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Oscar had just closed the door to his driver’s room when his phone started beeping incessantly. He wouldn’t say that’s weird necessarily after having a good day of free practice, so he ignored it in favor of getting a moment to sit and rest. He had just wrapped up his media for the day, and had at least half an hour before Lando would barge in dragging him back to their hotel for room service and video games. Oscar had learned to accept this new tradition of race weekends. It had become a routine Oscar rather looked forward to.
He continued to ignore his phone, until he hears the ‘hail to the Chief’ ringtone he has designated solely for Logan, who should be busy at Williams right now.
“Logan? Why are you calling? Shouldn’t you be in the middle of meetings right now?”
“What? Oscar, are you okay?” Logan sounded distressed.
“Okay? Why would I not be okay?”
“Have you not seen it? Dude, it’s all over the grid.”
“Seen what, mate? I didn’t hear about anything? Did something happen?” Oscar is getting nervous now. He should’ve heard if something bad, a crash or an injury, had happened during free practice.
“Oh, Oscar.”
“LOGAN WHAT”, Oscar shouts.
“Put me on speaker and I’m gonna send you a video to watch. Don’t hang up, okay.”
A video comes through from Logan titled, ‘Breaking: Is McLaren the next Mercedes?’.
“What? Logan this isn’t bad, you freaked me out. Isn’t it a good thing if we’re doing better? Closer to winning or at least improving to be like Mercedes?” Oscar’s confused, and at this point starting to be irritated that Logan interrupted his brief chance to rest.
“Just watch it. Oscar. Watch the whole thing.” Logan’s voice is still wavering with uncertainty, so Oscar presses play.
Welcome back everyone. Boy do we have a good story for our fans, straight out of the media session following today’s free practice. Images have leaked of veteran McLaren driver Lando Norris texting someone, we assume to be none other than Max Verstappen, discussing his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri. We are able to see the text chain between Verstappen and Norris, and we are quoting directly here from the image,
Lando:
How exactly do you suggest I avoid Oscar?
I mean it is impossible, he is everywhere Max!
Everywhere! I can’t be around him anymore.
This is impossible.
He’s gonna notice eventually.
But wait, it gets better…
Oscar pauses the video, “Wait. Logan what is this? Why does the media even have a photo that can see his texts?”
“I don’t know Oscar but keep watching please. You should hear it all.”
…But wait, it gets better.
Max:
You’re gonna have to.
He is still your teammate for now.
Either create some space or talk to him and work it out.
You know what I did, but it’s up to you.
It’s this text from Verstappen that Norris seems to be puzzling in the newly released photos taken today at the paddock. What do you guys think about all this? Are Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the new Nico and Lewis? Do we have an ugly teammate rivalry brewing? Will McLaren have to watch out for some on track collisions? It sure sounds tense from this exchange. Comment below and let's hear your thoughts!
Oscar’s frozen. The video ends and he still can’t process anything. He’s barely listening to Logan who’s on the phone still talking, “Oscar, I know this hurts. Do you want me to come over? I’ll come find you. We can cry, or smash things or…”
“Logan, I need to go”
“WAIT Oscar do-” but Oscar hangs up before he can hear whatever else Logan was going to say.
He’s pacing. Or trying to pace, stupid tiny driver’s rooms, but what is Oscar supposed to do with this? It’s not often he’s caught so off guard. It doesn’t make any sense. Oscar and Lando have been hanging out since they first met to do marketing photos and silly games for McLaren like six months ago. It was always Lando who initiated them hanging out. He was inviting Oscar to get food, join gaming nights, trying to include him when the other drivers were around. Helping him feel welcome on the grid. They were friends? Weren’t they? Why would he want to avoid him?
Whatever it is, Oscar needs to leave. Now. He needs to be literally anywhere other than this tiny box they call a room.
He’ll probably get chewed out for leaving early or missing some meeting or another, but he can’t be here. He can’t see Lando right now. Oscar throws on his hoodie, grabs his phone and keys and is out the door before anyone even noticed he was there. Half sprinting, he ducks through the back of the paddock, hoping to hide behind the air ducts and trash on the backside of the buildings.
He’s almost made it to the exit closest to his car when he notices none other than Max Verstappen talking quickly with hands flying all over as he talks to Charles LeClerc behind Red Bull. Oscar tries to slow down to be quieter, praying they don’t see him. But he manages to kick an empty red bull can, causing them both to look up right at him.
Max’s mouth drops, his hand reaching out for Charles, “Wait Oscar. Where are you -” Max tries to yell toward him but Oscar has no interest in whatever he thinks he can say to defend Lando right now.
Oscar keeps running. Stupid Max and Charles had to see him fleeing like he did something wrong. He just needs to get away. Plus, why were they back there anyway? Charles should have been at Ferrari, and why was he wearing Max’s hat? Charles doesn’t wear orange?
---
Seeing as it’s a race weekend and Oscar has never been in this country before, he has literally nowhere else to go but his team-provided hotel room. Arguably not the best place to hide, when it is your teammate and team you are hiding from, but it was better than the paddock.
When he sits down on the bed, thoughts still racing trying to process what the hell just happened, he opens his phone for the first time since Logan called.
Lando:
Oscar, I’m guessing you saw the press photos but I can explain.
Are you here? Where are you?
I’ve been trying to find you.
But Max said he saw you leaving???
Please Oscar.
At least say you’re alive?
Even Zak is worried now.
Oscar, where did you go?
I’m sorry. But please talk to me?
Oscar promptly chucks his phone across the room. Not his finest moment but fuck it if he can’t have some strong emotions every once in a while. He may be well trained at staying calm in the car or in interviews, but he’s allowed to be angry when he’s alone. He’s allowed to cry and scream (at an appropriate level for a hotel) and throw all the pillows at his phone so it will muffle the blasted beeping that won’t stop.
He’s allowed to be upset and confused because of Lando Norris. His teammate. His arguably best friend on the grid (besides Logan), just publicly declared (intentional or not) that he doesn’t want to be around Oscar. And that fucking hurts.
It hurts cus stupid, fucking Lando Norris is also the man Oscar is ridiculously in love with.
---
Oscar must have fallen asleep, because the room is pitch black, his head is screaming from crying, and now someone is gonna break down his door if he doesn’t get up.
He should’ve checked the peep hole. Oh, should he have looked before opening the door, because standing before him is none other than, the man himself, the cause of Oscar’s pain today, Lando Norris.
Who has the fucking audacity to look upset. And if there is one thing Oscar can’t do, it’s be angry at Lando when he looks at him like that. Like he’s in just as much pain as Oscar is.
Lando talks fast, rambling, and shifting between his feet, “Oh Oscar, I’m so glad I found you. I realized you might be here cus you weren’t anywhere else and I was getting worried when you didn’t answer your phone…”
Silence.
“I, uh, could I come in?”
It’s only now Oscar, blinking, remembers he should speak, “No, Lando. You can’t. You don’t want to be anywhere near me, remember?” And he releases the door.
Oscar instantly feels bad about it, but he also knows that he needs a second to regroup before he can look at Lando’s eyes again. Those stupid beautiful eyes that looked like he too had been crying before he got here.
He starts shoving his keys in his pockets, grabs his now dead phone from the pile of pillows and opens the door again. He strolls out right past a still stunned Lando until he pauses at the elevator, “Aren’t you coming?” Oscar presses the lobby button with Lando still staring at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. When the lobby doors open, Oscar walks straight out the front doors to his car. He assumes Lando is following but never looks back to check until he opens the passenger door and nods toward Lando, “get in. We aren’t doing this here.”
---
Again, Oscar has never been to this country before so where the hell he thinks he’s driving right now is as much of a mystery to him as it is to Lando.
Lando only speaks up once, “Oscar where are we - ”
Oscar cuts him off, eyes never leaving the road, “Away.”
Between the look on Lando’s face and now his voice, he’s given away much more than he must realize. For Oscar may be upset at Lando and he may not understand why Lando would be sending those texts to Max, but Oscar can always tell when something is wrong with Lando. And right now it’s written all over his face. Something is very wrong, and it breaks a piece of Oscar’s heart. But Oscar is still reeling. And he doesn’t know how to talk to Lando just yet. So he keeps driving and silence falls on the car.
---
Oscar sits down first. Far enough away the ocean won’t hit him, but close enough the sand is soft and the waves loud. He pulls up his hoodie and lays back letting the sand cradle him as he blinks up at the stars.
He’s not entirely sure how he found a beach, but it felt like the right place to stop. The stars shine brightly this far from a city. Twinkling above them, reminding Oscar of home. The mix of the waves and the stars are calming to him and always have been. Maybe that’s how he ended up at a beach. A need to feel safe and comforted for whatever the hell is about to unfold with Lando.
Eventually Oscar can hear Lando close the car door and come sit down beside him. Close but not too close. The air still buzzing with unspoken emotions.
It’s quiet with just the sound of the waves crashing before them. Calming and helping Oscar regroup a bit. Yet even with his eyes glued to the stars, Oscar can feel Lando wants to say something.
Oscar has no idea what Lando might say. No idea what he did to make Lando want to avoid him. Does Lando even know what that would do to Oscar?
Because Oscar can’t forget the last six months of being teammates. Of the late nights or stressful mornings that come with being a driver, and the troubles of being a McLaren driver specifically. He can’t forget the way his feelings started to grow for Lando the more he got to know him. He can’t forget the way Lando helped him when he had questions he didn’t want to ask Zak or his engineers. The way they had genuine fun when doing some silly challenge or video for the team. The way Lando always looked out for him on race weekends and checked in to see if he was okay. Offering him a hug when the results didn’t come out how he’d wanted. But only ever offered, letting Oscar decide if a hug was what he needed.
Lando was amazing that way. He always wanted Oscar to have a choice. Oscar knew Lando loved hugs, loved being held or just being near people. But he never pushed it on Oscar without checking. It was always Oscar’s choice.
He thought they were friends. Thought that’s what Lando wanted, given he initiated hanging out most of the time. But maybe that was just his job? Initiate the rookie, not friendship. And definitely not more.
If Lando opens his mouth right now and shatters his heart to pieces, it still wouldn’t change how much Oscar cares. Lando wiggled his way into Oscar’s heart whether intentional or not. And it’s Oscar who will have to live with that.
He’s probably being a coward. But he really doesn’t want to hear what Lando has to say yet. He wants one more moment to themselves. A moment where nothing had changed.
He especially wants one more moment before he has to go back to the media hounding for comments or McLaren wanting to draft a statement, or the other drivers who will try and fail to be subtle when they stare and look away with concern behind their eyes. All the opinions and outside “experts” who think from one text conversation they know anything about the relationship between Lando and Oscar. Who think they can take moments on track or snippets from interviews and decide that they are now rivals who hate each other. Spinning whatever story they want to get more clicks.
But even if no one but Oscar had seen the texts, he would still need to know what they mean. He needs to hear from Lando. Needs to know what he meant and why he said it.
He needs to know. He’s not angry as he was hours ago, but he’s still hurt. Still confused. There’s the texts. But then there’s also Lando sitting across from him with tear stained eyes. The two don’t match and Oscar doesn’t get it.
He needs answers.
Just, maybe not yet.
It’s Oscar who breaks the silence first. “Hey, Lando. Can we just- Can we listen to the waves for a minute? Just be here. For a minute.”
Lando sounds like he wants to say more, but instead he says softly, “yeah, Oscar, that’s okay.”
Lando has always let Oscar lead. He’s never pushed him and Oscar knew he wouldn’t now.
So they settle into the quiet, listening to the waves.
But he’s not stupid. He knows Lando is dying to say something. Or do something. And he’s waiting because Oscar asked.
The least Oscar can do, even if it feels risky as hell, is offer Lando an olive branch. He’s still Lando. His Lando. And Oscar may not fully know what’s happening here, but he’s pretty sure Lando doesn’t hate him. Lando came with him didn’t he?
So he does what Lando always does and he makes an offer. He removes one of his arms from behind his head leaving it outstretched towards Lando. Letting Lando decide.
Without a word, Lando rolls in and cuddles in so his head lays right on Oscar’s heart, fists grabbing his shirt like Oscar might disappear, but Oscar’s arm curls around him, keeping him there. Holding him close.
Oscar can feel the moment Lando breathes. Sinking into Oscar like he needed this just as much as Oscar did.
Neither of them know what the other is thinking, but they know that this moment, together on the beach with the waves and the quiet, is helping. They can both breathe. They can think.
Maybe they can find a way through it.
---
It’s been at least an hour of them just laying there, holding each other. Maybe Lando fell asleep, maybe he didn’t. Oscar can’t tell and he definitely doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do. He wants to believe this moment isn’t fragile. That if he starts talking or Lando starts explaining that everything will be still fine. But he doesn’t know.
So Oscar keeps still with Lando nestled in his arms.
---
It’s only when the sun starts peaking over the horizon that Lando breaks the silence with a whisper, “Oscar. I- Do you… can we talk about it now?”
Oscar could pretend he’s asleep. That he doesn’t hear Lando. But the slight quiver in Lando’s voice shows how hard he’s trying to say the right thing here. What he’s gonna say, Oscar has no idea. But Lando’s trying.
“Yeah. Probably best.”
Oscar waits for Lando to go on. But nothing comes.
So maybe it’s Oscar’s turn now, he did after all slam a door in his face. And he knows Lando’s struggling with something.
“Lando can you just be honest with me? What happened today? I don’t understand why you’d be texting Max you don’t want to be around me. Was it something I did?”
Lando rolls slightly, head resting on his hand and on Oscar’s chest to look at him. His eyes look conflicted. Like he’s worried about what he’s going to say, but also that he needs to say it.
“No you didn’t - I - I feel like I’m messing this up…”
“Just talk to me, Lando.”
“Right okay so I was standing waiting for my turn to do media. And I was texting Max because, well he listens to me when I need to get out my head or just rant about nothing or everything. He also has good advice on certain topics that I think other people on the grid wouldn’t understand. And so he often is the person I spam text when I'm nervous or killing time. Definitely when I’m overthinking. And I didn’t realize that someone could READ what I was texting, much less take a photo. Which is probably my fault for assuming. I know we’ve all been trained on cameras and they’re everywhere and always assume you’re being filmed or watched or…”
Oscar is listening. Really he is. But he’s also incredibly distracted by the way the sun is rising just behind Lando’s head. Casting a soft light to bounce off his curls and encircle him in yellow sunrise light that dazzles Oscar all while Lando continues to ramble on.
Distracted or not, Oscar is most certainly not expecting what Lando says next.
“... So really I shouldn't have been texting at all, and I’m sure I’ll get a lecture about that too. But the texts. They were taken out of context, it was just part of what I was saying to Max. And well, I guess I’m glad it’s only that text they read because the next one was me going on and on to Max about how I actually can’t stay away from you even if I tried because I am so hopelessly in love with you and it’s impossible. And so that’s what Max was getting at. That I had to talk to you about it. But I didn’t know how to do that so I was gonna try to stay away and shove my feelings down. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything. And I just was overthinking it all and texting Max about it. Which I mean, that’s on me I guess for again assuming the media wouldn’t try to read my phone. But then I got back to McLaren and you were gone and I knew you must have been mad, and I got so worried…”
Oscar is pretty sure Lando is still rambling but Oscar can’t help the grin that spreads across his face after hearing the whole ‘hopelessly in love with you’ part.
Hopelessly in love. LANDO is hopelessly in love! What the actual fuck does that make Oscar if LANDO is the one hopelessly in love and thinks he has to shove it down. Can Lando really not tell how Oscar feels? Does Lando not see the way he looks at him!
“Um Oscar” Lando says, finally taking a breath, eyebrows drawn together in confusion and anticipation, waiting for Oscar to respond.
“Hmm?”
“Are you - were you listening to me, or um…?”
“Oh. Sorry, yes.” His smile becomes devious. “I was kind of hoping you’d circle back to the ‘hopelessly in love with me part’.”
Lando’s mouth drops, and he tries to move away a little, but Oscar’s arm still holds him like a vice grip. No way he’s letting him go now.
Oscar can tell Lando wasn’t expecting that response. His eyes are frantically searching Oscar’s.
Lando tries to form a coherent thought, “You. That’s. Well I mean - we can ignore this. Um if you wanted. I um - well -”
As cute as Lando is, attempting to form a sentence, Oscar decides to just put him out of his misery.
“Lando. Would you please kiss me already?”
They’re already so close, Lando doesn’t have to go far before their lips touch. Smiles gracing both of their faces as Oscar’s hands snake into his curls to pull him closer. Oscar knows this was what he needed, what he’s been missing. Kissing Lando he could do forever. Even if he sort of tastes like sand and salt water.
Okay maybe especially if he tastes like sand and salt water.
Lando pulls away first, looking at Oscar with a blush creeping in.
Oscar definitely wasn’t expecting this to be how he kissed Lando for the first time. After a night of so much confusion. Not knowing what was going to happen.
It’s Lando speaking that pulls Oscar out of his thoughts.
“Not that I’m complaining. But could you say something now?”
Oh yeah. “Lando, I was hurt. I didn’t understand why you’d say those things to Max. I really didn’t want to be bombarded by McLaren’s press team. So I left. And I was fully ready to yell at you about it when I saw you at my door. But then I saw you. I could tell something was wrong. That something was missing from those texts.”
“and now?”
“Well you did say you were in love with me,” Oscar chuckles. “That cleared things up a bit.”
Oscar could see the recognition and puzzle pieces sliding into place for Lando.
“So you, you are also…”
“desperately in love with you? Yeah, mate. Since we took the first team photos together.”
That’s all Lando needed to hear before engulfing Oscar in a hug, which became a kiss, which became Lando sitting on Oscar’s lap and somehow getting them both ridiculously covered in sand.
But there was still one thing bothering Oscar, “one more thing. You picked texting Max about how hard it was to be around me during the middle of a media session, why?”
Lando leans back so they’re sitting again, though fully enjoying his spot on Oscar’s lap. “Oh. Um. Well you were doing your media and I was waiting and you had that ridiculous post driving grin on your face, and the helmet hair, and the race suit tied around your waist. And really Oscar, how do you expect me to not want to kiss you when you look like that. It is rather distracting. And all I could do to stop myself from throwing you against the wall was text Max for help.”
“You’re one to talk! Have you ever seen what you look like on a podium! Talk about distracting,” Oscar teases before raising an eyebrow to add, “though the wall thing sounds very promising.”
Lando’s mouth drops, eyes going wide.
“Why Max, though?”
Lando plops a kiss on Oscar’s nose with a mischievous grin as he says, “oh well I figured he’d have advice on how not to be an obvious lovesick fool. Given that he and Charles have been together for three years without anyone exposing them.”
THREE WHAT?!?
Though, okay actually Charles in Max’s orange hat behind Red Bull makes so much more sense now.
Lando goes on more seriously, “but, uh you do realize the world thinks we hate each other right? Like they took the texts as a full Nico-Lewis, not speaking in cool-down rooms, partners gonna crash into each other every race, hatred? I just barely escaped the paddock to try and find you. And Zak’s probably freaking out because you disappeared and they knew I was trying to find you and now I’ve disappeared…”
“Well, I do think it was better we talked this out on our own don't you think? Would’ve been a bit tricky to do all this” – Oscar’s eyes trail up and down Lando’s body – “with Zak, the PR team and a table between us.”
“Oh. Fair point. This is much better,” Lando deviously shoves Oscar backwards, kissing him a little more hungrily now.
Oscar moves to Lando’s neck as Lando says, “we are still going to have to tell McLaren and the press something though, given the texts are being circulated.”
Oscar just smiles and says “mhmmm.”
It’s Lando who starts laughing then. “But we won’t have to do anything if you give me hickeys that won’t hide under the race suit.”
Oscar blushes saying, “riiiight, my bad,” though he is zero percent remorseful.
Lando glances at his watch. “We also won’t have to say anything if Zak murders us both because we disappeared without a trace and showed up late to free practice.”
Oscar groans, “Fiiine Lando, but five more minutes? The sun isn’t even fully up yet!”
---
More than five minutes later, they reach the car and turn their phones back on. Both of them are bombarded with messages, missed calls, and notifications. Everyone is either angry or extremely worried. To be fair, they did disappear all night leaving everyone to panic on what to do with another driver pairing who hates each other. And who are actively missing.
One last glance passes between them before they begin trying to sort through all the notifications.
“Hey Oscar, Max says he’s sorry for his role in this,” but then adds on with a smirk, “wait now he’s not, and instead offering dinner? Something about now we’ve unlocked access to the secrets of grid dating?”
“Oh shit, I forgot to update Logan.”
Before Oscar can send his best friend a text, he shakes his head and answers the ringing phone in his hand, “Hi Zak. No, I’m not dead. Yes…. yes…. Yes, Lando is alive too. I know that because he’s with me?? Lando say hi.”
“Hi, Zak.”
“See everyone’s fine. We’ll be back soon.” And Oscar hangs up.
Lando’s eyes widen, “Do you just- did you HANG UP on Zak!”
With a shrug Oscar entwines his fingers with Lando’s and places a brief kiss onto the back of Lando’s hand, “He’ll get his answers when we get there. Until then, I want to enjoy this. You and me. Together. Us.”
“I like the sound of us.”
Oscar does too. Whatever he was worried about when he first saw the video, or even when Lando showed up at his door, had disappeared. He knows Lando. He loves Lando. And now Lando knows it and loves him too.
But Lando, always ready with a joke, couldn't leave it there, “you know history will call us friends.”
“Bros?” offers Oscar with a knowing grin.
“Besties!” chimes in Lando.
“Teammates,” they say together and burst into laughter as they start driving back toward the paddock, hands entwined.
Yeah, the media may try to stir up trouble, and they definitely intruded when they stole Lando’s text, but they couldn’t steal this. This was theirs. Lando and Oscar’s.
At least until they wanted to share it with the world.