The Chequered Flag || Lando Norris

38 | Heartbeat

It's almost time for Lando to get into the car when I see him shaking. The nerves are getting to him again. He's hunched over in his chair, elbows resting against his thighs, his neck limp, letting his head fall down.

I sit down beside him and grab his intertwined hands. I feel him take an unsure breath, starting to shake even more.

"Hey." I say taking my hand off his and resting it on his back. "Are you okay? Is there something I can do?"

Lando doesn't say anything, but he wraps his arms around me tightly. I can feel his heartbeat going quickly.

I rub his back, and his breathing starts to slow. His heartbeat returns to a more normal pace. He pulls back and sighs, looking at me.

"Thank you." He says, looking embarrassed.

"Of course," I say, "That's why I'm here." I smile at him.

"It's not supposed to be why you're here." Lando says sadly.

"Lando," I say, reaching for his hand. "I'm here to support you. I want to spend time with you. I'm always here for you."

When I looked back at him, a small smile was dancing across his face.

"What?!" I said, laughing a little.

"Nothing." He said, but the smile didn't fade.

A knock sounded at the door and the smile fell from his face. "Lando, time to go."

"It's all you now." I said to him, "I'll be right here. Go prove them wrong."

"I love you so much." He said, looking at me more seriously than he ever had before.

I knew nothing I could say would accurately be able to show him how much I felt in this moment, so I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. I held on like I would lose this truly special thing developing between us if I let go.

When I finally let go, he gave me a kiss on the forehead, and parted with a sweet smile.

. . .

I sat down in the chair in Lando's room, my heart beating fast as I saw him getting in the car. He looked like he was shaking again.

"Come on Lando, you can do this." I said under my breath. "I know you can."

My heart continued to beat alarmingly fast as the team members went off to the sides of the track and only the cars were left on the grid. I tried to calm myself down as they went on their formation lap, but the second they started to line up, I started to hold my breath. I could have sworn the cars at the back took three minutes to finally reach their grid positions.

The lights went out, and Lando had an amazing start. I let out a sigh of relief, and just as I did, Carlos overtook him.

"No!" I said, my hand flying over my mouth. "Come on, get him back! Get him back!" I said under my breath.

It felt like an eternity before Lando overtook Carlos. "Yes!" I shouted, giggling and beaming widely.

My happiness didn't last as long as I would have liked, as Lewis became a clearer threat to Lando winning the race.

I was so nervous I was sitting on the edge of my seat, unable to stop my legs from bouncing due to the shaking from my entire body. 1.5 seconds...1.2 seconds... 0.8... 2.2....

Then it started to drizzle.

Almost everyone but Lando and Lewis had pit for inters, and as I was watching Lando, I held my breath. Mercedes called Lewis in, and at first I thought they were trying to fake Lando into pitting, but the TV cut to the pit crew grabbing Lewis' tires.

I leaned forward, closer to the TV, and watched Lewis fly by the pit. So they were trying to fake him out, they were nervous about Lando. Just as a smirk started to grow on my face, I heard Bono on the TV telling Lewis that the rain was going to get worse and he had to pit.

Confused, I leaned forward, yet again. Maybe they weren't faking him out after all. As I waited to see if Lewis was going to actually pit, they kept playing clips of the radio between Will and Lando. I listened as Will asked Lando if he wanted to pit, and Lando brushed him off.

Why wasn't Will just telling him to pit, and why hadn't he said anything about the rain getting worse? Either McLaren knew something else everyone else didn't, or they weren't paying attention to the radar. Either way, they sounded way too relaxed about the whole thing.

My eyes went wide as Lewis pit. Maybe McLaren really had made the wrong call to not force Lando to pit. Worried, I watched closely as I heard Lando sounding relieved that Lewis had pitted. Why weren't they telling him he needed to pit? He needed to pit!

I couldn't stop myself, I ran out of Lando's driver room and ran down to the garage. I didn't understand what was going on.

Charlotte was right beside me, and she looked back at me concerned. "Charlotte, why–"

I looked back at the TV and my eyes went wide as I saw him turn the corner, and into a sheet of rain.

"NO! FUCK!" My hand flew over my mouth and I took a step back as Lando slid off the track, narrowly avoiding the barriers. The garage filled with shouts and groans and his name lit up in red, dropping down as Lewis went past him. "No, no, no, no, no..." I muttered.

I stayed in the garage and watched from the back as Lando finally pit for inters.

"Did Will tell him it was getting worse? Did Will know it was getting worse?" I asked Charlotte.

She looked at me, and slowly said, "I don't know...."

There was a minute where the two of us were simply standing there in total shock.

When there was a lap left I realized this was going to be 100 wins for Lewis. "Feels like a bit of a cruel irony, doesn't it?" I said to Charlotte, my eyes still on the TV, "Lando losing his chance at a first win, giving Lewis his hundredth."

"Yeah." She said sadly, "Probably shouldn't point that one out to him just yet."

"Probably not."

After a moment, Charlotte turned to me, "Hey, there's a strong chance he'll want to get back to the room as soon as possible... maybe think about getting up there pretty fast." She paused, "He'll need you."

_______

Oh boy. Y'all this chapter and the next couple are hard to write. I've literally been working on them slowly the past few years, never quite able to let myself finish them.

I know they're not the most beautifully written thing or anything like that, but it is still hard for me to get through. Which might seem a bit silly, but every time I went to do the "research" I needed to for these chapters I had to rewatch videos that were not the most fun to relive--not to mention some of the cruelty in the comments.

The comments are so hard to read, and it always is very sobering to read, because I can't imagine having hundreds of comments saying that what you said when you were beyond stressed was immature and shows that you're not ready for what you've been chasing for and fighting for your whole life.

It might sound a bit silly, but this felt like a hard time to be a fan of Lando, so I can't even imagine what he was going through.

Anyway, sorry to be kinda dark, I just had some feelings that I felt like getting out.

Thank you all for reading, as always :)