Work Text:
And I remember being younger and my mother told me the truth
Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest parts of you
Take heed when things get hard and don't you ever turn around
You'll find someone, someday, somewhere that grows you to the clouds
1:26 ───ㅇ───── 2:43
Oscar never actually explored in America.
It was just one of those places that didn’t seem all that interesting for him to wander in. Compared to places like Italy, Spain, France, and so many other places in Europe, nothing in America interested him. And maybe he was just biased, but still, he had no desire to wander. So, whenever he was in Austin, Vegas, or Miami, he pretty much lived like a robot; sleep, eat, race, repeat.
That was, until his first race in America with Logan as his boyfriend.
Logan gave all the vibes of your standard Frat boy any other weekend. However, when he was placed in Miami, his environment, there was no way he was beating the accusations. The first day he visited Oscar at the McLaren Motorhome, fully decked out in Miami Dolphins gear, Oscar knew it was going to be a rough weekend.
“Osc! Osc!” Logan exclaimed excitedly, nearly barreling right into Oscar. “I have an idea!”
Now, that was one of Oscar’s least favorite statements from anyone, and if it had been someone like Lando, he would’ve instantly said “Nope” and walked away. But it was Logan. It was Logan, and whatever his idea was seemed to excite him a lot, so Oscar smiled softly. “What’s your idea, Logie?”
“You should let me show you around!” Logan decided cheerfully. “You never explore when you’re here, and I think it’s because you need a tour guide. So, you should let me be your tour guide. There’s a fair in my hometown this weekend that we could go to?”
“A fair?” Oscar asked skeptically.
“Yeah! It’s a county fair. There’ll be carnival rides, food and games, and a petting zoo! We used to go all the time when I was a kid. Oh, and they set off fireworks!” This all sounded very stereotypically American and was the exact sort of thing Oscar tended to avoid like the plague. But Logan said he used to go as a kid, and Oscar felt bad ruining that childhood memory for him.
“That sounds great, love.” Oscar decided, resting an arm over his shoulders and pulling his boyfriend closer.
Logan snuggled closer to him, burying his face in his shoulder and murmuring, “It does?” Oscar loved moments like this. When Logan was close to him, they weren’t bothered by the press, PR managers, or aggressively nosy teammates. When they were, for a moment, just them. Maybe this fair would give them a chance to have a longer period of this.
So, after practice and sprint qualifying, Oscar found himself taking a quick shower and slipping on less conspicuous clothes, a simplistic grayscale McLaren hoodie with only a small McLaren logo in the corner and on the cuffs of the sleeves, and jeans. Then, he made his way to the Williams Motorhome. Logan was waiting out back for him, leaning against the wall and scrolling through his phone. He was wearing a different Miami Dolphins jersey and jeans, with a pair of sunglasses resting on top of his head. If Oscar didn’t know him, he probably would’ve thought he was just a tourist.
But Oscar did know him, having seen that face light up the same way it was now a hundred billion other times when Logan realized Oscar was there.
“You ready?” Logan asked, linking his arm through Oscar’s. And Oscar, surprisingly, was. He had decided he was okay with this. If he wanted the endgame he had been dreaming about with Logan, he was going to have to suck it up and learn to like America.
Oscar drove, Logan deciding he liked to ride Passenger Princess in what he had coined as Oscar’s “Soccer Mom SUV”. The downside was that the American was horrible at directions, even in his hometown. He seemingly forgotten that they drive on the opposite side of the road in Europe, so Oscar was equally as confused about his directions as his boyfriend was.
Somehow, though, they managed to get to the fair in one piece.
And as Oscar parked the car, he could feel the excitement that was rolling off of Logan in waves. His boyfriend, not unlike a toddler, was bouncing up and down in the passenger seat, wiggling around as his fingers itched to unbuckle his seatbelt. And once Oscar put the car in park, Logan did just that, rushing out of the car and all but slamming the door. Oscar was tempted to tell him off because he should really be more careful with Oscar’s car. But he decided to let it go. His boyfriend was too cute to reprimand.
Oscar follows Logan, letting him drag him through the parking lot, to the front gate of the fairgrounds. Logan holds out two slips of paper to one of the security guards posted in front, and he steps aside. Logan grabs Oscar’s hand and barrels into the fair. There are people everywhere, and Oscar’s afraid they’re gonna crash into someone or crush some unsuspecting kid. Lucky for him, they made it to their first booth without any accidents.
“Osc, have you ever played Skee Ball?” Logan asked him, and Oscar nodded.
“Of course I have. We have arcades in Australia.” Oscar reminded his boyfriend gently. As confusing as Oscar thought America was, he knew that it wasn’t much easier for Logan to understand Australia. But they were both trying, and that’s what mattered.
“Come on, let’s play. 220 points and we get a giant bear!”
And how could Oscar argue with that? How could he argue with a giant teddy bear when he had an SUV that seated eight and had definitely seated more once or twice? How could he argue when Logan was looking at him pleadingly, like a child?
Answer? He couldn’t.
“ We ?” He teased gently. “Who said I was sharing?”
“Who said you were winning?” Logan retorted as he handed four tickets to the fair employee. Oscar had to admit, his boyfriend was pretty cute when he got competitive, but there was no way he was letting Logan win. He grew up in a competitive family, and he hadn’t gotten this good at Skeeball for nothing. No one was safe, not his sisters, and not his boyfriend.
So, when he scored a perfect 300, Oscar felt very, very smug. “I- Babe, it wasn’t that big of a competition.” Logan teased, making Oscar laugh. “Can I pick out the bear? Pleaseee.” And Oscar decided, yes, his Logie Bear could pick out the bear. Anything to make him happy.
“Of course, you can, Logie.” Oscar gave him a soft smile. This wasn’t so bad, he supposed. It reminded him, a bit, of when he and his sisters used to go to the arcade as kids. His parents would give them 30 tokens each, and they would always pick out the competitive games, the ones that, in his family, would end in the four kids yelling at each other.
This time, though, the memory was a bit softer. He watched as Logan waited impatiently for the game operator to bring the stuffed bear down, his boyfriend bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, and decided he would do this again. He would do it ten billion more times. He would live at this fair for the rest of eternity if Logan stayed like this forever.
“Osc, look!!” Logan ran over to him, brandishing a giant, light brown bear wearing a blue bowtie with orange polka dots. “Look at my bear!”
“How are you gonna put that on the plane?” Oscar teased, but Logan merely shrugged, unbothered as he pointed at the bumper cars.
“Come on! The bumper cars are my favorite!” Oscar didn’t have time to react as Logan shoved their new bear friend into his arms and sprinted off, leaving Oscar holding a bear he hadn’t asked to hold. He sighed lovingly. Logan was lucky he was cute.
He followed the American through the crowd, to the giant tent, full of what looked like the karts they used to race in, but with giant pillows attached with duck tape. “Lo, are you sure these are safe-?” Oscar asked, uncertain that he wanted to risk getting injured on a race weekend. Not that he didn’t trust his boyfriend’s judgment, he trusted it for most things, but when it came to safety, Oscar was always the more cautious one in the relationship.
“I’m sure!” Logan exclaimed as he sat down in one of the cars. “I used to ride them as a kid all the time, and I never got hurt!”
“Right. Well, you’re gonna have a passenger.” Oscar placed the bear next to Logan and patted its head. “He’s gonna be your partner. Think of him as your… your race engineer!” And before Logan could protest, they announced that the ride would be starting shortly, and Oscar rushed to find his kart.
Oscar soon learned that the bumper cars were, in fact, just karts that someone had duct taped pillows to, because there was no way that normal bumper cars went that fast. He felt like he was back on the karting track again, like he was seven years old again, competing against Logan like he was right now. Except this time, he was allowed to run Logan off the track, free of penalty.
And that’s exactly what he did, full-throttle, sending Logan into the wall and making him laugh and giggle hysterically. “OSC!!” He squealed, bracing for impact. “Why would you do that to meeeee? Don’t you want me to winnnnn?”
“Nooooooo, I wanna win,” Oscar argued, before letting out a laugh. Now, they were back on the karting track. “I can’t let you winnnn.”
There was a time, in the early days of their karting careers, when Logan had a rough qualifying. His engine was slow and lagging, and he fell behind to P11. After Quali, he and Oscar had been hanging out under a tree in the field next to the track. Logan had been lying in the grass, his legs resting on the tree trunk, and Oscar occupied the space next to him, sitting up with his back against the tree. Oscar had his neck angled upward, watching the wind rustle the leaves on the tree branches. “Hey, Osc?” Logan had asked.
“Yeah, Lo?” Oscar replied, not looking down from his focus point on the tree’s foliage.
“If my engine’s crap tomorrow like it was today, will you let me win?” Oscar almost laughed at that question. It was a silly one since no one in his right mind would ever give up their higher position for someone else. But, when he looked down, he saw that Logan was dead serious, looking up at him with sad eyes.
“Lo, you know I can’t do that.” Oscar reminded him gently, not wanting to pop his bubble so harshly.
Logan let out a sad sigh. “Yeah, I know. I just… I feel so stupid every time my engine fails. Every time I DNF, I feel like everyone’s laughing at me and judging me. Like, look at him, he can’t finish a race.”
“No one thinks that, Logie. And if they do, that’s their problem. You’re an amazing racer.” Oscar had assured him softly before smirking. “And I tell you what. If you win, we’ll say that I let you win, okay?” Logan had smacked him in the arm, giggling.
“That doesn’t count!” He had argued matter-of-factly.
Oscar had just shrugged. “I don’t know, Logie. Seems pretty fair to me.”
And now, as Oscar thought about that moment, he chuckled softly to himself. “I’ll tell you what. If you win, we’ll say that’s what happened, okay?”
“Oh my GOD, I can’t believe you remember that.” Logan groaned, rolling his eyes. “No, no. I’m not a kid. I don’t need you to lie to make me feel better. I’m a big boy, I can handle disappointment.”
“Alright, alright. Whatever you say, Logie. Not like I was going to let you win anyways.” Logan gaped at him in fake offense, like Oscar had kicked a puppy, and he let out a laugh. “Loges, I was kidding. It’s just a game. And if you really wanna win, I’ll let you win. All you have to do is ask.”
The smile he got from Logan was everything. He would’ve given the whole world to see that smile again. He would’ve given up his McLaren seat to live in this moment forever.
Something about Logan reminded Oscar of the sun. Maybe it was his blonde hair, maybe it was his smile, or maybe it was his sunshine personality. Maybe it was the way he perked up like a golden retriever whenever he was excited about something, or maybe it was the way he made everyone around him smile without trying.
Either way, Oscar was ready to give it all up for Logan if he needed him to.
And he did end up letting the American win, and the joy on his face and the kiss Oscar received from him was worth every single minute he had spent wishing for someone like him. “Have I told you how much I love you lately?” Oscar asked, breaking the kiss and squeezing Logan’s hips gently. “Because I do.”
Logan giggled happily, a blushing disaster as he nodded. “Yeah, I know. Can we go on the Ferris Wheel now?”
“Wow, not even gonna say you love me back?” Oscar teased, kissing his boyfriend’s cheek gently. “Of course we can.” After stopping at several more rides and games along the way, they finally found their way to the Ferris Wheel. By then, the sun was starting to set, and it felt like this had been planned like the universe had stalled them just long enough for them to have their cheesy Hallmark moment on the wheel. They climbed into the cart, and while Oscar knew they should be sitting across from each other to evenly distribute the weight, he couldn’t help the fact that he wanted to sit next to Logan, if not just to feel the calming weight of his head on his shoulder.
“Hey, Osc?” Logan murmured sleepily, his head falling to Oscar’s shoulder as he stared at the sunset outside the cart. Logan reminded him of the sun in another way too. The way that he always became soft and quiet when he was tired, like how the colors of the sun and the sky became soft and quiet when night was falling.
“Yeah, Lo?” Oscar whispered, holding him close.
“I love you too.” And Oscar was certain that if he could put that sound in a bottle and keep it for the rest of his life, he would.
2:10 ───ㅇ───── 2:43
I've been livin', waitin' on the day
That the good Lord willin', send you out my way
I've seen hard times, bad luck, all that in-between
Sweetest of the sunflowers, yeah, you're the sun to me