Ever since university had started up again, Y/N had saw less and less of Lando. They tried to organise dates every other week and they FaceTimed nearly every night, but Y/N had assignments to complete and Lando had to prepare for the upcoming season. It was hectic and Y/N's university wasn't near to Woking where Lando lived, while her parents lived there, Y/N had chosen to go to University in Bristol. The two had met on the train from Bristol to Woking when they'd been forced to sit beside each other as every other seat was filled. The two hour train during was filled with giggles and chatter, and when they arrived, Lando had mustered up the courage to ask Y/N on a date. The rest was history.
Fast forward a year and Y/N schedule was intense. Her engineering course was full on; in 5 days a week and the professors weren't shy on giving readings and homework. After nearly three weeks of not seeing Lando, Y/N's mood changed. She was sad and missing him, her friends noticed it too. They knew she was in a relationship with Lando but they weren't big motorsport fans and so they didn't see the big deal about it. It was Y/N's final lecture of the day when their lecturer ended his lecture early but asked them to all remain seated.
"I am delighted to tell you that we've managed to organise a field trip for this lecture group. We'll be going next Friday, a nice way to end term – don't you think? It's to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, so quite the journey but this will allow you to see where you may end up working when you graduate." Y/N perked up immensely. She couldn't wait to tell Lando later. Y/N had been to the MTC quite a few times with Lando and so she knew a few people, mainly those on Lando's team as she'd also been to a few races.
"Y/N! We'll finally be able to see why you rave about this place so much." Lily laughed causing the other girls to join in. Y/N's friend group consisted of 3 girls; Lily, Rose and Amy. There use to be another girl, Emily, who Y/N had actually gone to Sixth Form with but she quickly turned out to be someone that none of the girls wanted to associated with, simply due to her attitude and how she treated them.
***
The day of the trip came around fast. Y/N had decided against out right telling Lando that she'd be at the MTC that day and instead asked him about his schedule and when he'd be in, thankfully Lando was due to be in on that Friday for some simulator work. The university had organised a coach to transport all the students, however the journey seemed to drag on and on until finally they arrived. The cohort walked into the boulevard of the MTC, Y/N could see her classmates gaze in wonder at the cars on display as a lady approached them, "Hi everyone! Welcome to the McLaren Technology Centre. I'm Yvonne and I'll be taking you on a tour of our facility." Y/N didn't recognise Yvonne, there were thousands of employees at the MTC, she didn't know everyone.
Yvonne began by providing everyone with a visitor pass, she informed then that they'd be able to keep them as a small souvenir, though for Y/N, it'd simply join a box along with the countless others she had from visiting with Lando. Most of the building was accessed only by a fingerprint scan and so the badges were simply to let others know that they were visitors.
The tour began with the boulevard, the majority of the people on Y/N's course were fans, or at least aware, of Formula One and so this was the trip of a lifetime. They were given free reign to explore up and down the boulevard, most of her classmates went to Senna's car or the more recent MCL34, however Y/N chose to go to the only Number 4 car and sent a sneaky photo to Lando with the caption: 'Second best number 4 car in this building'. She wasn't sure when she'd get a reply as he was most likely in the simulator and wouldn't be able to use his phone. "Right guys gather round. We're going to go down to engineering" Excited mutters broke out through the crowd, but Yvonne ignore them and continued, "This is probably what you're all most excited for so let's go." The class followed Yvonne down the steps and allow and endless white hall until they reached a set of doors which she swung open to reveal the factory floor which was occupied with employees who were either testing the gearbox or monitoring the data from the tests. Yvonne gave a short talk about the tests before they continued onwards, "Today, as a special surprise, you all will be the first people to see the MCL35, our car for this season." Excited murmurs broke out across the group as people began to shuffle forwards in a hope to get closer to the front. Yvonne led them through and came to a halt as the papaya car came into view.
"It's gorgeous."
"Can't wait to see this on the tracks."
"That looks like a point scoring car."
As everyone gathered around the car, Y/N found a group of men in the corner catching her eye. She would recognise them anywhere; they were Lando's mechanics. Y/N had been at enough race weekends to become familiar with his team and even followed a few of them on Twitter. Catching her eye, the boys waved her over and she happily joined them at the side of the room where they were supervising the students and making sure they didn't touch the car.
"Marc, Kyle, Mike, Frazer, hi!" Y/N greeted them all and slotted in beside them to lean against the bench. They continued to talk about the car launch (which Lando had told her to be in a few weeks), until they were interrupted by a someone clearing their throat, Y/N spun on her heel to see Yvonne and her entire class staring at her. A red blush appeared on her cheeks and she ducked her head down, joining her class again after mumbling a quick 'see you later' to the boys. Y/N could feel the eyes of her classmates on her even as the tour continued.
All too soon the tour came to end and they were herded back down to the boulevard, and despite knowing that Lando was here working, Y/N was a bit upset that she hadn't seen him or heard back from him after she sent him the picture. It was the last day of term and even though she'd be driving from Bristol to Woking tomorrow for the break, she would have liked to see Lando while she was here. Just as they were waiting at the entrance for the coach to arrive, Y/N noticed from the corner of her eye Lando appear from the lift at the other end of the boulevard. Her eyes widened happily but she refrained from running up to him as he was talking with Will and Jose, his race engineers, and it seemed to be quite serious. It was only when he looked up and made eye contact with Y/N that his eyes widened, and a large smile appeared on his face.
"Y/N!" Lando shouted and jogged down the hall and barrelled into her, hugging her tightly as Y/N returned the gesture, burying her face into his chest as Lando pressed kisses into her hair before pulling away to give her a peck on the lips.
After a few moments of basking in Lando's warmth Y/N remembered who she was here with. She quickly straightened up, turning in Lando's arms as he wouldn't let go. Y/N just stared at her classmates helplessly as they stared back with wide eyes, some starstruck at being in the same room as an F1 driver, however Lando stepped in and greeted her lecturer with a handshake while keeping his other arm around Y/N's waist. "Afternoon, hi everyone. Enjoy the tour?" There were mumbled replies, everyone suddenly too shy to talk, "Anyway, is it alright if Y/N stays here? She was going to drive up tomorrow anyway so..." Lando trailed off, but Y/N's lecturer agreed regardless. Lando nodded in thanks and grabbed Y/N's hand, intertwining their fingers as they walked through the group and out of Lando's car.
"Tough crowd you got there."
"I think they were a bit starstruck." She laughed and Lando gave her a mystified look, he found it hard to believe that people got shy around him simply because of his job, but he shrugged nonetheless before leaning across the car to kiss Y/N once more now that they had more privacy. He reached up with his hand to hold her head while her hands drifted up to his hair and ruffled her fingers through it. Pulling away, Lando leaned his forehead against hers, "Let's go home."
"Let's go home." She agreed and lay her hand on his thigh as they drove home together.
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