Stay With Me- Lando Norris

22. I'm A Real Tough Kid

"You're up!" Tracey exclaimed in surprise as Aimee hobbled over to the door of Lando's apartment to let her in.

"Lando's asleep." Aimee said quietly, gesturing towards the sofa with her head.  "Otherwise he definitely would've beaten me here."

"Ah." Tracey nodded in recognition, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. "He looked tired earlier. I think he was hoping to have a nap before qualifying and got caught up."

A wave of guilt hit Aimee like a train, it was her fault for waking him up during the night. He'd spent all weekend rushing around looking after her, when he should be focusing on racing.

"So how are you doing?" Tracey asked, watching as Aimee made her way slowly towards the kitchen on her crutches.

She glanced over her shoulder in Lando's direction. He was still fast asleep. "I don't know." Aimee admitted quietly, perching herself on one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

Tracey was quiet for a moment, considering her words. "Lando told me you had been planning to quit your job."

"I uh... yeah." Aimee admitted. "It's not you, the team or anything I just... I don't know, I think a fresh start might be for the best?"

Tracey inhaled sharply. "I didn't realise you were still planning to do it. I thought it was just because of Tom? And there's no way Zak would let him come back after this. There's no need for you to do it now, is there?"

"I haven't decided yet." Aimee said quietly. "I don't know which way is up anymore to be honest. Everything is such a mess."

"You don't need to rush into any decisions." Tracey said softly. "We love having you on the team, we'd all be really sad to see you go, especially like this. Not just me either, some other people would really miss you." Her eyes wandered to the sofa where Lando was snoring softly.

Aimee knew what she was referring to. "I need to think about it, properly." She sighed. "I've got no idea what I'm going to do once I'm cleared to travel home. I've not got anywhere to live, I don't know what I'm going to do about my job..."

"We'll sort it out." Tracey reassured. "Whether you decide to stay or not, you're still my adopted daughter." She joked.

"Thanks, Tracey." Aimee smiled. "How was it today? At the track? I watched it on tv with Lando's mum. It felt so weird not being there."

"You do realise if you leave it'll be like that every weekend?" Tracey asked. "It was good, they both did a really good job. We've come a long way, let's just hope they can hold on to it tomorrow now. You'll be cheering them on from here I'm sure."

Aimee was quiet for a moment. "Actually... I have an idea I think you could help me with." She smiled at Tracey.

"Why do I feel like this is going to end with me getting in trouble?" Tracey laughed.

****

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?" Cisca asked the next day. "Lando is going to kill both of us."

"No he won't." Aimee shook her head. "That's why we're going now, he'll be in the car before we get there and he won't know until afterwards. It'll be too late by then. You didn't fly over here to watch him race on tv!"

"No, but I can see him race another day and you're supposed to be resting!" Cisca scolded her.

"And that's why I got Tracey to bring us a wheelchair." Aimee reminded her. "Come on, please?"