There were people who said that first love was never the last.

And then there were those who believed there was always that one love..the one you imagined spending your whole life with, but who somehow never stayed.

Lando was yours.

You had known each other for as long as you could remember. Your mothers used to joke that you had learned to walk by chasing each other around.

The two of you had been inseparable. Wherever Lando was, you were too. And wherever you were, it never took long before he was standing beside you.

Friendship turned into love without either of you being able to say exactly when things had changed.

Maybe it was the moment his hand lingered in yours a little longer than it needed to. Or the day you kissed for the first time, and nothing about it felt unfamiliar.

Loving each other had been easy. Almost as easy as breathing.

For Lando’s birthday, you gifted him a simple bracelet with a small charm engraved with your initial. Nothing expensive. Just something that would always remind him of you.

On Christmas, he placed a small wrapped gift into your hands. Inside was the same bracelet, only this one carried his initial.

“As a promise…that we’ll always be there for each other.” He had said quietly.

Back then, the two of you truly believed promises were enough to hold the future together.

But dreams never asked who they would leave behind.

While you began university and your days disappeared between lectures, assignments, and sleepless nights in the library, Lando put everything on the line.

Formula 2 was no longer just a dream, it had become his entire life. One race followed another. One country after the next.

At first, the distance hardly mattered.

You spent hours on the phone, even with thousands of miles between you. He told you about new circuits, and you told him about professors burying you in assignments.

But with every passing month, hours turned into minutes. Minutes became text messages.

More and more often, you found yourself sitting on your bed with your phone in your hands, staring at the screen long after the time you’d agreed to call had passed.

You knew how hard he worked. You knew he was living his dream. And you were proud of him. Prouder than you’d ever been of anyone else.

So you waited.

You kept putting your own needs further and further aside. You convinced yourself that things would calm down after the season. That you just had to make it through this difficult chapter.

But the difficult chapter never ended.

You were the one who asked how his day had been. Who encouraged him when a race went badly. Who got out of bed in the middle of the night just so you could find a moment to talk despite the time difference.

But whenever you needed him…your screen stayed dark.

Somewhere along the way, his life no longer had room for your love.

It wasn’t the distance that hurt anymore. It was the feeling of waiting for an empty space in his schedule just to be part of his life.

With the breakup came the loss of other people, too. The pressure of university, the distance, and the passing years slowly faded your friendships away.

Now, seven years later, you’re standing in the heart of Monaco.

One of your friends bachelorette party has brought you here, and for one evening, you’re trying not to think about work, the past, or all the chances that slipped away.

Just before reaching the terrace, you have to walk past a group of men deep in conversation.

You barely pay them any attention. Just a passing glance. Until your eyes catch a face that’s already looking back at you.

Lando.

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You swallow hard. “Lando.”

Neither of you knows what you’re supposed to say to someone who once felt like home.

Your gaze drifts away from his eyes, falling instinctively to his wrist.

The bracelet.

“You’re still wearing it.." You whisper.

Lando follows your gaze and slowly raises his wrist. A sad smile crosses his face. "It was a promise...wasn't it?"