(A/N) two chapter in one day!!
After four weeks of perfect weather, it had decided that today it would be raining and dark. Thick clouds rolling over the sky like an angry sea. Thick and dark, cold and lots of rain, it had been forecasted to rain a lot today. The drivers knew that. But most had still hoped that the weather man had been wrong.
It had been such good weather here at la Casa de la Carrera that it was bound to rain at some point. But that it was a storm right of the bat? Yeah that's not what they had expected. Drizzle and a bit of rain, yeah. That would have been what they had in mind.
But an actual storm with gusts of wind at about 110 kilometres per hour, was not something they were expecting. The wind was only increasing by the hour as the drivers could do nothing but stay inside and watch the news a bit. Well, Nando, Carlos, Checo and little Chequito understood what was said on the tv.
Lando had crawled onto the lap of the Spanish Ferrari driver, hiding his head in the crook of his neck. Too scared of the storm that was raging passed them, shaking furiously in the arms of Carlos. Who knows why the poor brit is so scared and wants to be surrounded by everyone and doesn't want anyone to leave the room otherwise it would make him panic.
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And it's for a reason that lando is so scared, as a kid he and his dad went to a karting track. Where the seven years old Lando was karting to his hearts content. It had been a beautiful summers day in England, not a cloud in the sky. Lando was doing his absolute best at the track. Loving every moment.
But soon after his second last session, there were thick black clouds rolling over the sky. As if someone was closing the curtains in a very fast and hurried way. It seemed like someone was in a hurry to close the curtains. It made Lando anxious about it, he never really liked the storms or the thunder. They made him uneasy.
The young boy had been in the middle of the track when a strong gust of wind blew passed him. It made a lot of noise and it scared the boy who drove the kart to his dad, hoping to get into the car before it was gonna hurt the poor boy. His dad tells him to get in the little restaurant that was on the track as he doesn't want his son in the car with these gusts of wind while he loads kart into the van.
Lando does as he has been told, almost running in the direction of the restaurant, he hears the thunder roll through the sky, lightening striking through the clouds. Lando squeaks in fear. It makes him very afraid of what is going on. He feels bad for leaving his father there but Lando was told to go to the restaurant as his father had a rule where if there is something dangerous going on no matter what, you do as I tell you.
Lando trips over something, falling onto the ground. The wind blows over the parking lot, making the trees creak with the wind. His arms and knees hurt as he tries to hurl himself up, but he can't. His knee won't bend, his hands are getting cold and he can barely get himself onto his right knee. His left knee is gushing out blood.
Rain now pouring down, as if someone is throwing a bucket over the poor brit. Making him shiver of the cold. He looks around, but he can't see through the rain. Where is his dad? He can't see anyone. A tree cracks, his heart racing in his chest. This is his end! He thinks. It can't be! Lando tries to get on his feet but falls. He can't stand on his leg. His knee won't bend.
Shaking his head, he hears the tree crack again. This tree is gonna fall! He thinks. He tries again but to no success he falls again, this time on his knee, he cries out in pain. He might have broken his knee of something cut into it. He doesn't know, his body is cooling down rapidly in the open racing suit and the pouring down rain.
The tree cracks again, this time Lando can see it coming towards him. This is it! He thinks. He closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable. He's gonna die. This is it! This can't be it!! Lando waits for the tree to hit him. He screams in pain when he feels his body move, someone is holding him! Someone is moving him. But who?
He doesn't dare to open his eyes, maybe he's getting carried away by angels and he's going to heaven. But wouldn't he remember how the tree fell on him? Maybe. But he still feels his body going colder, the rain dripping onto him. It's still gusts of wind in his face.
Until. Until he feels the warm and dry air. He listens to everyone murmuring and their talking about something. But he feels to light headed to care what is going on. His knee hurts, his hands hurt, his body is undercooled. He wants nothing more then something warm. Tea maybe.
"Help! Iemand, help!" A boy yells.
Everyone turns to the two kids coming into the room. Jos is quick to recognise his son's voice. He knows that he saw Max run outside and wanted to run after him but he couldn't. He couldn't leave his younger daughter Victoria alone in this room. She was gonna follow him too.
Jos knows Max to come back, he must have seen something and indeed he had. He had apparently seen a boy in need of help. Jos could scream at his son for being so stupid and not let him go but he was proud of his son for being a hero too. So it was a little of a fight with himself rather to punish Max or praise him.
"Max! Wat is er gebeurd?" Jos asks his son.
"Hij lag, papa! En een boom viel bijna op hem." Max tells his father.
Jos nods, gives his son a pat on the shoulder before he picks up the crying boy. Who is completely covered in mud and his knee is bleeding a river. Max looks at the boy and grabs his little sister's hand like he always did when it was just them and their father. Max would look after Victoria with love.
"I need a medic!" Jos yells.
"Hi! I'm max!" Max says to little Lando.
Lando opens his eyes, feeling salty tears run down his cheeks as it hurts and he has so many scratches over his body. Max looks at the boy's knee and sees that some kind of metal thing in sticking out of the flesh of the boy's need. He must have fallen onto something while he was trying to get to safety.
"I'm Lando." Lando says.
"Papa? Zal alles wel weer goed gaan?" Max asks his dad.
Jos looks at his son while the four of them follow a medic to the medical room in the back of the building for any injuries the people would get after or when they are karting. Jos smiles at his son for a moment before he nods.
"Ja, ze zullen hem oplappen and dan gaan we zijn ouders zoeken." Jos tells max.
"Is goed, papa." Max says.
Max holds on tightly to his sister, sitting next to his dad. He holds out his hand to Lando so the poor boy could hold his hand while they remove the metal piece from the boy's thigh, lucky Lando it only caught into his skin and not his bone or muscle. He won't need a cast or a brace for that matter.
But he does need some stitches for the cut that he has. Lando gladly takes the hand of Max in his, squeezing it when it hurts and when he is scared. Lando looks at Max and as much as he likes the fact that the boy is showing support. He wants his father and his stuffed teddy. He wants his mother and her sweet kisses.
After a half hour of Lando getting stitched and some paper info for his dad. They head back with Lando who is walking on a pair of crutches. Victoria is holding her father's hand while Max and Lando walk in front of them. Max helps looking for his father, who they hope to find soon because Lando wants to go home. To his mom.
"I'm scared." Lando mumbles.
"Why?" Max asks.
Max doesn't really need to ask why. He can guess why Lando is scared. Maybe for another tree to fall or maybe he is scared his parent has been hit by a tree or he is scared that he won't find his father. So many things Max can come up with. But mostly he feels for the younger boy.
"What if my papa got hurt?" Lando asks.
"I bet he isn't!" Max says. "I bet he is looking for you! So he can cuddle you!"
Lando nods, taking Max's word for it. He will hug his dad so tightly when he sees him. It might take a while before they find him but nevertheless they will keep looking. Lando knows his father would never leave without him.
After looking for an half hour, Jos decides to get the kids around a table and treat them on hot chocolate milk with grilled cheese as a lunch and as something to keep Lando's mind of the storm and him not being able to find his father.
"Thank you." Lando says to Jos.
"You're welcome kid." Jos smiles.
They eat quietly their lunch, Max and Lando chat a bit about racing and their favourite driver. Max obviously saying it's Michael Schumacher and his dad. Lando is surprised that he is in the company of a former f1 driver. Lando says it's a Motogp driver and Max has heard of him but doesn't really know him.
They both bond over their love of racing and their dream of becoming first of f1 racing drivers. Second of obviously f1 world champions. They eat their grilled cheese and Jos buts in a couple of times to give Lando a bit of advice on the racing side. Which Lando is really happy about.
"Lando?" A voice says.
Lando turns around, he wants to jump into his dad's arms but he can't stand on his left leg. He is very happy that his father is here and unharmed. Lando starts to cry and his dad quickly wraps him into a hug. Jos looks at the boy and nods at the man.
"Lando tripped and almost got hurt by a tree." Max says in his very bad english.
"Max found him." Jos points to his son.
The father of Lando puts his little boy on his lap. Lando may be ten but the poor boy looks like he is about six or seven years old. Max thought he was six and was surprised when Lando told him he was ten. Jos smiles at the other man.
"Thank you, max." Adam, Lando's dad say.
"Graag gedaan!" Max smiles.
Adam chuckles, max seems to be a really sweet kid. He can see the racing suit on the boy so he is here to race too. Lando mumbles something about wanting his teddy and his mom. Adam nods and waves the Verstappen goodbye for now. He knows that he will be seeing them again.
~~~~~~~~
It had been since that they that Lando had been as the death for storms and hard gusts of wind. The harder it was storming, the more scared the boy would be. He would want to hide in a bunker with his teddy. Waiting it out.
Carlos has been the only other person to know why Lando is so scared of storms. The lightning, the thunder but mostly the hard gusty wind. The pouring rain that made him all think about that day. The day he could have been dead if it wasn't for Max coming to safe him.
Max had never told anyone about that day, not that he didn't want to tell anyone that he was such a nice person but because Lando had asked him to never tell anyone. And he never did. And max's mom Sophie doesn't count.
Max had made it his mission today to distract the boy from the storm that is raging out side. He knows that at some point the wind will pick up even more and Max had this idea to go to the basement with Lando for a while. All the kids thought it would be a good idea to distract Lando.
Charles, Alex and George had this idea to play some racing simulation but Lando refused to go anywhere. He refused to leave the comfort of Carlos. Holding onto his teddy while he hides from the world for as long as it's storming outside.
"Why is Lando so scared?" Chequito asks.
"Because we are all scared of something." Max answers.
Chequito nods and goes back to watching some kind of kids show on his dad's iPad. Not giving any fuck about what goes on outside. He is a kid, he doesn't need to worry about those things. That the job of the adults.
Lando smiles gratefully at Max, who nods at him and smiles back before he sits next to the scared brit. Rubbing his back a bit to calm down the brit a bit. But he is still scared and the dutchman feels for him. Lando is shaking so much that Max wants to help him with something.
Then it hits him! The hot chocolate milk and the grilled cheese. They had always worked when there had been a storm. Max shoots of his seat and rushes into the kitchen. Rummaging in the kitchen to find the frying pan and the whistle kettle.
Kimi frowns when he sees Max disappear into the kitchen. What the hell is the kid going to do. He thinks. He looks at Seb who shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. Not having a clue either what the dutchman is onto.
Charles follows the dutchman for a glass of water and sees him throwing the entire kitchen upside down. Charles frowns at him, what could he be up to? He thinks. But he keeps quiet, not wanting to talk to him at all. Charles has been having trouble keeping his feelings at bay around Max. And Max for some reason has been a lot more nicer to him.
"What you looking for?" Charles ask.
Cursing at himself for asking, for being so weak and giving in to talking to Max. He hates himself for being to weak when it comes to the dutchman. He watches as Max turns around and smiles for a moment before he goes back to looking.
"The hot water kettle." Max answers.
"Oh. It's in the cabinet above the stove." Charles say.
Max opens the cabinet with above the stove and finds the kettle there. He thanks Charles and turns to the Monegasque to ask him for a favour. Hoping that the Monegasque would want to help him with it. He knows that the Monegasque doesn't like him and probably doesn't want to help him.
"Could you ask which driver wants hot coca and grilled cheese?" Max asks.
"Yeah sure." Charles says.
Charles heads out of the kitchen to ask. Max starts on making the scared brit first because he desperately needs it. It hopefully help the boy with it. It has helped already so many times before when there was hard wind or the track got closed because of the thunder that would come.
Charles comes back after a couple of minutes. He puts down a piece of paper with how many people would want to have the hot cocoa and the grilled cheese. Charles looks at the mug and a plate with a steaming grilled cheese on it.
"Could you give this to Lando?" Max asks.
"Yeah." Charles is confused.
Charles walks out of the kitchen and heads to Lando. Who seems to brighten up at the sight of the grilled cheese and the hot cocoa. Kimi says that it would be a better idea if they all head to the dining room so that they can eat.
Charles gives Lando the hot cocoa and grilled cheese as it only takes a second for lando to detach himself from the Spaniard. Licking his lips before he dives in and completely forgets the storm raging outside.
Carlos shakes his head, of course Max would remember that this was the perfect remedy for Lando. It had been Max who found out it would help the scared brit. Sometimes Carlos couldn't help but think that Max was just the nicest person on the track. He would remember certain stuff that others would have forgotten.
Charles gets back in the kitchen and sees the kettle steaming, max already having done four plates of food. Charles take the kettle of the stove and grabs serving tray and brings the others some grilled cheese.
Nando and Lewis are the only two that find it unusual that Max and Charles are working so nicely together. Not a fight or a word is said between the two as they just serve the others food and hot drinks. Being very nice and respectful to one another.
Charles and Max are the last two to have some grilled cheese and hot cocoa. Sitting next to each other and just casually eating their food. Pierre shakes his head, that talk between him and Max had definitely worked. They got along a bit better snd they put their hate aside for now.
"Better, Lando?" Max asks.
"All good! Like the karting days!" Lando smiles.
The storm long forgotten by the boy who was happily sipping on his hot cocoa on his best friend's lap. Happy that Max had remembered and was so nice to get him it as that was something that turned into a tradition after that day that he met Max.
(A/N) gotta give some credits to the storm raging outside my home at the moment for the inspiration for this chapter.