It's never as it seems [Lando Norris]

Chapter 1

Emilia lets out a sigh of relief when she puts the last bags down on the floor of her new apartment. She looks around the space, walking through the open living and kitchen before peeking in the bathroom, spare room, and bedroom. She hums when she sees the made bed, thinking to herself that she should text her mom and dad to thank them for putting the basic furniture in the apartment before she arrived here. "Okay, let's unpack first and then eat" she says to herself, dragging her feet towards the suitcases at the door before she walks back towards the bedroom to unpack her clothes. It feels good to be back in the UK again after studying abroad for two years. She loved it, but she had been missing home more and more the last few months. She falls down on the matrass with a thud, closing her eyes for a second when the suitcases with clothes are unpacked.

The ringing of the phone shakes her from her nap and she sits up straight, looking around the room in confusion until she sees her phone on the floor. She picks it up, smiling when she sees that it's her mom calling. "Hey mom" she answers, walking towards the kitchen to get a glass of water while her mom talks to her through the phone. "Yeah, I would love it if you guys came over at the end of this week! Maybe we can go shopping for furniture and accessories together and then have dinner?" she asks, humming when her mom agrees excitedly. "How about Friday darling? I'll make sure dad does the grocery shopping and then we can go furniture shopping together?" her mother asks, and Emilia agrees with a smile. "I can't wait! I'm going to fix myself some dinner now, see you Friday mom" she says, humming when her mom sends her kisses through the phone.

She looks around the room satisfied when she's done with putting the few things she brought with her on their places, nodding to herself before walking back to the kitchen to clean up her dishes from her dinner earlier tonight. She smiles when she sees Max' face popping up on the screen when he calls her, chuckling when she remembers that he still thinks that she's not back in the UK yet. "Hi Maxie" she says, smiling when he groans. "First of all, stop calling me that. Second of all, hi Emmie. You arrive tomorrow, right? I can pick you up if you want, me and the boys will golf for a bit but if you let me know when you land, I'll come and pick you up" he says, excitedly drumming his fingers on the back of his phone case. "Oh that's sweet of you, but my parents will pick me up, so it's not needed! Where are you golfing tomorrow?" she asks, typing the name of the golf club in her notes before she chats with him about how excited they are that she's moving back.

Max has been one of her oldest and bestest friends. They met years ago when they went to the same school, sitting next to each other in a lecture and becoming inseparable ever since. While he spent a lot of time karting and racing, she spent a lot of her spare time golfing. One of the reasons for studying abroad for two years was to participate in more international golf competitions. She loved the fact that Max had started golfing a while ago, and she couldn't wait to surprise him at the course tomorrow and beat his ass. They had seen each other 5 months ago for the last time when he visited her during his holiday, but she knew that it wouldn't be awkward with him after such a long time. it always feels like they saw each other yesterday when they meet up again. Softly singing along with the song she looks around the room, putting her golf supplies in the hallway before making her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

The door falls in the lock behind her while she walks towards her car, groaning when she can't get her car keys from her pocket while carrying her golf bag. She puts it on the backseat after successfully getting her keys, closing the door before walking towards the driver's seat and sitting down. She puts her playlist on before typing the golfclub Max mentioned in the navigation, bobbing her head along the music while she buckles her seatbelt and drives the car out of her street. She has never been to this golfclub before, but Max has sent her various videos of him and his friends golfing there, and it looked like a decent place. It wasn't that much of a drive either, so if it was as good as it looked, she had a new place to play at.

She smiles at the girl that's at the register box, giving her name and paying for the day pass before she makes her way towards the course. She squints her eyes, looking at the various groups of people that are on different spots on the grass, grinning when she hears Max' voice somewhere farther away. She puts her bag on one of the golfcarts, driving towards the sound and chuckling when she can see him with two of his friends. She stops the golfcart a few feet away from them, taking her bag before slowly strolling towards the guys. She shakes her head when Max hits the ball, "what the fuck was that shot, Fewtrell?" she asks, putting her bag down when she's a little closer. Max stares at her with a confused face, blinking a few times before he lets his golfclub fall on the grass, jogging towards her before wrapping his arms around her. "What the hell! Emmie, how are you here already?" he asks excitedly, putting her at arm's length to look at her before he hugs her again.

"Surprise!" she giggles, hugging him back while basking in the feeling of the comfort of her friends arms. "Surprise indeed! I thought you were flying home today! Can't believe you've been lying to me already" he scoffs, smiling at her brightly when they pull away from each other. "I know, I've been back for two days already and when you told me you were going to play golf, I figured that would be a great opportunity to surprise you" she tells him, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Man, I'm so happy you're back! Where do you live now?" he asks, taking her bag while he strolls towards his friends with her while she tells him where she lives now. "No way! Lando and I live super close Em. God, I'm going to annoy you so much" Max chuckles, yelling when Emilia smacks him hard. "Anyways, these are the friends I've told you about before. That's Tom and this is Lando" Max says, pointing at the two guys who look at her curiously.

Lando stares at Max and the girl that he's hugging. He remembers Max talking about Emilia coming home, but he can't remember his best friend telling him that she's absolutely breath taking. She's wearing a light blue golf dress, the zipper of the top of the dress unzipped for a bit which shows off her sun kissed skin and a shiny gold necklace. Her chestnut-coloured hair is pulled back into a slick ponytail and her smile makes him weak in the knees when she looks at him. He curses under his breath when she and Max make their way over to him and Tom, and he moves to stand as normal as possible while he tries to not stare at her too obvious. She introduces herself to Tom first, smiling brightly at him before she moves to Lando. "Hi! I'm Emilia, but you probably know that by now" she says, smiling at him when she sees his cheeks turn slightly red. "H-hi, I'm Lando" he chokes out eventually, face palming himself inwardly when he hears himself stutter.

She smiles softly at him, making his heart flutter when the sun hits her face and he sees the small freckles on her cheekbones and nose. 'Get a grip mate' he thinks to himself, smiling back at the gorgeous girl in front of him before she turns around and tells Max that she'll show him how he has to golf. Lando raises an eyebrow at Max, signalling an "is she for real" to his best friend. Max just grins at him before he focuses his attention on Emilia. She rolls her shoulder, flexing her muscles in her neck and arms before she takes her spot next to the ball. Lando watches curiously, surprised when she takes a very good stance. "Beginners luck?" he whispers to Max and Tom, looking sideways when Max lets out a chuckle. "Yeah mate, definitely beginners luck" he answers, nodding at Emilia to tell Lando to look at the girl in front of them. She hits the ball perfectly, watching how it flies through the air before it lands on the grass, rolling towards the hole before it pops in smoothly. "What the fuck" Lando mumbles, staring at the satisfied face of Emilia. "That, my friends, is how we golf."

The group of now four plays some more golf, Emilia easily beating them all, much to their dismay. "I like this place" she says while they make their way back, bumping her shoulder against Max', "you're going to get beaten here more often now Maxie." Max rolls his eyes at her, turning to Lando before he asks if he's okay with asking Emilia to stay for dinner. Lando nods, cringing slightly when he remembers what state their house is in. Before he has the chance to say something he hears Max excitedly asking Emilia to stay for dinner, and he smiles slightly when she looks at Lando for confirmation first before she nods happily. "I'd love to! I can't wait to see where you live" she tells Max. Lando walks towards her when they reach the cars, telling her the address while she's putting her bag in her car. He blushes when she smiles brightly at him.

"Thank you for letting me join you guys for dinner, I can't wait to get to know you better" she tells him, resting her hand on his arm for a second before she walks towards the driver's seat.