——— AUTHOR'S NOTE ———
Ummmm I can't believe this story already has over 1K views and I've only been publishing chapters for just over 1 week??? That's so wild to me!
Thank you to everyone who's read so far!
Enjoy this next chapter x
———🏎️———
After they played a few tracks on Mario Kart, all three girls were cracking the shits because Lando was beating them in every single one. He wasn't a very humble winner either, rubbing it in their faces after every race. Isabelle was about to throw her remote over the balcony, so they decided to move on to another game. She fetched the board games from a cupboard, as they settled on Cluedo.
Lando was awful at this one, as he wasn't very clever with his moves in each of his turns and was terrible at guessing. Alexis won two out of the four games, with Erin and Isabelle winning one each. This time it was Lando complaining that they switch games as he claimed that "he didn't like the game" but in reality it was just because he was a sore loser.
"How about Monopoly?" Isabelle suggested.
"No!" Alexis and Erin protested at once.
"Why don't you want to play Monopoly?" Lando asked, confused.
"Isabelle knows why." Alexis responded.
"You guys are being dramatic." Isabelle rolled her eyes, "I flipped the board once."
"Are you forgetting everything else you did?" Erin scoffed, "You literally piffed the little houses at both of our heads and then threw the dice at the wall."
"See that little dent in the wall there?" Alexis pointed out to Lando, "That's from the dice incident."
Lando was laughing uncontrollably hard at this point, which made Alexis begin to giggle too, until Erin joined in and the three were all cackling.
"Okay, fine!" Isabelle began to pack up Cluedo as she said, "We won't play Monopoly then. How about Pictionary?"
Alexis and Erin shared a look, as they both winced. There was also a Pictionary incident they were both imagining in their minds; involving paper cuts and Isabelle threatening to do unmentionable things to the girls with a pen.
Isabelle noticed their faces and threw her hands in the air in exasperation, both of the girls fake-flinching at her action.
"Well, looks like games night is over then! You both can suck my dick." Isabelle huffed and stormed off to her bedroom, much like a child having a tantrum.
Alexis and Erin knew she wasn't being serious, otherwise they would've chased after her and apologised. But they figured Isabelle needed to be reigned in; after many game night incidents the girls were starting to fear for their lives every time a board game came out.
"I'll go check on her." Erin was still laughing as she headed to Isabelle's bedroom.
Alexis stood up and began packing up the rest of the mess from games night, as Lando sat back down. He had both arms outstretched on the headrest of the couch, watching her. She placed all the board games back into the cupboard, and then grabbed the wine glasses and took them to the sink, before collapsing next to Lando on the couch.
Alexis rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. She sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment, Lando running his hand up and down her shoulder soothingly.
"You okay?" Lando asked quietly.
"Mmhmm." Alexis hummed as she opened her eyes again.
"Promise?" Lando asked, holding out his pinky.
"Promise." Alexis responded, wrapping her pinky around his as they both stamped their thumbs together.
———🏎️———
Before Lando went to his hotel later that night, he'd organised to meet Alexis at 10am the following day to explore Melbourne. She wasn't quite sure where to take him or what they were going to do just yet; she figured it would come to her as they roamed the streets.
Erin went home too in order to prepare for her week, and Isabelle was already in bed asleep as she had to get up early for work, which left Alexis to her own devices for the first time since she landed back home. Although she thought she should be productive and plan her day tomorrow, or even treat herself to a bath and a nice face mask, all she wanted to do was sleep.
After having the quickest shower of her life she was cosied up in bed, and upon reflection, Alexis was only just realising what a day she'd had. She'd quite literally experienced all emotions on the spectrum in one day, so no wonder why she'd felt so exhausted. It wasn't long before she could no longer keep her eyes open, gladly letting sleep overtake her.
Waking up the following day, Alexis found a plethora of texts from Lando.
Lan
can we meet earlier? x
Lan
I've been awake for
hours
Lan
jet lag tings
Al
Of course!
Al
Did you wanna do
8:30am instead?
Lan
works for me
Al
Great x
Lan
can we go to the
NGV?
Al
I'm surprised you
know what the
National Gallery of
Victoria is
Lan
I've been looking up
things for us to do
Lan
I wanted to find
something that I hadn't
done in Melbourne before
Al
Yeah we can go there
Al
Anything else you wanna
do?
Lan
maybe hosier lane? I've
always loved the street
art there
Al
Perfect
Al
I'll see you soon!
———🏎️———
Alexis went downstairs to the ground floor of Isabelle's apartment building at exactly 8:30am, and Lando was already waiting for her. He was leaning against the building, one leg bent up with his foot on the wall. He was typing furiously on his phone, but when he heard her footsteps he looked up and immediately put his phone in his pocket.
"Hi." He grinned, opening his arms for her.
"Hey." Alexis couldn't help but smile too, letting Lando wrap his around her shoulders as hers settled around his waist. He rested his chin on top of her head for a moment, before he kissed her forehead and they pulled apart.
They headed towards the NGV first, which Lando was most excited for because he'd never been before. He had visited Melbourne plenty of times with the Grand Prix's here every year since he'd joined F1, but he was excited to see the city through the eyes of a local.
The pair caught a tram from Isabelle's apartment and got off at the stop that would take them closest to the gallery. As they walked from the tram stop to their destination, Alexis was surprised that Lando hadn't been recognised by anyone in public yet. The thought was like constant background noise in her mind; she was well aware she was out in the city with a very famous F1 driver on the week of the Grand Prix, and there were racing supporters everywhere. For her, it was definitely a case of when not if he would be stopped by a fan, and Alexis was secretly terrified of that moment. Because that meant that what ever had been going on between her and Lando - which had previously only occurred behind closed doors, was going to be thrusted into the limelight.
Although her and Lando had previously spoken about it, Alexis was still feeling a little unsure. She believed him when he insisted that he didn't care what the media or fans would say and he'd look after her, but there's only so much one man can do when it comes to F1 gossip.
Finally arriving at the NGV, Lando insisted on paying for Alexis' entry fee. After protesting a couple times, she gave up and let him win.
They made their way through the three seperate floors of the gallery, and Alexis soon forgot about the stress of Lando possibly being noticed. Without him even trying, he had completely distracted her; as she was quite simply just enjoying being in his company.
Alexis was drawn to the way Lando's eyes lit up when he saw something he found interesting, taking his phone out and snapping pictures of it. She loved his bizarre commentary on different pieces of art, and she laughed when he began to tell her abstract portraits and eclectic statues looked like her, so she began to do the same to him.
When they made it through the entire gallery Alexis and Lando walked back down from the top to the bottom floor, and as the pair made it outside into the warm Australian sun, Lando looked to Alexis asked, "What now?"
Well," Alexis looked at the time on her phone, "It's still pretty early. Did you wanna grab a coffee before we go to Hosier Lane?"
Lando nodded, "Yeah, lead the way."
Alexis and Lando strolled through the streets of Melbourne side-by-side, their shoulders or fingers occasionally brushing. She tried not to pay much attention to the blushing sensation on her cheeks every time they touched, and Lando tried to fight the urge to grab her hand and hold it. They continued walking along the river, before a girl approached them.
"Hi Lando! Can I get a picture?"
Lando looked from the girl to Alexis, who nodded her head in encouragement, before stepping to the side. Lando smiled and said, "Of course."
The girl came closer and held her phone out, snapping the selfie. "Thank you so much! Good luck this weekend!"
"Thank you." Lando nodded with a small smile, before he rejoined Alexis and they continued on.
"That was okay, right?" Lando asked.
"Hmm?" Alexis responded, turning her head to look at him.
"The girl getting a photo with me. It wasn't too uncomfortable for you?" Lando seemed so hesitant to ask the question; like he didn't want Alexis to get freaked out of them being noticed out in public.
"No, 'course not." Alexis smiled reassuringly at him, "It's okay. I'm gonna have to share you sometimes, I know that."
"If I had it my way you'd have me all to yourself all the time." Lando grinned.
Alexis laughed, "Don't tease me like that."
The pair eventually wound up finding a cafe that Alexis knew was good, so they ordered a coffee each for takeaway. Before Lando could pay for them, Alexis put her debit card down, insisting that she owed him after he'd paid for the NGV entry fee anyway.
As they stood to the side waiting for their drinks, Alexis noticed a pair of two girls eying up Lando, clearly trying to work out if it really was him. One of them got their phone out and began to take photos of him, but she tried not to let it get to her. She kept telling herself that this is what she was signing up for; this is what life with Lando was going to look like if they continued to spend more time together.
Lando looked down at her, frowning as he saw her face and could practically see the gears turning in her brain. As he scanned the cafe he saw what Alexis had clearly seen too, and realised what was going through her mind. He grabbed her by the shoulders, rotating her around so his body was in front of hers, now blocking the two girls' view of Alexis.
Alexis stared up at him with a confused look on her face, while he only sent her an innocent grin in return. Lando still had his hands resting on her shoulders, but then moved them so they were stroking up and down her arms; comforting her.
"What are you doing?" Alexis asked quietly, still not taking her eyes away from his.
"Looking out for you." Lando shrugged as if it was the simplest and most obvious thing.
Alexis couldn't fight the smile breaking out onto her lips, as Lando removed his hands from her arms, but not without giving her shoulders a reassuring squeeze first.
Eventually their coffees were called out to be collected, and they left the cafe with their drinks in hand as they strolled through a nearby park. It surprisingly wasn't too busy, and it was rather peaceful.
Alexis spotted a bench and beckoned Lando over so they could take a seat and take in their surroundings. In reality she was exhausted with all the walking they'd been doing that morning so wanted to give her legs a little rest.
"This is nice." Lando said as he took a sip from his coffee.
Alexis only hummed in response, closing her eyes momentarily as the sun hit her face. It didn't bother her, although she secretly wished she'd brought sunglasses. The sun rays warmed her from the outside in, and this was when she realised just how much she'd missed the Australian sun. Especially when she compared it to the weather in London as of late.
As if Lando could read her mind, Alexis felt him slide his sunglasses onto her face, shielding her eyes. She turned her head to look at him as she said, "What'd you do that for?"
"It looked like the sun was bothering you." Lando responded nonchalantly as he took another sip of his coffee.
"But won't it be annoying you now?" Alexis asked.
Lando shook his head, "Nope. I've got a hat."
Alexis narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Your cap is on backwards, Norris."
"Well I can just turn it around if I need to, can't I? It's not stuck this way." Lando joked.
Alexis rolled her eyes playfully, drinking from her coffee before she said, "I like it when you wear your caps backwards, anyways."
"Oh do you?" Lando smirked at her.
Alexis peered at him over the sunglasses, "Yeah. Very much so."
Lando grinned cheekily, before he winked at her and put an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. Alexis rested a hand on his thigh, before she finished her coffee and placed it on the bench beside her with her free hand.
It honestly shocked her a little bit how natural and comfortable this all felt with Lando, but she'd grown to like it. Although Alexis was hesitant to get close to him in the very beginning, she couldn't picture her life right now without him in it, and that frightened her more than anything. She already felt as if she was in so deep, and wondered if he was feeling the same. She was in an extremely vulnerable position to get hurt, and was just hoping Lando wouldn't do that to her.
After they chatted for a little while longer, Alexis suggested they continue on to Hosier Lane which Lando agreed to. He was practically vibrating with excitement at seeing the new graffiti works that had popped up since his last visit to Melbourne.
When they arrived, Lando was so giddy that Alexis couldn't help but watch and admire him. He was taking photos of the street art, staring at all of them in awe. Every now and then he'd look back to see if Alexis was enjoying herself too, with the widest grin on his face. She'd only smile at him in reassurance, before he continued on throughout the lane.
Alexis snapped a few photos of him, also taking a couple photos of some of the street art that caught her eye. She really just let Lando take the lead and roam around, her taking a backseat for now.
Once Lando was satisfied with wandering around, he was like a kid that was on a sugar high that had now come crashing down; he was tired and wanted to leave.
Alexis said to him, "Do you want me to give you the best directions so you can get back to your hotel? Or you could get an Uber or something."
Lando frowned, "Aren't you gonna come with me?"
"I think you need to rest, Lando. I don't want to be a distraction. As much as I want to hang out with you I still don't want to get in the way of you preparing for the race, mentally and physically."
Lando shook his head, "You're being silly. You're not distracting me at all. Now, c'mon." Lando took her hand, "We're going back to Isabelle's so we can have a little cuddle."
——— AUTHOR'S NOTE ———
How obvious is it that I'm from Melbourne lol
I feel like I've really name-dropped a lot of locations and gone into a lot more detail about the city ever since the story has brought them to Melbourne. But I guess it's fitting considering the main character is from here herself too so of course she's going to have more knowledge of Melbourne vs London and the other countries that they're visiting during the F1 season
At least that's what I'm telling myself anyway! Hopefully you guys liked this one x