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Some hearts get bitter, some go numb
Musicality wise, Max is an objectively terrible singer.
He’s not tone deaf, nor is his voice all that bad. Max just simply doesn’t have that je ne sais quoi, that x factor. His voice isn’t trained for singing, his breath support is terrible, and his vocal range isn’t all that large.
But if you can get Max to start singing, he will put his entire heart, and soul into it. It’s a treat to watch Max sing, doubly so because he doesn’t do it often.
The easiest way to cajole Max into singing—his friends have learned—is to use a Leclerc song, but you’re going to have to put in the work; get him in the right environment; catch him out.
Some go to bed and they wake up drunk (woo)
Max sways with Daniel in the summer breeze. Lando is alone up the pier’s DJ booth, the first rays of golden hour making him look like a mythical force of revelry.
Max takes another sip of his Red Bull, and looks down the line. It’s the first time Ollie and Kimi have joined in on a Lion’s Den Employee Field Trip. Tucked between Daniel and Liam, both of them look to be having the time of their lives. Logan and Oscar—who don’t work for him, but are part of the family anyways—round out their little line.
Arms linked at elbows, wrapped around waists, and thrown over shoulders, they all sway in time with whatever random song Lando has spun up for the crowd. They all vibrate with baited breath as the Brit sets up for a drop.
Some get lonely and call their exes up
He hits the crowd with a Leclerc song, and they go buckwild.
It’s hard not to go wild right alongside them, when Max is entrenched in the crowd. Daniel’s arm around his shoulder, gripping him as the Aussie belts along, also help to loosen him up.
Not me
Max smiles. He starts humming the words along with the rest of the floor.
Some hearts get even, some turn cold (brr)
Some hold on and they never let go
Some skip town like a traveling rodeo
Max has never been to a Leclerc concert before.
Back when they had been dating, he had of course gone to each and every one of Charles’ shows. Back in the early days, after the EP but before Vettel, Leclerc had done a show at some restaurant-bar-place. Yuki’s had posted the thirty minute set to YouTube.
Max watched it once.
He’s never watched another performance video since.
But that ain't me, I don't do pity parties
When Max sings, he’s actually just speaking in time, or in this case, shouting.
My heart knows that you're gone, baby
But my boots don’t
Despite it all, Max is so proud of Charles.
I know that you've done me wrong, baby
Max also takes the time to be proud of himself.
He wrote some of those songs, parts of many more. There is a deposit in his bank account every week to remind him. Remind him that the songs we wrote are good; the people love them; even if Max left, they still made it.
But my boots don't
Max makes it back to his solitary apartment safely. He says hello to the cats, before pulling out his phone to text that he made it back safely.
He pulls up his private Instagram account, because now that he’s employing children—university students—Instagram has been forced to become his primary mode of communication.
There’s a green circle around Pierre’s profile picture up in the stories header.
Max hasn’t seen that green ring in years.
He clicks it. Of course he clicks it.
It’s a poster. A poster for a surprise Leclerc mini-concert. It’s not super surprising to see, even though Charles is off tour right now. He’s heard—Lando has heard—that Charles has been going around doing small venue shows with very little notice
They're gonna dance all night
It’s tomorrow.
It’s in town.
It’s at Sainz.
Max checks The Lion’s Den shared employee calendar anyways. Lando has been putting his gigs on it for years, and the Brit isn’t working tomorrow.
Till everything's alright
Max clicks on the link at the bottom of Pierre’s story.
My heart knows that you're gone, baby
Max selects seven tickets.
But my boots don't
Just before he checks out, he bumps it up to eight.
My boots, boots, boots, boots
“Mate did you see?” Liam shouts at Lando the second the Brit walks in through the door, late. “There’s a Leclerc mini concert tonight at Sainz!”
“I know! I saw it the second I woke up, but tickets went live at five this morning! I still checked though, and they were all sold out.”
“I know! We got stuck in queue hell, and missed out.”
“Nooooooo!” Lando cries.
“You’re, like, close with Carlos, right? Can’t you ask him to sneak us in?”
“I already have.” Lando drops dramatically onto the table he’s just cleared of chairs. “He says he can’t, not even for me and Osc.”
Liam gasps. “Oi! What about the rest of us?”
“I asked! He said: ‘I can’t sneak eight of you in the back. I can’t even sneak in only you and your boyfriend.’ I promise I tried.”
“Damnit,” Daniel says. “I was counting on Carlos. People are reselling but it’s ridiculous. Five thousand. The only one with that kind of money is Max.”
All three of them turn to Max, puppy dog eyes in full effect.
“And why exactly would I buy Leclerc eight tickets at five thousand each, when I already bought them at market price for a hundred and twenty-five?”
“What? When?” Daniel demands.
“But you weren’t on your phone when we were both in queue hell!” Liam squawks.
My boots, boots, boots, boots
Lando gives him a significant look. One he can’t do anything about until Ollie and Kimi come in for their afternoon shifts and the old guys can be dispatched to the back. Lando for a fifteen minute break before he starts doing finance magic, and Max to do some inventory.
“Eight? Are you coming to the Leclerc concert?”
Max sighs. “Moment of weakness. But… I think I’m going to go.”
“How did you even get the tickets? One person can only buy two tickets for these mini concert drops.”
“Oh?”
“Oh!” Lando cries. “You didn’t know that?”
“I bought all eight in one purchase.”
“How?”
“Pierre had a post about the show on his close friend's story when I got home last night.”
Lando’s eyes bug out of his head. “Pierre? Pierre Gasly? You kno—?” He cuts himself off.
“Did you forget?”
“Yeah I forgot!”
I love rocking out, talking 'bout the weekend
“Are you gonna be okay? It’s like a tiny space, what if he sees you?”
“I will hide behind Daniel.”
Lando laughs. “I’m being weird about this. I promised myself I wouldn’t be weird about this. And I’m not! Not about the Emilian thing,” he rambles. “But he’s your ex, is it not going to be…I dunno.”
“I will hide at the bar with Carlos if it gets too much. Please extract yourself from your boyfriend long enough to keep Daniel from dragging me back into the crowd.”
“I’ll try, but you know how I get.”
“Stupid? Stupider than normal?”
“Rude. That was so mean. You’re the worst boss ever.”
Working all week till I get to see them
None of Max’s employees are really putting their best foot forward today. Which is completely understandable given the circumstances.
Liam does though, dragging Oscar and Logan into The Lion’s Den the second their jobs at the engineering firm end to come help close down the cafe early.
Which only kind of works, because none of those three have ever closed down a cafe before, and they kind of just get in the way.
Lando also makes the decision to crank up the playlist, and suddenly no one is working because they are all screaming along to the song.
Max basically has to kick everybody out to party on the patio as he mops the floors one final time.
My friends, we live for the floor, for sure
Ready, steady, kicking down the door
Heel toe, heel toe
Heal my heart, boots, ain't that what you're made for?
Carlos is delighted to see them. “You got tickets!”
“Max got us tickets!” Oscar shouts.
“A Red Bull and seven ice waters.”
“What if I wanted a Monster?”
“Next round.”
“Isn’t he just the worst boss ever?”
My heart knows that you're gone, baby
They all have their phones out, flashlights on, waving back and forth to the beat.
But my boots don't
Max gets swept up in the crowd, in the atmosphere.
It’s so much more than Lando has ever been able to do in the same space.
Which isn’t a fair comparison in the slightest, but it’s all he has.
It’s loud. It’s fun. It’s electrifying. It’s everything he could have ever wished for.
I know that you've done me wrong, baby (so wrong)
It’s what he could have had if he’d spent the last few years next to Charles on his climb up the charts.
But my boots don't
The thought hits him hard.
He’s still in love with Charles isn’t he? Like actually in love. Properly. Madly. Truly. Deeply.
He looks up at the stage, where Charles is darting from one place to another. He’s singing his lines, and the crowd is singing them right back.
It looks good on him. Really good.
They're gonna dance all night
Because Max is Max, he slithers away from the group—held together by arms linked at elbows, wrapped around waists, and thrown over shoulders, swaying in time—with a stack of their empty solo cups, and promises to come back with another round of hydration.
Till everything's alright
For the fourth time that night, Max is braving a fight against the crowd to get to the bar.
My heart knows that you're gone, baby
“Good view back here?” Max shouts, after he’s delivered everybodies orders.
“The best, a free one!”
But my boots don't
Carlos gives Max a server’s tray and wishes him good luck.
I'ma forget you in my cowgirls
Max has to fight his way back through the crowd.
He’s already done this three times, what’s one more.
Let loose in my Lucchese's
They are in the fourth row of people from the stage. Close enough for them to see everything, but far enough back that they aren’t killing their necks.
After a few shoulder checks, and a couple close calls, Max manages his way back to the line. They each grab their drinks, and Max tucks the tray under his arm.
Ditch the blues in my blue suedes
When he looks back to the stage, his baby blues lock with green green eyes he hasn’t seen in five-six-seven years. Not in person.
Till I ain't thinking 'bout you, baby
Charles trips over his words.
Max watches him point his mic at the crowd, and they start to sing at the top of their lungs.
Oh, my heart knows that you're gone, baby (my heart knows)
But my boots don't
I know that you've done me wrong, baby (baby, baby)
But my boots don't
They're gonna dance all night (all night, all night)
Till everything's alright (it's gonna be alright)
Max feels his drink get jostled.
He looks away from Charles.
Lando.
Lando clinks his Monster against Max’s Red Bull again. He raises an eyebrow.
Max looks back to the stage, but Charles is looking away. Back to back with his guitarist, Charles points the bottom of his mic to the sky, and he screams.
My heart knows that you're gone, baby (my heart knows)
The simplest way to get Max to sing is to get him grooving to some Leclerc.
And even then, he doesn’t sing. He speaks in time. He shouts.
But my boots don't