Work Text:
Merry Christmas ✨
Groaning, Lando rubs his eyes that are still heavy from sleep. The closing front door must've woken him - damn, he's been telling Max for weeks to get the hinges oiled so that it doesn't squeak so much, but of course his best friend had "better things" to do.
Like going on a car ride at 6:45am on Christmas Eve Day.
"What the hell are you doing up this early?" Lando grumbles, putting his phone back on the nightstand.
Turning back on his right side, he curls himself into a ball, and hides completely underneath the blankets to block out any sunlight that filters through his blinds. Forcing himself to breath in and out slowly and calmly, he tries to fall back asleep.
He's on his break, for crying out loud, why is he not even allowed to sleep in now?
But even ten minutes later, sleep doesn’t come, and, feeling defeated, an annoyed huff slips through his lips. Lando turns on his back, his eyes fixating on the spot on the ceiling where his last lamp had hung, and where he didn't have the time to paint over the darker circle of white yet.
"Damn you, Max Fewtrell. And damn me for letting you move in with me."
He grabs his phone again, squinting at the uncomfortable light that comes from his display. But he can't help but look at his wallpaper for a minute - a picture of him and Carlos after the Monaco Grand Prix. Undoubtedly one of the best moments in his life.
One of the good parts about the winter break is that he doesn't have to hide his relationship. He can have Carlos and himself as a background on his phone without getting any weird questions. We'll, his friends might say something about it, but just to annoy him with it - he knows they're all happy for him and Carlos.
He wishes he could spend today and the next few days of Christmas with Carlos, but he also understands that the Spaniard has missed his family, and that he wanted to spend the days with him. It's the same for himself anyway.
His mum would've probably cried on the phone for an hour, if he told her he wouldn't come home for Christmas.
So they decided to celebrate Christmas separately with their families.
"Stupid decision.", Lando snaps at himself, and maybe at the picture of his boyfriend on his phone as well. Stupid decision, stupid him, stupid Carlos - and stupid Max for waking him up.
Unlocking his phone, he hopes to find a message from Carlos, but his boyfriend is apparently still asleep. A state Lando would love to find himself in right now, too.
He mindlessly scrolls through Instagram for a bit, first his official account, then his private one. It gets boring quite quickly, though.
Maybe his Switch will help.
Throwing on a hoodie and slipping into thick socks, Lando taps down the stairs through the dark, unbothered to turn on the lights.
He grabs himself a glass of water and an apple, before he walks over into the living room and opens the blinds so it isn't completely dark in the room.
Turning on the TV, he's curling up on the couch, slipping beneath the gray blanket that Max didn't want to get in IKEA but still steals from Lando every single day.
✨✨✨
When Lando opens his eyes again, the room is bathed in warm light and he squints through his eyelids to be able to see. He must've fallen asleep while playing the Switch as it's already nearly 9 in the morning.
The sound of muffled voices comes through the gap of the living room door, and confusion seeps through Lando's still tired body. He tries to make out the voices, but only recognizes Max's, when his friend is opening the door.
"Jesus freaking Christ, Lando, what are you doing up already?"
Lando can't stop himself from snickering when he sees Max pressing his hand to his heart, his eyes wide open. That's the payback for this morning.
"You woke me up when you left the house, you muppet. I couldn't fall asleep anymore."
Still a little bit grumpy, Lando crosses his arms in front of his chest, one eyebrow lifted when he looks at Max accusingly.
Suddenly, he can hear the other voice clearer as well, when the person steps through the door behind Max.
"I thought I was your muppet."
For a second, Lando thinks he's still asleep and dreaming.
"Carlos?" Lando gapes, his eyes wide open when he sees his boyfriend. "But - I thought you were in Spain? To visit your family?"
He's so shocked that he can't process what he's seeing, remaining seated on the couch.
"I've missed the other part of my family too much," Carlos answers, still a bright and blinding smile on his face. He loves when he can catch Lando off guard.
For a second, Lando thinks how annoying it is that even after an early and long flight, Carlos still manages to look amazing.
Then he's jumping off the couch and into his boyfriend's arms.
"I've missed you too." He mumbles against Carlos' lips.
It doesn't go unnoticed, that Max makes gagging sounds behind them, when he steps out of the room, but Lando just blindly shows him the middle finger over Carlos' shoulder without ever stopping the kiss.
He will thank Max for this later, because he's pretty sure his best friend had something to do with the surprise as well.
Maybe it wasn't his worst idea to let Max move in after all.