Chapter Text
“This has got to change.”
Logan breaks the silence. He turns from lying flat on the couch to look at Oscar. Oscar doesn’t look up from the doom scrolling but he does stops swiping, his way of showing that he’s paying attention.
“I’m not seeing a problem here.” the dry sarcasm already becoming second nature, even though they were barely adults. A childhood away from family aged you quickly.
“Your couch doesn’t even fit the two of us. We have one person laying on it and the other sitting on the ground.” Logan’s tired of his house being a studio apartment with one bed and an electric kettle. Oscar’s own wasn’t much better, considering the bare living room they sat in right now had only an obnoxious green couch to its name. Also, the couch was something Oscar saw on the street and thought himself a genius for bringing back. “Did you even wash this thing man?” He gave an inquisitive sniff before deciding that wasn’t a line of questioning, he wanted to pursue, at least it was comfy.
Chasing your dream halfway across the world was great and all until the economic drawbacks hit. Especially when emotional/financial/any other type of support from your disappointed parents was limited.
“We barely get paid man, and, let’s be honest, our apartments suck. There’s got to be a better way.” Being in F3 doesn’t exactly come with job security and insurance. Logan’s part time job at the pizzeria didn’t bring much income either.
“And what’s that?” Logan turns onto his stomach, facing the back of Oscar’s head.
“I dunno, but we could think of one, if we put our heads together.” Oscar tilts his head back and Logan leans forward to bump their foreheads together. They’ll figure it out.
---
There wasn’t really any logical explanation for what happened after that. Finding anyone willing to rent a house to two teenagers was a task in itself. Two kids with no real job and family nearby aren’t the most reliable tenants. So of course, when they found a precious old lady willing to let them tour a house, they weren’t going to say no. And Logan will swear by his heart that he didn’t know any of the terms going into that tour, only that it was in their budget and a lot more than they would find anywhere else in London.
Their tour ended in a pretty kitchen, really, one with a lot more space than two teenagers would ever need. Logan could not complain about anything. This place was perfect, close enough for both of their commutes, a full bathroom, two bedrooms, and an actual living room. Enough space for the both of them to co-exist and not step on each other’s toes.
The landlady peeks at the two of them, still exploring the kitchen, “Well dears, did you like the place?”
“Honestly, Mrs. Graham, we couldn’t ask for anything better.” Oscar walks over to the counter, “When did you want the lease signed?”
“Oh, that’s wonderful! Honestly, it’s a hassle finding tenants with all the silly rules this apartment’s HOA asks for.” She looks absolutely delighted, her grey eyes twinkle as she pulls out the lease from her oversized purse. Logan couldn’t really tell you how such a small woman managed to carry that around. “I just need one of you to sign here. The spouse clause makes sure that’s fine, in case both of you don’t want to sign.” Her eyes shift between the two as if implying they had something they would like to keep under wraps.
“I’m sorry, the spouse clause?” Logan tries to not sound too confused, lest they lose this apartment too.
“Oh yes, like I said before, the HOA are a true bunch of lunatics, they wouldn’t let anyone single move into the complex, noise complaints and all that. I can tell that won’t be a problem with you two however!” That’s when the panic starts to fill Logan, one peek towards Oscar tells him he’s not alone.
Logan tries weakly for a joke “The noise complaints or the couple part ma’am?” And for his troubles, Mrs. Graham lets out a little chuckle, “Oh you boys are cute, but I’m hoping for both dear. Anyhow! I’d just need one signature that both of you will pay me every month, and that’s about it, dears!”
Oscar starts reaching for the pen in her outstretched hand, “Of course, thank you Mrs. Graham. And I think it goes without saying, we’d like to keep this down on the low?” He puts the pen down with an almost undetectable tremble to his hand. Instinctively, Logan covers Oscar’s hand with his own, the instinct to comfort his best friend always coming first.
At this point, Logan’s brain had stopped making much sense of anything. The mistake their new landlady had made and Oscar running along without a second thought. Logan had never really listened to much his parents said after the homophobia kicked in, but maybe their brains really wasn’t done growing yet, you know, with them being 19 and 18. He couldn’t really think of anything now but somehow, he knew this would not end well.
“Of course, dear! I know how hard it can be for young love. Especially when you must elope.” She sighs dreamily before sweeping the papers up into her purse, “You know, I was in love once, not much older than the two of you really.” She scrambles to her feet and with impressive speed considering the heels and age, bee lined to the door.
“Oh! I’ve almost forgotten!” In one last whirlwind, Mrs. Graham drops the keys to their new house in Logan’s hands before leaving. “Let me know if you need anything at all loves!”
The two stand in the doorway without any way to really explain what had just happened.
The calm only lasted a couple seconds before the two started arguing.
“Logan! You said this place was the one! You didn’t even look at the terms?”
“Now wait a second Osc, I didn’t say that exactly,” In Logan’s defense, he really wasn’t spending a million hours looking at the fine print for all the apartment in London. He scanned it, very quickly for the biggies and left it at that. He had more important things to be doing, like his career?! “You’re the one that signed it anyways! Without even talking to me!”
“I panicked! We really can’t keep looking at houses, we have things to do. And I couldn’t disappoint that sweet woman, could I?” Logan scoffs, they both walk to the kitchen. “Oh, so we signed a lease, just so we wouldn’t hurt a little old lady’s feelings, huh?”
Oscar followed it up, much quieter than before, “I may have also already lost my old apartment.”
“That’s what I thought!” The triumphant feeling was short lived when reality started to set in for both of them. They had a house, and it was going to be ok. It was comforting for Logan to know that he could always count on Oscar to have his back.
“Also, I wouldn’t tell Mark about this right away.” Logan suggests. He could see the image perfectly already, the retired racer strangling his protégé after hearing what happened.
Oscar only groans before rubbing his eyes aggressively, “He’s going to kill me’” The older Aussie was definitely a force to be reckoned with on the best days. Imagine Mark’s state when he realizes his protege had gone on to live with his rival.
“Hey at least now we can save enough money to buy an actual couch.”
“She comes with us, douche bag.”
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All things considered the older Aussie took it as well as he could. “At least it’s in a quite area, away from whatever media decides to attack you later.” Though he may not admit it, Logan was eternally grateful for Mark and Benny, the two really didn’t have to but always showed up for Oscar and Logan when they needed it. In this case, it meant moving furniture and having endless patience with their question about how to take care of a house.
The house itself came together surprisingly quickly, with their combined funds and Logan’s eye for semi acceptable interior design it only took them two months to put it all together. Somehow working around the ugly couch (Oscar insisted it was washed, courtesy of Mark’s water vacuum) and beautiful rug Logan found.
“It’s a lot on the eyes don’t you think?” Oscar stood with his arms crossed looking at the, in Logan’s opinion, beautiful swirls of color.
“Oh, shut up, it’s a very open minded rug. It’s gonna make us happy when we look at. Plus, nothing else matched the damn couch.” It was a wonder the room didn’t end up looking like a particularly kleptomaniac bird’s nest.
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Decorating his bedroom however was another struggle. After living out of a tiny bedroom with his dad and then living in a dorm for the last few years, Logan didn’t really have a sense of who the hell he was. Anything he tried to put up in his room felt odd. Not really his per say.
He loved his family really, but the constant insistence that he should return to America and do something else wore his relationship with his parents down to a thread. Not to mention that they avoided any mention of his sexuality like a cancer.
“Hey mom, how are you?” The first time he spoke to his mom about the house, he really tried to avoid the reason him and Oscar had to move in together. Any mention of low money meant another argument about his “ambitions”. But as Logan’s luck always fails, what can go wrong will go wrong.
“Oh, honey you really should consider that maybe… maybe this isn’t right for you. Your father wouldn’t mind you coming back.” She sounded so sure that it just broke his heart into a million sharp edges again. Was that all they believed in him? With a time-limit on his dream? Times up, give up and do something else.
“Don’t worry mom, we can take care of ourselves. Bye.” He really wasn’t in the mood to get the rest of his hopes and dreams crushed. Logan flopped back onto the bare mattress and watched the ceiling fan slowly rotate. Oscar walks by the door with a box of stuff, his head barely peeking past the top, “Lo, you okay?”
“Just the usual” Being friends since you were kids meant nothing was a secret anymore.
A grimace, that wasn’t something you saw every day on Oscar Piastri’s face. He gave it a second of silence before replying, “I’m making us dinner today, to congratulate us on our new apartment.”
That brings a little smile out of Logan despite his gloomy mood, “Thanks, Osc.”
Eventually Logan decided on a picture from his karting days, one of Logan and Oscar sitting by the track celebrating a race with ice cream, to hang up.
That’s as good a start as he was going to get.