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If you were to ask Max when the lines blurred, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. It could've been when he took Lando up on his offer of staying in his spare room or it could have been when they were kids still in karts. It’s always been a running gag amongst their friends that Max and Lando weren’t friends in the same way that they were friends with everyone else, Max often referred to as Lando’s ‘special friend’ when the guys decided to be extra annoying. As kids Max would be the only one Lando would share his favourite sweets with, never liked anyone touching him but would always let Max give him cuddles and as adults Max is the one who gets invited to events and race weekends, but it’s just how they were. They were Max and Lando.
When Lando first suggested Max staying in one of his spare rooms while his family moved, he initially refused. He knows what Lando’s doing, trying to give him some purpose and keep his mind occupied while he’s not racing but Max can’t accept the pity. He knows Lando likes living on his own and having his own space so there’s no way he’s doing it for his own benefit. He of course appreciates Lando getting him involved with Quadrant shoots and streams but living rent free in a spare room in his best friend's mansion - especially when he isn’t there 80% of the time - feels a step too far and his dignity can’t take it. He does, however, have to come crawling back with his tail between his legs asking if the offer still stands when he can’t find anywhere else to stay.
And yeah, when he did move in, they just became so much more intensely them.
-
Max thought it would be awkward at first, with him used to having his family around and having unwritten boundaries and Lando used to having the entire house to himself, happy with silences and emptiness. The first night was weird, Max trying to keep to himself and give Lando his space so he didn’t change his mind about offering him somewhere to stay temporarily. That was, until Lando yelled at him to stop hiding in his room and asked him if he wanted to order a takeaway to celebrate their first night living together. From then on, they had a nice little dynamic worked out. In the days Lando was at the MTC, Max filled his day with gaming, or cleaning or doing their laundry all while trying to ignore the fact he had become a house husband. And then when Lando returned from work, often tired from simulator work or long meetings, they both curled up on the sofa watching a movie, both falling asleep resting against each other and both waking up during the end credits and knowing they’d made a mistake having a nap at 6PM.
One night, Lando invited Max to join in with his Twitch stream. Max knew what he was doing, it was another one of his attempts to make him feel included and while Max knew that streaming with Lando would certainly boost the views he was receiving on his own channel, he felt a bit dirty using Lando to make money and gain views.
“Nah mate, it’s alright. I’m just gonna stay down here and watch the Italy Spain game.”
“Please? It will be weird being upstairs and you down here on your own. I’ll even put the game on the other monitor so you can sit and watch it.”
Now, Max likes to think of himself as a strong man. But when you have a pouting Lando Norris in front of you, it’s hard to deny him what he wants. So he agrees, and they end up having a really fun evening just messing around watching stupid videos and often forgetting they’re live on stream to tens of thousands of people.
The following night they settle down in the living room to watch the England vs Denmark game. Knowing Lando has approximately zero interest or understanding of football, Max is surprised when he plonks himself down right next to Max with a bowl of snacks to keep them going. By the time it reaches extra time, Lando is half asleep on Max’s shoulder meanwhile Max is practically vibrating with nerves, silently begging someone to score to put an end to his suffering.
“If England win this, I’ll take you to the final.” He hears Lando mutter from next to his ear. He can’t quite find the words to express just how grateful he is for the gesture so instead just rubs his cheek against the top of Lando’s head and hopes that it does the job. When Harry Kane sinks his penalty rebound into the back of the net, Max leaps up off the sofa shouting and cheering, sends Lando flying sideways on the sofa and he pretends he doesn’t register the sleepy smile on Lando’s face as he watches him celebrating.
And they do go to the final. And they have an amazing night. Until they don’t.
Max drives them home that night - hoping they don’t have another encounter with the police as he is definitely not insured to be driving Lando’s car - with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on Lando’s thigh, trying to keep him grounded as he stares blankly out the front window no doubt reliving the incident over and over. When they eventually get back home, Lando never strays more than one step away from Max, and when they head upstairs for bed, Lando gives him an expectant look and he knows straight away what he’s asking. It’s certainly not the first time they’ve shared a bed and he knows tonight of all nights, Lando is going to need someone there for him to keep him feeling safe.
As they’re laying curled up in bed, with Lando occasionally flinching whenever there was a slight bang from nearby, Max can’t help but spend the majority of the night awake thinking about how it is his fault Lando was there in the first place and how it is his fault Lando was in danger.
-
The night before they were due to leave for their summer break, Max decided to do a goodbye stream on Twitch, feeling as though now he’d grown so many more followers and subscribers they deserved to know he wouldn’t be online for a couple weeks. He’d left Tom to finish packing and Lando ironing their clothes after they’d previously agreed it would probably be easier to just share luggage rather than go through and figure out who owned what as their wardrobes had slowly merged into one.
He had only intended to do a quick 20 minute stream to just provide an update but then he ended up calling Tom in to show off his ugly watch, which soon prompted Lando to make an appearance and send the chat wild.
Very soon, hundreds of subscriptions and gifted subscriptions started rolling in and with every one, Lando was getting more and more hyperactive and over-excited for his friend, punching the desk and shouting with every new notification that came through. Max felt pride flood through his veins when he saw he was close to hitting his all-time highest subscriber count. He looked up at Lando, who was hanging over him with a huge giddy smile watching more subs and messages flood in, and realised oh fuck. I’m in love with him.
Panicking at the sudden realisation live on camera, he needed to get Lando away from him as soon as possible for damage limitation.
“Mate! The iron! My shirts are burning”
As Lando left, he said bye to the chat and held up a heart with his hands and if Max indulged himself and accepted it for himself and not a gesture to the chat, no one needed to know. He doesn’t stay live for much longer, too rattled by the evening’s revelations and the high of reaching his personal best in Twitch subs to even think properly anymore.
He heads to bed pretty quickly, deciding he can finish packing in the morning before they head to the airport, and lies there coming to terms with the fact he’s just realised he’s in love with his best friend and how much of a cliche that is. He wants to watch the replay of tonight’s stream to see if it was obvious to a viewer what was going on. At the time he didn’t see anyone comment on it, but truthfully everything after that moment sort of became a blur, so maybe they did and he just didn’t see.
The stream isn’t too incriminating. Max feels as though only he can read what was going on because he’s the only one who actually knows what was going on. So he decides to indulge himself a little more and watch the replay of when they streamed during the Euro’s.
And god. Max wants to die.
It’s so obvious.
He spent half that stream looking at Lando like he’d personally hung the stars in the sky. He even spoke to him in a soft voice when he was asking him questions. How embarrassing. How Max hadn’t realised sooner what he was feeling wasn’t just platonic affection when presumably the 30,000+ people watching the stream live could tell was truly beyond him. He knew wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but jesus christ. Then he decided to really indulge himself and watch how Lando acted with him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance he felt the same.
“That’s like me trying to get a girlfriend.”
But Max did know better. Lando wanted a girlfriend. Not Max. He’s a Formula 1 driver. Third in the Championship. He didn’t want Max. Max, who didn’t have a seat, lived in the spare room of his best friend's house and spent his days playing Call of Duty or doing the laundry like a stay at home wife. Max who puts him in danger. He’d just have to get over it and hope no aspect of their friendship suffered in the process. Roll on a 10 day trip on a small boat, he thought sarcastically.
-
On one of the days in Croatia, all the guys decide to get off the boat and head to a bar on the beach. The dance music was blasting and the whole area was packed with hundreds of people presumably celebrating being able to go on holiday again. Max was having a good time people watching, sipping on his cocktail, when Tom slid into the seat next to him.
“You okay with that?” he asked, as he nodded over to where Lando had his arms wrapped around a girl and talking into her ear.
No.
“Yeah? Bob’s finally getting laid. It's a relief for us all, no?” He’s glad he’s already slightly turned red in the face from catching the sun and wearing sunglasses so Tom can’t read how he’s actually feeling.
“Oh? So you’re just..” Max raises an eyebrow as he trails off his sentence. “Just friends with benefits then? Or like… open?”
“Eh? We’re not friends with anything mate. What are you on about?”
“Wait, seriously? We all thought you guys were together and didn’t want to tell us for the sake of the friendship group.”
He feels sick. We. They’ve all been talking about him and Lando. He wants to die. Is it that obvious? Does Lando know? Oh god.
“Why… Why did you think we were together?”
“Mate. You’re practically married to the kid. Living together. Sharing computers. Sharing clothes. Golf dates. He brings you as his plus-one everywhere he’s invited.”
He doesn’t even know the half of it.
Max shrugs and says “Don’t know what to tell you mate, we’re not together. Sorry.”
“Wow.”
It goes silent between the two guys for a moment before Max adds “Can you not say anything to him about this. He gets really weird when people mention relationship stuff with him. Jus’ wanna enjoy the holiday”
“Yeah yeah of course, But seriously? You’re not lying to me, are you? ‘Cause like, you didn’t have an issue being told you’re sharing a room on the boat. We wouldn’t mind if you were.”
“Well yeah, it made sense? Everyone is here with their partner apart from you, me and Lando and we're sharing luggage and it makes more sense than me or him sharing a bed with you. Plus your feet always stink. I wouldn’t want them near me.”
Neither man says anything more, so Max pulls out his phone to try and distract his brain from overthinking everything Tom has just revealed to him. It also gives him something to do now he can’t people watch in peace anymore now he has the knowledge that Lando is out there trying to hook up with random girls. Opening Instagram, he sees at the top of his screen his notifications have gone crazy with tagged posts so he attempts to kill a little time going through those. First he sees hundreds of Lando fan pages have tagged him in a video someone took earlier in the day while they were at lunch, in which Lando can be seen cutting up Max’s steak while he was in conversation and Max still has absolutely no idea why he did that. Then he sees that many other accounts have decided to post that video alongside another video that shows Lando cuddled up to the girl from earlier on. All over Max’s tagged page. He’s never wanted to walk out into the sea and drown himself more. He can’t escape it no matter where he goes.
So he does what any normal human would do. Orders some shots from the bar.
He’s just ordered his second round when Lando comes skulking along with Tom not far behind and sits down on the chair next to him.
“I take it that it didn’t work out with that girl then?”
Lando grumbles something unintelligible towards Tom so Max just slides one of the shot glasses over to Lando, silently vowing to get both himself and Lando so drunk that hopefully neither of them remember this evening.
-
The morning after, the sun was far too bright far too early. Max woke up with a throbbing headache and the gentle rocking of the boat unsettling his stomach. Lando was still fast asleep next to him so he gently climbed out of the bed so as to not wake him. He sourced his sunglasses from the pile of discarded clothes on the floor and made his way out onto the deck, desperate for a glass of water. The only other people who had also woken up were the girls on the trip, all of whom had stayed on the boat most likely having a civilised evening in comparison, and were sitting at the table in conversation. He grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge as well as a bowl of fruit and made his way to the seating area at the back of the boat to be able to sit in some silence and soothe his headache.
Max had started to drift off into sleep when a very hungover Lando Norris dropped down onto the sofa next to him, adorned in a hat and sunglasses and looking worse than Max felt. He’s dealt with Lando in many similar situations over the years and knows he’s going to be extra needy and cuddly while he’s feeling worse for wear.
“Alright? Need a cuddle?” Max offers up his services first, so Lando doesn’t have to do his usual awkward dance around the question.
“Yeah. But it’s too hot. Just need you near me instead.”
Max was trying his hardest to not let his brain go into overdrive with that. It wasn’t easy with Lando constantly fidgeting around trying to find a position that he was comfortable in whilst also maintaining that almost-touching with most points of Max’s body. Lando’s feet were brushing so close to his shins he could practically feel the touch, his head kept subtly shuffling closer to where Max had one arm resting across the back of the sofa as he scrolled through social media on his phone. He could very easily just move his hand slightly to the left and it would be buried amongst Lando’s curls.
It wasn’t easy with Tom continually giving them looks from where he was sitting on the other side of the boat. It made Max think about what he had mentioned the previous night about the way they acted with each other and why everyone they knew seemingly thought they were dating. It was a train of thought Max tended to avoid, not wanting to make himself fall into the trap of maybe Lando feels the same as it would only cause him more pain in the end.
But if he did think about it, he could understand where his friends were coming from. Lando always came to Max when he needed comfort, when he needed to feel safe, whether it be for a cuddle on the sofa - and sometimes one of their beds - after Lando had a bad day at work or on the phone via FaceTime when it had been a particularly bad race or qualifying and he needed some help not getting stuck in his head and working himself into a depressive state.
Max thought back to just after Silverstone when he was due to be moving back in with his parents. He had been in his room at Lando’s, starting to make piles of his belongings ready to pack up into bags when Lando had come shuffling into the room and hovering nervously by the door, chewing aggressively on his lower lip. Max had asked him if everything was ok and he mumbled out a ‘you don’t have t’ go if you don’t wanna. Can stay here as long as you want.” So he stayed. Lando had clearly been thinking about it a while as he suggested creating a gaming room to share and building Max a set up of his own so he didn’t have to keep using Lando’s computer and he could start feeling at home. In hindsight, he was now realising that none of his friends had asked why he had stayed with Lando and not moved back in with his parents is because they were all under the assumption that he and Lando were dating.
Tom did also have a point when he called their golf sessions ‘golf dates’. While they of course weren’t actually dates, Lando did sometimes get flirty and touchy when he was getting excited over the fact he was winning or setting new personal bests over the holes. It did end more than once with them tickle-wrestling each other on the final hole, while bickering over scores and who the actual winner was. Both of them had always been incredibly touchy with each other, that was just how they were. And their friends knew that, or so Max thought.
Next to him, Lando seemed to be slowly drifting back off to sleep and Max really had to try his best to resist the urge to move his hand slightly to gently pet Lando’s hair to help send him off into slumber. If he was feeling extra risky, he would place a soft kiss onto Lando’s forehead. But, of course he didn’t. Max just continued to keep one eye on Lando, and the other on his phone while pretending he couldn't see Tom staring at him across the boat with an unreadable expression on his face and hoped he too could drift off into sleep.
-
Nikki Beach was something everyone had been looking forward to the entire holiday. They had left it until the end of the holiday so that they could end the trip with a bang. All the guys had heard stories from various friends about how insane some of the parties there get. When they arrived, the music was already blasting and the drinks were already flowing. The service was every bit as glamorous as they had been promised upon booking. They were certainly in for a good day.
Hours later, everyone was significantly worse for wear. They had been constantly supplied with fresh drinks from the hotel staff, which in the case of Max and Lando had been a terrible idea. With neither of them drinking regularly - Max was sure Lando had consumed more alcohol on this holiday than he had in the total of his life - them accepting everything that was offered to them was proving to be a mistake.
Max and Lando had been in the pool keeping cool but what started off as little flicks of water towards each other had developed into full blown wrestling and Max - being the slightly more sober one of the two - decided it was time to get out before he was unable to return the golden boy back to McLaren post-break.
Everyone was hitting the point of drunk where the smallest things would blow your mind or send you into a fit of giggles. When a random man appeared out by the pool playing a saxophone, most of the boys thought it was the most amazing thing they had ever seen. Soon, multiple phones came out to capture the moment and a small corner of Max’s brain told him he should probably move away from where he was tightly pressed against Lando on their shared sunlounger, for the sake of his social media notifications and Max’s heart for the next few days. Lando whined a little at the loss of contact when he moved but Max thought it was for the greater good.
Once the sun had set and the air had turned cool, everyone set off stumbling back to their yacht to sleep off the excessive amount of alcohol they had drunk. Max, Tom and Lando were all walking with their arms around each other, trying to sing along to a song they had heard earlier in the evening, but neither of their brains were communicating with their mouths so all that was coming out was gargled groans which was no doubt harassing the poor people that lived in the houses they were traipsing past.
When they eventually made it back to the boat in one piece, everyone immediately fell into their own rooms. Max barreled his way into his and Lando’s room and flopped face down into the bed without even discarding any of his clothing - not even his shoes. Lando seemed to think this was the funniest thing he’d ever seen when he walked into the room, straight away bending over in a fit of giggles at the state of Max.
“At least take your shoes off you pig!”
Max groaned into the pillow and started to shake his legs in an attempt to get his shoes off, which was only successful in setting Lando off into another fit of giggles. He did take pity on Max eventually and helped him take his shoes off, which Max had murmured a slurred fanks into the sheets for.
“Mate, you need to change your trunks, they're still damp, you'll make the bed all gross.”
Max opened one eye and peered up at Lando with a grin on his face. Lando took a second before it clicked in his head what Max was suggesting.
“No. No fricking way. Do it yourself you little shit.” Lando exclaimed before throwing a clean pair of pants at Max’s head, this time causing laughter to erupt out of Max. Lando shakes his head at his best friend and leaves the room to get a couple glasses of water for them both, meanwhile Max uses this opportunity to get himself undressed and actually ready to sleep. When Lando returns, he sees Max has got himself under the thin sheets on the bed and is already starting to doze off.
“Oi. Get some of this down you or you’ll be a bitch in the morning.”
Somehow, Lando managed to spill some of the water as he tried to pass the glass to Max in his drunken state and let out a high pitched squeal when some of the icy cold liquid dropped onto his skin. Of course, this sent the drunken pair back into hysterics again. This time, their room neighbour had had enough of their antics and they were quickly silenced by a loud banging on the wall followed by a shut. the. FUCK. up.
Max noticed Landos laughter was bubbling back up again by the way he was chewing on his lips and slowly turning more red in the face. To prevent whoever is in the room next door - maybe Oli? Max isn't sure - from being disturbed by their antics again, Max reaches out to Lando, pulls him close and slaps his hand over his mouth to try and keep him quiet. In reality, all it does is make Lando thrash and wriggle in the bed to try and break free from Max’s hold. Max manages to keep him contained, and when Lando finally stops trying to wrestle out of his hold, Max keeps his arms wrapped around him. If he had to give a reason why, he would probably blame it on the alcohol still running through his blood making him a little bolder than usual.
They both seem to settle and Max begins to drift off into sleep with his face pressed into the back of Lando when he feels his friend start to move around again. He is preparing himself for Lando to start messing around again when he feels the soft press of Lando’s lips against his. Shocked, Max freezes up which Lando takes as a negative sign and immediately recoils and starts untangling himself from the sheets.
“Shit. Fuck. Sorry. I just - fuck.”
“La - Lando! Calm down.”
By this point Lando had already run out the room and Max heard a choked sob echo down the hallway. Max follows him straight away and finds him out the deck, curled up in a ball in the seating area and shaking with sobs. The sea air is extremely cold and both of them are just in their boxers so no doubt Lando is shaking due to the cold too. Max doesn't want to startle him in case he has got lost in his own head so scuffs his feet on the floor to let Lando know he's coming, before sitting down behind him and wrapping his arms around Landos middle and rubbing his palms on his biceps to try and warm him up.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey. You don’t need to apologise. It doesn’t matter.” Max punctuates the end of the sentence by placing a kiss on Lando's temple to try and show him just how okay he is with what happened.
“Yeah. Like. I’ve drank a lot, you know. And you were there. And like, with the messing around, I guess I just got carried away.”
Ouch. That stings.
“Right, yeah, of course.”
Neither boy says any more. They just sit in silence, still clinging to each other, and staring out to sea, both lost in their own thoughts.
-
It’s their final day before they fly home and Max is determined to have the best day possible. The events of the night before could be dealt with when they got back home. It was their ‘last day in paradise’ as Lando had put it and Max was going to enjoy it. Cue Oli Norris and his stupid big mouth.
They were sitting eating from a fruit platter out on the deck when he came out, way too chipper for someone who had consumed as much alcohol as he had the night before, looked over at Max and Lando and shouted “What were you two poofs up to last night? I heard crying.”
Max’s blood runs cold. He sees Lando go stiff and maintain his stare on a slice of kiwi on the plate. Oli is looking over at them like he deserves an answer to his question and Lando’s eyes are starting to turn glassy like he’s holding back his tears.
“Fuck you, you fucking prick.”
It’s as if Max saying this brings Lando back to reality and causes him to jump up from his seat at the table, sending his chair flying backwards and causing a bit of a scene. Anyone who knew Lando knew he was prone to bratty outbursts when he got a bit overwhelmed with something but this felt different. He didn’t bite back at Oli with a catty remark, just as cutting, he just stormed off with tears in his eyes and shaking hands without saying a word. And Oli had the audacity to look shocked at the outburst from the pair of them.
“What did I say?”
“The fuck do you mean what did I say you arsehole.”
“Well I didn’t think it would upset him did I?”
“Yeah, well it clearly has so I’ll go deal with your mess and you leave him alone ok?”
Max followed Lando through the boat to their bedroom where he found him curled against the wall, knees to his chest and sobbing his heart out. His whole body was shaking and he was choking on his tears. Max didn’t hesitate to get down beside him, bundle him into his arms and gently start running his hands through Lando’s hair, knowing that it keeps him grounded when he’s panicking.
“Ignore Oli. He’s an idiot.”
“I’m not. I promise I’m not I just -”
Lando goes silent for a few moments while he tries to breathe and collect his thoughts.
“I try. I try so hard but it never works out and I’m - I’m just so awkward and it’s embarrassing and my fans find out because they find everything out and then everyone knows and everyone is laughing at me and it’s just so embarrassing. But I’m a Formula 1 driver. I should have the prettiest girls. I should want the prettiest girls but I try and I try and it never works. And I’m scared. I’m scared because of what it means and I don’t -”
Max makes a small noise from his throat, to prompt Lando to continue with his rambling, to get everything that’s clearly been weighing him down for a long time off his chest, vaguely aware of where it’s heading.
“I never have to try with you.” Lando lets out in a small voice before letting out some more sobs.
“Oh Lando,” Max whispers into the top of his head, before adding “You know that’s okay right?” He feels Lando shake his head in response. “It is Lando. It is okay.”
“It’s not. I shouldn’t. I can’t. ”
“You can. It’s okay.” Max pulled back slightly so he could tilt Lando’s head up towards him and look him in the eye. “It’s okay Lando. You understand?”
“Oh. Oh. ” The penny seemed to drop for Lando and he understood what Max was trying to tell him without actually having to say it. “We’re both stupid.” Lando let out a small giggle.
“Er speak for yourself mate! You could have anyone in the world and you’ve chosen little ol’ me, you’re the stupid one.”
It was then the reality of the situation sunk in for the pair of them and they broke out in a fit of giggles. If anyone could see them, they would definitely think they were insane. Two fully grown men, curled up on the floor together in a luxury yacht - one with tear tracks down his face - hysterically laughing while clinging onto each other.
“Right, as lovely as this is, my arse is getting numb from this floor so how about we get up hm?”
“I don’t want to go back out there. Everyone is going to know, it’s too embarrassing”
“We don’t have to. We can stay in here, just not on the floor preferably.”
Both Max and Lando climbed off the floor and moved over to the bed. Lando immediately sprawled himself over Max and rested his head on his shoulder, with his nose brushing against Max’s jawline. Max’s hands found their way back into Lando’s hair and continued his gentle stroking.
“If you want to avoid everyone today, we can get off the boat onto the island and go sightseeing or get some food.”
Lando tilted his head up to look at Max before quietly saying “Like a date?”
Max smiled down at him and said “Yeah, like a date.”
He received a smile and a brush of lips against his jaw in response and Max would be lying if he said his stomach didn’t flip at the action.
-
After they had quietly snuck off the boat without anyone seeing them leave, they decided to take a wander into the Old Town of Corfu. Both of them were acting slightly like young schoolgirls hanging out with their crush for the first time. So far, they hadn't really said much to each other, just walking side by side in silence with their knuckles occasionally brushing against the others, neither confident enough to make the jump and grab the other’s hand.
Truthfully, both of them were enjoying just walking, especially through the streets, absorbing everything going on around them, occasionally stopping to take a quick picture of the narrow alleyways they were walking through. It made a nice change from the rest of their holiday which had either been spent in beach clubs or on the small boat. It was the first time in the week they had been away that they were able to just quietly absorb the culture of the country they were in.
Their aimless wandering through the streets seemed to have brought them to the more touristy area where there were the more gimmicky shops typically seen on holidays selling awful sunglasses and pool inflatables. Lando got a stupid grin on his face and darted into one of the tacky shops to try on their array of hats and sunglasses. This seemed to be his ‘excuse’ to finally grab Max’s and as he dragged him over to the store and then didn't drop it even when he began putting some of the worst sunglasses Max had seen in his life on his face.
As he pulled out his phone from his pocket to start taking photos of his friend - boyfriend? - he noticed a few texts from Tom he’d missed.
Tom: where r u? [13:23]
Tom: heard it kicked off w oli this morning. all good? [13:24]
Tom: did oli kill u both wtf???????? [13:31]
Max quickly snapped a picture of Lando in some ridiculously oversized pink glasses and sent it to Tom with the caption ‘ all good. just needed some space today’
“Who did you send that to?
“Just Tom. Asking where we were.”
“Can I see?”
Lando moved behind Max so he was able to hook his chin over Max’s shoulder to view the phone screen. Max was a little uneasy showing Lando the string of texts as they mentioned what had happened at breakfast and he didn't want Lando going back into his head and getting stressed at the mention of Oli and what happened. But if he also refused to show Lando the photo and the messages that accompanied them, it would only set off paranoia.
When he opened up the chat and showed the photo, Lando let out a small breathy laugh at how silly he looked before he read the messages Max had received from Tom.
“Do you think they know?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? They won’t know anything but they’ll probably put two and two together.”
“I don’t want them to know”
“Why not? Everyone would be okay with it.”
“No they wouldn’t. You heard what Oli said this morning.”
The chat had begun to take a serious turn so Max looked around for somewhere for them to sit and have a conversation, rather than them just standing in the middle of quite a busy tourist path. He spotted a small alcove in one of the walls that they could sit in so led Lando towards it.
“Oli didn’t mean any harm this morning. Of course what he said wasn’t okay but he genuinely didn’t seem to have a clue what he’d said to upset us.”
“That’s honestly worse. Just don’t want them knowing that I do actually like guys or to tell them that we’re together because the teasing will just be unbearable. I’ve had to put up with it my whole life and I’m tired.”
Max knew he was going to have to tell him what Tom had revealed to him at the beach bar a few days ago. He just wasn't sure how Lando was going to react.
“So… uh, everyone already thought we were dating.”
“What do you mean everyone. ”
“Tom told me the other day at the beach bar. You know where you were trying to graft that influencer,” Max paused to watch Lando’s face grimace at the memory. “He came over and asked if I was okay with you going on the pull because they’d apparently all discussed us and came to the conclusion that we’d been dating for a couple months.”
“Oh,” Lando paused for a second and gazed blankly out in front of him. “Is it like, obvious? Like, do I act stereotypically gay without realising it?”
“No Lando, stop stressing. I don’t know what insecurities you have in your head but ignore them okay? You’re just you, and I quite happen to like you the way you are. Come ‘ere.” Max ends his little pep talk by wrapping an arm around Lando’s shoulders and cuddling him into his side.
Once he felt Lando wasn’t as close to a complete breakdown, Max got up and said “Right, we’ve had a chaotic 24 hours, shall we go get some ice cream?” Lando’s face lit up.
-
They found a small shop with a freezer of Cornetto’s not far from where they had sat down and were walking along the coastline, hand in hand, taking in the view while finishing off the ice creams.
Max noticed Lando had gone suspiciously quiet in recent moments and when he looked over to him, other than the fact the way the sun was hitting his face he looked absolutely beautiful, he noticed he was chewing aggressively on his lower lip - the biggest telltale sign he's overthinking something.
“Hey,” He squeezed Lando’s hand to make sure he got his attention. “What you thinking about?”
“Why didn’t you kiss me back?” He admitted in a small voice. “D’ you even like me or are you just doing this because I cried on you?”
Max couldn't quite believe the lengths Lando’s insecurities about himself went. Considering Max found him practically perfect, he couldn't comprehend how Lando doubted and hated himself so much. He stopped walking and placed his hand on the side of Lando’s face to make him look at him.
“Babe, you didn't really give me much of a choice. I had my eyes closed and was going to sleep when you kissed me and then ran away before I had the chance to even process what was happening. And then when I came out onto the deck you said you just did it because you were drunk and I just happened to be there.”
“Sorry…?”
“It’s okay, we’re here now.”
“So what I’m hearing is that you want to kiss me.” Lando’s smile was back on his face.
“Think I might do yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Max pulls Lando’s head down slightly so that he can finally place their lips together. Lando’s hands make their way down Max’s side and settle on his hips, lightly gripping. The kiss was slow, but passionate, both boys trying to express just how much they feel for each other without getting too hot and heavy in a public street in broad daylight.
When they finally separated, they grinned maniacally at each other with their faces still hovering close, and Lando placed a quick peck back on Max’s lips to punctuate the end of their make out session.
“Come on, let's head back before someone sees us.”
The two boys headed back towards where their boat was docked, still riding the high of their first proper kiss together and bumping shoulders against each other every few steps.
-
Upon boarding the boat, the first people they came across were Tom and Connor sitting in the shade, keeping cool.
“Alright? Had a good day?”
Lando flushed pink and replied yeah with a secretive smile on his face, basically confirming what Tom was probably already thinking. When Lando turned away, Tom looked over to Max and raised one of his eyebrows to which Max could only reply by showing a middle finger and mouthing fuck off.
Oli had clearly heard them come back - or had been lurking and waiting - because he soon appeared looking sheepish.
“Hey. I, uh, wanted to apologise for what I said this morning. I didn’t think it would upset either of you. I was just being a dick and I’m sorry.”
Max felt like the apology was a bit half-arsed and he almost felt like he was blaming them for being upset, rather than accepting he did wrong, but it was the best he was going to get and he was having too good of a day to let it affect him. Lando was the one to voice a recognition of the apology with a yeah, it's whatever. Over it now anyway.
“So we’re all good?” Oli looked over to Max this time as he still hadn’t said anything.
“If he’s alright, I’m alright.”
The group went silent for a few moments before Tom ruined the peace, as always.
”So what did actually happen last night?”