Archive of Our Own

1.“everybody’s falling in love (and I’m falling behind)”

001. falling behind, laufey

002. saturdays, louis tomlinson

003. movies, conan gray

004. the gold, phoebe bridgers

005. static, steve lacy

006. gilded lily, cults

007. yours, conan gray

008. alewife, clairo

009. i was all over her, salvia palth

010. people watching, conan gray

009. seasons, wave to earth

012. i can’t handle change, roar

013. first love / late spring, mitski

014. cry baby, the neighborhood

015. astronomy, conan gray

016. suffocation, crystal castles

017. high and dry, radiohead

018. the blonde, tv girl

019. nothing new, taylor swift, phoebe bridgers

020. brando, lucy dacus

Lando loved music, it was a generally known fact. 

From his amateur DJ career, through his iconic (at this point) singing team radio, to subjecting all of the teammates he had in Formula 1 to his music taste – which, usually, earned him many complaints on their side. He loved loved music.

Music always played a big part in his life. Whether it was mindlessly humming lyrics during lonely road trips, distracting himself before a race, or getting nostalgic about his life – a little too nostalgic sometimes, even for his taste.

And today, it was certainly the last case. 

He felt a bit stupid, sitting on his bed, slowly adding a sad song after a sad song to his new playlist. He wasn't a moody teenager anymore, after all.

Still, personally, he blamed TikTok for that. Its’ fault for showing him ‘falling behind’ by Laufey and inspiring him to do it. Because truly, everyone was falling in love. And, true to the lyrics, he was falling behind.

He didn’t like to complain, not usually. He was the type of person that preferred to suck it up, not show any signs of being upset, and then beat himself over it in the peace and quiet of his own hotel rooms. Whenever he allowed his walls to come down publicly, he felt almost ashamed about it. It wasn’t a part of him he liked sharing – he hated appearing vulnerable. He hated crying publicly, he hated people pitying him because of his poor mental health. He didn’t want them to look at him and be able to see right through him. 

So, sitting there, being upset about such a trivial matter? It felt uncharacteristic. Alien, almost.

Lando clicked on ‘I was all over her’ by Salvia Plath, and closed his eyes, his mind drifting away. The melody filled his ears, as he slowly felt his tense muscles relaxing, his body melting into the soft mattress of his Monaco apartment. 

He just spent a long day over at Max’s, as he, Max, Charles, George and Alex made an attempt at cooking. A few hours later they emerged successfully with quite a nice dinner. As it began to get dark, Lando left to get to his apartment, as George and Alex did the same to reach theirs.

He was happy, everything was alright, so why did he have to be like that again? Why did he have to act like he, out of all people, had it tough in life? Why couldn’t he just be happy that he had his friends, his racing career, and everything was fine?

Realistically, he knew why this was happening. He felt cruel being so jealous, but somehow, he couldn’t help it. He was, of course, so happy for his friends and their relationships. His heart warmed up every time he saw the intimate stares that Max and Charles shared or the gentle touches between George and Alex. 

He loved them. He was happy for them.

Yet he still felt the load of jealousy any time they would hang out together – at the end of the day he wasn’t even a normal, regular third wheel! That was like, third wheel but squared. He was third-wheeling double dates, for god's sake.

Maybe he felt so jealous because he cared about romantic love. He longed for it. Ever since he was a kid he would put love songs on repeat, daydreaming about the eventual future with a beautiful boy whom he would love and who would love him back. 

There was never really a girl in his mind, he knew who he was from a very early age. He knew he loved boys and he hoped one day he would find a boy who would feel the same about him. 

Because there had to be a person made for him, right?

As he grew older he slowly lost that hope. His friends, sisters, they all one after another found their other halves. Found their meant-to-be's . At first, he was ecstatic, thinking that any day now, it would be his turn. He would meet his prince charming. But years passed, and he was still as single as ever, only once in a while hooking up with someone for a one-night stand. Yet, no long-term relationship is in sight.

And so Lando began to lose hope. Maybe he just wasn’t made for love? 

As he listened to one song after another, the lyrics hitting a bit too close to home, the thought began to settle in. He was looking at his friends’ relationship wishing one day it could be him. He was looking at every stranger hoping maybe they would be the one – at the end of the day, you never know this is the love of your life when you first see them.

But over time, he got bored. Every person looked the same and every love song sounded too fake. 

He knew his behavior was worrying people. They realized how apathetic he grew to be. How his smile seemed to never reach his eyes anymore, how his lips were more chipped by the day, how his hands were always trembling.

He was losing his younger self and he had no idea how to catch them, how to make sure the spark he had never flickers for the final time. The only thing he could do was try to keep the striving for love burning in his heart, praying to whatever god that one day it would pay off.

He never thought out of all people, Oscar Jack Piastri would be the one who would make him glad he never stopped hoping for love. 

But, let’s take it from the top.

movies, movies

I want a love like the movies.

2.“epic party bangers”

001. friday, riton, nightcrawlers, mufasa & hypeman

002. hotel room service, pitbull

003. starships, nicki minaj

004. shut up and dance, walk the moon

005. only girl (in the world), rihanna

006. crazy in love, beyonce, jay-z

007. gimme! gimme! gimme! (a man after midnight), abba

008. murder on the dancefloor, sophie ellis-bextor

009. cruel summer, taylor swift

010. maneater, nelly furtado

011. i love it, icona pop, charli xcx

012. hey ya!, outkast

013. livin’ la vida loca, ricky martin

014. i wanna dance with somebody (who loves me), whitney houston

015. mr. brightside, the killers

016. let’s get loud, jennifer lopez

017. should i stay or should i go, the clash

018. under pressure, david bowie, queen

019. sweet dreams (are made of this), eurythmics

020. waterloo, abba

It would forever be a mystery to Lando why he somehow always agreed to Alex’s stupid ideas. Well, in reality, they were Charles’ stupid ideas, but Alex had the puppy eyes neither he nor George could refuse, so Charles used Alex to convince others.

As he was scanning his closet looking for anything appropriate to wear, he started thinking that he really needed to learn how to decline his friends. The ingenious plan they came up with this time was to organize a get-together before the 2023 season at Charles’ house. So everyone could catch up with each other in an environment other than work. That in itself would have been fine.

But, of course, it was not just any get-together. That would be too simple. They were organizing a house party. How great. He totally wanted to meet his new rookie teammate who everyone repeatedly called boring and too stoic at a house party, of all possible circumstances. It would surely start a beautiful, blooming relationship between them. As if he wasn’t prejudiced enough towards Oscar already.

Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t want to appear as a whiny kid who couldn’t get over stuff happening in life. But the way Mclaren has treated Daniel was truly fucked up, and if he had to be honest with himself, he wasn’t even fully over Carlos’ departure from the team. He wasn’t ready for a new person to get attached to just for them to move on. 

It was a selfish approach, but he found himself resenting Oscar a little before they even met in the first place. The kid has done nothing wrong, so it did make him feel a little bit bad. It wasn’t Piastri’s fault that the sport was harsh, and if you don’t perform, you are out. It was the way things happened, and he just seized the opportunity he was presented with. Lando should be more considerate and open. 

Surely Oscar couldn’t be that bad. He did earn the sympathy of Fernando, which was already a good sign! Maybe Lando could give him a chance. Maybe Lando should give him a chance.

He sat down on the bed, still having some time before he had to leave. He pulled up his Spotify account for the sake of not having anything better to occupy him. If he had to be there he could at least create a possibility to run away from an awkward encounter with his future teammate to the dancefloor (charles’ living room). 

And he would make sure he would have that oppurtunity with some good music playing in the background. The type of songs he found out time and time again that everyone loved to dance to, no matter how much they would deny that later. 

His holy grail playlist, if you will.

As he added ‘hotel room service’ by Pitbull, he cringed at the memory of Charles giving Max the worst rendition of a lap dance Lando has ever seen as a dare. It was in 2022, in Abu Dhabi, after Max’s second championship. They all got drunk, and…well. He just hoped he would never have to endure that again. He still had nightmares about it.

As he added ‘shut up and dance’ by Walk the Moon, he found himself smiling softly. He loved that song, it always brings good memories. From when he, George and Alex were just teenagers and danced to it awkwardly after a good race. From the winter break before their first Formula 1 season, when they took a road trip together and screamed the lyrics in the back of the car as George was the one to drive them around. The song never failed to lighten up the mood.

More and more songs, with more and more memories. Abba, Taylor Swift, Whitney Houston. Songs that always made him smile, that always brightened up the dance floor – whether it was at a busy club, or a more private house-party. Curating the playlist managed to get him out of his head, which was the initial purpose of starting said task. So, he considered it a success. 

He was arriving at Charles’ not only with a killer playlist under his sleeve, but also a clear mind, not focused on any unnecessary setbacks he could have towards Oscar.

Lando knocked at the door, and after a few seconds he was greeted with the sight of a Leclerc, though not the one he expected. Before his eyes stood Arthur, Charles’ younger brother. They met in the past a few times, it would be hard to not meet your good mate’s younger brother, after all. Still, Charles usually kept his environments separate and wouldn't intertwine friends and family life. There had to be a reason Arthur was with them for this night.

“Lando, you look like forming a thought is causing you, like, actual pain” Charles laughed quietly, as he appeared out of nowhere. His hair was still slightly damp, and his cheeks were a little flushed. His shirt was only buttoned halfway up, and Lando could definitely see more hickies than he would like to. God damn, Max was vile.

“Arthur is here because he is friends with both Oscar and Logan. At least they will feel less alone here. Come on, I know for whatever reason you decided that Oscar is going to be your mortal enemy, but at least try to be nice to him. I know he’s not Carlos, and I know he’s not Daniel but…” his gaze shifted to Arthur, as if asking for permission. The younger Leclerc just nodded with a soft smile. “From what Arthur said, he’s a great guy. Don’t take it all out on him.”

“Okay I have no idea why you suddenly became the head president of the Oscar Piastri protection club, but I promise I won’t pull anything stupid on him, Charles,” Lando offered his friend a reassuring smile. He could manage it. Just try and not be unnecessarily rude to the awkward kid. Easy enough, right!

After that, it didn’t take long for Max to walk out of Charles’ bedroom, and by gods, if he thought Charles had looked messy he truly wasn’t ready for Max. It was like the honeymoon phase never really ended for these two, honestly. Not that he wasn’t happy for them, they just certainly never failed to make him feel painfully single.

However, since it was not their fault, he only made one snarky comment about them acting like teenagers with a hormonal imbalance. Then, he moved onto the kitchen area to greet Alex and George who were already there, trying to work out the fridge space in the best way they could.

“We can just put the alcohol in the freezer” George suggested, as there was truly no way they would fit all the food and drinks in there. It happened every time, and yet, they never learned. It was honestly baffling. 

“Vodka, Tequila, sure. But not the beers. Don’t you remember what happened last time? And the time before that? I literally always tell you to not do it, and then you do it, and then you are shocked when they explode. Every god damned time!”

Lando laughed quietly at their antics, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder for some sort of comfort. Eventually, with denying only a few laws of physics, some prayers and pleads, they managed to organize everything. It was a tetris-esque construction that just maybe wouldn’t come crashing down if someone dared to open the fridge door. It was a different story for taking it all out, but, it was the problem of the first person who would reach for something. Good luck to them, and bless their soul.

Slowly more and more people arrived. Pierre came with Yuki, shocking all of them with coming before the set time. All the initial astonishment was gone the second Charles revealed that he just lied to Pierre about the hour they were supposed to gather up, so they wouldn’t be stunningly late. Then came Carlos, and shortly after him Lewis, followed by Fernando and Lance who also came together. 

The space started to fill out with chatter, catching up on things they did over the winter break, or other nonsense small talk. Lando found himself switching from conversation to conversation, only getting caught up with Lewis for a bit longer. Who could blame him – no matter how many years have passed, he was still a bit awe-struck by the older Brit. He just had that sort of aura around him.

Shortly after, he stopped paying attention to the people that arrived. Still, in the back of his head, he was somehow aware that the hour they were all supposed to gather had already passed. And that, well, Logan and Oscar were yet not to be seen. 

For a moment he thought it was bad manners to show up late as a first impression, but then he remembered he definitely was late to his first day at the Mclaren factory. He really had to stop trying to find every tiniest reason to be negative about the rookies. He felt like all the grandmas that complained about the youth these days. Was he getting old?

He didn’t even realize they had already started drinking, at least not until he was handed a drink by Charles, who already appeared a bit tipsy. A spritz, if he had to guess by the look and taste. He was never really a big drinks and cocktails guy, he much more enjoyed a simple gin tonic or straight up shots, but he wasn’t going to complain. Anything to ease him up a little. Surely enough, just a few moments later he was already feeling pleasantly dizzy. Just what he needed.

Quite quickly, Lando completely forgot about the ‘rookie problem’ he had, getting involved into a debate on why Ibiza was, in fact , the best winter break travel destination. It all started innocently – he made his way to the kitchen to ask Charles to make him the exact same drink again, because, surprisingly, it was good.

There, he may have not found Charles, but he did find Max, Fernando and Checo debating Tequila. Specifically, Max claimed that the best Tequila he had was in Ibiza, which Checo treated like a federal offense. The argument had spiraled unexpectedly, and somehow, after around 10 minutes, Lewis and Valtteri joined them. It was fun to just bicker about unimportant topics, forget about every single worry in the world and spend time with people who understood you. Eventually, they got over it, called a truce, and Lando left to switch up the music. It was definitely the time to pull the ace out of his sleeve.

He put on the playlist, and happily watched as it did its thing. There were probably a couple of factors, only one of them being his incredible music selection. 

It was a closed group of people who knew each other for years. Plus, they were all at different stages of ‘drunk’. If he was to put it on a spectrum, it would start at ‘Zhou drunk’ (a few drinks in, but still fully coherent), follow it with ‘Valtteri drunk’ (had drunk the most, and was probably one shot of vodka away from being shitfaced) and end it with ‘George drunk’ (he was fewer drinks in than Zhou, but he was also dancing on a table right now). 

Nonetheless, he was content with himself, as – aligning with his expectations – everyone seemed to be having much fun. He leaned against a wall, somehow satisfied with just people-watching for a moment.

What grabbed Lando’s attention was Arthur dragging Logan onto the ‘dance floor’. Again, it was Charles’ living room, which they earlier cleaned off of the sofa, coffee table, and other interior items that could get in the way. He was screaming the lyrics to ‘Mr. Brightside’ by the Killers into the American’s face, who just looked… head over heels, to put it lightly.

First of all, he had no idea something was happening there. To be fair, until this afternoon, he had no idea they were friends at all. Second of all, he hadn’t really grasped the idea that, since well over two hours had passed already, the two rookies had certainly arrived. 

Which meant that Oscar was somewhere here. 

Alone, presumably, considering the young Australian only knew Logan and Arthur who were now too busy with themselves. Lando scanned the room in search of the guy, yet there was no sign of an awkward tall boy in plain sight. He hadn’t expected to see him dancing, let’s be real. But at least stood somewhere, sipping on a drink, looking like the only thing he wished for was for the party to end. (Lando had to stop making assumptions about a person he had never spoken to before, really).

Nonetheless, Oscsr was nowhere to be found.

In a sudden wave of curiosity, Lando left the living room to go look for Oscar. He checked about every place he could inside the house before going out into the garden, which turned out to be the right choice. Someone was standing there, indeed with a drink in hand, staring at the night sky. 

It had to be Oscar, there was no other possibility. 

For a moment, Lando considered if he should actually interrupt the peace. But he was a bit too drunk to properly think, and a bit too interested in why wouldn’t his new teammate at least try to give off good first impressions. Of course he approached. 

“Lando ‘life of the party’ Norris is not in there, in the middle of the heat?” he was lowkey glad Oscar was the first one to speak up. He wondered how the hell he was so sure it was Lando, since he hadn't turned back to check. Guess he would never find out. “Surprising me here, mr. Norris.”

Many would probably consider it a terrible first impression. Being sarcastic and snarky as an ice breaker was a turn down for a lot of people. But not for Lando. In his head he was already choosing the engagement ring. Blame it on the alcohol running in his veins (or on the fact that Oscar was like, really pretty. He never noticed it in all the pictures he saw). Suddenly all the initial resentment he had for Oscar seemed to disappear, as he walked up closer.

“Well, I noticed someone was missing,” he answered with a smile, turning his head to look up at Oscar. Who had allowed a man to be so gorgeous? The girlies on twitter would say that god made men and then sent Oscar Piastri as an apology (why the heck was his drunk brain thinking about girlies on twitter). “Come on, the party is not that bad. Don’t disappear, it’ll make Charles sad. And then Max will hate you.”

“Oh I for sure would not want that.”

“Then why are you here?” it seemed to be the right question, but maybe he misjudged it. Oscar went quiet for a moment, taking the last sip out of his drink. Oh shit. Did he fuck everything up already, just when he started appreciating having given Oscar a chance?

“Logan wouldn’t leave my side,m. He was like… nervous, but, for me, not for himself. He is overprotective. And I wanted him to have fun. And have a moment with Arthur. Not… worry about me, or, whatever. I can take care of myself” the Australian finally mumbled, a tint of blush on his cheeks. He looked oh-so-cute, in Lando’s humble and unbiased opinion.

“You know, if it helps calm you a little, George and Alex were the same towards me back then. I was younger, and I can be like, so awkward. They were always worried I would close myself off and not even allow myself to meet people, get experiences. Sometimes, it was exhausting. I get how you feel” Lando nodded his head, trying to, hopefully, calm Oscar down. When he noticed the soft smile curling up the other boy’s lips, he felt content with his success. “Maybe we are more similar than I originally thought.”

“Yeah” Oscar breathed out, turning on his heel to head back inside. Before he crossed the door, he turned his head back at Lando, who still, dumbfounded, stood there without movement. All that talking and all he gets is a ‘yeah’? Oh this was going to be a challenge. “And if not, you know what they say. Opposites attract.”

“You’re right. Maybe they do.”

Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight

Won’t somebody help me chase the shadows away?

Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight

Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

3.“songs that oscar likes (pre-race jam)

001. ceilings, lizzy mcalpine

002. life is a highway, rascal flatts

003. i know the end, phoebe bridgers

004. i won’t say (i’m in love), hercules

005. you’re on your own, kid, taylor swift

006. sunflower, post malone, swae lee

007. motion sickness, phoebe bridgers

008. white ferrari, frank ocean

009. sierra leone, frank ocean

010. would that i, hozier

011. someone new, hozier

012. fools gold, lucy dacus

013. little freak, harry styles

014. apocalypse, cigarettes after sex

015. midnight memories, one direction

016. love story, taylor swift

017. how far can i go, vianna

018. american pie, don mclean

019. silver spring, fleetwood mac

020. some things never change, frozen

Considering how much set back Lado felt for Oscar before they even met, their relationship was going great. 

A bit awkward, especially when there were cameras involved, but great. Oscar still seemed freaked out by the whole Formula 1 world – not that Lando would blame him. So, he blamed the awkwardness between them on just simple shyness. But still, even then it wasn’t horrible. 

And when it was just them? Oscar was sarcastic, bickered with him non-stop, laughed so hard tears would gather in the corners of his eyes, and talked for hours on end. Lando felt a little bit proud to have that side of Oscar to himself. At the end of the day, he made Oscar feel confident enough to be this way. It was a valid reason to be proud. He had to work very hard and use all of his charm to get there!

Somewhere along the way he realized he was doing a lot for Oscar to feel the most comfortable he could. Just like Carlos or Daniel did for him, when he was the junior. He thought he was going to be terrible at that whole ‘senior driver’ role, but it turned out, he wasn’t half bad. 

Whenever they had to perform for the public, he would gladly take the lead. In all the stupid challenges McLaren forced them to do he’d always try and make all the stupid jokes, so all Oscar would have to do was laugh and occasionally play along with it. It would be enough for their PR manager to not threaten to have them beheaded because they are not providing content. He would jump to Oscar’s defense whenever the interviewers would ask intruding questions, and he tried to constantly keep an eye on his rookie teammate. 

God, and Lando was making fun of Alex for behaving that way about Logan before the season even started. He was the exact same way now. He felt the need to make sure that Oscar can take it all in at his own pace, just like Carlos did with him. He was a good older, more experienced teammate.

(Okay, maybe Lando needed a bit more help back then than Oscar needed now. The Australian was fully capable, and the only thing that was drawing him back was just the fact he was a little shy and awkward. When Lando would be shitting himself from the level of stress, Oscar was the most chilled person he ever met. He envied that, even now after all those years he hasn’t been that level of carelessness.)

Ever since Lando found out Oscar didn’t have any pre-race music of his own, and he just listened to whatever Lando was blasting, he made it his mission to curate the best playlist to accommodate them both. He had no idea how exactly he would do it yet, but he was sure it would come along eventually.

And come along it did. 

He tested out many, many songs, and whichever ones he would hear Oscar hum to himself later, would go straight to a playlist he proudly named ‘songs that oscar likes (pre-race jam)’.

At first it was… normal, let’s say. Some Frank Ocean, Hozier, Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers. Stuff that he would normally listen to before races anyways. He liked a mix of weirdly sad songs and pop tunes to balance it out. It was always a great source of distraction from any unnecessary stress or pressure. 

The playlist was short, but well curated. He liked to give himself at least some credits for how stressless Oscar was when they both came out on the paddock. If music was therapy, then his therapist was Lando. God, that sounded weirder than it was supposed to sound.

However, things between them changed after Canada. Things then changed in the playlist as well.

After another unsatisfying race result in a row, even Lando didn’t feel like going out. It was no surprise Oscar didn’t – he rarely did, but Lando? It was so unusual for him. At this point, he found himself having no idea what to do, where to go, how to spend the evening. If he didn’t want to go insane from overanalyzing every smallest mistake he committed – and he didn’t feel like running a self-loathing marathon – he had to find something to keep him occupied. 

Or rather someone. 

With that brilliant idea, he almost sprinted out of his room, not even bothering to knock before he stormed into Oscar’s hotel room (bless Mclaren for making sure they would have each other's room passes, just in case. He was sure they weren’t meant for what Lando came here for, but to him, this was an emergency). 

“Jesus Christ! Give a man a warning!” 

Oscar gasped quietly, looking startled as he sat on his bend mindlessly scrolling through his phone. His hair was a mess of small knots, still form the balaclava and helmet. Speaking of balaclava, there were still the seam-lines vaguely pressed into his cheeks. He was wearing a Mclaren teamwear hoodie with his own number on it and a pair of short sweats. Why did he look so good in all of that, when Lando was convinced he looked like he was just chased by a bear before he came in here? It was unfair. Damned pretty boy.

“Sorry, mate” he laughed quietly, without any warning throwing himself on the bed next to Oscar, who gasped at that. Soon enough, he was hit in his face with a pillow, and it was his turn to scream hopelessly. The audacity! “Hey! No need to resort to violence. I was just bored and wanted to hang out with my favorite teammate, is that a crime?”

“I’m your only teammate, Lando” 

“My favorite teammate in the history of teammates, better now?”

For a while they just bickered about unimportant nonsense, before deciding that watching a movie seemed like a great idea. None of them were in the mood for anything too thought-provoking, and really, it was Disney’s fault for recommending ‘Frozen 2’ as the first thing that appeared when Oscar logged onto the streaming platform. 

Lando wasn’t a huge disney guy, but somehow an hour in he was more invested than he would initially expect to be, and it seemed that it was the same for Oscar. Not their fault the animation style was killer, the songs were a banger after a banger and the plot itself wasn’t half bad either. 

They didn’t plan for it, but when the movie ended, they somehow ended up watching more disney. Sitting there with Oscar, their arms and thighs gently brushing against each other, Lando completely forgot about the reason he came here, the distraction clearly working. 

As they were starting their third movie – this time it was ‘Viana’ – involuntarily he found himself getting more and more tired with each passing second. 

The race was exhausting, after all, and being sat there, with a shared blanket pulled over them, the upbeat songs filling his ears, he couldn’t be blamed for slowly falling asleep. Yet, before he did, he registered Oscar putting an arm around him, bringing him closer. Lando’s heart sped up for a second, but he was way too tired to think about it now. He just closed his eyes, and before he knew it, his head was resting against Oscar’s shoulder, and he was fast asleep.

Next morning when Oscar woke up, Lando was already awake, scrolling through instagram. For a moment neither of them said a word, just enjoying the warmth of each other. Sure, maybe it was a bit weird to most people to sleep with your friend, but it seemed like they both silently agreed on just letting it pass, clearly not in the mood to overthink their love life right now.

Yet still, as soon as Lando left to his room to pack up and get ready for the flight to Monaco, he stopped for a minute to open his spotify. He knew the perfect songs to finish his pre-race playlist.

(Oscar definitely felt butterflies in his stomach when he heard ‘Some things never change’ as he was warming up in Austria. But, he would keep it to himself.)

Some things never change, turn around and the time has flown

Some things stay the same, though the future remains unknown

May our good luck last, may our past be past

Time’s moving fast, it’s true

Some things never change, and I’m holding on tight to you.

4.“you got a smile that could light up a planet”

001. sweet/i thought you wanted to dance, tyler, the creator

002. cloud 9, beach bunny

003. paper rings, taylor swift

004. ready now, doodie

005. daylight, taylor swift

006. i guess i'm in love, clinton kane

007. paris, taylor swift

008. valentine, laufey

009. you, radiohead

010. crush, cigarettes after sex

011. nothing, bruno major

012. invisible string, taylor swift

013. strangers in the night, frank sinatra

014. there is a light that never goes out, the smiths

015. friday, i'm in love, the cure

016. like real people do, hozier

017. enchanted, taylor swift

018. glue song, beabadoobee

019. super trouper, abba

020. something stupid, frank sinatra

Falling in love with Oscar was easier than Lando would have assumed. 

There was no big revelation, no sleepless nights when he had to reconsider every interaction that ever happened between them, none of the stuff he dreamt about when he was younger. The realization just came to him… naturally. 

One minute he was joking with Oscar, and the other he was watching him throw his head back with a laugh, thinking ‘I'm so in love with this man’ . It’s not like he didn’t see it coming, he would be a fool to not expect it. He knew Oscar was different than anyone Lando has ever met before, in so many ways, from the very beginning. 

Falling in love seemed to be the predictable next step. Realizing that he did fall for Oscar had suddenly made everything so clear. 

Every love song was about Oscar now, every lyric reminding him of the Australian. Lando understood now why it made him feel fulfilled whenever he made Oscar laugh, why he felt so special when Oscar gave him attention. He understood why being around Oscar felt like a blessing itself. It all made sense now, and for a moment the pining stage was the greatest thing he ever endured. 

However, only for a moment. Soon he found himself wishing for more.

Realistically, he knew Oscar probably felt something, too. He wasn’t that oblivious. He saw the way Oscar looked at him, behaved around him. He saw how different it was than from, let’s say, how he acted with Logan. Or anyone else, for that matter. Lando knew there was something, but he just didn’t know what it was. And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to test out the waters just yet. 

So, even though he already made up their whole future in his head, he wasn’t going to make any moves. Not yet.

It wouldn’t stop him from creating another playlist, though. 

As he clicked the ‘build a playlist with songs or episodes’ button, he hesitated a moment on the title. He couldn’t have it saying ‘I’M IN LOVE WITH OSCAR PIASTRI’. Just in case anyone decided to hack his spotify, or something. Or in case Oscar would look at it over his shoulder and the whole cover would be blown off. He had to be as reasonable as one can be while creating an entire playlist dedicated to their crush. 

He decided on something much more subtle, like a song lyric. And ‘you got a smile that could light up a planet’ seemed just perfect. Not only because it could be about anyone – Oscar really did have a smile that could light up a planet.

Lando had no idea how a single person could have this much influence over people with just their smile. But whenever Oscar did, the room seemed to light up momentarily. Maybe he was a bit biased, but that didn’t matter. His smile did light up a planet, period.

Adding songs to it took him a little while. He wanted it to be perfect, even if Oscar would never see it. It just didn’t feel right to rush it. It was for Oscar. Or well, about Oscar. Lando would never half ass something that had to do with the Aussie. 

There were a couple ones that were a given from the start – ‘daylight’ by Taylor Swift, ‘Paris’ by the same artist, ‘cloud 9’ by beach bunny – those seemed obvious to him. 

But Oscar was so much more than just that.

Oscar was like a warm breeze during a beach walk at night. Like sunrise and sunset at the same time, a full spectrum of colors just waiting to burst. Yet still, staying soft and subtle. Always there, always making people happier, but not in an invasive way. Waiting for the right person to look at him for a second longer. To dissect all his tones and shades, discover him whole. And Lando so badly wanted to be that person. 

Oscar was simply something nobody could ever compare to. 

There was no amount of love songs, no amount of poem that would ever satisfy him, that would ever properly describe what he was feeling. It was too much and not enough at the same time, it was everything he ever dreamt of in a form of one person. A person he would never expect to have caused so much havoc in his life before they met. But, as he had believed, you actually do never know this person is going to be the love of your life when you first meet them.

And the more time they spent with each other, the more in love he was. How Oscar was doing it was truly a mystery to him.

The fan stage at silverstone. Somehow, whenever Oscar touched him, he made Lando want to giggle like a teenager in love. The soft voice when he asked if it is okay for him to touch Lando? God, wasn’t he supposed to be the old fashioned british gentleman? All he managed to do was nod his head with a smile, and burn with a blush he hoped wasn’t visible in the camera. Find yourself a man as respectful as Oscar Piastri. Even after they repeatedly fallen asleep in eachothers embrace, and shared glances that most friends didn’t share, he still asked. And maybe it should be the bare minimum, but by god, it did something to Lando. Being respected and seen like that, the fact Oscar wanted to always make sure he’s comfortable… it made his insides twist in a pleasant way.

The forbidden summer games Mclaren video. Specifically, the part where they played twister. He tried so hard to not act gay about watching Oscar’s body in positions he wouldn’t really expect to see outside the bedroom. About having Oscar’s ass literal centimeters away from his face (and, with all due respect, he did have a whole damned bakery down there). Though, he gave up on trying to act normal about midway through, if his cracked voice and nervous laughs didn’t give it away already. This kid was going to be the death of him. If he was to give realtionship advice to anyone right now, he would tell them to never play twister with that hot boy you have a crush on. It’s unironically making the sexual tension between you go through the roof.

Oscar’s sprint win in Qatar. Lando had never felt this strong urge to kiss the Australian. He barely kept himself in line. But honestly, how could you blame him? It was Oscar’s fault for looking so good drenched in sweat and champagne, his skin glistening from the sun, his smile reaching his eyes, causing them to almost fully close. He looked so perfect at the top step of the podium, like it was made just for him. And maybe it was. Maybe he was made to always bask in the light that came with winning. Lando would gladly give up any possible future win if it meant he could always watch Oscar in that scenario. Oh Lord, he was smitten. Maybe a little bit too much.

Even though he was this down bad, Lando hadn’t planned a confession at all. Still, if he did, the way it happened was certainly not the way he would plan it. 

He imagined asking Oscar out to a nice dinner, and maybe there asking him if he would go out on another date with him. A romantic walk wouldn’t be terrible. Maybe a drunken kiss, that also wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe after Abu Dhabi, after the high of the season ending. Whatever, honestly. He certainly did not want it to happen the way it did.

The Las Vegas race was already a mess. The crash was unfortunate, and the impact of it turned out to take a bigger toll on him than he initially predicted as his car hit the wall. The medics were hovering over him for a good few hours, and no one would even tell him the results of the race. Rude!

Luckily, whatever medication they put him on seemed to be doing its job, as he felt a significantly smaller amount of pain than he would expect from the reaction of everyone around him. He sat through the painfully long checkups, trying to distract himself with anything. For a moment he just spat nonsense to Jon, but then he went to talk with a doctor, so Lando was left alone, his mind feeling fuzzy. He looked around the room, in search of something that would occupy him. 

Much to his satisfaction, he noticed his phone on the stand next to the bed. Awkwardly and with a grin of discomfort on his face, he reached for it, taking a moment to adjust his eyes to the brightness of the screen.

For a few minutes he took his time to scroll through social media. He found out that eventually the podium consisted of Max, Charles and Checo – in that order – and that Oscar managed to bring the car into points.

That’s his boy, everyone! 

Speaking of his boy, much to Lando’s happiness, Oscar had just texted him.

Oscar Pastry🥐

Hey Lando, Jon said you’re fine, but please text me when you are cleared:)

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosc

ar

i forgot to put the ar at the end

though maybe its oki

and i can just call you

osc

osc pastry🥖

That’s a baguette, Lando

you are a hater

im stripping your osc rights from you

oscar jack piastri

Some part of Lando was conscious enough to tell him it would be better if he put down his phone and stopped talking to Oscar before he said anything he would regret. He was so out of it. 

But, in that very same moment, a notification about Oscar calling him popped up. And who was he to decline?

“Lando? Are you okay?” Oscar’s worried voice came through, and Lando felt like crying. Why did he have to be so sweet?

“Yeah. They gave me some really good meds because nothing really hurts. I’m just feeling… funny?” he answered, his speech slightly slurred. He heard Oscar laughing at the other side of the line, and that single handedly made the funny feeling in his stomach even stronger. 

“I already told Jon, I’ll get you from the hospital, okay? I’m getting into the car” and true to his word, some shuffling and the sound of an engine running could be clearly heard in the background. “I’ll put you on speaker, but you can hang up if you want to.”

“Noooo, I want to talk to you, Osc” Lando whined, cringing internally at how needy he was sounding. What if Oscar was tired of it?

“Oh, so I earned my ‘Osc privileges’ back?” he laughed quietly, which made Lando pout, even though the other wouldn’t see it through the screen. How dare he make fun of him in his injured state! Cruel!

“You are on a free trial.”

“Why thank you for your mercy.”

After that, Lando lost track of time as Oscar entertained him with mindless chatting. Before he knew it, Oscar hung up on him, saying that he’s entering the hospital and doesn’t want to disturb the overall peace in there, or be a bother to the medical staff. He was too pure. Lando really wanted to kiss his stupid face. 

He didn’t have to wait long for his door to squeak as they opened, and he was greeted with the sight of his horse charming on a white prince. 

Wait, do it again. 

Prince charming on a white horse. There we go!

His prince, well, Oscar, looked as pretty as he always did. He was wearing his own Mclaren merch, and the slightly worried look on his face seemed to disappear as he realized Lando was here and breathing. As if he didn’t allow himself to fully relax, not until he saw with his own eyes that Lando was alright.

“Lando” Oscar smiled fondly, walking up to the bed. “Good to see you are okay. You really scared me there.”

“It’s fine, I’m fine” he insisted, sitting upwards, wincing slightly at the way his bruised ribs protested against that movement. “Am I cleared to go? It smells like a hospital here.”

“Maybe because it is a hospital, mate,” Oscar laughed quietly, offering Lando a hand. “Yeah, you are, I already told you that. I’ll drive you to the hotel, you will witness my incredible cooking skills, take your meds and go to sleep like a good boy for the night.”

(The audacity Oscar had to call him a good boy now. Lando truly didn’t feel like taking a journey on kink discovery when he was high on painkillers.)

“I don’t want food poisoning to make my condition worse” he joked, proud of the connections his brain was still able to make. Mentally, he gave himself a high five for that.

Oscar seemed offended enough at it to just not answer, only snort quietly. They left the room and headed for the exit – or, well, Oscar did. Lando had no idea where it was. Finally, after a mortally long lift ride, they stepped outside. The Las Vegas weather in the evenings was certainly something he wasn’t prepared for in a thin t-shirt and sweatpants. Before he could put on a brave face, Oscar stepped away for a moment, and took off his hoodie offering to Lando.

“Come on, I can’t have you dying of hypothermia.”

Lando took the hoodie, giving up on complaining. It smelled of Oscar – a mix of fancy, expensive cologne and the vanilla-scented shampoo he always used. It brought more comfort to him than it probably should have, but it also did a great job at keeping him warm. Without any further complications, they arrived at the hotel. He wasn’t even being given a choice, Oscar just led them both to his own hotel room, having Lando follow him around like a lost puppy.

For the whole evening he was doing so well. Maybe he was staring at Oscar for a little too long with a little too much of a dreamy look. And maybe he had his entire ‘you got a smile that could light up a planet’ playing in his head. But, he was blaming it on the medications. 

Plus Oscar didn’t seem to mind.

Lando just had to keep it up and not make a fool out of himself, it seemed easy enough. At least until Oscar forced him to go to bed, and maybe he shouldn’t be that surprised, but also laid down next to him, offering Lando to just cuddle up with him. Which he gladly did.

“Mine” he mumbled, as he put his head on Oscar’s chest.

“Yours?” the Australian laughed in response, putting a securing arm around Lando’s waist. 

“Yes. I would be disappointed if you acted like…that, to everyone. Do you, Osc?” he looked up, placing his chin on Oscar’s collarbone, his gaze focusing on every little detail of the face he overanalyzed at least a thousand times already. “I don’t think so. Therefore, you are mine. You are the… Kristoff to my Anna. Or no. Anna to my Kristoff.”

“Okay cowboy, I think you are going too far. Don’t say things you will regret in the morning, when your head is clear” Oscar whispered, but his actions spoke other things. He intertwined his fingers into Lando’s hair, gently separating the messy curls.

“I won’t regret it. I’m too much of a coward to just…say that. But I've wanted to, since months. And I know you want me too, so shut up.”

And shut up he did. There was not a single sound coming from Oscar for what felt like eternity, as he just kept gently massaging Lando’s scalp. The silence would be killing him normally, but his brain didn’t seem to register it as a bad sign right now. Thank god.

“Just so you don’t go into a spiral and die because of too complicated thought processes, you are right about me having feelings for you as well” he finally said, leaning in to kiss the top of his head. “But, I don’t want to take advantage of you in this state. So, the talk still has to wait. Sleep now, hm?”

It was enough to satisfy Lando. Maybe he just crashed in one of the last races of the season, and he would wake up extremely sore, but he would do it in the arms of the boy that he loved, and more, the boy that loved him back. 

The time is right, your perfume fills my head

The stars get red, and, oh, the night’s so blue

And then I go and spoil it all

By saying somethin’ stupid like, “I love you”

5.“songs that oscar likes pt.2 (dancing in the moonlight)”

001. dancing in the moonlight, toploader

002. come on eileen, dexys midnight runners

003. unwritten, natasha bedingfield

004. walking on sunshine, katrina & the waves

005. dancing queen, abba

006. footloose, kenny loggins

007. marry you, bruno mars

008. firework, katy perry

009. dog days are over, florence + the machine

010. getaway car, taylor swift

011. lover, taylor swift

012. west end girls, pet shop boys

013. copacabana (at the copa), barry manilow

014. lost in japan, shawn mendes

015. can’t take my eyes off you, boys town gang

016. fearless, taylor swift

017. supercut, lorde

018. something that i want, tangled

019. dreams, fleetwood mac

020. africa, toto

Dating Oscar was like a dream. He would run out of time in his life if he was to name every single detail he loved about their relationship, it was simply impossible. However, there was one little thing about Oscar he discovered recently, and he couldn’t get over it.

That man couldn’t dance to save his life.

Of course, Lando being the menace he is, ever since he learnt about it, he made it his personal mission to force Oscar to dance with him. Whether it would be when they were spending Christmas in Australia, to cheesy Christmas songs, or at a new years party with their friends. Nothing however seemed to work. 

But, mama didn’t raise a quitter.

He needed a playlist for this. Not just any playlist, a new playlist, since both ‘epic party bangers’ and ‘songs that oscar likes (pre-race jam) didn’t seem to work. That’s how ‘songs that oscar likes pt. 2 (dancing in the moonlight)’ came to life. His newest baby, his freshest creation.

He only added a few songs at first, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to get Oscar to dance. There was no reason to overdo it at the very beginning. If he wanted to succeed he needed to take it slow. 

He put the playlist on during a peaceful evening in Oscar’s apartment in Britain, still during winter break. They were about to set off to Monaco soon to spend the rest of their time there. This was planned as another chill stay-in night, when they would cook dinner – Oscar would, Lando would just watch – and then spend the rest of the night chatting away. 

Well, at least that’s what Oscar thought their night would look like. Lando, however, had other plans.

As ‘dancing in the moonlight’ by toploader started playing, he came up behind his boyfriend, just putting his arms around him, intertwining his hands and resting them on his waist. Slow and careful, Norris. Slow and careful.

“Hi, baby” Oscar smiled, not even turning his head a little, focused on whatever he was making them to eat. It seemed like Lando would have to try harder. With one swift move he put his hands on Oscar’s hips, and turned him over. “Someone’s in a mood?”

“A mood to dance!” he grinned, and the look of horror on Oscar’s face was something to remember. “Come on, you cannot be that bad.”

“I can be, trust me” he sighed, but Lando wasn’t having any of it. He pulled away a couple of centimeters, and reached out to grab his partner’s hands. 

They danced slowly, and probably atrociously. Oscar seemed to trip over his legs every now and then, but Lando still considered it a success. They got to the end of the song, and he cheered quietly, as Oscar turned his attention back to the kitchen stove. Small steps, they said, small steps. He was not giving up now.

Back in Monaco they actually danced in the moonlight, in the garden of Lando’s house. ‘Lover’ and ‘Fearless’ by Taylor Swift were certainly entertaining, but his favourite number of the night had to be ‘Supercut’ by Lorde. 

Oscar’s eyes shined so brightly in the moonlight, and Lando couldn’t resist the urge to kiss him one too many times during their dancing session. They ended up with the music quieted down, sitting on the grass, looking at the stars and talking about their dreams.

When they headed to the factory at the beginning of February, they took a drive from Oscar’s apartment there. When they were coming back, it was already late at night. They pulled over to a gas station, and Oscar was the one to leave the car, as Lando claimed he was not about to get wet from the harsh rain ever so present in England. 

However, he changed his mind when he heard the first notes of ‘unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield coming from inside of the building, the radio loud enough to reach his ears. 

The song was absolutely hunting his social media ever since the stupid rom-com with Sydney Sweeney came out (he forced Oscar to go see it with him, it was terrible. He loved it.) When he saw his boyfriend running back to the car, he seized the chance, and opened the door to get out of it himself. At first, Oscar seemed mortified. But it took one ‘Let’s dance!’ from Lando to convince him. They were laughing like absolute maniacs, and later had completely soaked the interior of Oscar’s car, but none of them seemed to care. Lando definitely added the song to his playlist as soon as he could. It was a must!

And with that, his mission to get Oscar to dance turned out to be a success. Dancing in the kitchen had become a small routine for them. God, Lando was so in love with that man.

Ladies and Gentlemen, will you please stand?

With every guitar string scar on my hand

I take this magnetic force of a man to be my, lover

My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue

All’s well that ends well to end up with you

Swear to be overdramatic and true to my, lover

+1 “songs that reminded me of you/us”

001.london boy, taylor swift

002. style, taylor swift

003. light, wave to earth

004. good old-fashioned loverboy, queen

005. touch tank, quinnie

006. ivy, frank ocean

007. dark red, steve lacy

008. just like heaven, the cure

009. my love mine all mine, mitski

010. honey, honey, abba

011. work song, hozier

012. rebel rebel, david bowie

013. crazy little thing called love, queen

014. pink in the night, mitski

015. i was born to love you, queen

016. let’s dance, david bowie

017. you could start a cult, niall horan

018. here comes the sun, the beatles

019. something, the beatles

020. the way you look tonight, frank sinatra

It was no secret to everyone that Lando lived and breathed music. And Oscar had a few opportunities to learn about it even before they started dating. But when he learnt that Lando has been making situation-specific playlist, that quite usually revolved around Oscar now? He felt like crying. It was just too sweet. 

He was aware of the whole ‘love languages’ thing not being realistic or whatever, but if Lando had a love language it would probably be playlist-making. 

And dancing (he learnt the horrors of it himself). 

Because of that, for the longest time now, he wondered how he could incorporate it into their relationship. He simply wanted to be a good boyfriend, sue him.

With time, Oscar found many little ways to incorporate music into their lives. He sent Lando titles of songs he thought his partner would enjoy, or suggested ones that Lando could add to one of his many playlists, depending on the mood. Hell, he even started getting him flower bouquets at random days, with little song-lyrics notes attached to them. 

Somehow, it still wasn’t the thing he looked for.

And like for many things in his life, Logan was the catalyst to make it all happen. 

They were just hanging out at a padel match with Alex and a few others, when Logan took out his car keys – for whatever reason. He was soon about to learn why he did it. 

“Look, Arthur got me it as a part of his valentines day gift” the American pointed at a keychain, which had a weird sort of bar-code printed out on it. “It links to the song during which we kissed for the first time” he sighed dreamily.

“Oh my god, that's brilliant!” Alex exclaimed, gently examining the keychain in his hand. Oscar couldn’t lie, his intrigue peaked. 

“What is that?” Oscar tilted his head, looking curiously at the item of interest between the three. Maybe it could be the solution to all his music-related brainstorms?

“Oscar, I swear to god, you are the oldest in spirit twenty two years old out there” Logan laughed softly. “It’s a spotify barcode? Like, you generate it, and when you scan it, it leads you to either a song, or a playlist, or an album… whatever.”

Eureca!

He had to contain himself to not squeal from excitement. This was brilliant. This was exactly what he needed. He could kiss Logan right now.

When he got home, he sat down to execute his plan almost immediately. If you told him a year ago he would be sitting here, having a breakdown over what songs would fit perfectly, he would have laughed in your face. 

He hoped Lando would like it – he heard a couple of ‘older’ songs in the older man’s playlist before, but making one mostly contained of them… he wasn’t sure if it was the right move. However, before he could overthink it too much, he looked up an artist online who would be willing to custom make a similar to Logan’s keychain, just with the right barcode for him. Soon enough, he had it ordered. Now all there was left was wait. 

If Lando cried when receiving it, then nobody had to know. 

He kept it as his most prized possession. Maybe they couldn’t be out to the public, but he took pride in fans going crazy, trying to scan the code from the blurred pictures of his keyes that the media was able to take. 

They didn’t know Oscar was his, but he knew it was a sign of that. And that was enough for Lando. 

He had a boy that made believing in love worth it, and hopefully one day, the entire world would know that. For now, he just closed his eyes, and listened to ‘songs that reminded me of you/us’ until he fell asleep.

Something in the way she knows

And all I have to do is think of her

Something in the things she shows me

I don’t want to leave her now

You know I believe and how