VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 29

[POV: Narrator]

Later that same night, Andi and Oscar had found themselves separated.

After a while of teetering around the bar and mingling with a few familiar faces, the two of them were just about ready to leave the gathering; Andi more-so that Oscar, as she'd been driving for half the day.

But, as per usual, Lando decided to come running.

"Andi!" He shouted upon seeing her.

"A-aaaa-ndi!" he yelled again.

Andi knew that yell. He wanted something. So badly did she want to divert her face and hide from him; yelling back something like 'Not me, sorry!' or 'You've got the wrong girl!', leaving Oscar to deal with him. But that would be mean. And she was supposed to be nice. Especially after the stunt she'd pulled just earlier that evening.

When Lando got to her, he flung one arm around Andi and one around Oscar, unable to stand still for too long without tilting to one side. This is why Andi refused to give him a lift home.

"Max is looking for you— or, no, Carlos is looking for you." Lando informed her, unclearly at that.

"What? Why?"

"Oh! Um..." he trailed off. Oscar was watching the two of them converse quite contently, being glad he wasn't part of whatever this was. "I did know..." Lando said, placing his index finger on his mouth.

Andi, who'd had enough, just decided to trust that Lando wasn't lying— even though it was highly likely that he was, or that he'd imagined the whole thing and neither Max nor Carlos were actually there at all— and went to find either of the two drivers.

Once she'd left, Lando smiled widely at his teammate, whom he hadn't seen in "a minute", as he put it, and rested an elbow on his shoulder.

Oscar still hadn't quite warmed up to drunk Lando yet, so he was reluctant to say anything.

"Mate, I am gone." Lando said. Figures, Oscar thought, since he was being used as a literal balancing tool. "How're you getting back? Found a way yet? If not, I know Carlos will—"

"With my girlfriend." Oscar said, in full confidence. He knew the kind of reaction Lando would have to his statement, so he waited for it. And, this gave him an excuse to practice the new title Andi had given herself, since he'd no doubt need to get used to it.

Lando immediately laughed. "You don't have a girlfriend," he said, grabbing on to his teammate for dear life, as if it was one of the funniest things he'd ever heard.

'Okay, give it a rest,' is what Oscar wanted to say. Or, if he was being really honest, 'Well, I don't see your girlfriend anywhere around here?' but that would be entirely out of character. It would also have been incredibly ironic, hence the whole Andi-isn't-actually-his-girlfriend dilemma.

So Oscar didn't say anything. He made a face at Lando, grabbed his non-alcoholic drink from the counter (that he had to put down momentarily as Lando leaned on him) and walked away.

"Oscar—" Lando called after him. Oscar didn't need to face him, he could imagine his state. "Oscar, you don't— you don't have a girlfriend?!" He almost yelled, sounding immensely confused and partly distressed.

That emotion didn't last long, however, as Lando took another sip of his drink, shrugged, and wondered off in another direction. What a jokester, he thought, happy to find that his new teammate did have a sense of humour.

*

Oscar didn't need to look for very long to find Andi, as after a minute or two Oscar could hear her very distinct yelling becoming clearer and clearer.

"You're freaks! The both of you; you're out of your minds if you think I'd ever agree to play that with you!" Is what Oscar made out first. When he came into view of the situation, it was what he expected: An angry Andi on one side, a startled Max and Carlos on the other.

"Oh, come on!" Max fought back. Andi, done with the conversation, had turned to find Oscar standing there helpless but slightly amused. On her way passed him, she grabbed hold of his wrist and started pulling him with her; not with the same amount of force as she did before though, to Oscar's relief.

Then came another yell. "What happened to you?!" Max called after her again. "You were way more fun in the summer!"

Andi only walked quicker after that.

Once she'd started driving, Oscar pondered whether he was better off being nosy Oscar or stay-out-of-it Oscar.

He tried the first option.

"What did they want to play with you?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter, they're ridiculous." She answered.

Okay, stay-out-of-it Oscar it is, he mentally noted.

When he was about to change the subject, Andi beat him to it.

"So, about the next few days," — the next few days being the race weekend — "I'll be with my dad in the garage, so I'll be around."

Oscar nodded; to himself more than to her. "And... what about this?" Andi glanced at him to find he was pointing his index finger back and forth between the two of them.
"Are we supposed to be, like, together all the time?"

"No." She said, far too quickly. She then softened her abruptness with an extra, "no, no, it's fine. Not all the time."

A silence lasted for a while, until Oscar said: "Can I just— specify something? Am I right in thinking you don't want to go full-on public yet? Is that what you said?"

"Yeah, no, no. We shouldn't go public yet. I think that's too obvious; too much too soon. No need to worry about all that 'so-and-so spotted with so-and-so' crap just yet." She chuckled. "We just need to be subtle, but obvious enough for everyone here to catch on."

By here, Oscar assumed, Andi meant the drivers.

"Rrrrright. Okay, I get you." He lied. All of this was still very confusing to him.

What was he to do? And when was he to do it? And how?!

Up until now, Andi had been the one taking the lead on everything. Oscar merely had to keep up.

But now, was he supposed to be the one to take initiatives? Was he even allowed to do that?

He wanted to ask, but he could tell she was in no mood to talk. Whatever Max and Carlos had suggested of her had struck a cord. Or, maybe it was something else entirely; maybe she was tired; maybe she was thinking about him again; maybe it was nothing at all.

Or, maybe, it's me? Oscar wondered. Could she be realising that she was now stuck with me as her partner, and is regretting it entirely, which is why she's annoyed?

If he asked, he might have been met with an answer he didn't want to hear.

No. He decided, having recalled the smile Andi gave him on the steps outside the venue.

It's just Max and Carlos being assholes.

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