Chapter Text
Mission burn in hell, Lando
George:
Okay, so.
A little bird may have told me that Lando was about to crawl out of his skin because of Max’s shenanigans.
Charles:
oooh?👀
and who could that little bird be?
George:
A professional would never reveal their sources.
(5 minutes later)
George:
Okay guys it was Doriane.
Apparently, the Ella’s were very confused by Lando’s behaviour at the airport this morning and decided to gossip.
Pierre:
Lmao 5 minutes of silence treatment and he FOLDED
Max V.:
He’s weak
George:
You’re all insufferable pricks!
Charles:
let’s focus on what matters, guys!!
George:
Are you saying I don’t matter?
Charles:
i am certainly implying it
Alex:
Okay, okay
Let’s calm down, everyone
Georgie, tell us more about what you’ve heard
George:
It wasn’t much, to be honest.
The girls were going for a different flight, so they didn’t see much.
What they managed to see was that he was apparently very agitated and talking to Max F. on the phone.
Doriane said the girls heard him say something about wanting to punch Max (our Max) and kill someone.
Man was being very violent language-wise.
Kimi:
Our Max? 👀
George:
Yeah?
Max V.
As in opposed to not our Max, Max F., whom Lando was talking to on the phone.
Kimi:
Oh, okay
Carry on
Gabi:
I see what you tried to do there, Kimi
Pierre:
Not subtle at all
Kimi:
Shut up, you two
Let George continue
George:
Again, there isn’t much more to say.
He just seemed to be angry and jealous.
Obviously, he doesn’t know the plan includes all of us, so his anger is currently directed entirely at Max.
Which leads us to the question: who’s next?
Carlos:
well, that’s almost no information
if i’m doing this, then at the very least i want some reactions
i guess i can always try and pry something from him
haven’t texted him in a while
lando, i mean
wouldn’t be too weird to ask if something went wrong between him and oscar, right?
if one think of it, max’s story is the perfect excuse to ask
and yeah, we already know what happened, but then again i can play dumb just to catch his reaction
Logan:
Ooh, I like the way you think
It would be appreciated Carlos
Carlos:
on it right now
Logan:
We’ll be waiting for your infos
Meanwhile I do agree with George
His infos are enough for us to know that the plan is working
But we need to keep going
Who can go next?
Arthur:
If he is in Monaco, then it can be me
Max V.:
He is
I drove him home after the flight
He got very confused once he saw my story
Flustered from head to toe
But I could tell that he appreciated both the kindness of the drive home and the public display of affection
Checo:
And you did not hold back, huh?!
Saw the videos from the airport
There was a lot of touches involved
Max V.:
I just truly think carefully exposing our acts is the way to go
Not only for Lando to see what we are doing, but also to boost Oscar’s self confidence
Lando rarely does post about him
And they are basically never seen together outside of race weekends
We can use this opportunity not only to make him jealous and see what he is potentially losing
But also, to show Oscar that he deserves someone who is not afraid to be seen with him
So yeah, take him to public places on the next phases of the plan if you can, do not hide when people see, post it on social media, all these things
It clearly matters to him
Lewis:
When did you get so wise?
Max V.:
I have always been, old man
Fernando:
No, no, no
I am actually very impressed too
They grow up so fast, right Lewis?
Lewis:
They do.
Alex:
That’s very thoughtful of you, Max
Max V.:
Yeah, yeah
Whatever
Break a leg or however it is that the saying goes, Arthur
Arthur:
Lmao, thank u Max
I’ll text him and see what we can do together
Oscar came to a stop only when the breathlessness became too much to ignore.
His mornings whenever he was back in Monaco usually went like this: he’d wake up early, refuse to get up for at least thirty minutes, then get up, take a shower, brush his teeth, make a smoothie and change into comfortable shorts and shirt. He’d run at the bay for at least one hour and go to the local bakery to eat a choc chip muffin afterwards.
He felt sweaty and knew his face was probably too red and blotched from the non-stop run, the shirt clinging to his chest while he tried really hard to breath properly. Once he managed to calm down, his hands moved to the doorhandle and opened it. The doorbell rang, announcing his arrival.
Mariah was already there at the counter and her whole face brightened when she lifted her head and saw him. Her eyes went up and down to look at him from head to toe and he immediately felt inadequate in front of all those costumers. He knew they were always crowded from seven to nine but refused to break his routine of coming only after his morning runs. Also, he refused to wake up earlier than he was already doing.
“What can I get you today, Oscar?” She was fast to ask, even though he suspected she already knew the answer.
“Are there any sandwiches left?” He knew there wouldn’t be any but asked anyway just to be polite and make small talk.
“Unfortunately, no,” Mariah smiled sadly. “I keep on telling you to come earlier, but you never listen to me.”
“Sorry, Mariah. Gotta stick to the routine or else my trainer will kill me. He already talks my ear off because I insist on coming here practically every day.” He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. “In this case I’ll get the choc chip muffin with a hot cocoa, please.”
“One chocolate chip muffin with hot cocoa on the way, then.”
He’d only have to wait a few minutes before she’d come back with his order. Meanwhile, his eyes turned to the wall displaying both his and Lando’s McLaren caps.
The 2026 cap with the number 1 and the LN designed on the brim did not sting anymore. It one day made him flinch, but those hurtful days were in the past now. Even so, it seemed like the days when he and Lando did not talk were back.
No new messages, no missed calls, nothing. Oscar was still trying to understand what it meant. Did Lando not want to mend things? Was he really going to leave things between the two of them like this? Did he really care so little for what they had?
It’s only been two days and yet he found himself opening their message thread multiple times. It was not easy to refrain from sending a text. Oscar wanted to go back to his arms, to hide his face on the crook of Lando’s neck and smell his stupid Ralph Lauren perfume that everyone seemed to love. That he himself loved.
“One of these days I’ll save one of the sandwiches for you, so you can sleep a bit more. Heard this season has not been very kind to you.” Mariah’s smile was once again very soft once she came back.
He felt caught, looking at the caps wall with a faraway look on his face while thinking about how much he missed Lando. He wondered if it was written all over his face how much he wanted to kiss Lando and pull on his beautiful curls just to hear him grunt low on his throat and feel him tighten his hold on both sides of Oscar’s waist, how much the doubt and the distance have been destroying him from the inside. How much Lando’s words have broken something in him that he was not sure he could fix by himself. Without Lando by his side to pick up the pieces and put them back together.
If Mariah noticed anything, she was gentle enough not to point it out.
“Yeah, messy calendar and even messier races. The new regulations have been eating every single one of us alive. Can’t sleep properly because understanding how the new cars work is a must.” Oscar felt stressed just by thinking and talking about it. He knew Mariah didn’t really watch the races but always made the effort to keep herself updated about how it went for him and Lando. “It would be very appreciated though; I could use a change in order. Even better if I get to sleep a little bit more.”
He grabbed his order once she nodded and smiled, paid and left the place, opting to sit on a table on the outside of the establishment. The best part about living in Monaco was that the locals were so used to bumping into famous people that they didn’t even bat an eye whenever they saw him.
He was halfway through the muffin when his phone started to vibrate non-stop on the table, forcing him to check who was bothering him so early.
Oscar x Arthur message thread
Arthur:
Morning, sunshine
Back in Monaco already?
Oscar:
Yeah.
Got home yesterday after the Miami GP.
Good morning!
Arthur:
Great
We can get dinner together then, right?
It’s been a while since it was just the two of us
Oscar:
Sure, can it not be today, though?
I’m still a bit tired from the grand prix.
Emotionally exhausted and all that.
Arthur:
Whenever you feel like it
We’ve got a few more days until you must leave
Oscar:
That we do.
Should I go to yours tomorrow night?
Arthur:
Was thinking of going out if you don’t mind?
I know you don’t enjoy night clubs and things like that
But there’s this new italian place close to my house and if I remember correctly you do love to try different types of pasta
Oscar smiled despite himself at the messages on his screen. Arthur always knew how to please him, even before their schedules got too different because of his own move to F1. They’ve been friends for quite a few years now.
Oscar:
I don’t mind.
I’ll come over around 7pm and then we can walk there.
Does that work for you?
Arthur:
I can pick you up and drive us there
Oscar:
But you just said the place is close to your house?
Arthur:
So?
My God, Oscar, I can be a gentleman
Chivalry is not totally dead yet
I’m the one who invited you to dinner, you are not driving nor walking your way there
Oscar’s cheeks burned from the embarrassment and confusion, the hot cocoa getting colder by the second beside his unfinished muffin on the table. Arthur had always been a bit of a flirt and more than once Oscar found himself not knowing if he was being serious or not.
Oscar:
It really isn’t necessary.
I know where you live.
I have a car. I can drive.
Arthur:
And I am telling you that I will pick you up
You just focus on getting pretty for our dinner and wait for me to show up
Oscar:
Okay?
Arthur:
Perfect!
It’s a date, then!
Dress nicely for me, yeah?
It’s a well frequented place from what I’ve seen
Oscar could tell that his face was probably in flames by the time he reacted to the message with a thumbs up, locked his phone screen and pushed the device back inside his shorts’ pocket.
Lando x Carlos message thread
Carlos:
mate
weren’t you and oscar on some kind of exclusive relationship?
teammates with benefits typa shit
what is it about max’s story?
Lando:
pls don’t remind me of this
im still pissed off
cant believe that arsehole posted that
Carlos:
the caption was for sure something
and oscar even reposted it too, no?
got me confused over here
Lando:
don’t know what bothered me the most
max’s story or osc reposting it
people cant seem to stop talking about it
“max down bad verstappen” this
“maxcar hard lauching each other” that
THERE IS NOTHING TO HARD LAUNCH BETWEEN THEM
fuck
this shit is driving me crazy, carlos
im so serious right now
Carlos:
so, you and oscar are indeed exclusive?
because if you are, it was fucked up of him to repost that
max posting it? i totally get it
we don’t know what is going on between you two half the time
so if he likes oscar he can try and shoot his shot i guess
but if you and oscar talked about it, then he shouldn’t shove more wood to the fire max started
Lando:
wait
wagt
carlos wat
you think max fancies oscar?
what do u mean by that
CARLOS COME BACJ HERW
Carlos:
eyy, calm down cabrón
i just meant that it was pretty intimate of him to caption a story like that?
he always invites people to fly with him; that’s nothing new as far as i know
even you were invited to fly back home with him more than once
he just never posts things like that
and there’s the videos of the airport
he was very touchy
Lando:
fuck
carlos what should i do
its max fucking verstappen
what if oscar fancies him back?
i feel like vomiting all over again just thinkin about it
Carlos:
you vomited because of this?
Lando:
i woke up hungover as hell
and saw everything online
osc wouldn’t text me back
and i could see he visualized my texts
and then he reposted max’s story
and i felt like shit because i texted him a lot of drunken bullshit that i regretted typing the moment i hit the button to send it
and yeah
i vomited
twice
Carlos:
damn
that’s tough man
but you don’t have to worry too much, right?
if this thing between you and oscar is serious, max can try all he wants
oscar knows you’re together, so it’s all good
Lando:
yeah
about that
i may hav told him we're not
Carlos:
what?
are you serious right now?
Lando:
u dont need to rub it, okay?!
dont know who i want to punch more between myself and max
god, im so stupid
Carlos:
dug your own grave this time, mate
Lando:
dont you think i know that?
i just
i want to text him again
want to explain
to take it baxk
but what if he doesnt want to talk to me?
what if he is too busy being buddies with max?
i cant lose him carlos
Carlos:
then don’t
do something, your idiot
Lando stared at Carlos’ message for the longest of minutes. He was back in Monaco, and his apartment did not feel like home without Oscar in there with him.
After so many movie nights, so many dinners together, so many times Oscar slept there with him, it felt like the place was as much Oscar’s as it was his. He bought it, yes, but it stopped being solely his a long time ago.
His mind was sabotaging him again, he knew that. He just couldn’t stop it, not really. Now that Carlos has got it into his head that Max might fancy Oscar, he couldn’t not think about it. His negative thoughts and emotions always did have the power of destroying him completely. His insecurity had always made him act stupidly.
He couldn’t help it. Not when it came down to Oscar. Oscar and his cute permanent, natural blush. Oscar and his cute longer hair. His cute bunny teeth. His cute smile. Who wouldn’t want someone like Oscar? It would not be a surprise if Max was interested, quite the opposite.
And if the thought of Max and Oscar’s hypothetical relationship being merely sexual bothered him the day before, now the possibility of it having real romantic feelings involved made him want to pull at his hair. How did one singular fuck up managed to turn into something like this? This is not how it was supposed to go.
He said what he said. Okay. Lando would like to think that he is mature enough to accept that this situation was entirely his fault. But the afterwards should have been an apology on either of their hotel rooms in Miami, followed by lots of kisses and cuddles. By now he should be lying in bed with Oscar as his little spoon, because no matter how much their fans insisted on saying he was broad-shouldered and huge, Oscar liked being the little one. But no, here he was hiding inside his apartment two days after the incident like a coward, questioning himself about whether he should or shouldn’t send him a text.
No apologies said, no conversation done, nothing. Just Carlos’ text messages on his phone screen telling him to grow a pair. And, of course, Max fucking Verstappen deciding to make it worse. Max Verstappen, who shouldn’t even be part of this equation. What the bloody hell?
Frustrated, Lando got up from his couch and left his place without a second thought, deciding he needed something to distract himself with or else his mind would drive him completely mad. The walk was not a long one and soon he found himself in front of his comfort bakery in Monaco. He loved their pastries and it was close enough to go by feet whenever he had the urge to cheat his meal plan.
The doorbell rang once he came in and the cashier’s head lifted to look at him, a big smile spreading on her face when she recognised him.
“Well, hello there, Mr. World Champion,” she’s been calling him that since december. At first, he felt too shy and inadequate when she did it, but now it didn’t bother him anymore. “It’s been quite some time since you last came here.”
“Good afternoon, Mariah,” he returned her smile and walked up to the counter where she was ready to take his order. “You should know by now that I am rarely at home. I’ll get a croissant and a coffee, please.”
“Yeah, yeah. Travelling the world for work and all that millionaire man bullshit.”
She waved him off and didn’t even write his order, knowing it by heart now and having heard him say it. After making his coffee and plating his croissant, Mariah came back and pushed it towards his hands on the counter, then she cleared her throat and spoke again.
“Oscar was here just this morning.”
It should not have been a devastating piece of information. Lando knew they lived very close to each other and had even been to Oscar’s apartment before, so he knew Oscar was a costumer of the bakery too. Mariah always informed him whenever Oscar appeared before him, they even joked about that on one of the videos they filmed for McLaren this year. It was something casual that happened almost ever. It hurt either way.
“Yeah? And what did he get? The boring choc chip muffin with some hot cocoa?” Lando didn’t want Mariah to know that he fucked up. He wanted her to keep on feeding him with both food and sneak peeks of Oscar’s routine now that he couldn’t gather information by himself, wanted to hold onto some semblance of normalcy even if it hurts.
“Yep. Same as always.” Mariah said it so proudly that Lando couldn’t help but let a soft smile form on his lips at the image of Oscar sticking to his stupid chocolate chips muffin. “Heard your work calendar got a bit messy though and promised him one of these days I would save him one of the sandwiches he likes but never manage to come in early enough to get, this way he can sleep until late while he can.”
Instantly Lando felt his chest tight because, right, the 20 days they still had between Miami and the Canadian Grand Prix. 20 days until he’d have to see Oscar again without any excuses to hide behind his cowardice.
Lando didn’t have the heart to tell Mariah that the messy part of the calendar was before Miami, not after, and that the mess ended up allowing Oscar to rest a lot since the FIA cancelled the two middle east races. He knew that because, well, Oscar spent some of those days at his apartment and he got to wake up with a still asleep Osc in his arm’s multiple times and they had really good, lazy morning sex with Oscar going all soft and pliant under him, really good cuddles afterwards and- yeah. Lando took a deep breath before speaking again.
“Actually, Mariah, could you pack that so I can eat at home, please? This work talk reminded me I’ll have an online meeting soon with my team.” He made a show of pretending to check the time on his watch.
“Yeah, sure.”
And that’s how he cut his local bakery visit short, leaving it behind with a paper bag and a coffee cup on his hands. On his way home, when he was close enough to his building to have to choose, he hesitated for a second, looking up the street through the late afternoon’s golden rays of sunshine. Would Oscar even open the door for him? The way too scared part of him decided he didn’t want to find out.
It was bound to be some long days if this was just the beginning.
Mission burn in hell, Lando
Carlos:
[screenshots of his conversation with Lando]
can you believe he took this many hours to text me back?
also, is it bad that i am actually pitying him?
Charles:
oh wow
so he is in fact suffering
Alex:
i already expected that
he is an idiot, but he does love Oscar
his insecurity needs to be worked on tbh
Arthur:
Lmao the way he panicked when you mentioned the possibility of Max fancying Oscar
Lance:
It baffles me that he is two steps away from having a full meltdown and still manages to do absolutely nothing about this entire situation
Esteban:
He needs a serious push
Pierre:
I genuinely believe he will freak out when he notices that Max is not the only one he needs to worry about
Logan:
He does seem to think Max is the competition here
Well, he is certainly in for a surprise
Arthur:
About that
I talked to Oscar this morning
We’re going out for dinner tomorrow night
Very much a public appearance just like Max suggested
Max V.:
Good
And I don’t pity Lando one bit, for that matter
Logan:
Honestly, Max, you were the last person I expected to be this invested on the plan
Max V.:
Lando is one of my best friends, but he is being a coward
I don’t stand by cowardice, and I will be happy for them once he does what he needs to do to deserve Oscar
Liam:
I truly don’t get how they are not together
Just look at these screenshots
He threw up just by thinking about hypothetically losing Oscar
Not once, but twice
How can the miscommunication be this severe?
Lewis:
The fear of talking about your feelings with the one you love should not be underestimated.
Charles:
oh yeah, and you would know all about that, wouldn’t you?
Kimi:
👀
Alex:
Again, he is just too insecure
Lando’s self-teem is not as good as most people tends to think
He feels too much and then doesn’t know what to do with said feelings
With the amount of overthinking he does on a daily basis, it comes as no surprise to me that his body reacts in such a way as of vomiting
Carlos:
Don’t you think this plan is going to make it worse, then?
Alex:
Maybe it will
Or maybe it’s going to be the push that he needs to act upon his real feelings, the ones he doesn’t truly shows to Oscar
I don’t know
He is my friend too, Carlos, and I wish I could stop his suffering, but unfortunately I cannot make his moves for him
Oscar deserves someone brave enough to love him out loud instead of hurting him as a way of self-defence
George:
Very well said, Alex.
I stand by both of them.
If it gets to the point of being too much, we can always stop.
But I wish this to be enough for him to wake up.
They both deserve to live their love.
Oscar hated having to dress nicely. What did that even mean? Nicety in this case was supposed to be a subjective matter, right? If so, then why was he so worried about what clothes were good enough to wear on a dinner with a friend?
Arthur Leclerc was his friend and nothing else. They’ve known each other for almost a decade, for fucks sake. Arthur’s seen him wearing boring Prema clothes, he would not bat an eye if he opened the door of his apartment wearing the ugliest clothes to be found on his closet. Except he told him to dress nicely.
That’s how every single one of Oscar’s clothes ended up on the floor of his bedroom. He was afraid of disappointing. Lord knows he’s tired of it after the last half a year he’s had. The dark navy blue dress pants and the white button up on the bed that he deemed his best options were looking back at him like they were not good enough.
He’d showered already because it was getting closer and closer to 7pm, so all he had to do now was wear the goddamn pieces. Oscar took a very deep breath before dropping the tower and approaching the bed. It was fine. Everything was fine.
His not-a-relationship with Lando went to hell, the internet was having a field day shipping him with Max Verstappen, and Arthur Leclerc apparently flirted with him via text. Every fucking thing was under control these past few days. Except not.
His phone vibrated on the bedside table, and he went to grab it as an excuse to postpone getting ready. It did not help, because the text was one of Arthur himself saying he was already in front of his building. Oscar closed his eyes for exactly ten seconds before opening them again to ask him for five minutes, and then he would meet him down there. Arthur reacted with a thumbs up.
Wasting no more time, he gabbed his clothes and put them on, trying not to feel inadequate for the occasion. If he was, the place itself would tell him so once he got there. He buttoned up all the buttons of the shirt and did not spare any time to think about how uptight it looked.
Perfume was a task completed in no more than five seconds, the shoes were close to the door, and he shoved his phone and his wallet on the pants side pockets on his way there, only then sliding his feet inside them.
Arthur’s car was parked on the other side of the street, and he looked up and down before crossing it just to be safe. His friend was not inside but leaning against the closed door of the driver’s side, and his smile was the biggest ever once he saw him coming.
“Hello there, pretty boy.” Arthur’s greeting reached his ear and Oscar felt himself immediately flush a bright shade of red. Frankly, what was this? His tendency to blush was getting out of hand lately, even for his milk white skin standards.
“Hi, Arthur!” He opened his arms to hug him, accepting his friends’ arms around him for only a few seconds.
After it, Arthur looked him up and down, smiling pleasantly.
“Can I?” He reached one hand towards him and Oscar nodded dumbly, not knowing what he meant, but trusting him anyways.
Arthur immediately started working, opening the top button of his dress shirt and then two more for that matter, before humming proudly out loud and rolling both of his sleeves up.
“There! Now you look perfect!” The words came out heavy with his french accent, reminding him of one of Charles’ most viral videos and making him smile. Arthur then reached for his hair and messed it up affectionately. “Ready to go?”
“Uh… yeah!” Oscar cleared his throat before stepping back to walk around the car to get in on the passenger’s side.
Except once again he found himself dumbfounded when Arthur also did it and opened the door for him, same as Max just two days ago. What the actual fuck? He stepped inside with his cheeks two shades darker than usual.
The drive to the restaurant was casual, they chatted about the F1 season and planned a padel match for the next few days, since he still had a few more days in town. Oscar blinked and Arthur was parking the car, but Monaco was indeed a small place to live, so it came as no surprise that the restaurant was slightly close to where he lives.
“I really could’ve come here without bothering you.” Oscar said while unfastening the seatbelt.
“And I already told you that today you are to be treated like a princess,” the words were probably a joke, but they made Oscar freeze where he sat nonetheless, slowly moving his head to look at his friend, whose face softened immediately. “Seriously though, Oscar, just relax and enjoy the night, yeah? We’ve been friends for too long; you have no reason to feel nervous around me. We’ll eat pasta, drink some good old wine and then we can go back to mine to watch something. Movie night with Tim Tams because, yes, I still have some of those double coated ones you like at my place. Does that sound comfortable to you?”
It took a while for him to nod, and his throat closed when he noticed that he was being seen. When they were younger, Arthur, Logan and Fred would always try to get him to go to some club out there, and most of the times it would be fun to let go with the three of them, but clubs had never been Oscar’s scene. That was not where he shined the most. Nonetheless, even though he sometimes refused to put on the sluttiest of clothes and go out with then to dance the night away, they never stopped inviting him because apparently that’s how friendships work. You respect the no’s and celebrate the yes’, but you never stop inviting.
They were all older now. Their lives? Totally different from one another. Oscar definitely could not put on slutty clothes to go out anymore. Or he could, but he was pretty sure he would not be able to handle the consequences of said acts, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
And Arthur could see that. Grown up Arthur wanted to make sure their night together was filled with things that would make grown up Oscar comfortable: pasta, movies and Tim Tams. The same Arthur whom one day joked about kissing him on camera and then pretended to be disappointed because the kiss would not happen. God, they did in fact grow up, didn’t they? Oscar didn’t mind going out to dinners and padel courts, but clubs were in the past and the people in his life understood that.
“Let’s go then.” Arthur’s voice echoed inside the car, shaking him out of those thoughts.
This time, Oscar did not wait for the door to be opened for him, he did it himself and met his friend on the sidewalk, ready to go inside. Once they were being guided to their table, he could obviously see some phones pointed at them, because people never did lose the opportunity to expose famous people on-line, but at this point in his career he no longer minded if some footage of him inside a restaurant leaked. It had happened one too many times already for him to care.
They ordered three different types of pasta because Oscar had never heard of them, not even when he was in Italy during race weekends, and waited while chatting. Their wine came quickly and the moment they started sipping on it another waiter came by to say that a father asked him to request them if their child could come to their table for a photo.
Oscar, touched by the politeness of the parent, agreed lightly. Soon enough a small girl came by shyly and Oscar noticed her mom filming the whole interaction while her dad accompanied to take the picture.
“Hi there, little one!” He smiled and called her closer with his hand.
Her smile immediately bloomed and she hugged him, something he did not expect but also did not reject. A surprised chuckle left his mouth, and he closed his arms around her. By his side, Arthur watched the scene with a smile as big as the child’s one.
The moment they disentangled, her father shushed her to position. “Come on, Elise, he wants to eat. Let’s take this photo already, yeah?” His tone was gentle while talking to her.
She obeyed and turned to look at the camera. Her father was fast and before going back to her table, she told him: “Now a have one photo with you and one photo with Lando.”
Oscar’s smile strained just enough to be noticeable, but she was a child, so she did not in fact notice. “Yeah? Bet he was suuuuuper nice with you.” And the worst part was, he wasn’t even lying. Lando loved kids so much that watching him with them still makes Oscar’s heart flutter to nowadays.
Even with the state of their relationship now, his mind still conjures up thoughts of possible futures together. Maybe without kids, maybe with a lot of them. Lando never loses one single opportunity to talk about how he wants to be a father. Fuck, Oscar suddenly felt like crying. Would they even be able to adopt a child if they were together in the future, being who they are?
He did not listen to what her answer was, but thank God Arthur seemed to entertain her on his behalf until her father scooped her away. He came back to himself only when his friend’s hand touched his shoulder.
“Are you alright?” Arthur’s voice revealed his concerns.
“Yeah, all good.” His smile was clipped, but to his relief the waiter came back with their dishes.
Arthur didn’t press, quite the opposite. He rushed him to eat and rate the three different pastas on a scale from zero to ten. The wine loosened him up a little bit and the rest of the night ended up being as fun as it could have been.
The drive back to Arthur’s house was a fast one, since the restaurant was indeed very close to where he lived. He also didn’t let him pay for dinner, which was bullshit, in Oscar’s opinion. He could pay for his food, thank you very much.
Once there, he went to change his clothes for some borrowed ones from Arthur, opting to put on some socks too since it was a chilly night. His friend, meanwhile, stayed behind at the living room to make it comfortable for movie night.
“Are you sure you don’t want to do this in my room?” Arthur’s eyebrows went up and down suggestively the moment he saw him coming back.
“Nah, mate, tone it down yeah?” Despite the reddened cheeks, he allowed himself to laugh without a worry.
“Boooooring!” Arthur booed, slapping his butt on his way to go change his own clothes. “Choose something for us to watch, okay? I’ll be right back. Tim Tams are on the coffee table.”
Oscar nodded and sat down on the sofa, taking the remote to turn on the TV and search for something. Meanwhile, on his room, Arthur scrolled through his phone, choosing which photo from the restaurant ended up being good enough to post on his story. In not even one of them Oscar seemed to notice the phone pointed at him, God bless his heart.
“First you spoil them with their favourite food”, he wrote on the upper part of the post, a photo of Oscar looking at his pasta with a small smile on his face. His hair was still dishevelled, some goldish strands pointing out, and from the angle anyone could see the fair stretch of skin under his opened shirt buttons. He immediately hit post.
Giving it a few minutes just to change into something more comfortable, Arthur ignored the blast of notifications and opened the stories’ camera again, ready to deliver the final blow.
Walking silently to the end of the corridor, from where he could see Oscar curled up on his sofa with a package of Tim Tams in hand, he came to a stop and pointed his phone to his friend’s direction, taking a new photo.
“Then you bring them home and put them on your clothes ;)”, Arthur finished writing and pressed the post button. Then, and only then, he joined Oscar on the sofa.
On his apartment, Lando Norris received three late night texts that consisted of two instagram screenshots accompanied by an “eyy cabrón” from Carlos Sainz. Opening them made him want to break his phone.