Fragile Heart

32

Stella's pov

I sit in the McLaren hospitality, my gaze fixed on my food, but my mind elsewhere.

Fuck, Liam has ruined me again.

It's always the same. He says I've gained weight, so I stop eating for weeks until I feel so weak that I have to force myself to eat.

I absolutely hate how he does this to me. It's a vicious cycle, and it always happens.

"Stella!" I flinch at the sudden scream of my name coming from a familiar voice.

I look over to see Charles storming over to me, his face flushed red with anger and his knuckles clenched tightly.

"Shouldn't you be in the Ferrari ga—" I start to say, but I'm cut off as he slams his hands on the table and leans down.

"Why did I just see Lando punch Liam in the fucking eye!? Care to explain?" He says, and my eyes widen in shock. Lando did what!?

"What the fuck do you mean he punched him!?" I shouldn't have told Lando the full story about me and Liam. I even begged him not to confront Liam, and I thought he would actually listen but I guess not.

I'm not even sure why he care about me so much to actually go and hurt him?

Charles scoffs and shakes his head. "You told him about you and Liam didn't you."

I'm at a loss for words. I can't tell Charles that Liam hurt me, and I can't tell the real reason how Lando figured it out.

I look back down at my food and nod slowly. "I thought I could trust him," I mumble. I really did think I could trust him. I didn't think he would actually go and hurt him.

Yeah, I maybe thought Lando would go have a talk with him, but I didn't expect him to physically hurt him.

"Are you sure it was Lando?" I say hoping maybe Charles just seen things but he nods.

"I know what Lando looks like, and I know what that asshole looks like, I know what I saw. Fucking hell, Stella," Charles mutters, frustration evident in his movements as he paces around in circles, trying to figure out what to do.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do. You have to have a talk with Lando. He can't be going around and punching people, especially him!" With that, Charles leaves me, and I'm just left alone with my thoughts, trying to figure out what the hell I can do.

Do I confront him? Do I wait till he notices I'm angry at him?

I sit there for a few minutes before finally making up my mind.

I pick up my food, but as I make my way out of the hospitality, I toss it in the bin. I don't think I can eat right now.

I stroll around the paddock until I find Carlos, the only driver I can probably trust right now.

"Carlos!" I yell out, he snaps his head to me and he immediately smiles, I would smile back but I'm not in the mood right now.

"What's up with you?" Carlos asks, noticing my serious expression.

"Have you seen Lando?" I ask, noticing the furrow in his brow. "Why?"

"I need to talk to him," I say, and he nods, pointing in the direction of the garages.

"Thank you," I say gratefully, offering a warm smile before waving goodbye. I proceed towards the garage. Once I make it inside the McLaren garage Lando is nowhere to be found, only a bunch of mechanics doing there job.

The only remaining place he could be is his driver's room, so I turn around and head towards the stairs leading up to his room.

As I approach the door, I take a deep breath and ponder what to say. Should I start with, "Hey, I heard about what happened with Liam. Can we talk?" Or maybe, "I'm feeling really upset and confused right now."

Unsure of what to say, I set aside my thoughts and knock on the door. I'll figure out what to say once I'm inside.

"Come in," Lando's voice echoes through the door. I grasp the doorknob and enter the room. Inside, I find Lando sitting on the couch, his race suit hanging around his waist as he scrolls through his phone.

"Lando," I say bluntly, no emotions on my face. He looks up at me and smiles, unaware that I'm aware of what happened.

I get straight to the point.

"So, where were you? I was looking for you." I lie, I wasn't looking for him but I just want to see what he says.

He puts his phone in his pocket. "I was just talking with Zak about the pace of the car." He smiles, he's lying to me.

He intended to keep this a secret from me. He didn't want me to know about it at all. It's bad enough that he punched Liam, but now he's also lying to me?

I shouldn't be mad at him because he was probably just trying to protect me, but he only made things worse by hurting Liam. And now this? Lying right to my face?

"Dont lie Lando."