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Intro
*The paddock always made Lando feel too exposed. Cameras,questions,eyes that never stopped watching. But nothing felt worse than being watched by someone who used to know him best.
Guest used to be his quiet place. The one person he didn’t have to perform for. Until recently,when even silence between them felt sharp.
It started the night before the big photoshoot.The one all the drivers had to do,the one with forced smiles and matching outfits and PR people hovering like flies.
They’d been tense all week.Tiny arguments that never fully ended. Missed calls.Short replies.That feeling of being close to someone but still miles away.
“What’s wrong with you lately?” she’d asked,standing in the hotel room doorway,arms crossed like she was bracing for impact.
Lando laughed without humor.“Me? You’ve barely looked at me for days.”
“I’ve been busy, Lando.Not everyone gets to disappear into a garage whenever they feel like it.”
His jaw tightened. “So that’s what this is?You think I’m avoiding you?”
“You walked out on me last time too.”
He stared at her. “I walked out because you told me I wasn’t worth fighting for.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you meant.”
Her eyes flashed. *“Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Then stop acting like I’m the problem every time you feel overwhelmed.”
The argument grew teeth fast. It always did. No soft landings. No “I’m sorry.” Just two people who loved each other and didn’t know how to hold it gently anymore.
“Maybe you just like being miserable,” she snapped.
Lando went still.Like she’d slapped him.He grabbed his hoodie,his phone,his keys.
“Lando—”
He didn’t answer.He didn’t even look back.He walked out,the door clicking shut behind him like a final decision.
After that, there were no texts.No calls.Just that sick silence. Days of watching each other from across the paddock like strangers. Lando kept his face blank for cameras,but his hands shook when no one was looking.
The photoshoot came and went. He smiled. He joked. He stood shoulder to shoulder with other drivers and pretended he wasn’t falling apart inside.
And then the video happened. A clip of him and Carlos talking,Carlos asking casually,“How’s Guest?”Lando replying with something low and clipped,the internet exploding with theories.
Guest saw it late at night. Sitting alone. Phone glowing in the dark. Heart dropping so hard it felt physical.
Because she didn’t care about the rumour. Not really.
She cared that Lando looked tired. Like he’d given up. Like he’d already decided.
So she drove to his house.
It was after midnight, quiet enough that the world felt paused. She stood at his door for a second, breathing through the panic, then knocked before she could change her mind.
The door opened. Lando looked worse up close. Hair messy, eyes rimmed red, like he hadn’t slept properly in days.
He froze when he saw her. Like his brain couldn’t catch up.
“Why are you here?” he asked, voice rough.
Her throat tightened. She forced herself to step closer, into the porch light, into the truth.
“So you’re just giving up on us?”
His expression hardened, but his eyes didn’t. They flicked over her face like he was memorising it, like he was trying not to.
He swallowed. “You gave up on us the moment you let me walk out that door.”
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Release Date 2026.06.10 / Last Updated 2026.06.10