Chapter Text
Monday 20th July 6:32pm
Not even the long drone of the microwave could make Lando pay attention right now. His mind was elsewhere.
"Come on Dave, it'll be a fun night." Tom's voice finally pulled Lando out of his daze.
"My name's not Dave." Lando finally spoke for the first time this hour. His eyebrow was raised, how did Tom not know after 7 years of working together.
"Is it not?" Even Lando could tell he was being sarcastic; he couldn't normally tell. Lando just stared as Tom continued his conversation with one of the other engineers.
"Oh, that's Dave." Lando thought. God, he needed to start paying attention to his surroundings more often. One thing he did pay attention to was him. Oscar made his presence known to Lando by clearing his throat loudly in his ear. Lando didn't realise his pasta had finished heating up at least a minute and a half ago. Oscar had clearly been waiting and got bored.
Lando jolted slightly at the sudden sound right in his ear. "Sorry Osc." Lando apologised quietly. The Brit finally moved to grab his rapidly cooling container from the team's microwave. Oscar gave him a nod thanks as he turned to the microwave. Lando picked up the pot from the counter and swore because he didn't process the fact that it had just been in the microwave. "Shit." He muttered dropping it back on the counter. A bit spilled but was quickly mopped up with a napkin that was tossed into the trash.
"Fork." Oscar reminded when Lando was halfway down the hall with just the pot of pasta and a can of monster on a tray.
"Right, yeah, thanks." Lando rolled his eyes at Oscar behind his back because he always had that look when anyone rolled their eyes. He grabbed a fork and slipped out the kitchen without another word to Oscar or anyone else.
Outside was quiet, not many people around on non-race days like today. He and Oscar had stayed after yesterday's Grand Prix for a team meeting to discuss their results. Oscar P5 and Lando P7. Lando found a bench overlooking the Belgian countryside and took a seat. The scenery was always breathtaking after the races; it never failed to excite Lando. His camera roll was already bursting with photos from his few days here in Belgium.
Like when he went to dinner with some of the drivers on their first day here. He had some nice photos of them with ice cream. And one of Charles looking rather pissed because Max spilled his coffee on his nice shirt.
His plane back to his Monaco flat wasn't for a few hours so he just enjoyed his lunch in peace.
Peace that wasn't a word usually in Lando's vocabulary but today it was.
"Can I crash at your place tonight." That peace didn't last long. Lando didn't need to look up to know who it was. He'd recognise the Aussie drawl anywhere.
Lando paused with a forkful of pasta halfway to his mouth. "Why?" He questioned cautiously like he was approaching a wild bear. Oscar was more like a koala though. He let out a quiet but audible sigh when the Aussie sat down right in front of him.
"Don't sound too thrilled mate." The sarcasm was dripping from Oscar's voice as he rested his elbows on the table. "The rennos that were meant to be finished by yesterday got delayed because of rain, so the apartment isn't usable till Thursday."
"Rain?" Land questioned. "We're in the middle of a heatwave right now?"
"Its winter in Australia so the weather is shit." Oscar corrected Lando's error.
With a reluctant sigh, the brit finally gave in. "Alright," He glanced at the date on his phone, Max was meant to be staying with him later this week. "How long for?"
"Uhm, like today until probably Friday." Oscar instantly felt guilty for asking to stay for that long. "It's totally cool if that's too much for you, i can just stay in a hotel or something."
Lando shook his head, "No, no don't do that. I've got a spare room, it's cool." Lando could see the familiar glimmer return to the Aussie's eyes. "Max is coming over on Tuesday, you two can fight it out for who gets the couch." Him and Max Fewtrell had been mates for ages, he was used to sleeping on Lando's couch.
"Yeah, that's totally cool." Oscar stood up to go back inside probably, but he hesitated. "Thanks mate, I appreciate it." There was genuine gratitude in Oscar's voice, Lando could hear it.
He just nodded and watched Oscar walk back inside. Without really thinking too much, he felt his gaze lingering on Oscars back. The way his shirt nicely highlighted his muscled arms and toned back from years of hard work.
"Snap out of it you idiot." Lando thought to himself. Reluctantly, he tore his gaze from his teammates back and returned it to his, now cold, pot of pasta on the bench. God, he needed to stop thinking about his teammate in that way. But it just felt so right.
Monday 20th July 9:40pm
The fight back to Monaco was short and quiet, both drivers nose deep in their phones. Lando was swiping through his camera roll trying to find the perfect photos to post from his weekend in Belgium. He'd assumed Oscar would be texting Lily, but he was on TikTok. Weird. "Thought you'd be texting Lily." The brit finally voiced his thoughts, bever a good idea for someone like Lando Norris.
Oscar just shook his head without a word. Oscar was never an easy person to read but right now he was visibly... sad? No Lando was just seeing things.
After a moment of silence, Lando spoke up. "You good mate?" His tone was sincere; he respected Oscar deeply but seeing him upset stirred something in his stomach.
"She broke up with me like a month ago mate." He didn't expect any sympathy from Lando, just wanted him to know. He sounded to Lando like he was over it now which was good.
"Why didn't you say anything man, that sucks I'm sorry." Lando tried his best, he was never good with words, but he tried. He always would for Oscar.
Oscar just shrugged and didn't say anything else, he just stared at his hands and hoped Lando would stop looking at him so much.
The silence this time was more tense than before but not uncomfortable. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the fight just sat staring at their phones or out the window.
Tuesday 21st July 12:29am
It was dark when they reached the flat, the street lit by one singular streetlight a few meters away. Oscar leant against the wall while he watched the older man fumble for his keys. He heard Oscar stifle a laugh when he dropped his metal water bottle. The sound gave Lando flashbacks to secondary school when one of them would fall and make more noise than the engine of an F1 car. Lando smiled too, but at the floor as he bent over to pick up the bottle. He finally found his keys and slipped it into the lock which turned smoothly. A soft click let them know it was unlocked. Lando held the door open so Oscar could go in first, he was a gentleman after all. They piled in the elevator and pressed floor number 4.
It was clear who was better at packing because Lando had a suitcase and a duffle bag while Oscar just had a backpack.
When the beep of the elevator sounded, Oscar grabbed Lando's case for him without a word, and he dragged it down the hall to flat 481.
Lando smiled to himself, watching Oscar drag the case down the hall. He'd never admit that he overpacked, it's just who he was. Oscar went into the flat first, flicking on the light. It smelled clean, like chemicals. Lando always did a deep clean before race weekends.
"Spare bedroom is down the hall at the end." Lando gestured to the hallway on the other side of the flat. He didn't know why he was telling Oscar this, he's been to this flat many times for parties with drivers and for some nice dinners that Lando always claimed were homemade, but everyone had seen Lando disposing of the takeout containers.
From the other end of the hall, Lando watched as the Aussie shut the door to his spare room. When the door clicked shut, he let out a quiet breath that he didn't know he was holding.
To take his mind off the other man, he wandered into the kitchen to make himself something to eat. Probably some noodles, just something easy.
The water hadn't even boiled before he heard the bedroom door opening, followed by the sound of the bathroom door shutting and locking. But the sounds distracted Lando enough to pull his attention away from his noodles for a significant amount of time. When he looked back, the bater was boiling over the edges of the pan and dripping from the counter causing a puddle of boiling salt water to form on the floor by his foot. "Oh shit." He muttered, turning the heat down and scrambling for a towel to mop it up.
The bathroom door opened and a very amused looking Australian emerged, he'd clearly heard the commotion and found it hilarious. Lando raised an eyebrow but then looked down at his mess on the counter and rolled his eyes.
"It's not that funny Oscar." Lando murmured, finally tossing the raw noodles into the pan and set a timer on his phone. He watched Oscar chuckle to himself and slink off down the hall to the spare room.
Just as the noodles were finished cooking, Oscar once again emerged from the bedroom now dressed in a hoodie and a pair of grey joggers. Every guy looked good in grey joggers, that's just a fact. Lando didn't exactly hide his bisexuality from the public, in ne interview he even said, "Why does dating have to be a girl." So, it wasn't much of a secret. He'd never said, "Hey I'm bi, I like men." No, he just hinted at it and bathed in the attention it got every time he said something like that.
Lando quickly tore his gaze from the younger man and returned his focus to the bowl in front of him. Once he filled the bowl and seasoned the noodles, well drowned them in soy sauce, he took a seat at his small table in front of the window. He had a great view from the flat, directly down onto the streets of Monaco. He'd paid a bit extra for a seafront flat, but it was definitely worth it.
Lando jumped slightly when he heard the scraping of the other chair next to him. He thought Oscar had gone back to his room, but no.
"Why are you eating noodles at," He glanced at his watch. "1:37 am?" Oscar was genuinely baffled by the Brit's eating habits, so he had to ask.
Lando said something but it wasn't legible because his mouth had been stuffed with noodles. Gross. The boy ate like he hadn't eaten in 2 days, wolfing it down without chewing. Instead of talking again, he just shrugged.
Oscar just stared, jaw slightly agape for a moment. Then he just shrugged, he knew Lando was weird, so he didn't question him further.
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Tuesday 21st July 9:40 am
Oscar knew his teammate was a deep sleeper, but he didn't know how much it took to wake him on a day when he didn't have to work. But he was about to find out.
Oscar's first night in Lando's apartment was nice. Thankfully, the AC was on full because they're in the middle of a heatwave right now. But he was rudely awakened by the sound of impatient banging on the front door. Where was Lando?
Begrudgingly, Oscar pushed himself out of bed. He was dressed in a pair of pyjama pants and a creased t-shirt he'd borrowed from Lando since he didn't pack enough for the extra days. When he got fed up of listening to the knocking, it only took a minute, he decided to answer the door himself.
The floor was cold under Oscar's bare feet, but he didn't care enough to get socks. With a tired yawn, he pulled the door open.
"About time, I've been waiting out here for over 5 minutes. Jesus Lando, I told you what time i was getting here." Max Fewtrell walked in right past Oscar without even looking at him, so Oscar just stepped aside. He knows who Max was, they'd met before, so he knew he wasn't letting a stranger into Lando's apartment.
When Max had dumped his bags on the floor with a sigh, he finally looked up. Not Lando. A sly grin spread across Max's face which made Oscar infinitely more confused.
"What?" Oscar questioned, clearly very confused at that reaction.
"You and Lando eh? About damn time." Max had been rooting for those two since they became teammates.
"You what?" That just made a million more questions pop into his head. What did he think he and Lando were doing? Oh. "I don't know what you think is going on here, but I can promise there is nothing happening with us."
Oscar watched as Max eyed him up and down to try tell if he was lying, with no result, he headed down the hall to Lando's room where he just walked in.
Max's words fogged Oscar's brain, why did he think something was going on between them. He'd never thought about another guy like that. Ever.
They were just friends, nothing more. Right?
He didn't have time to think about it though because Max and Lando emerged from the bedroom talking loudly. To Oscar's surprise, his teammate was only dressed in a pair of boxers, nothing more. Oscar had seen him like this before, but somehow this time felt different.
Tuesday 21st July 7:30pm
That night, the three of them went to dinner at the Chinese place down the road from the apartment where Lando got an ungodly amount of spring rolls. Oscar took it upon himself to count them. "17 spring rolls Lando. Come on mate you don't need that many, surely."
"I like spring rolls." Was all Lando said with his mouth full. He needed to learn manners; he's 26 and eats like a toddler.
While they waited for their deserts, Max's phone buzzed. It was Wilne asking if he wanted to do a Quadrant video tomorrow with a few other youtubers like ArthurTv. He agreed and went online to book a flight for tomorrow, cutting his stay short by a couple days.
The boys discussed the upcoming race over a bowl of ice cream each.
Tuesday 21st July 10:48pm
After a brisk game of scissors paper rock, a bit childish to be honest, Oscar lost they decided Max was going to take the spare room and Oscar would be stuck on the couch. With a few extra blankets and pillows it wasn't too bad.
Halfway through watching Top Gun, which Lando had insisted on, Max decided he'd had enough and went to bed. Oscar used that time to go make himself some toast and get himself another beer. Lando was already 4 beers in and giggling at everything, whereas Oscar could hold his booze better even though they'd had almost the same amount. The Brit's cabinets had a disappointing lack of vegemite in them even though Oscar had insisted on Lando trying it, but he knew he was a very picky eater. He settled on marmite and butter to decorate his toast.
He was moving on to butter the second piece when he heard Lando behind him.
"Ewww Piastri." Lando slurred slightly "Marmites gross and so are you." Lando pulled a face at the marmite even though he was the one who bought it in the first place.
"Mate, it's your marmite." Oscar pointed out because the Brit was clearly too intoxicated to process that himself. He secured the lid back on, it stuck slightly because of residue on the edges, but he got it on and returned it to his place. They both sat down on the couch at opposite ends, but Lando had his legs out taking up half of it. Oscar just sighed.
They were sat in a comfortable silence, both fully engaged in the movie both of them had seen hundreds of times. They were in silence until Lando let out a drunken screech. "Dude that spider is fucking huge!"
Oscar turned to where the older man was pointing, the spider was in fact not "fucking huge", it was just a normal size for somewhere like here.
"Osc," Lando genuinely seemed terrified at the sight of the arachnid. "Kill it please."
He did feel slightly bad at the brit's terror, so he picked up an empty cup off the coffee table and placed it over the bug. He settled on an old take-out menu to slide under the cup to get the spider out. Lando had demanded the Australian stayed back with the spider in his hand, so he did. He took the long way round the lounge to get to the balcony where he lifted the cup and just left it. Oscar wasn't the type to kill something as small and harmless as a spider, so he just let it go by its own accord.
Wednesday 22nd July 1:35am
The credits began to roll, and both the boys sighed simultaneously and stood up. Lando stretched just as Oscar was walking past, causing him to knock the half full cup of beer in the younger boy's hand. The cold liquid splashed onto the cushions and dripped onto the rug below the couch. "Sorry," Oscar said even though it wasn't his fault, but it was his drink spilling over Lando's nice couch.
"It's not your fault babe don't worry." Oscar froze as the words left Lando's mouth.
"Babe"? He had to be imagining that. "What'd you call me?" He questioned after hesitation.
"I called you mate?" Lando just looked at him like he was crazy. He must've imagined the whole thing. Or maybe he just heard what he wanted to hear. No, he definitely did not want Lando to call him babe, that was his teammate after all. It was late maybe he just needed to go to bed.
He glanced at the couch, yep, can't sleep there tonight. Shit.
"Uh, mate," Oscar didn't know what to say, he couldn't exactly go: "hey Lando, you kinda spilled beer all over my bed for the night, can I sleep in your bed, with you, my teammate." That'd be wildly inappropriate, so instead, he just gestured to the couch and mumbles, "It's kinda... wet."
"Oh shit, yeah. I can see if I have clean sheets in the cupboard." He gets three steps away from the couch before turning back.
"What?" Oscar questions Lando's sudden pause.
"The clean ones are on Max's bed. What do you want to do, I've got a big bed if you want to..." He doesn't finish the sentence; Oscar assumes he's embarrassed to even be offering.
"If that's not weird." Oscar is alright accepting the offer, they've shared a bed before and it wasn't weird, they kept to their own sides and didn't talk about it again. They'd do that again tonight. They weren't children, there'd be no "pillow wall" or whatever. Just two grown men sharing a bed.
Wednesday 22nd July 2:15am
Lando had disappeared into his ensuite to change while Oscar opted for the main bathroom to change. He's always been quick at getting ready, so he was out the bathroom in two minutes. Dressed in the same trousers as last night and the last clean shirt he had in his bag.
Not much was said by either of them after the drink fiasco. It wasn't exactly awkward as Oscar slipped under then covers next to Lando, who was sat up against the headboard and scrolling through TikTok. "Night mate." Oscar pressed his head against the pillow, turning to face the wall. "And thanks for letting me sleep here tonight."
"Of course, that's what friends do, we look out for each other." For some strange reason, the word "friend" stung a bit. This felt like more than just "friends". Behind him, there was a rustling of sheets and a click of Lando turning the lamp off. "Night Osc."
Oscar stayed up longer than he'd ever like to admit, just listening to Lando's breathing slowing down. Eventually, the white noise of breathing soothed him to sleep, he didn't think too hard about how close his older teammate was right now. Well not for that long at least.
Wednesday 22nd July 9:37am
The sound of the front door slamming jolted Oscar from his slumber. He just figured it was Max leaving early, so he didn't bother getting up just yet. He shifted in bed slightly, trying to get comfortable so he could go back to sleep. That's when he felt it. His shirt had ridden up slightly, revealing his abdomen where a large hand was resting.
Oscar didn't dare move, couldn't risk Lando waking up and finding them in this position. So he just closed his eyes and hoped it was all a dream. A very nice dream.
Wednesday 22nd July 11:39 am
Nope, not a dream. He was woken up maybe 2 hours later, but this time it was Lando pulling him closer and muttering something in his sleep. Should he wake Lando? It was almost noon; they'd have to get up soon anyways. Oscar shifted slightly, hoping Lando would loosen his grip but not wake up. 50% success rate there. His grip loosened but he woke up. Fuck.
Lando just sort of groaned, still half asleep. He finally lifted his head and processed what his hands were doing. His grip on Oscar's stomach loosened instantly. "Morning." His voice was rough from sleeping but Oscar found it strangely hot. Oscar found himself staring when the other man stretched his toned arms above his head, all while yawning obnoxiously.
What he was thinking about yesterday, the whole "never thinking about another guy like that" thing, yeah that's no longer true.
He likes his teammate. He likes Lando.
Oh,
Oh.