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Someone had to remind Lando that the next time they were going on a trip he should definitely not trust Tom with doing all the planning and booking, as there was a 100 percent chance of the other one screwing it up. Just like he did right now.
“What do you mean, there are only three bedrooms?”
The four of them – Tom, Connor, Max and himself – had decided to join the Norris family on their vacation in Croatia, but instead of staying in a hotel like the rest, they had rented a small villa near the coast. It was a beautiful building, they could see the shore from the terrace, they had their own pool and apparently, they had only three bedrooms. For four people.
Lando frowned as he gazed at his friends.
“Yeah, I must have kinda missed that in the advertisement.”
“Oh, for fucks sake Tom. I thought you could be trusted with that whole booking thing. You said you were experienced.”
“Look, I am really sorry. We just have to make the best of it.”
“And what would you suggest?”
“Easy, two of us just have to share a room. I would propose Lando and Max.”
Both boys stared at him in disbelief.
“What? Why? You were the one to mess up the booking, you should be the one sharing a room.”
Max’s gaze flickered between Tom and Lando, the last one nodding approvingly.
“Nah man, I snore. Like really bad and we all know this. And Connor´s gonna be on facetime with his girl the whole night, which would be kinda weird with someone else in the room. Besides that, you two basically live together.”
“Yeah okay, but still...”
If Lando was being honest, the thought of sharing a room with Max for the next ten days wasn’t exactly as bad as he wanted to make the others believe. Call it a cliche, but Lando had a crush on his best friend. He had fancied the slightly older boy for a few months now, and the fact that they had moved in together for a variety of reasons and that he got to spend all his free time with the other one really did nothing to help the situation. He had gotten to know the other one in ways he never would have imagined. How he sounded when he just woke up from a nap in the garden, how he had that little smile on his lips every time he took the first sip of coffee in the morning, how he could only sleep at night if the room was pitch black. They had learned about each other’s habits and as the days passed, Lando could only think about how he wanted their situation to stay the way it was right now. Or maybe a bit different. He would really like to change the occasionally sleeping-in-one-bed into sharing a bed permanently, preferable with some cuddles and some kisses too.
But that was never going to happen, Max was straight and Lando going to be the idiot who risked their friendship. But Tom was right, the two of them sharing a room was the only logical option and so he took a deep breath and looked at Max.
“I´m fine with it, as long as you are.”
“There´s no one I’d rather share a room with than you.”
Lando knew it was a joke, but he could still feel the butterflies in his stomach going wild. To distract himself, he threw a glance at his other friends who were looking at each other knowingly and sighed.
“Fine. But if we are sharing a room, you two will do the dishes.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.”
“Why is it fair, you are the one who messed up.”
“Ah, shut up Connor. I would say let’s unpack and then we meet at the pool in…half an hour?”
They all nodded and Lando sighed again as he grabbed his luggage and followed Max through the villa.
The bedroom was…a masterpiece. Right across the queen size bed was a balcony from which they could overlook the sea, there was an ensuite bathroom, it was perfect. But Lando couldn´t bring himself to appreciate the beauty of it as he stood in the doorframe and watched Max, who turned around with big eyes and an excited smile. If he had to choose between admiring the beauty of literally anything or admiring Max, he would always choose the latter.
“You okay over there?”
Lando snapped back to reality and felt a blush creeping over his face as Max watched him intensely with a weird smile. Had the other one caught him staring? Hopefully not, that would be hard to explain.
As he kept silent, Max frowned.
“Look, we don´t have to share the room if you don’t want to. I´ll just sleep on the couch, or I could move my mattress to the living room, or…”
“Just shut up already. Sleeping in the living room…as if. Just don’t steal my blanket again.”
“Me? Stealing the blanket? Then don’t push me out of the bed again.”
“That happened like once! It´s not my fault you are a lightweight.”
A mischievous smile crept onto Max’s face and Lando instinctively knew what was about to come. He barely had time to brace himself for the impact, as Max launched forward and tackled him onto the mattress. He tried to shove the older one aside, but Max just laughed as he caught his hands with ease and pinned them beside his head.
“Lightweight, huh?”, Max whispered into his ear and Lando shuddered as the other just chuckled quietly.
“You sucker, get off me!”
“Make me.”
And if Lando hadn’t been in love with him before, he definitely would be now. Suddenly he was painfully aware of the situation. Max´s hot body on top of him, one leg on each side of his hip, pressing him deep into the mattress. Their faces, being way too close together as Lando could feel the others breath on his face, the distinct smell of mint in the air.
Afterwards, Lando would have loved to say that he pulled a ninja stunt and pushed Max out of the bed, but he just laid under him in awe, staring at those eyes, the way the others Adam’s apple bobbed, those lips. Those perfect lips which seemed to come closer every second and…
“Guys, we´ve been waiting for 10 Minutes, what…oh my god, close the door when you´re making out! Disgusting.”
“We haven´t…”
“It’s not what…”
But Connor had already left again, slamming the door behind him, and the two Brits stared at each other for a few moments, before Max started to giggle, Lando joining him, and soon after both busted into a laughing fit. The older one let go of his hands and instead buried his own face in the crook of Lando´s neck in an attempt to stifle the laughter.
“Have you seen his face?”
“That was fucking hilarious!”
“We´re never going to hear the end of this.”
“I couldn´t care less.”
“Okay but get off me for real. We should get changed.”
“Shame. Thought you liked being under me.”
Max winked and Lando blushed again.
“In your dreams.”
He pushed against the other one’s upper body and this time Max really rolled off him and sat down beside him on the mattress. Lando stood up and moved over to his suitcase as he heard the other one muttering something under his breath.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“You said something.”
“No, I didn´t.”
This time Max blushed and Lando couldn´t help but grin.
“Shut the fuck up and get dressed.”
+++
The rest of the day was spent in a way you would imagine four young men spending a day on holiday. They lounged in the big pool, sunbathed and as the sun set behind the horizon of the Adriatic Sea, they met the rest of the family at a restaurant nearby and all had dinner together. And after dinner, they got drunk. At least most of them.
Lando sighed as he opened the door to the villa, Tom, Connor and Max high on his heels, stumbling inside while giggling and nearly falling over as they tried to take off their shoes.
“Guys, I´m wasted. Gonna go to sleep.”
“Yeah, me too. And please tune it down guys, there are some things I don´t need to hear.”
“Get lost Tom.”
The two boys went into their rooms as Lando got rid of his shoes, locked the doors and hung the keys back in the designated spot.
“So…” he turned around and wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat as he was faced with a semi-naked Max.
“What the hell you think you´re doin?”
“I’m going for a swim.”
“You can’t go for a swim. It’s 2 AM.”
“So? Is there a rule that I can’t go swimming after a certain time?”
“No, but…”
“Then I’m gonna go swimming.”
And with that Max simply turned and walked out of the back door into the garden and while Lando was still wondering how the other one had been able to form a coherent sentence as he had seemed to be pretty drunk just minutes earlier, he heard a splash outside. The young Brit rushed outside – just to make sure Max wouldn’t drown himself of course – and was met with the sight of him floating in the middle of the pool with a blissful smile on his face.
“Max, you can’t be serious right now.”
“Stop being a prick and join me.”
“Yeah, absolutely not.”
“But I’m cold.”
Max was staring at him with big eyes and a pout.
“That sounds like a YOU problem.”
“You’re being mean.”
“I’m being reasonable. You gonna catch a cold.”
“Uurghh fine.” Max rolled his eyes. “Grinch. At least help me out.”
Lando should have known better. But being the sleep deprived idiot he was – at this point he had been awake for nearly 24 hours – he stepped closer to the edge of the pool and took hold of Max’s outreached hand.
The freezing water of the pool collapsed over him and he felt his clothes being soaked. With a fast motion he pushed himself back to the surface and took a deep breath before he started coughing to get the water out of his lungs. He could hear Max laughing as he pushed back the wet curls clinging to his forehead and rubbed his eyes.
“Max you goddamn asshole!”
But the other one just laughed harder and Lando watched him fondly because after all he was still very much in love with that idiot and couldn’t be mad at him for longer than a few moments.
“I hate you”, he grumbled as he swam to Max, who was leaning against the edge of the pool, and slotted himself next to the older Brit. He shivered and Max threw an arm around his shoulders and dragged him against his own body.
“Shut up, you love me.”
“Yes I do.”
Lando froze, realizing what he had just said.
But Max just pulled him closer and put his other arm around him as well. He felt his back being pressed against the broad chest and the weight of Max’s head on top of his.
“I know. Don’t panic. It’s okay.”
“What do you mean, you know?” he asked with a quiet voice.
“I’ve actually known for a while now.”
“You never said something.”
“I wanted to let you figure out your feelings without any pressure. I had a long time to come to terms with mine and I wanted to give you the same opportunity.”
“Your feelings? What…”
“Lando. I’m in love with you. Have been for years.”
Lando’s breath faltered as he pushed himself out of Max’s arms and turned around to stare at the other one in disbelief.
“You...what? Why?”
“Because you are the most adorable person I know?”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
“But…I don’t understand, you’re literally perfect, you could have everyone.”
“First of all: that’s not true. Second: I just want you.”
“But…”
Lando was about to protest again, but Max just rolled his eyes and cupped his face with both hands to pull him closer and press a chaste kiss against his lips. The younger one’s eyes fluttered close and he automatically raised his hands to push them into Max’s hair and deepen the kiss. Meanwhile Max’s hands let go of his face and grabbed him by the hip, pulling him against him once more, and Lando sighed into the kiss.
When they separated again because of the need for oxygen, the younger one placed his head against the collarbone of his counterpart and felt goosebumps prickling all over his skin. Only now he realised the wet clothes which pressed against his whole body, and he shuddered again.
“Not to be the grinch again, but we should really get inside. I need to get out of these clothes as soon as possible, ‘cause I’m freezing my ass off.”
“Oh really? Still seems to be there if you asked me.”
Lando yelped as Max pinched his back.
“Fuck you.”
“If you insist.”
A high-pitched laughter left Lando’s throat as he grabbed Max again.
“Let’s make them regret giving us the shared room.”
And with that he wrapped his legs around the other one and pulled him back into a deep kiss.