Free Now- Lando Norris

14. It's Always The Same

Lottie would be the first to admit that it had hurt more than it probably should have done when the days dragged on with very little communication from Lando. She shouldn't have been surprised, and in a way she wasn't, but it led her brain to wander with thoughts of what he might be doing and who he might be with.

His absence had somewhat taken the shine off of the fact that she'd finally been released from hospital. A part of her still quietly hoping that he'd show up with Flo and Cisca when they arrived to finally take her home, but he was nowhere to be seen, and neither his mum nor his sister made any real mention of him as they chatted away to fill the silence on the way back to Flo's house.

Lottie just rested her head against the window in the car, allowing her eyes to droop closed. It was easier to pretend to be asleep than put in the effort to try and join in the conversation. That and the fact that she was just so, so tired.

She didn't realise that she'd fallen asleep until Flo was shaking her awake, holding the car door open and waiting for her to get out of the car, crutches in hand ready for her.

"Sorry." Lottie mumbled. "I'm really tired."

"Let's get you inside and you can have a lie down and get some rest." Cisca suggested. "I'll go and get the door. You take your time."

"You alright?" Flo asked as Lottie began to slowly try and manoeuvre herself out of the car. "Can I do anything to help?"

"No, I'll be alright. Thanks." Lottie reassured her. "Just give me a minute."

Flo watched on nervously as Lottie slowly but surely climbed out of the car and got to her feet, using the door to hold herself steady.

"You okay?" Flo asked. "You're definitely getting better at that."

"Yeah. I'll be running a marathon this time next week." Lottie joked, sliding her arms into the crutches so she could start heading for the door.

It was about ten steps from where the car was parked to the front door, but it felt like its own form of marathon as she slowly made her way over there. Flo was hovering nervously behind her, arms outstretched as though she was ready to catch Lottie at any second if she wobbled.

It wasn't needed though, as Lottie slowly but surely made her way through the door and headed for the sofa.

When she finally made it there and sat down, the little cheer from Flo and Cisca had a couple of unexpected tears escaping her eyes, the relief of being home suddenly overtaking her. She knew from the outside that it was hardly an achievement to be shouting about, but it was a big improvement on the last time when Lando had been forced to carry her inside because she couldn't even make it to the door.

She just wished Lando had been there to celebrate with them.

She tried not to dwell on it for too long, but as she sat on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep, occasionally being woken by Cisca trying to feed her or offering her a drink, she found her mind wandering back to him without her permission. She couldn't help but wonder where he was, what he was doing, if he was okay...

It was stupid really, because she hadn't heard from him for a few days, and she was starting to realise that their whole friendship had clearly meant a lot more to her than it had to him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Cisca asked, sitting down on the other end of the sofa and jolting Lottie out of her own thoughts for a moment.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Lottie apologised, figuring from the way Cisca was looking at her she'd probably been talking to Lottie and expecting an answer, and Lottie hadn't heard a word that she said.