the-msb-library

[the-msb-library]

am i okay? chapter two

pairing: lando norris x molly chapman (original character)

summary: who would have thought one innocent interview question and a couple of friendship bracelets would have led to the love of a lifetime? this is what happens when a boy who likes to drive fast cars falls for a girl who likes to write love songs.

authors note: i'm going to try my best to stick to a monday/thursday posting schedule for this series going forward. probable sometime in the evening (east coast US). as always, thank you to the best beta reader/writing therapist @lestapiastrisgirl <3

“I cannot believe you got us to go along with this.” Max Fewtrell groans as he glares at his best friend who is navigating the London streets in his Urus. 

Lando was on a two week break after a hectic start to the season, so he’d gone home to London to visit his parents and friends that were still in the city. What he hadn’t planned on was seeing that Molly Chapman was doing a 3 concert stint series at Wembley Stadium. 

“I think it’s romantic.” Pietra offers from the back seat. She lounges deeper into the plush leather seat, giggling to herself. 

Max’s gaze slices from his friend back to his girlfriend, giving her the same ‘are you insane?’ glare that he’d just been giving Lando. “Oi! You’re just as bad as he is!” 

Lando grips the steering wheel a little harder as traffic got thicker, wondering if he really is insane to try to pull this off. When he’d overheard Pietra talking about how she wanted to go to Molly’s concert tonight, Lando was surprised at how quickly three VIP tickets had been charged to his Black AMEX. 

And then he’d had to explain to Pietra and Max why he’d already bought tickets and that they were all going to the concert. 

“Yeah, well. I didn’t make that great of an impression on her.” He’d griped, flopping down onto Max and P’s living room couch. “I’ve been nonstop traveling for the last how many weeks? And the first time I’m in town, she’s here too. Tell me that isn’t serendipity?” 

“Do you even know what the word ‘serendipity’ means?” Max had deadpanned. 

Lando had thrown a pillow at his head. 

Three hours later, Lando was inching closer to Wembley Stadium with Max and P convinced he had a plan beyond ‘shamelessly name drop himself to get backstage’. 

He didn’t. 

But, what Lando did have was experience. He knew the back halls of the stadium better than most. He frequented football matches with his brothers for enough years now, attending as a VIP, that he had an idea of where things were laid out during concerts too. 

They found the right door first. A little old man was guarding what Lando knew to be the entrance players frequented. The man seemed to recognize Lando and only glanced at the tickets he flashed on his phone before waving them through. 

Lando walked as confidently as he could towards where he thought the locker rooms to be, knowing from past concerts he’d attended that those were the most likely location of her dressing rooms. No one really paid the three friends any mind as they wandered down the busy halls. Everyone seemed to have a destination in mind and Lando had long ago mastered the art of ‘looking like he belonged’. 

“I still can’t believe you managed to get her to agree to see you again.” Max says as they turn down another hallway. 

“Yeah, Molly is notoriously private during her shows. I’ve heard rumors that she doesn’t actually speak the day of her concerts.” Pietra says, her hand sliding into Max’s as they start towards a set of doors with am intimidating looking security guard standing in front of it. 

Lando’s heart quickened at that bit of gossip. 

“Well, she doesn’t exactly know we’re here.” Lando mumbles as he gets closer to the tall security guard. 

The man standing in front of the closed double doors is a good head and a half taller than Lando and Max, his biceps the size of small watermelons. His black t-shirt shows off the complete sleeve of tattoos on both of his arms. One brow is arched as Max sputters in disbelief at the revelation Lando just shared. 

“She what, mate? Are you mad?” He groans. 

Pietra stops, glancing behind her as if she’s trying to decide if she should just run for it now or wait to be escorted out.  

“Can I help you?” The guard grunts out, widening his stance so he can look further down his nose at Lando. 

Lando grips at the back of his neck. “Uhh, well. My name is Lando Norris and…” He winces, realizing just how daft he sounds.

 Behind him, Max hisses something that sounds like ‘fucks sakes’ under his breath. 

Pietra stifles a giggle. 

Lando glares at his friends before turning back to Scary Security Guy as he’s named him in his head. “I’m Lando and I wanted to give Molly something before the show tonight.” 

Lando fishes around in his pocket for a moment before his fingers close around a stretchy loop of fabric and plastic beads. He takes the bracelet out of his pocket, the orange and black beads gleaming in the harsh fluorescent lights of the hallway. 

On the bracelet are the words LN4 and his phone number. 

“I cannot believe what I’m witnessing right now.” Max chokes, bracing a hand on the cement wall for support as he doubles over. 

“Is that a friendship bracelet?” Peitra swoons. “You made her a friendship bracelet? Lando Norris!” 

But Lando’s not paying attention to his idiot friends. His eyes are fixed on Scary Security Guy who is still glaring down, not even a ghost of a smile anywhere on his face. 

“Is Miss Chapman expecting you?” He asks, unimpressed. 

Lando palms at the back of his neck, the plastic beads digging into his skin. “Well. Not exactly.” He draws in a breath as Scary Security Guy’s fingers twitch toward the radio at his hip. “I mean, I didn’t really ask ahead of time but we met once, a few weeks ago.” 

Max coughs. 

“So she like, knows who I am.” 

Scary Security Guy doesn’t even flinch. “Miss Chapman does not meet with fans before her concert unless it’s been cleared by her management.” 

“Fans!” Max crows behind him and Lando has to quell the urge to deck his best friend. 

“I think you should go back out to the main concourse and locate your seats, young man.” Scary Security Guard says before clearly dismissing them by pulling his phone out of his pocket. 

Lando can’t do anything but listen to the guy’s suggestion and turn back the way he came. Heat pricks at the back of his neck but not because he’s embarrassed. He’s used to making a fool out of himself in front of Max and P by now, that doesn’t bother him.

He’s heated because it’s bothering him how disappointed he’s feeling that his harebrained scheme hadn’t worked. Up until the moment that Scary Security Guy had flatly refused to even entertain Lando’s plan, he hadn’t realized how much he’d been wanting to actually see Molly tonight. He hated how his stomach had dropped when he’d been told no because then he’d had to admit to himself that the past handful of weeks he’d been unable to think of anything other than Molly Chapman and how he could see her again. 

He felt like a stalker. 

And after tonight, he probably was. 

That didn’t mean he was going to give up though. 

Lando clicked on the ring light above his laptop set up just as Max was hitting the button on his Twitch to go live across town. The flat that he stayed in while he was in Londo was tidy, mostly because of the cleaning service that came once a week, even when he didn’t pop in for months. He settled down in the gaming chair that he’d bought a few months ago, wanting to have something in the spare room that was comfortable enough to spend hours on stream with Max while they gamed. 

“Alright, chat let’s get this session of Tarkov started, shall we?” Max started as Lando leaned forward, fiddling with his camera. “Going to be bold and turn on the camera tonight, huh mate?”

Lando rolled his eyes before settling back into his chair. “So you can see my face when I beat you.” He quips. 

Max just rolled his eyes at the camera before starting to set the game up. On his end, Lando cracks open a Monster before opening up the game himself. It was pretty late the night after the concert debacle, but if tonight was going to be like their usual streams, the pair would be on gaming for several hours to come. 

“A Monster this late?” Max calls him out on the caffeine consumption as the game loads. “Still tired from the concert last night, huh?”  

The chat buzzes with several people asking what concert they went to.

 Lando freezes, his eyes cutting from his laptop screen to where he can see the taunting grin Max is shooting at him. He tries to give him a ‘don’t you fucking dare’ look but whether Max understands the warning, he doesn’t show it because the next thing out of his mouth is: “Oh we went to the Molly Chapman concert last night!” 

Lando was going to murder him. 

The chat sped up, several people asking if he’d been personally invited by Molly. The paparazzi pictures of them meeting in McLaren’s hospitality suite in Bahrain had gone somewhat viral a few weeks ago and people had been sniffing around ever since, trying to make a story out of nothing. 

This was not going to help. 

“Yeah, it was a good concert!” Max answers one of the viewers before he looks back at Lando, “Chat’s asking about what you thought about it.”  

Lando clears his throat, silently cursing the slow loading video game in front of him. “Yeah, it was a good show!” 

Good show was an understatement. The moment Molly had stepped out onto the stage, she’d commanded every single eye in the stadium. That first dress had been covered in gold sequins that glittered underneath the stadium lights. Lando hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her. Molly had done some of her older songs first, the ones with more of a country flair and her on the guitar. 

It was uniquely vulnerable, the way Molly performed her earlier material. She told the crowed how she used to sit in her bedroom way past her bedtime when she was in middle school, writing songs about the boy next door who never looked at her sideways. 

There was a weirdly possessive clench to Lando’s chest when he heard about Molly talking about other guys, even if they were from decades ago. He didn’t quite understand it but hadn’t spent enough time dissecting it either. Probably because it was fruitless to actually put any thought into what that feeling meant. Because honestly, on what planet would Lando ever have a second chance to see her after he blew it back in Bahrain? 

None. 

“Yeah, the seats were good. Lando treated P and I to tickets, didn’t you bro?” Max’s voice pulls Lando out of his distracted thoughts. 

“Uh, yeah. What are friends for?” He says weakly, praying that Max drops the subject now that the game has loaded and they were skulking around an abandoned Soviet city virtually. 

“We thought we were going to get backstage but…” Max starts, his voice full of teasing mischief. 

Lando shoots Max’s character in the head.

“The fuck?” Max shouts, glaring at him though the camera. 

Lando just gives him a smug grin. 

“Listen, just because you’re mad that Molly Chapman didn’t know who you were and didn’t let you go backstage to give her that friendship bracelet doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me!” Max cries, eyes going molten. 

Chat comes unglued.  

He did WHAT?????

Tell me this isn’t a lie. Tell me Max is telling the truth. I need this to be real.

He made her a friendship bracelet? 

HE GOT ICED OUT BY MOLLY CHAPMAN???

Someone clip the video of Lando’s face. 

If I were Max, I’d be fearing for my life right now. 

Max really said ‘you ruin my game, I ruin your LIFE’ 

Let’s go over the timeline, shall we? Lando Norris calls Molly Chapman his celebrity crush. 7 days later he meets said crush. A few weeks after that HE MAKES HIS CRUSH A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET AND ISN’T ALLOWED TO GIVE IT TO HER? 

The lore that gets dropped on these streams. 

Lando was going to murder Max. 

The handful of hours that exist between soundcheck and the actual show are some of Molly’s favorite. Everything is ready on stage: sound is good, the band is in tune with how she’s feeling that night, her dancers are prepped and warm. It allows her to sit back for a few hours and get into a space mentally that will allow her to put on a show for the tens of thousands of fans that spend their hard earned money to come see her every night. 

More often than not, Molly could be found sitting in her dressing room after soundcheck, hanging out with whatever tour staff was around. A few of the people in her band had been with her since day one and that loyalty meant the world to her. It also meant that Molly rarely went without a friend on tour. 

Tonight was her last show in London before having a a 2 week stretch of time off to prep for the Australian leg of her tour and to say Molly was tired would be an understatement. There would be no Mario Kart tournaments or jam sessions before the concert tonight, just a date with the plush fabric couch that had become Molly’s second bed during this stretch of concerts at Wembley Stadium. 

Across the room, Harper Douglas, Molly’s best friend from when they were six years old, sits scrolling on TikTok. She didn’t often travel to Molly’s international shows now that she was graduated from college and working a regular 9-5 corporate job but London was different. This would be the last stretch of time the girls would have together before Molly left for Australia for she didn’t know how long so she’d convinced Harper to take some PTO to be with her this week. 

“I don’t think I can move.” Molly groans from her spot on the couch as she glanced at her watch. She had a massage scheduled for an hour from now. Maybe if she started shuffling her way towards the PT room now, she’d only be marginally late. 

“Just watching you do that entire show night after night is enough to make me exhausted.” Harper comments, eyes not leaving her phone screen.

Molly opens her mouth to answer but is interrupted by the dressing room door flinging open. She flinches as it clatters against the cement wall while she watches two of her dancers tumble in over like a pair of wrestling littermates. 

“Molly!” Gideon screeches as he tries to untangle his gangly limbs from Matt, the dancer that was brandishing his phone at Molly like it’s a prize winning piglet. 

Molly sits up, startled by the sudden chaos that the two men have brought. The commotion is enough for Harper to set her phone on the table next to her, eyebrow hitching in question as she watches from her spot across the room. 

“What in the world?” Molly asks, mystified. “Are you guys okay?” 

“Do you know Lando Norris?” Matt shoves at Gideon’s shoulder so the taller man is standing without his assistance. 

Molly blinks, completely caught off guard by the question. “I don’t know if ‘know’ would be the right word. We met briefly when I was in Bahrain a few weeks ago.” Brows knitting together, she sees Lando’s face lit up on Matt’s phone screen. “Why?” 

Matt and Gideon share a look that has the heat rising in Molly’s neck. Her stomach tugged as she remembered those ‘what if’ questions she’d only entertained until the checkered flag dropped that night in Bahrain. 

Why did Lando Norris keep popping up in her orbit? 

“I was just scrolling through TikTok and someone posted a clip of one of his friends streams last night.” Matt explained. “Apparently, Lando was at the show the other night and tried to get backstage to see you but security turned him away.” 

Molly had no words. No thoughts other than ‘why was Lando Norris trying to get backstage to see me?’ The same feeling that had started those ‘what if’ questions as Lando had glanced at her one last time that first night digs in. 

“What?” Molly whispers, fully sitting up now trying to figure out what was going on. 

“That’s not even the best part!” Gideon laughs, “He made you a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it and tried get backstage to give it to you.” 

Molly blinks over at Harper, who is sitting ramrod straight, delighted smile on her face. Harper was one of Tommy’s biggest haters and to hear someone like Lando Norris was crushing on her best friend was the best news she’d had in a very long time. 

“He said something about not making a great first impression and just wanting a do over.” Matt croons as if it’s the most romantic thing he’s ever heard. 

“Wait! Wait! Wait, Matt, tell her about the other video! The interview!” Gideon smacks the other man’s shoulder, encouraging him to change subjects. 

Matt rolls his eyes, but obeys. “So they referenced this interview Lando did before the start of the season. Apparently, he named you as his biggest celebrity crush. I looked it up, it’s actually the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” 

Matt taps at the screen of his phone for a moment before holding it out to Molly, who takes if from her dancer. Harper gallops across the room, dropping down beside her friend on the couch. Once everyone is quiet, she hits play. 

It’s a clip from a podcast that shows Lando sitting on a creamy white couch between a man and a woman. All of them were wearing headphones and had mics placed on the floor in front of them. Lando had on a pair of wide legged jeans and a black McLaren branded hoodie. 

“Okay, so we have this little segment that we do with all of our guests called ‘the gauntlet’.” The woman tells Lando, who smiles. 

Molly notices the way it wobbles just the slightest at the edges, like it’s more for show than anything else. Like he’s uncomfortable and controlling nearly all of it. 

“We have five quick fire questions that you have to answer in under one minute. Think you can handle it?” 

Lando nods, a little more confident now that he knows what he’s facing. “I think so.” 

“Okay, let’s start the clock…” The woman takes a breath and grins, “Now!” 

“First question is: one thing you can’t live without while on the road.” The man asks. 

Lando nods, enjoying the softball question. “My headphones, I need my music and my quiet.” 

“Second question: full-time F1 driver, part-time streamer or full-time streamer, part-time F1 driver?” 

Molly doesn’t really get the question but the way Lando tosses his head back and laughs so genuinely, has her heart stuttering in her chest. This mans jawline was lethal. 

“Full-time racer, obviously.” 

“Obviously.” The woman laughs. 

“Third question,” The man says, his face taking on a mischievous look to it. “Who is your biggest celebrity crush?” 

Lando had just smirked confidently. “I think I’d have to go with Molly Chapman.” Molly’s stomach lurches when he says her name. The way his voice scrapes a delightful shiver down her spine has Molly shifting in her seat. 

The woman host seems a bit surprised he answered so easily but recovers quickly. “Oh my gosh, I love her so much!” She gushes. 

“I love her music.” Lando says, voice low like he’s confessing something sacred. 

“What’s your favorite song?” 

Lando thinks for just a moment before he’s grinning again, “‘Dress’ off of her last album.” 

Beside her, Harper snorts a laugh. Dress was one of Molly’s more sensual songs that seemed to catch a lot of people off guard when it had been released.

It was also one of Molly’s favorite songs off that album. 

The clip cuts off after that but Matt takes a minute to scroll through the comments: 

That man knew what he was doing when he said Dress 

Did you SEEEEEE his smirk when he said his favorite song was Dress? My man is a PR problem and he KNOWS IT. 

I still cannot believe we live in a world where this interview exists along with the fact that he tried to give her a FRIENDSHIP BRACELET six weeks later 

This video aged well 

We need confirmation that Molly knows this is happening. Someone send a bat signal at Melbourne night one. 

He made her a friendship bracelet with his number on it. I am SICK. 

Molly just grins at the screen as Matt scrolls through comment after comment all saying similar things. Her chest squeezes with something that feels impossible. It’s a feeling she’s been chasing, been writing about since she was a little girl. She’d made millions from putting these kinds of feelings into words: the ‘what if’s’, the quiet daydream of something that is so improbable and unlikely, but still fun to indulge in, the possibility of finally finding something that means more than anything has before. 

It was the fist time, though, that Molly actually believed in the possibility of something other than heartache.  

“Oh my God.” Gideon cries. 

Molly startles and turns towards him, brow quirked. “What?” 

Gideon looks up, his eyes flaring with the kind of pleasure you get from watching one of your friends get flirted with. His grin is sly and cheeky as he tells her what’s got him so riled up. “The F1 race is in Melbourne the weekend before your shows start there...” 

Molly’s heart thuds, “No…” 

Harper glances down at Gideon’s phone and lets out a satisfied chuckle. “Looks like you and Lando Norris are going to once again find each other in the same place at the same time.” 

Without pausing to think - because if she does that, Molly knows she’s going to chicken out - she pulls out her phone and taps Goldie’s phone number. The phone only rings once before it connects. 

“What’s up, my love?” 

“Exactly how long is the drive from the hotel in Melbourne to Albert Park?” 

[the-msb-library]

am i okay? chapter one

pairing: lando norris x molly chapman (original character)

summary: who would have thought one innocent interview question and a couple of friendship bracelets would have led to the love of a lifetime? this is what happens when a boy who likes to drive fast cars falls for a girl who likes to write love songs.

authors note: i am so excited for this series, you guys. it is very much inspired by taylor and travis but make it f1! i hope you enjoy!! as always thank you to @lestapiastrisgirl for being the best beta reader in the entire world <3

molly.sings posted!

1,302,918 likes liked by cora.jones, papa_chapman, lando and others molly.sings *and breathe* (see you again soon, london!) user918 flamingos!!! user122 that fruit looks amazing! i'm going to your show next week, can't wait to hear you live for the first time! ahhhh! user002 she is so precious user233 i miss her with tommy :( >>>user111 bruh. tommy cheated on her with anything that moved for YEARS.

The steady shuffle of her father’s loafers across the hotel suite’s tiled floors drew Molly’s attention away from her book.  

“I thought I told Goldie to confiscate that room key I knew you took at check-in, old man.” Here in the privacy of her hotel room, Molly’s southern accent becomes a little more prominent as she sasses her father. 

Across from where she sits on the sun lounger on the balcony of her suite, Nathan Chapman freezes as he pulls a face of mock horror while slapping his large hand over his heart. 

“Is that any way to speak to your father, young lady?” He laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners as he looked down at his daughter. 

Molly lifts a perfectly arched brow as she slips the bookmark into the pages of the latest best selling fantasy novel that her PR manager Goldie Miller had shoved into her hands yesterday. 

“It is when he’s being nosy and interrupting my alone time with his insistence in shuffling around my otherwise quiet room like a 85 year old with a bum him.” She crosses her arms over her chest, knowing exactly what her father has come looking for. 

Nathan holds his hands up in mock surrender, “I just thought I’d ask one more time if you wanted to come to the race with me.” 

Molly huffs a sigh, reaching for the crystal glass of ice water on the table beside her lounger. Her fingers slipped over the condensation gathered along the sides as she brought it to her lips. 

She was supposed to be spending the weekend holed up in the Ritz Carleton in Bahrain while her father visited his friend for the first race of the 2024 Formula One season. This was supposed to be a quick breath of air while she was smack in the middle of a handful of shows in London before she moved onto the Australian leg of her world tour. 

As soon as they’d touched down in the Middle Eastern country on Thursday evening though, her dad had begun to bug her to go to more events with him. She knew he meant well, it had been a while since they’d been able to spend a lot of quality time together. 

A tour so busy that she’d barely had time to spend with either of her parents, despite the fact that they were both heavily involved with her business management and legal team. 

“Isn’t that why you had a son?” She snaps, but there’s no real bite to her snark. “To do all of that manly motorsport stuff with?” 

Nathan waves his hand dismissively in the air. “Well, your brother is at home with his wife and twin babies.” 

Molly sets her glass down with a gentle clink before sliding her Chanel sunglasses onto the crown of her head. “So, I’m just a proxy then?” 

 “Exactly.” Nathan gives Molly a crisp nod before crossing his arms across his chest. “So, I leave in an hour. Are you coming or not?” 

It would take years for Molly to be able to describe what she’d felt in that moment, her father standing before her, barely concealed hope written all over his face. It felt like a tug deep in her ribcage, a physical push from the universe telling her something she didn’t understand yet. It was a call from something, or someone else, that made her chest tighten and her breath stutter. 

“Yeah, I guess I’ll go.” Molly hears herself saying, not even fully knowing the words leaving her mouth even as they do. 

Nathan claps loudly and pumps his fist in the air. “You are going to have so much fun, Molly Grace!” 

Molly tosses her book onto the table beside her before folding her legs out from under her. Standing, she stretches up onto her tiptoes, the delicious burn of her bunched muscles biting at her spine. 

“Can you call Goldie and have her pull some outfit options?” If she was going to the Formula One race, she was going to have to make sure she was red carpet ready. There was no slipping in the back way and flying under the radar when you were Molly Chapman, number one selling female artist on both the pop and country charts. 

No, everything Molly did was a production. 

She shuffles into the suite, headed straight for the bathroom to get started on her skincare. An hour to get public appearance ready was calling it close, but she could manage. “And can you see if Shaye is available to do my hair? I can manage my makeup but my hair is a hot mess.” 

Nathan already has his phone to his ear, having dialed Goldie the moment Molly had stood up. “You got it kiddo.” 

An electric tang of anticipation bit at the base of Lando Norris’ neck as he scanned his paddock pass, the green light flaring to life as his credentials are accepted. It feels good to be back in the routine of race day after a winter spent relaxing and preparing for the next season. 

“Lando!” Kym Illman calls from where he stands to the side of the paddock entrance, his camera already lifted, shutter clicking without hesitation. 

Lando slides his sunglasses up into his curls, an easy smile settling on his face. He fixes the careful mask of in-season PR shine in place for yet another year chasing another championship in the pinnacle of motorsport. 

“Hey, Kym. Good holiday this year?” 

Kym smiles, allowing his camera to drop to his chest, dangling from the strap secured around his thick neck. “Of course, lots of time with the missus.”

Lando nods and laughs politely back before turning to Jon, who was following closely behind him. “Do I have time to grab something to eat before my engineering meeting?” 

It was all routine now, as Lando settled into his sixth season of Formula One. He was cautiously hopeful, having two really good testing sessions here at the same track just last week. The weekend had gone well already, he’d be starting near the front tonight and his car was feeling as good as it ever had. He didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself, but there was something good thrumming in his chest when he thought about what might happen this season. 

Beside him, Jon glances at his watch before sliding open his phone. “Oh, um. Yeah probably but…” Joh barely manages to conceal a chuckle as he reads the text from Lando’s press officer, Laura. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” 

Lando pauses, head swiveling to look at what’s got Jon is such a tizzy. “Oy, what is so funny?” 

“Laura says there’s a special guest in hospitality already, she thinks you might want to go say hi before you go into your meetings.” 

Lando’s brow knit as he stared at his trainer. He’d been working with Jon for years now, sometimes it was spooky how well the older man was able to read Lando. He’d be able to talk him out of a mental spiral most of the time, knowing when to push Lando out of his own head and when to back up. 

Giggling Jon, however, was not a Jon Lando was familiar with. 

They’re nearing McLaren hospitality now, a thin film of anxiety clinging to Lando’s ribcage. 

“Zak invited one of his longtime golfing buddies tonight and the guy brought his daughter.” Jon says, laughter still sitting at the edge of his voice. 

“Okay?” Lando hikes his backpack higher on his shoulder, still confused as to how an additional guest is so hilarious. 

“His daughter is Molly Chapman.” 

Lando’s stomach drops. 

“You’re fucking with me.” He chokes. 

Jon shakes his head, a shit eating grin yanking at the corner of his smug face. 

Lando frowns, the memory of the interview he’d given just last week naming Molly as his number one celebrity crush at the moment flashing before his eyes. 

“Fucks sakes.” He breathes, shaking his head. “Does she know about the interview?” 

Jon, ever the most helpful person in Lando’s life, shrugs his shoulders and pops a piece of gum into his mouth. He holds out the pack of cinnamon gum he always keeps in his pocket as a quick distraction should Lando need it. 

“Gum?” 

“Fuck off, mate.” Lando says, huffing out a laugh. 

He comes to a stop in front of the sliding glass doors of the McLaren hospitality suite. Just beyond the glass doors, he spots his boss standing opposite a blonde wearing a lacy papaya colored bodysuit topped by a loose, similarly colored linen shirt. Lando’s mouth runs dry when he sees how short the black denim cutoffs she’s wearing are. 

He runs a hand over his jaw, mind going completely blank. 

“Can I tell her publicist about last weeks interview?” Job whispers as he follows Lando across the front entryway of the suite. 

Lando’s head snaps to his trainer, “I’ll actually murder you.” 

Jon holds his hands up and shakes his head, “Zak is waving at you.” He mutters, tilting his head forward. 

Lando spins, startling when he realizes how close he is to the McLaren CEO and his guests. 

“Lando, do you have a second? I have someone I want to introduce you to.” Zak reaches out, catching his driver by the shoulder before pulling him into the circle. “This is one of my oldest friends, Nathan Chapman.” 

Lando turns to the man on his right, rather distractedly. He’d been blinking over at the woman standing opposite him for an embarrassingly length of time and suddenly seemed to realize Zak was speaking to him. 

“Oh? Oh. Yes, hello! It’s nice to meet you.” He leans into the years of media training to calm his hammering heart, pasting a smile onto his face that he knows comes off as sincere. 

“Nice to meet you too, Lando.” The tall, heavyset man reaches out to clasp Lando’s hand in his. “This is my daughter, Molly.” 

Nathan introduces Molly so simply it catches Lando off guard. Molly Chapman was easily the most successful female artist in the world right now. Everyone knew her, ticket sales for her European tour later in the year had sold out in minutes. And here she was, being introduced to him as ‘his daughter, Molly’ like she wasn’t in the middle of commanding a cultural moment. 

A soft smile pulls at the corner of Molly’s full lips, painted a rich Ferrari red tonight. “It’s nice to meet you.” She says, her voice quieter than Lando would have expected. 

Lando only nods, the words he knows are socially expected not even forming in his brain. He blinks for a moment, before finally finding his manners. “Yes.” He breathes, “It’s…um…nice to meet you too.”

Smooth, Norris. 

Jon thankfully comes to his rescue in the next moment, his hand coming to rest on Lando’s shoulder. “Sorry, but I’ve got to steal him away, strategy meetings and then warmups.” 

“Good luck tonight.” Nathan says before Lando is swept away into pre-race meetings. 

He tosses one more look over his shoulder, gaze tangling with Molly’s for just the briefest of moments before he gets tugged down a hallway. In that moment though, in that quick graze of eye contact that he was able to drink her in, Lando felt something twist in his stomach. He couldn’t quite name the feeling, it was something that was strangely unfamiliar but comforting at the same time. 

It frazzled his nerves a bit more than he’d admit out loud, the way Molly had held his gaze just then. He suspected he was the only one who felt it though, with the kind curiosity that she’d looked at him with meant nothing more than casual interest. 

Lando walks through the door of the conference room, walking blindly towards his station at the front of the room. He switched into race mode then, distraction of the previous moments pushed to the side. He’d have to process what just happened later. 

Or never. 

Never sounded nice. 

But at the very least, it would have to wait until after tonight. 

There was something there though and even as Andrea stepped up to start the meeting, Lando felt unnervingly distracted by the blonde who’d just captured his complete attention. 

*Meanwhile, on Twitter*  user888 did anyone else see the photos of Lando and Molly Chapman meeting at the race today??? >>>user911 what???  >>>user345 he looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die the entire time he was talking to her, her dad and Zak  >>>user029 the pictures SENT ME  >>>user198 things that happen to Lando Norris: names the biggest country pop star in the entire world as his celebrity crush only to come face to face with her less than seven days later. CINEMA  >>>user753 my awkward king  >>>user387 molly's outfit tonight though, oh my GOD. Does she need a dog? I can bark.  >>>user231 BARK BARK  >>>user519 the PAPAYA LACE BODYSUIT? Our girl said ‘I’m sitting with WHO? And showed UP’  >>>user154 the black and silver cowboy boots??? Miss Girl SLAYED 

The garage hummed, the steady beat of race ritual ticked by as Molly stood in the corner, out of the way. It was a well choreographed chaotic scene that had her feeling overwhelmed and slightly over stimulated. 

But at the same time, Molly loved it. 

She understood now, standing with her back against the wall so she was out of the way of the cameraman that was standing at the opposite end of the busy garage. Molly understood why her father loved racing. The rumble of the engines firing up, the comfortable confidence everyone dressed in papaya seemed to exude - it all made for a symphony that Molly craved to put lyrics to. 

“This is…a lot.” She mumbles under her breath to her dad, who is standing beside her, papaya colored ear muffs hanging loosely from his fingertips. 

Nathan nods, but he’s much more at ease in the chaos of the garage than Molly seems to be. It reminds him a lot of the backstage chaos that ensues during a concert. The carefully controlled choreography seemed to be random but right under the surface, there was a strict plan to be followed. 

He turns to his daughter, a sudden clang of guilt rattling his bones. “You can go sit in the hospitality suite, honey.” 

He knew that Molly had agreed to this trip simply because she needed to rest and here he was, dragging her out to places that provided the exact opposite. 

Molly shakes her head, slipping her hand through her dad’s elbow. She was tired, of course but she cherished the time she got to spend with her dad in places other than her concert venues. Seeing him light up talking to Lando and Oscar, watching with wide-eyed wonder as the engines flared to life. 

Yeah, she was tired but her dad was excited. 

And that was more important.

A hush falls over the garage and Molly follows her father’s lead, pulling on the McLaren branded earmuffs just as the 20 race cars come to a brief standstill in their respective starting boxes. The anticipation of the five lights flickering out is electric, inside her headphones the voice of the commentators shout about the beginning of the 2024 Formula One Season. 

And then, the lights are off and Molly’s heart is hammering, adrenaline coursing through her. Her hand flies to her mouth as the cars barrel down to the first corner, mere inches between them as they fly over the concrete track. 

She’s gripping at her dad’s arm, cherry red nails digging little half moons into his tanned skin without her even realizing it. It’s only when she suddenly finds herself staring up at video of herself does she realize how insane she might look. The camera man that Molly had been steadily avoiding the entire lead up to the race had managed to zero in on her anyway. 

For someone who has been around the crush of media for over a decade now, Molly is caught off guard at how surprised she is to be featured on the Formula One broadcast. She quickly recovers, loosening her grip on her dad’s elbow while demurely blinking at the camera, a small smile on her face. 

Molly has come to expect it, the attention that is forced on her even when she’s in places that aren’t centered around music. It was just part of what happened when you were who she was. She smiled patiently, the thrumming of her pulse not even spiking all that much anymore despite knowing she was on live international television. 

Before she knows it, the camera swings away from her face and the attention is back where it belongs: on track. 

Unfortunately, the brief moment of screen time seems to capture social media’s attention and within minutes, her photo is trending on Twitter and Instagram. Molly can practically feel what’s coming next, a nervous pit of anxiety gnawing at her stomach. 

And then she feels it. 

In her back pocket, her phone buzzes. She knows who it is before she even pulls it out of her pocket. 

Lookin good tonight baby. 

Molly blows out a long breath, the tension in her shoulders ratcheting up immediately. 

Nathan clocks the shift in his daughter’s mood without even breaking eye contact with the TV that hangs in the McLaren garage. 

“Is Tommy texting you again?” He asks gruffly, resisting the urge to rip the phone out of Molly’s hand as she stares blankly down at it. 

Molly’s stomach twisted. She hated how easily she was to read sometimes. She’d been media trained within an inch of her life since she was fifteen, but for some reason her parents had always been able to see past that sheen of PR confidence that she was able to fool everyone else with most of the time. 

“I haven’t replied.” She murmurs back before clicking her phone dark and slipping it back into her pocked. 

Tommy Green was the man that 75% of her songs had been about on her last two albums. They’d met at an awards show five years ago when she was freshly 20 (He was 28 at the time, the first bright red flag she’d intentionally ignored) and as doe-eyed naive as they come. He’d swept her off her feet and for the next four years, they’d been music’s ‘It Couple’. 

Until they weren’t. 

Tommy had been caught very publicly cheating on Molly just over a year ago with one of the backup singers on his southern US tour. 

The fans had been vicious and quick with their judgement, even if Molly had waffled over breaking up with him for several weeks, despite everyone in her management team begging her to dump him. 

Every now and again, Tommy pokes his head back into her universe. Usually when she’s on the verge of doing something big and exciting and he suddenly wants to bring her right back down to earth. 

Molly’s heart races as she decidedly ignores the text. She knew the next time she’d open up her phone there would be a few follow up texts. Sometimes they got aggressive, but that was only when Tommy had been drinking. 

Most of the time, she’d reply to him if only to get him to back off and give her a little peace but there must be something in the Bahrain night air that keeps Molly from replying to this particular baiting text. The same kind of tug at the base of her sternum that she’d felt earlier when her dad had asked if she wanted to come tonight one last time pulls at her for the second time that night. 

Eyes flickering up, the papaya colored car of Lando Norris flashes across the screen as he does battle on the track with what looked like a Ferrari. Molly blinks, recalling how the curly haired British driver had seemed star struck just a few hours earlier when they’d been introduced. 

There it was again. 

That strange but familiar feeling of something cracking wide open in her chest, tugging towards something that she couldn’t see yet. 

The cool blue eyes that had held her gaze just a few hours ago flash through her mind. They hadn’t said more than a handful of words to each other but she’d watched the driver go, pulled away by a McLaren employee. When he’d looked over his shoulder though, their gazes had caught again and the breath had been stolen from Molly’s lungs. 

It was the first time since Tommy had broken her heart that Molly found herself thinking ‘what if?’ 

It was a big ‘what if’ though. She was in the middle of a year-long world tour with barely enough time to see her own family. There was no way that she could make it work with a regular person, but a man that traveled like she knew Lando Norris did? Just thinking about it seemed silly because it was so out of the realm of possibility. She knew that, even if they had shared a few moments of shared chemistry, it would never work. 

But something warmed in the pit of her belly at the thought. Molly had been broken when Tommy’s infidelity had been made public. Her music had turned dark, jaded, and something that she didn’t really like but felt the compulsion to write anyway. It had been a year of this, of darkness and concern that her light would never be lit again. 

But with one quick glance at an unattainable British Formula One driver seemed to unlock something in Molly’s chest and she couldn’t help but think…what if this was the healing push I’ve been dreaming of?

molly.sings posted!

945,101 likes liked by papa_chapman, mclaren, cora.jones and others molly.sings glad @/papa_chapman convinced me to come with him. thank you for having us, @/mclaren <3 user991 my two worlds colliding!! user932 you look so good in papaya molly!! user2481 ok but who else saw lando making heart eyes at her from across the garage. >>>user999 OMG i thought i was the only one who caught that. boy couldn't take his eyes off of her!! >>>user342 can you IMAGINE the chaos if those two ended up together??? >>>user322 naaaaah, she belongs with tommy >>>user018 @/user322 LET THAT GO. TOMMY IS TRASH.

[the-msb-library]

**Master List**

*current WIP* - Am I Okay? (ln4 x oc)

*Lando Norris* - One New Voicemail - Post It (All Parts) - A Package Deal (All Parts) - What's A Soulmate Series (All Parts) - Zip Me Up? - Get Unready With Me - Drunk Edition - Christmas Showdown - The Accidental Influencer - Is It A Sin? part 1 - Is It A Sin? part 2 - Relationship Alphabet Soup

*Max Verstappen* - Secret Love Affair (smau) - One New Voicemail (Max's Version) - The Yapping Hour is Upon Us (All Parts) - Forbidden Series (All Parts) - Aftermath (All Parts) - Heatstroke - Whispers & Guesses - Hurricane (a max verstappen x oc fic)

*Charles LeClerc* - Me? A Princess? Shut. Up. -One New Voicemail (Charles' Version)

*Oscar Piastri* - Mary's Song - One New Voicemail (Oscar's Version)

*Esteban Ocon* - One New Voicemail (Estie Bestie's Version)

*Pato O'Ward* - One New Voicemail (Pato's Version)

*Jenson Button* - One New Voicemail (Jenson's Version)

[the-msb-library]

Oops made another ‘Am I Okay?’ Mood board for ya

(Chapter one dropping on Friday!!! Make sure you have post notifs turned on for @the-msb-library!!!)

[the-msb-library]

Am I Okay? (coming soon)

what happens when a boy who likes driving fast cars falls in love with a girl who likes writing songs?

Am I Okay? Playlist

Am I Okay? - Meghan Moroney

Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls

Guilty As Sin - Taylor Swift

Dress - Taylor Swift

So High School - Taylor Swift

Dear John - Taylor Swift

Cigarettes - Maroon 5

In The Name of Love - Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexa

King of My Heart - Taylor Swift

Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift

[the-msb-library]

oh. hey. wanna mood board sneak peek for the series i'm going to be posting after summer break ends?

meet...molly chapman & lando norris (aka the fic that was inspired by taylor and travis)

[the-msb-library]

secret love affair (mv1)

you've been dating max verstappen for a while except not a single person in either of your lives know. why? because your big brother just happens to be his long-time race engineer and while max may talk a big game on the radio during races, he's actually terrified of Gianpiero Lambiase (and you just really like fucking with your brother's head).

aka 5 times you soft launched your racing driver boyfriend and the one time max did the hard launching.

yn.lambiase posted

yn.lambiase saturdays are for book stores and long naps (bonus points if he buys you whatever books you ask for) gp.lambiase wait. who is 'he'??? whose hands are those. EXPLAIN. NOW. >>>yn.lambiase wouldn't you like to know, big brother? ☺️ >>>user039 TIL GP is actually very over protective over his little sister. For some reason, this doesn't surprise me. >>>user200 she's so unhinged. i love it. yourbff ok lut like, don't you have several full bookshelves of unread books at home? >>>yn.lambiase listen. i don't need this kind of negativity in my life. lando what kind of loser actaully reads books anymore? >>>yn.lambiase the kind of loser that doesn't have the intelligence of a guppy >>>lando are you calling me a guppy? >>>yn.lambiase i mean, i'm not NOT calling you a guppy. >>>maxverstappen1 lando, be nice >>>lando SHE called ME dumb and I'm the one being mean???

yn.lambiase posted

yn.lambiase carbs and caffiene. he gets me. gp.lambiase day 242 of me asking WHO IS HE. i don't like the idea of someone i don't know dating my little sister >>>yn.lambiase i never said you didn't know him, GP 😉 >>>gp.lambiase excuse me, what? >>>user001 WAIT she's dating someone GP knows?! What if its a driver??? >>>user848 she WAS hardcore flirting with lando on that bookstore post >>>user382 my money's on someone at RB. an engineer or something. yourbff i'm surprised you got him to read a book >>>yn.lambiase he sais i coerced him and that he hated every second of it (he did not, i caught him crying when he finished the book) >>>gp.lambiase what @/yourbff you know who she's dating? who is it??? >>>yourbff my lips are sealed, GP. Sorry boo

yn.lambiase posted

yn.lambiase not pictured: the 2 dozen tulips he insisted we buy even though they didn't fit in my basket (he carried them home) yourbff king behavior, tbh >>>yn.lambiase ikr? user495 ok but does anyone else think that looks like the farmer's market in Nice??? >>>user100 the theory of her dating a driver is looking more and more like factsss >>>user833 my money's on lando maxverstappen1 those plums look really good... >>>yn.lambiase i'll share them with you if you want. all you have to do is ask 😌 >>>user322 ummm HELLO??? >>>yn.lambiase @/user322 shhhhhhhhh gp.lambiase well, at least i know he's treating you right >>>yn.lambiase he is very good to me, big brother :) >>>gp.lambiase then why won't you tell me who it is?! >>>yn.lambiase because it's more fun watching you spiral out of control trying to figure it out 😃 >>>user111 oh she's mean. i love it

yn.lambiase posted

yn.lambiase he even lets me pick the movie maxverstappen what a gentleman! >>>yn.lambiase i am a spoiled girl >>>yourbff you can say that again >>>yn.lambiase don't be mean! user9288 okay call me crazy but doesn't that look like max's shadow? >>>usesr928 you're crazy gp.lambiase stop screening my calls and pick up the phone! i know you're with him rn! >>>yn.lambiase we're sorry, but the little sister you're trying to reach is currently unavalibale, please leave a message after the beep. BEEP. >>>user939 atp i think she's just doing this to piss GP off (liked by yn.lambiase)

yn.lambiase posted

4,201 likes liked by kikagomes, charlesleclerc, maxverstappen1, and others yn.lambiase i will literally never recover from tonight 🫶🏻 kikagomes we had so much fun with you and mystery man, pretty girl!!! >>>yn.lambiase please come visit me when you're in london!! alexandrasaintmleux gorgeous gorgeous girl!!! lets get lunch next time you're in monaco >>>yn.lambiase i'll be there next week! gp.lambiase so let me get this straight. kika, alexandra and presumably charles and pierre know who mystery man is BUT I STILL DO NOT??? >>>yn.lambiase god, you're so fun to rile up!!! user928 i'm dying. she's just toying with GP's emotions now user029 put poor GP out is his misery @/yn.lambiase! (and the rest of us. WHO IS MYSTERY MAN???)

maxverstappen1 posted

1,203,191 likes liked by yn.lambiase, kikagomes, yourbff, and others maxverstappen1 finally convinced her to stop messing with @/gp.lambiase and come clean. love you sweet girl @/yn.lambiase yn.lambiase ugh. always gotta be the mature one and ruin my fun. love you too, maxie gp.lambiase i'm going to need 4-6 weeks to recover from this >>>yn.lambiase you'll survive, old man >>>maxverstappen1 @/yn.lambiase be nice or else he's going to make me come up with my own tire stratgey next race >>>yn.lambiase don't you already do that though? all i ever hear in those on boards is yap yap yap yap from him >>>gp.lambiase i'm telling mom >>>yn.lambiase do it. i'm the favorite child and we both know it. >>>user101 she's so messy. never change! (liked by yn.lambiase) user991 i fucking KNEW IT user121 the games she's been playing with GP are my Roman Empire.