Work Text:
2015
Max admires him from a distance. His beautiful smile and his soft curls. His laughter can fill a room. Max adores him. He knows he's not what people want. Especially not Daniel. Too young, too aggressive, too lanky, too much.
The best days are when he gets to be close to Daniel. Gets to touch. Gets to watch his smile up close. Gets to bask in his presence.
Max can't wait until he gets into the big team and gets to have Daniel as his teammate. Gets to actually race him properly. Racing Daniel is a bit like loving him.
2016
Daniel makes Max feel like he belongs. Max often feels like a weird little duck. He's still entirely too much and entirely unwanted. Well, not entirely. Because Daniel pulls him in and keeps him close and makes him smile. With Daniel around, Max can do anything.
They have fun in ways Max didn't know were possible. Daniel brings out a side of him that he always had to hide. Max likes himself better when he's around Daniel. He starts to think in possibilities, instead of can'ts and shouldn'ts.
With Daniel, Max is allowed to dream about more than just championships.
2017
It's weird trying to grow up when everyone is watching you, when everyone has an opinion of you and is waiting for you to fail.
Daniel makes it easier. Max can still just be Max around him even when Max isn't quite sure who he is or who he wants to be.
Daniel holds Max when he cries, listens to his worries and he tells him everything will be okay.
Daniel's hugs are the best medicine in the world, Max thinks. He can fix anything. He doesn't know where he'd be without Daniel.
Max learns sometimes his father is wrong.
2018
Daniel leaves him. Daniel is going to leave him. Max’s entire world falls apart.
He doesn't know who he is without Daniel anymore. He needs Daniel.
But Daniel doesn't need him. No. Daniel wants to go. Sometimes Max sees the look of resentment in Daniel's eyes and it makes him nauseous. He never wanted Daniel to look at him that way. He never wanted Daniel to hate him.
Max always makes people leave. He always makes people hate him. He should have listened when his father told him that. He is only good for racing. Never good enough for love.
2019
Max learns that Daniel doesn't hate him. He learns that Daniel didn't want to leave Max but that he had to leave the team. Max wasn't the problem, they were.
Daniel smiles at Max again and it heals something inside of him. It gives him energy and hope. He doesn't always have to be the problem. Max can be loved. His father's wrong.
Daniel cares about Max and he makes Max laugh. He wraps Max into tight hugs and whispers dirty jokes and secrets. He makes Max feel like he belongs.
He'll always have Daniel, even when they're not teammates.
2020
The world is falling apart but at least Daniel still makes sense. He will always be the constant in Max’s life, his guiding light.
They talk a lot. About their hopes and dreams and all their fears. Most people think Max fears nothing. He has to be tough in front of them. Not with Daniel. With Daniel, Max has always been allowed to just be Max.
Just Max is good enough for Daniel. Max likes that. Likes that someone likes him for who he is. Daniel never says Max is too much. Even when he calls six times a day.
2021
Max becomes world champion and people hate him for it. Never Daniel, though. Never Daniel. He'll never say Max didn't actually deserve it. Sometimes it feels like he's the only one outside the team who thinks Max deserves his championship, who thinks that he belongs.
He gets so drunk at his party and he finds Daniel and sways with him to whatever song is playing.
Daniel smiles at Max and everything is right.
Max doesn't kiss him like he wants to but he lets himself drop into Daniel's arm. Daniel catches him. He always does.
Things make sense with Daniel.
2022
It hurts to watch Daniel getting thinner and thinner. It hurts to watch Daniel's smile dim so much. Max wants to help him, wants to take Daniel home and tell him everything will be okay.
They both know it's not okay.
It's the car. It's the team. It's not Daniel. It's fucking unfair.
Max takes Daniel home anyway and holds him while he cries. Max can be strong for both of them right now. He'll keep holding Daniel until he feels better, even if that means holding him forever.
When they drop Daniel, Max keeps holding him and he schemes.
2023
Daniel finally comes home. He's back with Max where he belongs, even if he doesn't quite have the seat he belongs in yet. Max is working on it. He'll make things happen.
For now he enjoys the comfort of being able to turn around and immediately find Daniel smiling at him. He enjoys the comfort of Daniel's arms.
He, finally after all this time, enjoys the comfort of Daniel's lips too. In the Australian sun, Daniel whispers he loves Max.
Max breaks records and is soaring through the sky but the best thing is always having Daniel.
They belong together.
2024
Daniel belongs to Max no matter what is happening around them. Daniel is Max’s rock, his safe haven. And Max knows he is Daniel's too.
This is where they were meant to be, from the first time they met each other. They hadn't quite known it then. But it fits.
Max would say they are soulmates. He'll always come back to Daniel, their fates intertwined.
There are a few things that are always true about Max, things people know him for, but the biggest truth is that he will always love Daniel.
He'll ask Daniel to marry him this year.