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It was the Silverstone media day when things started to get really weird for Lando.
Silverstone was generally a pretty hectic situation as it was, considering it was both Lando's home race and the teams, meaning their media duties were practically 24/7 in the week leading up to it, especially with the special livery which usually accompanied the race, which required further media, appearances, PR, et cetera, et cetera.
That said, Lando left the last fan stage of the day feeling considerably exhausted, glad that the day was almost over and he'd be able to go back to the hotel and sleep.
On his way back from hospitality, he walked past Alex, who was wrapping up his own media things, walking away from his own gaggle of media people. Alex called him over, grabbing at his shoulder when Lando got close enough.
"How you doing mate?" he asked, throwing Lando an easy smile.
Lando smiled back at his old friend, reaching up to run a hand through his own hair, "yeah, not bad, glad for it to be over" he let out a light laugh.
He suddenly became aware that Alex was massaging his shoulder lightly, not having let go yet. Lando rolled his shoulder, hoping that Alex would get the hint, but, to Lando's dismay, if anything his grip got tighter.
What the hell?
Lando opened his mouth to ask what he was doing when Alex started talking again "I like it when you run your hand through your hair like that" He was still smiling, still massaging Lando's shoulder lightly. Lando was feeling increasingly trapped. "makes your arms look nice" Alex continued, small smile still on his face, as if what he was saying was completely normal.
"um-" Lando stuttered, caught off guard.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you mate?" Alex continued, "'Cause I do"
Lando became increasingly aware that something was very wrong and he should get out of the situation he had inexplicably found himself in.
He gently extricated himself from Alex, "Thanks mate" he responded, hoping the expression on his face wasn't too terrified. He checked his watch, before stepping away further, "I've gotta get going, team thing, you know" he let out a wooden laugh.
Alex nodded good naturedly, "yeah, 'course, but hey, if you wanna get dinner after this, i'm game", smiling at Lando again, giving him an uncomfortable once over with his eyes before wandering off towards the Williams motor home.
Lando was stood stock still for a second, trying to reconcile what had just happened. Had Alex just asked him out on a date?
Just as he was about to turn and get back to the McLaren motor home as fast as he could, his attention was caught by the other Williams driver.
"Hey, Cabron!" Carlos' voice cut through the air, soon followed by an arm heavy around his shoulders.
"Hey Carlos" Lando smiled at the other man, he frowned slightly before asking "hey, do you know if Alex is feeling okay today?", hoping to get some clarity in Alex's weird actions.
Carlos frowned "I haven't noticed anything, i'm sure he's fine" then his tone turned slightly darker "When were you talking to Alex?"
Lando hesitated, looking at Carlos sideways, "Just then, he just left"
Carlos' arm slipped from around Lando's shoulder to rest lightly on his waist, just above where his race suit was folded down.
Oh no.
Lando tried to inch out of Carlos' hold, looking up at his old teammate as he grinned at him, pushing his own hair back and shaking it out as he looked down at Lando with dark eyes.
Carlos leaned in, not noticing how Lando attempted to lean away from him, "I don't think I taught you enough Spanish while we were teammates" he murmered.
Lando laughed nervously "I think you did" he smiled, hoping it would deter Carlos from whatever the hell was happening right now.
Carlos leaned into him again, to Lando's distress, whispering "Te amo, mi tesoro" into his ear. It tickled at the back of his neck weirdly, giving him unpleasant goosebumps.
"Do you know what that means?" Carlos asked, leaning back again to look Lando in the eye.
Lando laughed nervously again, shaking his head as his eyes darted desperately around for an escape, unfortunately for him, an empty paddock met his frantic searching.
Carlos finally stepped away from him, letting Lando take a grateful breath, Carlos winked at him, "I'll tell you over dinner tonight" he promised, before turning away and following Alex in the direction of the Williams motor home.
Lando stood frozen again for a second, a creeping feeling that something was very, very wrong becoming apparent. Then he turned, making his way back to McLaren, to the safety of his driver's room, trying to take the back alleys of the paddock, trying to avoid the last stragglers that peppered the area.
Just as he was about to turn the last corner, he froze as an Australian accented voice called his name, he stopped dead, turning to come face to face with Mark Webber, a feeling of dread appearing in his stomach.
Lando knew he and Mark had a mild mutual dislike for each other, friendly enough to share space, and only around Oscar, definitely not friendly enough for Mark to call for his attention as if they were close mates.
He came closer to come and clap Lando on the shoulder lightly, thankfully not pulling an Alex or Carlos and letting his hand drop.
"Just wanted to let you know that you've been doing great lately" He started, standing just on the edge of uncomfortably close.
Lando smiled at him, "er- thanks mate", desperately thinking of how he could get out of this.
"You and Oscar both" He continued, he grinned at Lando again "you're good for him" Mark stated, nodding to himself, before clapping Lando on the back again and heading off in the opposite direction.
Lando let out a sigh of relief at the shortness of the interaction, before staring bewildered after Mark. If Mark Webber, of all people, was coming up to Lando unprompted to offer his opinion on his and Oscar's teammate relationship, a positive opinion nonetheless, then something was undoubtedly very wrong.
As quickly as he could, Lando darted into the motor home, which was mercifully mostly empty, he ran up the stairs, hoping to make it to his drivers' room undetected, so he could figure out what the hell was going on.
Unfortunately for him, because apparently luck refused to be on his side, Lando saw his teammate round the corner, presumably heading towards his own room, fiddling with something on his phone as he walked. Lando braced himself slightly, stopping in the middle of the hall so he could prepare himself for whatever Oscar would do.
Oscar was probably the worst person to randomly confess his love to Lando, mostly because he was the one person Lando actually wanted to hear the words from. Which was quite pathetic, considering the situation he found himself in.
Oscar came all the way up to him, before stopping, finally looking up from his phone to register the block in his way, Lando braced himself again.
"Uh, hey mate" Oscar said, somewhat awkwardly. Lando didn't respond, still preparing for whatever confession Oscar was about to come up with.
"You're kind of in the way-" Oscar said
"Please don't tell me you're in love with me" He begged his teammate, disregarding his words and cutting him off mid sentence.
"What?" Oscar said, something like distress in his voice.
"What?" Lando spoke almost simultaneously, not prepared for Oscar to have zero inclinations towards a love confession.
He thought he saw a slight flicker of panic go through his eyes before Oscar let out a tiny shocked laugh "why the hell would I be in love with you?" he asked, voice a touch higher than usual.
Lando narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously "Because everyone is".
Oscar blinked, before making a face at him "That's a bit presumptuous mate".
"No, seriously, somebody cursed me" Lando blurted out, not wanting Oscar to get the wrong impression.
"Somebody cursed you?" Oscar sounded incredibly sceptical.
"Yes!" Lando insisted, "everyone I've interacted with today has been weirdly nice, or even just outright confessed their love for me out of nowhere, there is literally no other explanation"
"You sure they're not just… pranking you?" Oscar asked.
Lando thought back to Mark and shuddered "Unlikely" he responded.
"Ok fine, who have you interacted with who 'confessed their love' to you?" He said the 'confessed their love' part with a heavy tone of sarcasm, which Lando didn't appreciate.
"Uh, Carlos, Alex," He ticked them off his fingers, before pausing, awkwardly looking away from Oscar, "Mark" he winced
"Wait, what? Mark? Webber? My manager?" Oscar interrupted, sounding horrified
"Yes" Lando hissed out "and I don't want to think about that more than I have to, thanks"
Oscar sputtered slightly, clearly attempting to say something and failing. He closed his eyes for a second, clearly attempting to reset, before opening them again and taking a breath. "What the hell was Mark doing?"
"He wasn't acting like a toxic mother in law" Lando shuddered "and he patted me on the shoulder while telling me that I was good for you"
"A toxic…" Oscar trailed off, clearly confused, a light flush now colouring his cheeks. Noticeably, he didn't address the second part of Lando's statement.
"Y'know, like clearly protective of his kid" he gestured to Oscar "and hates everyone and everything that they deem a 'threat'" he did little air quotes to emphasise the point he was making.
"we're not married?" Oscar asked, clearly caught off guard by Lando's analogy "and Mark isn't my dad" he tacked on to the end, almost as a second thought.
Lando rolled his eyes "That's not the point Oscar"
"Right" Oscar was still side eyeing him with a weird look. "Should we try and tell someone from the team maybe? they might be able to get someone in to fix it" Oscar pivoted, clearly trying to escape whatever it was that Mark had told Lando, even though it really wasn't that bad, just odd.
Just then, Zak rounded the corner, almost immediately fixing his gaze on Lando, eyes brightening.
Lando tensed, which Oscar noticed, turning around to catch sight of Zak also. Moving so they were stood shoulder to shoulder, both facing Zak.
"Ah, there are my drivers!" Zak announced, loud voice booming through the otherwise quiet hall.
"You did a great job on the media today guys", he patted Oscar on the shoulder before grabbing Lando by both shoulders and shaking them almost aggressively, Lando felt as Zak's hands squeezed uncomfortably at his shoulders before he let go, sliding his palms halfway down his biceps before disengaging.
Lando spotted Oscar making a wide eyed expression of horror in his periphery at Zak's motions. He wanted desperately to do the same, instead settling on a weak smile that may have come out more like a grimace.
"Gotta carry on this momentum through the weekend guys!" Zak was still speaking "Gonna have a papaya one-two this weekend" he said, cheerfully, directing a grin full of teeth towards Lando. It reminded him somewhat of a Shark. He then shot a much milder smile at Oscar before making to move past them both.
Zak patted Lando on the shoulder on his way past, giving him a very obvious once over before disappearing back down the hallway and into his own office.
"Oh, that was-" Oscar started, clearly disturbed
"We're never speaking of this again" Lando cut him off, staring blankly at the door Zak had just disappeared behind.
"Should we be concerned that it started off normal?" Oscar tried again, desperately trying to school his face into a neutral expression, despite the undercurrent of horrified amusement that ran through the words.
"Never. Again" Lando gritted out, still refusing to look at Oscar.
Oscar just nodded dutifully, before grabbing Lando's arm and dragging them both further down the hallway into Lando's drivers' room, locking the door behind them both. Lando walked further into the room, leaning against the far wall and placing his head in his hands , still recovering from the psychological damage Zak had dealt him.
"It's been like that all day?" Oscar asked, back to the door
Lando shook his head "Nah, only since the last fan stage, I have no idea what triggered it" He admitted, helplessly.
He looked up at Oscar "I wonder why it didn't work with you though" Lando mused, regarding Oscar with suspicion, as if he was going to suddenly announce that he wasn't the real Oscar… or something.
Oscar froze, tensing up ever so slightly as he raised his eyes to look at Lando fully.
"Not saying that you did it!" Lando rushed out, "It's just weird that it's only you s'all" he muttered, lightly scuffing his shoe against the ground, biting at his lip, a nervous tic he'd never quite managed to shake.
"It didn't work because I already am" Oscar blurted out "in love with you, I mean"
"What?"
"I was before- already I mean, since like, before my rookie year" Oscar admitted, biting his lip slightly, looking at Lando with an earnest look in his eye.
Lando froze, hope bloomed in his chest for a small moment at Oscar's confession, he turned towards Oscar before reality crashed down around him and he instinctively tried to shuffle further back against the wall. Oscar wasn't in love with him, it was just the curse talking, putting words in his mouth, making it so even Oscar believed himself.
"Lando?" Oscar's voice was small, scared even.
"Osc, you're not- It's just the curse thing talking" Lando whispered, holding his hands out in front of him placatingly, trying to put space between them, swallowing through his own hurt and disappointment.
The vulnerable expression quickly dissipated from Oscar's eye, a look of hurt quickly replacing it.
"You don't believe me" the statement was flat, hurt.
Lando swallowed "Oscar, it's not-" he hesitated "everyone is in love with me right now" he finished, lamely.
"You don't even know if it's actually a curse" Oscar sounded desperate, pleading, taking half a step towards Lando.
Lando tried to shuffle further back, failed, considering he was already backed up against the wall "I think I should try to figure this out by myself" he said, thinking it was probably best to remove himself from the situation.
Oscar took another step towards him "No wait, please let me help".
"Osc-" Lando tried again.
"If I help you fix whatever this is, and then I can prove it- prove that the curse isn't influencing me, I promise".
Lando considered it for a moment, it would be a lot easier with someone else's help, and Oscar had acted the most normal of everyone, the closest to his usual demeanour, minus the love confession. He regarded Oscar for another moment before nodding slightly "Fine" he said, Oscar visibly deflated in relief "But no funny business" Lando warned. That just earned him an unimpressed look from his teammate, which he supposed was fair enough.
"Well" Lando started, somewhat awkwardly "where do we start?"
****
Lando looked up at the storefront with a not small amount of doubt, the hand painted wooden sign nailed above the door proudly displaying the text 'Hazel's Apothecary'.
"This is the place?" he asked Oscar
Oscar pulled his phone up, showing a picture of the front of the store on google, a five star rating displayed on the search page,"Google says this is the best place". Lando just shrugged, pushing on the handle and stepping in.
They entered the small store, beads clinking lightly as they brushed past a curtain of them adorning the doorway. A woman at the front desk looked up as they entered, eyes fixing on Lando almost immediately
"Hello" She welcomed, an almost sultry tone to her voice, Lando almost spun back around to leave before she blinked, almost visibly pulling herself out of it and stating "Wow, that's some curse you've got going on there"
Lando snapped his head towards Oscar "See! Cursed" He pointed dramatically at the woman while Oscar just rolled his eyes at him.
"Yeah, okay fine, you're cursed" he acquiesced "does that make you feel better?" he asked, as if he was speaking to a toddler.
"Yes" Lando responded, almost childishly.
The woman, presumably Hazel, rounded the counter, leaning towards Lando until she was almost uncomfortably close to his face, Lando tried to lean away from her as subtly as he could, he didn't get very far.
She hummed "It's a strong curse, a love one right?" Lando nodded
"How did you know that?" he asked
"I'm a Witch" she chirped simply, heading back around the counter to grab a massive leather bound book from below the counter, slowly flipping through the pages before landing on one, muttering slightly under her breath.
Oscar made a face, "You're Witch Hazel?" he asked, deadpan. Hazel ignored him.
She grabbed a couple leaves from around the store, whirling around the two very out of place drivers as she collected ingredients.
"How many people have confessed their false love to you so far, dear?" She directed the question at Lando
"Uh five"
"Four"
Lando and Oscar responded at the same time, Lando looked sideways at Oscar, who was refusing to look at him.
Hazel looked up, raising a brow at both of them before shrugging and collecting four crystals from a bowl sitting on the window and adding them to her mixture. She started crushing up her mixture with a mortar and pestle, grabbing a jug of water, before pouring everything in a metal pot which had somehow appeared without Lando realising, he squinted at it suspiciously.
Hazel clapped her hands "I'm going to boil the tea in the back, I'll be right back" She smiled at both of them, before disappearing back around the other bead curtain which presumably separated the back room from the storefront.
Lando turned to survey the shelves, watching a bit of incense burn against a window "do you think she's gonna poison me?" he asked mildly, trying to mask his doubt at the whole thing. He looked up at Oscar, breath catching slightly when he saw his silhouette caught against the golden hour light coming through the window.
Oscar just shrugged, jolting Lando out of his momentary freeze "Would you prefer the potential of poison or keep having every person you meet confess their love to you?"
Lando huffed out a laugh "fair enough".
Hazel chose that moment to appear back at the counter, somehow without disturbing the beads in the doorway. She beckoned Lando up to the counter, holding out a China cup, the kind Lando used to see at his grandmothers house growing up, the kind he and his siblings weren't allowed to touch.
The liquid inside was a burnt orange colour, swirling around and catching the dimming light weirdly. He took the cup before turning to look at Oscar, who just nodded encouragingly at him, half smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes, his brows furrowed slightly, the only visible marks of concern on his face.
Lando turned back to Hazel, "this is going to work?" he asked Hazel just grinned lazily at him, "what other choice do you have dear?"
Fair enough. Lando brought the teacup to his lips, before tipping the entire thing down his throat, drying to drink it as quick as he could. The taste wasn't bad, something citrus mixed with liquorice, a bitter aftertaste lingering on his tongue. He made a face as he handed the cup back to Hazel "Did that work?"
Hazel smiled, "I don't have to fight the affects anymore" she announced before looking expectantly at Lando. Lando looked at her blankly before realising she was probably looking for payment.
"Uhh", he patted his pocket, pulling out his wallet "How much do I owe you?" he mumbled
She laughed lightly, reaching over and patting the hand with his wallet, "I take payment in tokens dear"
Lando blinked at her, looking down at his wallet in confusion, patting his pockets again, finding nothing but a black sharpie he used for fans. He looked at her, panicked, before his gaze caught on some beaded bracelets fans had passed to him earlier in the week. He slowly slid three of them off his wrist, dropping them into Hazel's open palm.
She lifted them one by one, holding them up to the light, eyes narrowed. She then placed them on the counter, turning back to Lando "They will do" she smiled again.
Feeling slightly off kilter about the trade, Lando turned around to Oscar, who was still standing slightly further back, watching the interaction. He stepped towards him, but before he could say anything Oscar cut in.
Looking Lando directly in the eye "I'm still in love with you", he repeated.
Lando let out a concerned laugh, refusing to let the hope in his chest breathe "Oscar, that was just one person, maybe it takes a second to kick in-"
He was cut off by a quiet laugh, looking to find Oscar turned slightly away from him, hand braced over his face, shoulders lightly shaking with laughter.
"Osc?" he tried, gently tapping him on the shoulder, as if that would cure the manic episode his teammate was clearly experiencing.
"Oh my god" Oscar was saying, standing up slightly and pacing around the room "I've been so, so scared to tell you for so goddamn long, and when I finally get the fucking words out-" He ran a hand down his face "-you don't believe me because of some random goddamn curse which makes everyone else fall in love with you" He let out another short bark of laughter "You know I didn't think that my luck was really that terrible but i'm starting to think that maybe i'm the cursed one" He let out another dry laugh before stopping his pacing, turning to look at Lando again.
"I'm sorry, I can't" he took a frustrated breath "I'm going back to the hotel" he announced, before he slipped back around the door leading to the store, disappearing into the crowded street. Leaving Lando to helplessly watch him leave.
"Usually my curse breaking methods work pretty instantaneously" Hazel said mildly from behind him, causing Lando to jump slightly, spinning around to face her. She was set up at the front desk again, refilling a jar with some kind of leaf, looking at Lando with a raised eyebrow.
"You mean, he wasn't under the influence of the curse?" Lando whispered, throat dry, guilt sitting heavy in his stomach.
Hazel shrugged "probably not, but that's none of my business" she tightened the lid of the jar she was filling up before disappearing into the back room again.
Lando almost tripped over his own feet in his rush to get out of the door, desperately looking around the street for a familiar head of brown hair weaving through the sidewalk, finding nothing.
****
Lando rushed into the lobby of the hotel with a single minded determination, ignoring faint calls of his name and heading straight into the stairwell, not bothering to wait for the lift, practically sprinting all the way up to Oscar's floor. He reached Oscar's door, hesitating for a second before starting to knock incessantly on the wood.
When Oscar appeared at the door, it became pretty clear that Lando had interrupted him mid getting ready for bed, considering he was comfortable sleep shirt that turned his upper body into a shapeless blob with his hair damp from the shower, curling slightly at the ends. It was still the best thing Lando had ever seen.
Lando shoved his way into the room, letting the door click shut behind them, pushing Oscar a couple steps deeper into the room, chest still heaving from his impromptu workout.
"Tell me again" Lando got out, breathlessly, into the silence of the room.
"Lando-" Oscar shook his head, turning to face the ground.
"Oscar, tell me you're in love with me again" Lando begged "Please"
"Why are you doing this to me? I don't understand" Oscar snapped, refusing to Look at Lando through the dimness of the hotel room.
"Because I'm in love with you, you muppet" Lando blurted out.
"You what?" Oscar whispered, snapping his head up to Lando "Then why did you keep-" he gestured aimlessly, trying to communicate Lando's multiple rejections.
Lando let out a rueful laugh "I didn't want to hear a confession from you when it wasn't real- when I didn't know it was real".
Oscars face crumpled slightly "It was real the whole time" he whispered, voice thick.
"I know that now" Lando responded, "Just please, one more", his voice broke at the end, begging.
Oscar squeezed his eyes shut, looking at the ground, before visibly steeling himself, "I'm in love with you, and I have been for years" he stated, leaving no room for any other interpretation. He looked up at Lando, meeting his gaze "do you believe me now?"
Lando nodded silently, swallowing loudly as he stuttered out yeses.
Lando stepped forward, hesitant under Oscar's heavy gaze, Oscar brought a hand up to cradle it gently against Lando's cheek, drawing their faces together.
Oscar tilted their foreheads together, whispering out a quiet "can I?"
Lando nodded as best he could in Oscar's hands "please"
Oscar finally, finally pressed their lips together, taking the lead of the kiss, gently parting Lando's lips with his tongue, deepening the kiss. Lando let himself melt into it, reaching up to tangle his hands in Oscar's hair.
When they finally drew apart for air, Oscar kept their heads tilted together, rasping out "No curses this time?"
Lando let out a wet laugh, closing his eyes "No more curses Osc, promise"