The Chequered Flag || Lando Norris

10 | The Trick

"There she is!" Max shouted as Lando and I walked up to him.

We had made our way through security and were in our terminal. Oliver, Tom, and Connor were nowhere to be found.

"Stop it, ya' muppet. You're gonna scare her." Lando shot a look at his best friend.

"Why would that scare me?" I said laughing at Lando's worry.

"Oh my God," Max said, "you really are American." He turned to Lando, "I thought you were joking."

"Why the hell would I joke about that?"

"Dunno." Max shrugged. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you."

"You as well." I said. "You have no idea how many of your streams I've watched."

"Thank you!" Max said to me, then turned to Lando, "Suck it mate! She's not just your fan!" He held up his hand for a high five from me, and I laughed as I followed through with the gesture.

Something seemed to click in my head, and I made a mental note to ask Lando about it when we were alone.

As we waited for the rest of the group to show up, Lando, Max, and I talked about what we were going to do in Croatia. Eventually, Max got up from the seats we were in to get a bottle of water.

I waited until he was well out of earshot before I turned to ask Lando what had been in the back of my mind for the last ten or so minutes. "Max lives with you right?"

"Yeah..." Lando said slowly, the question in his voice evident.

"Why'd he come here separately?"

Lando seemed almost relieved that that was all I had asked. "He had to run some errands this morning, so he came separately.... I also wanted to spend time with just you this morning before we were caught up in everything." He said with a shy smile.

I rested my head on his shoulder before turning to ask him the real question on my mind, "Was Max at your house when we..."

"No." Lando hurriedly told me.

"He asked me to leave." I heard a voice say behind me. I turned to find Max back.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means I was enjoying my time alone in the house when I got a text from this one that just said 'leave'."

"I'm sorry," Lando said, "I didn't really have time to send details."

"That's besides the point," Max said, "it was unfair. You could have told me that I might be needing to leave. I was comfortable."

Lando sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't know it was going to happen mate. I texted you as soon as I did."

I sat there laughing at their bickering as it went on. "Let me get this straight," I said, "Lando, you texted Max just one word, 'leave', never giving a second thought to the fact that he might think something was really wrong? And Max, you got the text, and you just did what he told you to, not even asking for clarification?"

Both boys looked flummoxed as I laughed away at the story. That's when Oliver, Tom, and Connor walked up.

"What an odd sight." Oliver said, "My brother and his best friend looking down at their hands while a girl sat between them is cracking up." Oliver turned his attention to me, "I like you already." I could hear the warmth in his voice as he laughed a little.

"Just helping them get a story straight." I said, standing to greet the rest of the boys. "Hi. Cami."
I said with a wave.

"Oliver."

"Tom."

"Connor."

I took note of each boy, making sure to remember their names.

"Okay, I think I got it." I said once I was satisfied I'd committed it to memory.

"You're American?" Connor asked.

"Yes, mate." Lando said, "I already told you that."

"I thought you were joking." Connor said with a shrug.

"Does nobody take me seriously anymore?" Lando asked.

"You say that like we have before." Oliver said with a laugh.

Lando rolled his eyes at his brother, "Well, we better get on the plane if we want to meet Martin on time."

"Yeah, I've been texting with him. He says the place is ready for us." Tom said.

We spent the next two hours on the plane joking around and getting to know each other. The boys took a genuine interest in me and my life, and they shared a bit about themselves as well. At one point, I noticed Lando watching me with a grin on his face.

We were sat beside one another, and when the boys decided to spend a little time on their own for the last half hour of the flight, Lando's hand slipped into mine. I put my head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of my head. "What did I tell you?" He whispered in my hair, "You have nothing to worry about, they love you."

"We'll see if that stays the same." I said before closing my eyes.

I felt Lando's head fall on top of mine, and we both drifted off to sleep.

. . .

I was shaken awake, and my eyes snapped open. It took a second for me to realize that it wasn't me that was being shaken, but Lando. Max had gotten out of his seat and was violently shaking Lando to wake him up. Max was failing, Lando was still sound asleep, his head rested on mine.

Max noticed that I was awake, "Oh, sorry, I just can't get him up." He complained.

I fished into my pockets, and pulled out my phone, "I think the trick is a ring tone." I said, finding Lando's contact in my phone. I pressed the call button by his name and flinched as his phone started blaring.

Lando groggily woke up and answered it, "Hello?"

Max burst into laughter as I giggled a hello to Lando through the phone.

He turned to me, his eyes half open. Recognition sunk in and he shut his eyes and hung up.

"I think we're here Lando." I told him.

"Okay." He said, his eyes still sealed shut, "Five more minutes."

"No, mate." Max said. "Up, up."