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Charles’ apartment had never been such a mess, having a party on a Sunday night was not a good idea in any scenario let alone after he lost a race. ‘P2 is not a loss’ he reminded himself time and time again, but when Mercedes makes a mistake and you get the chance to gain from it, its hard not to get in your head over it. But of course the pit-stop goes wrong, of course Lewis passes him with good 3 seconds to spare and of course he has to defend from Max for the rest of the race, hoping a podium is enough to not make him scream into the radio.
‘Someone has put a curse on me,’ he thinks at one point of night, ‘there is no other way to explain this.’ People keep coming in, Pierre is there half sober to make sure Charles doesn’t fall off the balcony like every best friends does, and to make sure Yuki doesn’t fight anyone. He keeps drinking even when the bitter taste is gone, the music keeps getting louder and his dancing dirtier. It doesn’t matter who his partner is or how good they are at keeping him entertained, Charles stays in the middle of the crowd of drunks dancing, hiding in the darkness and flashing lights.
He’s laughing at someone, there is a spilled drinks on the floor and some stupid overplayed song is on. Nothing matters at that moment, everyone is having fun and Charles can forget the responsibilities he has. Another drink is in order, here is more vodka in his blood than in the bottle but its fine someone will bring more. There is so food there as well but he decides against it, he’ll indulge in eating unhealthy tomorrow when he’s sober. He goes to grab the bottle but stops, an odd feeling making him self conscious that maybe he’s going too far.
He puts the glass down and turns, slowly scanning the room, his drunk friends are still dancing, Pierre has Yuki under his arms as the younger one is trying to get free. Even the few people he does not remember calling here are sitting around his kitchen isle and talking. No one is looking at him, no one is judging, so what was that feeling.
‘It’s fine’, he tells himself, ‘I’m being paranoid and letting it ruin my night.’ Turning back to the table to once again grab at the bottle Charles stops. There are a few people is in the back of the room that he didn’t notice before, probably having an intimate conversation by the looks of it. They’re slowly talking among themselves, almost all of them, one particular person is looking at Charles. His expression is neutral, just calmly observing, but the gaze nothing but piercing stare into him
Max does that to him often. I doesn’t take more than a look for Charles to be completely entranced for a few moments. They keep looking at each other, no movements, no words said. He leans on the table, raises an eyebrow back trying not to listen to the voices telling him to run and hide, that he embarrassed himself enough.
Max looks away first, his friend taps his shoulder to show him something and just like that the magic is gone. Charles turns back around, his arms shaking as he pours another glass to try and regulate his breathing. He takes a sip while sneaking a glance back, Max is gone his seat empty.
He can’t do this tonight, he can’t deal with Max and whatever they mean to each other. So he runs back to the music and drunk people around him where he’s safe for now, to the place that doesn’t have Max and his knowing stare. A stare that can tell exactly what Charles is thinking, a stare that tells him that none of the kisses they shared were meaningless but none of them were strong enough to matter now.
- - - - -
*I Dare You…*
The first time Charles and Max kiss they’re teenagers with changing bodies and cracking voices, with too much pride and not enough maturity to do anything but fight. They’re sitting on the floor of someone’s room playing some dumb game with no purpose but to have fun. And its boys so the conversation is cars and dreams and pretty girls that none of them talk to cause they’re too busy racing so no one notices Max’s lie when he names someone back in Monaco as his crush. Charles is there and they don’t like each other but don’t hate each other yet so its fine, he can let it go for a night.
But then someone is bragging about kissing and making out, and everyone has to prove themselves so people start sharing their experiences while Max tries not to blush or say anything that will give him away. It doesn’t work. Someone turns to him, “I bet you’ve never kissed anyone, you’re too innocent for that!”
He argues that he has, she was very pretty and they made out by the corner store after school and she definitely had long hair and a dress. They laugh about it like young kids do, Max laughs about it too. Charles doesn’t. A few hours later they remember again, someone has vodka with them they all had a sip and that’s all it takes sometimes, Max didn’t drink, nether did Charles.
“Max, truth or dare.”
He’s dreading either option, playing with the glass in his hand pretending to think it over. He has to pick dare, the last 2 were truth and they will only make him do more embarrassing things if he keeps pushing it off. Things will stay in this room, he tries to convince himself, they wouldn’t make me do something stupid like run outside naked.
“Dare.” he answers, the whistles and clapping follow almost immediately. He forces a smile teasing back at his friends, if you can call that the kids you spend the whole day trying to beat.
The boy asking smiles at him, its not a real smile Max notices. “You have to kiss someone in this room.”
His heart stops, “What-t!? Why?”
“Cause I said so, and its a date,” comes back as an answer, “you said you’ve done it, right?.” The boy is looking around, some are raising their hands, its a joke and Max knows, others are pretending to hide. He stops and points to the right.
“Charles!” he looks back at Max and they can both feel the anger there. He knows Max and Charles don’t get along, knows about Max’s dad and his habits, yet still he points to him. “You have to kiss Charles or … lose the game.”
The room quiets down. It’s no longer fun and games, its track issues being brought in to even out the score, its revenge and Max is losing.
“Unless you’re scared of becoming gay.”
Max turns to his left, to the bed where Charles is leaned on. Brown eyes are glued on his, he’s on edge but refuses to show it, Max can see the way Charles’ eyes keep drifting between Max’s eyes and lips. There is something in them, he knows its fear but also something else, maybe dread that he has to kiss Max of all people.
He doesn’t have a choice. Getting up he waits for Charles to protest or say no, but nothing comes. The cheering is back, he takes one step to the bed and leans in, Charles doesn’t move. The kiss is quick, their lips touch but don’t more, its worse than practicing with your hand. Max is rough, impatient for it to be over, so it kinda hurts as well.
He pulls away trying not to be too quick, they’ll notice it and bring it up again. Charles’ lips are red, but not the good kind of red, the kiss wasn’t nice and his eyes shows that. Looking back he notices the boy staring at him, and if only looks could kill Max would be a dead man. He sends back a smirk, before sitting back down. This time he drinks the watered down vodka.
Things slow down after that. The dares continue, one after the other the boys keep doing stupid things and keep laughing at each other.
There is another dare, another kiss, the same boy who dared Max to kiss Charles, is now dared to kiss someone. He groans something about it not being original, so they give him Charles again, ask that he kisses the same boy Max kissed. Charles declines, the boy’s face shatters as laughter breaks out from the group, Max can only allow himself a smirk. The party is over soon after.
* Don’t Blame Me! *
Charles was not the most intelligent person around, especially drunk, he has enough self awareness to admit that, but even he knew this was a bad idea. A really bad idea, but there is no turning back now.
The group of boys are slowly entering the grounds trying to avoid whatever security was guarding the track. It’s a rest week, the whole place is empty, and they won’t race here for another week, so their chances of getting caught are slim. Still there is four of them, all half drunk and with nothing better to do. Lando and George are at the front giggling about something, so hearing a noise he turns around to check on Alex.
Five. There was five of them now, as Max was walking behind Alex. He stood there waiting for the two drivers to join, Charles couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the new guest. If this went wrong, which had a strong 90% chance it will, he will never hear the end of it from the Dutchman.
They hunch down by one of the walls, silently waiting to see or hear if someone is patrolling. Some minutes pass and nothing can be heard. Walking out into the clear pit lane, the three Brits were joking about themselves, Alex being the naughty boy that he is challenging George and Lando to race, and of course neither said no.
Before Charles could say anything a voice behind him sounded, “Don’t do it, you morons!” Max’s warning was left unanswered as the three of them sprinted down.
“They’re going to be the death of me,” Charles said more to himself than to Max, but still turned to see the other boy giving him a knowing look.
“Let’s just take the picture and go.” Max said, running a hair though his hair.
They followed along to the exit of the pit lance where the others were, Alex being a little in front of them and Lando and George trying to catch their breath. Charles took out his phone to snap a photo,
Charles took a photo of the three drivers, qietly giggling at the outcome, “Well now I have evidence, these two-” he leaned in closer, showing the photo to Max when the lights turned on, the whole pit lane - both exit and entry were clear as day. Charles blood ran cold as he heard voices coming from one of the building.
The three boys in front looked back but Max and Charles were way to back. George pulled the other two into the side, hiding under some of the bushes, while Charles was left out in the open. Max grabbed his hand and before he knew it the two of them were jumping over the fence just as the door opened. Two security guards came out as Max and Charles crouched behind the walls, trying to not move from the track hoping the darkness would hide them.
“Did you hear something?” one of them asked, as Charles tried to muffle his breathing.
“I think there is someone here.” came back as a reply.
They were so done, sneaking into a track at night, with other drivers will definitely be seen as tempering with the competition. Panic sets in, he can hear the footsteps coming closer, two lights pointing in their direction. He turns to Max who is trying to look cool and composed but they both know he’s as scared as Charles. He looks up to the track, the light is showing their shadows as a voice says ‘Here’ and now he can feel the presence of the two guards coming closer.
There is no time to think, whatever excuse his mind throws at him is wrong and won’t work. He turns to Max, he’s not doing anything and they’re both staring at each other. The idea is just entering his mind when he body just jumps to the opportunity.
He pushed himself off the wall wrapping both of his arms around Max’s neck kissing him, he tries to soften the blow of the impact but their teeth still clash a silent groan leaving Max’s throat. The motion is strong enough to topple them over, Max tries to hold himself to the wall but lets go as Charles’ weight and impact pushed him on his back.
Their bodies are pressed together, Max laying on the track with Charles on top off him practically feeling every single heartbeat with his whole body. The guards are still coming, but now Charles has Max’s hands on his waist, Max’s lips actually moving to kiss back, Max letting out another grunt at the no doubt bruises that will form on their faces tomorrow. He kissed Max, he’s still kissing Max and Max is kissing him.
Despite the fact he didn’t have the time to even think of a plan, they’re making out with Max’s hands squeezing at Charles’ waist making his body tingle. He’s never been kissed like this, their lips gliding across each other and things are getting nastier by the second, Max is pushing back while Charles gets lost in the pretend of it all. He doesn’t notice doing it, only registers what he’s done once Max’s breath hitches when Charles slides his tongue across Max’s lips.
Charles can feel the anger of the other as he gets a little bite on his lower lip, enough for them to separate just as a bright light shines on them. They’re caught, Charles laying on top of Max staring at each other’s eyes, lips bright red and hands holding each other close, fear in their eyes as they turn to the unimpressed guards staring at them.
There is tense moment before one of the guards rolls his eyes and the other starts to laugh, “Really… ?”
The two of them try to push away from each other but end up with Charles firmly straddled around Max’s lap so the laughter only gets louder.
“The track is already dirty, boys,” one of them comment.
“Shut up John..” the other says with a smirk on his lips.
They manage to stand up dusting themselves, Charles wiping his mouth from the kiss while trying to look as embarrassed as possible standing as far away from each other. He turns to Max who has a mixture of fear, confusion and anger on his face, looking up at the guards he tries to say anything but gets cut off.
“As happy as I am that you got to fulfill this fantasy of yours, you got to leave.” the guard says.
Charles cannot believe it worked. Not when they tell them they’ll forget about this if it never happens again, not when he finds himself walking back to the exit thanking the two men.
They turn to look for the Brits but they are nowhere to be seen so Max and Charles continue down the small path. They walk in silence, Charles not even daring to look at Max let alone say anything. He got them out of trouble and that’s all that mattered. Its not like we haven’t kissed before, he thinks to himself, just last time there wasn’t so much touching. His cheeks are back to being a deep shade of red.
“Guys!” a flying Lando ends up in Charles’ arms with the other two behind him. “They let you go?!”
“Hey, yeah.” Charles hugs him harder, revealed that they were all okay.
“What happened? How?” Alex asks.
“Nothing. Just told them it was dare to sneak in, they laughed and let us go.” Max answers, his eyes never leaving Alex, despite Charles looking at him the whole time he refuses to looks back.
He only nods along to Alex’s questionable look.
* The very first time… *
The first time they actually have sex is after they crash into each other. Both of them are out of the race in Lap 1, the track not allowing for a boring race. Max knows its not his fault which makes it even worse, he tries to control his emotions but the frustration gets the better of him.
“Fuck!!” he kicks the wall he crashed into without a second thought, not caring about what anyone thinks right now. He looks up noticing the wandering eyes of Charles but the other doesn’t say anything until they are both off track and Max can take full breaths again.
“I’m sorry, there was nowhere to go.” Charles’ voice is calm, calculating but knows him well enough to know its just a mask.
The walk back to the pit wall is quiet, Max doesn’t know what takes over him but just before they separate he places a hand on Charles’ shoulder.
Leaning closer to him he whispers, “20 minutes and then we can talk.” He lets his hands fall slowly, accidentally brushing over Charles’ ass, staying close until he gets an answer.
There is no room for arguing, they both feel the sparks, anger bumbling away under the surface of their skin, hidden from the cameras and people coming closer.
Charles doesn’t look at him, but Max notices him swallowing hard, tightening his fists before he says, “I’ll be there.” He nods back just before the crew can pull him away which is all Max needs to know.
A soft knock on his door is enough to pull him away from the TV, jealousy running wild in his mind at the rest of the cars on the track. He pulls the door open finding a very nervous Charles before him. On a closer look he notices its anger, eyes shining bright together with a smile that promises nothing but pain.
They’re barely inside the room before he’s pulling Charles into his chest capturing his lips in a kiss, a surprised breath leaves Charles’ throat but it only takes a second before he’s kissing back with just as much intensity. They had never talked about this, never mention sex as an option to fix their relationship, but despite the growing tension between them things had been civil until tonight.
He tries to take things steady be nice and gentle, he doesn’t know the boundaries he can push yet. Charles reminds him this is not going to be a cute, a nasty bite to his lips takes Max out of his daydream bringing back the anger from before. Bending down he grabs the back of Charles’s thighs picking him up, silencing whatever sound Charles was going to make with a deep kiss while his hands squeeze the soft muscles.
Charles wraps his legs around him, pressing their bodies closer together and pulling at Max’s hair like his life depended on it. It makes him wince but it feels good enough to be ignored in favour of making the trip to the bed in the back of his room.
It’s kind of surprising they’ve made it this far, Max thinks, looking back on their relationship anyone would think they were already fucking for years. Charles’ back hits the bed, Max following suit not leaving any space between them, purposefully rubbing their hips together so he can get Charles to moan like before.
*****
It did start off with the convenient kiss on the track, then making out from pure boredom with Charles being the little bitch that he is, constantly questioning Max’s ability until he pressed him up against a wall and showed his tongue down Charles’ throat.
Horny, barely legal and drunk out of their mind in some dim club in Monaco like most of the population of that city, Max and Charles had found themselves grinding on each other more than once. He didn’t remember it happening, at least that’s what he tells their friends the moment one of the mentions the night before, but then it became a regular thing so no one cared enough to ask.
A hand job is as far as they’re ever gone, as Charles had been stupid enough to take a Viagra pill by accident right before a race and couldn’t get off. Max pushed into the bathroom to find a panicked Charles’ trying to hide his erection, rolling his eyes he made him swore to never speak of it again. He only got a confused look in return as he pushed Charles into one of the stalls, trapping him between the wall and his body.
The moment he touched Charles Max knew he was gone for, it took all of his self control not to give into the whimpering mess before him. Panic set it as he realised this was so much hotter than he thought it would be, Charles was moaning out his name, clawing at his back with all the strength he had. Max was still human, his body did not even try to listen to his mind telling him no, he was hard within seconds.
‘Fuck this!’ he though as he unzipped his race suit and pulls down his underwear, grabbing both of them with his hand using the other one to holding Charles’ face as he kissed him. It didn’t take long for them to finish, they ran away from the bathroom with red faces and eyes stuck to the ground.
*****
Charles pulls away from him, they’re both breathing hard and despite the fact neither has said a word since the door was closed behind them, the matching bulges in their pants are confirmation of their desire. They’re ripping the clothes off each other in seconds, Max leaving bite marks on Charles’ collarbones as the other is desperately trying push their underwear off, feeling up his body, grabbing at his ass just to make Max groan.
Usually its the alcohol that guides them, or the desperation. Not tonight, they both think, tonight they’re going to take everything they want and more.
* Jealousy, jealousy… *
“So now I can’t go out with my friends?!” the voice is loud enough to scare him, a couple of people around him turn around to see what is going on, but Charles does not care.
“I did not say that!” he hisses back, trying and failing to look anything but unbothered that he found his ‘boyfriend’ in the club with someone else.
They’re in the VIP lounge, at the back of the club but Charles had spotted him the moment he entered the room. It was the same old routine, they get together, fight and break up, he goes out gets drunk and sleeps with whoever and Charles’ cries himself to sleep. He says he’s sorry and Charles’ forgives him for a few weeks and its back to the same old story.
“You said you were home and now I find you at a club with some-” he points to the blonde behind them, the girl looks as scared as she does amused. Half a second ago they were trying to lick each other’s face off, and despite the fact he tries to control himself he can’t help but give her a dirty look, “some girl!”
He turns back to the table, to the guy he thought he was in love with but now can feel nothing but blind rage, and hears nothing but laughter. He’s clutching his stomach while shaking his head, giving Charles a look that holds nothing but pity.
“Why do you care? I can do what I want, its not like me and you are together, come on!” he asks staring Charles down, who with each passing word feels more and more light. How could he be so stupid? How could he not know. Never date another driver, that was always the rule, there is reason you don’t break it. “You’re a good fuck Charles but these dramatics are too much, alright? Just leave me alone will you?”
His body feels frozen, the anger is gone, he can’t feel anything anymore. Standing there he looks back at the person he though he was in love with, maybe he could spend their lives together if they could just figure this out. And he feels nothing.
He smiles back, crosses his hands over his chest running his tongue over his bottom lip, “Okay, I will.” This catches his attention, he looks at Charles again, eyes cold and dark follow him as he walks away from the group.
He moves between the people, passes the bar where he can hear the whispers about him, Charles’ gets his heart broken again, so of course all of Monaco is going to want to know. He’s had enough, enough humiliation, enough crying and mourning a relationship he only imagined to be real.
It hits him hard, almost knocking the breath out of him, like crashing into the barriers at full speed, except he cannot stop moving he has to get away. His friends are waiting on him, he can see their faces mixed with emotions as they know how this is going to go. But not this time.
The moment their eyes lock, Charles knows he won’t be the one going home in tears.
Max is following Charles’ movements, slowly sipping on a glass of gin and tonic. He smiles at him and his expression remains unchanged until Charles passes by everyone, not stopping, not blinking heading straight to Max.
“Hello… ” Max’s face shows worry but his tone doesn’t show it, “Charles-” his sentence stays unfinished.
“Happy Birthday Max!” Charles says as he grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him into a kiss. Both of them groan at the contact, smashing their lips together with nothing but brute force as Charles continues to kiss him. Gasps can be heard behind him, but he doesn’t care, Max is still frozen in place still motionless in his chair, while Charles is between his legs on his tip toes trying to get a reaction back.
‘Not again,’ he thinks, ‘Max cannot reject him!’ He keeps moving his lips getting more anxious by the second, getting nothing in return as he started to get more aggressive. Max has both of his hands on Charles’ waist but does nothing more than keep his lips on Charles’. All of it is too much, the blur of the night keeps coming back to him, all the stupid decisions he made drawing so much attention for nothing! He doesn’t even notice the tears running down his cheek, he’s ready to give up to hide in shame of what he did tonight. And it was all his fault.
But then Max is taking the heat of the kiss, not pushing him away not tugging on his lips like Charles, is doing. He’s gentle, he knows this isn’t a for him, he knows its to make the asshole across the room jealous, but still he kisses back with so much softness it makes Charles’ dizzy.
They pull away for a second as he steadies himself on Max’s shoulders, too embarrassed to look him in the eyes. He stands there staring at the ground underneath them, biting his lips, waiting for the whatever comes next.
“Charles.. ” Max’s voice is raspy and rough, it makes his breath hitch and he opens his mouth in shock. Max’s hands are still on his waist, they pull him closer and he has no choice but to look up. Max’s eyes are really pretty he notices, they change colour depending on his mood. Really light in the sun, almost clear green mixed with ocean blue, when he smiles they shine bright enough to draw you in make you forget what you were even talking about.
They weren’t bright right now, no, they were dark green, fierce, deep enough to get lost in and trapped, the same enchanting look Charles sees in them before a race. Now, they were taking him in and there was nothing he could do about it.
Max didn’t wait, he didn’t like being teased for entertainment so dragging him closer he captured their lips once again.
His hands travel down Charles’ body, making him moan at the intensity of their grip, making him desperate for it to keep going. Max grabs at Charles’ ass making the younger moan into his mouth.
There is a loud noise, people are calling security as glass breaks, loud yelling from comes from across the room, his name being shouted.
its just a kiss and its just pretend and its just Max holding him so gently his tears are long gone in the past, head stops spinning and he becomes conscious enough to realise what he’s doing.
They don’t talk for the rest of the night. They don’t talk for a while after.
* Baby, It’s cold outside *
The clock hit 4 am before the last of the drunk people got out of Charles’ apartment. He’s tired, drunk and too emotional to still be standing on his feet. Yuki and Pierre crashed into his guest room a few minutes ago, Pierre choosing the safer option with the rookie having a habit of sleepwalking when drunk. There was broken glass on the floor in the kitchen, some in the hallway as well, so he pushes himself to at least clean it that up. his mind trying hard to focus on this one thing only. He can feel the tears forming at the base of his eyes, he’s used to crying when drunk about one thing or another, but the noise in the hallway is enough to stop him from letting go.
The crying is put on hold cause he has Max Verstappen here, the only person left in his apartment that is still awake. ‘Go home’ he thinks to himself. Max doesn’t need to see him like this, he doesn’t need to know that Charles is breaking down at this very moment. Max walks into the kitchen, the silence still heavy in the air since neither wants to mention the previous moment.
“All done,” Max says placing the trash in the bin.
Charles’ nods along “Thanks,” but does not dare turn around. “At least no one got hurt tonight.”
“Yeah, it was a good party by the way,” Max’s speech is slurred, not enough to be noticeable like Charles, but it makes his accent sound heavier.
He forces a smile politely mumbling another thanks, as he tries to find whatever courage he had left in the dirty dishes in the sink.
They’re talk for a little bit, mostly Max chatting along about how hard the race was, he does that when he’s drunk he notices, while Charles listens letting out noises of agreement but no more than a word.
“You were really good,” the words take him out of the safe bubble he had formed, he sneaks a glance at Max who is closer than ever before, “in the race, you almost won.” He’s standing right next to Charles, almost waiting for something looking at him in a way that shakes him to the core.
“Almost… ” is all he can say, slowly turning around to look at Max. The other is staring down at him, his face mixed with emotions Charles doesn’t even want to acknowledge.
“Almost.” Max says and he’s close, so close. His chest is almost touching Charles’ shoulder, he can see the red in his eyes from drinking all night, the small dark circles make his eyes stands out even more.
His hands let go of whatever he was holding, his own feet moving without a second thought, he wants to reach out but his hands down listen, he wants to say something, anything that will make this moment last longer keep it engraved in his mind forever but he can’t.
But he’s too late, Max is leaning in closing the small distance between them, his eyes only leaving Charles when their lips touch. The kiss is soft, tender in the most beautiful way as their lips lock together for a brief moment.
They pull away from each other, both of them quiet in the empty kitchen light. Max is still looking at him, still hasn’t moved but his eyes are not shinning anymore. He takes a step back, Charles’ heart beating hard in his chest as he tries to force himself to breath again,
Max bites his lip, “I kissed you,” his voice is shaking but he’s still standing tall, refusing to look away.
“Yeah” Charles answers, but he cannot hold his gaze lowering his eyes to the floor.
“Sorry.. ” Max whispers. Charles can hear his heart breaking all over again.
“It happens.” he says, there is nothing else he can do, maybe Max was just tired, maybe he wanted to know if Charles was into him, maybe, maybe,…
Max closes his eyes smiling, he moves to the table about to grab his jacket, it looks like he’s about to leave but instead he stops, his back towards Charles, and asks, “Does it?”
Charles doesn’t move, still stands by the counter, still refuses to look at Max. No it doesn’t. He’s never let someone kiss him, not like that.
“Do all guys kiss you goodnight?” Max’s words cut deep, he can feel the raw emotion in his voice.
“I don’t know“ he responds, shaking his head, “sometimes...” He looks up expecting Max to look at him, to break whatever spell is holding his hostage in this moment, to tell him it was so much more than a good night kiss, that he was right about them this whole time.
Max nods along, looking defeated, broken in a way Charles has never seen his before. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t lose the smile on his face as he waves goodbye and moves towards the door.
* One More Time *
Charles is looking outside and wondering if he can do it. The night stares back at him but offers no answers.
'Max" he thinks, he wants no one but him. ‘We can’t let this end, I can’t let him go like this.’
"Max..." he says out loud, barely a sound. The sound of a door handle being pressed echoes in the apartment.
“Max.” he repeats, loud enough to heard his own voice in the kitchen, as he’s moving, walking towards the door.
“Max!” this time he yells, grabs at the wall to stead himself as he turns the corner of the hall, running to the exit where Max at the door ready to leave.
He’s met with Charles rushing at him, “What’s wrong?”
He comes back in just in time for Charles to reach him, grabbing the front of his coat and dragging both of them inside.
Charles gathers his breath, looks at the man in his arms, at the small frown on his pretty little face and smiles before standing on his tiptoes and kissing him.
Max melts for the first time since they first kissed, wrapping his arms around Charles’ frame, tucking the smaller driver under him. They don’t let go, even when their kiss is over they stay like that in the middle of room both shivering a little, both thinking this is too surreal to be true while being so scared it won’t work.
Charles’ breaths out heavily, Max kissing his hair in comfort in the middle of the messy hallway in the darkest hours of the night.
“Stay,.. ” his voice is weak, the tears no longer being held back by the need to pretend, “please.”
“Charles… ” his name sounds nothing like before, he’s never heard it sound so sweet, he can feel Max’s lips on his ear, “always, anytime you need me, anytime you ask. Always.”
He kisses Max again, his smile making them both giggle as they keep breaking away from each other to laugh at the situation.
Charles doesn’t mind, he knows that each broken kiss is followed by another, and one more as they cuddle together in bed. One more when Max teases him about crying, another before they fall asleep, last one when their eyes get too heavy to stay awake. Charles doesn’t mind now that he knows he can ask for more kisses in the morning.