The bass of the music you put on while getting ready thumps quietly in the background.

For two years now, Lando has been a permanent part of your circle.

Your friend had dragged you to this yacht party, promising it would be the best night, but after an hour of dodging influencers and people talking about crypto, you just needed to breathe.

Lando was sitting on a storage box, a half empty bottle of water dangling between his fingers, looking completely drained, like he was trying to disappear.

You didn't really know much about Formula 1 back then, so you didn't see a famous driver. You just saw someone else who looked like they were suffering from social exhaustion.

"If I have to hear one more person explain their lifestyle brand, I might actually jump into the harbor." You said quietly, leaning against the rail a few feet away from him.

Lando looked up, took in your exhausted expression, and a sudden, completely genuine smile broke across his face.

"Sit down." He said, shifting over to make room on the box. "Tell me about the lifestyle brands. I need a laugh."

You sat and stayed there for two hours.

After a while you two got closer.

At first it was parties, then vacations together with the whole friend group, and now it is this comfortable feeling when he offers to pick you up again, just like today.

"It’s on my way anyway." He said on the phone.

Like always. He just charmingly ignores the fact that it is actually a huge detour for him.

You're standing in front of the mirror in your hallway. The elegant dress fits perfectly. You open your camera app, start a video, and begin filming your outfit.

Lando appears in the background, wearing a well fitting blue jeans and a white shirt that is loosely half open.

He looks into the lens for a moment, runs his hands through his messy curls, and then looks at you.

"Look at you." He says with a soft smile, pushing the sleeves of his shirt a bit higher. "Beautiful."

You look at him through the phone screen, change your pose in the mirror. "It looks like you're in love with me."

A typical comment for the two of you. Normally, he would roll his eyes now or make a joke.

But he leans a bit closer to you, his voice gets noticeably deeper, and a very specific, almost shy grin appears on his lips.

"I am."

The words hang in the room for a fraction of a second. Then Lando’s brain kicks back in.

His eyes widen suddenly in horror. Faster than he has ever reacted in a Formula 1 car, his hand shoots up and he presses it against his mouth in shock.

He stares at you as if he just admitted to being part of a murder.

You stop mid-motion, then your head snaps to the side and you look at him. Your heart does an uncontrolled skip.

The situation is so surreal that at first, you can't think of anything better to do than laugh.

"Stop it! And you even got this on video!" He bursts out.

He tries desperately to hide his sudden, raw nervousness behind a loud, forced laugh.

Then he points frantically at your smartphone, which is still in your hand, recording every single second of this moment.

Within seconds, the blood rushes to his head. His face turns a bright red color that could almost compete with a Ferrari.

He looks like he would prefer to sink into the ground right now and take the phone with him.

The red on his cheeks seems to get darker by the second.

"You're still filming!" He whines, his voice almost breaks from pure nervousness.

He takes a quick step forward and tries to steal the phone out of your hand, but you pull it back just in time.

"No way am I deleting this." You say, while your own heart is now pounding like crazy against your ribs.

You try to play the cool, teasing friend you have been for him for two years, but your voice shakes just a tiny bit.

"This is pure gold, Norris. McLaren would pay millions to see you this silent for once."

Lando groans loudly and buries his face completely in his hands. His ears are just as red as his cheeks by now.

"I hate you." He mutters.