021. | HOLD MY GIRL
— AFTER HOURS, LANDO NORRIS
"That car is insane. Wouldn't mind to take it with me more often 🤭." Emery texted Lando as she turned off the car's engine.
She'd gone to the grocery store to get groceries that Lando had run out of at his home. And after asking him very sweetly—batting her eyes at him, he allowed her to take his McLaren with her as on the small trip.
It's safe to say with a car like that she could've gone to the store and back to his home in just a thirty minute trip, but who would pass on the chance of taking that beast of car for a test drive?
She stepped out of the 765LT Spider, and made her way back to his appartement from the garage.
The brunette entered the house, put the car keys back on it's place on the kitchen counter, and then finally exchanged her sneakers for a pair of cozy socks.
The girl stored the items that needed cooling in the fridge, and while carrying the plastic bag filled with the remaining items she had picked up at the store she headed upstairs towards Lando's room.
She entered Lando's room, completely unaware of the boy's activities, "Pretty boy, I got the groceries you needed." Emery smiled, grabbing a packed gift out of the plastic bag in her hands.
"I couldn't resist getting you a little gift too. I saw you didn't have this one in your collection yet." Emery she said as she walked over to where Lando was sitting.
Lando spinned around in his chair, now facing her. "Ems, I'm streaming." He shot her an apologethic look, knowing that she wasn't the biggest fan of the spotlight.
She put the plastic bag down—her mouth fell slightly open. "Oh." She said.
"That's okay, I can go downstairs. Just wanted to give you this." The brunette give him an awkward half-smile. She wasn't used to being in the public eye, despite being Lando's (fake) girlfriend.
He gratefully accepted the wrapped gift that Emery then handed to him, "You don't have to go." Lando said to her, almost begging her not to.
"I'm just on a call with Max, and I doubt him or chat would mind you being here." Lando reasoned with her. He put his hand on her waist, trying to get rid of her nerves.
"Oh, okay." Emery accepted his offer and stayed.
Lando stood up, allowing Emery to take a seat in the gaming chair. He playfully shook the colourfully wrapped gift like a curious child, to try and guess its contents.
Emery chuckled at his childlike behaviour, "Lan, just open the present. You'll find out much faster what it is when you open it than just guessing." She laughed cutely at his excitement.
"It's not really something special though, just a small gift." The equestrian tried to down play her gesture.
Lando gave her a soft smile, appreciating alone that she had gotten him something. "Is it LEGOs? The sounds the shaking gave sounded like LEGO!" He happily stated—being very obvious about his love for the coloured bricks.
"Oh my God." Emery softly exclaimed, rolling her eyes playfully. "Just open it!" She nudged his shoulder, also growing impatient because she was very curious about his reaction to her gift.
Lando slowly started ripping apart the wrapping paper, on the occasion giving Emery an excited glare. He ripped off the final peace stuck to the cardboard box, and was met with the LEGO McLaren Speed Champions set that indeed wasn't apart of his collection yet.
His mouth fell open, "Emery Capaldi! I can't believe you actually got it for me." He exclaimed happily, giving her a sweet hug. "There's even two cars in this set! Now we can both build one." He enthusiastically said, starting to clear his desk.
Lando grabbed another chair from somewhere out of the room and sat down next to Emery at the desk to build the LEGO set.
He adjusted the camera angle to point more down, so that his stream could see the desk and their workplace more clearly
He took the little numbered bags out of the box and handed Emery the ones that belonged to the little car that she would build. He carefully laid the instruction book between them—so that both of them could read the instructions.
"Ems?" Lando spoke, not looking up from the small set he was building. "Yeah?" She answered, also too focused on her set to look up at him. "Is that a new perfume?" He asked, still busy with assembling the blocks.
Emery smiled to herself, "Yeah, it is actually." She smiled because of how attentive Lando always was to her, he seemed to always notice all the things about her. It mesmerized her.
They both continued assembling their tiny LEGO cars, when a sudden donation sound startled the pair. A donation notification appeared with a message, "Hi Lando, Emery. I had a question, out of every car in the world. What cars are your dream cars?" The robotic spoke through TTS (text to speech).
Where Lando took a moment to think about the question, Emery came up with an answer almost immediately. She smiled to herself, imagining the car.
"Oh mijn God." She spoke in Dutch, her enthousiasm evident as she was speaking her native language.
"It's the GT3 RS." She said, "Porsche, for those who don't know." She looked over at Lando, curious about his answer.
Lando's reaction to her answer was quick, as he let out a playful scoff that drew a raised eyebrow from her at him in return. "Not even a McLaren, huh?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm joined in his voice.
He rolled his eyes at her, "And here I thought your Twitter bio said you were McLaren's fangirl." She laughed at his accuracy, "Well, you're tied to a contract, I'm not. Pretty Boy," She teased him, making the chat go crazy about her nickname.
"In F1 I am Mclaren's girl, but Porsche is just. Porsche." She tried to reason. "However, I drove your car earlier today. And to those who say money can't buy happines.."
She started off,
"You clearly have never driven in a McLaren." She said, making Lando look at her proudly.
Emery initially didn't feel comfortable with Lando's fans. Yes, most of them were nice and supporting of her and their "relationship", but on some days the private messages on Instagram told a complete opposite story.
For that reason, she always held herself back a bit when it came to the public. But Lando always tried his hardest to make her feel at ease, she nearly always felt comfortable in his presence.
As time passed, Lando kept moving his chair closer to the girl throughout the stream. Eventually he leaned his head on Emery's shoulder, startling the girl a little bit.
He tilted his head so that he was looking at her face to face, his head still leaning on her shoulder. "Ems, I'm tired." He moaned to her, a yawn also leaving his lips.
Emery looked down at her watch, it only being eleven p.m. "Yeah, well. It's way past your bedtime." She couldn't help but joke about him.
"Go to bed." She pointed to his boxspring, in the corner of the room. "I'll do one more question, and then end stream."
Lando closed his eyes, complaining but being too tired. "No I can't do that to you, I'm already proud of you being here." The boy said, hugging her closer.
"I'll close my eyes for just two seconds..." He trailed off. "..And then I'm good to go." He yawned—making his words almost unhearable for the audience but clear enough for the girl.
Emery playfully shook her head at him, "No, I declare dictatorship. You don't get to have a say in this." She spoke softly to him. "Go to sleep, Pretty Boy. I'll finish things up here."
She moved closer to the pc, carefully trying not to move too much to not wake up the boy that was asleep, leaning on her shoulder.
She saw one more donation coming through and read the question, "Hi! First off, you and Lando are very sweet! We're all glad you make our boy so happy. Secondly, what is something that has been on your bucketlist since forever?"
"Well, thank you for the ten pounds!" She said with an appreciative tone, and started to think about the question.
"I think to go skydiving. My friends always told me I'm nuts for wanting that, but it just seems so cool. So yeah, that." She rambled, a bit overwhelmed by the fast paced chat.
Not yet asleep but still tired Lando replied, "Noted." He spoke so softly that his words were inaudible for the audience, but still hearable for Emery. A small smile plastered on her face, which had chat wondering for what.
Emery spoke a little more to the chat, before she decided that it was enough for that day. "Thank you all for joining this stream! Even though he's asleep now," She said, looking down at an asleep Lando on her shoulder.
"He appreciates and loves all of you." She smiled at him, and then looked back at the camera. "See you next time!" She waved at the camera and then turned off the stream after some help of chat.
The girl turned off his pc and patiently guided him to his bed. Accidentally waking him up with the too much movement, Lando, still half-asleep, clumsily crawled into his bed. Emery sat down on the edge of the bed next to him, hiding her face in her hands.
Lando sat up a bit more straight, "Are you okay?" He asked her, another yawn leaving his mouth indicating just how tired he was. She didn't react, so he put his hand on her shoulder, once again. "Ems?"
"Hmm?" She asked, lifting her head towards him. "Yeah, I just have a headache." She lied. "I'm fine though, just go to sleep, Lan." The girl reassured him with a warm smile.
"Alright," Lando replied, his drowsy voice betraying his exhaustion. He hugged his pillow closer and asked, "Will you join me?"
Emery didn't even hesitate, she really wanted a hug. "Yeah, I will join you." She said as she layed next to him in his bed.
She set an alarm for nine a.m. the following day and placed her phone on the bedside table.
Lando pulled her close in a tender embrace as she settled in beside him, wrapping his arms around her. Initially, Emery felt a bit tense when he buried his face in her chest—but she soon relaxed and returned the hug.
"I can feel your heartbeat," Lando softly murmured, his voice muffled by her chest.
"Tell me when it stops," she replied playfully, before allowing him to drift off to sleep.
it now was few days later, and it was finally the day where Emery would have her first competition at a horse show in almost twelve years.
Emery was riding Royal in the British Novice category (jumps of 90 cm), while Flo takes charge of Nequila in the newcomers' section (jumps of 1m 10). Lando also got dragged along with them, he was their proud supporter cheering them on, just like he did twelve years ago.
In the morning, both Flo and Emery had prepared the horses for the travel and show day itself.
Eventually Flo drove the horses with her in the truck towards the show grounds, and Emery caught a ride with Lando in his McLaren as that was more efficient since they needed enough space to bring along their stuff and tack.
They had all woken up early, since it was also a two hour drive to the show grounds. It was an annoying and rushed morning, but they made it on time luckily.
"Good boy, Royal. Do us proud today." Lando patted the four year old gelding, waiting for Emery to come back.
Royal stood ready by the truck. Emery had just finished getting him ready, making sure everything was in place.
She headed to the back of the truck to start gathering her own belongings and then it struck her—she had left her show jacket behind in the morning rush and had forgotten to take it with her.
Feeling flustered, Emery walked over to Lando who was still standing next to Royal—her hands tangled in her hair. "You're fucking kidding." She swore.
Stress was building up—not only had she not competed in over a dozen years, but now she was missing her jacket.
Not showing with her jacket wouldn't be the biggest problem in the world, but she would miss out on a few points in the 'organization' category that would affect her and Royal's final scores.
"Fuck, fuck. Fuck!" She yelled. After Emery paced a few laps towards, and away from him, Lando walked up to his girlfriend and put both his hands on the girl's shoulders, steadying her and taking her out of her panicky-trance.
"Ems, what's wrong?" He asked her, tilting his head at her to take a closer look at her face, giving her that endearing look. "You're worrying me."
"I'm sure you and Royal will do just fine. I've seen you two train, and believe me when I say you guys got this!" Every time Lando did that little head tilt of his, it made Emery freak out.
That head tilt made Emery nervous, but she was too focused on her problem to react this time. She didn't have the time to freak out about it.
She continued pacing until Lando's touch grounded her. His grip on her shoulders tightened, which forced her to stand still and meet his gaze. "Hey, hey, hey. Tell me what's wrong." He softly asked her.
"Fuck, Lan." She sighed, the stress really getting to her now. "I forgot my fucking show jacket." Emery stated, starting to look around the area trying to find Lando's sister.
"And I don't think I can ask for Flo's." She rushed out. "She'll already be in warm-ups during my round." The girl panicked.
Flo probably could not help a lot, as she would start her round only minutes after Emery. Therefore the two girls couldn't share the same jacket.
Lando took a moment to think, then came up with a plan. "Did you leave it at home?" He asked her, again staring deeply in her eyes to get through to the girl.
Emery sighed again before confirming, "Yes, it's hanging on it's hanger from your bedroom door. I know exactly where it is." She hid her face in her hands out of embarassment and stress.
The boy slowly released his grip on the girl's shoulders, "Okay, hang on. I've got an idea." Lando stepped away from the anxious girl and disappeared behind the back door of the truck—only to reappear carrying Royal's bridle over his shoulder.
"You are going to tack up Royal..." He said, handing Emery the brown leather bridle. He took a moment to check the time on his watch, "...Because your first round starts in less than fifteen minutes. I'll be right back." Lando said, pushing the brim of his sunglasses further up his nose.
He once again grabbed her shoulders when he saw her stressing, trying to ease her nerves. "I've got this, Ems. Stay put right here, we'll be fine." He reassured her before he jogged away from the horse truck.
"Oh, okay." On auto pilot-mode, Emery put in Royal's bridle and she put on her boots and brand-new Samshield helmet that she had gotten from Flo for making such great progress with Royal.
She checked her watch, and saw that she now only had ten minutes before her round started. In which she also needed to do a small warm-up with Royal as well.
Before Emery could start panicking again, Lando reappeared in front of her, slightly sweaty from the running.
"I'm here, sorry. I got held back by some people that recognized me, but I told them my girl needed me." He said, the sweat that was dripping from his forehead showed how fast he sprinted.
He then handed her a light gray suit jacket with papaya-coloured accents, and a small yet obvious embroidered orange McLaren logo on it's front pocket, right next to the collar. "I had this one still laying in the trunk of the car." Lando said as she thanked him and put it on.
The jacket was exactly her size, and it fit as if it was meant to be. "I got it in my first year in F1, when I had just signed with McLaren. I was a lot less buffed back then, now I no longer fit it." He explained, slightly bragging about the muscles he had grown since then.
"Oh my God." When Emery put it on, zipped the jacket up, and looked at herself in the tiny mirror that was hanging inside the track. She could almost cry from happiness right about now.
"Thank you so much, Lan." She hugged him, burrying her face in the crook of his neck. "Je hebt geen idee wat je mij aandoet wanneer je zo doet tegen mij."
"I don't know what you just said. "Lando couldn't supress the smile that grew on his face, "But, just thank me by getting on that horse and setting a great round." He gave her a small kiss on her cheek as good luck—and tightly hugged her back.
After Lando's little gesture, he helped her on Royal and they walked towards the show ring. People recognized their favourite McLaren driver, but Lando was too focused on Emery and Royal to even notice.
Her and Royal's names were announced to go into the ring next, and Lando gave her one more peptalk to ease her nerves. "Come on, make us proud, love."
She got in the arena, and noticed Lando closing the fence for her, shooting her a thumbs up. The girl gave Royal lower leg, the signal for him to canter and off they went.
Her biggest fear right now was that she'd forget the course, but she walked it at least three times with Lando, so that was unlikely.
It also wasn't Royal that she didn't trust—because she trusts him with her life. It's herself.
The bell rang, and their round started. She steered Royal in half a circle towards the first jump, and with a little more lower leg before the gelding released, they jumped it with ease and cleared the jump.
Even though it felt like a small victory to Emery--the round wasn't over, yet. She steered Royal to the right towards a double oxer and gave him more lower leg to enlargen is passes, and collected him a little just before the jump. They cleared both oxers.
Three clear jumps further, and they came across the wall. At home, Royal had been spooked by it before, as he still was a young horse. But he jumped it without problem, so far a clear round.
"My God, Ro. The fucking horse you are!" She said to her horse, feeling euphoric by the feeling of showing him in the ring.
The next jump was a triple bar, Royal's strength. And as expected, he jumped it with ease. There were now only two jumps left, a double oxer. Emery released her hands forward to give Royal more room, urging him with her lower leg to pick up speed for the fastest time.
She attempted to collect Royal before the jump, but because she took the diagonal too quickly and miscalculated—his strides didn't align. Rushing towards the jump, Royal accidentally knocked down the top bar, resulting in a final time of 1:23:058 with 4 penalty points.
"Good boy, Royal! You did great!" She praised her horse with gentle pats on his neck, scratching his mane as a sign of gratitude. Although they received penalty points in their round, it was clear that it was a rider error and not the young horse's fault.
She held Royal back to a slower trot, and then left the arena. She was immediately met with a proud Lando. "See! I told you you guys could do it!" He exclaimed, giving Royal a treat before taking over the reins.
"It's just a shame of the penalty points, we could've had the fastest time." Emery said, loosening the girth while still staying on. She gave Royal lower leg, indicating to Lando to keep walking. She felt that Royal deserved a good cooldown after that fantastic round.
"What the hell do you mean Emery?" With one hand, Lando held the horse's reins, and he rested his other hand on Emery's leg. Even through the polyester, she felt the sparks shooting through her body. "This was your first showing in well over twelve years!" He reasoned.
"There were girls there who had the most expensive horses and who have been showing for their entire lives. You just come in after a twelve year break, and steal the show!" He squeezed her leg.
"Not only did you get the fastest time, you only knocked off one pole!" Lando explained, the enthusiasm clear in his voice.
Emery smiled broadly, "I guess you're right." She accepted his explanation. "I guess we make a pretty good team, huh?" She said to her gelding as she rewarded him with a hug. "Thank you, Royal. And you of course, Lan."
Lando took a picture of the adorable sight, and posted it to his Instagram story. "No problem at all, pretty girl."
After walking their cooldown a few laps, Lando led the horse and his rider back to the truck and they untacked him. And they made it just in time to watch Flo's round—she jumped another all-clear round.
LUCA SPEAKS !
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy (greets as if i didn't dip for yet another mind) guess who's back 😎 it's me!
eating some real good magnum double sunlower rn, and lemme tell u this shit is bussin'
i'm sorry for going MIA again, but I feel like this time my excuse was actually reasonable? i'll just say it, because there really isn't a easy way for me to do so.
on the 3rd of august we had to put down my horse, and truthfully: that destroyed me. I think I eventually put on an announcement on my page about it, but for those who didn't know: that's why.
it felt really weird and not good to write, especially about emery's horse plot so I took a break that took longer than anticipated. but in no way, shape or form could I have ever prepared for the loss of my best friend, so y'all just have to accept my apologies.
some losses are just too great to bear. out of the million+ words in this or any language, I'm sure none of them could form an explanation worthy of the damage of your loss. and even if there was, I don't think I would accept it. if love could've saved you, you would've lived forever <3.
this summer has had it ups and it's downs, the biggest down obviously having my heart ripped out and being stamped on with zerena's final goodbye, but luckily bc of a few great friends of mine & my mum this summer actually wasn't the absolute worst. I was lucky enough to go to zandvoort, the dutch gp, and meet a world of greatly people along with drivers. It felt good to be there, just right. The cars, the sounds, the vibes. Insane.
And I think that last part is exactly what I needed before I could come back. Let's just hope I actually stay true to my words this time.
Yeah, that's my rant for now. If you need something said that you've been stuffing up for a while, message me or leave it here <3.
Love you guys, and thank you for the always ongoing support. It genuinely means the world to me.
(Also, special dedication to rozalinco bc I robbed u from ur sleep the other day oops)
Much love,
Lu 🫶🏻
SONGS OF THE DAY, (this song reminds me of zerena, and lando & emery in this chapter.)
HOLD MY GIRL — george ezra.
THE NIGHT WE MET — lord huron.