Chapter Text
“She was doing WHAT?”
“Yeah I know. I’m not surprised.” Oscar muttered into the phone, doodling in a notebook he had bought years ago.
“How did you even catch her in the act? I…I want to know EVERYTHING!” Logan on the other side of the phone asked in fascination.
“No thanks, Logan.” Oscar refused softly, erasing his doodle.
“You can’t just open up the conversation with ‘My girlfriend was dating another girl’ and not say anything more!” Logan argued as if he was fighting for custody over a child he never had, “And what do you mean by you’re not surprised?”
Oscar held his forearm and rubbed it, biting his lower lip. “You called first. I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Oscar stated, dejected while staring at his blank slate of a notebook page and tapping his pencil tip on the paper. He looked over at Logan’s profile picture with his name right above it. That smirk on his face made Oscar grip onto his pencil tighter. He heaved out a breath, loosening his grip on the pencil and laid his head on the table, trying to smile like someone was watching.
“I just wanted to ask if you wanted to eat some late dinner with me, Osc. Then one thing led to another…something something about your girlfriend being gay.” Logan apologised.
Oscar looked at his schedule he pinned against his corkboard. Crosses on every single day he planned to hang out with his girlfriend which was practically every weekend. He looked back at Logan’s picture with the smirk staring at him and shook his head. “I’m not free, Log. Sorry.” Oscar rejected before tapping his finger on the red end call button. The phone vibrated violently on the table with the same picture in the middle of the screen. The Aussie threw his phone in a drawer and sat on the floor with his back against the wall.
The silence of the night leaves room for many loud things. Things only you can hear but they are so loud you may think they’re there. Are they or not? Who knows. All Oscar knew was that he was following a strict schedule that aligned perfectly. A strict schedule someone told him to follow. For happiness they said. It was a long process they said. Bullshit. Oscar would think in his head every night for the longest of times. But he still did it. He closed his eyes and when he reopened them, nothing changed in his room. Only there was one other person there. A person whose face he couldn’t make out clearly. It was like those ball scribbles you would draw when you didn’t know what to do. City lights shone in the room of the dark night. Oscar smiled softly at the figure and threw it a wave. It waved back and tapped on the mattress. Oscar shook his head, giving the figure a thumbs up.
“How’s your relationship going?” The figure asked as if it was wishing on Oscar’s downfall whilst tilting its head down to the Aussie.
“Not that good. She never really was there for me like you were. It was only a matter of time before it ended.” Oscar murmured, holding onto his knee caps.
“Told ya. Shouldn't have fallen for her.” The figure added, crossing its arms and legs.
The Aussie buried his head in his hands, holding in the tears already demanding to flow. The figure held its hand on Oscar’s head, rubbing his hair in slow motion. “Now now, Osc,” The figure reassured, “the lesson here is not to love again. Simple. If you don’t love, you won’t be betrayed.” Oscar nodded, sniffling and hiccuping. He shifted his sitting position with his head on his knees. He grabbed his inner thighs and hugged them tightly. “You’re right.” Oscar mumbled, choking on every syllable. There was a knock at Oscar’s bedroom door. Oscar glanced at the wooden door. He didn’t move from his spot. Who was at the door? He lived alone. “Don’t open it.” The figure warned, “It could be that girlfriend of yours who’s going to seduce you again.” The door was opened anyway gently with the door handle pushed down slowly and a peak out of a gap.
“Oscar Jack Piastri, where are you? I’m worried about you”
“Don’t answer him.” The figure commanded, covering Oscar’s mouth with one of its hands, “he’ll only annoy you even more. He never understands you, Osc.”
Oscar complied, watching the gap between the door frame and door grow bigger. A shoe stepped in then another before a torso squeezed in. Logan was eventually going to see Oscar sitting down miserably on the ground. The Aussie pushed away the hand on his mouth and walked towards the door. He pulled it open and dropped his hand on Logan’s shoulder that was already in the room. Oscar looked back at the figure staring back at him, shaking its head. Oscar looked back at Logan who already looked more concerned than the Aussie ever saw him to be with a smile he tried plastering on his face.
“Who are you looking at?”
“A guardian angel. I talk to it every night.” Oscar shrugged his shoulders.
“Shouldn’t I be able to see it too?” Logan asked, scanning the room for any abnormalities.
Oscar looks around the room behind him with a more maniacal smile on his face when he turns back to the American. Logan pushed the hand off his shoulders, stepping back slightly from the Aussie. “You’re not even a Christian, Osc.” Logan muttered, “You believe there’s a guardian angel protecting you when you don’t even believe there’s a creator?”
“It invited you in.”
Oscar pulled Logan to sit beside him on his bed. He waved at the figure and introduced Logan formally with a warm smile on his face, waving to a thing in the middle of the two. Logan hesitantly waved at the figure which made Oscar’s face light up. “So you CAN see it!” Oscar said in excitement.
“Doesn’t look like it, Osc.” The figure replied.
“What do you mean?” Oscar asked, eyes softening with worry.
“It means you’re going insane, Oscar.” Logan cleared his throat, “whatever that’s between us is a figment of your imagination.”
Oscar stared at Logan for a brief moment. The American stared back with the eyes speaking to him to get help. Oscar held his own hand like he was holding another’s and moved away from Logan. Logan sat closer, touching shoulders with the Australian. The figure and Logan seemed to have merged with Logan having the scribbly face. Oscar rubbed his eyes and stared at the American again.
“I’m bringing you to the mental institute.”
Sat in the car was Logan driving a Mustang and Oscar laying in the passenger seat twiddling his thumbs. The road was rather empty and as well as was everywhere else. The only thing in sight was the mental institute up in front as a tiny white dot. Worn out signs and rusty metal poles planted beside concrete roads were sped past by the American. “Is that in kilometres or miles per hour I can never tell.” Logan joked, smiling forcefully before compiling with the awkward silence again. One hand on the lever and another hand lightly on the steering wheel. He lifted the hand on the lever and tapped on Oscar’s side. The Aussie flinched, looking at the American with predatory eyes before back at his thumbs. Logan glanced at his radio and switched it on with 5 seconds of summer playing. Oscar was already intrigued, vibing slightly to the song. “They’re Australian, aren’t they?” Logan commented, “I know maybe two songs by them.” “Famous actually.” Oscar murmured softly, still bopping his head to the song, “Not a big fan though.”
After the song, there was some dry commentary between the radio hosts, something about a new cafe that had just opened in Adelaide. The mental institute already looked huge as Logan continued driving. “Have to focus now, can’t ram into a tree at the roundabout later.” Logan told Oscar who wasn’t even paying attention to the road in front of them. He shifted his hand back onto the lever and shifted some gears down. The radio commentators started talking about a dog parade that was going to happen in New South Wales. “Why do people like dogs so much?” Oscar asked Logan while still fidgeting with his fingers. “People like owning furry little companions that like to play.” Logan answered, chuckling at the random question from Oscar.
“Should we get a dog in the future?” Oscar asked, “You know, right after I’m released.”
Logan shifted his hand into another spot on the steering wheel with his skin brushing against the black leather. That sound alone was the only thing answering Oscar for a while. Logan then turned the steering wheel, frantically changing shifts to the entrance of the institute. Oscar opened the door and gently closed it with Logan reassuring the Aussie he’d be back after he found a parking spot. Oscar stood at the entrance with his luggage in hand. He felt a brush of wind on his arm and looked in that direction. The figure was ominously standing beside him. He never expected it to be that tall but maybe it was because he was short. “Hi Osc, nice to see you somewhere new.” The figure greeted Oscar with what Oscar thought was a friendly smile. Oscar waved at the figure with his hand that was carrying the luggage, trying to reciprocate the same smile. Logan came sprinting to the Aussie, almost panting at the Aussie’s face. He gripped onto Oscar’s shoulder tightly, pointing towards the doors of the mental institute. “Let’s go.” He panted out.
They reached the front counter and Logan had to straighten his posture to make sure he didn’t look like he was the one that was checking in. The front counter looked like something out of a rundown motel–old and raggedy. The American asked Oscar to sit down at the two chairs in front of the counter and wait. Oscar looked back at the figure outside the institute. It gestured to the Aussie to sit down at the worn out faded seat like a butler welcoming his young master back. He sat down, trying to ignore the state of the chair. Oscar looked at Logan’s back, seeing the American joking with the staff behind the counter and signing some papers. He still looked hesitant and concerned, darting his pupils to the Aussie occasionally. The counter staff walked up to the diligently waiting Oscar with the fakest smile the Aussie has ever seen. “Come with me.” She instructed, walking already to the stairs without checking if Oscar was following behind her. He sighed, looking behind him to the American biting his lip. Oscar looked at the figure outside. It nodded its head. “Logan is concerned about you, Osc. You should go.” The figure said, pointing his head to the American staring at the Aussie. Oscar nodded, waved the two a farewell and turned to the stairs. After walking a step, he felt a warmth on his back and hands hugging his waist for a brief moment before pulling away.
“We’ll get that dog, Osc. I promise.” Logan whispered into his ear.