Work Text:
"What do I do when I'm doing it
Then I do it over again
Just to see [I'm] doing it wrong
What do I do then?"
"I thought we were going to be spending more time together."
"We are, and we will, but I promised I'd go see Nico for a couple days first. We talked about this."
"Fuck Nico." Lando slid off the bar stool he was sitting on and walked out of the room.
"Lando..." Carlos rolled his eyes and went back to finishing his dinner. He was not in the mood to deal with this right now. Sometimes, as much as he loves Lando, being with a nineteen-year-old has downsides.
Lando flopped down on the bed in the spare bedroom, not feeling like curling up alone in Carlos' room where they usually slept. He was hurt, and also annoyed. Yes, Carlos had talked to him about spending a weekend with Hulk, but Lando hadn't really thought about it much until now. Now that it was break, he wanted to spend every spare moment with Carlos and he was less than pleased at the prospect of sharing him with anyone else.
He stared at the ceiling and contemplated calling George or Max or Alex to see what they were doing this weekend. Probably better to hang out with someone than spend it here at Carlos' place alone. After all, Carlos had suggested that he find someone to hang out with while he was away. Lando had conveniently ignored doing that until right now, when he was faced with the realization that he really would be alone this weekend if he didn't make a plan.
God, being a procrastinator was never a good idea. He should know that by now.
He rolled over and took out his phone, watching instagram stories for a bit and seeing that George and Alex were very much preoccupied and not available. They were obviously on holiday somewhere and they looked to be having a blast. He wasn't going to intrude.
Maybe Max would at least play iRacing with him. He texted him to ask.
A noise at the door made him look up and Carlos was standing there looking at him.
"Sup?" Lando asked him, trying to pretend everything was casual.
Carlos sat down on the bed next to him and then laid down, pulling Lando towards him. He dropped his phone and ignored it as Carlos wrapped his arms around him. "You're a silly person, Lando."
"So are you," said Lando, knowing how juvenile it sounded.
"I'm sorry, but you know I want to spend lots of time with you. I'll spend the whole rest of break with you."
Lando buried his head in Carlos' shoulder and didn't answer. Carlos just squeezed him tightly.
"Listen, mi favorito, I need to go pack now, and my plane leaves before long. Are you going to drive me to the airport or should I call someone?"
"I'll take you, of course," Lando replied into his shirt. "I'm not that much of a jerk."
"Well, you never know," said Carlos wisely, and Lando slapped him lightly. "Ow, you are mean to me. My boyfriend beats me. He is so unkind."
Lando rolled his eyes at the fake groaning and moaning and wriggled out of Carlos' arms. "Okay, get busy then, since you're so eager to leave me," he pouted.
Carlos shook his head and stood up. "I wish you wouldn't be like this, Lando. You know I care for you."
Lando felt a bit of guilt, knowing he shouldn't be so hard on Carlos for spending a few days with a friend. After all, Carlos never complained when he spend a weekend or more with George and Alex, or played hours of iRacing online with Max.
Thinking of Max made Lando look about for his phone as Carlos left. Maybe Max had texted back. He found it by the bed and checked his messages.
Max: Yeah, sure. I don't have anything going on.
Thank goodness for that at least. Max would be saving him from a weekend of lonely boredom in an empty house.
Thanks mate. I'll be on later today.
Max: ok cool.
Lando dragged himself off the bed and went to change out of the lounge wear he still had on from last night.
At the airport, Lando didn't dare to walk Carlos inside. They both knew it would draw too much attention, and no one was supposed to know he was here with Carlos anyway. So they said goodbye in the car from a short distance away.
Carlos gave Lando a long kiss, and Lando leaned into him, feeling oddly needy and childlike, not wanting to let him go. But he did.
"Be safe," he said lightly.
Carlos smiled and winked. "I'm always safe, like when I drive the F1 car, yeah?"
Lando rolled his eyes. "Just have a good flight and text me, okay? Call me if you can?"
Carlos gave him another kiss on the cheek. "Of course, mi corazon." He grabbed his suitcase from the trunk and Lando waved to him as he walked towards the entrance. When Carlos looked back from the entrance for the last time, Lando blew him a kiss. He could see Carlos laughing as he disappeared inside.
Immediately the car felt empty.
When he got home, the house felt more empty than the car. Lando snacked on random things from the kitchen, wasted time on instagram, and eventually decided to load up iRacing and see if Max was on yet.
He wasn't, but when Lando texted him, he replied quickly.
Max: I'll be on in a minute.
Lando fiddled around a bit while he waited, changing car colors and skipping a lot of songs on his playlist, not finding anything he liked.
He sighed.
Max finally appeared and Lando followed him into a race, bantering with him in the headset, forgetting for the time being that he was home alone. They didn't stream today because Lando hadn't brought all of his stuff to Carlos' house and he didn't feel like it anyway, so they talked about all kinds of things.
"So where's Carlos?" Max asked eventually. He was the only one who knew anything solid about Lando's relationship. Alex and George were pretty sure they knew, but Lando still hadn't told them anything. Carlos had been okay with telling Max, though.
"He's spending the weekend with Nico at the beach," Lando admitted.
"Oh, okay, cool," Max replied, and there was a long pause.
"Dude..." Lando ventured. "Do you..."
"Hmm?"
"Do you think he's...you know...into Nico?"
Max snorted. "Nah. They're just old teammates. Like him and me."
Lando felt reassured, but he wasn't done thinking. "I just...I feel like it's weird that he goes on vacation with Nico right away when I thought he was going to spend the whole break with me." As soon as it leaves his lips, Lando knows it sounds incredibly stupid and selfish.
Max laughed at him. "You sound so jealous right now, Lando. He's spending over a week and a half with you. He must like you pretty well because there's no way anyone could pay me to do that."
"Fucking shut up," Lando told him, but he laughed. "I guess it is pretty dumb."
"Yeah no shit. He's an adult with friends. You can't act like you own him."
"I don't," Lando argued.
Max humphed loud enough for Lando to hear. "Yeah, you act like he has to spend all this time with you when he doesn't. Just let him do his thing and he'll come back and you'll get plenty of time with him. Too much time, if you ask me."
"Oh get off it, Max."
"So Carlos can get on it?"
Lando groaned. Max laughed to himself and they moved on to other topics. Lando felt the stab of guilt again, knowing Carlos didn't deserve the attitude he'd given him this morning.
When Max logged off, it was evening, and Lando got up and made himself a microwave dinner while he argued with himself over whether or not to call Carlos. He continued the argument with himself while he ate dinner, and he had just finished eating and decided that yes, he would call, when the phone rang.
It was Carlos himself.
Lando answered quickly.
"Hellllooo, Chili," He sang out.
Carlos laughed. "Hey, how was your day?"
"Eh, pretty chill. Max and I played iRacing, that was about it. Are you having fun with Nico?"
"Yeah, we are having a good time. We went to some bars but I didn't get too drunk, just a little."
"You sound a little drunk," Lando told him, even though he could barely tell because Carlos wasn't slurring or anything.
"Only a little, I swear. But I miss you, mi favorito."
Lando smiled to himself. "I miss you too."
The weekend passed uneventfully and with far too much iRacing on Lando's part, most of it with Max, and before he knew it, Lando was getting ready to pick up Carlos at the airport. He made sure his hair was neat and he wore nice jeans and a blue shirt that Carlos liked.
When he pulled up to the terminal, Carlos was already waiting on the sidewalk. He threw his suitcase into the trunk and jumped into the passenger seat. Lando pulled away to a safe distance before looking over at him.
Carlos smiled a big smile. "Hey, Lando."
Lando smiled back, and pulled into a parking spot in the dark corner of the ramp, put the car into park, and flung his arms around Carlos. Carlos kissed him several times and Lando leaned against him and smiled.
"See, I told you I wouldn't be gone long. Now I'm here to spend the whole rest of the break with you."
Lando looked down for a moment and then met Carlos' eyes. "I'm sorry I was so rude to you about going to spend the weekend with Nico. I shouldn't have been so jealous."
"Jealous?" Carlos queried, looking confused.
"I just wanted you all to myself and I was being selfish," Lando explained. "And I'm sorry. I want you to spend time with your friends too."
"It's okay," Carlos reassured him, giving him another tight hug.
"Sometimes I'm not sure what I'm doing, you know, with this," Lando confessed. "This whole...being an adult in a relationship thing. I keep getting things wrong."
Carlos burst out laughing loudly, but not unkindly. "It's okay. You're young. You have lots to learn. Even me, I have lots as well. I get it wrong sometimes also. But we can figure it out together, yeah?"
"Yeah." Lando kissed him again, eyes closed. "Let's go home and start the fun, shall we?"
Carlos wiggled his eyebrows, and the implication was clear to Lando. "Start the fun sounds good to me."
An anticipatory shiver ran down Lando's spine as he turned the car around and headed for home.