Missing You // Lando Norris

Ch. 25

lando's pov.

"You were gone when I got back." She narrows her hazel eyes as she looks at me, peering into my soul, assessing each and every one of my movements.

"Yes, I know, I should've left a note or- " I attempt to protest, her scoff interrupting my train of thought. Tension hangs in the air, and I'm unsure if she'll ever forgive me, though I truly cannot understand the depth of her agitation. An air hangs over us, indignant.

"You know Lando, it's hard to believe that you possess the ability to care for any one but yourself." Her wrath boars into me, wrapping its scaled talons around my throat - any confidence, cockiness, evaporated.

Her demeanour is unnerving. She's looking at me, observing me with skilful contempt, and yet I feel as though she's looking past me.

"You love to throw accusations like that around, don't you?" A faint gleam of confidence appears to reside within me as I nervously brush a hand through my hair, desperate to leave this room even though I've only just entered it. Regardless, I've never been one to back down, and the blonde in front of me can do little to change that. I narrow my eyes.

"Oh, so now you've come here to lecture me?" Her arms cross, her tongue pushing against her cheek in angst. Her angst towards me is beginning to annoy me. 

"No, I came to apologise, but you're making this so bloody difficult Anastasia!" I sigh, rubbing my fingers across the nape of my neck. She observes the movement.

"Oh, apologies Lando! I'm sorry things haven't gone your way as they always do." Her words brand me, diminishing me, and yet there's a certain vulnerability behind them, her own insecurities projected. I scratch my neck again. "Stop doing that. You always do that and it makes your neck red." She sighs, frustration spilling from her lips.

I still have little understanding of why she's this upset with me.

"You need to grow up and stop doing that." My words fall flat, met with a startled expression on Anastasia's face. I appear to have surprised her, for once.

"Doing what?" Her mouth purses into an 'o' shape, her eyes shining with bewilderment. She tilts her head.

"Treating people as though they have perfect lives and you're the only one whose ever been through shit. You're not Anastasia, I'm sorry but someone has to tell you this. You shun anyone and everyone around you if they express anything other than gratitude for their predicament, even if you know absolutely nothing about them at all. You need to stop." My own words startle me.

"Bold from you Lando, when you do the exact same. Besides, how dare you come here and scold me. You really think that's what I need?" A glint of sadness crosses her eyes, her staunch demeanour breaking for a minute moment. She's right, now isn't the time for this.

"I came to apologise. I couldn't stay away." My words are clarifying yet arcane, and I don't quite realise what I've said until it's too late.

"I wish you had." She sighs, her hand running over the smooth white bed sheets of her bed. An alarm goes off outside the room, the noise of feet scrambling ensues. And then, silence.

It was true. For some, incongruent, abominable, reason; she'd been all I could think about.

There was, of course, the worry over her safety. It had been an unpleasant task, finding Anastasia, lifeless on her bathroom floor. It had been even worse, worrying for hours, in the corridor, whether or not she was okay.

And yet, even now, when I knew she would be okay, thoughts of her consumed me. 

I felt the urge to protect her, to prevent this from ever happening again, an unnerving sense of belonging having washed over me. So, I decided I'd apologise, even though I truly did not know what for.