Chapter Text
He holds his breath as the phone rings, pacing back and forth through the room, anxious. It’s been months since he last spoke to Lewis, really spoke to him, and not just awkward fist bumps and polite smiles in the paddock. The feeling is suffocating, then, when the man picks up, quickly, maybe too quickly.
“Max?”, Lewis speaks, tone uncertain, and the first thing that crosses Max’s mind is that shit, he still has my number . He was absolutely sure that Lewis had deleted it, after their breakup. Even if he did, that would mean he had it memorized, and that slaps Max in the face suddenly, and he realizes in the moment he’s not said anything since Lewis picked up.
“Yeah, sorry, I- uh, hi”, Max stumbles over his words, and he can physically feel the heat rush to his face when Lewis chuckles silently. He’s making a fool out of himself.
“Hi, Max. Everything okay?”, Lewis’ voice carries amusement, and Max can’t help but smile along, even if he does feel slightly lost in the conversation he technically started.
“Yeah, kind of. Uhm, funny story”, he inhales, and then just speeds through his next few words, embarrassed, “I kinda just, well, you know, forgot to tell my sister we broke up, and now, she’s, well, just assuming you’d come to her wedding with me, and, and, I couldn’t tell her now so I just kinda nodded along and now uh she’s planning for you to be there, as, as my boyfriend”, he blurts out.
The line is silent for a few seconds, and Max is breathing heavily, almost sure he would hear the signature beep of Lewis hanging up the call, mentally preparing for it, but then-
Lewis bursts out in laughter.
“You did what ?!”, he chokes out between laughs.
“It’s not funny”, he deadpans, but he’s certain Lewis can hear the relieved smile in his voice. At least this is better than having to stand the embarrassment of Lewis hanging up and never talking to him again, and he does have to admit, it is pretty funny.
“Yes, Max, yes it is. It’s hilarious. How do you just-”, and he starts laughing again before going on, “forget?! It’s been four months, Max”, he’s still laughing, the little shit, and Max tries to keep his own laughter in.
“Listen- It just happened, okay, it’s not my fault”, at this point, he’s trying whatever he can to get Lewis to just stop laughing at him, and it’s not working, and he closes his eyes and brings his palm to his forehead.
“Okay, okay, big guy, sure it’s not. So, you didn’t tell her and then proceeded to just… agree with her when she assumed I would be there?”, Lewis’ wide smile can be pretty much heard, and the more he relays Max’s own actions back to him, the more Max feels like dying of embarrassment.
“It was an odd situation, and she was very excited to see you again! What was I supposed to do, say no?”, his mind supplies that yes, it’s exactly what he was supposed to do, but he ignores it. Lewis chuckles again.
“Fair enough. So, what now?”, Lewis doesn’t exactly seem appalled by the situation, but he does ask the question Max really wasn’t looking forward to answering, and he takes a deep breath again before doing so, hands slightly shaky. He can’t believe he’s asking this. He needs to get like, Brother of the Year or something.
“So, well, if you could- you know, come to the wedding with me? And, uh, well, pretend-”, there’s a lump in his throat, and he loudly clears it before continuing, “pretend to, still be, uh, with me?”
Lewis lets out what seems like an exasperated sigh, before speaking.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re an idiot?”, is the amused question that hits him back, and Max can’t help but laugh at it.
“Yeah, probably less than they should’ve”, and they share a chuckle.
“Listen, as much as the situation is- weird, yet terribly on brand for you, I wouldn’t actually mind going, but we do need to talk about it, in detail”, Lewis’ voice takes on the kind, almost analytic tone it has when he talks about racing, about the car, and Max finds a nice familiarity in it. He’s glad they’re not uncomfortable with each other, he’s glad they can talk like they did before the relationship.
He exhales, somewhat not processing that Lewis kind of agreed to his insane request, mostly just happy that he did, and even happier that Lewis is thinking ahead to things he has not given a single moment of his mind.
“Okay, yeah, sure. You could come over, for lunch or dinner- vegan, obviously? We’ll talk”, Max hates how formal he sounds, a contrast to what he’s feeling, but he never was the best at voicing his thoughts out.
“Sure, dinner sounds okay. Tomorrow?”, and to that, Max hums his approval. Anxiety stirs in his stomach, having made dinner plans with the man he broke up with just a few months ago. Not necessarily in a bad way, but Lewis did always know how to play with nerves.
“Thanks, Lewis, see you tomorrow”, he manages, getting a similar response from Lewis, promptly hanging up afterward. Letting out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, Max finally stops pacing around the room and basically throws himself on the bed.
Anxious and still embarrassed, he doesn’t sleep much that night.
-
The ring of the doorbell doesn't necessarily startle him, but it still makes him jump, even if he expects it. When he opens the door, Lewis is standing there, leaned against the side of the wide doorframe, comfortable, relaxed. He’s dressed somewhat casually (if anything can ever look casual on Lewis), in stylish bright jeans and an oversized graphic tee. He looks good, very good, and Max suddenly feels underdressed in his own home.
“Hi”, Lewis speaks, a calm smile dancing on his face. Max smiles back, and opens the door wider, wordlessly letting Lewis in.
Lewis gives him a soft pat on the shoulder, seeming almost unsure if he can do more as a greeting, and Max appreciates it, because he himself isn’t exactly sure where they stand. Friends? Not really. They haven’t really kept in touch at all since the breakup, only interacting in the paddock when they were around each other, and since the season ended, Max doesn’t think he’s seen Lewis once.
Still, the atmosphere isn’t exactly awkward, or unfamiliar, as Lewis makes his way across the house, and Max thinks in a flash it’s been lonely without him there, quickly brushes it off. One of his cats, Sassy, appears out of nowhere and instantly starts pacing around Lewis’ feet, visibly excited to see him. Lewis’ smile is wide, and he quickly leans down to play with her for a bit, all kinds of cooing leaving his lips, the same voice he talks to Roscoe with, impossibly fond.
“You know if you wait for her to get bored of you, you’ll have to wait forever”, Max comments, thinking that the takeout he got (he is by no means a chef, Lewis knows this) is probably getting cold at this point. The other looks up at him, almost as if just remembering he exists, but still smiling, and stands up.
“Well, maybe I missed your cute little demons”, the words are casual, but they make something stir in Max’s chest. Once again, he chooses to ignore it and just laughs along to them.
“Lucky Jimmy seems to be sleeping, otherwise you would get no peace here, they missed you too”, and it’s true - he can tell when the cats seem to grab clothes he thought were just random victims, but turned out to be the clothes Lewis never took back from his house.
“Good, I’m a delight to animals and humans alike”, and Max can’t help but chuckle and hit back with a sarcastic sure , but it’s not like he actually disagrees.
Finally, Max ushers him to eat and pours them whatever expensive wine he bought, hopes Lewis will like it - he’s not really a wine person, but it’s a wine occasion, Max supposes.
They make small talk, polite but not forced, talking about anything and everything, the end of the season, the start of the new one soon - the conversation gets slightly too heavy when one of them mentions Kimi’s retirement, the obvious next topic of Lewis’ own looming over them, and as much as Lewis doesn’t seem to be that phased by it, Max suddenly feels like he’s suffocating.
From almost the beginning of his career, he’s seen Lewis in Formula 1; from the very first moment he got to Formula 1, and every next, Lewis has been there. Max can’t imagine what it would- what it will look like without him, and his eyes appear to show that (or Lewis is just really good at reading him) when the topic suddenly gets changed.
“So”, Lewis starts with a wide smile, an edge to it Max can fully recognize, “tell me again how you accidentally got me invited to Victoria’s wedding?”.
Max groans, hiding his face against his hands for a second, what he would describe as a second of questioning most of his life choices.
“Hear me out, we broke up in, what I think you’ll agree, was a pretty healthy way”, and Lewis nods at that, the teasing smile turned more genuine, “and I just didn’t really feel the need to like, rant or get support from anyone- I kind of just was pretty sad on my own, but you know, I didn’t really need a support system. So, I didn’t, like, announce it to everyone, and by the time I got out of my little depression hole, I just- forgot”, it’s embarrassing airing out his feelings to his ex-boyfriend like this, but Max thinks it’s only fair- given what he’s asking Lewis to do.
Lewis doesn’t say anything, and the Dutchman feels glad he hasn’t chosen to comment on his admission of being sad over their breakup, but he’s still being looked at expectantly, so he takes a deep breath and continues.
“Okay, and, well, Vic and I were going over some things for the wedding, because like even though I don’t know the first thing about organising anything”, Lewis chuckles at that, “I still try to help wherever I can, and she just kind of… mentioned how she hopes you don’t have anywhere to be, because she wants us to come three days earlier, and my mind just, uh, froze, and I just- well, I said I would, uh, check with you, and that I wasn’t sure”, he can see Lewis holding in his laughter at that point, but still decides to continue.
“This was like five days before I called you because I just spent the next two hours next to her panicking about, well, first forgetting to tell her and then lying to her and then lying about you specifically and- then I panicked some more and, well, said fuck it and decided to call you, and then panicked some more, obviously, before I called”, Lewis is just straight up doubling over in laughter at him, from the bottom of his chest and deep and loud and Max is incredibly embarrassed about the whole thing, but still finds himself laughing as well.
“God, I’m sorry for laughing, but, you see how this is funny, yes?”, Lewis manages to say when his laughter somewhat subsides, and Max can’t do much more than nod his head dumbly. He doesn’t really mind.
“Okay, okay”, Lewis raises his hands up, announcing that he’s done with his little fit, and exhales before speaking again.
“So, ignoring that your bright idea was not to simply tell her the truth, you decided to do this whole thing instead”, Lewis deadpans, amused, yet genuinely seeming in wonder of Max’s elaborate plan.
“It’s dumb, yes, but, my sister loves you, and you know, I’d owe you one- or like, ten”, Max almost pleads, genuinely worried about Lewis just calling him insane and walking out on him. He probably deserves it anyway.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m very much up for it, as long as it doesn’t clash with any of my big events I have coming up soon- when is it”, Lewis asks, to Max’s relief, because at least Lewis is somehow on board with his crazy idea, but he’s still unsure if it’ll work with his busy schedule, and it has Max rubbing the back of his neck before mumbling something barely coherent, the Brit still somehow understanding him.
“A week?! Seven days!? Seven?! And you didn’t think to call sooner?”, Lewis leans his forehead on the palm of his hand, looking straight at Max, a little stress seeping into the lines on his face, to which Max just shrugs his shoulders awkwardly, apologetic panic writing itself out in his eyes.
“Sure, okay, seven days is doable, I don’t have anything, luckily, but- is there a theme? What are you wearing- do you have a suit? Please tell me you have a suit-”, Lewis starts rambling and Max has to laugh, interrupting him in the process just to receive a confused look and a pouty “What?” back. It makes him laugh even harder.
“Nothing, I’m just glad you said yes. Also, it’s very funny that your immediate worry is not us having to fake being together again, but what you’re wearing”, at that, Lewis laughs, and it’s Max’s turn to tilt his head in confusion.
“We pretended not to be together in the paddock for a year, I figure a few days of doing the opposite should be pretty easy”, Lewis’ response gives him the impression Lewis was waiting for that question, or, well, statement, but Max chuckles, has to agree. The hardest thing during their entire relationship, and one of the reasons they broke up, was not being able to be open about who they love and having to suffer under assumptions that they actually hated each other, listening to stupid people trying to make drama out of nothing, the entire ordeal eventually taking its toll on each of them, and their relationship as a whole.
“Fair enough. I’ll text you all the details later tonight so you have them nicely written down and everything, and then you can get started on outshining my own sister for her wedding”, Max’s tone is joking, but there is not a single doubt in his mind that Lewis will put in more effort than he needs to, to look what he considers adequate.
They return to talking about anything that comes up, Lewis showing Max newer pictures of Roscoe, the winter testing that’s coming up, Lewis’ fashion events and projects, and Max feels oddly at home in the conversation. The realization hits him that he still immensely enjoys Lewis’ presence around him and that he’s been smiling more during this night than in the entirety of last week, probably.
Max does what any rational person who just asked their ex to pretend to be with them again does, he ignores it completely and hopes for the best.