Chapter Text
Lando had thought he was prepared for university, his dorm was set up, his roommate was nice, he had all his textbooks and made sure to put the proper one in his bag the night before. In his mind, he was prepared, nothing could stop him. Until it nearly did.
He knew that he was a heavy sleeper, and was notorious for falling asleep before setting alarms, which is exactly why he made sure to set 7 different alarms. All of them were 15 minutes apart, starting at 6:30, so that he hopefully would be up and on his way to class by 8:30. What he didn’t anticipate was sleeping through the first 6 of them. When the final alarm went off at 8:07 after being snoozed, something jolted him awake, as if he subconsciously knew that he had to be up. However, the late wakeup only had left him enough time to quickly shower, before getting dressed, grabbing his backpack and running out the door.
He had made it to class with 3 minutes to spare and plunked down in the first open seat he saw. There was someone else at the same table as him, but he paid the other boy no mind. He threw a small smile in his direction, which was met with a brief eyebrow raise of acknowledgement before looking back down at his book. Lando pulled out his laptop and attempted to turn it on, only to discover it hadn’t charged the night prior, and only had 17% left. That would last him all of 20 minutes, and being in the third row, in the middle of the room, there was no way that he would be able to plug it in.
Resigning himself to take notes by hand he pulls out a tattered spiral notebook, it was only a month old, but after being taken everywhere (and never used), the wire holding it together has slowly started to uncoil. He made sure to make a mental note to buy a new notebook as soon as his next paycheck came in. However, when he reaches into the depths of his backpack, grasping for his pencil case, he comes back empty-handed. Thinking that maybe it ended up in another pocket, he starts opening every single zipper on the bag, all to no avail.
Not a loose pen or pencil to be found.
By the time he has come to this conclusion, the professor has already started going over the syllabus. Frantically looking for something to jot something down with, Lando turns towards the person next to him. The boy is focused on the professor’s every word, his hands writing as quickly as they possibly could. Nimble fingers making the task look easy, hurrying over the page. After a few seconds Lando realizes that he has been staring at the guy’s notes for longer than necessary and snaps back into reality.
He still has nothing to write with.
Leaning over he whispers to the boy next to him “hey mate, I hate to do this on the first day, but do you possibly have an extra pencil or something?” He tries punctuating it with a sheepish look, making the situation seem funnier than sad, but it falls flat.
Or so he thinks it does.
The boy next to him gives him a disappointed look and lets out a sigh before reaching into his bag and pulling out a simple orange pen. The pen is plain, except for a small logo on the barrel of it, probably nicked from some business at some point in time.
“Here, try to bring your own next time, I’ve only got so many in here.” He sounds more amused than Lando expected, based solely on his expressions. There also is a slight twang of an accent, different from everyone around him, but he can’t place where it is from. This school was known for their high international acceptance rate, so it made sense for the boy to not be British.
Ending up lost in thought trying to figure out the guy’s accent, Lando hesitates to take the pen prompting the boy to wave it in front of him. Coming out of the zoned-out state he was in Lando blinks hard, as if he is shocked by what is in front of him. “I- uh. Thanks. I’ll give it back after class.” He takes the pen from the guy and before he knows it, the boy is back scribbling away in his notebook.
It may be his brain playing a trick on him, or the lack of sleep from his late-night early morning combination, but Lando swears he sees a small smile creep up onto the boy’s face. Before he can confirm what he saw, his professor is rambling once again.
At the end of the class, when Lando tries to give the pen back, the boy is gone. As if he sprinted out of class the second it was finished. He’ll just have to give it back next week. Making sure to keep the pen safe he puts it in the secret inside pocket of his bag and zippers it shut. Vowing to leave it in there until next Friday morning, or sooner if he saw the boy again.
He headed back to his dorm, this time actually paying attention to the world around him, rather than sprinting to class as fast as he could without causing suspicion. It was a hot day, not uncommon for late August, but not overbearing. There was a touch of humidity in the air, which Lando knew would make his hair a mess, the longer he stayed outside, but the sun felt so nice he was tempted. He scanned the commons for any sign of a familiar face and found one in an old friend from his hometown. He didn’t know that George was a student here but he was happy to see him. They locked eyes for a second before George came jogging over to greet him, his friend following shortly behind him.
He hadn’t seen George since his graduation last spring, so he was a bit shocked to see the man conveniently on the same campus as him. They weren’t super close friends, but had friends in common, and liked each other well enough to hang out occasionally outside of classes. George despite his polished nature and perfect appearance, he was a partier. He loved to go out dancing, get drunk, kiss as many of his friends as he could, and then appear perfectly normal and polished the next day. Not a hangover in sight. If Lando wasn’t there, and on the receiving end of some of the kisses, he never would’ve believed the stories. Before he had time to even wonder why George was coming over here, he was enveloped into a massive bear hug and lifted off the ground.
“Oi, Norris. Amazing to see you mate. It’s been forever! There is so much for us to catch up on!”
”Geor—ge, mate I’ve missed you too, but you’re just about squeezing me to death.” His voice is airy, the wind knocked out of him. Lando gets placed back on the ground and George steps back to take in his appearance.
”Looking good mate, you’ve really grown up.” Lando doesn’t think he looks any different from the May prior, but he halfheartedly accepts the comment because it isn’t terribly often that he gets them.
“Thanks, you too. Freshman year, did you good I suppose?” Lando probes, hoping to get some information about the tall man standing next to George.
“Amazingly. Lots of good classes, and learning, made good progress on my business degree. Attended lots of good parties, met lots of cool people, including Alex here, who is my roommate.” George says knowingly, and gestures towards the man next to him. Finally, a name to put with the face. “Met him at a party the first week last year, and got on well enough. We had no one lined up for a roommate this year, and didn’t want to take our chances with the lottery again. Once was more than enough.” His tone indicates that they had bad experiences freshman year.
The man next to George speaks up and introduces himself. “I’m Alex, lovely to finally meet someone who can tell me if he’s always been like this.” There’s a slight playful chuckle to his voice as he extends his hand for a handshake.
Lando matches the chuckle. “Yeah, George has always been like this. Quite the guy, always partying, always perfect.” Before he’s able to get another word out, George jumps in.
“Speaking of parties, Max and Charles are throwing one tonight, they’re buddies of mine. You should come, it will be a good time.”
“You and Max hate each other, like 75% of the time.” Alex says over George.
“Yes, but we are in the 25% that doesn’t right now. I will be going and you should too Lando. It will be fun. Either way, I have to get to class now. But I better see you there tonight. I’ll text you the information.” He says loudly before walking away with a wink pulling Alex behind him.
Great. Now Lando’s peaceful night in, will be marred with a George party. Normally he didn’t mind a good party, he usually enjoyed the music and the people, but after this morning, nothing sounded better than sitting and playing games with his friends on stream. The rest of the walk back to his dorm is calm, he keeps an eye out for the chance of seeing someone he knows, but the odds of seeing two old friends, on one walk, is quite slim. Still, he scans every face he passes as if he is looking for someone specific.
Upon reaching his dorm, he finds the door unlocked and his roommate Max sitting inside. Now Max was a nice guy, Lando didn’t know too much about him, but from what he could tell they had similar interests. Both enjoyed gaming, were both graphic design majors, and had grown up in the same county in England, however not close enough that they would’ve met before.
They each had their own separate spaces with a shared common space, because they had lucked out and got a double. So when he finds Max sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone, he isn’t terribly shocked. They had been living together for a little under a week by this point, and it was going well enough. Max looks up and gives him a nod before looking back at his phone, Lando takes this as a sign that he doesn’t want to talk, and heads to his room.
Lando’s room is small, like the typical college dorm, the poorly painted walls, the fluorescent light casting a very corporate vibe over the space. He tried his best to make it feel home-like, but the newness, and the mostly blank walls did nothing in its favor. He had hung some posters of his favorite drivers and cars behind his desk. The sleek silver, black and teal of Hamilton’s Mercedes, the fiery red of Vettel’s Ferrari, and the bright orange of Alonso’s McLaren looked down upon him while he worked or streamed. There were soundproofing panels put up around the door, in the hopes to not disturb Max, but they hadn’t been put to the test yet. That was Lando’s original plan for the evening, but George’s party invite put a stop to that. He unpacked his bag and put his laptop on his desk, making sure to plug it in, and not walking away until the light on the side lit up. He was not taking any chances with it dying on him again.
He climbs up and flops down onto his bed, trying to avoid looking at the mess on the ground. His outfits from the last two days have been strewn on the floor with a neon green sweatshirt draped over his desk chair threatening to fall at any moment.
He scrolls his Instagram for a little bit looking at all the different things that the people he went to school with are doing. Most were away at university like him, but there were a few stragglers who had skipped this step altogether, went straight into work, or were wealthy enough to take a year off and travel. Lando was well off, though his parents had decided that continuing his education was more important than traveling. It was easier to not argue, plus he did always want the true university experience.
Max calls him from the couch, shouting something unintelligible leaving Lando no choice but to get out of bed and see what he wants. Turns out he had found out about George’s party from one of his classmates, and that he was roping Lando into going with him. He decides to not mention running into George and Alex, and that he had already been invited to this party. Before he can say anything though, his stomach gives a loud groan. He didn’t have time to grab something to eat before class, and it has slowly caught up to him.
Max lets out a hearty laugh. “Mate, do you ever eat breakfast? You’re always running late, and classes have only just started.”
Lando gives a sheepish response “I think I had a monster and an apple as I ran out the door yesterday?”
“I mean real food. Not monsters, an over excess of spring rolls, or the occasional bits you can grab as you run out the door. Where are you even going anyway?”
“I had a meeting yesterday, and class this morning. I’ve never been a big breakfast person. It takes too long. Don’t have time to make eggs or anything.” Lando is convinced his logic is foolproof, less time spent on making good food, rather than just edible food, is more time that can be put to other things he likes. His stomach grumbles again, making both of them laugh.
“You’re ridiculous.” Max gets up and grabs his keys from the dish by the door. “I’ve heard the kebab place down the road is good. Let’s go.”
After lunch they head back to their place and Lando decides to make an attempt on his assignment for class.
The first assignment is supposed to be reflective on who they are, and who they want to be. A letter to their future selves to be read at the end of the semester. He didn’t think that 10 weeks would make much of a difference, but maybe it would to those who knew themselves better.
Lando knew that he was a “freer spirit” than most, uncertain of what he wanted to do with his life, becoming an arts student, living based on his whims. Partying with George, gaming with Carlos and friends online, never having a concrete schedule outside of classes. He wasn’t stupid by any measure, but his grades tended to suffer from his lack of discipline. All of his tests, and the assignments he did do, all got the highest marks, but the ones that he didn’t do often landed him in trouble. It was a miracle he got accepted into this university.
He also knew who he was sexuality wise, but never really felt the need to share it. It wasn’t the most important thing about him. Growing up he had crushes on both boys and girls, but they never ended up being more than that. He never had a relationship that was more than just a casual hookup, usually stemming from the parties. He wasn’t sure if he just couldn’t feel that way for someone, or if he just hadn’t met the right person. The idea of never being in love made him sad. He had always enjoyed the idea of caring for someone so deeply that they became your entire world. However if that was never in the cards for him, he understood, as much as he hated the thought.
He feels something in his face start to hurt, and it snaps him out of the trance he was in. Only then does he realize that tears had started welling up, he wipes them away and closes his laptop. The document he had open, still blank, not a word written.
Realizing that it was going to be a long late night of partying, he decides to wallow in the overwhelming feelings, crawls into bed and takes a brief nap. He gets woken up a short while later when Max knocks on his door loudly telling him that if he wasn’t ready in 5 minutes, he was leaving without him.
Lando jumps off of his bed, grabs the sweatshirt from the chair, gives it a quick sniff before deciding it was clean enough and putting it on. Making his way into their shared bathroom, he takes a brief look in the mirror at his hair. It’s partially flattened on one side from his nap, but that’s nothing a splash of water couldn’t fix. The longer curls drooped down onto his forehead where he debated leaving them, before ultimately taking a towel to them and rustling them up. Looking in the mirror for any sign of redness in his eyes, he gives himself a quick grin and leaves the bathroom. He pulls his sneakers on, opting for one of the worst pairs he owns. The shoes have seen their fair share of parties, and if university George is anything like secondary school George, a fair share of vomit too. Max eyes him up and down as if he can’t believe what Lando is wearing, but doesn’t comment on it. They grab their dorm keys, and head out into the night.
The party was held at a house just off of campus that was rented out by a group of juniors. Lando wasn’t sure how George knew these Max and Charles people, but it was George. He somehow knew everyone back home, and would somehow get invited to everything, even if he was hated by the host.
By the time they get there, the party is in full swing, so the two boys walk inside on their own. A quick scan of the first room shows that it is more than Lando has anticipated. Despite his previous party boy nature, he actually is quite introverted, until he gets alcohol in him, then he becomes someone else entirely. The music is a mix of modern songs, and the known club hits from the 00’s and 2010’s, it's an eclectic mix, not something he’d expected to hear. Max and him make their way further into the room and start a lap. Lando isn’t sure if he is looking for someone, or just the kitchen, but he spots Alex and drags Max over to meet him. Alex is talking to two men that Lando doesn’t recognize, he hopes that he’s not interrupting something, but assumes that he isn’t due to the close nature of the two men. Alex spots him and waves him over loudly, by the time he gets to the small group, they are all smiling and looking over at him and Max.
The two men introduce themselves as Max V, and Charles, the hosts of the party, and the sometimes enemy of George. Lando makes a mental note to differentiate the two Maxes, especially when talking. When he introduces himself, Charles looks shocked, as if there was something odd with his presence. It’s only when he explains that he knows George, that some clarity returns to the man’s face.
“So you’re the Lando that would party with George? He’s told us stories about this almost legendary DJ Lando from back home.” His voice dripped with shock, and a thick accent. “You’re at our party! Where's your drink?” Lando is not sure of the stories George has told of him, but they are making him seem wilder than he remembers.
He gets handed a beer from Max V and thanks the man before taking a sip. The five of them talk for a while before Lando decides to break off and find George. His eyes scan the corners and walls of each room he enters. The last room he checks is the kitchen, where he ends up finding the tall man pouring and taking shots. George lets out a loud whoop when he spots Lando and hands him two shots of clear liquid. Now he knows better than to take random drinks from George, who was notorious for his heavy pours, but the energy of the party and the hint of alcohol from the beer has started speaking to him.
He downs both shots quickly, and gives a loud shout. George hands him two more.
Lando is not a lightweight by any means, but the alcohol hits him faster and harder than it usually does, probably the lack of food in his stomach. Lunch was nearly 6 hours ago, meaning it’s been too long for it to properly absorb some of the alcohol. He picks at the bowl of chips on the table before giving up on trying to satiate the hunger, if he eats anything more he will be puking, and that is not in his plans for tonight.
His limbs are feeling heavy but he grabs George’s hand and drags him away from the bottle of vodka that he’s been pouring shots out of. Lando wants to dance and George is the perfect partner for that. He has always been good at matching vibes, especially when drunk, Lando suspects it’s tied to the magic hangovers he never seems to have the next day. Some Spanish song plays over the speakers, he's heard it before, but couldn’t name it. Whatever song it is, he has fun dancing to it with George, until a tall gorgeous girl steals George away from him. The song ends and the familiar voice of Usher fills the room, Lando swears he hasn’t heard this song in years. He scans the room while he dances, to see what possibly could have happened to the friends he was with before, to no avail.
Then he spots him.
The boy from class. Standing in the corner, sipping a beer. Looking considerably more sober than Lando. Before he can even decide what he is going to do, his legs are taking him to the corner, towards the mystery boy from class. He tries his very hardest to pull himself together and seem more there than he actually is, but ultimately it’s no use. Once he’s in front of the boy, he stares for a little too long, making sure that he’s gotten the correct person. The boy raises an eyebrow and stares at the drunk person in front of him.
“You’re pen boy. From class. I’m Lando Norrisssss” Lando’s words are slurred, the ends of each mushing together, but his point is still made. A big goofy grin sprawls across his face, as if he couldn’t be happier to see the boy.
The boy laughs and extends a hand out for a handshake. “Oscar. You’re drunk.”
“Okay? Come dance with me.” Lando’s question isn’t so much of an ask, as it is a command. He grabs Oscar’s hand and pulls him into the center of the room, where the rest of the world seems to disappear. The loud music fills their ears, only being broken by the occasional laugh at whatever stupid thing Lando does.
He could get used to this.