Chapter Text
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"Hey mate, could you maybe uhm..."
Oh damn, that guy sounds just like Lando Norris, what a coincidence. Oscar thought to himself as he turned around... to face the actual Lando Norris.
The entire left side of his body was covered in scrapes, wounds and blood, and his face looked like Rapunzel had hit him with her frying pan. What. The. Fuck.
"Oh my god! Are you okay? How can I help?"
"Could you order me an Uber? To the nearest emergency room please."
An Uber? Was this guy being serious?
"You sure you don't need an ambulance?" He definitely needed an ambulance, his papaya hoodie was stained with blood, like a lot of blood.
But Oscar supposed that if Lando Norris wanted an Uber, he should get the man an Uber.
"Nah, I just need to get away without being noticed."
Was this dude actually serious? Not only was he very obviously wounded, he was also LANDO NORRIS at a grand prix. How were people not going to notice him?
Okay, to be fair, it was only Thursday, and the sun was already setting, so there weren't as many people as the rest of the weekend, but still!
"Okay sure, I'll order you an Uber. But if you want to get away without being noticed, you'll at least need a jacket and hat or something." Oscar said as he opened the Uber app.
Lando sighed deeply.
"As much as I love that idea, am I supposed to just, pull those things out of thin air?" Lando answered, accompanied with some wild hand gestures.
Damn, Oscar hadn't expected Lando to be this sassy in real life as well. At least he's authentic on camera, right?
As much as Oscar didn't want to ruin his 'Melbourne GP staff' jacket with blood, his mother raised a gentleman, and he couldn't disappoint her like that.
"You can take mine, I think I have a cap in my bag as well, one sec." He said as he took off his jacket and handed it to Lando.
Oscar sighed when he saw his cap was slightly deformed from being stuffed in his bag for the whole day, and he cringed when he realized he was giving said deformed cap to THE Lando Norris.
But Lando wasn't taking the cap from him, he was still just holding the jacket in front of him like it contained a bomb.
"Do you not usually wear coats or?"
He did not just say that. Oh my god, why would he say that?
Lando didn't seem bothered by his comment, he just looked up at Oscar with a doubtful expression.
"No it's just... I don't want to get your jacket dirty."
Oh. Well that's awfully kind of him. That's really kind actually, not at all what he'd expected from a super rich celebrity. That's a pleasant surprise.
Oscar just smiled and looked down as he stepped closer to Lando, who was looking at him expectedly.
Oscar met Lando's eyes as he gently placed the jacket over his shoulders, careful not to hurt him too much.
A small "thank you" fell from Lando's lips as Oscar put the cap on his head as well, giving it a little pat for good measure.
"Right, let's get you to that Uber mate."
Oscar had been smart enough to tell the Uber to come pick them up at one of the back exits, but that did mean they would have to walk at least 500 meters around the track. And Lando didn't exactly look capable of walking that far without assistance at the moment.
That didn't mean the driver wasn't going to try though. After a few pathetic steps Oscar had already had enough. Lando's limping was putting Oscar in pain by just looking at it. He was afraid that Lando would fall into a heap of bruised and bloody skin if he took another step.
So, he put Lando's good arm around his neck and he carefully placed an arm around Lando's hip, which seemed to be the least wounded area of his left side.
"Thanks, uh? What's your name?" Lando asked with a pained expression on his face.
Oscar answered with a small smile on his face, he couldn't help being excited that an F1 driver was asking for his name.
"Oscar."
"Well it's nice to meet you Oscar, I'm Lando!"
This guy.
He already knew that of course, so Oscar just chuckled before responding.
"It's nice to meet you too Lando."
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"What are you doing?"
Oscar looked at Lando with a confused expression on his face as he sat down in the Uber. What did he think he was doing?
Lando's eyes went wide when he realized what Oscar was planning on doing.
"You're not coming with me, are you?"
Was this guy being for real?
"Okay first of all" Oscar said as he closed the car door.
"I'm not letting you go anywhere alone in that state." Which was accompanied by a vague gesture to Lando's wounds.
"Secondly, about half of the clothes you are wearing are mine, remember."
Apparently Oscar wasn't as convincing as he thought, because Lando was about to protest. But Oscar was not taking no for an answer.
"And" Oscar stated with a stern voice. "I payed for this Uber, and I live near the emergency room, so I'm taking this Uber whether you want to or not."
Lando finally surrendered after that.
"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" Oscar asked the driver, he couldn't keep his curiosity at bay any longer.
Lando opened his mouth to say something, but he decided against it and instead plastered a cheeky grin on his face. It didn't look quite right because of his already swelling jaw, it reminded him a little of toothless trying to copy hiccups smile. It was kind of adorable.
"What do you think happened?" Lando asked in return, placing extra emphasis on the 'you'.
Oscar chuckled.
"Well it looks like someone really went at you with a cheese grater but-"
He was cut off by a loud burst of, if he was being honest, ridiculous sounding laughter. But as ridiculous as it was, it was just as contagious and Oscar was soon giggling at his own joke.
"What? Is that not what happened?" Oscar asked, pretending to be slightly disappointed.
Lando laughed even harder at that. Oscar made eye contact with the Uber driver, who just raised his shoulders in an 'I dont know either' way. Oscar was sure he wasn't that hilarious. Maybe Lando had a concussion.
"Well then, what did happen?" He asked, genuinely curious.
Lando managed to bring his laughter down to a high-pitched giggle before he answered.
"Nothing as exciting as that, I can promise you." He had stopped laughing by now and chewed on his cheek for a moment before continuing. "I fell off my bike..."
Oh. Oscar hadn't realized how sad Lando was. It made sense now that he thought about it, he would have to break it to the team soon, and there is no way they would let him drive in his condition.
Oscar hesitated for a second, thinking of what he could say to comfort the driver.
But he didn't get the chance to say anything because the driver was already pulling over in front of the ER.
Oscar hurriedly got out of the Uber and opened the door for Lando. His mom would be so proud of him. He helped him out of the car and shot the Uber driver a quick goodbye.
"You're a real gentleman, aren't you?" Lando said as they were shuffling to the doors of the ER together. Oscar just scoffed in response.
"No, I'm serious!" He said.
"Opening doors for me and everything." He earned a giggle from Oscar with that.
"Helping a gentleman in distress." Lando emphasized his sentence with a dramatic tone. "Very Bridgerton of you."
"Bridgerton? You've watched Bridgerton?" Oscar replied, slightly surprised.
A somewhat offended look washed over Lando's face.
"What do you take me for? Of course I've watched Bridgerton! It's like, my favorite show ever!"
Now it was Oscar's turn to be surprised. What do you mean Bridgerton was this jock's favorite show?
"Really? I thought you'd be more of a 'Breaking Bad' type of guy." Oscar said as they stepped through the revolving doors of the ER.
"Oh please." Lando answered with an eye roll. "This will really shock you then: my favorite movie is 'Love Actually'."
Oscar was about to respond when an ER nurse ran over to help Lando.
Oscar tried to go with them, but the nurse told him he'd have to wait in the waiting area. Lando had insisted he'd go home, but Oscar was known to be stubborn.
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"Oscar?" Oscar looked up to see Lando standing in front of him, patched up but still in Oscar's clothes.
"What are you still doing here?" Lando was speaking much calmer than before. Oscar rubbed his eyes, he had gotten quite sleepy while sitting there and waiting for Lando.
"Oh, uh, I was just waiting to see if you were okay." Oscar wasn't actually sure why he stayed, he just felt like he should.
"Well that's awfully kind of you, but as you can see" Lando did a little twirl to demonstrate. "I'm still injured!" Lando giggled at his own joke, causing Oscar to let out a little laugh as well.
"I've called the team..." Lando said much less happy. "I'm not racing the rest of the weekend." Oh that poor guy, Oscar felt really bad for him.
"I'm so sorry, that sucks. Like, really, really sucks." Lando just looked at him with a sad smile.
"Would you like me to order another Uber? You stay at the Hilton, right?" Oscar offered.
Lando contemplated it but shook his head in the end.
"You live in the neighborhood, right? Do you know any hotels near here? I don't care how shitty. I'm just not really in the mood to face everyone right now."
Wow, Lando must really be beating himself up over this if he'd rather sleep in a crappy motel room than the Hilton.
Oscar thought a moment before making him an offer.
"No, I'm sorry. But if you don't mind a five-minute walk you could just stay at my apartment?"
Lando laughed softly. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to bother you."
"It's no trouble, really! I've got a really comfy couch, don't worry." Oscar would feel much more at ease knowing that Lando wasn't crying himself to sleep in some gross motel.
"Well alright then, let's go!" The cheery Lando from before was back again, Oscar was glad to see it.
Lando's walking wasn't as terrible as before, but it hadn't gotten a whole lot better. So, Oscar's arm was back around his hip in no time. No mumbled 'thank you' this time, just a smile from the both of them.
"I watched 'Love Actually' while I was waiting for you." Oscar wasn't sure why he was saying this and he certainly didn't know why he even watched it in the first place, but he did.
"You did?" Lando asked with a shocked expression.
"What did you think of it?"
"It felt a bit weird to watch a Christmas movie in March, but I did like it."
"Like it?!" Oscar startled at the loudness of Lando's voice.
"It's like, the best movie ever!"
What was this guy on about?
"Now that's just not true, that's obviously 'How to train your dragon'!" Oscar responded.
Lando shrugged.
"I wouldn't know, haven't seen it."
"What?! How have you never seen 'how to train your dragon'? It's-"
"The best movie ever?" Lando interrupted him. "Yeah, strong words from the guy who had never seen 'Love Actually' before." Lando smirked at him.
Oscar smirked right back.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to watch it tonight and then you'll see."
"We'll see Mr. Oscar, we'll see." Lando said it like it was a challenge.
"Yes we will Mr. Norris."
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"And? What did you think?" Oscar asked as the credits rolled. Lando looked at him from the other side of Oscar's not-so-big couch.
They had both put their legs up on the couch, and they had gotten tangled together during the movie, neither of them wanting to do something about it.
Lando was wearing one of Oscar's hoodies. Oscar thought back to the moment he offered it to him so he could change out of the bloody McLaren merch, the blush on his cheeks had been playing in Oscar's brain for the past hour and a half.
Lando sighed.
"Yeah, okay, that is definitely the best movie I've ever seen."
Oscar threw his head back out of joy.
"I knew you'd love it!" He laughed. "Oh, the sweet taste of victory."
Lando giggled loudly in response.
"But!" The driver began. "'Love Actually' is still the best Christmas movie ever."
Oscar thought about it for a second and nodded in agreement with Lando's conclusion.
"Agreed." He said. "You know what?"
Lando tilted his head to the side.
"What?" He asked curiously.
Damn, he looked like a puppy with those sparkling eyes of his.
"We both have amazing taste in movies." Oscar finished his statement, blushing slightly.
The curly haired man nodded his head.
"Oh absolutely." He said smiling.
That smile was going to be the death of Oscar.
"I've been meaning to ask." Lando said. "What's up with all these books?" He gestured to the mess of books and notebooks scattered on Oscar's table.
Oscar had tuned out the clutter months ago and cringed when he realized the state of his apartment.
"Oh, it's just, you know, university stuff. Nothing cool or anything."
Lando's eyes widened in excitement at Oscar's answer.
"What are you talking about?! You go to Uni? That's super cool!"
Oscar had no idea how Lando could be this impressed by that. Why would a sports prodigy like Lando think that Uni is cool? That dude literally risks his life for a living.
"What do you study?" He asked, still way too excited according to Oscar.
"Just law school." Lando didn't seem satisfied by the lack of enthusiasm Oscar was showing.
"Just? Just?! Isn't Melbourne like the best law school there is? Isn't it like the Australian Harvard law?" The driver's tone was nothing short of accusing.
"Yeah, that's true but-"
"No buts! Don't undersell yourself like that Osc!" Lando was nothing short of pouring while he said that.
Oscar had no idea where the nickname had suddenly come from. But he would be lying if he said his heart didn't flutter for a second when it was said.
"I would be bragging to everyone about going here."
Now Oscar was confused.
"You're literally a Formula one driver mate? That was my dream for the longest time."
A sparkle appeared in Lando's eyes.
"Really? Did you race when you were younger?"
Oscar smiled fondly at the memories that resurfaced in his head.
"Did I race?" Oscar asked, arrogance creeping through his composed voice. "I was national karting champion when I was 14!" He was usually a very humble guy, but he couldn't help but brag just a little bit.
Lando's jaw dropped.
"Careful bud, you'll catch flies." Oscar giggled softly.
"No way! No fucking way!"
Oscar just laughed louder as he pulled up a picture of little him with the trophy.
"Way." He said as he showed the photo to Lando.
He greedily took the phone from Oscar's hands.
"Oh my god, you were an adorable kid." Lando mumbled, and Oscar was sure he got as red as a tomato.
"Why'd you stop?" He asked curiously.
"It just got too expensive." Oscar sighed. "I got offered an f4 test, but it was just.. insane. So I quit."
Lando chewed on his cheek for a moment, thinking of what to say, but Oscar continued.
"And it would have gotten in the way with school, and my parents really weren't a fan of that." He laughed softly, looking around at all the notebooks scattered around the room.
Oscar knew that Lando was looking at him with those sparkling eyes of his, so he decided to keep his head down for a moment, trying not to blush. He still couldn't believe there was an actual F1 driver on his couch, wearing his hoodie.
Wait. Why was he wearing a hoodie in 30º weather anyway? Okay, it was like one in the morning, but it was still at least 25º.
"Hey" Oscar started. "Aren't you like melting?"
Lando just looked at him, obviously confused at the sudden change of topic.
"Uh... What?"
Oscar laughed at the adorable look on his face.
"Well I can imagine you're dying inside that hoodie right about now."
Lando looked at the white hoodie he was wearing, but stayed quiet, as if he wasn't actually sure why he was wearing it.
Oscar had offered him a T-shirt first, but Lando had declined and had asked for a hoodie instead.
"No, uh, I'm fine." He still wasn't looking at Oscar. "I'm always cold." He laughed.
Oscar didn't laugh. Being cold in this weather was... Well, it was odd, if not worrying. But, Oscar barely knew the guy, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.
"I still can't believe I'm here." Lando said. A bit out of the blue, but alright.
"What? On some nerd's couch?" Oscar asked laughing.
Lando looked at him with wide eyes.
"No!" He said quickly, making it clear he hadn't meant to offend the guy next to him.
"I just meant..." He wasn't actually sure what he'd meant. "I don't even know." He let out another one of those ridiculous cackles.
"No, no, I get." Oscar said, sarcasm thick in his tone. "I think it's time for your nap." Lando burst out laughing again.
"You're probably right." He giggled. "Do you mind if I sleep in your hoodie?" He pulled on his collar to emphasize his question.
Oscar blushed slightly at the idea that THE Lando Norris would be sleeping in his hoodie. Man, he was never washing that ever again.
"No, of course. I'll get you a pillow and some blankets." Oscar said before disappearing into his room to gather everything.
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