Chapter Text
The moment Lando realised that Charles and Pierre were his soulmates, his soulmark started to itch. He froze, and then ran for George’s motorhome, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. His phone wasn’t lighting up so his odd reaction to their slip up hadn't been noticed yet.
He knocked hard on George’s motorhome door until it opened and Alex, phone pressed to his ear, poked his head out.
“What-?”
Lando pushed past and sat down on the sofa, trembling. It was Charles and Pierre. His fingers touched the arm covering that was fitted over his soulmark, it still itched. But that was only a kids story; that your mark reacted when you knew your soulmates. For Lando, it was Charles and Pierre, of course it was the two most gorgeous people in the paddock who had always made it clear that they didn’t want a third.
Lando pressed his hands over his eyes, shaking now. Alex quickly wrapped up his phone call and called for George. Lando was vaguely aware of glancing up and seeing George and Nick appear, George turning to Nick, touching a hand to his soulmate’s waist.
“Can you stick your headphones on?”
“No problem. Take care of him.”
They kissed briefly and then Nick went into one of the other rooms with a warm reassuring look at Lando. Lando couldn’t even start to smile back. He didn’t really know Nick; the Williams teammates had only recently worked out that their soulmarks fitted together and had quietly begun a relationship that wasn’t going to be platonic. Lando wasn’t even going to get that.
“Perfect boyfriend, perfect teammate,” Alex was teasing George. “Are you sure he didn’t arrive in a crate?”
“He fell off a lorry in Canada,” George replied before sitting down next to Lando. “Is this okay?”
Lando nodded immediately, leaning into his friend. Part of being a third could mean being a bit touch-hungry and Lando was especially grateful now that he had friends like Alex and George who gave him touches immediately without any mocking. Alex sat on his other side and wrapped an arm around him. Lando took deep breaths, his fingers kneading his soulmark.
“I know who they are,” he said into George’s shoulder at last.
There was a stunned silence but neither of them broke it. They knew what Lando needed - closeness and quiet and he’d fill the silence when he wanted to. Lando took deep breaths, holding tight to both his friends. Alex squeezed him gently but all Lando could see was the partly-exposed soulmark on Charles’s arm during a track walk, a video Lando had only happened to catch sight of as he’d walked past a screen in the paddock.
“Charles and Pierre,” he said in a sort of gasp, stomach rolling, heart breaking. “I didn’t...there was a video and Charles’s mark wasn’t all covered up.”
Alex shifted a bit, tapping at his phone, scrolling through stuff until he found what he was looking for, watching and then passing the phone to George. Then the phone was tucked onto Lando’s knees for him to look at, there was the full video, already online. Everyone liked to analyse a soulmark. Lando pressed his hand to his. There were the flowing lines of Charles’s soulmark, Lando could see how his would fit on the left side, the lines flowing from one body to the next. He imagined Pierre’s would fit against the other covered side of Charles’s mark and fit against Lando’s too. He closed his eyes, a perfect match.
Alex took his phone back, saying quietly, “They might change their minds if they know.”
Lando shook his head immediately, “They’ve never wanted a third.”
Alex wasn’t pushing, Lando knew, Alex was trying to be positive. But he’d seen the same interviews that Lando had, when Charles had talked about thirds.
“I am sure it’s right for many people, but Pierre and I have been together many years now. I cannot imagine how it would work for us, I mean, it wouldn’t. We're already complete.”
Pierre had been softer, but his point had been the same, “A third for us, I think, would be complicated. I do not think we would look for one.”
“They’ve known this whole time,” George realised quietly. “That there’s a third out there for them.”
Lando nodded; his own soulmark clearly showed gaps areas on more than one side where other soulmarks would match. Charles and Pierre would have the same. But they’d always acted like they were only a couple, they were clearly happy like that. They didn’t want anyone else, despite what their skin told them. They didn’t want Lando.
He pressed his face to George’s shoulder, his stomach rolling again, his hand gripping his soulmark. His soulmates didn’t want him. He could hear that past phone call from his Mum, “It’s Simon, darling, he’s dead,” Lando squeezed his eyes shut, he could feel his own heart breaking again. His Mum had told him, “this shouldn’t be what it means to be a third.”
Tears dripped down Lando’s face. He didn’t know how long he stayed there, but George and Alex held him and talked quietly. Lando sank into it and they didn’t let go. Lando knew vaguely he’d need to tell his team something, they were going to notice how freaked he was. He had no clue what he was going to say.
“When’re you due at McLaren?” Alex wanted to know.
Lando checked his watch, trying to imagine getting back into normal life like nothing had happened after this, “Ten minutes.”
“Okay,” George sounded like he was already putting together a plan, Lando smiled faintly, gratefully. “Legally, you don’t need to tell them anything, but you probably should. Plausible deniability is great if Charles or Pierre start asking questions but you want to be in front of everything and your team can definitely help with that.”
Lando wouldn’t need to tell McLaren everything, Zak wouldn’t expect that. He would hate to be kept in the dark if he could help though. Lando bit his lip and nodded. The people on his team who knew he was a third had never teased him about it, they’d sworn he could come to them with anything.
By the time his ten minutes were up, there was a plan. Alex and George would tell Lily, Daniel, Max and Carlos and tell them not to say anything to Charles or Pierre and not to swamp Lando with their concern or whatever. Lando really didn’t want to talk about it. But he would tell the people in McLaren who needed to know.
Lando used George’s bathroom, splashing his face with water and not looking in the mirror. He could hear music coming from George’s bedroom, Nick was humming along. He’d stayed in there the whole time. If he was curious, he wasn’t acting on it even though he had the perfect place to eavesdrop. George’s request was clearly more important than Nick’s own curiosity. Lando’s insides clenched, he couldn’t see Charles or Pierre being so giving with him. He took a deep breath, trying not to think of the last time he’d seen Simon, his parents talking afterwards, “It’s not even a possibility for them.”
Lando forced himself not to look towards Ferrari as he slipped out of the motorhome to the McLaren garage, already missing the presence of his friends. Charles was probably in his motorhome now anyway, with Pierre, they were totally happy together, not missing a third at all. Lando's stomach dropped and he turned his face away.
After talking with Will about telemetry, Lando got a quick private meeting in Zak’s office, explaining he’d realised who his soulmates were, that they were already together, and that he wasn’t going to tell them about his soulmark because he was sure they weren’t going to be interested in him joining them. Zak looked at him intently for a moment and asked,
“Do we need to change your routine? They’re in the paddock, right? You’ve got support?”
Lando nodded, relief overwhelming him at the questions not being asked. “If I need anything changed, I’ll let you know."
Zak sent Lando away with a warning to look after himself and an order to go spend time with Carlos. Lando’s talk with Charlotte was pretty similar, though she rubbed a hand across his back and said quietly,
“Charles and Pierre?”
Lando’s eyes went wide, his heartbeat wild, was it obvious? But Charlotte quickly added, “It’s nothing, just the way you look at them sometimes.”
Lando blushed, the paddock was full of good-looking guys, and Charles and Pierre were especially gorgeous so he’d always liked looking at them. Had that been a clue he should have picked up on? His heartbeat sped up a bit - did that mean they’d looked at him a lot too? He didn’t think so. They would have said something or avoided him and they’d always been friendly, inviting him to game with them and hang out.
Charlotte squeezed his arm, meeting his gaze firmly, “You deserve better.”
Lando’s smile wobbled but Charlotte assured him she’d say nothing and that she’d see him later and to keep his phone on. Lando had a lot of messages waiting on his phone already. A new group chat had been created by George, featuring everyone on the grid who knew about Lando’s status as a third. The most messages were from Max, he was swearing a lot while Daniel was shooting down all his plans to 'talk' to Charles.
Leave them alone, was all Lando put.
Stay with us tonight, Daniel replied instantly.
You must , Max added.
Lando's heart eased for the first time since he'd seen that glimpse of Charles's soulmark. His Mum had always taught him that with or without his soulmates, he needed a support system. Simon didn't have one. The warning had been clear, it was central to the worries Lando had carried with him since Simon’s death. But he had people he could actually talk to about his status as a third and the weird contrasting emotions he had about it - grateful there was more than one person out there for him, but worrying about the possible complications and about ending up like his cousin. Lando tried to imagine going through this situation without his friends and shuddered.
A rota quickly built up; Alex had already said that Lando would stay with him tonight, Carlos insisted he’d spend the next night with Lando (he threatened to fight Max for it), Max and Daniel would have the night after, George the next, and it kept going. Lando swallowed a mess of tears and thanked them all. Max was still coming up with punishments for Charles, Carlos and Daniel swore he wouldn’t get close enough to carry any of them out.
Take care of yourself, papaya.
Don’t torture yourself hanging out with them, mate, for real.
“You can’t avoid them completely,” Alex pointed out that night, as he lay beside Lando. “If you run every time you see them, they’re going to hunt you down.”
Lando nodded, right, yeah, that would definitely happen. “I can’t really talk to them though, I freeze up thinking about it or want to blurt everything out.
Alex laughed, tugging Lando closer and lifting his phone so that Lily, on video-call, could see them better. She smiled, “Tell them you’re having a bad time right now, stuff at home is tough, they’ll probably give you space, right?”
“Probably,” Lando sighed.
Lily smiled knowingly, fondly, “But you don’t always want them to give you space.”
Lando shoved his face into the nearest pillow and made an inarticulate noise that made Alex laugh louder. But his hand was warm on the back of Lando’s neck and Lando eventually turned around again. Lily’s smile was still fond; she was lying on a hotel bed somewhere, her hair was loose and Lando could see part of her soulmark peeking out past a short sleeve.
“They can’t hide from this forever,” Lily told him.
“They can, people go their whole lives without meeting their third and they’re fine together,” Lando replied quietly, gaze dropping. “That’s better sometimes.”
Alex tucked him close and Lily nodded with sad eyes. Neither of them said anything, letting Lando gather himself again and say wistfully, “I miss you, Lily.”
“I miss you too, my bed’s empty without you both in it.”
Lando smiled, thinking about nights where he’d sleep between Alex and Lily, Lily would sometimes wear a McLaren shirt and Alex would say that Horsey was a Red Bull fan so he wasn’t outnumbered. Lando always felt loved.