The Chequered Flag || Lando Norris

40 | A Real Smile

Once I had calmed myself down, I sat back in the chair and turned the TV back on to watch Lando's interviews.

I watched as he explained that he hadn't known the rain would get worse, but that ultimately, it had been his decision to stay out while the team was calling him to pit. I watched his eyes, they looked slightly red, wondering if anyone would pick up on it and know he had just been crying, but he kept smiling, through it all.

In every interview he gave a smile that I knew all too well. The how-did-I-fuck-it-up-that-badly smile, where you're so disappointed that you find it almost comical.

It hurt too much to see him like that any longer, forced to be in front of all those judging eyes and prying questions.

I turned off the interviews and just waited, texting back all the people I had put on the back burner this weekend.

As soon as I heard a knock on the door, I rushed to let Lando into his room.

The small, forced smile I'd seen in his interviews slowly fell from his face. Closing his eyes, his breath slowed to a normal pace.

He turned to look at me, and I could see the sadness in my eyes.

"Sorry." He said to me, his voice breaking as he said the word.

"Why?" I asked, my voice laced with concern.

"I blew it." He said. "I mean, you came all this way, you took time off of school, and I blew it. This isn't how it was supposed to go."

"Hey!" I said, pulling back his hands that were covering his face. "I don't care about that. I wasn't bullshitting you when I told you I would always be proud of you. Besides, I'm glad I was here. I don't think I could have bared not being here for you today. Don't apologize to me."

Lando looked into my eyes for a second, "I love you." He started to tear up again.

"I love you, too." I said, my heart hurting. I cupped his face in my hands, "It all feels so real now..."

"What do you mean?"

I paused, "Lando, I make a lot of mistakes, I always have, but I haven't fucked this up yet, and I'm starting to worry about that... this is not the time to bring this up. I'm sorry."

"No," He said, calming me down. "We should have this talk sooner rather than later."

"Okay," I said. "Um... I feel like these last few days have been such a whirlwind and I haven't quite got the time to process the fact that this... has gotten so much more serious."

"You don't regret it, do you?" Lando said, his voice tinged with humor.

"God no!" I laughed a little bit as I said it. "Never."

"I understand what you mean." He said, taking my hands, "Because it's going to hurt more if things... end. But Camilla, you know everyone's afraid of that. We're taking a leap. What I'm worried about after this weekend is that the whole world most likely really thinks something is going on between us now." He said, looking down sheepishly at our intertwined hands.

"What they think, that's the absolute least of my worries now." I made sure he was looking at me before I said the next part, "You make me so happy... and I haven't been genuinely happy in a really long time.... It's just you and me."

"You and me." He repeated back, "Always."

"Always."

I leaned in, "Lando?"

"Yeah?" He said, his breath hitching as I inched my face closer still.

Right before my lips brushed his, I whispered softly, "I love you." Then, I gently pressed my lips against his.

At first, the kiss was gentle, but slowly, it became more rough. As Lando's hands slowly traveled up my spine, pulling up my shirt, he let my tongue slip into his mouth to deepen the kiss.

Right before he was about to pull off my shirt, I pulled away from him.

Out of breath, I shook my head, "Not here."

Lando looked around the room like he'd lost his senses, then nodded,"Yeah, you're right." He said catching his breath.

Just then, a knock came at the door, "Lando, Andreas wants to speak with you."

"Ok," Lando called back at the door, "Just a second!"

I smirked as Lando repositioned his clothing before walking out the door. Smiling to me before shutting the door behind him. And this time, it was a real smile.