✓ | SUNRISE BOULEVARD, lando norris

THIRTY - TWO

"No one listened to you because you're a fucking liar, and everyone knows it too," Lando grits his teeth. "If this is your attempt to get me to do something crazy, you're not gonna win, and even if you did, that'd be bad for both of us, wouldn't it?" He narrows his eyes, practically disgusted by the mere sight of the musician in front of him. "That contract with your band is ticking, surely. Don't want to make you lose another job now, right?"

The way Jackson's eyes look when those words leave his mouth is enough to make him feel like laughing.

Bianca had told him in the past that Jackson had a habit of being a bit, in short terms, bitchy with the bands he hops to work with, never keeping his spot more than a few months at a time, or maybe a year if he was lucky, and she wasn't lying either. 

Lando had promised her that he wouldn't look into Jackson too much, save for listening to some of his poor excuses of music attempts, but he couldn't help himself, wanting to deep-dive on the man just to see how pathetic he really was. Call it evil, but it was all the truth. Bands dropping him after two to five months of working, never finishing contracts all the way through. Reports from from his former fans calling him rude and unappreciative.

At that point, Lando had somewhat figured out why Jackson might have been so obsessed with Bianca in the first place.

She had everything he wanted, and was everything he couldn't be.

It was funny, a fucking hoot that this guy thinks he's so high and mighty, so worthy after everything that's been said about him, not just by Bianca, but by others as well. To top it all off, he has the nerve to try and get Lando on his side? To lie and spit venom like he would get burned?

Maybe it was the overprotectiveness coursing through his veins, the anger from knowing that Jackson had once held Bianca the same way he does to her every night, but the smile peeking on Lando's lips was unwavering as the other man began to back away. 

Lando's been called a lot of things in his career, including egotistical and arrogant.

And you know what? Maybe it's true on occasion, because he feels pretty damn happy watching Jackson falter right in front of his eyes.

"You'll regret her," the guitarist says, but Lando's confidence is left unbroken and intact.

"No, I won't."

Jackson shakes his head and walks off, disappearing into the crowd and Lando prays it'll be the last time he sees him for the rest of his life.

He begins to scan the club again for Bianca, and when he finds her at a table, standing in between Lewis and Alex, he feels like he's finally discovered the meaning of life.

He rushes towards her, and when he gets there, he holds her face in his hands, like a precious artifact he'd discovered all by himself. 

"Are you okay?" He asks, and she takes a hold of his wrists, the cold metal of his silver bracelet now pressed up against her palms.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," she assures, nodding. "What did you guys talk about? It looked bad."

Lando shakes his head. "Nothing important, I promise. Just him being a dickhead, okay?" He then removes his hands from her face and places one on her back. "Do you want to leave or do you want to stay?"

Bianca looks towards Lewis and Alex, who both look stressed from the altercation that had happened just moments ago.

"Yeah, let's go," she says, and Lando is quick to take her hand and walk towards the exit, giving his fellow drivers a small 'Thank you' as they pass.

It's not long before they're in their hotel room again, and things feel calmer than they had before; even though his phone was going crazy with messages from his PR manager, which was a problem he had decided to deal with later.

"Lando?" Bianca asks, moving out of the bathroom in her sleeping clothes, since they had no interest in going out after tonight's circus.

"Yes?"

"What did you and Jackson talk about? Like, actually?" She questions, sitting down in her spot next to Lando on the bed. "I just saw a video and it looked bad."

Lando shuffles from his side and rests his head on her shoulder, leading her to wrap an arm around him. While she traces lines into his arm, he sighs, "When I said he was just being a dickhead, I meant it. He tried to tell me about how you manipulate scenarios in your favor and that you're a liar, shit like that," he scoffs at the memory. "Even said that you'd drop me and make songs about me, lie in interviews and stuff." Lando lifts his head to look at his lover, who was still holding onto him. "Like I said, none of it is exactly important."

"Yeah, that..." She sighs, running a hand through her hair. "...sounds like Jackson."

"Let's just forget about it now, yeah?" Lando kisses her shoulder as she nods.

"Sounds good. Definitely not how I wanted to spend the aftermath of your first race back," she says with a faint hint of a laugh.

And Lando can only agree, as he reaches for the television remote to their hotel room's TV.

That night, they end up falling asleep at 8 PM, some mediocre film playing on the television and neither of them paying it any mind.

Except, Lando wasn't asleep, and as he caresses Bianca's hair, hearing her silent breathing as she slumbers, he's looking at the messages from his PR manager that he had spent the last few hours ignoring.

angelina: I understand that you and Bianca have decided to become a real couple a few months ago, but this behavior is unacceptable, Lando. If you keep this up, it'll be bad for the both of you. You're not a child, and you should have walked away rather than stick around to fight.

angelina: I'm not going to stop you from being in love, but don't make me and Ethan think that this whole thing was a mistake.

'a mistake.'

Sometimes, Lando wishes he was just a normal guy, because he's sure that if he wasn't who he was, he wouldn't have to deal with wondering if him defending his girlfriend was a bad choice to make.

NOTES!

every problem in this book that bianca or lando have we should just blame jackson actually

xoxo, cas