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Lando was in the middle of his daily four to five stream, when his phone rang. He ignored it, didn’t even glance at the buzzing device, because all of his friends and family knew not to call him when he was streaming.
‘Motherfu-,’ he swore when his character got killed, quickly swallowing the rest of the curse. He recently got a lot more younger subscribers and he had promised himself -or mostly Oscar- to try and not swear so much. ‘Fluffer,’ he muttered. ‘Motherfluffer.’
‘Very creative, mate,’ Max’s voice sounded in his ear. When he looked at the little box on the right side of his screen with his best friend’s face in it, he saw how amused the fucker was.
‘Shut up,’ Lando said as he waited for his character to load again. ‘I hate this game.’
Lando’s phone rang again. It nearly buzzed off his desk, but he still ignored it, blindly tapping his screen with a flat hand to stop the sound of his ringtone, putting whoever called him straight to voicemail.
‘Next time we’re racing again,’ Lando said, moving his fingers over his keyboard and shooting at the zombies running his way.
His phone rang again, distracting him enough to let his character die once more. With a yell of frustration Lando pulled his headphones from his head and pressed his phone to his ear without looking at the caller id.
‘This better be fucking good,’ he growled, eyes still on his computer screen. He could see Max laughing and the chat went crazy with subscribers yelling at him to put money in his swear jar.
‘Lando, thank god, I have never been happier to hear your voice.’
Lando frowned and turned his chair away from the computer screen. He recognized his friend's voice right away. After Max F who he was currently gaming with, Max Verstappen was his second closest friend and he would be able to pick up his voice in a crowd within seconds, and today he sounded weird. Usually his friend was very calm and confident, but now there was a strange edge to his voice.
‘Max? You sound– Are you okay?’ he asked as he turned to look at his screen again where the other Max was signaling something to him as he muted his microphone. He shook his head to Max F, letting him know this was not something he wanted the chat to hear. Something was going on.
‘Could be better, I got myself in a bit of a situation and I need you to come help me. Now. Please.’ Max replied, panting a little and worrying Lando even more.
‘You’re scaring me, mate, you never say please to me. What’s going on?’ Lando frowned, getting up to grab his discarded hoodie from the floor.
The line went silent and for a moment Lando thought Max had hung up on him, but then he heard another voice in the background, indicating that his friend wasn’t alone and it somehow made his panic feel even more real. What if Max was really in trouble? What if someone broke into his house? Fans were crazy these days. So you’d never know.
Before he knew what was happening, his legs were already moving and he was in his kitchen before he knew it, startling Oscar who was preparing dinner. When he saw Lando’s face and tense body, he immediately dropped the knife and rushed over to him, the question clear in his eyes and he reached out to touch Lando.
‘Max, stay put, I’m coming over,’ Lando whispered into his phone as he took Oscar’s hand and started leading him towards the hallway.
‘What’s going on?’ Oscar whispered and Lando had to fight every instinct to stop and kiss his boyfriend senseless. He loved how Oscar had immediately picked up something was wrong and Lando had whispered for a reason.
‘It’s Max, he’s in trouble,’ Lando explained as he slipped into his sneakers.
‘Max F? Weren’t you just gaming with him? Is he alright?’ Oscar asked as he rushed to follow Lando out of the house, neither of them stopped to lock the door properly.
‘Other Max,’ Lando said over his shoulder. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong exactly, but he sounded weird when he asked me to come over.’
‘Weird how?’ Oscar asked, grabbing onto Lando’s arm as he nearly tripped over his untied shoelaces. ‘Wait, babe, slow down.’
‘We can’t, what if he’s in real trouble?’
‘Have you asked?’ Oscar sent him a pointed look and gently pried Lando’s phone out his hands. The line with Max was still open and Lando watched as Oscar pressed the phone to his ear. ‘You still there Max?’ Oscar asked, placing his hand on Lando’s back as if to say; keep walking.
‘Are you okay?’ Oscar asked then, making Lando whip his head back to look at him in question, nearly tripping again. ‘What can we do?’
‘What’s he saying?’ Lando reached out to grab his phone, but Oscar slapped his hand away and gestured to Lando’s car.
Lando sighed and climbed into his car. He quickly tightened his shoelaces and put on his seatbelt, all while waiting on Oscar to get in too and tell him what Max said.
‘Well?’ he asked when Oscar was finally seated, immediately starting his car and putting it in reverse. ‘What did he say?’
‘That you’re a moron who panics way too quickly,’ Oscar chuckled, patting Lando’s thighs. ‘He thinks it's sweet though and he does need our help, but he’s not exactly in the kind of trouble you think he is.’
‘So there’s no crazy fan in his house? He’s not kidnapped?’
‘You watch too many movies,’ Oscar said, squeezing his thigh. ‘But no, that’s not what’s going on at all. It’s embarrassing according to him but he wouldn’t tell me much, so we just have to wait and see.’ ’
Lando had no clue what that meant and he said as much, but Oscar just smiled at him.
Max had never felt as mortified as he did right now.
Tonight was supposed to be fun, sexy even, but it had turned into a bit of a mess and as much as he loved being in control, he loathed losing it. Like he had just now.
‘It’s fine, babe, I’m sure this happens to every couple once,’ Charles tried to comfort him, his free hand cupping Max’s face.
‘No it doesn't,’ Max groaned. ‘This is supposed to happen to Lando, not to me.’
Charles laughed softly and pulled Max’ face towards him so he could press a kiss on the tip of his nose. ‘Sorry to break it to you cheri, but Oscar is a lot like you and I bet you he would always have a spare key in his nightstand.’
‘Fuck, you’re right,’ Max dropped his head on Charles’ chest and tried to ignore the awkward angle his right arm was in.
Being cuffed to the bed was supposed to be sexy.
Lando didn’t bother waiting for the elevator and took the stairs, three steps at a time, Oscar right at his heels. Luckily for them Max lived on the third floor and not the eight, so it didn’t take long for them to get to his door and neither had broken into a sweat thanks to their training.
‘I’m so making him buy us dinner,’ Lando muttered as he searched for the right key. ‘I left my stream without telling anyone where I was going or why.’
‘I’m sure Max F will cover for you,’ Oscar said, his hand on Lando’s lower back, knowing that a single touch was usually enough to calm Lando a bit. ‘But I agree on dinner.’
Lando put the key in the lock and twisted it with a flick of his wrist, already pushing against the door as he expected it would open for him. But it didn’t. The key had only moved half an inch when he met resistance. He tried again, moving the key back and forth a little, but it wouldn’t bulge, even with more strength.
‘Uhm, Osc, we may have a problem.’
When Max’s phone rang and Lando’s face flashed across his screen he let out a breath of relief and pressed the green button.
‘Hey, are you here?’ he asked.
The line was silent for about two seconds before Lando let out a nervous laugh.
‘Yeah, about that, I can’t get in.’
‘What do you mean you can’t get in? You have a key don’t you?’ Max asked, his voice sounding higher than usual and Charles sent him a worried look.
‘I do, but it’s stuck.’
Max blinked. ‘Come again?’
This couldn’t be happening. The one time he decided to try out handcuffs, he not only didn't have the key to open them again, but he had to call his friend to come rescue him from this embarrassing situation and now his front door wouldn’t open?
‘Yeah, mate, it won’t even move more than half an inch and I can’t pull it out either. Do you want me to call 9-1-1?’
‘What?’ Max choked out. ‘No! You can’t call 9-1-1 for this.’
Charles’ eyes widened almost comically and if it had been any other moment Max would have laughed, but not right now. Right now he wanted to scream.
‘What’s going on?’ Charles whispered.
Max shook his head at him when Lando started talking again.
‘What else can we do? The key is stuck, Max, I can’t kick open the door.’
‘Why not? You’re strong, I’m sure you can do it,’ Max replied, looking around the room as if he could find an answer to his problem somewhere.
Lando snorted. ‘Thanks, but I don’t think Jon will appreciate it if I hurt myself and neither will Zac.’
‘Or me,’ Max heard Oscar add in the background.
‘What if you climb over the balcony from the neighbors?’ Max opted when his gaze fell onto his balcony. ‘My door is open here.’
Charles’ eyes widened again. ‘Are you kidding me, what if he falls?’
‘Shut up, Charles,’ Max snapped. ‘I’m trying to come up with a solution here.’
‘Don’t tell me to shut up, our friend has come over here to help us. We’re not putting him in danger because you lost the keys.’
‘No, you did,’ Max protested, glaring at his boyfriend who looked way too fucking gorgeous lying underneath him, his hair a mess, cheeks red and–
His thoughts were interrupted by Charles who bucked his hips upwards to get his attention, his green eyes blazing at him. ‘You were the one who suggested cuffing me to the bed, you bought the damned things!’
‘That’s besides the point.’
‘No it’s not.’
‘Charles,’ Max sighed. ‘Did you or did you not cuff me too? If you hadn’t I would have been able to at least look for the fucking key.’
Lando cleared his throat. ‘Hello? You do know we’re still here right? And that we can hear you perfectly. Hi Charles.’
Charles’ cheeks turned an even darker shade of red and Max desperately wanted to kiss him all of a sudden.
‘9-1-1, what’s your emergency?’
‘Eh, our friends have cuffed themself to their bed and we can’t get into the house because the key is stuck inside the lock,’ Lando told the woman who answered.
‘Sir? Are you aware that prank calling is against the law?’
‘No, no, I’m not prank calling you, I swear. My key to their door is stuck and I can’t get inside. Can you send someone to help us open the door?’ Lando rushed out the words, ignoring Oscar’s gesture to slow down.
‘What’s your name, sir?’ the woman asked, still sounding suspicious.
Lando prayed she wasn’t a formula one fan. If she was, his and Max’s name made him even less believable.
‘Lando Norris, Miss.’
‘Okay Lando, can you tell me your friends have any medical conditions?’
Lando let out a breath of relief. ‘I don’t think they have any medical conditions, they’re both top athletes.’
‘That’s good,’ the woman told him. ‘Unfortunately I can’t send anyone over right now since it’s not really an emergency–’
‘What? What do you mean it’s not an emergency? They’re stuck in their house, didn’t you hear what I just said?’ Lando interrupted, throwing his free hand in the air in frustration.
Oscar placed a hand on Lando’s elbow in an effort to calm him down, but Lando ignored him.
‘This is ridiculous.’
‘Sir, I would love to help you. However, we don’t send out any vehicles for people being locked outside your house when there’s no medical emergency or other danger. If you give me the address, I can give you the number of the nearest locksmith,’ the woman said.
‘A locksmith,’ Lando sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and sharing a look with Oscar as he took a deep breath. ‘That actually makes sense, I’m sorry for freaking out on you.’
Oscar smiled at him and let his hand drop from Lando’s elbow to interlace their fingers together.
‘That’s okay Lando, it’s only natural to panic. Thank you for apologizing to me. Would you like me to find you that number?’
‘Please.’
Max wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard the sound of a drill. It pretty much sounded like someone was trying to take down his entire door and he hoped that his cats were smart enough to stay away from it.
‘You don’t think he really called 9-1-1, do you?’ Charles asked from beneath him, his cheeks reddening again.
‘I hope not, he just texted that help was on the way,’ Max muttered as he moved position again. His arm had started to feel numb a while ago and his wrist hurt from where the handcuff pressed into his skin. ‘I just want whoever it is to get us out of this and then leave again.’
Charles raised his eyebrows at him. ‘And do you want Lando and Oscar to leave after pretty much saving our ass here as well? Don’t you think we should at least offer them dinner for their trouble?’
Max threw his head back and groaned. ‘Why are you so noble?’
‘Because it’s the right thing to do,’ Charles chuckled, flicking Max’s nose. ‘Did Lando know about us yet or is this really how we’re coming out to him and Oscar?’
There wasn’t time to answer Charles as a loud bang startled the both of them and Max quickly reached for the blanket and covered up Charles’ lower half. He didn’t care much about himself, Lando had seen him in his boxers or swim trunks many times before and since Oscar was basically an extension to his friend, he didn’t worry about him either.
‘Max?’ Lando’s familiar voice called out.
‘In here,’ Max called back. He thought it would be pretty obvious they would be in the bedroom.
Hurried footsteps got louder then and a panting, red faced Lando barged into Max’s bedroom about three seconds later. Oscar followed only one blink of an eye after that. The two of them stood in the door opening of Max’s bedroom and stared at the scene in front of them.
Oscar’s face flushed at the sight of Max’s nearly naked body while Lando just dumbly blinked for a few seconds, trying to take in what he was seeing.
‘Hi guys,’ Charles awkwardly waved. ‘Thanks for saving us.’
‘Any chance you brought some bolt cutters?’ Max grinned at Lando.
It seemed to do the trick.
Lando burst into a shriek of laughter, his whole body shaking as he doubled over and grabbed his stomach. The sound of his boyfriend losing it made Oscar set off in a giggling mess as well as he too doubled over and slapped his thighs.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Lando breathed out in between fits of laughter. ‘How did you get yourself in this situation?’
At the exact same time Max and Charles pointed a finger at each other causing another high pitched screech to escape Lando’s throat.
‘Hey!’ They then let out simultaneity, frowning at each other for a moment before bursting out in a set of giggles themself.
‘God, I can’t believe this happened.’ Max said when they finally calmed down, his wrist hurting even more from the movement. ‘Can you please get us out.’
Lando got up from the floor and looked around Max’s room. ‘Do you have a spare key somewhere?’
‘It should be in the bottom drawer of my desk,’ Max nodded. ‘There’s a box with spare keys of basically anything I own, but this should be the only small key.’
Lando disappeared into the hallway and Oscar scooted closer to the bed, his head cocked to the side as he once again took in the state they were in. ‘How did the two of you even think this would work?’ he asked, the honest curiosity clear in his voice.
Max looked at Charles and smiled when his boyfriend glared at him. He was so cute when he looked mad. It made his green eyes even brighter and the frown of his forehead couldn’t even be taken seriously.
‘Believe it or not, but this was not the position I had in mind,’ Max grinned. ‘I was supposed to chain one of his wrists to the bedpost.’ Charles turned red underneath him, his glare getting more intense, but he didn’t speak up this time.
‘Only one wrist?’ Oscar didn’t look impressed.
Max rolled his eyes and moved his free hand to his other side to grab the second pair of handcuffs. He dangled then above Charles’ face and Oscar chuckled.
‘Ah, I see. You weren’t done and got interrupted by someone impatient.’
Max threw his head back and laughed, ignoring Charles who pinched his thigh and had now turned his glare onto Oscar.
‘Sounds like you have experience Osc, any tips on how to handle this next time?’
‘Yeah, be faster,’ Lando grinned, walking back into the bedroom with a wooden box in his hands. ‘Oscar never gives me a chance to react.’
Charles groaned and covered his eyes with his free arm. ‘Can you just free us please.’
‘I brought the box, I don’t know why you have so many keys man,’ Lando said, dropping the box onto the bed next to Max.
‘Me either, I definitely need to clean this out sometime,’ Max mumbled, searching through the keys until his fingers found a tiny silver one. ‘Got it.’
Three pairs of eyes focussed on the tiny keys and for a moment the room was silent. Max looked from the keys to Charles and then back to his friends, not moving to free himself or his boyfriend. He had a much better idea and he hoped either Lando or Oscar would pick up on it.
‘What are you waiting for?’ Charles asked, wiggling underneath him.
Lando started laughing when Max didn’t respond and Oscar just grinned before turning around. He grasped Lando’s hand in his and the two of them left the room.
‘Have fun!’ Lando yelled when they had already disappeared into the hallway.
Charles frowned at Max. ‘What–’
Max moved fast. He unlocked the cuff around his own wrist and quickly hooked it around the bedpost. He then used the second pair of handcuffs for Charles’ other wrist, successfully chaining him like he had planned all along.
‘Max?’ Charles laughed. ‘I thought we–’
Max interrupted him again by kissing him, first soft and slow, but then rough and hard. Pouring into the kiss how much he wanted him, even more so because of the long wait.
‘You thought wrong,’ Max whispered against Charles’ throat.