Glass House - Lando Norris

Chapter 1

August 2019.

Lando Norris just came back from the Belgian Grand Prix in Hungaroring, where his best friend, Charles Leclerc had won. It was a good race.

There was still time until the Italian GP so he went to proceed with his move. He decided to rent a small and low-profile looking apartment in the center of London. Finally 20 this year, he wanted to experience living by himself and away from his parents, though only temporary.

Stepping down from his car and stared at the white colored, half old looking building in front of him, he smiled widely. It's perfect, he thought. The move was quick and the staff that helped him move his things excused themselves. He thanked them and escorted them out of the building.

On the far end of the hallway on the second floor was his very own unit. He smiled to himself proudly, looking at some unloaded boxes on the floor, waiting to be opened. Guess who's not sleeping tonight.

He left the door open to get some air flowing in the unit and glanced at one particular door right in front of his. His unit was on number 204 and the other one right across was 203. He wanted to greet them and introduce himself but he was a little shy so he thought maybe next time. Okay maybe not 'a little' shy but very much like 'very shy' almost to the point of being socially awkward.

He was busy setting up his sim rig and PC while sitting on the floor. Suddenly a loud bang echoed across the hallway, he tilted his head towards the front door. It's coming from the 203. He hesitated but rose to walk towards the door. Should he knock on the door and ask if everyone's okay, or should he just... do nothing?

Another bang startled him and he jumped on his place a little. Mouth agape. What is happening? This one sounded very close to the front door. He's concerned but also afraid at the same time. With one swift motion, he closed his door and took a peek from the peephole.

Geez, I'm such a pussy.

Just right after that, a girl with brown hair and glasses ran out of the door of 203 and snapped it close behind her back. She's now practically facing Lando's door while trying to hold her sobs. She was crying.

He noticed that she's wearing a simple, slightly crumpled white t-shirt. Her hair was in a messy bun and when he said about the mess, it really was messy. Almost like someone had just yanked her hair hard or something...

"Get back here, Darlene!" a loud male voice boomed from the door and the girl jumped in shock a little. She stepped away from the door, trembling. Look of fear plastered across her face when looking at that door. She slapped the phone on her hand because it wasn't responding. "Shit" she mumbled even closer to Lando's door. The boy could hear it clearly. She ran out of batteries.

Then he saw her hurriedly run away towards the staircase, looking back once or twice in hesitation. Lando licked his lip, a habit he usually does while thinking. Should she go after her? Will it even help or is it just gonna make things even worse? He groaned to himself, rubbing his temples. Maybe it's none of my business.

Two hours had passed since the incident. His PC had finally set up and so was his sim rig. He could finally rest and perhaps play some video games. He'd like to stream on his twitch but he realized that he was pretty tired already. So Lando decided to throw away some of the trash, including the box and everything that he didn't need anymore to clear up some space in the small apartment.

"Thanks mum for teaching me how to do my own chores," he mumbled to himself while picking up the hefty trash and card boxes.

He reached the backyard of the apartment and found the big trash bin on the back.

It was summer but it could be pretty cold in the evening just like today. He wanted to rub his hands together but his hands were full. When Lando arrived right in front of the big trash bin, he saw the girl from earlier was sitting on the concrete little staircase connecting the back door. She was taking a long puff from her cigarette.

"Oh, I didn't know you could go through there," Lando pointed at the back door right behind her. She glanced at his face and managed to smile a little. "You must've gone all the way through the front door, right?" she said.

He looked at her rising her cigarette towards her lips again and noticed her hand was a little trembling. There was a bruise on her wrist and her eyes were a little swollen. Maybe from crying, Lando thought.

"Yeah, so stupid, I know," he managed to chuckle a little and walked towards her. His hands in his pocket. "You must be the new guy. I'm Darlene," she said curtly.

"The name's Lando."

"Nice to meet you, Lando."

He noticed that she was only wearing a thin t-shirt and a black shorts in this cold weather. "Are you not cold?" he asked her out of concern. He wanted to lend her his jacket but maybe she's just gonna think that he's a creep or something.

She managed a thin smile. "This," she pointed at her half burned cigarette, "this kept me warm. If that makes sense?" she shrugged. "You want one?", she offered him the box.

"Oh, no, thanks. I'm an athlete. My trainer would've killed me." he politely refused. "Athlete? What kind of sport?" Darlene grew curious. Lando's lip curled upwards into a smile. She didn't know who he was.

"I play golf." he lied.

"Like professional golf?"

"Yeah, sort of."

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A/N:

Hi everyone! It's Kiana again. If you read my other work (Not My Sister) then you probably know that I felt sorry for Lando's character in that fic so I decided to write something with him as the main character. And here it is! It's currently ongoing and don't worry, I'm not abandoning the first project. I'm going to give it a closure, that's a promise.

If you haven't read my first book, feel free to do so! English is not my first language so please bear with me. Don't hesitate to comment. I'm always open for positive inputs. Thanks and I hope you enjoy it!