THE END | Oscar Piastri

26. delicate

sav's pov

After the race, Lando told the team about his move. They understood, congratulating him with their whole hearts. The following week, they held a going away party.

The entire team is gathered around a small white frosted cake before fp1. Little orange sprinkles litter the sides and the top of the cake.  The word "congratulations" could be read in orange lettering. A joke about a pregnancy is made by one of the mechanics, causing low chuckles to reverberate around the room.

I stand near Lando as people make heartfelt speeches to him, their words fully sincere. When it gets to Zak, he's on the verge of tears as he speaks. He praises Lando the entire time, ending his speech by wishing him luck with the "big dogs".

Oscar's the last to speak. A similar speech to those before him, praising Lando and wishing him luck. At the end, he thanks Lando for being a mentor to him, something I would've found sweet if it weren't for the distraction of his fake smile.

Sure, the corners of his lips were turned up, but there were no wrinkles by his eyes. I've spent enough time with Oscar in my life to know his real smile from a fake one. And this one was undoubtedly fabricated. I just couldn't figure out why.

I was so stuck in my own head, I didn't even realize what was happening when Zak dunked Lando's face into the cake until his face was completely submerged. I gasp, eyes widening and my hands go up to cover my mouth.

He recovers, wiping the frosting from his eyes before turning to me. His face is completely covered in the yellow cake and white frosting, his hands looking the same. He advances forward, a hand outstretched toward me trying to smear the cake on my face.

I respond quickly, dodging his hand easily. He persists. "Lando I swear to you-" I don't even have the chance to get my threat out, as he continues on with his little joke. I start weaving between people, trying to create distance between us but I can tell it doesn't work. Eventually, I give up, turning around to face my fate.

His caked hands find my face, smearing the frosting across my cheekbones like it's eyeblack. I don't even care. He looks so happy right now that I just laugh with him, subconsciously grabbing his hands in mine.

I collect a decent amount of frosting from my face. It makes a small mound on my finger, and I lick it off in one motion. "Ooh buttercream!" I exclaim with a hum of approval. Lando somehow laughs even harder, wrapping his arm around my neck and bringing me into his chest.

I try to avoid his shirt, but its inevitable. The mixture of frosting and cake lands on the orange fabric of the shirt despite my best efforts. "I think you've got a little something right there." I say, pointing to the destroyed dessert smeared across his shirt.

He doesn't care. His sweet laugh is the only response to my comment.

-★-

The little party had been broken up, the need to get back to work more important. Lando had gone to change into his overalls, leaving me alone.

Well, not entirely alone.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I question, actually offering the Aussie a penny. He laughs, shaking his head while taking the coin from my fingers. He rolls it between his fingers before dropping it into his palm, closing his hand around it and dropping the hand to his side.

I situate myself beside him, leaning against the counter with him. "You always carry pennies on you?" He asks, an attempt at a joke. I laugh lightly and shake my head. "Totally." Sarcasm. He smiles. A weak smile, but it's still at least real.

"So what's up?" I revert back to the original point of the conversation. His head tilts to the side, confusion radiating off of his crossed brows. "What do you mean?" He knows what I mean, he's just hoping I'll drop it.

I tilt my head in the opposite direction of his. "I've spent plenty of time with you to tell when your smile is genuine." I remind him. His head drops, eyes now focused solely on his boots. "You can tell me. I won't make fun." I say to him, but his head remains low.

"If you don't say anything I'm going to assume you aren't happy for him and are therefore a bad friend." I joke, trying to lighten the mood and get him to open up.

He shakes his head again. "I'm happy for him, I'll just... I'll just miss being teammates with him." Oscar shrugs, still maintaining eye contact with his shoes.

"Awe. That's so cute!" I say, a hand over my heart at his confession. He finally looks back up at me, mouth fallen open slightly. "You said you wouldn't make fun!" He sounds genuinely offended at my reaction, even though it wasn't intended to be negative in any way.

"No, I'm not making fun! It's actually so sweet. Now I'm sad that your little bromance is ending." I try to defend myself. Oscar covers his eyes with one of his hands, muttering an "oh my god" before walking off towards Lando, who's just now coming from his drivers room.

He stops Lando, saying something to him. Lando throws his head back laughing and I wish I knew what was so funny to him.

Lando crosses the room, taking up the spot Oscar has left vacant. "I heard you're torturing my teammate." He jokes, bumping my shoulder with his. I bump him back. "For the record, I was not torturing him. I was mourning your bromance." I clarify. I don't tolerate false accusations.

Jon calls Lando from across the garage, cutting our conversation was too short. "I'll see you after?" He asks, standing in front of me now. I nod, lacing one of my hands in mine. He nods shortly, bending down to leave a short kiss on my cheek before meeting up with a very impatient Jon.

Awe you guys are so cute

The message from Gracie pops up on my lockscreen, a photo attached to the text.

Opening the message, the photo attached is a screenshot from McLaren's official instagram. It's a candid picture of me and Lando, the both of us with cake all over our faces. Large smiles open in laughter, our hands holding each other's. It's too cute I almost want to cry. I change it to my lockscreen.

Looks like a new lockscreen to me!

I text back, attaching a screenshot of the changed photo. Before, it was also a picture of me and Lando. It was a .5 we took together in my kitchen, the both of us in our pjs cooking breakfast. Though that one was cute, I think this one is even cuter.

The candid photo feels so fragile, so vulnerable, so real, so delicate.

★—————————————————★

A/N - me when I update two days in a row😨😱😍🤣🙏🤩

Anyway, new cover, what do we think?