Soon, it was lights out and the cars were racing in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Oscar made a really good start, moving up as far as P8, until he had to retire the car on Lap 13 with electrical issues. Alexis and Lily both shared a look as they heard it over the radio, their hearts breaking. He had such good momentum and was doing brilliantly, Alexis couldn't help but wonder what could have been if the car performed better.
Lando, who was still in the race, wasn't doing very well. He dropped a lot of spots at the beginning of the race, even as far as P18. He managed to pick up the pace and gain a few positions, until a horrendous pit stop sent him barrelling back down the order. After an incredulous six pit stops for the entire race, everything the McLaren team were trying just wasn't enough for Lando to perform in the race. He ended on P17; the last of the drivers who hadn't retired.
Alexis, Oscar and Lily left the track fairly early, immediately after his media duties were finished. Oscar was quiet, not really in the mood to chat. Alexis and Lily tried their best to comfort him and reassure him that the result wasn't his fault, but nothing they could say would help. There was a lot of pressure for him to perform in his first race as an F1 rookie, and it really couldn't have gone worse for him.
Alexis was thinking of Lando, and how awful he must be feeling from his race too. It really wasn't a good day out for McLaren as a whole, and the entire team was feeling it. The only thing they could do was throw themselves into preparing for their next race in Saudi Arabia.
Despite not quite feeling up to it, Oscar agreed to going out for a late dinner with Alexis and Lily. He didn't want the disappointment of today to ruin the girls' time in Bahrain, even after they both insisted many times they didn't have to do anything, and could just order room service. That was what Alexis loved about her brother though, he was always so selfless and put others first constantly.
They later met down in the hotel reception, not walking too far before they found a nice place to eat. Throughout their dinner Oscar's mood lifted slightly, Alexis and Lily doing a great job in taking his mind off of the events of today and letting him enjoy their last night in Bahrain.
alexis_piastri has posted!
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tagged: oscarpiastri
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Liked by lilyzneimer, carmenmmundt and 1,802 others
alexis_piastri: bits from Bahrain
View comments...
isabellebeecham_: SLAYING
user1: our favourite paddock girlie
carmenmmundt: Was so good to see you x
> alexis_piastri: And you my love!!!
erin.newcombe: You look so good!
user2: that pic of Oscar is amazing
georgerussell: No pics of me, I'm not liking
> alexis_piastri: Mate I saw you for like 5 seconds over the whole weekend
>> alex_albon: It's not a good photo dump if there's no photos of us
———🏎️———
The following day Alexis spent travelling from Bahrain back to London. Although Lily and Oscar were on the same flight as her, they were travelling in first class and Alexis in economy. She wasn't complaining, however when the couple met her off the flight looking very well rested and content, she couldn't help but grumble. She got next to no sleep and was feeling extremely achy and sore after being cramped in that small seat for hours.
When they got back to the flat, Oscar and Lily were planning to go out for dinner. They asked Alexis if she wanted to come too, in which she politely refused in order to nap on the couch. Although she was starving, her energy was so depleted she didn't think she could even lift a fork to her mouth in her current state.
Alexis showered and changed into comfier clothing, snuggling up under a blanket on the couch as reruns of New Girl were on the TV. It didn't take her very long before she was out cold, not hearing Oscar and Lily leave, or when they returned a couple hours later.
It was only when she felt the couch dip beside her head that she stirred. Whoever it was that had sat next to her whispered to her, "Shh, go back to sleep gorgeous."
They gently moved Alexis' head into their lap, as she shifted her position so she was laying on her side, one of her arms reaching out across their legs, holding onto one of their thighs. They began softly playing with her hair and lulling her back to sleep, the girl too tired to fight it.
Alexis eventually woke up some hours later, extremely disoriented. At first she didn't know where she was, until she came to and realised she was at the flat. The TV was now on an episode of Prison Break, it being the only source of light in the otherwise dark space.
She went to roll over, almost falling off the couch and onto the floor if it wasn't for someone's quick hands catching her. That was when Alexis realised her head was in someone's lap and she was in fact on the couch and not in her bed.
"You okay?"
Alexis glanced up, seeing Lando's face peering down at her. She was extremely confused, rubbing her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming and was really seeing who was in front of her right now.
"Huh?" Alexis mumbled.
Lando chuckled at her, "You're cute when you're all sleepy."
"What are you doing here?" Alexis asked groggily, rolling onto her back so she could see him better, her head still in his lap.
"I went out to dinner with Oscar and Lily, and then they invited me back to hang out." He explained.
"Wait, where are they?"
"They've only just gone to bed. I said I'd stay up with you. Good thing I did, you almost bloody fell on the floor just now." Lando laughed again.
"It's not that funny." Alexis huffed, before sitting up next to the boy. She fluffed her hair up a little, trying to not look so disheveled, rubbing her eyes a few more times to wake herself up more.
"What's the time?" She asked.
Lando glanced at his phone, "11pm."
"Jesus, that's late." She sighed, "Aren't you tired?"
He shook his head, "I slept on the flight. I'm okay."
Alexis then rested her head on his shoulder, one of his hands patting her thigh a few times before resting there. "I'm sorry. About your race." She whispered to him.
She could feel Lando visibly tense just at the mention of the events of the weekend, but nevertheless he said, "S'okay. It's a bit shit but we'll go again in Saudi and see what happens."
"You're gonna do great things this season, Lan. Just because it's slow starting now doesn't mean you won't achieve better results later." Alexis reassured.
Lando hummed in response, as he absentmindedly drew patterns on her thigh with his fingers. She watched his hand moving around her leg, as one of her arms reached around his shoulders to play with the curls at the nape of his neck. He sighed, his eyes closing and his head rolling back to lean in to her touch.
"Do you wanna go for a drive?" Lando asked.
"Norris, it's late. You need to rest."
"I can't sleep." He mumbled, "Too much shit on my mind."
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"No. Not right now, I just-" He sighed, "Just being here with you is enough."
Alexis' heart swelled. Every little confession Lando was making to her made her stomach fill with butterflies. She felt so privileged to be the one to comfort him and hold him during these moments where he was vulnerable; she knew not many people saw him like this.
They sat in silence like that for some time, the TV being the only source of sound as it played softly in the background. Lando had moved so his head was resting on her chest, her arm still around his shoulders, her fingers tangled in his hair. Soon there were footsteps in the background, as Alexis looked over her shoulder to see Oscar was grabbing a water from the kitchen.
Oscar was very visibly confused at how close Alexis and Lando were, his face being illuminated by the light of the fridge. He pointed to them, mouthing "The fuck?" to his sister, who flipped him off with the hand that was behind Lando.
Oscar trudged back to his bedroom, narrowing his eyes at Alexis before he disappeared from her sight. She turned her head back around, as Lando lifted his head. "I should probably head home."
Alexis nodded, as they both rose from the couch and she walked him to the door. Before she could open the door, Lando wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her, snuggling his head into her neck. She was surprised at first, before she rested her arms on top of his, leaning her head back on his chest.
"Thank you." He mumbled into her neck, the vibration giving her goosebumps.
Lando spun her in his arms so she was now facing him, her hands resting on his biceps. He pressed a kiss to Alexis' forehead, before releasing her from his hold.
"Get home safe, okay?" Alexis told him as she opened the door.
Lando saluted her, "Yes ma'am."
She chuckled, before he walked out into the hallway and was out of her sight. Alexis let out a breath once she closed the door again, shaking herself off before she collapsed face first onto her bed.
———🏎️———
There was no rest to be had for Oscar and Lando, as they got straight into meetings at McLaren HQ to debrief the previous race weekend and then prepare for the upcoming race weekend. If they weren't in meetings then they were in the simulators, practicing the track for Saudi Arabia or hitting the gym.
The season was well and truly in full swing now, the pair in full race mode until the Summer break. It meant that Alexis had barely seen either of them over the past couple days, but the girl had quietly been avoiding Oscar anyway. She knew he was wanting to ask her about what was really going on with her and Lando after he spotted them on the couch the other night.
She didn't really know herself what was going on between the two of them, so how could she possibly explain that to someone else? Especially when the guy you're somewhat involved with is said brother's teammate. It didn't help that apparently Oscar had told Lily what he saw the other night, so when the two girls were sat on the couch watching TV, Lily decided to broach the topic with Alexis.
"I heard you and Lando were quite close the other night."
Alexis' head snapped from the TV to Lily beside her, who had an innocent smile on her face. It didn't seem like she was trying to poach information out of Alexis for Oscar; she looked genuinely interested.
Alexis shrugged, "I guess so."
Lily giggled at Alexis trying to play it cool, "You can talk to me, you know. I know I'm your brother's girlfriend, but I'm also your friend. I don't tell him about our conversations."
"Thanks, Lil." Alexis was grateful for the girl. It had been harder than she had thought moving to the other side of the world with no friends; she hadn't spoken to Isabelle or Erin in quite some time and made a mental note to call them later to catch up.
"So? Tell me what you're thinking." Lily turned her body to fully face Alexis.
"It's... complicated." Alexis frowned, finding a lack of a better word for what her and Lando's situation was.
"It really doesn't seem that complicated to me."
"How do you mean?" Alexis asked.
"I've seen you two from the very beginning, you know. Stolen glances, brief touches. He's always asking Oscar about you." Lily explained, "Oscar is too oblivious to see it. But I can."
Alexis' face was heating up as the conversation continued. She couldn't believe her and Lando had been so obvious to Lily. "And what's that?"
"He obviously has feelings for you, Lex! I'm not gonna tell you how you feel, because that's for you to work out. But it's clear as day to me, Lando likes you."
———🏎️———
After Alexis' conversation with Lily a few days prior she hadn't been sleeping very well. All that was on her mind was whether Lando truly did have feelings for her, and if so, what that would mean for them going forward.
It was easier said than done for her to just throw caution to the wind and go for it with him, because Alexis knew there would be consequences for her actions with that. The inevitable negative comments from Lando's fans, being thrown into the spotlight, having a relationship with a guy who was never home... the list of complications never really ended.
It didn't help that Alexis had silenced the notifications on her phone, shutting herself off from the world. No one had really heard from her. Oscar would've thought she was dead if he hadn't seen her in person walking around the flat like a zombie.
Except now, Oscar and Lily had headed to Saudi Arabia ahead of the upcoming race on the weekend, meaning Lando had left too. Which left Alexis alone for three days until she was due to fly out, too.
She hadn't heard from Lando since that night he was at the flat after that Bahrain Grand Prix, but she didn't blame him for that. He was busy with work, and she was busy with - well, nothing.
All of the overthinking had been driving her damn near crazy, and to make matters worse, she felt like she didn't really have anyone to talk about it with. Of course, that wasn't really true, she had her friends Isabelle and Erin back in Melbourne, Oscar and Lily, as well as Lily, Carmen and Pietra. Nevertheless she was isolating herself and making herself feel terrible for it.
Alexis tried to look for the positives; she'd be in Saudi Arabia soon, with Oscar, Lily and Lando, and she'd feel better about everything. She'd be able to explore a new country, see her younger brother race again, and hang out with Lily. That eased her mind only very slightly, but it was better than nothing.
It just felt like it was going to be a long three days before she could get there.