Work Text:
Oscar Piastri had somehow been able to keep his relationship a secret from the media for 4 years. That was 4 years longer than he expected.
He and Logan Sargeant, his boyfriend, started dating at the beginning of their F3 season— he wanted to wait, he had told Logan when they realized their feelings for each other and Logan asked him to be his boyfriend,
“Not until one of us wins the championship” but then Logan pulls him into his driver room after Oscar gets his first win on their first race of the season and kisses him so hard his head spins.
“You looked so hot on that podium, god I wish I could just grab you and kiss you right then and there” They were still soaked through with champagne, sticky and wet but it was the first race of the season and they stood right next to each other on the podium.
“Ask me again?” Oscar said in between kisses,
“Be my boyfriend?” Logan whispers, pulling away just enough to get the words out, their bodies still pressed close together. They were supposed to be getting changed and cleaned up for the debrief waiting for them but Oscar didn’t want to let go of his best friend right now, and neither did Logan.
“Yeah, yes. Now shut up and kiss your boyfriend Sargeant” They would have kissed until the world ended that day if it wasn’t for a loud knock at the door rushing them along for the meeting.
They agreed not to tell anyone, this relationship was going to be theirs and theirs only. Their careers were going relatively well they could not risk getting out.
They hid it well, or at least they tried their best, the relationship was so new sometimes they’d let their thighs pressed a little too close together, smiles that lingered for a little too long, and the soft, barely there, touches when they were near each other. The only person who suspected anything was Fred– but he was with them more than anyone, so at the end of the F3 season after Oscar held up his championship trophy and a wild night of celebrating, Fred became the first person to know about them.
—------
They made it work somehow, through ups and downs, it was difficult racing in different categories, with Logan in F3 and Oscar in F2, then the following year when Logan moved to F2 and Oscar wasn’t racing they barely had time for each other but they made every second that they did count. Sometimes they’d fly to the other’s home, snuggled up in Oscar’s childhood room in the winter, and take Logan’s boat out to the middle of nowhere, just them and the water, and they would make out for hours in the summer. He would attempt to teach Logan how to surf, and Logan would teach him how to fish, they’d watch the stars from Oscar’s backyard like they did when they were kids in their karting days, and they run along the beach near Logan’s house late at night letting the high tides crash into them the wind and the waves swallowing their laughs and the I love yous they dared shout into the unknown. They made memories for when they were apart collecting them like the seashells at the beach and the constellations in the sky.
They made it work because they knew they had each other to look forward to when they were apart.
They celebrate their 3rd anniversary being F1 drivers, despite the rough start to both of their seasons, they were there together, achieving their dreams side by side.
—---
They continue to hide it even after his sprint race win in Qatar and Logan gifts him with a little velvet box, Oscar thinks he is proposing but he knows Logan would never go back on their promise of no marriage proposals before one of them wins a championship. It was a ring in that velvet box, a plain silver ring, inside was the date they stood side by side on the podium in Austria all those years ago– the date of their anniversary.
“A little too early to be proposing, don't you think?” They lay in his hotel room, Oscar wrapped up in Logan’s arm, eyes glued on the ring around his finger, how nice it fit there, how perfect it felt against his skin.
“It’s not a proposal, I remember our agreement you know” Logan laced their hands together, bringing their joined hands to his lips, and gave his hand a soft kiss.
“Then what is this?”
“It’s a promise ring,” the American states, “a promise that I will love you, forever and always, and it’s a placeholder until I can give you a wedding ring” Oscar can’t help but kiss the stupid grin Logan had off his face, “Congratulations my winner”
“You’re such a sap,” he can’t seem to move his lips away from Logan’s, but he somehow manages to pull away long enough to say “I love you too, Logan, forever and always”
Oscar brought a little chain for the ring and wore it around his neck, tucking it close to his chest, never letting it hang outside his clothes. Keeping Logan’s promise in his heart and his ring around his neck.
—-----
It should have been a sign that their secret was going to the revealed in the 4th year when Alex catches them kissing in Logan’s driver’s room in Jeddah, they had survived the whole season before without getting caught once, not even one suspicious friend, teammate, mechanic, or staff member, and now, they were caught two races into the new season. After having a fit of laughter the older man ruffled Logan’s hair, gave Oscar a pat on the back, and promised them he would never tell anyone without their consent,
“Trust me, kids, you’re not the only ones on the grids keeping a secret like this” Alex tells them before leaving.
The next person to become suspicious of them was Lando, Oscar had offered to take him out to his favorite restaurant after the Australian race was over and they were given a few days to relax before they had to leave for their next race. Lando without informing him had invited Carlos, who invited Charles, who invited Max who invited Daniel who had invited George who had invited Alex who invited Logan who invited Guanyu, what was supposed to be a little teammate outing turned into dinner with half the grid. Oscar didn’t mind it, they all had a great time, he and Daniel teaching the others Australian slang and recommending the menu to them. He and Logan gravitated towards each other like magnets, they ended up sitting next to each other in a room full of people, their chairs a little closer to each other than others, their knees bumping and their fingers hooking around each other from time to time.
It was halfway through the dinner, everyone was engaged in their little groups of conversation when Lando who sat across from him gave him a look,
“Mate, is that a new necklace?” Oscar’s immediate instinct was to grab the necklace and tuck it back into his shirt, “Can I see?”
“No! Sorry, no, it’s sorta hard to take off maybe some other time?” he didn’t mean to shout drawing the attention of the table to him, including Logan who slid a warm hand from his thigh and down to his knee giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Yeah mate, whatever you say” Ladno quirks his eyebrow, giving him a ‘this is not over’ look before turning to his boyfriend, “So Logan, know anything about this secret necklace? You’re like his best friend right?” Oscar couldn’t help the way his knee jerked up hitting the bottom of the table, but Logan’s hand was still on it so it was Logan who let out a yelp of pain when his hand got crushed between his knee and the table. “You two are acting weird,” Lando said before continuing his conversation with Carlos and Max.
“My teammate knows, you can tell Lando if you want, Osc” was what Logan told him before he departed for England, so that night on the plane, when it was quiet and dark, only he and Lando were awake, Oscar took off the necklace and hands it to his teammate.
“Logan and I, we’re dating” he watches the British man inspect the jewelry closely, running his finger through the dates inscribed inside of the ring. “Logan gave it to me when I won the sprint in Qatar last season”
“You’re anniversary?” Lando smiles fondly at him, a look of understanding shining in his eyes,
“Yeah, will be 4 years this July” he puts on the necklace back on tucking it back into his shirt out of habit.
“Thanks for telling me, Oscar” Lando stretches, yawning before continuing, “I guess I should tell you then. I’m seeing someone too”
“Oh, do I know them?”
“Yeah, it’s Carlos” Oscar gasps in surprise, and Lando chuckles “Oh that reaction never gets old”
“Umm, wow. I just thought you guys were like good friends, but now I can see it I guess” he asks, “do people on the grid know about you and him?”
“Charles, Max, Daniel, Alex, and George know, and now you. Oh, and you can tell Logan if you want, I don’t mind. The team knows, and our friends and family know too. We plan on getting married when I get my first win, or when Carlos wins a championship whichever comes first”
“Us too”
“It’s kind of oblivious, you and him, now that I think about it” Lando comments, “you guys seem to be able to find each other in a room full of people, and god, the way you look at each other. I can’t believe no one knows about you guys yet. Does anyone besides me know?”
“Alex knows, he caught us making out in Logan’s driver room in Saudi Arabia, and Frederik Vesti, the Mercedes’ reserve driver- we were all in F3 together when Logan and I first started dating. Oh and our parents”
“Good job keeping it a secret for so long kid, it’s not easy”
—----
Logan does well at his home race, getting his best result so far with a P6, and Oscar is not far ahead with a P4. They celebrate with their teams, then at Logan’s house with his family, and finally just the two of them, tangled in each other with muffled cries and quiet pants, soft whispers of I love you’s, and marks strategically placed to be hidden under clothes.
Well, maybe not very placed because Carlos and Lando who were at the Mclaren garage the following morning pointed out a red mark at the base of his neck,
“Had fun celebrating last night, Piastri?” Panic rises to his face as Lando is overtaken by a fit of giggling,
“What? Um-” he’s usually so calm and collected but now he doesn't even know how to react, does he own it or deny everything?
“You have a hickey kid” his teammate who finally got a hold of himself long enough to point it out to him before he started giggling again.
“Oh! Do you have a girlfriend Oscar? Tel-” he doesn’t wait for Carlos to finish before he starts running towards his driver’s room and changing into a hoodie even if it is a little warm in the Miami heat hoping no one else sees the little red mark and the base of his neck.
—-----
Oscar gets his first win in Austria, he watches as the other drivers get in the post-race weighing line, Logan’s eyes glued onto him, he can feel the way the American’s eyes roam up and down his body, all the emotions in his eyes, his body vibrating with anticipations, his foot tapping rapidly– the man looks like he is about to bolt for Oscar wraps him up in her arms and kisses him until he forgets how to breathe. God, Oscar can not wait until they are alone. He gave his boyfriend who was now nearing the front of the line a smile before Charles told him that it was his turn for the interview.
By the time he makes it back to the hotel, he is ready to have Logan’s hands on him, he barely makes it through the door when his boyfriend pins him up against the wall and places his lips on his.
“Congratulation baby!” his tongue slips inside his mouth dancing around each other, pressing their body so close together they were nearly one, “Fuck, My Ossy, my winner, my champion”
Logan’s hand slips inside his t-shirt. Touching his stomach, chest, and back, lighting every inch of Oscar's skin on fire with every touch, every trace of his fingers then his lips. “All mine”
“Not-” his breathe caught trying to suppress a moan as Logan’s teeth sink on his collar bone, “not a champion yet”
“Soon baby, for now you’re my champion” he slips their shirts off as they fall onto the sofa, “Whatever you want tonight you get Oscar,”
“Are you proud of me?” he rasps out, finger fumbling with the button of his jeans
“So proud baby, let me show you how proud I am of you,” Logan looks down at him with all the love, pride, and lust a human could contain in his body. “Let me worship you”
----
In hindsight, there was no one to blame but himself, Oscar was the only one to be blamed for exposing their relationship to the world in the middle of the Las Vegas Grandprix. Well, maybe Logan is a little at fault too. They made it to nearly the end of the season with only Alex, Lando, and Carlos finding out about them, including Fred who found out years before, that’s 4 people on the grid knowing. But Oscar couldn’t help himself, the chequered flag waved through the air as he made the final turn crossing the finish line at P4 according to the radio message from his race engineer, he pulled his car into its designated spot when he noticed the cheers and the chaos in the garage, it takes him a second to take in everything then he notices the spots for P1-P3 had 2 Williams a Red Bull occupying its space. He watched the sea of blue enveloping the two Williams drivers, there were tears in some of their eyes, and the roar of cheers so loud he couldn’t but smile.
“Did Alex win?” he turns to Lando beside him, asking as he takes off his helmet and balaclava, getting into the weighing line.
“No, It’s Logan” Oscar’s eyes went wild, turning his eyes towards Alex and Logan who were hugging and laughing while James Vowel had one hand on each of their backs with pride in his eyes, “Logan’s P1, Alex’s P2, and Max is P3” Oscar watches as the two pulls apart, tears shining in his boyfriend’s eyes as Logan turns his head towards him, smile widen even more as his eyes locks onto Oscar’s.
His helmet hits the ground with a thud, and Oscar’s feet start to move on their own, his body pulling towards Logan like a magnet and he notices that Logan is also heading in his direction. Their feet move a little faster trying to make up the distance between them in as little time as possible and finally, finally, his body collides with Logan’s as he pounces onto the man, his boyfriend staggers backward a few steps as he wraps his arms around Oscar.
“Logan! Logs! You did it!” He screams, pressing a kiss onto his boyfriend’s lips, “God I'm so proud of You!”
“I did it! Fuck babe, I can’t believe it!” Logan spins them around while littering kisses all over his face, but then the gasps echoing around them pull Oscar back into reality and he remembers where he was.
“Oh fuck!” He mutters, noticing Max who was in the middle of his interview looking at them with a surprised look, Alex who was smiling at them fondly next to George who animated yelling at the Williams driving something along the lines of ‘You knew!?!’
“Well this is awkward,” Logan says, letting go of the Australian but keeping their hands linked, there was no denying it now, everything was most definitely caught on camera, and all eyes were on them.
Everything that happened after that was a blur, maybe it was Lando who put a hand on his shoulder gently guiding him back into the garage, or maybe it was Zak. He remembers the camera flashing and the reporters yelling his and Logan’s names, they sit him down in the garage and the mechanics put up the privacy screen so no reporters can cameras can get to him. Oscar can still hear the bustling crowd outside, the drivers talking among each other, the fans, the mechanics, everyone was talking about them. Fuck, this was supposed to be a secret. He must have sat there for maybe 2-3 minutes when Logan walks in,
“Osc, hi!” Logan approaches him, “They’re interviewing me next before podiums, should I– do you want me to deny everything? I don’t know what to do. Please tell me what to do” Oscar looks up, Logan is pacing in front of him but behind all the lines of worry etched into his face there is a glint of happiness, joy, and maybe a little excitement shining in his boyfriend’s eyes.
“What would you even say?” he chuckles, taking the American’s hands in his forcing Logan to stop pacing around, “We kissed in front of, well, the world”
“Kissing your bro after your first F1 podium is totally normal” Logan replies,
“Logan, they’re about to finish with Alex” Max pokes his head in through the screen, he has a strange look on his face, eyes darting from Logan to Oscar to their linked hands back to Logan again. “Are you guys really dating?” Oscar nods, giving Max a smile– after so many cool-down room podcast episodes together he became comfortable around the Dutch.
“Yeah. 4 years now” Max comes a little closer to them, before clapping a hand on their backs,
“Congratulations! And welcome to the club” He said with a grin before putting an arm around Logan’s shoulder, “but we really need to go, come on Logan. You have an interview to do and we have a podium to celebrate” Max tugs Logan along,
Logan asks, “Wait, what club?” while Oscar spontaneously says, “You can tell them, Lo”
“Good Luck, I love you” Oscar whispers before Logan exits the Mclaren garage.
Oscar isn’t sure what Logan said in the interview, but he changes into Logan’s hoodie and is hiding among the Williams team when the American National Anthem starts. Logan was there, on the highest step of the Podium, his eyes closed– a smile on his face and a hand on his chest. He looks good there and Oscar can’t wait to be up there next to him. The champagne gets picked up, and Max and Alex immediately turn their attention to Logan, who is getting soaked from 3 sides, and god his laugh, his smile, that happiness in his eyes, it’s so contagious, Oscar can’t help the grin that overtakes his whole face, he smiles so hard his cheeks were hurting. And just when he thought he couldn’t be any happier, or smile any wider Logan spots him in the sea of blue, his eyes so bright, his smile so beautiful, and his mouth the words meant for him and him alone, ‘I Love you’
And maybe it doesn’t really matter that everyone knows, they got to admit though, that they did a pretty good job keeping it a secret for 4 years.