Chapter Text
It started with a party, because stories like this always start with a party.
The Vettel Press party on this particular Friday evening was just like every other party in the recent years: packed with incredibly rich people, fitted with the most expensive beverages and open to anyone who was willing to donate to charities they had probably never heard of before. Lando barely remembered the very first parties, where the guests actually included authors that were signed to his father’s publishing company.
To Lando, this party was just another event to go through. He had never particularly cared for the events Sebastian Vettel insisted on hosting, but just like the rest of his siblings, he was expected to attend and have small talk with people who he despised.
“Just humor them,” Seb had once told him. Lando had been a few years younger than he was now, twelve or thirteen maybe, and had expressed his disdain for these events. “They don’t care what you tell them. All they are going to do is pretend to be important and hope to look good enough for a reporter to take a photograph of them. And if you hate it that much, just come to me and I’ll get you out of there.” Lando had made him promise, but to this day he had never asked Seb to actually do just that.
Today, he and Seb hadn’t even spoken before the party, still at odds from their fight the night before. It had been an avoidable, very stupid fight. Just like all of their fights lately.
Catching Seb’s eye from across the room right now, he could see that Seb was trying to hide a smile, while pretending to listen to the woman with the big necklace. Just like everybody else present, he looked exceptionally rich. Lando smiled back, a little smirk that no one else would see as one; but he knew that Seb would see right through him. A peace offering.
“I’m going to interrupt them,” Max announced, putting down the glass of orange juice he had not finished yet. He fixed his hair, which definitely did not need fixing, and smoothed his white suit which Lando knew was his favorite. Seb had given it to his on his fifteenth birthday.
“Seb hates it when you do that.”
His brother smiled knowingly.
“No, he doesn’t.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Lando agreed.
Max shot him a last grin, before making his way over. He could see the way Seb’s eyes darted towards his brother.
“Hey, handsome. You look lonely.”
Refraining himself from rolling his eyes, Lando turned around to see Oscar Piastri standing behind him, leaning against the wall. He was grinning at him, holding a glass of champagne that he definitely should not be holding.
“I don’t even wanna know how you got that,” Lando said.
“What can I say,” Oscar answered, looking down at himself. “Suits make me look older.”
“No, they don’t,” Lando replied, even though it was kind of true. Despite being the same age, Oscar looked more mature and grown-up than Lando could ever do. “They make you look stupid.”
Oscar put on a fake pout and took a sip of the champagne.
“Put that away before Seb sees it,” Lando chided him. “He already hates you as much as it is.”
“Aw, come on,” Oscar complained. “He only hates me by association. Technically, it’s Mark’s fault.”
Lando pointed at the champagne glass. “You’re not helping.”
Oscar rolled his eyes, but put his glass down. “Fine. Wanna get out of here now?”
Lando smiled. “I’m grounded.”
Oscar raised his eyebrows at that, clearly amused.
“Rebel,” he teased. “What did you do?”
Lando shook his head.
“Nothing,” he insisted with a tone that made it clear it was all he was gonna say on that topic. “Let’s go.”
He motioned to the door that was closest to them and didn’t wait to see if Oscar followed, knowing he would.
Despite it only being April, the nights were still pretty warm. As soon as they stepped outside, they were greeted with both clear air and a clear sky.
They walked past some guests who were outside the company building to get some air, passing through the parking lot that led directly to the street leading away from the company building.
“I told you there’d be stars tonight,” Oscar nudged him and Lando looked up to where the other was pointing. He was right – the dark sky was painted with stars, each of them shining so bright it was actually hard to look away.
“Lucky guess,” he huffed, seeing the smug expression on Oscar’s face.
“Or my superpower.”
“I thought your superpower was eating a hundred chicken nuggets in one sitting.”
Oscar grinned.
“Maybe I have more than one superpower.”
His cheeks were rosy, even visible in the night, and it made him look stupidly young despite the suit he was wearing. The moles that were barely covering his cheeks and nose were oddly similar to the stars above them. Lando felt himself blush and quickly looked away before the other noticed.
They had reached the forest that was outlining the outer part of New York City; it was a small part of a bigger, deeper forest they usually never bothered going into, mostly occupied by other teenagers like themselves or joggers in the mornings. There was a small meadow that was starting to get covered in small, pink flowers. It was the spot they usually came to when they were here. At the same time, it was also the spot where Lando had first kissed Oscar last year.
“Hey,” Oscar was looking at him, clearly having noticed him zoning out. “Everything okay?”
Lando looked back at his boyfriend: the way he was leaning towards him, hand outstretched and inches away from touching his own, and the way his brown eyes looked concerned even though his lips were a curve away from smiling.
Lando nodded. “Yeah.”
He leaned forward and pulled him into a kiss.
He didn’t know how long they spent at the meadow, but by the time he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, he already had 3 missed calls.
“It’s Alex,” he said with a look at his screen. “I probably have to go back.”
Oscar sighed and pulled out his own phone.
“Well, my phone is dead. But I’m sure Mark hasn’t called me anyway, and I doubt he will.”
Lando sent him a sympathetic look before answering his still ringing phone. He didn’t even get say anything before his brother started talking. It was just not the brother he was expecting.
“Where are you?”
Kimi’s voice was clipped, the English he was still not that confident in rolling off his tongue in a tight voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Lando sat up, immediately alert. He could hear low music in the background, so Kimi had to be at the party still, which was a reason not to worry too much, but his stomach still turned.
“Can you come back?”
Kimi’s voice sounded rattled, and that didn’t leave much to imagination as to who had brought him to that state.
“Are you alright?” Lando was speaking calmly enough for Kimi to hopefully calm down and when he answered, he assured him: “I’ll be there in 15 minutes. ”
“Thank you.”
Lando hung up the phone and shot Oscar an apologetical smile. “I have to go back to the party.”
He got up and clapped grass of his suit. Oscar followed his example and looked at him, worried.
“Is everything okay with Alex?”
Lando didn’t bother correcting him, already walking back the way they had come.
“Yeah, don’t worry. I just need to be back there.”
Oscar looked suspicious, but didn’t say anything else, which Lando was grateful for.
“Okay,” he said. “I think I’ll go home, then.”
Lando stopped when Oscar did. “You’re not going home with Mark? He’s probably still there.”
Oscar shook his head. “Nah. It’ll piss him off if I leave now.” He grinned wickedly. “I’ll walk you back, though.”
Lando laughed. “No, I think I’ll manage.” He pointed towards the other side of the street leading back to the city. “Cabs are this way, anyway.”
Oscar furrowed his brows. “I can walk you back.”
“Oscar, it’s fine. I can literally already hear the party from here.”
Oscar held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, tough guy.”
Lando grinned and gave him one last kiss before they parted ways.
“See you tomorrow, then.”
“See you tomorrow.”
He could feel Oscar watching him as he walked away and felt himself smile at the thought.
He hoped Kimi was alright.
⤖
Parties were events that his siblings hated, but George was usually enjoying himself. Maybe it was weird to think about, but he had always found it easy to make friends. Sure, there were guests that were just plain awful to be around, but the 17-year-old had always been optimistic, which meant that the actually good-hearted people found their way to him.
That Friday night was no exception. He was talking to a young author, whose first book was going to be published this fall.
A tap on his arm made him turn around from the young author. Kimi was giving him a pleading look, which prompted George to give the author an apologetic smile.
“Excuse me.”
He thanked him in a hurry and left, probably to talk to someone else.
“What’s wrong?”
Kimi shook his head. “Nothing, have you seen Lando?”
He actually hadn’t seen Lando since the night begun, but he looked around the hall anyway, since Lando was pretty good at making himself invisible during events like these.
“No,” he answered his younger brother. “He’s probably around somewhere. Have you checked the bathrooms?”
Kimi shook his head yet again. “No, he left. But he said he was on his way back.”
George furrowed his brows. “Left? Where?”
“I don’t know,” Kimi shrugged him off. “He said he would be back half an hour ago. He’s not back yet.”
“Who was he with?”
“Oscar.”
The brothers both turned around to where Max had spoken from.
“I saw him leave with Oscar, of course.”
He put his strands of hair behind his ear, even though they were nowhere near his face. It was a familiar movement by now; one that had stuck with him ever since he had become part of their family years ago. George was sure that he didn’t even notice he was doing it. “That was a long time ago, though.”
George rolled his eyes.
“Then he won’t come back until much later, Kimi. Don’t worry about it.”
Kimi didn’t look convinced.
“But I called him! He said he’d be here in 15 minutes. That was almost half an hour ago.”
George checked his watch. It wasn’t even 10pm yet.
“They probably lost track of time. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
“What do you want with him?” Max tilted his head to the side and gave Kimi a curious look, who in response huffed.
“Nothing,” he said. “It doesn’t matter now.”
George shrugged, used to this kind of behavior from his youngest sibling.
“I’ll tell you when I see him.”
Kimi seemed content with that, for he left the two of them alone.
George was reminded of Kimi’s words thirty minutes later, when his youngest sibling passed them yet again, still looking distressed. George frowned and exchanged a worried look with Alex, who was now standing right next to him.
“Still no sign of him?” Alex asked.
Kimi shook his head, and now George got a weird feeling in his gut as well. Most of the guests were starting to leave by now, and even if Seb hadn’t noticed Lando’s absence yet, it would be only a few minutes until he did.
“I’ll call him,” George said and fished his phone out of his pocket.
“I already tried!” Kimi snapped, holding up Alex’s phone. “He’s not answering!”
“Have you seen Oscar or Lando?”
All of them jumped when Seb appeared behind them, Mark Webber in tow. The both of them regarded the little circle they had formed and raised one of their eyebrows at the same time. George would have laughed, if he wasn’t so distracted by the intense look Kimi was giving him.
“They left a while ago,” Max spoke calmly, as if trying to convince them everything was alright. “Kimi called Lando, and he said he was on his way back.”
“Did he say if Oscar was with him?” Mark was speaking directly to Kimi now, who shook his head.
The other man looked displeased and frowned. “He’s not answering his phone, I swear he’s doing it on purpose.” He seemed to consider something and shared a look with Seb.
“Jenson and I are going home,” he said. “I’m sure Oscar is already there, but if he should not be, could you–“
Seb nodded.
“Of course, Mark. I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you.”
He was gone a moment later, and with that Seb turned back to his children.
“When did you say Lando would be here? It’s getting late, most of the guests are on their way out.” He checked his watch and looked around the room, before seeming to think of something else. “He was also grounded.”
When no one answered him, he frowned.
“What’s going on?”
George couldn’t help but try to shake the feeling of uneasiness off. While he had been confident of Lando’s return before, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
Seb turned to face him, and repeated himself.
“What’s going on?”
⤖
It was already dark when Lando returned home. By the absence of sound coming from the house, he wondered if his family had returned from the party yet, but a glance to his wrist watch let him know the party was over a long time ago. Lando winced – he hadn’t meant to be that late, but he must have taken longer on his way back than intended. Not wanting to be caught coming through the front door in case of Seb catching him, he made his way over to the small pathway between some old bushes and trees. It was a way that led directly to the backdoor of the house, right to the kitchen.
He didn’t bother knocking, since the odds of someone being there in the first place were low. Grabbing the key he and his siblings kept hidden in one of the potted plants, he opened the door with ease and sneaked in. As expected, no one was there, so he didn’t stick around, but instead made his way into the living room. He expected no one to be there either, since it was pretty late, but there were still many people around – among them police officers.
Lando immediately went tense. Had something happened to Kimi after all? He had been so sure that he’d be safe with the others until he was there, but what if that wasn’t the case?
He went up to the closest officer he could see: a dark skinned man with a notepad in his hand, scribbling something down.
“What happened?” Lando demanded, but the man paid him no mind, and kept on writing things down. Frustrated, Lando repeated himself. “Hello?”
He was about to ask him a third time, when he spotted Lewis, his father’s older brother talking to another officer at the other side of the room. He hurried to the familiar face immediately.
“Lewis,” He exclaimed, relief flooding him. “What happened? Is Kimi okay?”
To his irritation, the man ignored him and kept talking to the officer in murmured tones. Lando couldn’t really focus on what they were saying, since he was flabbergasted by Lewis' behavior. Worry and confusion spread through his body like a disease.
“Lewis,” he tried again, but to no avail.
He noticed a door opening behind him, and turned around to see Seb exit his office. He was still wearing the suit he chose for the party, but the tie had been loosened and the collar looked like it had been yanked open. He was about to open his mouth, when he noticed someone younger coming through the door with him.
“Kimi!” Lando exclaimed, glad to see his brother safe and sound with Seb. He also was wearing the same suit still, and his face was passive as Seb led him out of the room, hand on his shoulder. They went straight past Lando, followed by a female police officer.
“Kimi? What happened? I’m sorry I’m late.”
Kimi didn’t give any indication of hearing him, but kept on walking towards the kitchen Lando had just come through.
Lando followed them into the room and watched how Seb sat down Kimi at the table and grabbed a mug from the cabinet.
“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?”
Lando yelled, fully expecting Seb to scold him for cursing, especially in front of Kimi, but neither his father nor his brothers answered him.
“What’s going to happen now?”
Kimi’s voice was shaky and Seb paused in putting the cocoa powder into the mug for a second.
“We’ll find him.”
He continued putting the powder in and Kimi nodded, a short and clipped motion.
“Find who?” Lando didn’t care that he sounded hysterical by now. “What’s happening here?”
“Maybe if I hadn’t called him, he –“
“Stop.” Seb interrupted Kimi with a tone so final that even Lando stopped pacing around the kitchen. “Don’t blame yourself. Lando will be fine. And he’ll be home soon.” He paused for a moment, as if to convince himself, before he kept on filling the mug with more powder than necessary.
Lando froze. And then he snapped.
“What?”
He was shrieking.
“Is this a joke?”
It it was, it wasn’t funny, but none of them were laughing anyway. It had to be a joke. Maybe they were punishing him for sneaking out of the party so early. Maybe it was one of Seb’s “lessons” he liked to give so much, for leaving while he was grounded. Maybe he was still angry with him because of their fight.
“I’m right here, what the fuck are you talking about?”
Seb didn’t even look up, even when Lando stood right in front of his face, waving his hand back and forth. He kept putting powder in the mug, like he was on automatic. He finally seemed to realize what he was doing and frowned, before emptying the mug in the box again. “I don’t know how to make cocoa,” he mumbled.
The man sighed and looked at Kimi again, who had chosen to stare at the counter again.
“Stay here,” he said and put a hand on his shoulder as he was passing him. “Please.”
With that he left the room, completely ignoring Lando again.
Dumbfounded, he followed Seb. He noticed that his hands were shaking, and his legs felt wobbly as well, but he tried to ignore it as he kept his eyes on Seb as he approached Lewis, who just seemed to finish his talk with the officer. He couldn’t hear what they were saying with the rushing in his ears, but as he got closer, the words became clearer.
“–to go out again. Kimi is in the kitchen by himself. I don’t know where the others are, I’m –“
Seb sounded scared, Lando noticed. He actually sounded scared, and Lando had no clue why.
Lewis nodded and put a hand on his arm.
“Max, George and Alex are upstairs. Don’t worry about them, now. We have it under control. Just go.”
Seb left and all Lando could do was watch him leave.
“Am I dead?”
Lando could feel tears in his eyes. Confusion and fear went through him, and his hands started shaking even harder.
“You’re not dead,” a voice said from behind him. “You’re in-between.”
⤖
“Do you think it’s possible that he ran away?”
Lewis stared at the detective incredulously. “No. He wouldn’t do that.”
The woman looked at the file in his arms and raised one of his perfectly plucked eyebrows.
“He’s done it before, though, hasn’t he? Twice, actually.”
Her tone wasn't rude, and yet it was anything but friendly. Lewis clenched his fists under the table and held his challenging gaze, eyes defying.
“That was a long time ago. He had just come to live with Seb, back then. He didn’t even know him that well. It’s different now.”
Detective Zion hummed, flipping another page before shutting the file and putting it down in front of her. “Lewis–“
“It’s Mr. Hamilton, for you.”
She nodded, because she knew that already.
“Mr. Hamilton,” she was folding her hands now, the posture a mixture between relaxed and confident.
“I want to be honest with you. Most of the time a teenager like Lando goes missing, they’re somewhere out of town, partying or having fun.” She pointed at something on his file.
She wanted to continue, but Lewis interrupted her, his voice cold:
“A teenager like Lando? And what’s that supposed to mean?”
For the first time in this conversation, Zion looked the slightest unsure of herself, her eyes flickering to the closed file in front of her.
“You cannot deny that he’s had a troubled childhood, and even in the care of your brother he has shown signs of–“
“So because he didn’t grow up like you did, you’re sure he just, what, ran away?”
“That’s not what I said–“
“I think it’s exactly what you said.”
“I just want you to think of the possibility, that–“
“You know what I think? I think you’re wasting a lot of time asking all of us questions you already know the answer to.” Lewis could feel his face going red from anger. “So instead of insulting both me and my brother’s family, I suggest you start doing some real detective work, Detective Zion.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hamilton,” Zion said after a moment of silence and gathered her belongings. “I’m just trying to do my job.”
She got up after that and left the room, leaving Lewis alone in it.
The silence felt more deafening than the rude words by Detective Zion and Lewis leaned forward in his seat, pressing his face into his hands. “Damn it, Lan. Where are you?”
He sat there for a moment, replaying the entire day in his head. He couldn’t even remember the last talk he had had with Lando, having been too focused on other things. He had been visiting Seb only sporadically lately, and whenever he had been over, he hadn’t spent any real times with his nephews. Maybe there was something that had bothered Lando after all. Would he have shared it with Lewis if he had taken the time to sit down with him?
Frustrated with himself, he stood up from the seat at the same exact moment the door opened again. Max stood in the doorway, a somber look on his face.
“Hey,” Lewis said.
“Seb left,” Max replied.
“I know.”
“I just–” Max entered the room and closed the door behind his. “He’s going to walk the path again, I think.”
He sounded sad when he said it, Lewis realized with an aching heart. His eyes were trained on the carpet. It was an old thing, probably left from when his own father had used it. Seb had talked about replacing it, but had never actually gotten around to do it.
“Hey,” Lewis said, prompting his nephew to look up. “I’m sure Lando is alright.”
Max gave a humorless laugh.
“No,” he said. “He’s not.”
Lewis blinked at his, thrown off. “What?”
“He’s not okay. Or he would be here. At home.”
His words were spoken carefully and he paused for a millisecond longer between the sentences than usual. It was something that happened when he was emotional; slipping back into the habits he had picked up when he had joined the family. Back then, he hadn’t been speaking English that well yet, and he knew other kids had made fun of him for it.
Kids are cruel.
It was something Seb always said.
Lewis couldn’t argue with Max’ logic, really, but the hope in him refused to give up that easily.
“Maybe he’s on a trip somewhere,” he offered.
“He doesn’t have friends,” Max stated bluntly. “Who would he go with?”
“I don’t know, Max,” Lewis retorted, suddenly irritated with his attitude. “But there could be a logical explanation for it. You don’t have to assume the worst immediately.”
“This is the logical explanation,” Max insisted, more loudly now. “He’s either hurt or in trouble. He’s not safe.”
“Why are you being like this?” Lewis said, voice clipped.
“Like what? Realistic?”
“Mean.”
Max’ gaze softened for a moment, but then he shook his head.
“You know I’m right.”
Lewis was about to say something, when he held up his hand and silenced him.
“You know there’s something wrong. I know you do. Being in denial helps no one.”
When Lewis failed to answer, Max turned on his heel and made his way to leave the room.
“Max,” he called after his. He stopped and turned to look at him, eyes glistening with unshed tears. Lewis knew he was scared. “Don’t tell your bothers what you just told me.”
He was right; being in denial helped no one. But maybe it would help the other kids sleep at night.
Max nodded curtly and then he was gone.
Lewis said back down and put his head in his hands again.
And then he cried.
⤖
Lando shrieked so loudly, that it was actually baffling how no one heard him. He turned around to see who or what had scared him and came face to face with a person. The guy was a bit older than him, and was a few good inches taller than him as well. He had shocking mop of dark hair on top of his head, with curls sticking out in all kinds of direction, and he was staring directly at Lando.
“What?” Lando asked, suddenly afraid that he had imagined it, but the way the guy was looking at him, it was almost impossible.
“I said you’re in-between,” the guy said sheepishly, leaving no room for misunderstandings. “Sorry for the dramatics. I thought it would sound cool.”
Lando stared at him, mouth gaping.
“I’m Daniel?” the guy offered, when Lando failed to say anything. “And you’re Lando, right?”
Daniel waved a hand in front of his face. “Hey, are you okay?”
Lando’s gaze wandered from Daniel to Lewis, who exited the office, walking past the two of them without even glancing in their direction.
Lando didn’t even try to call out for him, knowing by now it was a lost cause.
“What’s going on here? Am I dreaming? Is this some kind of weird nightmare?”
“No,” Daniel replied. “It’s real. We’re really in-between.”
“In-between?”
“We’re not dead, but we’re not really alive either.”
Lando was confused. The last thing he could remember was being with Oscar and then making his way home. Now that he thought about it, though, he couldn’t really remember the details of going home. He just knew he had made the way, for he actually arrived at home. Except, he couldn’t recall how he had made it from the party to his house, either. It was all blurry and with holes. The fact that there were blanks in his memory frightened him.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m in a coma,” Daniel shrugged. “Have been for like a year now. I just woke up here one day, staring at my body in a hospital bed.”
“A year?” Lando shrieked. “You’ve been here for that long?”
Daniel nodded. “As long my body doesn’t wake up, I’m stuck here. People come and go, but no one has been here as long as I have.”
“And no one can see you?”
Daniel shook his head and for the first time he looked sad. “I’ve tried, of course. For months. But you can’t speak to them, you can’t even touch stuff. Or move stuff. I’ve tried that, too. We’re basically ghosts, except we’re not dead. Not yet.”
Lando tried to absorb everything Daniel had said as quickly as possible. He wasn’t dead, which was a good sign; but he wasn’t alive either. He couldn’t speak to his family, and they wouldn’t know he was alright. But was he alright? Was there a way out of this? If his body wouldn’t wake up, then –
Lando froze, suddenly thinking of something.
“Wait,” he said sharply. “You said your body was in a hospital.”
Daniel nodded.
“What about me? Where’s my body?”
The other gave him a pitying look.
“That’s the problem,” he said. “Your body is in the woods. No one’s found it yet."
“What?” Lando gasped. “The woods? What does that mean?”
“It’ll be easier if I just show you.”
Daniel grabbed his hand and then there was swift movement and a rush of air, and suddenly they weren’t in the house anymore, but outside in the cold. Except he didn’t feel cold, even though it must be freezing by now. It was dark and yet he had no trouble seeing clearly.
Lando didn’t even have a chance of asking Daniel how he did that, since he was already moving towards something.
All he could do was follow him.
“There,” Daniel said, pointing towards a slope that was behind some bushes. “We have to go down.”
He climbed down the slope holding onto the branches, Lando close behind. Hidden behind some plants was a sewer tunnel – you could barely see it if you weren’t directly looking for it. Daniel motioned for Lando to crouch down so they could enter it, and Lando followed his example. The walked a few meters through the damp path and then Daniel stopped. He pointed towards something. Lando held his breath.
From far away it looked like a pile of dark clothes that had been carelessly thrown on the ground, but upon closer inspection Lando could see it was a body. His body, to be specific. Curly hair covered a pale, bruised face, but it was undoubtedly him. It was a different feeling than seeing himself in the mirror, but nevertheless familiar.
Sudden flashes blurred his vision, and he had to take a few steps back. A rough shove; the numbing pain; and then –
The memory returned to Lando in an instant. With shaking movements he raised his hand to his right cheek where he expected a dark bruise to be.
“He jumped me,” he blurted out. “I fell.”
Daniel gave him a sympathetic look and nodded.
Lando’s head instantly moved to his head. He could faintly feel the pain there; a reminder that he had probably hit his head during the fall.
“Do you remember who it was?” Daniel asked.
Lando shook his head.
“No.”
He tried to recall the moment he had encountered him, but nothing much came up besides the obvious. He had been walking home, and then he had come across that man. A man he had never seen before in his entire life. It didn’t add up.
“Maybe it was an accident,” he said.
“Then why did he hide your body?” Daniel replied. “Why not call an ambulance?”
That was a good point.
“Maybe he thought I was dead. Maybe he didn’t want to go to jail.”
Daniel hummed beside him.
“Maybe.”
Lando looked out of the tunnel. It was quite far from where he fell. Far from the path he had been walking on in general. He walked out of the tunnel, giving his body one last look. He could hear Daniel following him as he made his way up the climb toward the forest path again. He wasn’t even out of breath when he arrived, but rather more energetic than before. He turned around to see where the sun was. The path he had been walking on was more than 100 feet away, you couldn’t even see it from where they had been standing. To drag someone all the way here, that must have taken quite some time.
Maybe it hadn’t been an accident, after all.
⤖
“Oscar?”
The teen looked up from where he was sitting at the kitchen table. Mark looked at him, brows furrowed and head slightly tilted. He was probably trying to look concerned, Oscar thought. It didn’t really work. It wasn’t a look he had practiced very often, after all.
“Are you ready to go?”
It didn’t matter whether Mark was concerned or not, he decided. It wouldn’t help settle the dreadful feeling in his stomach anyway. He nodded and got up from his seat, following his adopted father to their car, where his boyfriend was already seated. Jenson offered him a bottle of water from the open window and he took it without a word before settling in the backseat.
He knew that Mark wanted to say something – it was obvious from the way he kept glancing at the rearview mirror, hoping to catch Oscar’s eye; but he never actually spoke up. Oscar didn’t mind. He wasn’t really in the mood to have an awkward talk with the man. Not when they were on their way to take part in a search party for his missing boyfriend. Lando hadn’t been seen in over 19 hours. Technically, a person missing for under 24 hours wasn’t considered an officially missing person yet; but being underage and Sebastian Vettel’s son probably helped bypassing the formalities.
Oscar kept replaying the last seconds he and Lando had spent together. It felt like eternities ago; though it had just been the night before. If he had only insisted on walking him back to the party. He balled his hands into fists so hard his nails pressed into his skin. He knew that there was no point in overthinking stuff he couldn’t change, but it didn’t help erase Lando’s face from his mind. The look he gave him when they parted ways just hours before.
Oscar took a sip from the water bottle he was still clutching in his hand.
They arrived without any of them speaking a word.
As soon as he got out of the car, he spotted familiar faces among the crowd that had gathered at the meeting spot. He could see Sebastian Vettel somewhere in the middle, right next to Lando’s siblings, and Seb’s brother Lewis. They looked solemn, but determined. Kimi was probably still home, for Oscar couldn’t spot him.
A man approached him immediately.
“Oscar Piastri,” he said. “I’m Detective Nakamoto, the leading detective in this case.”
He put his heavy hand on Oscar’s shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting manner, but it just felt like the older man was burdening him some more. “Can you show us where you two parted ways?”
So Oscar did.
It wouldn’t do any good, since they had already searched those parts last night already. Oscar was sure that Seb had personally walked that path five times by himself.
They still made their way through the forest.
A lot of people had shown up. More than Lando probably actually knew. There were some people he knew, such as Seb’s and Mark’s mutual friends; and some of his siblings’ friends as well as their parents. After they started walking in groups through the forest he was sure that he spotted some of Lewis' friends as well. Some of Lando’s classmates must have been there, but Oscar knew that Lando didn’t consider them his friends. He would probably laugh at their faces if he could see them right now.
He didn’t know how long they walked through the forest like that, but his voice was hoarse from yelling Lando’s name. It felt stupid. It wasn’t like Lando was gonna walk up to them just because he heard their voices.
“Oscar Piastri?”
He turned around and came face to face with a tall man dressed in a grey coat. He was holding out his police badge for Oscar to see.
Oscar nodded and the man stepped closer.
“I need you to come to the station with me.”
Oscar furrowed his brows and looked around. Some time during their search he and Mark and Jenson must have parted ways, because he couldn’t spot them among the strangers that were in this part of the forest. He didn’t even have it in him to be surprised or disappointed by that.
“Why?”
The man snorted. “Because you’re the last person who has seen Lando Vettel. And since it doesn’t look like he is coming back anytime soon, we have to investigate every possible lead.”
The way he said it sent cold shivers up and down Oscar’s spine.
“What do you mean?”
The man nodded towards the path that led back towards the road.
“Come along to the station, kid.”
Oscar went with him.
⤖
“Did you and Lando consume any drugs last night?”
“What?”
Lando wasn’t sure who had yelled it first, but both him and Oscar stared at the Detective incredulously. Oscar was sitting in one of the interrogation rooms, the Detective across from him in a black plastic chair. Lando and Daniel had followed them when they had seen the man lead Oscar to the police car and were now standing behind Oscar.
“It’s a simple question.”
The man was so arrogant that Lando wanted to punch his stupid face in.
“No!” Oscar insisted.
Detective Asshole hummed, before scribbling something down on his notepad. “I’m just asking because you have been arrested for drug possession before, that’s all.”
Lando could see the way Oscar tensed.
“What does that have to do with Lando?” he asked, his tone clipped.
“I don’t know yet,” DA answered. “Maybe nothing.”
Oscar didn’t give him an answer.
“He’s being an asshole!” Lando accused him, looking at Daniel for support. “Is he allowed to do that?”
Daniel held up both hands in surrender. “I don’t know anything about the police, man.”
Lando puffed.
“If Lando were to run away, where would he go?”
“I didn’t run away, asshole,” Lando yelled. “If you would do your job, you would find me!”
Oscar snorted.
“He wouldn’t run away.”
“He was grounded. Maybe he was trying to rile up his dad.”
“No.”
The detective put down his pen, clearly bothered by Oscar’s attitude.
“Look, kid,” he started. “Either you help me out here or I lock you up.”
“On what charges?” Lando shrieked. “He hasn’t even done anything!”
Oscar just stared at him, as if seeing a challenge.
“No, Oscar,” Lando warned him, obviously to no avail. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Did Lando mention anything weird before he left? Was he acting different?”
Oscar still stared at him, arms crossed over his chest in a defensive manner, but Lando could see that his hands were shaking slightly either from anger or distress.
The detective raised an eyebrow.
“So you don’t want to find your little boyfriend? Is that it?”
The way he said it sounded so condescending and vicious, it was ridiculous how Oscar hadn’t reached back to take a swing at him yet.
“Maybe you two had a fight and it escalated a bit. Two brawling young boys. A lot of things could happen.”
“We didn’t fight and he didn’t run away. He was going back to the party,” Oscar repeated for the third time since he’d come here. Even Lando was tired of hearing that by now, it was a miracle the detective wasn’t.
The man looked like he didn’t believe him, though. He raised one of his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair, shooting Oscar a disapproving look. Before he could say anything else, however, the doors to the interrogation room opened and in strode a very angry looking Mark Webber, a helpless looking officer trailing behind him.
Lando had never been more relieved to see the man.
Mark took one look at the situation presented in front of him, before he directed his gaze towards the detective, who sat up in his chair at once.
“And what exactly do you think you’re doing?”
The detective stood up and pointed towards his files.
“Sir,” he began, his voice slightly trembling now that he wasn’t talking to a child anymore. “I was just asking –“
“No,” Mark raised his hand and interrupted the man, voice icy. “To me it seems like you’re questioning my underage son without parental consent, which, in this state, is illegal.”
He paused, regarding his opponent for a second.
“Do I need to remind you of the laws of our country?”
The detective didn’t dare to answer him, but rather crumbled under the stare Mark gave him. Lando chose this moment to turn his attention to his boyfriend. Oscar was staring at Mark as if he was seeing him for the first time in his life, mouth open and unbelieving. Lando couldn’t help but smile despite the circumstances. It was probably the first time the man had referred to him as his son.
“Oscar,” the man was now motioning towards him, hand outstretched. “Come on. We’re leaving.”
Oscar scrambled to his feet, eager to get out of that room. Mark put a hand on Oscar’s shoulder and led him into the hall and towards the entrance of the police station. They only stopped when they had arrived in the lobby. Lando hurried after them, Daniel close behind.
“Are you alright?”
Oscar didn’t answer him right away – he stared at him, lips slightly trembling. Then he flung his arms around his neck. Lando gasped slightly, not having expected this kind of reaction. Judging from Mark’s face, neither had he. His surprised face formed into a small smile eventually and he put his own arms around his son.
“That’s nice,” Daniel said from behind Lando.
Lando watched as Oscar and Mark left the station together, a small smile on his face.
“Yeah. It is.”