Brake check- autistic Oscar Piastri, ADHD Lando Norris

2: what I want

Oscar's POV:

As soon as the meeting was over, Lando grabbed his things and ran off. Jon apologised and followed after him, dragging his own stuff and the many things Lando had forgotten, with him. I excused myself politely, thanking everyone and then did my best to catch up to Jon in the corridor, he wasn't walking particularly fast which I couldn't understand, "is he okay?"

"Hmmm?" Jon was on his phone, barely paying attention.

"Lando? Is he okay?" I asked again.

"Yea, he will be. If I walk slow enough it'll give him a few minutes and then he'll probably be calmer by the time I get there."

"How do you know that?" I asked, still quite concerned.

"He might have only just mentioned the ADHD, but this isn't the first time he's run off. We have a bit of a routine by now, even if he doesn't realise it."

"Why doesn't he just ask for a break?" I said calmly, even though I didn't feel it. I couldn't understand why he waited until it was bad enough to run off. I mean, I got it, I was petrified too but I was managing to do it and everyone was supporting us.

"He's not welcoming the change as much as you are."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I don't think he's enjoying the way everyone is treating him."

"Then surely it needs to change?" This was about us. It had to work for us. Zak and Andrea had repeated that to me so much in our meeting on that Thursday. It had stood out to me, how different it was from last time. They actually cared. Surely they'd said the same to Lando?

Jon shook his head and smiled, "Lando just needs to get used to actually getting the support for it. It was the exact same with his mental health at first, he doesn't like it because getting support means actually acknowledging what's going on and that's uncomfortable."

"I guess I can get that."

"I'll let him know that if he wants to talk to you he can. I think it's nice you have each other to talk to about all of this."

"Even though we're so different?" I asked, feeling a bit lost about how to comfort someone having such a polar opposite reaction to me. He nodded and turned into a random meeting room, closing the door behind him. I didn't understand why that room specifically but headed back to my office anyway. I had a short break before some more work with the aero team, talking about possible upgrades. I hoped Lando would come to talk to me before then.

Lando's POV:

I could hear Oscar and Jon talking as they came down the corridor. I was tucked into the corner, between an AC unit and a fake plant. My hands were shaking and I was crying but silently. I knew Jon would come and find me, this was not the first time he'd done it here and he'd probably remembered this room from the last time I'd taken shelter in it. I don't even remember why I'd chosen this room the first time, back in my first year at McLaren as a reserve driver, but at MTC, this was kind of my spot without being my spot. If I got stressed, and wasn't in my office, my trainer knew to check here first. In that year of being a reserve driver, no one knew about it but once Jon was attached to my side nearly 24/7 it stopped being a secret.

Jon closed the door behind him and walked over to the corner, sitting on the floor a short distance away.

"You're allowed breaks." He said simply.

I whimpered and more sobs broke out. I didn't want to be crying, I hated it, I wanted to be normal.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes before he spoke again, "I don't know why you're doing this to yourself, we want to help Lando."

"But I'm just going to get more and more difficult to deal with."

"The more support you get, the less support you'll actually need."

I stayed silent, but my sobs continued to the room.

"Oscar wanted you to know he's there for you. If you want to talk to him rather than me, you can. I know I don't understand all the things I should do. But Zak has lined up some company-wide neurodiveristy training for the summer break and all the key personnel for you and Oscar are attending separate in depth sessions."

"You don't even have the proof yet."

"No, but we trust you and we uh, asked Kasper."

"Huh?"

"He said that he has noticed traits, even in just one meeting and that seeking a diagnosis would be helpful for his work."

"I just want things to stop changing!" I cried out, slamming the heels of my hands into my knees.

"Okay, then let's work some support out that actually works for you."

"Huh?" I said again, trying to bring myself back to baseline but still feeling too wobbly.

"Oscar said something and it's made me think," he paused, looking off, away from me, into the dark room. "What we're doing now might be what you need but not what you want?"

"Yea." I said quietly, trying to sink into the corner as much as possible.

"Then let's have a look at what you want." I stayed silent. "Does that sound better?" I half-mumbled a yes in reply, biting my lip and playing with the plaster on my finger.

"Do you want to go down to your office now and maybe we can talk more about what you want?"

"Can we play dodgeball instead?" I suggested, seeing him smile in the low light coming through the curtained windows.

"But only if you don't cheat this time." I smiled back and wiped the tears from my face, dragging myself up from the floor. I think I preferred this kind of support.

A/n Hey, thanks for reading!