Work Text:
Oscar finds him after Zandvoort curled up in his comforter watching Cars. The only surprising thing about the scene is how he got a DVD player within four hours.
It takes a second for Logan to see that he’s there. When he does, he looks so pathetic that Oscar sighs and finally lets the hotel door shut behind him.
“Alright mate, budge over,” Oscar directs with a sweeping hand motion. Logan wiggles to the far side of the bed so Oscar can squeeze in next to him. He kicks his shoes off before he leans back against the headboard, Logan flopping back against his shoulder almost immediately. Oscar normally hates to be this close to anyone, but he and Logan have shared personal space for so long that he feels more normal with Logan pressed against him.
They are quiet for a while but Oscar tries not to worry, quickly getting sucked back into a movie that he has seen dozens of times before. Lightning has just discovered Doc was the Hudson Hornet when Logan finally speaks.
“Maybe I should go to NASCAR.”
“Bullshit,” Oscar is snorting out before he can stop to think about it. He doesn’t want to think about it, the idea making anxiety creep into his voice. He covers it up by joking, “You’d get bored in two races. Maybe Indycar.”
Logan pops an arm out of his cocoon to land a half-hearted wack to Oscar’s shoulder. He pretends to feel it; Logan kind of needs the boost to his ego right now.
“Don’t be a dick. I’m being serious.” Logan’s half-hidden face takes on a sullen look (still beautiful even if Oscar hates to see him sad). “Maybe I should have stayed in Formula 2, tried to win a championship.”
Oscar frowns at the tv. It wasn’t the first time Logan had brought this up, F1 fans really could be vicious and they’d been doing their best to prove Logan wasn’t cut out for it. Oscar hadn’t entertained the idea then and he wasn’t going to fuck with it now.
“Fuck that, Lo.” He turns to face the American head-on, jostling him until he relents and meets Oscar’s eyes. “Look: you got into Q3, mate. Everyone saw you busting your ass this weekend. A few unlucky starts in terrible conditions doesn’t change that. The car’s gonna be fixed up and you’re going to blow it away in Monza. It’s the perfect place for a comeback.”
Logan sighs and Oscar knows he doesn’t really believe him. It hurts the part of Oscar that believes Logan can do anything, the part that’s so intrinsic to himself at this point that he has a hard time hearing any critique about the other man. Oscar is always ready to fight anyone who doubts Logan but it’s significantly harder when it’s Logan himself.
“Logan.” Oscar forced him to meet his eyes again. “Who almost beat me in the same machinery?”
Logan rolls his eyes and tries to turn away with a whiny, “Oscar-”
“No, no, listen.” He wrestles Logan into a position where his options are to look at Oscar or close his eyes. Logan looks at him but it’s clearly reluctant. “Who did it?”
The boy huffs, “Me, but-”
“No buts!” Oscar raises his eyebrows and waits until Logan falls quiet and lets him continue. It’s not a hardship when Logan’s eyes are so pretty. His friend finally settles enough for Oscar to continue. “When Williams wanted to promote you even before you had enough points what did you do?”
Logan understood that Oscar wasn’t going to let this go so he accepted his fate. “I got the points.”
“Excuse me?”
“I got the points, okay?” Logan shoves at Oscar. They roll and the younger boy ends up underneath Logan, new fire lighting up his eyes. Oscar grins up at him and cups his face.
“You got the points and proved all those fuckers wrong. Because that’s who you are, Loges. You’re fucking incredible.”
The bridge of Logan’s nose flushes the same way it does any time he gets complimented. He was softening and Oscar could tell. Logan never could fight with him for very long, that’s why Oscar wins all of their disagreements. But he still looked ready to argue with him. Oscar guessed he had to pull out the big guns.
“Come on, Sargeant. Don’t quit on me now. It’s been years since our last shared podium.”
The words hit where he wanted them to and Logan broke out into his grin that made him look ten years younger than he actually was. He laughs and shakes Oscar, sitting up and giving Oscar the room to do the same.
“Really that confident you’ll get a podium, huh, Mr. Rookie of the Year?”
Oscar shrugs, grinning at Logan’s now light face.That was the expression he was trying to get out of him. “Already got one second place finish. I suppose I can take you with me next time.”
Logan shakes his head like he can’t believe any of the words coming out of Oscar’s mouth. Which is stupid, Oscar has only ever spoken the truth, thank you very much. Logan moves back towards his side of the bed and Oscar follows. They settle back together in a way that reminds Oscar of all their other movie nights: Oscar slouched against the pillows and Logan’s head and shoulders pressing on his chest..
“Okay, no more moping. Sally and Lightning are about to go on their date.” Logan decrees, grabbing Oscar’s hand and tangling their fingers together.
-
It was Sunday after Monza when Oscar found himself standing in front of Logan’s driver room door. Technically he wasn’t supposed to be there but there had been a lot of overlap between Williams and McLaren on the paddock this season. Oscar wouldn’t pretend it wasn’t because he and Logan both needed to see a familiar face at race events. After the race he’d just had, he needed to talk to someone who wasn’t part of McLaren.
Before Oscar could get up the nerve to knock on the door, it swung open to reveal a slightly amused, still-damp-from-his-shower Logan. Oscar froze watching Logan lean up against the doorjamb. A drop of water falls from a strand of hair laying over his forehead. It feels like it’s mocking Oscar for how dry his mouth just got.
“I could hear you angsting from inside. You good, bro?” Logan asked in a voice that told Oscar he was definitely laughing at him. He blinked very intelligently.
“Don’t call me bro,” he said, more out of habit than anything. He moves forward without thinking and grabs the towel from around Logan’s neck. “And dry your hair, you’re going to catch a cold.”
“You know that’s just an old wives tale, right?” Logan laughs but acquiesces to Oscar using the towel to rub his hair dry. When he finished, Oscar just stood there holding the towel, unsure of how to proceed. Logan rolled his eyes and tugged him inside. And then, for the first time since last week, they were alone.
“Is this about the race?” Logan asked tentatively after a minute of Oscar not saying anything. Logan broaching the topic made the dam in Oscar’s chest break.
He flopped down onto the bench in Logan’s driver’s room and started venting about the race. Lewis running into him, fighting with Lando the whole time, his five second penalty, it was all shit. He’d been doing great right before the summer break and now he felt like he was going to end up back where he was at the beginning of the season.
Oscar appreciated that Logan let him rant it out. He knew his friend wasn’t very happy with his own performance, but he still commiserated with Oscar, letting him know he was on his side.
“I can’t believe Liam ended up in front of both of us,” Oscar grumbled after a break in his tirade. Logan snorted from where he was squished up against Oscar’s side on the couch.
“Well, he’a a really good driver. Be a shame if he doesn’t get a seat next year.”
Oscar groaned and knocked a fist into Logan’s shoulder. The older boy raised his eyebrows. “Geez, Lo, don’t be so nice . Can’t you be salty and petty with me for once ?”
Logan laughs in his face and Oscar sighs. Oscar knew that was just how Logan was, ready to blame himself ten times before being mad at anyone else. It had worked out for Oscar more than once, actually, but it always made him feel like he had to make sure no one took advantage of just how kind his best friend was. Sometimes the same things that made people easy to love made them easy to hurt.
“It’s a meritocracy, man. The top 20 drivers get on the grid.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” Oscar snorts. “We both know there’s a bunch of fucking politics that goes into it.”
Logan hums in agreement before pressing back into the couch and Oscar’s side. They let silence descend after that. It wasn’t unusual for them to sit together without talking. Knowing each other for that long will do that to you. Oscar was usually quiet but it was only really with Logan that he didn’t feel compelled to change that. Oscar is just starting to drift off on Logan’s shoulder when a phone call breaks the peaceful atmosphere.
“Ah shit, sorry,” Logan is saying as he reaches for his bag. Oscar wonders who could be calling him right now. Dalton maybe? A minute of digging around leads to the successful acquisition of his cell phone. Logan laughs and shows the caller ID to Oscar, who rolls his eyes in return.
Logan is smirking as he answers the call, “Hi, Miss Nicole, what’s up?”
There’s silence and then, “Yeah he’s right here, let me put you on speaker.”
Logan hits the button on his phone and sets it down on the counter next to them. It only takes a second for Oscar’s mom’s voice to come from the tiny iPhone speakers and for him to start feeling properly guilty.
“ Osc, why aren’t you picking up your phone? I’ve been trying to call you but it’s almost three, your father and I have to go to bed soon .”
“Sorry, mum,” Oscar says, leaning into Logan to be heard by the microphone. “I think I left it back at McLaren.”
“ Hm. Well I just wanted to call and say I’m proud of you. Both of you, you boys have been working hard. I don’t want you two to be beating yourselves up over this, okay? ”
Oscar sees Logan smiling out of the corner of his eye and lets him answer first.
“Thanks, Nicole. For watching and for checking in on us.”
“It means a lot, mum,” Oscar continues, easy and practiced. “Promise not to do anything crazy.”
“ Oh, you mean besides racing cars? ” His mom asks, like he had expected. He and Logan smile at each other at the running joke that wasn’t quite a joke. Even if it did make Oscar feel a little bit like a child sometimes, his mother worrying about him and Logan meant a lot to the both of them. “ But alright. I need to go to sleep before I pass out on the couch, too old for that these days. Love you boys, get some rest. ”
“Love you, too,” they both chorus back. Logan leans forward to grab the phone.
“Goodnight, mum.”
“Bye, Nicole.”
“ Bye, boys. ”
The call disconnects and Oscar jumps when Logan smacks his shoulder. He yelps and rubs at the place they made contact, giving Logan his best “ what the fuck? ” look.
“Really, man? I know your mom always calls after a race.”
“I forgot , okay?” Oscar gripes. Trying not to think about the fact that his mom knew to call Logan when he hadn’t picked up the phone, he shoves at Logan’s shoulder. “Sorry that I wanted to see your stupid face.”
Logan grins and pulls Oscar into a headlock. “Aw, you do care about me!”
“Alright, alright,” Oscar pushes back reflexively but isn’t too worried about getting out of the headlock. Logan relaxes his hold anyway, both of them instinctively reacting to the other’s motions. Oscar slips out from under Logan’s arm if only to wrestle with the other boy for a bit. They’re both too tired for any real bouts, but it’s nice to be close and to feel Logan’s reassuring strength. Eventually, they end up laid out on top of each other.
“Wanna go back to my hotel room and watch Cars 2?” Logan suggests once their heartbeats have calmed down into a normal rhythm once again.
“Your obsession with those movies is an illness, mate,” Oscar tells him. But what he really means is “ yes ”. Oscar likes the Cars series two times more than the next person because Logan likes them ten times more. Logan knows it, too, because he just laughs before pushing Oscar off of him.
“Go back to your hospitality and grab your stuff, I’ll meet you at the north entrance in twenty.”
Oscar goes without much protest. Knowing that he’s going to spend the rest of the evening watching animated movies and will inevitably wake up tomorrow half under his best friend is what motivates him out the door.
—
Oscar doesn’t even bother going to his hotel after qualifying. After talking with the press and with his race engineers, he headed straight for where Williams was staying. His team could text him about what he needed to do for tomorrow.
He and Logan had shared their room details when they got into Singapore so Oscar made his way up to the third floor without any interruptions. It’s only when he gets to the top that he realizes he hadn’t gotten Logan to give him his extra key card. Instead of calling him or going back to his own hotel, he plops himself outside of the door to wait.
Oscar is awoken by gentle fingers combing through his hair. The touch is warm and relaxing so Oscar doesn’t even bother fighting against the hold. He hums and leans into the hand, making the owner of it laugh. They stay like that for a few minutes until there’s a small tug on his hair.
“Come on Osc, let’s get inside.”
“Can we watch Cars 3?” he asks, not picking his head up from the door.
“Geez, I already feel like shit and now you want to make me cry?” Logan huffs but he’s not mad so Oscar doesn’t do more than hum. There’s a few more tugs that he doesn’t respond to before, “Oh my god, Oscar, yes, we can.”
He blinks his eyes open and smiles up at his fondly exasperated friend. Oscar holds a hand out and it takes no convincing for Logan to grab it and pull him up. They stumble into each other, both too tired after a long day to bother with things like personal space. Oscar leans on his friend as he struggles to open the door while also supporting Oscar’s weight. He still doesn’t offer to help, though. Logan’s one of the few people who lets Oscar be cattishly lazy and is more than happy to take care of him when he’s in the mood. And right now, Oscar wants nothing more than to at last give up his composure and put himself into Logan’s trustworthy hands.
Oscar tries to head straight for the bed when the door is finally opened, but Logan gently steers him towards the bathroom.
“Shower first, then we’ll get in bed.”
Logan leading him around and giving Oscar directions feels great after wearing out his brain during qualifying. It was easy to float on the soft waves of Logan’s voice, knowing he didn’t have to make any decisions and he would still end up getting what he needs. It wasn’t their usual dynamic but it was nice.
The shower was lukewarm, a good middle ground between the 20 degree ice bath and the sweltering feeling of boiling in his own sweat. Logan puttered around the bathroom while Oscar showered; it was obvious the younger man couldn’t be left to his own devices at the moment. When he was done, Logan wrapped him in a hotel robe and propped him against the sink while he took his own shower. The younger man felt so loved at that moment that he was close to melting into a pile of goo. Oscar was at risk of falling asleep again when Logan finished washing.
“You’re really out of it,” he hummed. Oscar opened his eyes because he couldn’t decipher how Logan was feeling from his tone. There was something warm, comforting, and familiar in his eyes that had Oscar reaching out to him like a sunflower to the sun.
They stayed wrapped up against the bathroom sink for a long while. When Logan first started having anxiety attacks in high school, this is what they did: held each other so they could feel the other one breathe. Eventually their heartbeats would sync up. Sometimes it felt like they were still beating in time even after Logan had moved too far away to hold.
“I’m sorry we’re stuck at the back of the grid tomorrow,” Oscar says. It’s more of a mumble, really, and only partly meant to be said aloud but Logan’s presence draws all of his deepest thoughts from him. Logan pulls away and Oscar pouts until he can see his face.
“You don’t have to be sorry about that, Osc, it wasn’t your fault. It’s Singapore.”
Oscar groaned and let his head drop onto Logan’s steady shoulder. “Fucking Singapore. I am so done with Singapore. We should just skip the race tomorrow. We can fly back to Melbourne with my parents and forget all about racecar driving.”
“Don’t say that,” Logan laughs, knocking a light fist on the back of Oscar’s head. It makes him burrow closer to that intoxicating spot at the base of Logan’s neck. “You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if you weren’t racing.”
Only grumbles at that. Mostly because it’s true.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to watch a movie?” Logan prodded. He pulled them apart again, against Oscar’s desires but ultimately for a good cause. “We should get on that soon before you really knock out.”
“You’re talking like you aren’t about to pass out, too, mate.” Oscar shakes his head at Logan’s laugh but he really is concerned. He forces himself to take a deeper look at Logan and note the slight bags under his eyes, the loose posture under the robe. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Sometimes Logan smiles like the sun, radiant and eye-catching. Right now it’s like the moon: gentle, guiding Oscar home. “I’m gonna be okay. I want to take care of you. Let me take care of you?”
And who is Oscar to argue with that?
They separate and head towards the bedroom. Oscar goes towards the open suitcase while Logan detours to the kitchen for some snacks. He changes into some old clothes of Logan’s. They’re a bit big on the American so they’re about right on Oscar. He hands a second pair of sleepclothes out to Logan when he comes back, carrying glasses of water and trainer-approved movie snacks. They both climb into bed once they’re ready. This time Oscar’s head ends up on Logan’s chest, the older boy’s long fingers drawn back to Oscar’s hair.
Cars 3 always makes Logan cry. When the American had dragged him to see it in theaters, Oscar hadn’t understood why. It’s supposed to be a happy story, an evolution of the sport and how it carries on. Racers come and go but racing is forever and all that. At least, that’s how Oscar saw it.
In Logan’s eyes, he had explained, it was about devoting your whole life to something that you will eventually lose. And you might not have a choice in losing it no matter how hard you fight it. Sometimes you just have to let go.
Watching it now, Oscar understands. It’s hard to let go. Glancing up at Logan, he can feel it in his bones. I don’t want to let go.
--
Oscar thinks he’s going to have to go find Logan after Japan but turns out he doesn’t have to. Logan finds him instead.
“Oscar Jack Piastri!”
Oscar barely has enough time to get his arms up to catch the other driver as Logan comes flying at him. The wiggly mass of Williams driver is hard to hold onto and Oscar can feel laughter building up in his chest. Logan was usually pretty controlled with his emotions so seeing him so excited made Oscar feel like something was finally going right in the world.
“A rookie podium, mate,” Logan says, finally stilling long enough for Oscar to see the megawatt grin on his face. “That was incredible. You deserve it, Oscar.”
Everyone else who had been saying that had gotten a brush off. Yeah, it was nice, but it was the car more than it had been him. Oscar could have done better and he wanted a result that reflected that. But already Oscar could feel his opinion changing on the race. If Logan was happy, then of course Oscar had to be happy, too.
“Are you okay? After the DNF?” Logan is already shaking his head before Oscar even finishes the question.
“Don’t even worry about it. It sucked but I’m fine, more than fine because you just got a podium finish, Oscar.”
Logan was saying it like Oscar didn’t know. And maybe he didn’t because everything felt brand new when Logan was saying it. If he was saying that Oscar got a podium he should be proud of, than goddammit, Oscar was going to be proud of it.
“How are we celebrating then?” Oscar asks. He throws an arm around Logan so he can steer them away from the cameras. He didn’t get as nervous around them as Logan did, but this was one of those times he wanted to other man all to himself. The public could have him back tomorrow.
They made a pretty good duo clubbing in Japan. Logan, who had spent the past couple days exploring, knew exactly where he wanted to go. Oscar, who knew enough Japanese to get around, could actually get them there. Lando had offered for the both of them to come with him and some of the other drivers to clubs they knew were discreet, but Oscar was willing to give up some privacy to see Logan so happy with himself.
“Man, am I good at picking spots or what?” Logan asks as he comes back to the dance floor with another round of sake. Oscar rolled his eyes and took the drink. They were getting drunk a little too fast but they had two weeks until Qatar. It would be fine.
“Says the guy who got us lost in Amsterdam.”
“Hey, that was one time.” Logan moves closer so that he can be heard over the loud music. Without thinking, Oscar places a hand on his waist to keep him there. He really only danced with Logan when they went to clubs, so it was second nature at this point to pull him closer and match his pace.
“You took us to a cobbler, Lo.” Oscar tucks his mouth next to Logan’s ear, not feeling like shouting. He feels Logan’s arm come up around his neck and obediently moves that little bit closer.
“I thought it was cobbler like the dessert!” Logan defends just like he did when they were 17 and stupid. Now they’re 22 and stupid and Oscar can’t help but laugh into his friend’s shoulder. He’s drunk but not drunk enough to ignore the fact that they’re pressed together from knee to shoulder.
“You’re such a stereotype sometimes, mate.” Logan tugs on his hair for that. Oscar presses his face deeper into Logan’s shoulder and tries not to moan.
“Says your koala-looking ass,” Logan shoots back. But it’s slow, almost sleepy. Oscar can tell the alcohol is hitting him. Logan didn’t drink until he was 21 despite the fact that he was living in England at the time so he’s still a lightweight. Oscar wraps both arms around him and lets Logan rest his weight on him. Just to be safe of course.
Neither of them are very good dancers but that doesn’t stop them from swaying back and forth to the beat. When Logan can’t even do that, Oscar knows it’s time to head out.
“Lo,” he says softly, leaning down to reach the other man’s ear. He gets a sleepy hum in return. Oscar chuckles; Logan was a cute drunk. “Lo, we’ve got to get back to the hotel.”
It takes a second but when the words register, Logan looks up at him with a disappointed pout. He says, “But we’re celebrating your first podium” and pushes more weight onto Oscar, probably to get him dancing again. Luckily, Oscar has put on just as much, if not more, weight as Logan has this year and can keep them both steady.
“We did celebrate it, and I had a really fun time.” Logan perks up at that. One day Oscar was going to talk to him about needing to be good all of the time. Right now, though, he could use it to his advantage. “But I’m getting kind of tired.”
“Oh, you should’ve said.” Logan leans away from him and Oscar hates himself a little for losing that. The American looks around before pulling Oscar towards the exit. Logan’s hand on his wrist is the only thing keeping them from getting separated in the crowd of people. Oscar hopes that Logan can’t feel how his pulse is racing over it.
“When we get home, we should watch Cars,” Oscar suggests as they’re waiting for their Uber. Logan’s head snaps around to look at him. His eyes are so wide, they seem to be taking in every light around them. Crystalline is a good word for them.
“Again? Are you trying to tell me something Oscar?”
“What could I be trying to tell you?” Oscar is genuinely curious. He had just said it because he thought it would make Logan happy, but Logan seems to have taken it as much more than that. The older driver keeps looking at him for a bit before he shakes his head and finally releases Oscar from his gaze.
“Nothing, it’s just- yeah, Oscar. I always want to watch Cars with you.”
And something about the way he says it makes it feel like more than it was. Like Oscar had been missing something all these years of watching the Cars movies with Logan. But before he can ask what it means to Logan, their car pulls up, and it’s quickly forgotten over the next couple of weeks before they see each other again.
--
Oscar doesn’t even get to see Logan after Qatar. According to Benny, he was barely keeping anything down and needed constant supervision. It should’ve been Oscar watching him but Ben had argued that he needed his own rest, so he stayed in his hotel room.
He tried to watch the second Cars movie but it wasn’t the same without Logan. Oscar went to sleep with his phone by his head and the sound of racecars roaring through his ears.
--
Oscar flies to Miami after Austin. He hadn’t been planning on it, thought going straight to Mexico City would be better. But Logan had already been on the plane when they’d found out he’d gotten his first points of the season. And that wasn’t enough for just a text. So he books a ticket and lets himself enjoy a flight as long as the first two Cars movies.
Oscar has never been to the Sargeant house in Fort Lauderdale but he knew the address. He didn’t have time to tell Logan he was coming, so he just got an Uber from the airport. He hadn’t looked at hotels in the area or anything but he was starting to regret that decision as they got closer to the house. Of course, Logan would take him anytime, no questions asked, but he wasn’t as close with Logan’s parents as the American was with his own. Maybe they didn’t want their son’s opposition staying at their house on no notice.
It was Dalton who opened the door when Oscar rang the doorbell. The know-it-all look he got raised the hackles of a 15-year-old Oscar who had to deal with being a younger brother for the first time in his life.
“Should’ve known you were coming. Logan know you’re here?” He doesn’t look surprised when Oscar shakes his head, just shrugs and steps to the side. “Well, better come in and tell him, then. He’s out on the pier.”
The Sargeant house backs up to a small inlet. It doesn’t have much of a beach but it has a dock where they keep their boats and fishing equipment, presumably. Oscar wouldn’t know, he’d said no anytime Logan had asked him to go fishing with him. He should really say yes one of these days instead of being annoyed that Logan didn’t text him because he was on the water all day.
Oscar leaves his suitcase inside the sliding door, giving Mrs. Sargeant on the porch a hug and waving to Benny and Mr. Sargeant by the grill. He makes his way down to the dock and the tiny figure that was presumably Logan Sargeant grows into a very shirtless and dripping wet Logan Sargeant.
It’s an act of mercy that Oscar doesn’t trip walking up the steps.
“Oscar?” Logan pauses himself from where he’s halfway up the step ladder. For a moment, Oscar fears that this was all a horrible mistake and that he should turn around and leave right now.
Instead, he gets tackled back onto the sand he’d just stepped off of.
“Goddammit,” Oscar wheezes, both from having the breath knocked out of him and Logan’s elbow going straight into his pancreas.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Logan stammers as he twists around until he’s sitting on Oscar’s lap. He’s grinning down at him, head haloed by the sun and making his light brown hair practically platinum. Now Oscar’s breathless for an entirely different reason. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“You got your first points,” Oscar says like that’s any explanation at all. But it’s them so it’s more than enough to have Logan laughing and flopping down onto Oscar’s chest.
“I got my first points,” it’s practically a squeal coming out of his mouth. Oscar, newly regained feeling in his limbs, is able to grab Logan around the hips and roll them over.
“I’m so fucking proud of you,” he says, sounding like all the air he’d just regained had been sucked back out again. Logan’s smile was beautiful, and his cheeks were red from all the sun he’d taken over the past couple of days. He looked angelic like this: lithe and tan and laid out under Oscar like a gift he didn’t know he was getting. Maybe it’s the heat, maybe it’s the possible head injury, but whatever it is, he’s dizzy with it, and he can’t help leaning down and pressing his lips against that heavenly smile.
Logan lets out a gasp as their mouths meet and suddenly Oscar worries that he just made the biggest mistake of his life. But then Logan’s arms come up around his neck and pulls him down, dropping all of Oscar’s weight on top of him with a small “oof”.
They spend a while just like that, making out like teenagers. Taking a second to talk about their feelings felt like an impossibility after all the years Oscar’s spent trying not to kiss his best friend. They only break apart when Dalton pours ocean water on them and tells them it’s time for dinner. Oscar’s neck is sunburned, Logan has a hickey on his collarbone, and they both have sand in places no one should ever have sand in.
But Logan doesn’t let go of his hand the entire time they’re at dinner. And Oscar can’t stop smiling.
--
“Oscar. Oscar .”
Logan is trying to get his attention, to pull him away from the tantalizing skin of his boyfriend’s - as of a week ago - throat. Too bad that hearing Logan whining out his name just made Oscar more determined to get him off against the hotel room door.
“God, I’m going to spend so much money on concealer,” Logan thinks out loud. Oscar hums in agreement, feeling a little bad but not bad enough to stop leaving marks in his wake.
“Okay, baby, seriously.” Oscar whines - either from being pulled away from Logan’s neck or from being called ‘baby’, even he isn’t sure which - and gives Logan his best pout. The blond just rolls his eyes and tides Oscar over with a short kiss to his mouth.
“10th to 3rd ,” Logan murmurs against his cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
“You fucking qualified above me,” Oscar says on an exhale, still reeling from it. “I’m the one who’s proud.”
Logan laughs softly and pushes Oscar further into the room. The Aussie hangs on tight so that Logan has to walk with him to get to the bed. They flop down on it, Oscar just barely holding himself up and Logan hovering over him.
“We can both be proud of each other,” Logan says, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen into Oscar’s face. He looked so fucking fond and for the hundredth time this week, Oscar wonders how he could have missed the way Logan looked at him.
They’d talked the night Oscar had shown up at Miami, pressed head-to-toe in Logan’s designated guest bedroom. Apparently, Logan had had a crush on him since they were fourteen , two years before Logan had come out to Oscar as bisexual (and subsequently set in motion Oscar’s own sexuality crisis and dawning feelings for his best friend). After that it was pretty similar stories: growing feelings until they were as much part of their identities as racing was, lives intertwining so much that to cut out the other would inevitably kill off part of themselves, and the burgeoning terror of the possible conflict between the two. Basically, they’d both been too scared to say anything if it meant losing the other, both fine with pining if it meant being together forever.
It was a very enlightening conversation.
Oscar wished he could say they’d spent the last seven days making up for lost time but they were both too busy for that. Neither of them had much experience with the Mexico City circuit and spent as much time as they could going over it and analyzing the data. The few moments they’d been able to steal together were by far the best of Oscar’s life, though, including the twenty minutes after FP3 where they were too tired to make out so they spent the time watching the Car’s Shorts instead.
Oscar smiles up at Logan while his fingers find the skin of his boyfriend’s waist underneath his Williams’ team shirt. The slightest pressure has Logan bending down to claim his lips in another kiss. It’s hot and slow and has Oscar hearing his heartbeat in his ears. He’s panting when Logan pulls away, half hard and afraid to open his eyes in case the past week was all just a crash-induced coma dream.
“You should fuck me,” Logan says into the air between them, sounding hesitant and eager in equal measure. Oscar’s trembling from just a kiss, how the hell could he survive fucking Logan? But Logan asked - well, told - and Oscar would do anything for him, so he’d find a way to deal.
“Never took you for a bottom, honey,” Oscar teases through the haze of lust he’s found himself in. He happily accepts the displeased bite Logan leaves on his jaw because it meant he was successful in helping Logan relax.
“Shut up or your dick will never go anywhere near my ass,” Logan warns. Oscar doesn’t think he’s serious though, if the way he grinds down in his lap is anything to go on.
“Okay, okay,” Oscar says, feeling Logan smile at the strain in his voice. “If you need it that badly, sweetheart, of course I’ll give it to you.”
“You’re such an asshole,” Logan groans as he starts to leave wet kisses down Oscar’s throat. From the way Logan is acting, Oscar’s pretty sure Logan likes it when he’s a little mean.
He leans back a little bit and tugs on the t-shirt that is blocking Oscar’s view of all that pretty skin. “Take this off for me, yeah?”
Logan’s blush is hard to miss. So is the way he eagerly moves to comply with Oscar’s request, pulling his shirt off and revealing the defined shape of his abs. When the Williams attire is lost to some dark corner of the room, Oscar leans forward and drops a kiss on Logan’s pec.
“Good boy,” he coos, following an instinct he didn’t even know he had when it came to Logan and- oh yeah. Guess Logan’s need to be perfect was good for things other than Oscar tricking him into taking care of himself. He’ll definitely be exploring that later.
For now, Oscar partakes in his current favorite pastime: marking up every inch of Logan’s porcelain skin. He silently apologizes to the Williams social media manager who will have to make sure no shirtless pics of Logan are taken in São Paulo. Oscar was more than happy to deprive the world of Logan’s abs if he got to keep them all to himself.
“ Oscar .” That whiny tone was back in his voice. Oscar wondered how far he could tease Logan just by making out with his tits. It’s definitely something he planned on finding out one day, but not right now. He was too close to the edge himself and he wanted to make this first time last.
“I know you bought lube and condoms before we left Miami.” Logan blushes bright red and doesn’t try to deny it. “Where are they?”
Logan squirms which is definitely not helping how tight Oscar’s pants already are. “The checked suitcase. The lube was too big to carry in my carry-on.”
“Oh yeah? Planning to use it a lot, Lo?”
Logan tries to look stern but the flush kind of ruins it. “Did you want to try buying lube in Spanish? Or Portuguese?”
And he makes a fair point so Oscar acquiesces and places a short kiss of apology on his cheek. Logan looks momentarily soothed so Oscar takes the chance to shift him off his lap and onto the comforter. Another silent apology goes out to whoever will have to clean this room when they leave.
“I’m gonna go get what we need. Take off your pants and get into whatever position is comfortable for you, yeah?”
Logan nods up at him and Oscar takes that as permission to leave the bed. The front of his McLaren team shirt being fisted and tugged on brings him back face-to-face with Logan, who pulls him into a long press of lips. When they pull away, Logan looks more settled and Oscar promises himself that he’ll learn all these new signs of Logan’s that he hasn’t been introduced to yet.
“I love you,” Logan says, so steady, like it costs him nothing to trust Oscar with his heart. It causes a feeling too big for his chest to grow and choke him up.
“I love you, too. Always.” Oscar leans forward to kiss the side of Logan’s head before he’s getting up and moving towards Logan’s suitcase.
When he comes back, he sees what the rest of his life could look like. Oscar races toward it eagerly, just like he does everything else.
--
“Do you really not know why we watch the Cars movies so much?” Logan asks out of the blue. Oscar looks over at where Logan is laying on his side, drawing random shapes on his arm. They’d been basking in the afterglow of their second (or third on a technicality) round and Oscar had just been about to suggest they get up to go shower. Apparently Logan’s mind was on other things - not that Oscar is surprised in the slightest.
“You like them,” Oscar answers, the ‘ and I like you ’ hanging heavily implied. Logan looks perturbed at Oscar’s very rational answer. And now he really feels like he’s been missing something.
“I like a lot of movies, Oscar,” Logan is speaking like he’s waiting for Oscar to suddenly read his mind and get the right answer. “Why do we always watch them together?”
Oscar feels helpless in that moment. The most he can do is give a guilty little shrug. He feels like he forgot their anniversary or something (it was October 25th) and worried that he had somehow hurt Logan by not understanding what he’d been trying to tell him all these years of watching Cars. Logan sighs and rolls on top of him again and Oscar accepts the reassuring embrace. At least he didn’t fuck up that badly.
“You’re not wrong,” Logan begins somewhere near his shoulder. “I do like them, and I like watching them with you. But do you remember the first time we watched the first one?”
Thankfully, this was something Oscar could answer. “It was right after I’d come back from Australia over summer break, after I’d DNFed in that one karting race.”
“Yeah, exactly.” Logan pushes himself up so that Oscar can see his face. Briefly, Oscar considers the fact that Logan is really serious about an animated kids movie, but he wouldn’t be Logan if he wasn’t. “And you were killing yourself over it. You came back and you were so guilty all the time for being away from your family, all you were focused on was winning and making it worth it. And I got it, you know we were in the same boat, but I hated seeing you that way. So, I don’t know, I thought it would help.”
Logan is turning red and suddenly Oscar realizes that he’s embarrassed for caring so much about something like this. It breaks his heart a little and he really pushes himself to remember that first night, curled up in their hotel room after the race. The memory is rose-tinted and nostalgic but he does remember what Logan is talking about. Remembers trying to hide his tears when all the citizens of Radiator Springs came out to California, remembers Logan hugging him and saying “ I miss home, too ”, remembers falling asleep on top of his friend and ending up beneath him in the morning.
It’s a great memory, one he treasures. Hearing it from Logan’s point of view made it look different, though.
“The second movie,” Oscar says slowly, recalling the circumstances of that particular night. “We watched it after your podium, when the losing team had said a bunch of shit about you being American. I wanted to cheer you up so I- I got the movie.”
Logan nods, encouraging, his smile a mix of fondness and amusement. “I thought you had understood what I was saying the first time and wanted to return the favor. I was a little insulted being compared to Mater - love him but I am definitely Lightning, by the way - but it made me feel better.”
Oscar had never thought about it like that. It hadn’t been his intention, he really hadn’t known what Logan was trying to tell him by watching those movies. But thinking back on it now, he could connect almost everytime they had watched those movies with something they had had going on in their life. Speaking of-
“Okay, so Zandvoort…?”
Logan shrugs. “Crashing sucks, but there are people to help you back up. It’s just an empty cup.”
Oscar snorts and moves to the next one. “Monza?”
Logan grins, the flush that had been there before coming back to make his eyes glow. “Ferraris suck sometimes, but it could be worse. There could be a world-controlling psychopath.”
“Oh my god,” Oscar groans. Logan is laughing and all Oscar can do is roll them over and try to shut him up with his lips. “You’re the worst, Hunter Sargeant.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, it doesn’t all have to be some big metaphor okay?” Logan laughs, tangling a hand in Oscar’s hair and pulling him back to look at him. “They are just kids movies, at the end of the day.”
And yeah, maybe they were, but they were more than that, too. The past year was more than proof of that.
--
Epilogue:
“Oof, why,” Oscar groans and tries to roll away from the giant weight of his boyfriend that had just landed on top of him. Didn’t he know winter break was for sleeping in?
“Oscar, Oscar look.” Logan is shaking him and shoving something cold and rectangular into his face. He groans again. His protests proving to be ineffectual, he opens up one eye to see the bleary image of Logan’s phone screen. He can’t make out what it says but he can vaguely see a drawing of a car so he can surmise what this is about.
“What is it?” Oscar asks instead of trying to figure it out himself. He closes his eyes again and rolls them over, using Logan as a big teddy bear. He gets a huff from his boyfriend but soon a hand starts running through his hair and Logan’s smooth voice recites what’s on the screen.
“Disney announces that director Brian Fee will be back for Cars 4, continuing the larger Cars universe by telling the story of Lightning coaching now-experienced racer Cruz Ramirez as she enters into one series yet to be showcased in the prior movies: endurance racing.” Oscar can hear the sound of the phone dropping before Logan turns in his arms to hug him back.
“Isn’t that great? We’re getting another movie!”
“Mmm,” Oscar mumbles. He is happy that Logan is happy but his focus is very much on burying into the soft skin of his boyfriend’s throat and going back to sleep. “Does that mean you think we should join an endurance racing team together?”
That earns him a pinch to his shoulder and a “shut up, you”. But from the following silence, Oscar knows Logan had briefly thought about it. Whatever conclusion he had come to he was apparently not keen on sharing at the moment. Oscar pulls back to look at him for the first real time since Logan had escaped their bed to go on a run. His boyfriend is giving him a soft smile and Oscar is helpless to do anything but grin in return.
“Good morning,” Logan says, and it’s so soft that Oscar thinks he could use his voice as a blanket if he wanted to. He leans forward to chase the words on Logan’s lips. Slow morning kisses was definitely something Oscar was going to have a hard time giving up when the season started again.
“Good morning,” Oscar returns when the kiss unfortunately ends. He lets the comforting silence build and surround them, cocooned in their sun-warm bedroom.
“Does this mean you want to have a Cars marathon today?”
“Oh my god, shut up , mate,” Logan laughs, pushing Oscar over to kiss the laughter off of his own lips.
That’s a yes, then.