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"They are idiots!" Max's loud voice could be heard throughout the apartment. Daniel ran from the kitchen into the living room, wondering why his boyfriend was yelling. When he saw his boyfriend sitting on the couch like a pouting toddler, he had to laugh.
"What's the matter, Maxy?" Max seemed to relax, but was still very angry.
"Lando and Charles are idiots." Daniel rolled his eyes, the Dutchman could exaggerate.
"Why?" He kissed the Red Bull driver on his soft hair. The shampoo smelled like rose petals.
"We were live streaming, Charles overtook me and I crashed. It was an idiotic overtaking, but Lando thought it was fine." Daniel had to laugh, all this anger from a game? Sometimes he forgot how young the Dutchman was.
"It's just a game.”
Max turned his head and glared at his boyfriend. "I've been practicing for days, it's not just a game. It was a stupid overtake."
Daniel kissed his boyfriend and sat next to him on the sofa. "Shall we talk about something else? I haven't done anything wrong." Max calmed down a bit, but still had a lot of adrenaline.
"Shall we use your energy for something else?"
Those words gave Max goosebumps. He looked at his boyfriend who gave him a stern look.
"Yes," Max whispered.
"Yes what?"
Max took a deep breath, "Yes, sir."
Daniel smiled, "good boy."
He picked up the Dutchman and walked him to the kitchen. At the counter, he lowered Max and turned him over. He kissed him on the neck until Max moaned softly. Daniel laughed and bit Max's ear.
"I love you," Max muttered. The Australian laughed, "don't talk." After a silence of a few seconds he said, "I love you too."
After an hour, Max and Daniel were back on the couch together. They had a quick shower together, at least that was the intention. While showering, the Australian couldn't get enough of the Dutchman's ass. So they decided to stay in the shower a little longer. Daniel curled through Max's hair. He loved him so much.
"You are handsome," Daniel whispered.
Max blushed, "Thank you."
Suddenly they were disturbed by the ringing sound of the telephone. Max was startled and grabbed the object. "With Max Vertappen."
"You're late," said the voice on the other end.
Max frowned and looked confused at his boyfriend, "who is this?"
"I’m Sebastian! The party has already started. Where are you?!"
Max was startled and looked at Daniel with wide eyes, "Daniel, we have forgotten Charles's party." Daniel took the phone and started talking to Seb. Then he hung up, got up from the couch and ran upstairs. "We still have to change!"
Max ran after him and when he got to their bedroom Daniel was already half naked. Max blushed, he wanted to stay here with his naked boyfriend. But missing your best friend's birthday party wasn't very sweet either, even though you were mad at him. Max also started to undress and put on neat clothes. Then he ran to the mirror and put some more gel in his hair. He smiled at his reflection, yes he thought he looked nice.
"Do I look good?" Daniel's voice was a little worried. Max turned and his jaw dropped. His boyfriend looked fantastic in a dark blue suit. His dark curls were a bit mixed up, which made him very cute.
"Yeah you're fucking sexy Dan."
Daniel rolled his eyes, grabbed the car keys, and ran down the stairs. "Come with me!"
Within fifteen minutes they were in the car and after half an hour they had arrived at Charles's apartment. Everyone was already there, because the parking lot was very busy. Max took the present from the trunk and walked hand in hand with Daniel to the front door. Daniel rang the bell and soon the door was opened. There stood Charles in a beautiful black suit. His smile was huge and his eyes sparkled.
"Sorry we're late," Daniel said regretfully.
Charles laughed, "It's okay, come in."
They walked in together and Max immediately noticed a tense atmosphere. Would Charles still be angry with him because of their fight?
His best friend gave his boyfriend a hug. "I am glad you are here."
Then he looked at Max. Max wanted to walk up to Charles to give him a hug too, but Charles ignored him and walked out of the hall. "Put the present on the table." Max and Daniel both frowned, why was he acting so weird? They entered the living room and Max put the present with the other presents. They were immediately welcomed by Sebastian and Kimi. They also looked beautiful and chic.
Sebastian hugged the Dutchman tightly. "I've missed you. How are you?" Kimi also looked worried at Max, "are you eating enough? You seem a bit sick."Max rolled his eyes, the paddock parents were active again.
"I'm okay, you don't have to worry." Still, he gave the couple a big hug. Max had missed them too.
"Are you taking care of our boy?" the Finn asked sternly. Daniel nodded fiercely, "always."
Suddenly Max saw Lando walking towards the food. Max apologized and walked over to his other friend. He had also argued with Lando, and Max needed to know if they were still angry.
"Lando?" Max asked carefully. He stood next to him and looked at him with concern. Lando did not respond and continued to look for food around the table.
Max thought Lando might not hear him and said a little louder, "Lando? Are you still mad?"
He must have heard this, because he was less than a meter from him. But again Lando said nothing and Max really thought something was wrong. Until Daniel walked over.
"Hey Lando!"
Lando smiled at Daniel and gave him a high five, "Hey Dan, how are you?"
While Lando and Daniel were talking, Max started to panic a bit. Did they ignore Max on purpose? He turned and walked over to the birthday boy, Charles. Charles was talking to his boyfriend Pierre, they seemed to be having a good time. Max stomped and looked at his best friend concerned, "Are you ignoring me on purpose?"
Charles said nothing and continued talking to Pierre, who did not understand and looked at the Dutchman in amazement.
"Is Lando ignoring me because of our fight?"
Charles was silent and drank from his glass of wine. Max's heart broke into small pieces.
Pierre didn't get it, "Charles? What's the matter?"
Charles took another sip of his red wine, "Lando and I are mad at Max."
Max knew enough and didn't want to listen anymore. He walked to the bathroom and locked himself up. Breathe, he had to breathe for a moment. With trembling hands he tried to reach for a glass of water. He felt tears running down his cheeks. Why did his best friends have to choose to punish him like that? Of course they didn't know Max's history with the Silent Treatment, or they wouldn't have done it. Bad memories, very bad ones.
His dad gave him the silent treatment for a week because Max had blundered in a race. This was extremely bad, Max had a trauma from this. He couldn't stand it when people ignored him, that triggered abuse memories. When he told Daniel about it, they agreed to always talk to each other, even during an argument.
His father always got so angry and decided to ignore his son for days. Max cried and pleaded to his father, but Jos didn't listen. Max suffered from panic attacks and he felt fear of failure. He had to perform or else he got the silent treatment. This hassle with Charles and Lando caused Max to have another panic attack. Max didn't want to draw any attention to himself. It was Charles's birthday and Max was already getting enough attention. So he decided to stay here for the rest of the evening, alone.
He cried softly, thinking about his father. He hated him.
Daniel didn't know where Max was, he hadn't seen his boyfriend for a while. Worried he went looking for the Dutchman, but he was nowhere to be seen. He walked quickly to Kimi and Sebastian, they usually knew what was going on with Max.
"Have you seen Max?"
Kimi and Seb looked at each other in surprise, "no? What do you mean?"
Daniel sighed exhausted, "I haven't seen him in a while. I'm worried. He's been acting so weird since he got here and I think it has something to do with his fight with Charles and Lando."
Seb frowned, he saw Max as a son and was now getting concerned too. He knew about the Dutchman's panic attacks and wanted to find him before it would be too late. "We have to find him Kimi," the German pleaded.
Kimi nodded, he was a bit more relaxed. "We'll find him baby." The three of them decided to search all the rooms. The wardrobe, the toilet, the kitchen and finally the bathroom.
Kimi knocked on the door, "hello? Max?" There was no response and then they knew Max was in there.
"Maxy, can you open the door? We want to help you." Daniel tried everything to be with his boyfriend now. Max sobbed and cried, but didn't open the door.
"Max, open the door now!" said Kimi. He wasn't angry, but they were all very worried and stressed. Luckily, Max decided to listen to this and opened the door. There he stood crying with red eyes.
Daniel immediately gave the Dutchman a big hug and kissed his tears away. "Oh Maxy," he whispered. Max only cried more and more and had to make an effort to keep breathing properly. He sat on the floor and the other three sat around him.
"What happened?" Sebastian asked. He was very concerned and hadn't said anything so far.
Max looked into his boyfriend's brown eyes, "Charles and Lando," he said in a trembling voice. Daniel frowned and looked at the paddock parents. "What have they done, Maxy?"
"They ignored me Daniel. They gave me the silent treatment just like my father." Max was crying and hugging his boyfriend. It was all just too much for him. Daniel became furious with Charles and Lando and had to do his very best not to run away angrily and look for those two. But he knew Max needed him more now. Seb and Kimi also looked angry, even though they didn't understand all of the story.
"Max's father ignored him for a week when Max made a mistake during a race, so Max is terrified of silent treatments." Daniel tried to explain to Seb and Kimi. Seb got angry and immediately got up, not knowing what to do. He wanted to go to Jos and hit him, but that wouldn't be good.
"Seb, we're going to get Charles and Lando. They have to apologize," said the Finn. He tried to calm his husband.
Max immediately shook his head, "No, it's Charles's birthday. They're having a party."
Daniel grabbed Max's chin so he had to look the Australian in the eye. "Maxy, you are important too. Mental health comes first."
Max shook his head again and winced. "No."
No one knew what to do now, so there was a moment of silence. Until Seb suddenly walked out of the bathroom and walked towards the two best friends of the Dutchman. Once he faced Charles and Lando, he had to hold back not to scold them.
"Max needs you," he said.
Charles and Lando both rolled their eyes, "oh to argue for sure? We're not talking to him right now." Charles's words didn't suit Seb. He took his teammate's arm and glared at him. "Max needs you, go see him now."
Charles swallowed and looked anxiously at Lando. They had forgotten how protective and terrifying Sebastian could be. "What has happened?" Lando asked. He was worried now.
Sebastian ignored that question. "He's in the bathroom."
The three of them walked to Charles's bathroom. Fortunately it was a very large bathroom, otherwise they wouldn't all fit in. Charles was shocked to see his best friend lying like that in Daniel's arms. He seemed exhausted. As if he was sick.
Lando was also surprised, "Max? What happened buddy?"
Max opened his eyes and looked at Lando hopefully, "you're talking to me again."
Lando blushed embarrassingly. "Yes, sorry. It was a joke."
Daniel glared at them, "not a good joke."
Charles shook his head, "we can see that now. Max, I'm talking to you again okay? Did you have a panic attack?" Charles, besides Daniel, knew Max best. He was like a brother to Max, a bad brother apparently.
Max nodded, "you ignored me and that triggered bad memories of my father. He also ignored me when I did something wrong." Lando and Charles looked shamefully at each other. They did not know that. If they had known, they would never have played such a joke.
"We are very sorry," Lando said sincerely.
Charles nodded, "Very very sorry."
Max smiled and escaped from his boyfriend's arms to give his friends a hug. "Thanks."
Charles got up, "I'm canceling the party." Max immediately shook his head, "No, you don't have to. I'm okay now."
Charles doubted, "are you sure?"
Max looked at his family lovingly, "yes, really." Daniel kissed the Dutchman and looked at him proudly. He himself was still a bit angry, but he ignored that feeling. This was all about Max and if he was really okay then Daniel accepted it.
"Shall we start with the gifts?" Kimi suggested. Charles looked questioningly at Max and when he nodded, Charles enthusiastically walked over to the stacking presents. Max slowly walked out of the bathroom and joined Pierre with Daniel and Lando.
"Are you okay?" Pierre asked.
Max nodded, "yes." He was really okay, especially seeing Charles's big smile. He had a wonderful family, people who loved him. He looked wearily at Daniel as Charles happily unwrapped his presents. He was so tired and hoped he could go home soon. He was really okay, but tired.
Daniel smiled and kissed Max's cheek. "We're going home in a minute."
Mak nodded relieved, "I am very tired Dan."
Daniel nodded, "I know baby."
After Charles had unwrapped all the presents, the party continued and the music got louder. Charles, meanwhile, walked back to Max and looked at his best friend with concern. "Is everything getting too much Max?"
Max nodded, "I don't want to ruin your party."
Charles laughed, "Lando and I screwed up ourselves. Go rest for a while. Sorry again."
Max looked appreciatively at Charles and Lando, "Thank you." He walked outside with Daniel and when they were alone in the car Max started to breathe a sigh of relief. Daniel stroked Max's hair, "you were so good."
Max smiled at his boyfriend, "I love you."
"I love you too Maxy."
They sat in the car for a short while before going home. It was a tiring day, with a happy ending. Max was relieved, luckily his friends could always help him. He was happy with his family.