for it. Shelby knew of course after Piper had explained her life choices in the Nexus that evening. But, she didn't want to bring that mess to another's doorstep if she could help it.

"Shelby tells me your from Dublin," Piper said with a smile. "It's one of my favorite cities. I actually bought a place off the coast in Ireland."

He nodded. "Born and raised in Dublin. I moved here with my mom when I was 17," he said. "And she lived in London for four years."

They both had ties to Europe. Peter had moved to Indiana after his father had passed away, while Shelby had raced in Europe while waiting for her big break in IndyCar and still traveled to France each year for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. People sometimes didn't remember that she had started in sportscar racing before her open-wheel career.

"I still love that of all the places your mom could have gone, she went with Carmel, Indiana," Shelby quipped. Most people would have settled in a big city but not Peter's mom. "She still lives there too," he explained to Piper. "She loves salt of the earth midwest America."

And truth be told, so did he. Peter wasn't much for the big city hustle and bustle; he enjoyed the simple things in life. He'd been happy to work on a small race team with a few people that he loved and it was only his driver's desire to hit the big time that had brought the spotlight to him.

"I'm guessing Shelby told you all about what we do," he added, because he knew that she talked a lot about her work out of pure joy of it. "So what is it that you do?"

She nodded. "That's understandable. From what I understand, there was a lot of Irish immigrants who moved to the Midwest. I wondered if part of it was due to the people and the weather or something else," Piper said. She'd always been fascinated by other cultures, people and languages. She had learned a ton in those early years from David and Ben who had been around for much longer than either her or Jordan.

Piper grinned. "She did," she agreed with a nod. It was good though to find someone who was so passionate about what she did. Why else do it, especially something like that, if you didn't enjoy it?

"International relations," Piper explained, which had essentially become her cover story and in a way, not completely a lie. It simply was a step higher than any single country or state. "I'm taking a bit of a sabbatical and using part of that time for this trip." Although she didn't quite look it, Piper felt much older than thirty-two. She hoped this trip would help sort out some of the questions that were starting to pop up in her mind.

"Sometimes it's good to take some time away," Peter agreed with a small nod. "Unfortunately for us, since they're trying to run a normal season next year, we're only going to have about two months off."

He was eyeing Shelby when he said it because two weeks after the end of the 2020 season she was still a little tired and mentally worn out. A lot of that was due to her personal issues but he was concerned about her being ready to do it all over again by January. Not that he would say that to her because she'd insist that she was fine.

"I'm not even going home for the holidays this year, because of everything happening in the world," Shelby said. "Which is going to be fun. A Zoom version of Thanksgiving dinner while I try not to burn the kitchen down."

"I'm not going to let you burn the kitchen down," Peter said dryly. "You can't have me move in and then set the place on fire."

Shelby laughed. "This is what I live with every day. He might look like a gentleman, but he's a smartass."

"That is unfortunate. I hope both of you are able to get plenty of rest in during these next two months," Piper said. Though, she knew well enough how the holiday season could be and it would be January before you knew it.

She watched the way Peter eyed Shelby and allowed herself a little smile. Thinking of the holidays caused Piper to mentally pause for a moment. She wasn't on the run anymore or hiding, she could actually celebrate the holidays if she chose to. She pushed the emotion away for the moment, not even wanting to touch on that here.

Piper laughed at the smartass comment and gave Shelby a smirk. "The best ones usually are. My friend and I have traded our fair share of smartass and snarky comments. It keeps things fun and interesting, if you ask me." Smartass and snarky comments weren't the only thing she and Adonis tossed at each other but that was neither here nor there.

Although it was nothing Shelby or Peter was doing, Piper couldn't help but remember and miss that easy dynamic she'd had with David and Jordan. She missed the relationship she'd had with Adonis back in those days. The vampire was annoying but she wouldn't change him for the world. He was the only one who could get under her skin like he did.

"It's because he's known me so long," Shelby replied. "We go back nine years now. Peter was my strategist for my first two years in IndyCar, back in 2012 and 2013. Then he became my teammate again when Josef was picked up by Team Penske in '17."

That had been interesting to navigate. At first seeing him again had made Shelby tense and afraid, despite their friendship, because she saw Peter as a reminder of the past before her career had imploded. She didn't want to be reminded of that. It had taken a while to work at it and realize she could accept the positive things from that time in her life, without getting pulled back into the things that hurt or didn't work.

"Yeah, when we met we were practically kids," he commented. "And now she's complaining about feeling old."

Shelby laughed softly. She did start to feel her age when talking about things like her future or trying to start a family. The career of a professional athlete was so short that 34 was closer to the end than the beginning. But she was trying to say that less since Peter had pointed out he was two years older than her.

"It's just because I've had a lot on my mind recently," she protested.

"It does help when you know the person for as long as you have. It makes it easier to tease and not take it so personal on either end," Piper agreed with a little grin. Smartass and sarcastic comments were essentially Piper's MO with most people and it never mattered how long she knew the person.

Piper laughed and took another bite of her food. "To be fair, I definitely relate to that feeling of getting older," she mused. "What all has been going on since we last talked?" She got the feeling a ton had happened since Halloween but she wasn't going to press the issue if Shelby didn't want to talk just now. She was glad to see that the two had obviously made up since Shelby came to the Nexus upset.

"A lot. Too much," Shelby admitted. It was always important for her to take the first week after the season completely off and decompress, to switch back into being a normal person. Two weeks later now and she'd still not gotten that space. She was going to keep trying until she did.

"Peter moved in, officially," she commented. "I signed a new three-year contract with Team Penske. Decided to put off starting a family. And I broke up with my boyfriend." You had to love how she just slid that last one in there like it was nothing and was obviously trying to pretend it was fine.

Of course as the words left her mouth she didn't realize if she had told Piper about her fertility issues either so this conversation might be about to get very heavy. She took another long drink of her soda hoping she didn't just kill all the buzz.

"Well shit," Piper said with a small laugh, after Shelby went through the list of things and sat back in her chair. She wasn't laughing at Shelby. It just reminded her of herself when she was younger with something always happening. "I'm not laughing at you, truly. That's a lot for any one person to go through. I can relate."

"Congratulations on the new permanent roommate," she said glancing over at Peter with a smile then looked at Shelby. "And congratulations on the new contract." Considering how Shelby was talking that evening, Piper had a feeling that the woman would have a hard time leaving her team.

At the mention of putting off starting a family, she hadn't been told of the fertility issues but that was fine too. "As for the other two, I'm sorry to hear that." She recalled Shelby saying something about wanting to retire so she could start a family by forty. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't anyone's business but Shelby's. If she thought it was the right choice for her, then that's what mattered. "How are you doing with all of that," she asked, looking at her perhaps a touch more seriously than she'd been before. "The breakup and putting off starting a family that is."

"I'm working through it. Doing my best to get by."

That was the short answer. The full answer was much longer and a lot more emotionally complicated, which meant she wasn't going to spill it at the dinner table. Peter had already heard all of that, maybe too much, and Shelby wasn't going to make him listen to it again while she told it to Piper. Especially since the latest thing on her mind involved him.

But he was smart enough to know that as he pushed back from the table, starting to clear up. "Let me take care of the dishes," he suggested. "Why don't you two go downstairs and I'll catch up."

Normally Shelby would help him with the cleanup as well. But he was offering her an out, knowing there wasn't any way for her to answer that question that wasn't awkward. Piper would even notice him put his hand on her back as he stood up just to remind her that he was there, and he understood.

"Yeah, of course," she said, her tone a little more muted than before. "Come on, Piper, I'll show you the bar we have down in the basement."

Her house had come with a fully furnished basement that she had turned into a hangout space with a full bar and a pool table. Every trophy Shelby had won sat protected in cases along one wall, while the others were decorated with photos from her career. It was the place where she could just chill and appreciate everything that she had accomplished.

That was to be expected and truth be told, if that's where she left it, Piper would respect that as well. After all, she wasn't one to overly share in general. "Thank you, Peter. It was delicious," she said, truly meaning that. It had been one of her favorites. As they made her way down the stairs, Piper took in the home and the basement. Despite not knowing her as well as others, the home felt very much like Shelby's style.

"Your home is very you," she said with a smile.

She settled into one of the chairs and looked at her with a smile. "If you don't want to go through it again, I respect that. But I am here if you need to talk it out with someone."

"I just didn't want to make him listen to it again because it feels like all he's been doing is listening to me go on." Shelby chuckled softly. She used Peter as a sounding board, and he didn't mind doing it, but she felt like she had unloaded on him enough for the time being.

"It's just been crazy. I found out that I don't have enough eggs left to wait to have a baby the way I'd planned," she said, running a hand through her hair. "I thought about finding a donor and I actually had two people who volunteered, but I realized - God, this still sounds so selfish - that I'm not ready to leave my career yet. I don't want to give it up."

She exhaled.

"So I signed a new contract extension, and that was the beginning of the end of my relationship. Derrick wants to prioritize his career and he said he wasn't ready to have a family if I wanted one. So, you know, first relationship I've had in four years - the first one that's really meant something - and I get dumped."

She glanced up at the doorway for a second as if she wondered if her best friend was about to come downstairs and hear this. Satisfied that he wasn't she exhaled.

"I told Peter, and he kissed me. And I kissed him. And we are just not talking about it because I can't talk about anything anymore. I just need everything to be normal."

"I highly doubt Peter minds," Piper mused with a smile, if his actions upstairs was any indication. She sympathized with Shelby, knowing that having a family was important for her and to not have that guarantee would be hard.

Piper shook her head at the mention of being selfish. "It's not selfish at all," she disagreed. "You have to do what's best for you and your career is important to you. There's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make you selfish; you simply have other priorities."

She nodded and gave her a sympathetic smile at when she mentioned her breakup with Derrick. Just when she was going to open her mouth, Shelby explained that Peter had kissed her and then Piper hummed. "Ah, all that upstairs now makes a lot more sense," she mused. Not that friends weren't like that because lord knew, she and Adonis clearly weren't a couple but they worked together close enough that it could be taken like that sometimes. There was love there between Peter and Shelby and it clearly showed between the two of them.

"Getting dumped is never easy," she started. "And you're allowed to feel upset and/or hurt by it." Hell, she had no room to talk. She hadn't truly dated since David and that was a decade ago. "Well, it looks to me that you've settled into a new normal and that's not bad," Piper said with a gentle smile. "For now, it seems to me that there doesn't need to be any words said. He seems to understand you and the situation very well."

"He does. He's always been understanding." Shelby nodded.

Part of that was Peter's personality; he was that kind of person who had empathy for others and never minded being leaned on. The other part of that was that they'd come up together. They'd started their careers as a team and even though they were no longer working as one, they still had that familiarity with each other of going back almost a decade.

"I just never knew he felt that way about me," she admitted. "I mean, I used to have a thing for him ages ago, but that was a crush and...I don't even know if it's just something that happened in an emotional moment or...And I don't want to ask. I can't upset the only other close relationship I have right now. I can't take that stress."

She was emotionally spent at the moment. And who else was she going to talk to, Shane? He was the last person she should be taking personal advice from. A self-described asshole who wasn't dating and didn't want kids.

"Everything in my life has changed in two weeks. I've signed what might be my final contract. Decided I'm going to gamble with my future in order to be successful right now. And now I don't know how to feel about him except I know I do care."

She had put aside those feelings for a long time and now were they an actual possibility? If they were, did she still feel that same way? Could she take that risk, because they'd never be able to go back again? Unlike her and Derrick, who could patch things up, too much emotion had been invested in her and Peter's friendship to go back if they crossed that line.

"I'm just glad he hasn't brought it up."

Piper understood that. Who would want to upset the apple cart when you already had so many other things going on?

After a moment, Piper tilted her head and looked at her. "Is there a rush to get into another relationship," she asked. "There's clearly a lot of care and respect from both of you toward each other and the situation. You don't really have to rush into anything or make any big grand decisions about a relationship right now. Just let it unfold how it's going to unfold."

She smiled. "I bet he feels the way you do or he understands where your head is at." And likely knows it may not be the right time to discuss things like that. "When you're friends with someone for so long, they sometimes know you better than you know yourself."

"There isn't, no."

Shelby shook her head. She'd only been in love twice in her life, and ohly just gotten out of the first truly meaningful relationship that she'd had (high school didn't really count). She didn't need to jump right back into that again. Especially not with someone whom she'd just now been able to repair her friendship with in the first place.

They'd have to talk about it eventually. They knew that. There was nowhere to hide now that they lived in the same house. But they were in a sort of silent agreement that neither was ready to discuss it. She was in shock and Peter himself seemed surprised that he'd done it; she wasn't sure if it had sunk in for him yet either.

"He's an incredible guy. Fixing our friendship has been so good for me. I don't need to mess that up. Actually, I'd like to stop messing everything up and just get back to normal."

A glance around the room. "As normal as my life is I guess."

"Then that's what ultimately matters," Piper said, watching her. "Take the time for your friendship. All those websites say that any good relationship is built on a solid friendship first and foremost."

Piper's mouth quirked up. "I'm the wrong one to talk about any kind of normal. Even before my life was twisted upside down, I thought normal was highly overrated," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. Course, to be fair, Piper's life was never meant to be normal. She'd had hopes that she'd find some sort of stability but that was still to be seen.

"But you'll get there, if that's what you wish and work toward. Hopefully from here it'll smooth out for you both."

"My life stopped being normal when I won the pole for the Indy 500 as a rookie."

Shelby chuckled and walked toward one of the cases where that pole award still sat. She had been the first woman to ever lead the field to green at the 500, and the first rookie to do so in more than 10 years. And she'd done that with Peter, who'd had almost as much of a heart attack as she did.

"Wait for it, by the way," she says. "He's giving us space and then he's going to recommend dessert."

Until that moment, though, she leaned up against the pool table. "This is my equivalent of a man-cave. All the trophies are down here except for the Astor Cups. You saw those upstairs. I have so much other hardware it all had to go somewhere so this seemed like a good place. It was just a pain in the ass to get the pool table and the piano down the stairs!"

"That's fair," she agreed with a grin and watched her. "I knew I wasn't normal when I accidentally set my dad's dresser on fire," Piper admitted. To be fair, her Mom had just passed and she hadn't been in her right frame of mind. It had been the first time she'd realized what she could do.

Piper laughed. "I will always take dessert," she said with a shrug. It was nice though, that comfortable way the two worked together.

She nodded. "I can see that. It makes sense and a good place to have it." It was representative of everything Shelby had worked hard toward and that was to be respected.

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