Work Text:
Oh-oh
Charles looks out at the crowd.
Thousands stand before him, screaming his lyrics back at him, but he skates over them, looking for one specific pair of baby blues.
Oh-oh
There he is.
Max stands front and centre, a smile on his face while he lets Daniel sway him side to side as the Aussie undoubtedly butchers all of the high notes.
Last nights still got us spinnin' like a record, yeah
Max waves goodbye to his friends before he dives into the back of a taxi with Charles and Pierre.
Charles pounces.
Max laughs.
Pierre starts gagging.
“You could have sat in the front, you know?” Max tells Pierre.
“And have been forced to make small talk with the driver while we ignore you two love birds making out in the backseat? I don’t think so.”
“We aren’t that bad,” Max protests, tilting his chin up to dodge Charles’ mouth.
“You’ve gotten better,” Pierre laughs. “At least if I’m back here, I can try to stop you before the driver kills us.”
Suns poppin' up got us feelin like a second chance
Charles clings to Max as the Dutchman tries to get them into their hotel room.
Charles peppers kisses to Max’s cheek, neck, and jaw.
Max’s personal space is Charles’ personal space, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Oh-oh
Max threads his fingers into Charles’ hair, and pulls him back.
“Let me breathe. Once we’re inside, you can get into my skin all you’d like.”
I can feel those good things comin' our way
Charls lays on top of Max.
He tucks his nose into the Dutchman’s chest, and hums when Max’s hands start rubbing his shoulders. He inhales deeply, and wonders how the fuck he survived those five-six-seven years without the Dutchman at his side.
“If I could have you next to me at all times, I would be the happiest man alive.”
“I think Pierre would kill us.”
“Fuck Pierre.”
“I’d hope not,” Max chuckles. “Wait. Did you?”
“Pierre?” Charles demands. “Pierre? No I did not fuck Pierre while trying to get over you! Ew. Don’t tell Pierre I said ‘Ew.’ That is mean.”
Let's go
Max laughs warmly.
“I’m texting him right now.”
Charles knows he’s lying, because the Dutchman tucks the Monegasque more tightly into his chest.
Charles feels like he’s at home.
Yeah this is how we do it, this is how we change the circumstance
Charles spends the break in his tour at Max’s apartment—their apartment. The one above his belove’s beloved cafe.
“I renovated our old place,” he tells Max over dinner one evening.
“Oh.”
“When we were working on the sixth album, I was having many troubles that year. So Pierre and I went back home, and I fixed up my apartment,” he rambles. “I hadn’t touched it since you left. After you left I moved all of my stuff into Pierre’s guest room, or Maman’s home.” Charles swallows. “While we were fixing everything, I found our notebooks in the back of Pierre’s closet. I’d forgotten I put them there.”
Max reaches his hand across the table to rub comforting circles on the back of his hand.
Charles looks down at their hands. “Yeah.”
Tell me how you feel, cause you lookin' like you wanted this
“Are you renting it?” Max asks lightly after a moment.
“Non. It is just sitting there. Esteban will sometimes text, and ask if he can show people around it. I think he uses it to show clients an example of what he can do. I had hired him to help with the renovations, because… you know, Pierre and I are not handy men. “
Max snorts. “I do remember that it was always Esteban and I doing everything while the two of you sat pretty.”
Oh-oh
Charles laughs. “Have you seen Esteban? Since leaving.”
“Yeah, he comes up sometimes.” Max squeezes his hand. “I think the Instagram came across his feed, and he flew in.”
“Because of one post?”
“It was right after you’d released your first EP. It was a rough time for the both of us.”
“Esteban said he hadn’t seen you when I asked him, but Pierre also lied to me about you,” Charles frowns. “I need better friends. Can I have yours?”
“You don’t mean that.” Max smiles softly at Charles. “But yes, they’d be happy to have you.”
I can feel those good things comin' our way, yeah
It’s karaoke night at Sainz, and there are three separate bachelorette parties that have decided that this is the place to be.
Naturally, the staff is swamped.
“Daniel!” Yuki, the single chef on staff, shouts when he places a finished order of wings on the counter. “Get back here and help me!”
Daniel downs a glass of water before he gets up, and grabs Liam by the shoulder.
“Oi?”
“Come on, you’re helping.”
“I am an engineer!”
“Didn’t you tell me one time that you used to help Yuki with the cooking at home?”
“That was ages ago!”
“He can cook,” Logan tells Daniel. “I’m certainly not the one doing it.”
“That doesn’t mean I can work in a kitchen!”
“You’re great at the Den, come on.”
“That’s baking!” the blond protests as he stumbles after Daniel.
“Good luck, don’t die!” Logan calls.
My, oh my, anything could happen
“Hey, Lando. My boyfriend got kidnapped by the kitchen, so I’m taking yours out to dance.”
Lando pouts, wrapping his arms around Oscar’s shoulders, and pulling the Aussie into his chest. “I wanted to dance with Osc.”
Logan rolls his eyes. “Not too much grinding, and I’ll let you join us.”
“Deal!”
“And what if I don’t want to dance?” Oscar asks flatly.
“Then we’ll leave you here with Max and Charles. Mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a dance? Mine is busy.”
“On second thought, leaving you two alone is a terrible idea,” Oscar says, downing what’s left of his drink. “Let’s go.”
You could touch the sky, anything could happen
Charles turns to Max, but Max is no longer sitting next to him.
Max is behind the counter—his navy blue button up dark enough to pass for Carlos’ black uniform—making cocktails.
He’s got his sleeves rolled up, and Charles can feel his jaw drop.
Charles’ eyes follow as Max slides a martini glass to Pierre.
“Don’t drool too much,” his oldest friend tells him. Then he too is disappearing into the crowd.
The future looks good (So good)
How can Charles not drool, when his boyfriend looks so hot?
He watches on in awe as Max makes drink after drink, and places them on a set of trays for Ollie and Kimi to rush over to the various tables of too loud, very drunk women butchering all of his songs.
The future looks good (So good)
Charles finishes his drink faster than he should, just so that he can watch Max make him another one.
Yeah, the future looks good on you
Staring at Max, Charles notes that he looks older than he did five-six-seven years ago.
But he still does look very, very, very hot.
Oh-oh
Charles should write a song about this.
My, oh my, we could do whatever
Yeah, I'm feelin' fine, as long as we're together (Yeah)
Lando somehow snags a turn at the karaoke station.
Even crazier, he’s also somehow convinced both Oscar and Logan to join him on stage to do the back up vocals.
They’re not half bad.
The future looks good (So good)
The future looks good (So good)
Yeah, the future looks good on you
Charles wakes up in Max’s bed to the violent sound of the Dutchman’s alarm.
He snuggles into the covers, burrowing into Max’s chest.
Oh-oh
“You aren’t getting up.”
“Are you going to hate me if I tell you that I set my alarm fifteen minutes early?” Max mumbles, reaching over to turn off the sound.
“You did?”
“Fifteen minutes of cuddles built into our day,” Max sleepily tells him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Now shush.”
You're feelin' alive, you got that look in your eyes
“Why would I be upset about built-in cuddles?”
“That’s not shushing.”
“Max…”
“I know how much you love your sleep,” Max mumbles. “I love my sleep.”
“Doesn’t feel like it that when you leave me.”
Man, the future looks good on you
Max opens his eyes. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You left last time,” Charles whispers.
“You told me too.” Max cups Charles’ face. “But I’m not going to listen to you next time.”
“There’s not going to be a next time.” he promises.
Let's go
Charles sits at the table in the back corner of the cafe, and tries to be as unobtrusive as possible, despite his entire presence being a major distraction to employee and customer alike.
You got all I need, yeah, I'm dreamin' but I'm wide awake
Some old patterns are easy to fall back into.
The two of them spread out in their shared living room. Max with a notebook in his lap, and Charles at the keyboard.
It’s nice to be writing with Max again.
It still feels surreal to be able to bounce ideas back and forth with Max after all of this time.
This is guaranteed, yeah I'm feelin high, for goodness sake
Max sets up a little home recording booth in the corner next to his sim for Charles to semi-professionally record demos.
He sits next to Pierre at the soundboard sipping on his Red Bull, and generally not being any kinds of useful.
Just like how it should be.
Oh-oh
They haven’t picked up exactly where they left off, but it’s close. It’s different, but it’s also the same.
Charles mourns the years without Max, but he can recognise that it was good of them to grow on their own. Doesn’t change the fact that if he could go back, he would do it all differently.
I can feel those good things comin' our way
One night, Charles happens to walk by Max’s computer. He’s got a jewelry site up on his browser.
It’s not on the rings’ page, but Charles can be patient.
He squeals very quietly, and then puts a few bracelets in Max’s kart.
Oh-oh
When he finishes brushing this teeth later that night, Max hooks an arm around his hair, and pulls him in for a kiss.
“You didn’t see anything?”
“I didn’t see what?” he murmurs against Max’s lips.
Oh-oh
They share a smile.
We got those good things comin our way
Charles pretends to be very surprised when Max gifts him those exact bracelets ‘just because’ two weeks later.
Let's go
Charles hugs Max’s arm while they stand in their once-shared apartment.
Everything is different now.
Which makes sense, because Max had gutted it when he’d moved out, and Charles redid it when he had came home to find himself.
My, oh my, anything could happen
“It looks good.”
“Thank you, but it was mostly Esteban.”
You could touch the sky, anything could happen
FullGas10
Dinner with Esteban at 6pm.
Button’s.
Bring Max.
Obviously.
ChaCha16
You organised dinner with Este?
FullGas10
Don’t be so surprised.
The future looks good (So good)
Max and Esteban automatically sit on the same side of the table, like they used to back in the day. Charles sits across from Max, and Pierre sits across from Esteban, like they had done every single time; even when Esteban and Pierre were at their worst.
The future looks good (So good)
“You look happier,” Esteban notes.
Charles hooks his ankles around Max’s leg under the table. “So do you.”
Charles catches Esteban glance at Pierre.
“Did you two make up? Please please please tell me you’ve made up!”
Pierre sips his water, and does not look at Charles.
“Or don’t tell me. That’s fine.” Charles pouts. “I tell you everything, and you don’t even give me the same courtesy.” He shares a look with Max. “You’d think he’d want to get me back for all the grief I’ve given him about you over the years.”
They all chuckle.
“We’ve been texting,” Esteban tells him. “Since you strong armed my receptionist into hiring me.”
“I’m sorry for wanting to pay you for your work.”
Yeah, the future looks good on you
After dinner, they all go back to Esteban’s place since he’s the only one with a place. Max and Charles are based on the other side of Europe, and Pierre is technically based in Germany near Vettel’s studio building.
Charles finds their old photos in an album that Esteban’s mother had given to him as a housewarming gift, and makes them recreate a few for Instagram.
Oh-oh
The post goes viral.
My, oh my, we could do whatever
Yeah, I'm feelin' fine, as long as we're together
The future looks good (So good)
The future looks good (So good)
Yeah, the future looks good on you
Charles can’t stop staring at Max.
They are having dinner with Sophie, Victoria, and Victoria’s kids.
Max is playing with his nephews, and Charles’ brain feels like it’s malfunctioning.
He plays with the bracelets on his wrist.
Oh-oh
“You broke my boy once,” Sohpie tells him. “I’m not giving you another chance after this one.”
“I know. I wouldn’t give myself another chance either. I will do everything to make sure I don’t lose this.”
Sohpie pats his shoulder. “Make sure you are good to yourself also, yes?”
“I will.”
You're feelin' alive, you got that look in your eyes
On the ride home in AirMax, Charles snuggles up to his boyfriend on a pair of lie-flat seats.
He looks up at Max from where he’s tucked into the Dutchman’s chest, and Max is already looking down at him with such love.
Man, the future looks good on you
Max is always holding Charles’ hand whenever he can, but right now he’s playing with Charles’ fingers.
What else is Charles supposed to think?
Hey, hey-ey
Hey, hey-ey
“I’d say yes.”
The future looks good
“I know.”
The future looks good on you
“Would you ask?”
Hey, hey-ey
Max asks twice in the end.
My, oh my, anything could happen
The first time Max asks Charles to marry him happens in the privacy of their own home.
The alarm clock blares fifteen minutes before Max has to get up like it does every morning, and the Dutchman reaches over to turn off the offending noise.
He comes back to Charles with an open ring box in his hand.
“Will you marry me?”
Charles’ mouth drops open.
All of the sleep leaves his body in an instant.
“You aren’t even on your knees!”
“I can get on my knees if you’d like?”
You could touch the sky, anything could happen
Charles buries his new ring clad hand in Max’s hair.
The future looks good
The second time Max proposes is on stage at the last show of the tour.
It does mean that the paparazzi is going to hound them more than normal, but Charles always knew that that was going to happen. He’s made peace with it.
Especially because the downtick in privacy always comes with an uptick in customers at The Lion’s Den, and Charles nor Max are ever going to complain about the cafe doing well.
The future looks good
It’s a large, grandiose production, the second proposal, but Max bites his cheek and goes through the motions.
When he gets up from his knee, Max lets Charles draw him into a fifty kiss on the stage in front of all of his adoring fans.
My, oh my, we could do whatever
Yeah, I'm feelin' fine, as long as we're together
The future looks good (So good)
The future looks good (So good)
Yeah, the future looks good on you
The wedding is a private affair, with close friends and family only.
And a film crew.
Two film crews.
One for the wedding video, and one for the music video
Because of course Charles wrote a song for their wedding.
Oh-oh
Maman walks him down the aisle to Max.
Max who looks so good, so hot, so pretty in his suit.
You're feelin' alive, you got that look in your eyes
Charles cannot believe that this man is officially his.
After all of these years; from kids running each other off the road; to teens writing songs about their love; to young adults broken and lost in the world; to where they are now.
Together.
Man, the future looks good on you