Work Text:
Wasted moments 'til there's nothing left
ChaCha16
The EP is finally out!
Tell me what you think?
[link]
Ever since the fight with Pierre, Charles and Esteban communicate exclusively over text.
He listens to the EP, of course he does. Charles is his friend, Charles has always been his friend, and even if he has to stand in the back of the room because Pierre is up in the front row, Esteban went to as many shows as he could in support of his friend’s dream.
It helps that Charles is also an amazing singer, an amazing composer, an amazing talent that’s predestined for greatness.
EsteBestie31
Amazing.
Stunning.
Some of your best work.
Tell Pierre he did really good with the mixing.
It sounds super professional.
ChaCha16
Aw thank you!
I know, right?
I don’t think enough people are appreciating Pierre’s work on the EP.
It’s nice to know that someone other than me can see how talented he is.
Esteban is pretty sure that Charles won’t be telling Pierre anything. They all know that compliments don’t count when they’re coming from Esteban.
Golden caskets filled with regrets
Charles makes it big.
Of course he does.
There’s no way he doesn’t.
He packs up his bag—and his best friend—and he leaves town for more German pastures.
Esteban feels unmoored in the weirdest way even though all his childhood friends had left him long ago. For the first time he is alone in his hometown.
Pierre had cut Esteban off after their fight. Charles had chosen Pierre. Max had followed Charles like a celestial body orbiting its sun.
Then Max had disappeared to god knows where—off the face of the planet it seems—when he and Charles had had their…thing a while ago. Esteban isn’t sure, nobody ever told him. Then, Charles was walking into Rosberg and Son’s to give Esteban one last big hug, and promise to get him tickets to Charles’ first real concert. Then, Pierre followed Charles to the airport without even glancing back at Esteban.
Then there’s Esteban, laying down wooden interlock with Nico in the Wollf’s master bedroom because Toto had decided that he didn’t want a carpeted upstairs anymore. Something about it being harder to vacuum.
Funny how a good thing's so bad for me
Esteban is scrolling Instagram from the warmth of his bed in the dead of another sleepless night when he finds it.
It’s some random video from some random micro-influencer from some random university in some random city on the other side of Europe. He watches as she aesthetically films her shoes walking into the cafe, and then raises the camera to showcase the menu.
There is one employee visible. He has his back turned to the camera as he plays with the coffee machine.
“Honey latte macchiato with two pumps of vanilla, and oat milk?” the man asks.
“Yes please. The staff here are so lovely, and the owner here knows all of his regular’s orders,” the influencer gushes. “Customer service at The Lion’s Den is top notch, and makes this place so worth it before you’ve even had your first sip!”
Tryna get it right but I'm playing for the wrong team
Esteban doesn’t know what makes him do it.
ChaCha16
Early access to my first album for my bestie!
If we sell enough copies, I’ll be able to fund a tour.
Sebastain is sure that we’re going to get it, but I’m not sure.
EsteBestie31
Of course you’re going to get it.
One video is certainly not enough to stalk some random person to find out what school they go to, so that he can buy round trip plane tickets to the other side of Europe.
He didn’t even see the guy’s face. The guy said one whole sentence.
But the place is called ‘The Lion’s Den,’ and apparently that’s enough to get him to dig out his passport from the depths of his safe.
I've been saying shit that I don't mean
“You aren’t Max,” he tells the employee that is working when he stumbles into The Lion’s Den.
The guy pauses. He looks down at himself. A customer service smile spreads across his face. “Nope! I am not. I’m Lando, what can I get you this afternoon?”
Esteban flounders, still standing in the doorway.
He hadn’t considered what he would do if he were wrong.
Granted, he also didn’t have a plan for if he was right, but now he’s just staring blankly at a stranger.
To make this heartbreak make-believe
The beaded curtain covering the employees’ only doorway is brushed aside and “Esteban?” a familiar voice sounds.
“Oh, you know this guy?” the man at the counter—Lando—asks. “He was asking for you, but he was also being super weird, so I was just about to ask him to leave.”
“Hi,” Esteban chokes.
“Hey.”
Neither move.
Lando clears his throat. “Long lost lovers then?”
Esteban jerks so hard he gets whiplash.
“No! God. Lando. Esteban and I are not…jesus. We’re childhood friends. Do you want a coffee, mate?”
“Yeah.”
We called it "love", but now, it's just war
Max turns to the machine.
“Aren’t you going to ask for my order?”
“Caramel latte dust of cinnamon.”
“Wait. Wait!” Lando scrambles for the register’s display. “I didn’t catch that, what are you making him?”
The machine whirs to life.
“A free drink apparently.”
I'm so sick of telling everyone I wish you were dead
Charles’ voice comes over the speakers.
Esteban sees the way Max’s shoulders jolt.
Lando starts singing along.
Max glances back at him, and that’s how Esteban knows that Max gets it. Max knows it. Of course Max knows it. He’s the one who ran to the otherside of Europe to get away from this feeling first.
'Cause the truth is I don't hate you—I just hate that you left
Instead, here they both are, listening to Charles sing about how Max broke his heart.
I've been filling up my mind with things I wanna forget
There’s a hot cuppa in his hands.
He purses his lips.
Him and Pierre had always taken their coffee the same way.
And I should be moving on but I'm just missing you instead
He drinks.
“Ah, this is very good!”
“Always is.”
Esteban doesn’t know if they’re talking about the coffee, or Charles’ song.
Holding on tight, just a couple feet from grace
After his apprenticeship at Roseberg and Son’s, Esteban starts working for Force Building Co. A few years into it, the owner Fernando steps down and leaves it to Esteban.
The first thing Esteban does is hire a receptionist. As a three person firm, they’d all been doing double-triple-quadruple duty, and Lance is great, but Lance is no master organiser.
During the second day of Fred’s employment, they somehow uncover an entire savings account that none of them have ever seen before, not even Fernando.
With the money, Esteban hires Mick to help out now that Fernando isn’t going to be working full time. He also employs the service of two apprentices from the local college: Doriane and Paul.
And I'm losing my head tryna get you off my brain
Doriane likes to play the new Leclerc album while she works.
Fernando is up with the times, but he and Lance don’t really like this kind of music. The two of them share a pair of airpods playing some sort of rock & roll on the work site.
The rest of them all scream at the top of their lungs to Charles’ second album.
'Cause it kills me to admit that I would do it all again
One of the lyric videos for the songs on this album uses pictures from his childhood.
There are no pictures of Max, but Esteban isn’t so lucky—unlucky? He’s not sure on which side the coin lands.
“Why didn’t you tell us you knew Leclerc?”
“Because I want you to do the work I am paying you to do.” He pulls out his phone, and the timer app. “I’m giving you sixteen minutes to ask me about him.”
“Sixteen?”
“Fifteen plus a minute of overtime.”
“Best boss ever!”
“Time starts now.”
I'm still holding on tight, just a couple feet from grace
Esteban finds himself in The Lion’s Den again.
He’s grasping the counter harshly, and doing his best to breathe like a normal person.
The guy is here again. The employee. What was his name?
“Hello, welcome to The Lion’s Dion, what can I get you this afternoon?”
“Coffee.”
“Sure,” the guy—Lando—smiles. “What kind?”
Esteban can’t get his order passed his throat
“Coffee,” is the only thing he can choke out.
“One of those days? I’ll make you a dark roast, it’s the only thing I can make without us waiting for Max. I can’t use his fancy machine, you see? And we usually don’t get people at this hour, so it’s pretty safe for him to take his break. Are you okay mate?”
“Max.”
“Okay, now you’re weirding me out. Do I need to call someone?”
“No. No,” Esteban pushes out.
He tries to breathe.
He doesn’t know what set him off. He wonders who let him board the plane like this.
“I’m really sorry, Sir. But you are freaking me out. I would blame it on the comfort of the other customers if any were here, but still: I’m going to have to ask you to step outside.”
Esteban nods.
He leaves.
I've been saying shit that I don't mean
“One caramel latte with a dust of cinnamon.”
Esteban looks up from where he’s braced his head against his knees sat by a random fountain.
Max stands there holding out a disposable cup.
To make this heartbreak make-believe
Esteban lays on his back on Max’s couch in the Dutchman’s apartment above his beloved cafe.
The couch is shit.
Max has never been able to pick out which couches are good.
We called it "love", but now, it's just war
He can hear Charles’ muffled voice coming up through the floor from the cafe’s sound system.
He takes a pillow and boxes his own ears with it.
I'm so sick of telling everyone I wish you were dead
EsteBestie31
Just got the new record!
ChaCha16
I hope you love it!
Did you get the rest of my care package?
EsteBestie31
Yes I got the posters.
Thanks for signing them.
My employees are going to love it!
Esteban replaces Charles’ last vinyl with the new one front and centre on his record shelf.
He has another package waiting for him. Doohan Okay by Jack Doohan. He’s new, up and coming, and produced by Pierre.
Esteban tucks the record on the bottom shelf next to everything else Pierre has ever touched while working at Vettel that doesn’t belong to Charles.
He’ll listen to it later.
'Cause the truth is I don't hate you—I just hate that you left
Esteban is watching Instagram Live from the warmth of his bed in the dead of another sleepless night.
He’s watching Charles and Pierre try to bake brownies.
It’s not going well.
Well, the stream is going excellently, but the brownie making is leaving many things to be desired no matter how hard Pierre tries to keep Charles on track.
I've been filling up my mind with things I wanna forget
“What recipe are we following?” Charles reads when Pierre finally kicks him off the standmixer. “Sabrina’s! She is the mother of one of my besties,” Charles laughs. “I had to beg her for the family recipe.” His eyes skim the chat. “No you do not know him.”
Esteban looks at the pan of brownies his mother had given him at the beginning of the week sitting at his desk.
So that’s what prompted Maman to make these for him.
And I should be moving on but I'm just missing you instead
Esteban waits until Charles and Pierre’s brownies have cooled, and the two can finally take their first bites to reach for the last brownie in his tray.
Why is it that every time I'm boarding up my walls
ChaCha16
I’ve been stalking you.
EsteBestie31
Great way to start.
ChaCha16
You do contract work right?
Like renovations and stuff?
EsteBestie31
Not as glamorous as what you do.
ChaCha16
It’s not glamorous.
I’m back home.
I wanted to fix up the apartment.
EsteBestie31
The?
ChaCha16
The one Max and I had.
It’s been rotting here empty.
EsteBestie31
Oh.
Yeah I can come check it out.
ChaCha16
How much?
EsteBestie31
Friends first project discount: free.
ChaCha16
I can afford whatever your rates are.
EsteBestie31
Friends first project discount.
Deal with it.
ChaCha16
I am not winning that fight, am I?
EsteBestie31
Nope.
Does Saturday work for you?
I’ve got a job in the next town over all this week.
ChaCha16
Saturday is good.
You're right there to break in?
Esteban doesn’t know why he hadn’t thought about the fact that Pierre was also going to be at Charles’ old apartment.
Where Pierre went, Charles had always gone with him, and that loyalty went the other way as well.
Oh, all I ever wanted was for you to walk these halls
The first thing Esteban has them do is rip up the floorboards.
“Do you have too? Pierre asks as he’s helping Esteban lug up his tools from the car.
Charles nods. “I want to redo the whole thing.Top to bottom.”
“You haven’t done a hard day’s labour in your life, calamar,” Pierre points out. “You know he always makes me carry things?”
Esteban laughs. “I remember.”
He places down the tool box he’s carrying on top of the ever growing pile.
“Okay. Cha, this is a pry bar…”
But I watched as you left
“So…I got an interesting customer in today,” Fred tells Esteban when he walks into the shop on a Wednesday afternoon. “Leclerc was here asking about rates.”
“Charles,” Esteban corrects. “Charles was here. He’s…he’s not Leclerc right now, just Charles.”
“Okay. Well Charles was very upset that you weren’t letting him pay you, and came asking for a quote. When I told him that I like my job and going against my boss like this to tell him how much it costs so that he can accidentally tip us the price is not really going to fly.”
Esteban snorts.
“And then he wouldn’t leave until I’d let him hire us.”
Esteban pinches his nose. “You are supposed to call the cops when customers get like that.”
“I was bribed! He said he’d get me concert tickets!”
“I get you concert tickets!”
“Well, yeah, but those are expensive! Why should I make you buy them for me if he’s gonna give them to me for free? And you’re literally already doing the work.”
“I’ve never paid for Leclerc tickets in my life. He’s my friend. I don’t even ask for them. He sends them over. I didn’t even tell him I’d hired you guys, and yet when I got my tickets for the next tour, there were enough for all of you.”
“Oh.”
I'm so sick of telling everyone I wish you were dead
Esteban is the first person outside of Charles’ professional entourage to listen to the album.
He feels entirely too small sitting in Pierre’s living room with Charles pressed up to his side excitedly glancing at him every few bars.
The album sounds more like Pierre’s producing than it does Sebastain Vettel’s. Which makes sense, since Pierre was the one here with Charles while he worked through his creative rut, or whatever this is that brought him back to town.
There’s something different about this album: something more yearning than angry; something more desperate than joyful.
'Cause the truth is I don't hate you—I just hate that you left
“This sounds like your old stuff,” Esteban tells him, feet stretched out on Pierre’s coffee table, eating takeout for dinner with Charles.
“It is. I found Max and my old notebooks.”
“Oh.”
Charles picks at his food. He glances at Pierre: sitting at the kitchen table, and tapping away at his computer furiously.
“Have you seen Max?”
Esteban thinks about a small cafe on the other side of Europe.
“He hadn’t come back to town, not to visit me at least.”
I've been filling up my mind with things I wanna forget
Two days after Pierre and Charles leave him behind yet again, Esteban calls Fernando back into work, and makes the pilgrimage across Europe to the randomass fucking town that Max had set up shop in.
Lando recognises him now, and he lets Esteban go sit in the corner while they wait for Max to finish his break.
A coffee gets placed in front of him.
It only reminds him of Pierre, of their shared coffee order since their teen years: one caramel latte with a dust of cinnamon.
And I should be moving on but I'm just missing you instead
Charles’ voice plays softly in the background, and Esteban wonders if Max is going through something similar to what he is: running to the otherside of Europe, only to be hit directly in the face with the exact thing you’d been trying to escape.
Just missing you instead