This Ain't A Fairytale- Lando Norris

33. Ask me why so many fade, but I'm still here

Hannah was pacing around the house waiting for Lando to return from MTC the day he'd arranged to meet Zak.

He'd been a bundle of nervous energy as he'd walked out of the door that morning, having no real idea what he was going to say to his boss other than he thought the team were making a mistake.

Hannah had then not heard from him all day, which had left her nervously waiting for him to come back.

The hours ticked by, she'd put Isla to bed, cooked some dinner, played with Bolt and yet she was still waiting.

By the time he eventually returned she was midway through cleaning the kitchen, even though the place was already spotless- the cleaner Lando had hired in an attempt to get Hannah to rest was very good at her job.

"What are you doing?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe, watching her.

"Ow!" She cried, smacking her head on the cupboard she was leaning into as the sound of his voice startled her.

"Shit, sorry." He rushed across the kitchen. "Are you alright? What are you even doing?"

"I was trying to distract myself while I waited to see if Zak had killed you or not." She sighed, taking his he offered to help her up.

His fingers traced gently over the spot on her head she'd just hit. "We hired a cleaner to stop you crawling around cleaning." He pointed out, hands trailing down her body to land on her waist.

"I know, I know." She rolled her eyes at him. "But anyway, I don't care. How did it go?"

Lando pulled a face, resting his head against side of her head as he wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer. "He didn't budge."

"Well, you didn't think he would." She offered, trying to be optimistic. "You've been gone like twelve hours he must've said more than just no?"

"I did some sim work, went to the gym... did some social media stuff. Thought I'd get it all done while I was there." He'd decided if he was going then he'd make it worth his while so he at least didn't have to go back again this week.

"But he must've said more than just no? He must've given you some kind of reason?" Hannah pushed.

"He told me if I thought I was still drivers championship material then I need to prove it and maybe they'll reconsider next year." He said quietly.

He'd been thinking about it all the way home. He knew exactly what Zak meant by prove it. He wanted him to go back to how he had been before, solely focused on his driving and the team, letting it consume his life and willing to put it above everything including his family.

"He means he wants you at their beck and call twenty four seven again?" Hannah asked hesitantly.

"Yep." Lando nodded.

"What are you going to do?" Her stomach flipped as she asked the question. They weren't going to survive another couple of years of him doing that, she just hoped he'd realised that too.

"I'm going to prove to him that he's wrong." Lando shrugged. "That I can still be the better driver without having to sacrifice everything else. I'm going to prove I can be both and make him take back ever calling me distracted in the first place."

The steely determination he said it with left Hannah in no doubt that he meant it, and was going to make damn well sure he proved Zak wrong.

"I believe you can do it." Hannah reassured him, hands sliding over the tense muscles on his shoulders. "You are doing it. If they hadn't screwed you over in Monza with the strategy..."