bucket list || l. norris

twenty two

* hey hey hey! here's another chapter for you. enjoy! don't forget to vote and comment as you go. i'm having a difficult time right now so i need the support lol. thank u <33 *

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"Mila, please, can we talk?" I could hear the sincerity and desperation in his voice. He was very much pleading with me to make this right. He had all weekend to pester me with it, and he found it now appropriate to find me on race day, early in the morning, before I'd even started sorting things with Lando for today. "I know you don't want to listen, but I just want to apologise. Please."

"I don't have long, Callum." I glared at him after consulting the time on my watch. Ten minutes until I needed to be back with Lando, to get some breakfast before we headed to his first media session of the day.

"I'm so sorry. What you saw was just a silly joke, I swear, but now I know that without the context, it looks so much worse," we were in the middle of the paddock, closer to the Ferrari hospitality building than McLaren. Callum also had a race to prepare for and didn't have the time to sort all of this out with me. "I only have feelings for you, Mila. You know that. No matter how you feel about me, I'll wait for you and I'll appreciate your feelings, too. You're the most beautiful girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, for goodness sake. Not hearing from you has genuinely crushed me. I missed you."

His words were sweet. He was so nice to me despite the fact that I didn't feel anything towards him, and he had all of these feelings for me. It felt very one-sided and I didn't want to hurt him. However, his silly comment on that girl's Instagram picture hurt me. I sighed while looking at him, then glancing at my watch. I was worried about missing breakfast with Lando and I didn't want him to start worrying.

"I know you need to go, but please, just forgive me. Understand that it was harmless and silly, that I regret it and only have feelings for you. I'd never use a pick-up line on her, only you, Mila," Callum's words made me giggle, while my cheeks began to heat up. "I love seeing your smile."

"I know you do," I sighed. There was absolutely no need to hold a grudge against him. I'd learnt not to do that, and hold petty things against people. I was already over the whole comment thing anyway, mostly because Lando did everything in his power to distract me from the thought, but that was irrelevant and Callum didn't need to know. "I'm sorry for overreacting over things, I forgive you."

"Thank you," Callum let out a sigh and stepped closer towards me, lifting me into his arms and pulling me close. I couldn't relax much into his grip because I knew we were very much in the public eye and this could easily be taken out of context. Thankfully, he dropped me back to the floor in a matter of seconds. I was quick to look around, not wanting to have been caught on camera by fans, or by broadcasters. "Don't worry, nobody is around. I know you need to go, Mils. Just, call me when you get the chance, okay?"

"Sure," I smiled, giving Callum a nod of confirmation before I glanced at my watch once more. I had a few minutes to spare, so there was no need to rush. "Good luck today. I'll speak to you soon."

As I walked away, I let out a sigh of relief. That was easy, and I felt good now that we'd cleared the air. Despite that, I still couldn't help but consider my feelings. I wasn't really choosing between people, I was just trying to decide who I wanted to be with. It was confusing, and definitely not something to think about on a Sunday morning, hours before lights out.

"There you are!" Lando greeted me with a smile as I re-entered the McLaren hospitality building. He glanced at his watch and tapped it, lifting his eyebrows in a questioning manner. "I'm not going to ask where you've been, but I got breakfast for you, and it's already in my room. I told mum I would FaceTime her, considering your parents are there."