𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴

008

the dinner was going as smoothly as it could of. when you have 20 men who drive fast cars about most of them somehow act like children and daniel riccardo was no exception. he found it hilarious to annoy lando by claiming aella was landos girlfriend. at first it was a joke both aella and lando laughed about it although as the night progressed and the same words were thrown about it made both aella and lando more uncomfortable as neither of them had came to terms with the feelings that lingered around them.

aella excused herself from the table and went into the bathroom. at first both kika and lily asked if they should go. to which aella declined saying she just needed to breathe. once she reached the bathroom, aella splashed some cold water on her face and took a deep breath. she felt overwhelmed by the conversation at the table and needed a moment to collect her thoughts. she knew that she liked lando but she'd never act apon those feelings, as she was certain lando didn't reciprocate those feelings. after a few minutes, she composed herself and returned to the table, and joined back into the conversation she was having with logan and zhou. kika and lily looked at her with concern, but aella gave them her best attempt reassuring smile, grateful for them and their concern. for the rest of the night, a weight was on her leg she looked down to see landos hand. she was glad daniel couldn't see the gesture as he was to immersed in a conversation with alex about who the best superhero was and who would win in a fight.

as the dinner came to a close aella expected lando to go back to how he was before he placed a hand on her thigh- hands in the pockets of his jeans. aella knew he wasn't one for physical touch, when they were younger aella made him take a love language test and it came back with the fact his was quality time although hers was physical touch. although his hands never reached his pockets instead he interlinked their fingers. aella looked down at the hand that was interlinked with hers. she looked up at lando to see him already looking at her. a small smile was seen in his face, he knew that this small act would mean the world to the girl.

although landos act didn't go unnoticed by any of the drivers and their partners. although some where better at hiding it than others. aella felt nervous as she felt the stares on both her and lando- unlike her he was calm. however he did gently squeeze her hand as a way to inform her not to panic. neither her or lando had drank that night so they both knew they could drive back to the hotel. so the duo said goodbye but never let go of each others hands. lando simply said goodbye to all the divers and done that bro hug thing all men seem to do, aella gave them all a hug goodbye (although one or two had to be side hugs because their partners weren't to happy with them as it was and she didn't want to escalate the situation.) when she made her way to the drives partners she simply hugged them all even if they made it clear they didn't like her. as lando and aella left the restaurant they stayed hand in hand until they reached the car. lando opened the door for the girl like he always would. he then sat in the mclaren and grabbed her hand again- re interlinking their fingers. music played through the car as simple background noise.

the two spent the car ride talking about the most random things known to man. laughter was a common sound within the car. lando couldn't help but look at the girl in awe. he noticed little things about his childhood best friend that he had never clocked onto before the drive like how when aella laughed she covered her mouth. how she would always make sure when she was talking she spoke at a slower level to prevent any stuttering although it didn't work all the time, how she she cracked her bones every 20 minutes because she claimed that was when they could he cracked again, she always made sure to look at him whilst he spoke, she blushed at simple compliments but never knew how to take them, when she heard a song she liked on the radio she would turn it right up and sing along like she was the only one in the car, or whenever one of her songs came on she'd swap the radio to a different station, oh and her smile he noticed how she would smile whenever he spoke but it wasn't the half smile he was so used to seeing it was a full teeth grin, where her full face lit up, where you could see the crinkles at the side of her eyes, it was the sort of smile that made you wonder how it didn't hurt your face. it was the same smile she called the "danny ricc smile." then everything clicked. lando had feelings for the girl, he like liked her. he couldn't deny the flutter in his stomach whenever she was around, the way his heart raced when she laughed at his jokes. he believed that he couldn't and shouldn't be feeling these feelings though, she was his best friend yet whenever they were at an event together he would always look for her or right after a race as soon as he stepped out the car he'd go to her and hug her even if it was a shit race on his half, she'd always find a way to make him feel better about his results. she never once made him feel bad about not having scored points or made it on the podium. these things meant the world to him. she meant the world to him.

but they were just friends, she couldn't like him back like that.