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Oscar's known he was gay since he was 14. Well, he knew before that, he just didn't have a term for it. Whatever. That never really mattered to him. He knew that being gay and racing didn't really work, so he just fully ignored it. Or... tried to? Y'know, repress it until you explode? Well, now he was starting to reach his limit.
Being the single guy always worked for him. He had never been in love.
Then he joined McLaren, his dream team. And, to come with this, his dream guy. The guy with the most gorgeous curls and eyes Oscar would be happy to drown in. The problem? It was his teammate. Lando Norris to be specific.
Though Oscar wasn't really afraid to ask Lando out, (at least he told himself that) Lando seemed painfully straight. He was always messing around with some new girl, nothing serious or anything, but always with a girl.
But, y'know, assuming someone's sexuality is a shit thing to do. But he couldn't really just... bring it up? Right? Oscar considered Lando his friend, but were they friends enough to talk about that?
Well, Oscar really wanted to try. If he was gonna wait around for some guy, he at least wanted to know if there was even an atom of a chance.
So, now Oscar sat at breakfast, his teammate across from him. They didn't really eat together, especially on race weekends. Oscar had been starving because Lando ate so much later than him. Well, whatever. Now Lando was in front of him, definitely a bit confused on why his teammate was eating with him. He didn't initiate a conversation though.
"I heard rumors you got a girlfriend. Doesn't really sound like you." Oscar started, shoving cereal into his mouth.
"I didn't think you paid attention to rumors."
"Do you have one?" Oscar persisted.
"Nope." Lando seemed to be a bit confused by this conversation. "You?" He tried continuing this weird small talk.
"No. I'm gay." Oscar threw it out, unable to keep hinting.
Lando stopped mid bite to stare at Oscar. Coming out during breakfast on a random Sunday was definitely not something normal.
"What? You're not like homophobic or anything, right?" Oscar's stomach twisted. This stupid idea couldn't possibly ruin this for him? Even if he couldn't be with Lando, he still wanted to be friends.
"N-no no. Don't worry..." He paused, obviously contemplating something. "I'm bi, actually."
Oscar felt his face flushing. OH.MY.FUCKING.GOD. He had a chance. Maybe it would've been healthier if Lando were straight, but fuck it. Oscar had a chance.
"I never knew." Oscar muttered into another big spoonful of cereal.
"Well, I never knew you were gay."
"If we ever came out, people would totally assume we're dating." Oscar tested the waters, pushing the potential of this conversation.
"Haha, probably." Lando didn't entertain the idea whatsoever.
"How many of the drivers are queer? Do you think?" Oscar chocked out, trying to not inhale his coffee.
"I dunno. It'd be funny if we all came out at once though. Can you imagine the carnage?"
"God, I wish. Less attention on the individuale drivers." Oscar genuienly wished this would happen. It would make life so much easier.
"Less guessing if any of the drivers are dating."
Oscar hummed in agreement. Saying that he didn't mind people shipping him and Lando (and even enjoyed it a bit) would definitely sound weird.
"Well, uh, do you have a boyfriend?" Lando asked, catching Oscar off guard. Lando was not really one for asking questions back unless he actually cared. Did he care? Why would he? This was just being kind. Oscar was overthinking.
"N-no, I don't. Haven't found someone whose willing to wait until I come out publicly." Haven't looked for someone.
"That's honestly why I only go for girls. Too risky."
Oscar absolutely devoured the rest of his breakfast and got up with a hummed "See you". Holy fuck. Lando's bi. Bisexual. Lando. Lando Norris. Oscar had a chance. Shut up. Be realistic. Oscar did NOT have a chance. First of all, they were teammates. Second, Lando deserved so much more than Oscar. Why would Lando ever fall for him?
Lando picked up a call from his friend, Max Fewtrell. "Hey Mate! How's it going?"
"Good, like actually. Not much happening. We have a Quadrant shoot today but I got the rest of the day off. You?"
"Yeah, you know. Suzuka is alway fun so I'm looking forward to it. But I had the weirdest conversation ever with Oscar."
"Really? What'd you talk about?"
"He just sat down with me and asked if I was dating someone. Then he came out to me. Like, don't tell anyone, but he's gay."
"Oh. Well, how did you respond? Did you also come out?"
"I did actually. I told him I was bi. I wasn't really planning on it, but it felt good to just say it to someone outside of my most inner circle."
"I'm proud of you. Oh shit. Gotta go! See ya!"
"Yeah, bye." Lando put his phone down, staring at a wall instead.
Lando only recently realized he was bi. It was very obvious and everyone he told was not suprised whatsoever. But it was still new to Lando.
He'd never been with a guy... at least that he remembers. Max had told him some stories from when Lando was black out drunk. Apparently that was the only time he was confident enough to flirt with guys.
But, like Oscar had brought up. It's risky. Really risky. One wrong choice of guy and you're out to everyone.
Lando stared at his phone screen, scrolling mindlessly. A message popped up, scaring the shit out of him. It was from Oscar. They didn't really text. Maybe it was a follow-up from that weird conversation? Lando read through it once. Then again. And just once more for good measure.
"Good race." Oscar had texted. Oscar's race had been better. Why would he compliment Lando?
"U had a better race than me so I should say congrats." Lando texted back with swift fingers. Oscar answered almost immediatly. "first race this season with no DNFs."
"lucky us." Lando tossed his phone on the bed, getting up to brush his teeth.
"Why did I text him?" Oscar groaned into his pillow. He was definitely pushing the limit of their friendship. His phone dinged and he jumped up. Lando had NOT left him on read. He had actually texted back! Oscar responded praying that Lando was still online. Their conversation ended with a "lucky us" from Lando. Oscar could perfectly imagine Lando saying this. His smile, his voice, the way his laugh often turned into a weird dying-eagle-type of sound. Oscar wanted to text back, continue talking, but he had no idea how.
"God... why am I like this?" Oscar flipped on his back, paying more attention to the popcorn ceiling than his own thoughts. He thought of grabbing a beer bottle from the fridge. It'd cost like 10€ or some stupid shit like that, but not being sober sounded dangerously inviting.
"Fuck it." He got up, grabbing a weirdly big bottle of beer and immediatly drinking half of it.