MALAIKA HAD BEEN BACK IN miami for about two weeks now. those two weeks, again, consisted of endless texts and phone calls to and from lando and the two would talk for hours and hours on end on days when lando wasn't busy with trying to win races. 

"so...how would you feel about coming to another race?" lando asked as malaika was getting ready to go out with a couple friends from her high school who were in town for the summer.

"lando..." malaika looked at her boyfriend, who was grinning on her screen. "i don't know how good of an idea that is. jasmine can't take off of work and jake has his own things to do."

"so come alone." lando suggested. "we'll see if logan can get you a pass to come to belgium and we can say that he wanted you guys there for the last race before summer break, but jasmine and jacob weren't able to go."

"um," malaika didn't know how to respond. yes, she did want to go to belgium and support lando at his second home race, since she was unable to attend silverstone, but she was sort of getting tired of the sneaking around and asking logan to keep doing things to cover her relationship with lando.

"you alright?" lando asked, noticing the girl's sudden silence. malaika shakes out of her thoughts.

"i'm fine." malaika nodded. "it's just...do we really need to keep it a secret this time? i don't want to keep bothering logan with all of this when you could easily invite me yourself."

"oh." lando's smile began to fade. "i mean, yeah, we can. but, i don't want things to get too blown out of proportion, you know? it's way too early to go public."

"right." malaika sighed with a nod. "no, yeah, that makes sense. sorry."

"don't be sorry." lando replied, softly. "so, do you want to come? the race is next weekend and i can arrange all the flights and you can stay in the same hotel as me and oscar."

"next weekend..."malaika quickly opened her google calendar. she did have a minor event scheduled for that friday, but it could easily be rescheduled to the weekend after. "it does work for me, actually."

"okay, perfect!" lando grinned. "everything will be taken care of and sent to you tonight!"

"thank you, lan." malaika smiled at the boy. she really missed him a lot and cared for the boy more than she thought she did. "you guys are in hungary this weekend, right?"

"yeah!" lando replied. "free practice starts in a few hours, so i should probably go and prepare. i'll talk to you later?"

"yeah, i'll call when you get back to your hotel tonight." malaika confirmed. "good luck today, though! i love you!" the words just slipped out. malaika realized almost immediately that she said the wrong thing when she noticed lando's smile falter just the slightest bit. 

"thanks, mal! bye!" lando regained his posture and waved at the girl before hanging up the phone. as soon as the call was done, malaika let out the breath she was holding. 

"shit." she cursed herself. "you're such an idiot, mal."

"who's an idiot?" jasmine asked, knocking on the frame of the open door. "is lando gone?"

"yeah, he's gone." malaika sighed. "i, um, accidentally told him i love him, though."

"wait, what?" jasmine's eyes widened. "how does that happen accidentally?"

"i don't know!" malaika replied. her heart was starting to beat faster and her voice started to shake. "we've been dating officially for like three weeks and it's been two months since we started talking, but i know it's way too soon and it just slipped out just now when i was saying bye to him. and he didn't respond to it at all and i saw his face change the moment i said it and i knew i said the wrong thing." 

"hey," jasmine rushed over to her friend, who was beginning to panic. she knew malaika hadn't had a panic attack in over two years and she'd hate for a boy to be the cause of one. "take a deep breath. i'm sure it just caught him off-guard. he's literally head over heels for you, mal. anyone with eyes can see that just in the way he looks at you. he might not be ready to say the words, or even know it yet, but he does love you."

"you're not saying that to stop me from panicking, are you?" malaika asked, biting her lip. jasmine looked at her sympathetically and gave her friend a hug. 

"no, babe. i know how much lando cares about you. he's not going to break up with you just because you said it a little early. and you shouldn't hold it against him for not being ready. you didn't ruin anything."

"yeah, i guess. thank you, jas." malaika felt a sudden rush of affection for her best friend. "i don't know what i'd do without you, honestly."

"you wouldn't have survived high school." jasmine told her. "now, thank god you didn't get to the crying stage yet because your makeup looks too good right now to redo it. i came in here to say that baylee's gonna be here in ten minutes, so get dressed!"

"wow, thanks." malaika said, but she couldn't help but smile. she really was grateful to have jasmine as her best friend. 

maha speaks :)

got heavy writers block for this fic i'm so sorry