peridot | lando norris

11|silverstone|

"i don't want to let go of either" lando tells carlos as they drive across the golf field for the next shot. lando had been spiralling ever since he told maeve about his little decision. he knew it wasn't right but he was selfish.

"mate, you'd be foolish to let go of formula 1-that's for sure" carlos said as the golf kart came to a hault as he spot the ball lando had hit.

"i'm not going to, after all that i've done but...i can't just walk out on my girls either. to be fair, yes lying to her was bad and she literally drinks in the guilt like a tres leches cake and i feel terrible knowing i could've been here earlier but- but niamh" he says, biting down on his bottom lip as he looks away from carlos.

"cabron, thinking about it all by yourself wouldn't solve anything. maeve may be wonderful-" "the best" lando interrupted with a smile and i carlos rolled his eyes, nodding.

"maeve may be the best girlfriend you've had, and the only one but you need to understand there is more to life. and she's right to tell you that you need to prioritise. don't give up, just give one of them time. because it's starting to mess with your head because since silverstone you've been a wreck, italy was - wait what happened at italy?"

-2021, lando had lost his point scoring streak, finishing in top 5 every race after silverstone, which also happened to the last race where maeve and lando were still together, even if they were already in midst of splitting.

italy was a mclaren 1-2. lando's best performance in the season. it was the first race since he moved to monaco, officially and called it off between him and maeve.

he'd cut himself off for a full week from maeve. niamh was with his parents while maeve drowned herself in the preparation for her finals.

it was the first time in the season he had nothing but the race on his mind, perhaps also the only time because the first thing he wanted to do after it was call maeve. and all the feelings and regrets began pouring right back in, bringing him back to square 1.

it was a decision made by the both of them, it wasn't one sided and yet- lando convinced himself that he walked out on her. that night, he didn't celebrate the win for the team with the rest. he sat in bed, scrolling through their chats and looking back at the promises he made.

they weren't empty, not to him. he'd meant every word he's ever said to maeve. she was his person. he couldn't lie to her, he'd tried but he couldn't. the truth would just crawl out and it didn't make the break up any easier.

ofcourse, they had niamh tying them together. lando was grateful for niamh, she was his sliver of hope that things would be alright one day. they wouldn't disappear from eachother's lives completely, they may not be a part of eachother's days anymore but they'd still be okay.

"we'll be okay- we are okay" he'd say to her knowing she didn't do any better, though she was better at not showing it. he scrolled out of the gallery and chats, going over to his notes app and clicking on a new note, accidentally opening an old note titled-

'will you be my pluto?' there was nothing more in that note. he chuckled to himself, remembering when he'd made it. it was the new years of the year before niamh was born, he had no idea about her existence and just looking at the stars, he was making a list of proposal ideas for maeve. -

"maybe we should've gotten married." he says to himself and carlos looks at him confused. "what?" "did i say something?" lando asked, shaken out of his daydream and carlos shook his head. "no... so what happened in italy?" he asked. "nothing. pure luck." lando lies and carlos gives up.