Formula 1 one shots

Crash - Lando Norris

Listen to "Hold On" by Chord Overstreet during this chapter!

You felt the world slow down around you. Every movement happened in slow motion. You didn't understand a word of what was being said. You felt your body going numb, and it was like your heart stopped beating.

'Lando, are you okay?'

Your head shot up in the direction where that was coming from.

'Lando, do you copy me? Just a simple yes or no to confirm.'

You felt a hand on your shoulder. You looked up and saw Carlos standing behind you with tears in his eyes. You shook your head. 'No,' you mumbled. 'No, no, no. No, he's going to get out of that car, and he's coming home with me,' you mumbled, the lump in your throat getting bigger.

'Y/N, you sa-.'

You shook your head. 'No, you don't get to say that. He's going to be fine. He's fine. He's Lando. He's always going to be okay.' You turned back to the car, and you saw how they took his body out of the car. There wasn't a thumbs up. There wasn't anything. The marshals just stood there for a moment. You were confused. Why weren't they doing anything? Shouldn't they bring him to the ambulance?

You felt Carlos his grip tighten on your shoulder. You wanted to turn around and ask what was going on, but you couldn't move. All you could do was stare at the screen as you saw the marshals laying a blanket over his body. No... you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. People in the garage started to cry. All you could do was stare at the screen, while the tears rolled down your cheeks. This couldn't be happening. You felt another hand on your shoulder. You turned around and looked at Jon, who also had tears streaming down his face.

'I'm so sorry, Y/N. He didn't make it,' Jon said, and more tears streamed down his face.

You shook your head. 'No, that isn't possible. He's not dead. He can't be.'

'I'm so sorry,' Jon said.

You turned around to Carlos, who was crying. 'He didn't deserve this,' you heard him say.

'Carlos, he's not dead. He's Lando, he's fine. They're pulling a prank on us. He's not dead,' you tried to convince yourself that Lando was pranking you. He always said he was going to be safe, that he would come back to you.

'Y/N!'

You looked up and saw George running into the McLaren garage.

'I just saw... He's gone?' George asked and looked around at the team.

'The crash was too much for him,' you heard someone say. George stared at you in shock.

'He's not dead, he's playing us,' you said.

George looked at the screen. He saw how Lando had a blanket over his body, how the marshals were standing still around him. He knew Lando wouldn't go this far. He felt your body froze next to him. As if it just hit you what happened.

'He...'

'He wouldn't mess with us like this, Y/N,' George said, and his voice cracked. He lost a good friend. George wrapped his arms around you.

You didn't hug back. You just stood there, numb, as the realization kicked in. Your knees gave out under you as you screamed. George held you close as you sat on the ground.

You cried in his chest. 'No, he can't leave me. He promised. He...'

You shot up, breathing heavenly. You felt around you, to wake Lando up, but there was nobody there. That was right, he was in Italy for the next race. You grabbed your phone from the nightstand and FaceTimed Lando. You were starting to struggle to breathe, and you didn't know what to do. You had never experienced something like this.

'Y/N? What's happening?' a sleepy Lando answered the phone.

'I... can't... breathe...' you managed to get out.

Lando was suddenly wide awake. He turned on the light in his hotel room and looked at you. 'Okay, try to breathe with me, okay. It's going to be hard, but you can do this. Take a deep breath in... and out... in... and out...' Lando repeated that until your breathing had slowly go back to normal. 'Okay, now name three things that you can see.'

'You... my phone and the wall,' you said and let a breath go.

'What are the three things that you can feel?'

'Is this necessary? I'm okay,' you mumbled.

'Humor me.'

'Fine. My phone, the duvet and the pillow,' you answered, and you laid back down in your bed. Lando did the same. It was like you were laying next to each other.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

You sighed, and the tears welled up in your eyes again.

'Hey, what happened? I've never seen you so upset,' Lando quietly said. He had woke you up from nightmares before, but he had never seen you so sad.

'It just felt so real,' you mumbled as the tears felt down your face.

'What happened?'

'I was watching a race, and you crashed, it was bad. They took you out of the car and... you didn't move. You didn't... you...' the words didn't leave your mouth. 'You were gone.'

'As in... dead?'

You nodded your head.

Lando was silent for a moment. He didn't know what to say. The fact that a dream like this had so much impact on you, he couldn't imagine what it would be like for you if something like that would ever happen. The chance was small, but still. There was always a chance that it could go wrong and he never thought about it before like that. Yes, he saw the dangers of his work, but he never thought about what it would do to the people he would leave behind.'I can't say that it's going to be okay and that I'm always going to be safe, but I'm still trying to be as safe as possible, everybody does. We all want to go back home to our families and loved ones. And I promise you, that I'm always going to do my best to come home to you,' Lando said.

You looked at the screen. Lando looked sad like he didn't know what to do like he didn't expect a reaction like this. 'I know, and I know there might be a chance, but they're very small. Everything comes with its risk, but I just... I have never felt anything like this before. It felt so real, and it was just a dream. But I'm fine. It was just a dream. Just talk to me about something happy. What did you do today?'

Lando started to smile and told you about his day, while you put your phone against Lando his pillow, so you could just pretend he was laying next to you. You slowly felt your eyes getting heavier, and then you slowly fell asleep again.