I can do it with a broken heart (Lando Norris)

Prologue- Exile

This is just a quick note to say that I am slowly going back through this to do a little editing. I might add a few little bits here and there but the main plot won't change. I want to tidy it up a bit and fix a few mistakes. I'll be naming the chapters as I go to make it clear which ones have been edited. Thanks again for all your support and reads so far, I've been absolutely blown away and loved reading all your comments!x

"So step right out, there is no amount of crying I can do for you. All this time, we always walked a very thin line. You didn't even hear me out." Exile- Taylor Swift 

📍 Arlington, Texas- March 2023

The silence in the dressing room was deafening. The music from her support act bellowed through the stadium and yet to Hannah it felt like she was frozen in time, standing in her dressing room looking at the man she loved.

Hannah stood, frozen in place, staring at her long-term boyfriend Joe who was sitting on the sofa. He was doing everything possible to avoid meeting her eye, instead keeping his gaze trained firmly on her sparkly shoes.

She'd been midway through her vocal warm-up, pacing around the room already dressed to go on stage, so she was ready to go on stage in a few short minutes.

"What did you just say?" She stared at him in disbelief, eyes flickering back and forth between him and the clock hanging on the wall to her left. She should be on her way down to the stage already. She was surprised no one had come to hurry her up yet. She was bordering on being late.

"You heard me." His voice was calm, the unbothered shrug of his shoulders sending a wave of anger rippling through her. How could he just sit there like this was nothing?

"Say it again." She got out through gritted teeth, blinking frantically as her eyes began to fill with tears. She didn't have time to fix her make-up before she had to go on. She couldn't cry, at least not on the outside. Not until after the show.

Joe gave an exasperated sigh, getting to his feet and almost rolling his eyes at her. "I said, this isn't working. I've been seeing someone else, Hannah. I know I said I'd stop and give us a proper go, but I think I love her and being with her has made me realise how much this isn't working with me and you. I'm done with this whole crazy world you seem to love so much, I want out. I'm done letting this make me miserable."

She stared at him, mouth open from the shock of hearing the words again. They hit harder the second time around. She was almost sure that she'd misheard him a moment ago, or that perhaps it was some kind of sick joke. It had to be, didn't it? Why else would he be choosing this exact moment to tell her?

"We've been together for the last three days and you decide you want to talk about this now when I have to go on stage in five fucking minutes?" She asked him in utter disbelief. She should've known something was going on at the point he announced he was flying out to visit her really, Texas hadn't ever been high on his list of places to visit and it was the first time he'd made any kind of effort to visit her without her begging.

"That's the point, Hannah." He shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it. I've thought about it, and I'm done. There's no need for discussion."

"We've been together for five years and you're not even going to do the decent thing and hear me out?" She shot back at him. Her voice was raised and she was somewhere conscious people outside could probably hear the two of them and she ought to keep it down.

"I don't want to hear it." He said quietly, bending down to pick up his bag. "Good luck, with the show. I hope the tour is everything you wanted it to be and that it's all worth it."