Alexis woke the next morning to the sound of the front door slamming shut, as she heard Lily scolding Oscar for being too loud. She chuckled, before she sat up and stretched, her head immediately pounding. Her throat started to tickle, before she had a full blown coughing fit, sipping on some water to calm her throat. Alexis changed into a matching grey tracksuit set, slid on some fluffy socks and pulled the hood of her jumper up and over her head, before leaving her bedroom.
She spotted Oscar and Lily in the kitchen; Lily was using the coffee machine, as Oscar sat on one of the bar stools at the bench. Alexis coughed into her elbow as she moved through the kitchen, heading for the medicine cabinet.
Oscar immediately got up and ran to the other side of the kitchen, "Woah, stay back. I don't wanna catch your germs."
"Oscar!" Lily reprimanded him, before she spoke sweetly to Alexis, "How're you feeling, Lex?"
Alexis narrowed her eyes at her brother, before she responded to Lily, "Much better than a few days ago."
"That's good." Lily smiled.
"I'm glad to have you guys back though. I reckon I was starting to get cabin fever being holed up in here alone." Alexis said as she grabbed some painkillers and washed them down with water.
"Think we might have to hire a cleaner to deep clean the place, you've probably infected every surface." Oscar grimaced.
"Give me a break, Oscar. I didn't ask to get sick." Alexis huffed at how dramatic her brother was being.
"I'm just saying!" Oscar held his hands up defensively.
Lily placed a coffee down on the bench for Oscar, as he eyed it suspiciously, not moving from his spot in the far side of the room. The coffee was near where Alexis was stood, and he clearly didn't want to get too close to her.
"Oh my fucking god." Alexis rolled her eyes at him, before she picked the coffee up and held her hand out for him to take it.
"Hey! Why are you touching my coffee with your germy hands?!" Oscar complained.
"Oscar!" Lily told him off once more.
"You were probably exposed to way more stuff on the plane than you are here with me, you know." Alexis pointed out.
Oscar grumbled inaudible words under his breath, before he hesitantly took the coffee from Alexis, and then quite literally sprinted to the couch with it.
"Such a baby." Alexis laughed at his child-like behaviour.
"You're telling me." Lily giggled.
———🏎️———
Oscar had banished Alexis to her bedroom, telling her she could only leave if she needed to use the kitchen or the bathroom. They'd argued back and forth, before she succumbed to his request, realising her brother wasn't going to drop it. Lily insisted she didn't have to isolate in her bedroom, and that she'd talk some sense into Oscar, but Alexis told her it was fine.
She settled under the covers, sitting up against the headboard before grabbing the book she was currently reading off her bedside table. She opened the page her bookmark was nestled in, diving right back into where she left off. Alexis didn't know how long she'd been reading for before she heard the front door open and close; muffled voices on the other side of her bedroom door.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you!" Oscar had shouted.
Alexis heard an inaudible reply from a different voice before Oscar spoke again, "Fine. It's your death wish."
Then the door to her bedroom opened, and Lando appeared in the doorway. His face broke out into a grin when he saw the girl all cosied up under the covers, her oversized hoodie making her look so small in the giant bed.
"Hey, Al." Lando greeted as he shut the door behind him and began to make his way over to her.
"I wouldn't come any closer. I'm all snotty and gross." Alexis warned.
Lando shrugged, "I don't mind."
"I look shit." Alexis huffed, placing her book down as Lando sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.
"You could never." Lando responded, before he enveloped her in a hug, his arms wrapping around her waist.
Alexis' arms settled around his shoulders, Lando nestling his head into her shoulder as his muffled voice said quietly, "I really fucking missed you."
Alexis breath got caught in her throat for a moment, before she cleared it and whispered back, "I missed you too."
Lando leaned back, asking her, "Do you need anything? Oscar told me he's got you on lockdown in here." He chuckled.
"I'm not sure he'd want you going out there now. You've been exposed to my germs." Alexis joked.
"Oh, well." Lando shrugged, "Looks like I'm stuck here with you then."
Alexis chuckled, before she said, "Actually, would you mind grabbing me some cough drops? And filling up my water bottle too, please?"
Lando nodded, taking her bottle from the bedside table and heading out the door. Alexis took this opportunity to quickly blow her nose into a tissue, wincing at how blocked up she was.
She heard Oscar shouting at Lando, "What are you doing?! Get back! You've been infected!"
There were loud footsteps rapidly moving around the flat, Alexis curious as to what was going on. She stood in her doorway, arms folded over her chest as she peeked out to get a look at what all the commotion was.
That was when she saw Lando chasing Oscar around the flat, Oscar yelling at Lando to leave him alone. Alexis locked eyes with Lily across the room, as they both shook their heads at the two childish boys. Oscar flew past Alexis, running straight into his and Lily's bedroom and locking the door before Lando could get to him.
"Lando you better get your ass back in that quarantine room right now!" Oscar said from the other side of the door. At this point Lando was on the floor by Alexis' feet, rolling around as he laughed.
"You're an idiot." Alexis smiled down at him.
Once Lando had recovered from the giggles, he stood up, wiping under his eyes. He handed Alexis her water bottle and the cough drops as requested, as they both retreated back to her bedroom, closing the door behind them. The pair got under the doona cover, sitting up as Alexis popped one of the cough drops into her mouth, it instantly soothing her sore throat.
She turned to look at him, as she said, "You don't have to be in here, y'know."
Lando shrugged, "I know."
"I'm just saying-"
"And I'm just saying," Lando interrupted her, "That I want to be here. So shush and let me look after you."
Alexis promptly shut her mouth after that.
Lando stretched an arm out, "Now can you come over here and cuddle me?"
Lando put an arm around her shoulders as she turned on her side, her head on his chest and arm around his waist. Their legs were tanged under the covers, Lando sighing contentedly once they were both in a comfortable position.
"That's better." Lando mumbled.
Alexis peered up to look at him, pulling the hood of her jumper back only slightly to get a better look at him. He had his eyes closed, his head rested against the pillow, as he softly ran his fingers up and down one of her arms.
Lando slowly opened one of his eyes to see her already staring at him, his face heating up at the sudden eye contact. As hard as she tried, Alexis couldn't look away.
"Stop that." Lando said quietly.
"Stop what?" Alexis asked, acting clueless.
Lando shut his eye again so both were closed as he said, "Looking at me like that."
"Is someone getting flustered?" Alexis teased.
"No!" Lando protested as he opened his eyes again, "Maybe just a little bit."
Alexis chuckled, before she looked away from him and rested her head on his chest again, as she could feel his rapidly beating heart. If she was being truthful, she was quite flustered too. And she knew it wasn't from being unwell.
"Melbourne's the next race, you excited to go home?" Lando asked.
"Yes and no." Alexis explained, "I'm keen to see my family and my friends again. But there's a lot of things I left there for a reason and I don't really want to relive those old memories, y'know? They're in the past for a reason."
"Guess we'll just have to make some new memories then, hmm?"
"Yeah. I'd like that."
"You can show me around town, and stuff. I wanna see where you grew up." Lando continued.
"You really want to?" Alexis asked.
"Look at me, Al." Lando reached under her chin and titled her face up, "I'd love nothing more than to spend all of my free time in Melbourne with you."
Alexis' face broke out into a grin, Lando's face immediately mirroring hers.
"When are you thinking of leaving?" Lando asked.
"I'm supposed to land in Melbourne this Friday. That way I've got a whole week there with friends and family before the race." Alexis explained.
"I could move my flight up a couple days, y'know. Get there this Sunday, or something." Lando suggested.
"Don't you have work?" Alexis frowned.
"Just some presentation at the Tech Centre this week. Everything else isn't as important." Lando shrugged.
Alexis' stomach erupted with butterflies at the fact Lando was willing to move his flight earlier just so he could spend more time with her in her hometown. He made it seem like it was such a straightforward decision; like it was so easy. Even though his job was so busy, he could still find the time for her.
Listening to her heart and not her head for once, she said, "Well, yeah. If you can get there earlier I'd love to have you."
"Then it's settled. I'll sort my shit out and I'll be there." Lando kissed her forehead.
Although in that moment everything seemed so perfect and simple, the thoughts in the back of her mind drifted to the forefront. Before she knew it, Alexis was blurting out, "Aren't you worried about people seeing us in public?"
Lando's face scrunched up in confusion, "What? Why would I be worried about that for?"
"Y'know... the fans. The media. They'll talk. Make up rumours. Stuff like that."
"I don't really give a shit what they've got to say, to be honest. If I wanna hang out with you that's what I'm gonna do." Lando began drawing circles on her back, "I'll look after you."
"Okay."
"Do you trust me, Piastri?" Lando asked.
Alexis really thought about it for a moment, before she answered, "Yeah. I trust you, Norris."
———🏎️———
Alexis continued to rest and recover from being unwell, taking it easy over the next couple of days. She finally felt back to normal by the day she was supposed to fly out, and she was actually grateful that she had fallen unwell before the Melbourne Grand Prix and not during it, because there was no way she was going to miss it.
After enduring an extremely exhausting journey travelling from London to Melbourne, she was home. As Isabelle had so kindly offered for Alexis to stay with her, she was also picking her up from the airport.
It was in the early hours of Friday morning in Melbourne, yet the airport was buzzing with energy, as people bustled through the terminal. Alexis moved through customs and then to baggage claim, before finally walking through the doors of Arrivals. She saw Isabelle immediately; stood with flowers in one hand and champagne in the other.
Alexis just about broke down then and there at the sight of her best friend who she hadn't seen in almost three months. She immediately picked up her pace and began running through the airport to Isabelle, who spotted her and started to run too. They met in a tight embrace, both of them balling their eyes out as they held each other.
"I've missed you so bloody much." Alexis sobbed.
"You can't go that long without seeing me ever again. I think I almost died." Isabelle cried back.
The two girls continued to hold one another until they calmed down, before they pulled away and made their way out of the terminal. Once they were in the car, Isabelle handed Alexis the flowers and champagne.
"Thank you." Alexis smiled gratefully, "But champagne? Isn't it a bit early for that?"
Isabelle glanced at her sideways, a baffled look on her face, before she returned her gaze to the road and said, "It's never too early for mimosas, Lex. I have orange juice and brunch set up at home and everything."
Alexis' cheeks were hurting by how much she was smiling now. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know." Isabelle shrugged, "But we're celebrating you being back. That deserves mimosas and brunch."
———🏎️———
The two girls walked into Isabelle's apartment, quickly setting up Alexis' things in the spare bedroom before they sat at the dining table where there was brunch prepared as promised.
"This is amazing, Belle." Alexis smiled.
"I know. I'm pretty impressed with myself, to be honest." Isabelle said as she poured the champagne and orange juice into two glasses, before raising her glass to Alexis.
"Cheers to you being home." Isabelle grinned.
"You've gotta make eye contact when you 'cheers'." Alexis told her, both of them looking across at one another before they both clinked their glasses.
Isabelle took a sip from her glass before she asked, "What is that? Some kind of British thing?"
Alexis innocently took a sip too, "Yeah. Something like that."
They both chatted as they got tucked into their food, planning what they were going to do over the next couple of days. Alexis' phone buzzed beside her, picking it up to see a text from Lando.
Lan
your flight get in
okay?
Al
Yeah, all good. Just
at Isabelle's now
Lan
I'm glad
Lan
can't wait to get
to Melbourne to
see you
Alexis' face broke out into a small smile as she stared down at her phone, before Isabelle's voice brought her back to reality. "Hello? I'm literally in the middle of telling you something. Who're you texting?"
Alexis promptly put her phone down and looked back up at her friend. "Sorry, just Lando."
"Just Lando, hmm?" Isabelle eyed her suspiciously.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know, you tell me." Isabelle shrugged.
Alexis shrugged too, "He was just asking if I got in okay."
"That's nice." Isabelle said as she took a sip from her mimosa.
Alexis laughed, "What?"
"You guys seem really close."
"I guess we are. I don't know. Did I tell you he's coming to Melbourne a couple days earlier?"
"Really? Does that mean I can meet him?" Isabelle asked.
"Of course. I want both you and Erin to meet him."
"Interesting." Isabelle took another sip.
"Oh my god!" Alexis laughed, "Why are you being so weird?"
"Because! Can't you see it?" Isabelle asked.
"See what?" Alexis face scrunched up in confusion.
"You realise you didn't introduce me to Tom until like six months of you guys dating? You and Lando have been talking for what, two months? And you're already willing to let me meet him."
"Well, yeah. This is different. Lando and I are just friends."
"Just friends who cuddle, have cute dinner dates and text all the time? Yeah, sure, Lex." Isabelle chuckled.
"Okay, fine!" Alexis held her hands up defensively, "Maybe we're not just friends. I think I really like him." She admitted the last sentence in a hush.
"I know you do, you dumbass. It's taken you this long to realise it?"
"No, it's just taken me this long to admit it." Alexis confessed.