ARGENTINA WORLD CHAMPION - QATAR 2022
We have waited 36 years, finally it happened.
matty lee and tom daley win gold in the men’s synchronised 10m platform
Part I / Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V
Some of you wanted a part five so who am I to say no. Had a blast writing this story and just want to say a quick thank you for all the lovely messages and support. These things give writers the biggest boost of confidence! Much love and sorry for all of the mistakes. All kind of feedback is welcome. 🤍✨🤍✨🤍
word count: 2.2k
warning: a sprinkle of angst but overall a mushy fluff.
The first week was extremely hard for them. They kept their interactions quite friendly when they met up in the McLaren center. Lando would offer to drive her home sometimes and would stop at the grocery store if she needed anything. They ate lunch at the same table and laughed alongside others. They would even hug while saying goodbye. She was right there at the corner of the garage when he would be getting into the car. But this facade that the two of them put up was just an easy escape.
The truth was quite different. She longed to be in his presence, to cuddle up next to him in the evening and spend the night doing absolutely nothing. She would watch Max stream and would hope to see Lando appear even for a moment. One evening when he was practically falling asleep on Max's table she sent him a quick message saying, "Surely that's not very comfortable", Lando quickly checked his phone and turned his face to the camera, giving it the biggest and brightest smile. She couldn't help but smile as well. That was her biggest weakness - his smile. No matter what, no matter the circumstance, if Lando was smiling, she was smiling as well. But then the moment would pass, and it felt like she had forgotten his smile, and the gloomy thoughts would come back.
Lando wasn't doing any better. He wasn't quite sure how to act. What boundaries were there, and what lines he was allowed to cross. He would send her a message every evening, especially on the days where he wasn't able to catch a glimpse of her at the meeting or in the center. The conversation they had was never enough, the dreams he had of her were far from reality, and with time they started to become blurry.
Then the visits to her office space first thing in the morning had become rarer. Lando stopped bringing her apple juice, he would say hello, but his eyes seemed to be looking through her. He offered to drive her home less and less. Until one evening, when she found herself waiting for him to send her the usual evening text, but it never happened. She had to be up early in the morning, yet she couldn't fall asleep. The number of scenarios running through her brain was enough to keep her up for months.
A part of her was mad that he was giving up so quickly, that the promises he gave her were, after all, just promises and nothing more. But then she started thinking that maybe it was her fault, that she should have been more understanding towards him. However, he was the one hurting her. His behavior and words, cutting through her skin for months now. The decision had to make, and now she had one less thing to look forward to. Lando wasn't going to make it all better, and it wasn't love after all.
She kept on turning and tossing until she gave up on the idea of sleep. Kicking the covers off, she made her way to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, grabbing her laptop so she could finish some work. She used to never work late cause she hated the way it made her feel the next day. That's what she never understood about Lando, how he could stream till unholy hours and still look energized the next morning. Knowing that he rarely stayed up late when she was with him. They would go upstairs and just lay in bed for hours, looking at each other without saying anything and then randomly starting to giggle when the butterflies in their stomachs would get too much.
Placing a cap on the kitchen island, she took a glimpse of her phone. The screen was light up. However, the name on the screen made her frown, but she still picked it up. "I'm so glad you answered. This will sound very stupid, but can you come over?", the troubled voice made her frown even more, "Max, what's going on?", "It's Lando". That was enough to make her whole body run cold. Subconsciously she started to walk towards the door, "Lando what Max! What happened?", she heard some noises in the background, instantly thinking the worst. "He didn't leave his room all day, didn't talk, didn't even go to train with Jon."
Putting her phone on speaker, she started looking for her car keys. "Did you check on him throughout the day?", "Yeah, until he locked the door. I think he needs you. Something surely must have happened." The idea of driving so late at night didn't appeal to her, the idea of driving, in general, didn't appeal to her. She was terrified of it, and that's why most of the time she was driving with someone. Now there was no time to lean into her fears, cause the idea of something happening to Lando was way scarier to her. She heard some noises in the background again, and then it clicked, "The keys are in the second drawer in the kitchen", "How do you know that?". She was running down the stairs of her apartment building, forgetting that she was in a random ripped t-shirt and some biker shorts. "Just look for them! I placed them there myself. Will be there as soon as I can.", "The gates are open, be careful".
When she got there, she didn't even bother to knock. Heading straight in, she was met with Max, who was coming down from the second floor. The look on her face must have said more than a thousand words, "He's okay, sitting there, looking through some boxes". She quickly hugged him before heading upstairs. When she opened the door, the sight in front of her broke her heart even more. Here he was sitting on the ground with all the stuff from their memory box all over the floor.
She quickly walked to Lando, dropping to the floor to hug him. At the shocking state, Lando tried to push her away, but as soon as that familiar scent of her strawberry shampoo filled his senses, he quickly brought her closer to him. "What are you doing here?", Lando quickly pulled away to look at her face. He needed to make sure that she was real, that it wasn't a cruel trick his brain was playing. "Max called. Are you okay? I got so scared...", she scanned his features, tear still visible on his rosy cheeks. "Got a bit worked up...", tilting his head down, Lando started to play with the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing. "Did you come here wearing this?", "I practically ran here, had no time to put a fancy dress sorry", Lando let out a quiet giggle before burying his face in the crook of her neck.
This time she didn't want to push him. Choosing to gently run her fingers up and down his back, softly scratching the back of his neck once in a while, cause she knew how much that calmed him down. "I...When we split up. Worst week of my life," Lando let out a big sigh, "I... I don't want us to forget all of this", he pointed to the things scattered around on the floor, "I am nothing without that. I'm nothing without you". "Hey, look at me, we don't have to forget all of this. This will forever be a part of us". Carefully she wiped away the tears from his face.
Now she hated herself for thinking that he didn't care. Cause he did and more than she could probably imagine. The last thing on her mind was to hurt him. How could she be happy if the guy she loved was falling apart in front of her eyes? "Do you remember what you said to me in the McLaren center a week ago?", "Many things...". She pushed some of his curls that were messily falling all over his face. "You said that you love me, and you know what?", Lando shakes his head before starting to chew the inside of his cheek, not sure if he could look into her eyes. "I love you too, but I was scared to admit it to myself", "So was I. Daniel practically told me to get my head out of my ass". They both started laughing. "Oh, I wish I would have seen that", Lando brought her body even closer to his so she could straddle his hips. His fingers slowly drew patterns under her shirt.
"I'm sorry for the things I said about you being, you know... easy to get. Just... Daniel and Michael were so sweet to you. I was jealous and scared that you might choose them", "You are a wonderful person when you don't listen to these silly monsters in your head", she tapped her fingers at his forehead. "I would never choose anyone else. You want to know why?", he hummed before pulling away from her body so he could see her face better. "Do you remember the first day we met?", she quickly scanned the floor before picking up a small charm. "Yeah... I spilled my drink then broke your bracelet because my jumped got stuck to it", "That's not the important part though. You looked for this all over the McLaren center", "I told the cleaner to keep an eye for it", smiling she ran her fingers through Lando's curls. "You did yeah, but you ended up finding it like a month later. Do you remember what I told you then?", "To keep it, and I wasn't sure why."
She pulled his hand up and placed the charm in his palm. "Look at the side of it", Lando had looked at that charm many times, but he never saw a little heart that was engraved on it. "Wait...", "I wanted you to keep a little part of my heart, my grandpa got me this. It was the most special charm on the bracelet. But at that time, you were the most special person in my life". The two of them had never cried together. But at this moment in time, they completely let go letting their vulnerable side show. Hearts on the table without anywhere to hide finally made them realize just how much and how strongly they belonged to each other. "I chose you a long time ago, silly. It sucks that it took us such a bumpy ride to realize it."
"I've never wanted something so bad in my life. You don't even realize just how much I hated myself every time I did something stupid. But I want to be better for you. So I could keep your heart", pressing his forehead to hers, he whispered, "For forever".
They stayed like that, just listening to each other's breathing. Two young kids madly in love, both clueless at how to handle it. It's a scary thought when you quickly realize that someone is your everything. The core of your existence. But for now, they weren't thinking about that. For the first time, after months of constant agony that their brains took them through, they were sure there was hope. She kissed the side of his cheek, and their eyes met again. "Can I kiss you?", she answered him by leaning in. The euphoric and warm feeling rolled through their bodies. At the moment, nothing felt more real than this. They could taste the saltiness of the tears, but that was the last thing on their mind. Lando brought his hand to her hair, her tiny hands laying on his chest. The kiss, although so simple, left them both breathless, yet neither of them wanted to pull away.
"I think it's time to go to bed", they were still catching their breath wrapped up in each other arms. "Only if I'll get to wake up next to you", "Must be your lucky day. Cause I'm not in the mood to drive home". Lando gave her his cheeky smile, the one that she missed so much. He slowly stood up with her still in his arms before carrying her to his bed.
"Should we let Max know that everything's okay?", Lando ground tiredly, "But I don't want to go downstairs". She gave him one of those looks that he simply couldn't resist. Shifting to turn to the door, Lando yelled out, "We're fine!", the sound of Lando's voice echoed through the house made her cover her ears quickly. "Well, that's one way to do it".
Lando pulled her body close to his, finally feeling at ease. The feeling of her so close to him made his mind calmer for the first time in months. She made herself comfortable on his chest. Her fingers once again combed through his hair. "I love you," even though it was just a whisper, she heard him perfectly fine. He was her forever, and she knew that nothing could stand between the two of them. The bumps and unsteady turns that they took only made them stronger. And now, with him so close to her, she was sure that she was back where she belonged. She was at home. "You didn't say it back", she couldn't help but laugh that even in his sleepy state, he was so demanding. "I love you too, you muppet".
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reblog this if:
you are an f1 fan
you are an f2 fan
your favorite team is mclaren
your second favourite team is ferrari
your favorite drivers are lando norris, charles leclerc, carlos sainz, daniel ricciardo, pierre gasly, george russell, alex albon, callum ilott and mick shumacher
you want to be a driver
you want to be a mechanic or a track engineer
you ever imagined fake f1/f2 scenarios in your head ( i do this a lot lol )
im trying to find people like me lol
requested by anon, no warnings just A LOT of soft fluff stuff. it's not my finest piece, and it’s not even that long, cause idk I struggled a lot with writing this week... 🥺i hope you would like it anyway! Let me know, i love hearing your feedbacks ✨
click here for my masterlist 🏁
Imagine you and Lando napping together on the couch on a day off after a long week. He had been away for several weeks, around Europe for racing. When he got back, he was almost immediately sucked into a series of important meetings, promotional duties and press stuff. He barely had time to breathe or - more banally - to have a proper shower. He was exhausted, triple headers were both mentally and physically draining and you could definitely see on his face how tired he was, always filling his energy drink bottle to gain more strength, going to bed at 8 pm after a quick dinner and struggling to get up when the alarm rang.
However, that Saturday was finally, the first day off he had. No races, no press, no meetings. Just a quick training session with Jon on Zoom early in the morning, but once he was done with that he was completely free for the rest of the day.
He had called you right before lunch. You were dealing with some stuff on your laptop when his name lit up on your phone screen. It was hard for you to refrain from smiling instantly.
“Hey, you!”
“Hi”
You felt his tiredness on the spot. With just one small ‘hi’
“You okay?”
“Just a little tired, that’s all! Wanna come for lunch? We can order Subway” he asked with a soft voice. It made your heart bigger to know that, even if he was exhausted, he still wanted to see you.
You didn’t need time to agree. You hadn’t seen him in weeks, you couldn’t wait to catch up with him and spend some good quality time.
Once the phone call was over you rushed over to his place, thrilled to finally have some time alone with your boyfriend.
So there you were.
Lying on Lando’s expansive couch, his hands gently and tightly wrapped around your waist while his head was resting peacefully on your chest. Everything around you made you feel at home, so comfortable and cosy. Your bubble. Your safe place.
Maybe it was Brooklyn 99 keeping you company in the background, or maybe it was the darkness surrounding you, or perhaps the sound of the rain outside, just the sum of all of that was incredibly perfect for that moment.
You didn’t need fancy dates in fancy restaurants or big ‘movie style’ love gestures. Lying on a couch on a Saturday afternoon was more than enough and even better than anything you could have wished for.
It was extremely adorable how he had just fallen asleep, hiding his grin in the crook of your neck, after asking you to go play golf with him later in the afternoon.
“I can let you drive the golfkart if you promise you won’t fool around” he whispered making you laugh.
You nodded, cuddling him softly. His body was fully pressed on yours with legs woven under a plaid and your hands gently rubbing between his curls.
Eventually, you started to feel weary too, ending up falling asleep lightly. Even with your eyes closed, you kept rubbing his head and his back, massaging it sweetly.
You don’t know how much time you spent cuddling there, in each other’s arms. Could have been hours or minutes, you didn’t care the slightest. You were at your happiest and in your most comfortable state possible, Lando’s hands never left your waist: they always kept you close, holding you firmly to make sure you didn’t leave. He wanted you here, in his arms, glued to his body, feeling the warmth of each others' proximity. And you, you wouldn’t dare to wish to be anywhere else.
That was your place to be. Your favourite one.
“What time is it?” he moved a little, while his sleepy voice made you open your eyes a little.
“Don’t worry about it” you whispered back. He mumbled in response clutching himself to your body even more. You hugged him tightly, wrapping your legs around his hips.
You stayed there, in that position, for what it seemed a lifetime. At some point, Lando even started to snore a little making you giggle in your drowsiness and that was the final sign that highlighted how he needed to rest properly.
And you were glad and happy that he managed to do it hugged to your body, as if he had found his anchor for his wellbeing. You were that.
His anchor.
His getaway.
“Hey” he whispered at some point. You kept your eyes closed, never stopping your hands from wandering between the softness of his curls.
“Mh?” “Did I wake you up?” you whispered.
He rolled his head a little, with his lips still pressed on your cheek. You snuggled even more, holding him tightly with both arms and legs: like a little koala clung on a tree.
“I love you”
You tightened the grip on his body even more, smiling like a kid on Christmas day. Butterflies started dominating your entire stomach, like a teenager with their first crush.
God, you felt lucky. You felt so lucky. The luckiest on earth.
His body shifted a little, bringing himself up a little more just to face you better. Now his lips were millimeters from yours, just before they leant on your cheek softly. Smiling was the only thing you found yourself able to do in that moment. You were feeling so warm and loved, you needed it to last forever.
“I love you too, baby”
imagine looking this good with a mask
2021 F1 World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen celebrates with his team after the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on December 12, 2021 in Abu Dhabi