favourite / lando norris

fifteen

"No Soichi means?"

"One week off!" The team cheers, high fiving each other as Zak shakes his head with a grin.

With a P6 and P7 in hand via Lando's performance the last two races, the entire team's been buzzing for a smidge of time off to decompress before Singapore.

The momentum Lando's had has been an amazing boost to his confidence as well and I couldn't be more excited.

Well, I could...

I spare a glance over to where Trevor's lingering in the corner. He's caught up chatting with one of his friends but I know he's waiting for an opportunity to pull me away.

I've been avoiding him since yesterday, pretending to be asleep so I could ignore his calls and picking up extra work to stay busy during the race. I even turned off my read receipts.

Lando adjusts the arm over my shoulder, the grin never leaving his face as crew members continue to come over and applaud his performance.

Hiding in plain sight with Lando may be a low blow but at least I know Trevor won't approach when there are so many people around us.

"Lando!" Okay so maybe I was wrong. "Lando, Lando, Lando, my man! Lemme introduce you to some of my buddies, they're big fans."

How Trevor got over here so quickly is a mystery. But he's here and he's playing nice and his friends are all looking pretty excited to be meeting McLaren's number one driver.

Mindful of the cameras still lingering around, Lando plays nice as well. He introduces himself to everyone, shaking hands and taking photos, though he never steps too far away from me.

He doesn't know. I know he doesn't know because I haven't said a word to anyone...but he knows something is off. And I know he'll ask about it as soon as we're alone.

He always does.

For now, though, I'm in the clear. Until Lando gets sucked into a conversation with Trevor's friends and he's pulling me out of the garage and into the pit box area with a grimace.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He snaps, his entire attitude shifting as soon as we're away from the others.

I'd let it go in the past. I'd let him have his tantrums and stunted emotional maturity and his back and forth because he said he loved me. He'd snap then apologise and make everything right and then it'd happen all over again.

When I don't respond, when I stay quiet instead of apologising and simply stare up at him, his mood worsens. "You know how bad it looks to have my girl hanging off some dude when I'm standing right there?"

I laugh, shaking my head at his 'concern'. "He's my best friend, stop acting so weird." Trevor's face goes red.

"Best friends don't fucking touch each other like that."

"And boyfriends aren't meant to fuck other girls but I guess you've been doing that for a while, huh?" Trevor scoffs, rolling his eyes and stepping closer.

Too close, close enough to tower over me and send my heart into a worried pounding.

"You tryin' to accuse me of something, Arden?"

I almost say no. I almost shake my head and back off and play the safe game of pretending. Trevor would let me. He'd ignore what I'd just said if I apologised enough..."Who's Winnie?"

"No."

"No?"

He shakes his head, roughly grabbing my wrist and tugging me forward. "No. Fuck no! We're leaving."

"Trevor!"

"No. No! Not here. You're not doing this. Fucking hell," When I yank my arm away, Trevor finally steps back, opening up my line of sight to see Lando leaning against the entry to the garage.

He lifts a brow as we make eye contact and I know what he's wanting to say. 'Why do you let him treat you like that?'

Now I see what he means.

When Trevor comes back toward me, his composure dissolving as he loses control, I step up to him. I press into his space before he can take over mine and I stand my ground.

"How long have you been cheating on me?"

Lando's reaction is immediate. He's off the wall and moving toward us and if it weren't for Jon intercepting, shaking his head and pushing him back into the garage, I'm almost positive he would've thrown a punch.

Trevor's reaction, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. I don't know why I never noticed it before, the way he switches moods like this is all some kind of game.

Seeing that anger isn't working, he changes over to despair.

He reaches for me, grasping at air when I step away. "Arden, baby, come on, you don't know what you're talking about. You know I wouldn't do that. Babe," he reaches for me again, huffing in frustration when I step away again.

Sparing a glance at my watch, I can't help the smile that creeps onto my face. "The paddock is closed to non-team personnel, Mr. Moore. You should probably leave before security comes to collect you."

"What?"

"Give my love to Winnie, yeah?" As I say that, the final nail in the coffin, I wave over a passing F1 Experiences host. "Excuse me? Could you please show Mr. Moore and his guests to the exit? They're needing a bit of help and I'd hate for them to encounter any issues with security on their way out."

The host nods, introducing himself before herding Trevor through the McLaren garage, picking up his friends along the way.

Only when they're gone do I let my emotions get the best of me. And before anyone can see a single tear, Lando is there, pulling me into a crushing hug.

"You okay, smoosh?"

"I will be."