This Ain't A Fairytale- Lando Norris

1. We Almost Had It All

"What do you mean you're not coming next weekend?" Lando couldn't keep the frustration out of his voice.

"Lando." Hannah sighed. "I'm exhausted, I told you I wasn't feeling well. I'm not flying halfway across the world with a three-year-old child alone. We'll try and make the next race."

"I haven't seen you or Isla in weeks." He protested, as though that was somehow going to change something.

He was right of course, and a wave of guilt washed over Hannah at the thought of keeping her daughter away from her father for at least another two weeks if she didn't go.

"Well, you were the one who didn't want to come home in between." Hannah snapped.

"Come on, Han." He pleaded into the phone. "You know why, it would've killed me flying all the way back and then having to get back to Australia again."

"And you think it's easier on me?" She asked. "Because I had to fly back from Bahrain on my own with Isla, and that was a nightmare. Now you want me to go all the way back to Australia? On my own, again?"

As she said it a tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away, thankful that they were having this argument by phone and not on Facetime for a change. It was one they'd been having at least once a day for the last week. She was getting increasingly frustrated with Lando's complete inability to see why it might be an issue that he'd essentially left her to be a single parent for weeks on end.

Initially, when Isla had been really tiny, it had actually been easier. It had been a lot less stressful dragging her along with them. As long as she had food and somewhere comfortable, she actually slept through the majority of it, leaving Hannah fairly free to travel alongside Lando.

The problem had arisen as Isla had got older, and a lot more mobile. She didn't want to spend an entire Grand Prix weekend trapped in the garage watching her Dad on a TV screen. She'd be excited when they landed and she got to see Lando, as was Hannah, but the majority of the weekend was spent with him in the car or engaged in his other duties. For Hannah, the majority of the weekend was spent alone in a hotel room, trying not to wake their sleeping daughter while Lando was out at dinners and events with the team.

And that just left Hannah alone, wrestling an unhappy and jetlagged child who didn't want to be there. It was particularly bad now that Isla was old enough that she kept trying to run off, meaning Hannah had to pay extra attention and keep a tight grip on her all the time to stop her bolting through the garage trying to get to Lando. It was exhausting at the best of times, at others it felt like an impossible task.

Sometimes Lily would be there, offering to entertain Isla for a little bit to give Hannah a break, which was always a welcome relief. On a couple of occasions, Hannah's parents had actually attended and helped to keep their granddaughter happy, Hannah's Dad crawling around on the floor of the hospitality playing with Isla while Hannah sat and actually ate a meal in peace for the first time in as long as she could remember. They seemed to be sticking to their pact to make a bit more of an effort to get involved, it was surprisingly nice. Especially when they'd stop by in Monaco and at least break up some of the isolation.

"Please?" Lando asked quietly, bringing Hannah back out of her own thoughts. "I've missed you, both of you."

"I'll think about it." Hannah yawned. It was the same thing she always said when she was tired of having this particular argument. He'd drop it in the hope that with a little bit of time, she'd change her mind, and then tomorrow night they'd probably be having the same argument again when he found out she still hadn't booked the plane tickets because she wasn't intending to come.

"Is Isla there? Can I speak to her?" Lando asked hopefully.

"I've literally just got her to sleep, Lando." Hannah sighed. "You should've called earlier."

He had been supposed to call several hours ago. Hannah had spent the majority of the morning trying to stop their very tired and irritable daughter from falling asleep with repeated promises that she'd get to speak to her Dad, only for him not to call until hours later.

"I know, I'm sorry." He sighed. "We had that dinner thing with the sponsors and it ran long. I could hardly just get up and walk out, could I?"

"Well, maybe you'll catch her tomorrow," Hannah said, putting the phone on speaker and throwing it onto the kitchen counter so she could start folding the mountain of laundry that was in the dryer. She'd been trying to do it all day, but Isla had been demanding all her attention and she just couldn't get anything done.

"Tell her I'm sorry?" He said quietly.

"Yeah," Hannah mumbled. "I will."

"I love you." He said softly. "It'll get easier soon, I promise. Once we're back in Europe I'll be home all week, or you can come to the races and it won't be so far to travel."

"Yeah, maybe," Hannah answered weakly.

She'd like to ask him quite where amongst all of this she was supposed to find the time to write and record a new album, possibly even do another tour. It was something she'd been saying she'd do since Isla had been eighteen months old, but it kept getting put on hold because it just wasn't logistically possible.

"I'm sorry, Han." He repeated, and she couldn't help but wonder if he even really knew what he was apologising for at this point.

He just kept repeating it every time they spoke as though it might somehow make the situation better. Was he sorry for being late and missing Isla? Or the fact that it seemed like every time they spoke they argued? Was he sorry that he wasn't there and had abandoned her to take care of their child with no help? Was he sorry that she was the one who'd had to abandon her career and he got to carry on doing what he loved as though nothing had changed? The list of possibilities was endless.

"Yeah, me too." She answered him. "I'm going to have to go, I need to try and get some things done before she wakes up. Good luck tomorrow. I love you."

She disconnected the call, tears flowing freely down her face this time. She loved Lando, she loved their daughter... but how long were they going to keep trying to pretend they could have it all before they were forced to admit it just wasn't working?

****

So, by popular demand... Hannah and Lando are back for a sequel. I have been working on this for quite a while now, I wanted to make sure I did it justice after all the support "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" got.

Thank you to everyone who has read, commented on, or voted for the original story. I have loved all of your reactions and reading your comments. I hope you'll all enjoy this next chapter of the story just as much.

I'm hoping to update it fairly regularly as I've pre-written the majority of it.

Let me know what you think. Thanks again for all your support!

B xx