The Chequered Flag || Lando Norris

35 | Someone Like You

When we got to the track, Lando was still beaming like a little kid. In the garage, Charlotte saw us walk in, and she shot me a look, questioning why Lando looked like he was a kid in a candy shop.

I smiled as she walked over.

"So what's up with you and Mr. Smiles over here?" Charlotte asked as she joined us.

"Nothing." Lando said, biting his lip to try to stop his smile. "Just the best day of my life."

"Okay then," Charlotte said, hesitating a moment before continuing, "Lando, you've gotta go get ready for FP3."

Before he ran off to get changed in his suit, Lando turned to me and whispered in my ear, "I love you," and kissed my cheek.

Charlotte gave me a knowing smile, "I'm glad he found someone like you."

"I'm the lucky one." I said.

"Agree to disagree." Charlotte joked before someone called her over.

I looked around the garage before spotting Daniel talking to an engineer. I walked over to him and tapped his shoulder. The engineer seemed surprised to see me, but Daniel's face lit up.

"How'd it go?" Daniel asked.

"Really well." I said, feeling a big smile spread across my face. "Thank you."

"Please, all you needed was a little push."

"How'd you know?" I asked him with a sly grin.

"Please, I've seen the way you two look at each other. Besides, it would have been a shame if you hadn't told him."

"Well thank you again anyway."

I was about to walk away when Daniel said, "I bet he's gonna drive like a beast this weekend."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"You just gave him that much more to fight for."

. . .

I couldn't believe it. Daniel was right. In fact, he couldn't have been more right. Lando drove like a beast.

I laughed in disbelief as Charlotte pulled me out into the pit lane. We were swept up in the stampede of pretty much everyone at McLaren on the way to Lando.

Running to the barriers keeping everyone away from the drivers and the cars, I felt like a complete fool as tears of joy started to well up in my eyes.

Lando was just getting out of the car when I arrived and started to push my way through the mob of people already swarming the barriers. I pushed until I was a few rows back from the front, waiting for Lando to run to the team.

Once he did, he started hugging everyone, noticing me through the people between us. I wasn't close enough to give him a hug, so I mouthed "I'm proud of you" to him. Seeing his grinning eyes through the open hole for his visor close for a split second before he reached into the crowd and grabbed my wrist, pulling me forward before giving me a big hug.

"We're definitely going out to dinner tonight!" He shouted over the cheers, just loud enough for me to hear it, even with the helmet muffling his words. I laughed as he quickly reached to my cheek to wipe away the tear that had fallen. His gloved hand lingering only a second before he continued his celebration with his team.

Once he started towards the microphone for his post-quali interview, I finally took note of the standings of the rest of the lot that was supposed to join us for dinner. Alex of course wasn't racing, but Carlos and George had qualified P2 and P3, respectively, behind Lando. I searched for Charles, disappointed to find that he had only finished P15. I hoped that despite this, he and Charlotte would still feel up for joining us tonight.

. . .

I screamed as Lando picked me up in his arms and spun me around.

We were back in his room after all his media duties, and he was visibly exhausted, though still buzzing from the excitement of today.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, laying my head against my arms, my cold nose touching his neck.

"I'm proud of you." I whispered.

Lando gave a small laugh, "So you've said."

"Well I wanted to say it again and I want to expand on it." I said, lifting my head off my arm before leaning my forehead against his. "I'd have been proud of you no matter where you ended up today. I'm not just proud because you got pole. The same sentiment goes for tomorrow and always. Okay?"

"Okay." Lando answered, his breath against my lips.

We stayed that way for a while before Lando set me back down on the floor.

"Okay, you should take a shower now because I'm pretty sure you have quite a bit to sort out with your engineers for tomorrow, meaning that we won't have a lot of time to get ready before dinner tonight. Speaking of which, I expect that the only people who may not be coming are Charles and Charlotte because Charles had a rough day, P15..." I trailed off when I saw Lando's face. "What?"

"I was thinking we could skip tonight. I have some things I'd rather do." Lando said with a small smirk.

"Lando." I almost whined, "I know you don't wanna go, but we should at least show up for a little bit. I do wanna properly meet the lot. We don't have to stay for long though."

Lando let out a sarcastic sigh, "Fine." He said, dragging out the word.