♡♡♡
It was only 2 weeks later that Valentina was stepping foot in the paddock again with Silver and Tom by her side, the girl feeling particularly excited to be back in her favourite place even if she didn't work there anymore.
"Hey! Nice to see you back!" Vettel smiled at the brunette as she walked by him.
"Hey Seb, have a good race today!" Teena responds as she passes him, the German sighing confidently before he walks into his garage to get himself ready for the race.
Everyone on the grid was glad to see her beaming smile walking through the paddock, everyone greeting her and giving her a soft hug if they had time, the girl giving them all some good luck for the race ahead of them.
"Go see lover boy before he explodes." Silver nudges the brunette, nodding towards Lando who was patiently waiting to see if she'd go over to him.
Teena rolled her eyes at her two friends before listening to their encouragement, the girl walking over to the curly-haired boy who had a gleaming smile on his face. Lando was a little surprised when she wrapped her arms around him, the girl cuddling into his chest softly before Lando wraps his arms around her back and cuddles her back.
Silver and Tom high-five one another before they walk over, the two of them high-fiving Lando who was standing with his race suit half unzipped considering his race started soon. Teena let go of Lando and stood beside Silver, the two brunettes looking at one another before Silver coughs.
"We need to get to our seats." Silver speaks.
"You two go ahead, I'll catch up." Teena replies, the two of her friends looking at one another before they disappear.
"I watched you in Quali yesterday on the TV, P5." Teena grins.
"Best result yet." Lando replies, feeling confident for the race ahead of him.
"I have something to tell you after the race, but don't think about it whilst you're racing 'cause I know how distracted you can get." Teena pokes his chest, the boy groaning at the statement before he agrees.
"Good luck kiss?" Lando questions quietly before she walked away.
Teena shook her head at him with a smile before she placed both of her hands on his cheeks, the girl pressing her lips to his softly which caused goosebumps to rise on his skin. He was well aware there were other drivers and staff members watching it happen, but he didn't care as he rested his hands on her waist.
"Go before I get into trouble with Zak and Andreas. Say hi to Jarv for me." Teena whispers, pecking his cheek again before she walks away from him.
"Lando Norris, you're a suave motherfucker." Carlos grins as he walks into the garage.
"You finally got the girl practically everyone's wanted since she joined the paddock, congratulations." Carlos claps.
"Carlos be quieter." Lando warns him before moving into his side of the garage, getting his race suit on properly.
Teena sat down in her seat in between Silver and Tom, the two of them looking at her as she looks at them, both of them giggling like schoolchildren which was worrying her slightly.
"What?" Teena asks.
"Didn't know lip gloss was meant to be applied to your cheek." Silver states, watching the Monegasque reach up and wipe her cheek quickly.
"Did you give him a cheeky snog?" Tom asks.
"Oh my god I hate you guys." Teena exclaims, leaning back in her seat before the three of them laugh.
♡♡♡
It was only around 30 laps into the race when Teena was torn away from her seat by her phone ringing non-stop, the girl getting slightly worried that someone at home had been hurt so she left her seat and found a quiet place in the paddock to take the call.
"Valentina Aline Noemi Blaise! You are in serious trouble young lady!" Adalene shouts through the phone, Teena temporarily moving it away from her ear to stop them from ringing.
"What? Why, what did I do?" Teena questions.
"What did you do?! You left your job!" Adalene shouts in response, yet again making Teena move her phone from her ear. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach at what her mother was saying, the girl wondering whether Leo or Mateo had told them, or whether it was their friends who worked at the FIA that had told them instead.
"We worked our socks off to get you that spot and you left? What did you leave for?" Adalene questions.
"Ma-" She begins but is immediately cut off.
"Valentina if this is for a boy I swear on your damn life." Adalene exclaims,
"Ma, tais-toi et laisse-moi parler une seconde." Teena argues, listening to her mother scoff in shock.
"Don't you dare tell me to shut up!" Adalene shouts yet again, ranting to her daughter very quickly in French.
"Explain yourself." Adalene finishes.
"Why does it matter to you that I left? I hated the people I worked with, apart from Kym, they were rude and shallow and I have no time for people like that. I simply wasn't enjoying it anymore, it was just repetitive." Teena shrugged.
"But you still go to races?" Adelene furrows her eyebrows.
"Because I'm actually enjoying the race and not sitting there taking photos, worrying about if they're blurry or not and getting murdered by my boss if they're the slightest bit fuzzy. " Teena rolls her eyes, sitting down on a step she'd found.
"Valentina." Her mother sighs.
"Who told you?" She asks.
"Mateo." Adalene replies.
"Did he tell you I had a boyfriend too?" She questions.
"I thought you were going out with that boy... oh my god, Teena did you leave the FIA for him? Is he a driver?" Adelene inquires, praying that her daughter wasn't stupid enough to quit her job for a boy she barely even knew.
"Look, Ma, it was my decision to leave." Teena sighs.
"That doesn't mean you can let your perfectly good job for a boy, Valentina! I'm disappointed in you, you're ruining your life." Her mother exclaims.
"If you're gonna ridicule me for this then I may as well tell you I nearly did it last year, because I was going out with Hamilton and I was convinced that he was the one, so I handed my two weeks notice in and found he was cheating on me so I revoked it and kept working here." Teena informs her.
"I don't care what you think anymore, I'm 19 years old, Ma. I've got my own brain and my own dreams, just because you didn't achieve your dream of being a photographer doesn't mean you can force it upon me." Teena continues to ran, scratching her arm softly.
"I'm completely positive that my decision to leave the FIA was good, because I've never felt like this towards anyone. I don't know what it is, but Lando makes me feel like the Queen of the freaking world, and it doesn't matter that I only really started talking to him earlier this year."
"I met him last year in March, he was the test and reserve driver for McLaren and was driving for Carlin in F2, which I did photography for at a few races and I ended up having lunch with him. I feel like I've known him forever, and I honestly do not care what you think of him because I love him." Teena admits.
She was shocked at herself for saying the word, and she'd shocked her mother even more. She loved him. She'd never admitted that out loud before, but she'd been so sure of it in the last few days whenever she was left alone with her thoughts, it's all she could think about.
Teena heard the phone being hung up and sighed, moving her phone away from her ear and putting it into her pocket. She sat wallowing in her thoughts for about 10 minutes before she decided to go back to her seat.
"Hey, what happened?" Silver asks, noticing she'd gone from smiley and giggly to quiet and upset.
"Mateo told Ma that I left the FIA, and I told her why. Then she asked about Lando and I had a massive rant at her and she hung up on me." Teena sighs, leaning her head on Silver's lap.
"Awh, Tee, it's gonna be okay my love." Silver reassures her.
♡♡♡
"Hey." Lando smiles as he walks over to Teena.
"Hey." Teena replies.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright." She smiles a little, the girl playing with the rings on her fingers.
"I don't believe you." Lando responds, taking her hand in his, the two walking over to his driver's cabin so he could get out of his race suit.
"I had an argument with my Ma, she found out about the whole job thing." Teena looks at her feet as Lando changes.
"I take it didn't go well." Lando sighs.
"Yeah it went terribly. She hung up on me." Teena huffs.
"Hey, everything will be okay, she's your Ma. She'll come around, it'll just take her some time." Lando kneels in front of her, tucking some hair behind her ear.
It was things like this that made Teena want to openly admit that she loved him, tell him that she was utterly obsessed with him and how he acted but she was nervous, she didn't want to because she didn't want a repeat of what happened with Hamilton.
Lando smiled at her softly and was caught slightly off guard when she leant down and pressed her lips to his, the two of them standing up to enjoy the kiss properly. His lips tasted sweet against hers, the type of sweet that made her heartache and her knees feel weak, the type of sweet that anyone could fall in love with if they tried it.
She was a little shocked when he backed her up against the wall, the girl instinctively wrapping her legs around his waist as he held her up against the thin walls of his cabin. Her hands tangled in his hair, the two of them completely caught up in one another and what was probably about to happen rather than being bothered about what was going on outside.
Lando's lips were quick to find her sweet spot, the girl leaning her head against the wall to let him have better access. Both of them seemed to need to take their frustrations out on one another, Teena's being the argument she just had and Lando's being the fact he dropped 4 places from Quali and finished in 9th.
"Is this really happening?" Teena asks breathlessly.
"Only if you want it to." Lando smirks, the two of them looking at one another before she smiles cheekily.
She didn't have to say anything before she slipped her hand under his shirt, the girl lightly tracing his toned chest before she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.
♡♡♡