BEEP
First night in a shared apartment with Lando. All is idyllic - until there is an unidentifiable alarm sound, which brings out insecurities buried safely inside under normal circumstances.
fluff, anxiety vibes, one shot
Y/N was a baths type of person. In fact, Lando suspected her being a part-time mermaid. Always in a body of water, if possible. For hours and hours.
Many times he had come to her home only to find her sitting in a bathtub of then already cold water on her "home office" hours, with a laptop on her precisely curated set up.
He would come to her, chat a little and playfully splash some water into her face, before having her drain the tub and joining her after another set of hot water was in it. Even after that, he could only last about 20 minutes before getting uncomfortable.
He was glad water bills were not life or death for him when they moved together to their first official shared apartment in Monaco. Making it their own was her priority, so a bathtub was an absolute must. Pool nearby as well.
As far as moving houses goes, this was a hectic one. Lando's schedule making it hard for him to participate, so she had to organize it all with the help of movers. Cleaning out two apartments into one. She was few years younger than him and this was the first time she had actually moved on her own, making it a classic test of adulthood. There were few pseudo panic attacks involved during the process. However, the feeling of accomplishment? Being able to prove to herself that she can do it alone was something nobody could ever take from her. Another level of adulthood conquered.
But she didn't want Lando to know about this little insecurity of hers - with him having to grow up faster than most of his peers, she sometimes felt like she was lacking behind. Though Lando never made any comment about that, in fact this did not cross his mind at all, until their first proper evening together in their new apartment.
Lando was excited for that evening, but he was proper tired. Physically and mentally drained. Few weeks of constant travel and racing drama had him totally off.
She managed to get most of things ready for his arrival. They hit the bubbly bathtub immediately upon him coming home. Lando was smitten. Coming home, it felt really refreshing after months of "your place or mine?".
It was raw, both of them naked facing each other in the tub, legs entangled, their bodies touching at multiple places. Hot steam coming out of the water filled the room, curling Lando's hair more that usually and the scent of her latest favorite vanilla bath salt gave into the relaxing atmosphere. They casually caressed each other, engaging in a light simple conversation, carefree and intimate.
All of that went out of the window when there was an excruciatingly loud and sharp beep alarm noise suddenly out nowhere.
BEEP
Y/N eyes went wide. Lando knew that look all too well by then. Pure panic. He knew there were few moments he had to stop her spiraling.
"What was that? Did you hear it?" she asked, boring her eyes in his for answers he did not have.
He smiled and tried to pass on some relaxing energy onto her. "Yes, I did...Calm down, it's probably nothing."
"Probably?! How can you be sure?"
Lando reached for her hand. "I'm sure. All is good and fine, let's not get bothered by anything. I missed you so much," he said truthfully. She was what he wanted to focus on. Not some nonsense sounds.
She eased a bit, her fingers still feeling tense in his hands. "I miss you everytime."
"Oh, so it's a competition now?" he smirked, happy he got her distracted.
BEEP
The two stared at each other in silence for few moments.
"Honey, ignore it," he said trying to sound more demanding than a plea.
Y/N took a deep breath in. "I am ignoring it."
"I can see that, clearly," he said sarcastically. "Tell me about your week instead. Were the movers ok? Did they do a good job?"
"Well, we're sitting here and we have a bed to sleep in, so I'd say it was a success," he replied dryly.
"You're my little nervous peach, aren't you?" he said, leaning closer to her so that he could caress her face. Oh boy, was he drowning in love with this strange human sitting across him.
She let go of her pout. "Yes...But, you're the one to talk! You always get nervous before a car upgrade."
He was truly fascinated how she was unapologetically able to compare new McLaren upgrades with a random beep sound. He'd already made a mental check of the things that could have been making that sound and figured all the important alarms made a completely different sound.
For a moment, he imagined his girlfriend sitting in a formula 1 car going over 200 km/h, freaking out in the style only she knew how. He'd never admit this to her, but he found her "freaking out" face irresistible.
He calculated his response. "It's perfectly fine to get nervous. But trust me, this in nothing."
BEEP
Her question was almost immediate. "What if it's the gas. What if we have a gas leak. A guy came here to do an inspection yesterday, what if he didn't close the vent or whatever?"
"Honey, the gas is not even on now..." he looked at her perplexed.
She was unstoppable at this point. "I don't know that! I don't understand these things! It's all gas heater there, air conditioning here, water boiler this and insurance that. Did you know we need to have a property insurance for the lease?"
"Yes, I knew that." He was not sure how to keep responding at that point. The last thing he wanted was to make her spiral more.
"Well, I didn't! Felt like an absolute idiot talking to the guy, I thought these things were part of leases."
Lando squeezed her hand. "It's fine. Once we get out of the tub, we'll go and search for the sound. Hey, maybe it has already stopped."
She was staring at him, waiting for her cue, expecting a beep sound any moment now. He returned her look, challenging her, making a battle of who was right. And the sound? Suddenly, not even a little ding.
"See?" he said, really hoping it was not going to come as he finished.
Tension was high in the bathroom, making it the opposite of relaxing. Yet still, there was no place other than these two would rather be. Well, Y/N would rather be at the source of the forsaken beeping, but, that was not happening now.
"Ok. Maybe you're right," she said, visibly tired as well.
"We'll get out of this bath in few mins, have dinner in the bed, watch some nonsense and go to sleep, ok? I need your cuddles, desperately," he said softly and leaned to kiss her.
BEEP
"Oh my god, what is that???" she screamed in utmost annoyance.
"Honestly, it sounds like it's coming from outside the house," he observed - and she was not having it anymore.
She gave him a sassy smile. "So, what. Is it the apocalypse now?"
"It's not the apocalypse."
Flustered wave hit her face, having her melt down completely. "Why would someone install an alarm somewhere and have it beeping for no apparent reason? People don't do that."
"I don't know, my love..."
"That's ok, but I should know! I took over the apartment from the realtor - I should have asked!"
"And what would the question be? What are the things that could beep?"
She threw her arms out, splashing water everywhere and not even noticing it. "I don't know! That's the thing! I just don't know. And I don't have a single idea where people find these out. How come everyone around always seems to know and I'm here just sitting, vibing and hoping we're not going to burn the house down."
"Y/N? What's this about?" he asked, concerned. Was she ok? Was there something he'd missed?
She was on a roll, words just flowing out of her mouth, the way only speaking to Lando made her do. "I just feel so out of place some times. I'm doing all these adult things, far away from family and from you as well. And I want to be able to do it, I want to be a good adult. But I just don't know."
He tried to hold her hand once again, but she was busy having her arms crossed around her chest.
"You're still young, this is growing up. I also don't know yet, many times..."
"I don't want to be your burden, I want to be your support."
"You are my support, what are you on about?"
"I was suppose to be in charge of the whole moving thing. And here we are and I can't even tell you what's beeping."
BEEP
"My god! Can it just stop! Please!"
Lando was still thinking about what she said previously. The familiar feeling she described.
"You did a great job with the move, by the way. Honestly. It would not happen without you. I wish I could be here more," he spoke slowly, hoping she would subconsciously join in his tune.
She sighed. Might as well get everything out now.
"I love you, you know that. But it gets lonely sometimes. And there is no end of your nomadic lifestyle in sight. And what if you get bored of me once you stop traveling? We've never spent a month without a break together. What if when you're older, you decide I'm actually pretty boring and you leave me for someone younger. And I'll be old, pass my best years and alone once again."
She stopped, surprised a little bit by the words that came out of her. Now that it was out, it was impossible to ignore.
Lando was hyper focused now. Every word a calculated decision. This was no longer a chill chat.
BEEP
"Y/N. I love you too. And I love you the way you are and I can't imagine loving anyone else. I'm also excited for the older version of you to come one day, to accompany my older self that I have yet to meet. I want to be with you. My job is making this harder, but I hope this will not be an obstacle for you."
The last thing she wanted was to make him feel guilty. She got mad at herself for tangling things up together so much that it stopped making sense to her.
"Of course not. I love your passion and the fact you dream big. Sorry, this got a little out of hand."
"No, I'm glad you're finally phrasing your worries. Is there anything more?" Lando was keen on continuing this impromptu chat.
"What if we grow apart? People change all the time. What if we stop wanting each other? How long can love last?"
He smiled. "For me it's impossible to imagine it now. I can only speak for my present self. But what you described it the last thing I'd ever want to happen."
Y/N took a deep breath once again. "Do you want children? Because I don't know yet. Yet, unlike you, I don't have the luxury of decades to decide. My time is slowly running up. And here I am, not even sure if want them?"
"Honey, plenty if time for that. I'm sure I do not want children in the next two years anyway. It must be real fun in your head sometimes - in one sentence you're too young to know adult stuff and in other you're too old for having children?"
She finally laughed. "Yeah. It is confusing sometimes."
"I hope you don't get offended, but you look absolutely gorgeous when you're flustered. Don't be too hard on yourself, please."
"I'll remind you of that when you're on your typical self-hate trip after a bad race."
"Touché." Got him there.
"Shall we get out of the bath? Would you mind searching with me for the alarm?"
"With you I'll be happy to do absolutely anything."
He got out and reached a hand for her when she was getting up, almost as a metaphor for her current state. They helped each other dry out, put on new matching bathrobes that Lando brought as a gift and searched the whole apartment for anything that could or would beep. There were few more beeps coming their way before they suddenly stopped. The two figured it really was coming somewhere from outside. Once Y/N was finally convinced they checked everything, she agreed on getting to bed and cuddle. Lando offered going out to get her ear buds for sleeping, but by that time it had already stopped.
They never found the source of the beeping. But, that's ok. Sometimes things just make unexpected noise and it's fine.
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