Work Text:
Max Verstappen was always made out to be cold and rude. Whether it was by the media or other drivers themselves. Very few people knew the REAL Max Verstappen. The Max Verstappen that cried when he was overwhelmed, the Max Verstappen who wanted to love and be loved, the Max Verstappen that was warm and sweet under his cold and hard exterior. Daniel Ricciardo had been the first person to break through the icy walls Max had built. He melted a Danny sized hole into Max's frozen heart with his warm, charming smile that always reached his eyes, his contagious laugh, his dumb jokes, his weird dance moves, everything about Daniel was beautiful and warm. Maybe Max was jealous of Daniel, or maybe in some way Daniel was his first love.
Another person had found a way to melt down a piece of Max and wiggle into his heart right next to the space he had for Daniel. Lando Norris. The curly-haired, Brit had thawed out even more of Max's heart. He didn't feel the same way he felt with Daniel but want he felt was a different kind of love. He loved Lando the same way you love a sibling, a family member.
However, there was a specific driver that melted his heart completely. Charles Leclerc had been someone who been challenging Max since their childhoods. At first, Max had felt a deep hatred for the boy with a bowl-cut who had pushed him into a puddle all those years ago. After they had started racing in F1 together, Max had decided to let go of his anger from the past and be civil with Charles. Over the years they developed a strong bond with each other and became very good friends. Charles confused Max. His soft speaking tone, his laugh, his stupid hair that his mom still cut, the large amount of jewelry he wore, the way he got along with everyone, how easy it was for him to handle the media, everything about Charles was mesmerizing to Max. Max had tried to pretend that what he felt for Charles was jealousy because there are so many qualities that he has to be jealous of, but he knew what he felt couldn't just be admiration and jealousy. He thought of Charles as more than a friend, he wanted to be more than friends with Charles and that thought alone terrified him.
Max had known from a very young age that he liked boys. His first crush was a now faceless boy who had karted with him. Max knew that he could never act upon his feelings, he heard the way his dad had talked about people like Max, he knew that if he wanted to make it into F1 he couldn't let people know he liked boys. Although Max only liked men, he never said he was gay. When he heard the word gay, or even thought about it, he flinched. Fear, fear is the only word that could describe how Max felt. The fear of someone finding out about his preference, the fear of falling in love with someone of the same gender, the fear of his dad finding out, the fear of everything he has ever worked for being taken from him for the sole reason of him loving another man. Max had only ever admitted this to one person, his therapist. Red Bull had required Max to get a therapist after he had made a "joke" about hating himself. Max would never admit it to anyone, but getting a therapist was one of the best things to happen to Max. His therapist had never judged him for anything he said, anything he did, and especially when he finally admitted to liking men. Together, they worked through a lot of Max's self-esteem issues and events from his childhood, that he now knows weren't normal. Even after all his progress, He still can't admit that he's gay to other people.
"Max! Ai Ai Ai!"
Max is forced out of his thoughts as Daniel and Lando come skipping over to him.
"What's up?" Max says looking between Daniel and Lando.
"Well, me and Danny just wanted to invite you to a little get together, a party of sorts, at my house tonight. So, what do you say?"
"Is this gonna be like last time when you promised a small get together and it ended up being 150 people I didn't know?"
"No, no, no Maxy! I promise this time it will be limited to drivers and the WAGS only. I swear! Please, please, please come!" Lando dropped down next to where Max was sitting, taking both of his arms in his hands with a slight pout on his face.
"Fine, I'll go." Before Max could even get all his words out Lando and Daniel were cheering and high fiving.
Max now sits on the grey plush sofa in Lando's apartment, watching his fellow drivers and their partners chatting and drinking. Max felt the sofa dip to the left of him, he turned his head to see a slightly flushed Daniel.
"Hey." Max greeted.
"Hi, Maxy." Daniel grinned falling deeper into the sofa.
"You look like you need some water." Max laughed.
"Max, will you ever tell him?" Daniel ignored Max's comment on his sobriety.
"What do you mean? Tell who what?" Max asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Charlie. Will you ever tell Charlie that you love him?"
Max paused. There were a lot of things Max had expected his drunk friend to say but this- this was not anything close.
"W-what?"
"You're not as subtle as you think, Max. It's okay, everybody looks at Charles like that he has that effect on people, but you, you look at him like he hung the moon and the stars just for you. It's sweet, honestly, I wish someone looked at me like that. I hope you tell him, he looks at you the same way." Daniel pats max on the should and lets his eyes wander over to where Charles is standing and talking to Carlos and Pierre.
Max was at a loss for words. He had always loved Charles in secret, and it had never crossed his that someone would have caught on. Max really wanted to believe Daniel. To believe that Charles looked at him the same way Max looked at him. He wanted to believe he had a chance, but he knew not to get his hopes up. Max believes deep down in his heart that there is no one in the world that is willing to love him. No one in the world was willing to deal with his lifestyle, his career, his mood swings. Max's eyes follow Daniel's to where Charles is. As his land on him, it's like a golden ray of light is being shined down onto Charles from heaven. Charles truly was an angel. Charles must have felt Max's eyes on him as he turns his head to meet Max's eyes. A smile spreads across Charles' face as he sends a playful wink Max's way.
'What happened to me?' Max thinks as his cheeks burn red. Max feels like his heart is on a roller coaster. He feels stupid about becoming so flustered after an innocent and harmless wink sent to him as a joke. He can feel warmth spread through his whole body as the tips of his ears and his cheeks turn rosy, pink. His chest feels like it's on fire, the ice surrounding his heart starts melting, water dripping down the sides as Charles Leclerc turns 3-time world champion, feared driver, Max Verstappen into a puddle with a single glance his way.
Max had been so out of it that he didn't notice Daniel leave, only to be replaced with the Max's reason for crisis. Charles makes his presence known with a single, warm hand on his shoulder. Max feels his shoulder relax into the touch.
"Hey. Why don't you ever go talk to people during these parties?"
"Ah, um- these kinds of things aren't really my thing, ha, and I don't really think anyone wants to talk to me at these things." Max scratched the side of his neck, his fingers briefly brush against Charles' hand that hasn't moved since he placed it there. Max won't admit the surg of energy he feels through the light brush of hands.
"Why would anyone not wanna talk to you?" Charles flashed Max his signature bright smile.
"I don't know, people seem to think I'm mean and unapproachable."
"Well, sitting here and hiding away from everyone won't help you prove them wrong. You should let more people see the softer, kind Max that I know and love." Charles said very matter-of-factly, like him saying he loves Max didn't make said males heart stop.
The party had started to wind down, Max had excused himself long ago to go cool off on Lando's balcony. Max had his head down towards the city below him as he leaned against the railing of the balcony. He barely had time to register the sound of the door opening before a pink-faced Charles was standing next to him. First thing Max took note of was how close Charles was to him, he was practically standing in his pocket. The next thing he noticed was how intoxicated Charles was, swaying side to side, unable to keep himself upright.
"Charlie, what are you doing out here? You should probably head home, you can't even stand up!" Max said grabbing Charles' arms trying to keep the man up and on his feet.
"I like that name. I like it the best when you call me that." Charles admitted with his eyes half-opened.
"Charlie, you're drunk, let's go back inside, okay?"
"No, I want to stay here with you." Charles took a half step forward resting his head against Max's shoulder.
Even if Max really did want to go inside, he couldn't. His body froze, limbs seemingly having a mind of their own keeping him locked in place. The scene was straight out of a romantic movie, Charles leaning against him in the cold early morning air as the sky turned shades of pink and orange. The light strands of Charles' hair glowing and reflecting the golden rays into Max's eyes.
After a while, Max had realized Charles had fallen asleep, standing there using Max as a personal heater. Max gently picked Charles up bridal style and took him inside the apartment. He laid him down onto a bed in one of the guest rooms in the apartment. Max took off Charles' shoes and took a minute to admire the sleeping figure. Max traced his nose bridge, his cheekbones, and his lips with his eyes. He also counted the little moles and freckles Charles had. Max finally got up to leave when a hand caught his wrist. Max stopped and turned around to see Charles looking up at him with sleepy eyes.
"Stay? Please, Max."
Max was not the strongest soldier. He felt the familiar warmth fill his chest for the hundredth time that night. The butterflies in Max's stomach had turned into a full-on stampede. Without thinking, Max quickly kicked off his shoes before climbing into bed next to Charles. Max made sure to maintain some sort of distance between him and Charles as to keep the stampede in his stomach from turning into something else. Max had gotten comfortable and finally let himself slip off to dream land.
When Max had woken up the first thing he became conscious of was the warmth surrounding his body. So warm it was almost uncomfortable. Almost. He then heard faint whispering. Max opened his eyes to see a suspicious looking Lando and a smiling Daniel.
"What are you two doing?" Sleep still laced into his voice.
"Did you finally decide to stop being a pussy you muppet?" Lando laughed out.
"What?"
Max had genuinely been confused until the sleep had started to wear off and he could feel all of his body. Max was suddenly hyperaware of the body resting on top of his. He looked down to see a mess of lose light brown curls that were undeniably Charles Leclerc's on his chest. Max's chest tightened with panic.
"Clearly not then with that crazy look in your eyes." Lando sighed before turning around and walking out of the room, Daniel not far behind.
Charles started to stir. Max couldn't even properly freak out before Charles was awake and lifting his head to look at Max.
"Morning." Charles' morning voice did things to Max.
"It- uh- It's the middle of the afternoon." Max gulped.
"Way to kill the mood, Max." Charles laughed before resting his head back on to his chest. Max tensed.
"Stop doing that. Relax your shoulders I'm trying to sleep." Max didn't know what to do resulting in him tensing more.
"Ugh- Fine I'm up." Charles rolled off of Max and sat up. Max was sure he looked dumb staring at Charles with his mouth open and eyes wide. Charles brushed some of Max's hair off of his forehead before getting out of bed and leaving the room. Max sat in bed with blush spreading across his cheeks and down his neck. He took a minute to collect himself before following Charles out the door.
Once outside, Max was greeted with chaos in the Brits' kitchen. Lando and Daniel were clearly losing a fight to a waffle maker as Charles sat at the island laughing. Max quickly shooed Lando and Daniel out of the kitchen and started preparing waffles the correct way. Every so often he would catch Charles watching him intently from where he sat at the island. Lando and Daniel disappeared into the living room to play FIFA. Max was arranging the waffles onto a plate and organizing toppings when he felt an arm wrap around his waist. Max jumped but soon relaxed into the touch and continued to set up their 'breakfast'. Charles rubbed his face into the back of Max's neck taking in a deep breath smelling the driftwood and vanilla that was so uniquely Max.
"Aghh! Get a room!" Lando shouted scaring both men away from each other. Lando then passes both of them and grabs a plate of waffles and whipped cream.
After 'breakfast' it was decided that everyone would go back to their respective houses. Max raced on his sim for a few hours and played with his cats before he got a call from Daniel that night.
"Hello?"
"Max, I mean this in the nicest, most supportive way, but I need you to man the fuck up and ask Charles out! Or just fuck I don't care! But this is getting painful to watch now!"
Before Max could even think of a response, he heard a beep signaling that Daniel had hung up the phone. Though Max would have fought with Daniel if given the chance to respond, he couldn't help but think about his words. It seems like his and Charles relationship had gone zero to sixty in the matter of hours. Max knew beneath all his and insecurity that he needed to tell Charles how he felt. Even if he didn't feel the same Max needed to get it off his chest. He needed Charles to know the effect he had on, the way he turned Max's brain into a big warm pile of goo that is incapable of thinking anything other than Charles, Charles, Charles. Max ran into his room and pulled on an outfit that was more presentable than his 2-day old party clothes. He made his way to a local flower shop and bought a simple bouquet wrapped in brown paper before driving to Charles' apartment. Max walked into the building and greeted the front desk employee before riding the elevator up to his floor. Max knocked on the door immediately, so he didn't have time to lose the confidence he had finally been able to muster. Charles opened the door and was surprised to see Max standing on the other side.
"Charles! Ah- um- Okay, I have wanted to do this for a while but ah- wow- this is hard ha- I'll just cut to the chase! Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc, I like you, No- No I love you! and I know- I know you probably don't feel the same- And that's fine! I'm okay with just being friends after this! Nothing has to change! But I just needed to tell you that you make me feel so- so weird? like when I'm around you I feel so warm and like my chest is being crushed and I just feel like I'm melting in the best way possible and it's all because of you!" Max finishes his ramble and looks at the carpet in the hallway, too scared to see Charles reaction.
"Max, you fucking idiot."
Max snaps his head up just as Charles launches himself into Max. Max catches him and next thing he knows Charles is closing the gap between them. If Max thought that just a simple look from the Monégasque was enough to make him melt, kissing him had set him on fire. Fireworks went off behind Max's eyes as he pulled Charles closer. Max let out a whine as they pulled away from each other.
"Max, baby, you melt me too."
Max placed another kiss on Charles' lips. Charles pulled away and finally noticed the flowers Max was holding.
"Are those for me?" Charles shyly pointed to the flowers.
"Why of course, Schatje." Max laughed at Charles' shyness before handing him the flowers and kissing his temple.
Charles pulled Max into his apartment and slammed the door shut.