Work Text:
Guildford, 20th December 2021
Tired, Lando stretched in his bed after turning off his alarm and opened his eyes only slowly. His gaze fell on the empty half of the bed next to him, whereupon a smile crept on his lips. Today was officially the last day he would wake up alone before Carlos and he would spend a whole month together. In addition to a romantic break in the Maldives in January, the Christmas party was just around the corner. For the very first time, they did not celebrate separately with their families, but all together – and by that, he really meant all together. Carlos' entire family would come to England on the 23rd while his boyfriend would already be here this evening. Carlos had finished his last appointment for Ferrari the day before yesterday and had spent a day with his family in Madrid yesterday before flying over to London today.
He took a few minutes to wake up properly, then grabbed his phone, and his smile only widened when he read the messages from the Spaniard.
I love you, but please stop sending me memes at 4am
I guess I need to make sure your sleeping rhythm gets better. You've got a week off, and that's what's happening already?
Okay, maybe he had stayed awake a little too long yesterday and had sent Carlos some Formula 1 memes about the last race of the season, but why shouldn't he use the winter break? Still, he surely wouldn't resist Carlos dragging him to bed at midnight - at the latest - in the next few weeks. He loved cuddling him and having the notorious philosophical conversations in the middle of the night when they had actually said "good night" ten minutes ago. One could call him a sap, but every second he didn't spend with Carlos, even though he theoretically could, was a wasted one anyway.
Smiling, he went over the rest of the messages, which had all been sent at a certain distance, and showed him that Carlos was probably packing.
The only things I have left in my closet are either Ferrari clothes or ones I haven't worn in years
And some of your clothes
Are all my good clothes at your place??
Oh, I found my old McLaren sweater. Maybe I'll wear that
Giggling, he just replied a thumbs-up to the last message and then took a selfie, cuddled up in bed in one of Carlos' favorite sweaters, which he also happened to love. And since Carlos loved him more than any of his clothes, it had been in Lando's possession for a few weeks now. With the caption "I don't know where all your clothes are either", he sent it to him, and only received annoyed emojis. They exchanged a few messages before he finally got up to properly start his day. Even if Carlos landed in London quite late today, he still had a lot to do. Well, actually he just had to go grocery shopping and tidy up his house, but since he had already wasted half the day, there was not much time left for it.
In fact, it took him the whole day to do these two things, which may well be because he just got distracted way too quickly. If he just grabbed his phone for a short time, he would often get stuck on it for 30 minutes. A feature he'd like to get rid of, but he guessed he'd have to dispose of his phone. Or have Carlos by his side. The second was probably the better variant.
Meanwhile, it was past 9pm, and Carlos had just texted him before the boarding had begun, while he would now warm up some leftovers for dinner. The one and a half-hour left, until he had to pick Carlos up, he would still somehow get around, even though he couldn't sit still because of excitement. A little ironic, after all, they had only been separated for a week, but still, Lando was so excited to finally have him all to himself. He blamed it on the fact that it was his first Formula One season without Carlos as his teammate, and therefore he missed him even more than the years before.
He had just taken his first bite when he received a terrifying message from Carlos.
I think I'm on the wrong plane
Smiling, he reached for his phone while he continued eating peacefully. His boyfriend really couldn't resist trying to tease him, could he? So he typed in "Very funny, Carlos" before locking his phone again and putting it aside. However, more texts followed shortly after.
No, I mean it
I'm on a plane to Norwich
Now he frowned, and a weird feeling spread in his stomach. Still, he made sure Carlos wasn't just messing with him. However, after Carlos had explicitly denied it, a soft "fuck" escaped him. Immediately, he stood up and nervously walked back and forth through the kitchen, his phone firmly in his hand.
How the hell did you do that, Carlos?
I don't know. Maybe the flight assistants recognised me and had a seat left on the plane? I don't know, Lando. I certainly didn't do it on purpose
So when are you landing?
In round about two hours. I'll find a train to Guildford. I have a key, you can go to bed
Huffing, he stopped and shook his head. Even though he was a little mad at Carlos right now, he didn't want him to come by train. Especially since he wouldn't land until after 11, who knew if he found one at all.
Not gonna happen, Carlos. It takes 3 hours by train if you can even find one at this time at all. I'll pick you up
You are no faster than a train, Lando. I'll manage
Sighing, he googled for train connections from Norwich to Guildford and was relieved that Carlos would not get the last train that would start today. One would start at 1am, but then also took a proud 7 hours. Lando made a note in the back of his mind that he should never be in Norwich in the middle of the night without a car when he saw that. He quickly sent a screenshot of it to Carlos, and his protest fell silent.
Less than five minutes later, he was in the car on his way to Norwich. And yes, maybe he was driving too fast so Carlos wouldn't have to wait too long for him. In the end, Carlos only had to wait half an hour before Lando arrived.
He had already parked his car and was on his way to the airport entrance when he saw Carlos on a bench in front of the airport.
He was wrapped in his thickest winter jacket, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes closed, so he couldn't help but snatch a picture of him before he noticed him.
"Hello, handsome. All alone here at this hour?" He smiled, whereupon Carlos immediately opened his eyes. "Aren't you cold?" Admittedly, not his best catchphrase, but it still made Carlos smile.
"A little, but I didn't want to wait inside. I needed some fresh air after the flight," Carlos answered a little sleepy, and he couldn't help but bend over to him and kiss him tenderly. The whole airport was deserted anyway.
"Hmmm," Carlos hummed happily, and shortly afterwards, his cold hands were placed on his cheeks to pull him even closer.
"God, babe," he whispered, shocked, before pulling back, "You're freezing cold. Let's get in the car."
"Good idea," Carlos replied, letting him pull him to his feet. Together they made their way to the car, and, for the first time that night, he had to laugh at the absurdity of this situation, to which Carlos gave him an irritated look.
"I'm never letting you forget that you were on the wrong plane," he giggled, "Seriously, Carlos. If it had happened to me, it wouldn't have been surprising, but you? You're like a father who always checks that you're on time everywhere and how to get there right, and then it's you - of all people - who get on the wrong plane?! How could you do that in the first place? You can see everywhere before the boarding where the plane goes."
"I don't know either, Lando," he rolled his eyes, but had to smile a bit, "I just misunderstood a gate or something and didn't think about where Norwich exactly was geographical until I saw it on the screen on the plane."
"You just got on the wrong plane," he repeated, a little stunned, "At least it was still England and not America or something."
"I would have noticed that, thank you very much." Playing annoyed, he nudged him with his shoulder, which only intensified his laughter.
When he woke up the next morning, a smile was on his lips before he even opened his eyes. When he did, however, Carlos was the first thing he saw. His arm was loosely on his hip, his mouth was slightly open, and a few strands were hanging on his forehead. He gently brushed them away, whereupon Carlos moved slightly.
"Mhhh, Lando?" He muttered half-asleep and tightened his grip, so he slid closer to him. He pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead before cuddling him again and closing his eyes to catch up on some sleep.