✤ Racing Fics ✤
A series of posts with the top five fics of each category by kudos plus five more hidden gems from that category! Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find the library's other recs here.
- Top 5 H/L Fics -
1️⃣ The Finish Line (Is A Good Place For Us To Start) by LoadedGunn {E, 121k}
Louis Tomlinson, one-time Formula 1 World Champion, is looking forward to the 2013 season. He’s got Zayn in his garage and Liam in his ear, he’s got Cowell Racing backing him despite former indiscretions, he’s got experience and the best race car out there. Not to mention he’s the only racer they have, after Oliver dropped out late last year.
It hasn’t occurred to him that Oliver would have to be replaced by February. That is, until he finds himself at a party celebrating Harry Styles leaving Ferrari for Cowell. Harry hotshot Styles, who broke a record last year and is probably looking to make a big splash. Harry Styles, who is talented and somewhat intimidating. Harry Styles, who left Ferrari for reasons unknown and seems kind of lonely and harmless in person. Lonely, harmless, hot as fuck. Whatever.
The first thing Louis does is take him under his wing. From there it’s nine months of slow-burning romance, the past catching up to them, turning into the human puppy pile that is OT5 and a lot of feelings until, of course, reaching the finish line.
2️⃣ pray for some sweet simplicity by delsicle / @eeveedel {E, 237k}
Louis is the only omega to ever make it in the cut-throat world of competitive motorcycle racing—that is, he would be if anyone actually knew about his identity. Now, his sights are set towards competing in—and winning—the European Grand Prix, the biggest and most difficult race of the entire year, so he can disappear underground for good. He’s close enough, too, until an alpha sports journalist is assigned to follow Louis’s every move as he prepares for the event of his career.
Or, an AU where motorcycle racing is the biggest sport in a heavily divided world, Louis is trying to take control of his own destiny, and Harry is in for more than he bargained for.
3️⃣ Counterbalance by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf {E, 44k}
Harry Styles loves two things: teaching ballet and racing motorcycles. Those two worlds collide when his greatest rival on the track, Louis “Tommo” Tomlinson brings his tiny siblings to Harry’s class.
4️⃣ run away home by @hattalove {E, 106k}
Louis stands, in the middle of a clearing with his hands in his pockets, and stares. This boy—God, this gorgeous, gorgeous boy. He seems so clumsy, confused at the best of times, but there’s a wisdom about him as he speaks, a maturity that belies his age.
Louis is hopelessly, wildly attracted to him.
or, louis is a successful jockey down on his luck, struggling to get his life back on track after an injury. harry has a horse, a house fit for a prince, and a broken heart.
it takes them a while to figure out that they need each other.
5️⃣ One for Luck by @leavingonatrain {E, 96k}
The very first time Louis remembers hearing Harry Styles' deep, deep voice, he's just won gold at the World Equestrian Games and he's officially back on Great Britain's Olympic team. He's also three sheets to the wind, drunk on victory and champagne, and there's a gorgeous boy whispering in his ear. Life's grand.
(AU: Louis and Harry are professional riders on the British Olympic team.)
HIDDEN GEMS:
💎 Something In The Distance (So Close You Can Almost Taste It) by magicalou {T, 180k}
Louis was good. He was about to become the most successful racer in Formula 1. He had a clear path: break some records, win most races, then repeat it all again the next year.
Of course, that’s when Harry bloody Styles comes in.
OR, Louis is a Formula 1 driver for Scuderia Ferrari and Harry is a painter and sculptor, one of the most beloved from our time, and Louis's biggest pain in the ass.
💎 When the Lights Go Out by thelarenttrap / @antidotetogo {E, 79k}
“Louis, what do you have to say about how last week ended?” the reporter asks. There’s a moment of silence. Harry is looking at the reporter, but eventually gives in and looks down the table at Louis. He’s looking straight ahead, as if Harry isn’t even in the room. “If you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.” Harry leans forwards, placing his arms on the table and leaning onto them to get as close to his microphone as he can while looking at Louis. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” Louis turns to him, his icy blue eyes meeting Harry's. “Driving is your fuckin’ job, act like it.”
In its near eighty years of existence, Formula 1 has never had an out gay driver. In 2017, Harry Styles signs a contract with Scuderia AlphaTauri alongside his childhood friend and competitor, Louis Tomlinson. The next decade of their careers is some of the most tumultuous press--on and off the track--Formula 1 has ever seen.
aka the one where Louis and Harry are childhood friends to enemies to lovers over the course of 15 ish years.
💎 violet hill by whiskeyinthejar {E, 45k}
Harry thinks he might be incredibly, monumentally unlucky (or cursed) because a run of bad luck this bad does just not happen to people. It's not every day you quite literally run in to a film star, after all.
Harry's a racing driver and Louis's an actor, and from there on it's a long and winding tale of accidents, races, self discovery and how those paps just can't mind their own business.
💎 My Saddle's Waiting by @realitybetterthanfiction {E, 28k}
Harry smiled when the Chicago skyline came into view, its imposing cloud-scraping towers nestled into the edge of lake Michigan. The air was crisp and biting, as it was more often than not in the midwest in February, but that didn’t stop him from rolling his windows down to allow a bit of that infamous wind to fill his lungs. He put the pedal to the floor, cruising down Lake Shore Drive, weaving in and out of traffic as his pretty Shelby GT350 tore up the asphalt. Sometimes it felt like he spent all year waiting for this trip, the two weeks he got to play in the city of broad shoulders. The Chicago Auto Show.
When Harry finds himself in charge of Ford's installation at the Chicago Auto Show, there's already a lot on the line. Little does he know that a seemingly harmless bet on the fastest pony car might just up the stakes even more. With the help of a few familiar friends, Harry finds out that sometimes it's not about the destination, but who's along for the ride. And that Niall will not be denied his churros.
💎 Pass Them On The Outside by Serised
Harry and Louis are race car drivers that have jumped the pond from Formula One to NASCAR. Set in July 2014.
