Chapter Text
Max yawns, stretching lazily on the couch, face scrunching against the sunlight filtering through the living room window.
He groans softly, burying his face in the soft cushions. It's times like these, he misses Jimmy and Sassy the most. He could be cuddling with his babies right now, scratching their fluffy bellies while they purred and made biscuits on him.
Unfortunate for him.
His ears pick up on footsteps before he sees Charles emerge from the bathroom, already halfway dressed in his tailored suit, the faintest hint of cologne trails behind him. He moves with such practiced ease, adjusting his vest as he pauses by the mirror. Unlike Max, he looks like he’s been awake for hours.
Max feels his heart flutter, embarrassingly so. It’s just Charles staying over for the night, yet the house feels fuller, warmer, and somehow more alive. He can’t help but think it almost like they’ve moved in together.
“Good morning,” Charles says as he picks up his cufflinks from the dresser.
“Morning,” Max replied, trying to sound casual at the sight of Charles with his fitted vest and white shirt, slightly unbuttoned at the top.
Charles approaches him, leaning down to press a kiss to his temple, “Sleep well?”
Max nods, happy, "Yes.”
“Good.” Charles straightens, rolling his sleeves up and briefly adjust the knot on his tie.
Max watched as he unties and then skillfully ties it again, long fingers quick and precise. He never really paid attention to how faltering his hands were. The prominent veins on the back his hands shift with every movement. Never had he realised how attractive that can be.
This is distracting.
“You’re staring,” Charles teases without looking away from the mirror, a faint smirk on his lips.
Max jolts, cheeks turning red. “No, I wasn’t.”
Charles chuckles lightly, finally finishing tying his tie and turning to face him fully, “Of course not,” he says, crouching down and pulling Max in a deep kiss when he sees the sweet pout.
Max whines when Charles teases his lower lip, nipping it repeatedly till it turns red and plump, just how he likes it on him, “You’re going to be late, it's bad enough you already spent the night here.” Max mumbles, the happy glow on his face giving him away.
Charles tucks back a cute curl from his forehead, "I'll leave when I want to.”
Max smiles, his lips tingle from the brief kiss. He gently pushes at Charles chest, “Go work.”
Charles doesn't move, catching Max's hand in his grip, “What will you do today?” he asks, eyes soft but with an undercut of curiosity, as if he needs to know every detail.
“Hm?” Truth be told, he hasn’t been doing much lately. His job keeps him tethered to the house, the monotony of his routine settles over him like a familiar blanket, “I don't know, maybe sim? Or read, haven't decided yet.” He narrows his eyes, “Why?”
Charles pulls Max's hand towards his lips and presses a kiss against his palm, his overgrown stubble scratching his skin, “I like picturing it when I miss you during meetings.”
Max laughs exasperated and swats his chest, “Stop it.”
Charles doesn't stop, his gaze stays fixed on Max, so utterly besotted, “Alright, I’ll go, I can sense when I'm not being wanted.”
Max snorts.
He gently cups Max’s face with his hand, thumb brushing against his cheekbone, “Call me if you need anything. Even if it's a resurgence of last night, especially then.”
Max breathes out, moving his face towards the hand and nuzzling into the palm, “I will.”
Both of them linger a bit longer, unwilling to move from the soft tranquility. Charles breaks it eventually, pressing one last kiss on his lip mole, “I’ll see you on the weekend, baby.”
Max watches him leave, butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the coddling. How far has he come with this man in such short time.
When Charles and Max first met, both of them thought it would be a quick attraction of the night. Something they were bound to forget in the morning. Charles was too busy, and Max recently got out of a long relationship.
It shouldn't have worked. It wouldn't have worked, not if they didn't bump into each other again. Multiple occasions.
Clearly, their fate was intertwined.
Max couldn't stop thinking about the handsome man he spent a night with. Just one night, but a vivid memory he visited far too much to be called normal. No one had ever treated him so completely, so familiar.
But those days seem like a lifetime away, even if barely any major time passed. Soon, Charles asked him out officially. And since then, they've went on multiple dates, every single one where Charles made him feel like the most special person alive.
He didn't just show it, he proved it. It was in the way his hands lingered on his body, refusing to let max go, the way his touch was so light and but so deliberate.
As if Max is something fragile.
They've spent many nights tangled in the sheets. Nights where Charles lips would trip along his neck like silent promises. His hands would map out every curve, every line of his body, every arch of pleasure with a patience that felt excruciating to Max.
There was no rush, just deliberate care.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Max felt cared for. He felt special. He felt desired.
Something he didn't know he could experience again after a suffocating bond with Daniel.
He lets out a slow breath, his eyes lidded as he watches the morning sunshine dance across the walls of his bedroom. His mind wanders to last night.
Daniel refuses to move on and let Max move on with his own life.
Up till now Max had let it happen. A part of him had clung to the familiarity, even when it had begun to strangle him. There had been a time when Max believed he couldn’t live without Daniel.
He loved that man.
The very same love soured into something else.
Something bitter and corrosive that threatened to break him.
If Max thinks about those days too much, he knows he’ll fall back into that dark spiral. The days where he barely felt human. When even getting out of bed felt impossible, and time dragged in a heavy, endless haze. The back-and-forth of his thoughts, swinging between guilt and emptiness like a nonstop pendulum, all of those feelings still linger too close for comfort.
Daniels face from last night comes across his mind again, pale and wide eyed. This time Max doesn't feel the guilt.
He refuses to defend Daniel anymore. At the very least, Max thinks, I owe Charles that much.
I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me." This lyric popped into my head as I gazed out at the sea. The waves lapped against the shore in an uneven rhythm, the kind that reminded me of distant memories—memories you think you've forgotten but never truly do. That’s how it was with her. She drifted into my life like a dream and left like one, leaving behind the faintest trace of-
“Ahem”
Max flips a page.
-warmth, a whisper I could almost touch but never hold. The sea always brought her back to me, its vastness a reflection of her mystery, its depth the echo of my-
George clears his throat again, exaggerated, “If you're done ignoring me, I would like to talk.”
Without looking up, Max mutters, “I’m not done actually.”
There’s an huff, “This is very important, Max.”
Everything is important to this man. Even on this beautiful bright sunny day some people can't help but be a headache.
Max sighs, lowering his book just enough to shoot George an annoyed look, "What?”
“Thankyou.” George says, as he climbs the steps to Max’s porch, uninvited.
Max scrunches his nose in displeasure.
This is where George oversteps the boundary, and Max has to endures it. He misses the days where George used to be scared of him. The man didn't even talk to him, much less confront him in this way.
“You know,” George rests his hands on the back of the spare porch chair, leaning against it, “Alot of people heard what happened last night.”
Max raises an eyebrow, flipping his book closed with deliberate slowness, “A lot of people need hobbies then.”
George doesn’t laugh, “I’m serious, Max. There’s been talk about it.”
Well, Daniel wasn’t exactly known for keeping his voice down.
Max sits up straighter, sighing inwardly. This is going nowhere if he doesn't pretend to take it seriously, "What about it?”
“People are saying Charles was ready to start a fight with Daniel. That he looked- well, let’s just say scary.”
Max rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair. There it is. “You mean you think he was ready to start a fight.”
Geroge huffs again, “It doesn't matter, I'm here on the behalf of everyone. As the head of-”
Max cuts in, “Charles did what anyone would do when someone like Daniel barges in, uninvited, for the third time in a damn week.” He raises his eyebrows, pointily looking at George, "You of all people know this.”
“Max,” George says, frustration clear on his face, “I saw the camera footage, okay? Charles didn’t look like someone just defending. He looked like he was going to murder Daniel.”
Max quirks an eyebrow, an amused smirk tugging at his lips, “You sure you didn’t watch the footage just to stare at Charles’s face again?”
George’s grip on the chair tightens, "I came here to talk to you about something serious, and you-”
“-can’t take you seriously when you’re so obviously projecting?” Max snorts, crossing his arms, "Let's not get a repeat of last time, alright? That was embarrassing.”
George face flushes. When he speaks again, his embarrassment is tinged with genuine hurt, “I’m with Alex now and you know it.”
Max rolls his eyes, “Sure. Yet here you are, more invested in my boyfriend than you need to be.”
“I’m worried about you, Max!” George snaps, his voice cracking slightly, “Do you even hear yourself? You’re defending a guy who scared off Daniel, someone you used to trust, like it’s no big deal.”
“You don't know me, Geroge.” Max replies evenly, though his tone grows sharper, “Daniel’s been showing up at my house like some kind of stalker, repeatedly. And Charles, unlike you, the so-called head of the community, is actually doing something about it.”
George lips presses into a thin line, hand clenching hard on the chair, “You’re blind.”
“And you’re delusional.” Max cocks his head, his mouth opens without much thought, “does Alex know?
George narrows his eyes.
Max chuckles meanly, his voice dipping lower, “Go on. Does Alex know? That his boyfriend pines for other men?” he gasps mockingly, placing a hand over his mouth in exaggerated shock to twist the knife further, “Especially taken men?”
George face darkens, but he doesn’t reply.
Max leans back and open his book back up. He did his part. He could care less about the fallout, the damage is done. "Funny, isn’t it? You preach about caring, but the second things don’t go your way, you make it alll about you. Maybe that’s why Alex keeps his distance.”
George flinches, the jab hitting deeper than Max intended. For a moment, his expression fully cracks, face vulnerable, a mixture of hurt and sadness that almost makes Max question his words. Almost. Then he masks it back up, “You’re on your own, Max,” he turns on his heel, footsteps heavy as he stomps down the porch steps.
Max listens to the retreating sound, his expression unreadable as he watches the words on the page blur.
Does he feel guilty? He’s not sure.
No, not his fault George came snooping about for something he shouldn't include himself in, especially when his interest in Charles is so visible since the day Max brought him home.
Charles would be amused if Max told him about this later. But Max wasn’t sure he’d bring it up. At least, not right away.
Some things were better left unsaid, especially to the man who saw through him better than anyone else.
“Hello, beautiful.”
Max giggles, tucking the phone between his shoulder and ear.
“Hello, Schat.”
Charles intrigued voice comes in “Oh? Thats a new one.”
Max grins, biting his bottom lip as he settles into the couch, carefully putting his dinner on the table, “Means ‘sweetheart’ in Dutch. Thought I’d spice it up for you.”
Charles purrs, “Oh you spoil me, baby.” As Max scrolls through Netflix he picks up a faint sound that comes through the call. Some rhythmic clicking, like soft hum of shutters clicking in quick flow.
He lowers the remote, frowning slightly, “Are you at the office?”
“No,” Charles replies, unbothered, “I actually went home early today.”
Max tilts his head, glancing toward the window where he can barely see the yellow street lights in the dark, “Weird. Thought I heard something.”
“What did you hear?” Charles asks with subtle curiosity, “Something bothering you, baby?”
Max shakes his head, he goes back to searching for a movie, “No, must be the crickets.” He scrolls aimlessly, trying not to let the sound linger in his mind.
Charles’s voice turns teasing, “You sure you’re not just missing me so much you’re hearing phantom noises?”
Max laughs, leaning back against the cushions, “Could be. You’re a hard man to get out of my head.”
“I know,” Charles replies, his voice dropping to a rich murmur, "And you, cheri, are impossible to resist. You look so delectable.”
Max freezes mid-scroll again, cheeks flushing at the low voice, “Hey now, are you watching me or something?”
Charles laughs, Max can only imagine the cute dimples forming, but there’s a slight pause before he responds, “If I were, would you mind it?”
Max giggles, “Spying on me from your villain lair I see.”
“A villain? is that how you see me, Max?”
“Not a hero for suure,” Max teases, tossing a piece of cucumber in his mouth, “You’ve got that-” he flails his free hand around “scary villain thing sometimes, I don't know”
“Scary villain thing he says.” Charles teases, chuckling when Max whines in return, “What are you up to, cheri?”
“Just figuring out what to watch.” Max gestures vaguely at the TV, even though Charles can’t see him, “I was thinking of romance, but now I feel like something with action. Maybe mystery. Something...thrilling.”
“Thrilling,” Charles’s voice dips lower. Max hears muffled sound of car passing by, Charles must be sitting by the window.“I could give you thrilling, Cheri. You don’t need a movie for that.”
Max snorts, tossing a pillow at the floor for no reason other than to distract himself from the constant heat creeping up his neck, "Save it for the date night romeo”
They spend the next minute deciding what Max should watch. He settles with a rom-com. They usually schedule their calls every night, Max loves nothing more than to sleep to the sound of Charles voice.
"How was your evening? Read anything good?”
Max eats slowly, glancing toward the window. His eyes go straight to Geroge's house next door. He’s not sure if he wants to tell Charles about the that matter yet, “Just the usual. George was being annoying though.”
“Annoying?” Charles repeats, his voice tightening ever so slightly, “Something happen?”
“Don't worry about it. Same old drama.”
He knows Charles replied to him and is asking a question. But his eyes catch movement outside his house.
Where Max lives, it is a small society comprising of very little citizens. It's unusual that at night someone visits. Another reason why Daniels visit was a commotion.
Max leans forward slightly, it's dark, but he can recognize that car even in his fucking sleep. Squinting, he watches the Mclaren park on the street in front of George’s house. The door opens.
It’s indeed Daniel.
Max’s brows furrow as he watches his ex boyfriend walk up to Georges porch and disappear inside the house. Not even a knock.
“Cheri?” Charles’s voice cuts through his delima, “What’s wrong?”
Max blinks, did he see this right? Maybe he ate something wrong and he is hallucinating his ex-boyfriend and darned George Russell meeting up? “Nothing, just...Daniel? Looks like he’s visiting George tonight.”
There’s a beat of silence on the other end. When Charles speaks, his voice is filled with irritation, like hearing Daniels name was the last thing he wanted, “Want me to come over? Say yes.”
Max laughs softly, running a hand through his hair. He’s so confused. “No, no. It’s fine. I don’t think Daniel’s coming here. Just...weird to see him there, that’s all.”
“Are George and Daniel friends?” Charles asks. His voice still has an alert tinge to it.
“I’m not sure,” Max says, slowly settling back into the couch. If that's the case then he needs some answers from Geroge. Why does this guy try to slide in every situation of Max, he will never understand.
Oh well, if they want to play buddy-buddy together. They can. Maybe they can both join alliances together and leave Max alone. What a good thought.
It's still better if he stays alert. He wasn't expecting such odd behaviour from both the parties.
He goes back to Charles, “I'm not worried. I’ve got you to keep me company, schat. What could go wrong?”
His Charles has a fond smile on his face when he replies, gaze set on Max through his cameras.
Max did say he doesn't mind being protected.
“Absolutely nothing, baby. You’re safe with me.”