Secrets || Lando Norris

013

Elianna

I walked as fast as I could to get away from the place. I didn't trust Zane, in fact, I was sure he wouldn't let go that easily. My lungs tightened at the thought and I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

My breathing fastened but it was doing no good since my lungs didn't allow any air through. My vision blurred and I could no longer properly see where I'm going.

I just needed to go.

Go. Go. Go.

Suddenly my head slammed into something hard. At first I thought I hit a wall, but if it was a wall it would have been harder. And...walls don't make the sound "Ow," now, do they?

I looked up, my vision still partially blurry, but managed to realise that I ran into a person, not a wall. And when he spoke, I was sure who it was.

Lando Norris.

"I know I'm a magnet for some people, but I didn't expect– hey, you okay?" his expression turned into a concerned look as his eyes fixated on me.

I wanted to say yes, however when I tried to say the word, nothing came out. I wasn't able to form a single breath, it was as if there was an imaginary hand holding my neck, slowly but surely choking me. My hands were shaky and I couldn't get the feeling of Zane's grip on me. I felt dirty. Dirty. Dirty. Dirty.

"I need to go," a breathless whimper escaped my lips and with my hands gripping the strap of my purse, knuckles turning white, I turned around.

"Hey, hey, hey," he quickly stepped out, suddenly jumping in front of me, holding his hands up in peace. "I know you know what to do, but I don't think it's a good idea if you're walking in this state alone."

"No I'm—" I couldn't force the words out. My world was crumbling under my limbs and I didn't know what to do.

I imagined this to be different. I wanted to be strong, because deep down I knew this was the right thing to do. I knew that, but it still hurt like hell.

"Where do you live?" Lando asked, his brows furrowed together.

"I can't go home now," I shook my head and wiped the forming tears from my eyes. I didn't need Lando to see me cry. That might be a little late to think about that.

He sighed and crossed his arms, holding his chin with one hand. I didn't know what he was thinking about, but I knew I just wanted to get out of this place. "Why can't you go home?"

In the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar person looking around. My heart skipped a beat and I quickly said, "I'm gonna go to some shop or—please, Lando, I just need to go."

Lando turned behind him to see where I was looking and huffed, "Oh," he turned back with a stone cold face, "But I'm coming with you, I still don't think it's a good idea to walk around on your own, especially if you're hyperventilating."

"But don't you have your own things?" I blurted out.

"I think Charles would kill me if he'd discover I left you here like this, so a few phone calls and saying I will have to move some things sound a lot better," he raised his eyebrows and walked forward. Suddenly I felt a gentle pull on my lower back and then I noticed Lando's hand on the place. "This okay?"

I nodded and followed where he led me. Our speed was faster as we both knew I wanted to get out as soon as possible. I was thankful Lando didn't ask any specific questions and just went with the flow.

The tightness around my throat slowly faded away and I finally felt somewhat safer than before. My heart was still beating fast, however I didn't feel like having a heart attack anymore.

We walked through some streets together, his hand still on my lower back, as he occasionally looked behind us and soon enough we approached a black car, what I recognised was a McLaren.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he took his hand away and unlocked the car.

"Since you told me you don't want to go to your house, I can either take you to my place or whatever place you say," he said nonchalantly.

Oh well, great.

First place that I could stay in that came to my mind was my brother's college dorm, but then I realised he wasn't there yet since he was still in school. My father's place probably wasn't the smartest either because it was quite a long ride to get there.

"For fucks sake," I was brought back to reality by Lando cursing and opening the door of the passenger seat, leading me inside. I quickly glanced where he was looking and my eyes went wide in panic as I saw a guy with a camera approaching.

As if this day couldn't get any worse.

"Don't panic, look fine, we're going to my house," Lando closed my door and quickly walked to the other side of the car. Normally I'd protest against him, but now I didn't even think about it. As he climbed in, we both put our seatbelts on and he revved the car. He pulled on the road in a swift motion, breezing past the - what most likely was - paparazzi.

"I'm so so sorry," I started rambling and I turned my head to the driver's seat, where Lando was sitting, his hands firmly placed on the steering wheel, his eyes focused on the road.

"Look, I already told you, I'd rather take care of you instead of having my head chopped off by your best friend," he deadpanned, completely unbothered.

I decided to stay quiet after his statement. My head was going elsewhere anyways, rather focusing on the bigger issue that might cause something later today. If a paparazzi has seen us, that could backfire on us with something that was far from true about our situation we were in. A situation I unintentionally dragged Lando in - and that's what I was concerned about.