Stay With Me- Lando Norris

5. So I Start A Fight 'Cause I Need To Feel Something

Aimee and Tom had entered something of an uneasy stalemate during the weeks that followed. They'd returned home to Woking, changing their flights on the pretence of Aimee still not being well enough to fly, avoiding the rest of the team.

Tom had made his usual apologies, promised her it wouldn't happen again and then headed back to work the day after they'd arrived home. Aimee had been forced to wait a few more days for the bruising to go down to a level she could actually cover it with make up before she could venture back into the office.

The prep was already well underway for the next race by the time she returned, and she'd kept her head down as much as she could to avoid people asking if she was feeling better and having to come up with increasingly inventive lies to tell them.

She wasn't travelling to the next race, she'd been asked if she could stay back to oversee something at MTC and allow one of the interns to travel which she'd accepted. It would give her a week at home without Tom, and would save her a week of tiptoeing around trying to avoid Lando like the plague so it was actually a win win situation for her.

She'd been back in the office for three days, the day before the rest of the team were due to fly to the race, when Lando eventually caught up with her.

"There you are." He greeted her warmly as he walked into the office, closing the door behind himself. "I was starting to think you were hiding from me."

"I was." She answered flatly, continuing to shove her belongings into her bag. She only had ten minutes before she was due to meet Tom to go home together and whatever this was about to be, was not a welcome addition to her day.

Lando didn't look at all phased by her displeasure at seeing him there. "How are you feeling, after... you know?" He asked, perching himself on the edge of the table.

"I told you I'm fine. We aren't talking about this." She shook her head at him, picking up the last of her things off the table and swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm worried about you, that's all." He said softly, standing up as she made her way around the table towards him to head for the door.

"And I told you not to be." She shot back. Her eyes kept darting nervously to the window behind them, knowing if Tom turned up and found her stood there with Lando all hell would break loose. The little bit of balance they seemed to have managed to restore in the aftermath of everything would be over in seconds.

"You can't say something like that after what I saw and expect me to just forget about it." He sighed in frustration.

The anger bubbled up inside Aimee and she chewed on her lip to keep herself from exploding at Lando. The anger was entirely misdirected, she was still fuming with Tom but she couldn't allow herself to say anything to him for fear of retaliation. Lando sat there winding her up was making himself an incredibly easy target though.

"No one asked you to get involved." She hissed back at him. "So just forget about it, do whatever it is you normally do with your free time and go find some model to hook up with in a club or whatever. I really don't care. Just leave me alone."

"Aimee, just stop." He reached out and grabbed her arm as she walked past, stopping her in her tracks. He felt bad as she cowered away from his touch for a second, but didn't dare let go of he because he knew full well she'd be out of the door in a second. "I get that it's your choice, and I'll keep my opinions to myself, okay? I just want you to know I'm here looking out for you I guess. If you need anything, whatever it is and whenever, just let me know. No judgement and no questions asked."

She didn't answer him, her eyes having locked on the turbulent gaze from Tom on the other side of the window, his eyes being locked firmly on Lando's hand on her arm.

Fucking fantastic.