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𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖

{ riley's version }

_

We walked around Azerbaijan. There wasn't a plan or anything of the sort. It was just walking around and stopping at whatever I wanted. Lando was quiet but since we had that conversation last night, I figured it was just due to lack of sleep. There was a sort of tension in the air but it wasn't anything weird, it was just there. Like a gnat that never truly disappeared but would just hover around.

"Lan."

"Riles."

I stopped, looking back at him. He was keeping about two feet behind me. He usually walked next to me or kept his arm linked with mine. So the fact that he was keeping a few steps back during this entire excursion was making me wonder, just a bit.

"What are you doing?"

"Walking?"

I rolled my eyes, walking back the few steps to stand beside him but he adjusted to put some space between us. I raised an eyebrow. And now he was moving again. It bothered me more than I liked to admit.

"If you didn't want to go out with me, you should have just said so. I could have explored by myself."

He opened his mouth to say something but two girls walked up to us. His demeanor changed, looking like the playboy Lando I always saw in the media.

"Oh my god, you're Lando Norris."

He smiled. "That I am."

"Can we get a picture?"

I took some steps away, giving them space. He took the pictures with the girls, staying to chat for a second and I could feel a weird jealousy in my stomach. Of course, people would come up to him. But it hadn't happened any of the other days we were exploring in other cities. Maybe people respected space there or maybe it just wasn't that important.

I sighed, walking into the shop behind us to leave him to talk with his fans. Thankfully it was a book store and my energy jumped a bit. I looked at all the books, most of them written in a language I didn't know but that didn't make them any less beautiful. I ran my fingers over the spines, looking at the leather. It had been so long since I'd seen a leather bound book you could actually buy.

The shopkeeper said his hello and I waved back, making my way towards the English section. There were familiar titles and I felt a soft smile grow as I picked out one, flipping through the pages. It was Alice in Wonderland, something I hadn't read since I was a child but it still felt wonderful to hold it in my hands.

"Riley."

I looked up from the page I was skimming to see Lando looking at me like I was insane.

"Can I help you?"

"What the hell? You can't just walk off."

I shrugged, tucking the book under my arm as I looked at the other titles, seeing if there was anything I remembered or sparked my interest.

"I'm being serious."

"That's a first for you."

I heard him groan and suddenly the hands on my shoulders turned me away from the shelves. "Riley. Do not just walk off. You scared the shit out of me."