Chapter Text
The night was taking over the day, making the sky dark blue. Air was still warm after the sunny October day, yellow leaves just started falling down from the trees all around the campus.
A yellowish lamp was on in the coworking area next to the library. It was shining above only one desk next to rhe window. A tall guy was sitting in the chair, his piercing blue eyes were staring at the screen of his laptop. He sighed as he deleted the same line again and added it back a minute later.
There were still posters on the walls saying "Welcome back!" or "Be productive and fight procrastination!", something usual and familiar. George looked at the poster above his head and got distracted. The sophomore was definitely tired and wanted to get into bed as soon as possible, but he had created a rule for himself: not going to bed before getting all the things done. So here he was, staring at his code, not understanding why it wasn't working. A new window appeared on the screen reminding George that he should fix something. That something was worrying the young man most of all.
"Oh wow, you're still here?"
George looked up from his project once he heard a familiar voice. His roommate and best friend Alex was walking to his desk, a paper bag in his hand. George nodded and pointed at the laptop.
"I can't get this right," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'm a business student, why do I have to know everything about coding!"
Alex looked at the screen too. The problem was, he definitely didn't understand anything. He was a medical student, so Albon was unfamiliar with such things. Instead of helping George with the code he just patted his friend's shoulder and tried to cheer him up.
"You can finish it tomorrow. Or later. You remember that you your deadline is February, right?" Alex reached to turn George's computer off. He closed it and put it gently into the bag. "Such a stupid deadline, by the way... Why didn't your prof make it, I don't know, January or something?"
"Let's not talk about this... I just want to sleep, really."
Two guys walked through the room to the hall, since it was quicker to go to the dorm through the main building. The campus itself was pretty modern and convenient, so they knew all the ways how to get to places fast. It was a ten minute walk to their dorm.
The dormitory building itself was really nice as well. In general, it was made of four different buildings connected together. Students had names for each building, since their walls were different colours. George and Alex lived in the blue one on the third floor. They had their own bedroom, bathroom, but the kitchen was just one for the whole blue building. Well, they mostly ate outside, so it wasn't a big deal.
When they walked into their room, George immediately went to the bed. Of course, he remembered to wash his face and apply his favorite cream before that. Alex meanwhile prepared some clothes for tomorrow. He had a few classes and then had to go to work. At the end of his freshman year, Alex found a job at a fitness center not so far from the university. So now he was a coach and had a few clients. Not a lot, since he had to study a lot, though, but Albon likes his job and the opportunity to work out more often.
George didn't have a job yet. Well, he tried to work at the cafe for a short period of time, but he didn't like it. Then he helped other people with their assignments for money, but he didn't practice that more than twice in six months. George had his tuition covered, so he tried very hard to study well, keep his grades and attend in a great shape in order not to lose the opportunity to study here.
Thirty minutes later both of them were laying in their beds on the different sides of the room. Alex had already closed his eyes and started falling asleep when George spoke up again.
"What should I do?" The Brit said in a low voice looking at rhe ceiling.
"About what?" Alex groaned opening one eye.
"This damn programming part of my project! I need to get it done now so I won't struggle with it two days before the deadline." He sighed and pressed his lips together. Soft moonlight entered the room through the a crack between the curtains.
Alex kept silent for a second. On the one hand, he really wanted to sleep and get enough rest. On the other, his friend needed help or at least some support... The choice was obvious.
"Uh... Maybe you can text someone from rhe Computer Science? Like, ask them for advice or help. They should know everything about your code." Alex suggested.
"Hmm... You know many people from there?" George looked at the other man. Alex was all friendly and open-minded, yeah, but George didn't notice any I.T. guys next to him recently.
"Not personally, but I know Daniel. He goes to my gym, I told you about him." Alex started. Now he was laying on his side facing George. "And he lives in the red building with his roommate, who is a computer science student, as I remember..."
George frowned slightly. It felt a bit frustrating that he needed to ask for help, but his grade was more important this time. So, George was fighting with his pride on this one.
"And who's he? Some nerdy guy?" George chuckled.
"I don't know him, all I know is that he's a third year student now and he's good at programming."
Russell looked away for a second, catching some spot on the wall with his eyes. So... there's some guy, who's Alex's friend's friend and who is great in coding. Great!
"Okay... Thank you. Let's talk about this in the morning, shall we?" George yawned. He took a deep breath before turning to the wall. "Good night, Alex."
"Yeah, of course. Good night, George." Alex chuckled and quickly fell asleep too.
***
Meanwhile, in the other part of the dorm the atmosphere was completely different. The Red house, another part of the dormitory building, was pretty much not sleeping. A group of freshmen had a little party going on on the first floor, so the majority of students from the red house were there. The second floor was filled with engineering students, those guys were great, but definitely sleep deprived and workaholic. They were preparing for some robotics competitions, so a few rooms had lights on so late.
Another awake person in the dorm was Max Verstappen, an I.T. student, who absolutely wasn't studying. His room was dark, the only light source was his computer. He was playing some racing game, winning once again. He took his earphones off and stretched his arms above his head. Max felt his back hurting a bit, too. Damn, he was playing for to long.
"Oh, you're still up? Max, come on, turn your stupid games off." Said the man who walked into the room and wanted to turn on the light, but got an angry glance from Max. "What? You can't play all night drinking energy drinks."
"Daniel, shut up. I've just finished a race and I'm still beating everyone here." Max shrugged and jumped out of his chair. He rubbed his eyes and stopped in the middle of the room, thinking about something. "Oh, how was the party?"
"It was nice, younger guys are having their own vibe there." Daniel chuckled and walked past Max to his own bed, putting his phone on the nightstand. "They're great, by the way! You should've gone too."
"I don't care, you know that. I barely see them anyway." Max shook his head and walked to the little fridge, which was standing on the extra table they got somewhere for free. They bought a fridge a year ago, when Max started getting obsessed with the concept of drinking red bull. Daniel walked closer and frowned.
"You've already had two in the evening. Your heart will stop eventually."
Danny tilted his head and put his big palm on the door of the mini fridge.
"Ugh, okay... And it won't stop. Don't scold me like a five-year-old."
Max closed the mini fridge and walked to his computer to turn it off. After that he went to the bathroom before going to bed. It was easier to sleep when Daniel was here, too, some familiar noise and company felt good. Max wouldn't say it out loud, but Daniel knew and loved that fact.
"Don't you have some assignments to do? I don't remember you doing anything useful, Max." Daniel said as he was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling on his pajama pants.
"I have some, but I can deal with them in the afternoon. My evenings are for my favorite things, you have to know that by now." Max sounded tired and sleepy already. As soon as the blue screen stopped attacking his eyes Verstappen felt that exhaustion. The day was long.
"I know, I know... Okay, Maxie, see you tomorrow."
Daniel laughed at his roommate's lifestyle once more, in a friendly way. Both of them fell asleep and even the noise from the party downstairs didn't ruin their night.
***
"Let's go grab coffee before classes, hm?" Alex said as he and George were walking through the courtyard of the campus. A little, but popular with caffeine addicted students, coffeeshop "The Wake-Up Call" was just five minutes away. George loved spending time there, the place was nice with its slow music, warm air and tasty drinks.
"Yeah, I need some for sure." Russell smiled as they turned to a different path.
Soon they were sitting at the table in the coffee shop. George unbuttoned his coat as well as Alex, his scarf was hanging on the back of the chair. Both guys had cups with their names on them in their hands. George sighed in relief as he took a sip.
"By the way, I texted Daniel." Alex said, looking down at his phone. Anyway, he noticed George's surprised gaze immediately. "What's wrong? You and I decided to talk about this in the morning, so here we are."
George pressed his lips together and nodded.
"Well, thank you for that... I just don't think it's a good idea. I don't even know the guy, what if he's some kind of freak?"
"George."
"What? I'm serious! I've always been independent about such things."
Alex chuckled and showed George the screen with the chat on it.
"He's agreed already." Alex waited until George finished reading and turned his phone back. "The guy's name is Max."
"Never heard of him." George shrugged and took another sil of his warm coffee, which was necessary for him in the morning. "Well, I hope this works. That coding is just so stupid and—"
***
"No." Max shook his head as he layed on his bed, thick blanket on his back, covering his shoulders and neck.
"Oh, come on, Maxie, don't be so rude!" Daniel stood next to his friend's bed, trying to make Max look at him.
"I won't help some random guy with his project." Max repeated that once more before pulling the blanket even more up. "I'm not getting paid." He grumbled.
"Come on, Max. I've already said that you're gonna help." Daniel pulled his blanket a bit, but Max hold on it tightly. The younger man moved his legs closer to his body and shook his head.
"Still none of my problems." Max finally rubbed his eyes and woke up properly. He didn't sit up yet.
"I can invite him here, if you don't want to leave the room. Oh come on, help the guy! You help people sometimes with their codes, I remember that."
"Oi, don't invite him here! It's my comfort zone, fuck you." Max frowned and a few seconds later his figure wrapped in sheets was sitting on the edge of the bed. "It's just... Ugh, he's probably annoying. Everyone from business are brats."
Daniel didn't know what to say. He tried to talk again, about everything. About helping, about friendship, about communication, about being a great member of society.
In the end Max sighed and nodded in agreement. He defeated but his eyes said everything about his feelings. He was able to help some random student fix his code, yeah? He didn't have to become friends with him or anything, just... just some professional help.
"What's his name again?" Max asked once he was back from the bath and looked for his clothes in the wardrobe. He didn't remember Daniel saying the name earlier, though.
"George Russell. Maybe you heard about him, by the way. He's like an activist and all that."
Max frowned and then turned to face Daniel. His expression was confused, but not angry anymore. A silence was there for a few seconds before Max said what was on his mind.
"That George who sent everyone an e-mail about how to use a microwave properly after someone almost started a fire in the kitchen in the blue house?"
Daniel laughed and nodded. They both remembered that incident, for them it was a funny episode of student life, because they got to watch the chaos for the whole week. Anyway, at that moment Max understood how screwed he was. How was he supposed to get along with someone like George?
"Come on, get ready, we still have to go to classes."
***
In the late afternoon George finally decided to text Max. He got the number from Alex in the morning, but he was a bit afraid. Everything new and unknown was worrying him.
Max Verstappen
15:33
Hello, it's George Russell
I wanted to ask you to help me a little bit, if it's possible
Daniel told you about that, right?
hi
yes, he did
what's the issue?
It's in my project code, I have to fix my website but I can't get something right there, the output is wrong
understood
meet me in the library today in an hour
is that okay?
That's great, thank you! See you then
George was starting at his phone. He frowned and tossed it aside when he saw that Max read his message. He was in his dorm already, since he had lunch with Alex just an hour ago. George still wasn't happy with the idea of some random guy helping him, but also the way Max talked to him was... surprising. George expected someone a bit more polite, not such plain answers.
In forty five minutes George arrived at the library and wanted to take a free desk there, but he noticed a man in the back of the room. He had his headphones on, his hoodie was black and he was wearing some kind of skinny jeans. There was a can of red bull on the desk in front of him. Seeing all that, George assumed that it was Max. Definitely. Who else would it be?
"Hello, Max, right?" George stopped next to the guy. He wanted to put a hand on his shoulder to announce his arrival, but he didn't.
Max looked up and nodded, taking off his headphones. His hair looked a bit messy because of that, but he fixed it in a second.
"Hello, mhm, it's me." Max gestured at the chair next to his. "Where's the problem again? Let me see your code."
George quickly pulled his laptop out of his bag and opened it. Now they were sitting next to each other as George opened the program.
"It keeps showing me this error, but I don't —" George started, pointing at something with his finger. The younger man wanted to pull out his textbook with some notes, too. He almost missed that Max moved the laptop and started doing something.
Verstappen's fingers moved fast above the keyboard, he knew what to do in a second. His face looked cool, like he couldn't be bothered at all, never.
"Here. It was wrong here and here, also the punctuation in the beginning wasn't right." Max moves the mouse around the table, the cursor jumped over the symbols on the screen.
"Oh, okay... Uh, well, maybe you can explain what was wrong? I don't really understand just by looking at it."
George didn't look at Max right away, instead he concentrated on the laptop and his code. Well, he tried. It was really interesting to watch Max. The guy looked different, not the way George imagined him to be. He was just... unique in a way. George never met such people.
Max heard George's request and froze for a second, processing it. When he helped people, they never asked him to explain. They were happy with the correct code and just walked away smiling and thanking him. George was... interested? He really wanted to understand the issue, which was surprising.
"Okay, look—"
Max pointed at the screen and started speaking about programming in general and some exact lines of George's code.
His monologue ended up being quite long. Max had a passion for coding, so he was happy to talk about this. Especially, when someone like George was listening. Really, the younger one did everything to convince Max that he was really interested. He tried to look away at all the right moments, to keep his hands still, to nod every twenty seconds. Maybe he behaved like a robot, just a little bit. George hoped that Max wouldn't think anything bad about him.
Max finished explaining in twenty minutes. They discussed everything that was bothering George about this part of his work. They even talked about the design and Max gave some advice. George smiled politely in the end while putting his laptop back into his bag. Max kept sitting there at the desk, his energy drink next to him.
"Thank you, really. I hope I didn't bother you too much." George said as he stood up and held out his hand. "I owe you."
"Don't worry, I'm... uh, I'm glad to help you." Max shook his hand as he watched George turning around and leaving. That guy looked... well, he did look great. Handsome even. Max hasn't thought anything like that about another man for a long time. Something in George's appearance, in the way he talked and behaved was special. Some George's thing Max couldn't understand yet.
Anyway, Max left the library a few minutes later. He finished his red bull, threw the can away and walked out of the room. He pulled out his phone to text Daniel. He definitely had something in mind.
Danny
16:47
i'm heading back, i'll come back in ten
Okay, how was the help session?
it was fine I guess
george is a nice guy
but
I don't know how to say it
do I look bad or something?
maybe there was something on my face or hair when I left in the morning?
What kind of questions are these, oh my god
No, you're looking fine!
I mean, nothing weird about you
Why???
he stared at me the whole time
like he sometimes looked at my face instead of laptop while I was explaining things
it felt strange
everything else was nice though
Maxie, you look great, don't worry about such things cutie <3
Come here let me take a look at your handsome face
ew shut up
i won't come home then
Nooo, come on, I'm joking
I bought some chips and stuff
More red bull ofc
Let's watch something
okay I'll be there in five
***
Group chat (Albono, George R., Charles, lando)
18:12
lando
why the hell is the name of the chat so boring
we have it for two years now
boo
Albono
You have any ideas?
lando
idk
but
it's just terible and boring
lets change it pls
Albono
I don't have anything in mind, this name is okay
lando
it's not name it's a fukcin list
I know hwo I talk to without readin it everytime
Albono
We need to ask the other two
@Charles @George R.come here
lando
we need something htat will conect us fr
Albono
Turn on the auto fix in the keyboard for God's sake
lando
oh shut tf up
boooo
Charles
GUYS WHAT THE HELL
lando
OMG WHAT
Albono
i'm scared
Charles
GEORGE I HAVE QUESTIONS
WHY WERE YOU SITTING WITH MAX IN THE LIBRARY
WHAT'S HAPPENING
lando
what max
Charles
Verstappen
lando
uhh
who's he
Charles
He's my friend
We're like good friends
But that's not the point
George???
Albono
Why is that so surprising?
George needed help with his website so Max helped
Charles
MAX HELPED HIM????
WHAT THE FUCK
lando
i don't understand anythinng
George R.
Hi everyone
Yeah, Max helped me with some stuff
I couldn't get a few things right because my prof doesn't know how to explain things.
Google wasn't googling either.
Charles
He voluntarily helped you?
Max fucking Verstappen helped you just like that???
Wait
He did help for real? or he just fixed it himself and left???
George R.
Yeah, he did help
I asked him to explain me a few things
What's wrong about that, Charles?
lando
i still don t understand whos max wtf
Albono
You remember Daniel Riccardo? It's Daniel's roommate
lando
ahhh i remember dan
i met max once probablly
Charles
Nothing wrong
Just
What the fuck, he never helps me
And I'm his friend!
Last time I asked him something he told me "try harder" and left
NO SERIOUSLY WHY
George R.
I don't know.
He just did, that's all, I didn't do anything special.
Charles
He doesn't even come out of his room! and then I see him in the library with you of all people
Helping you with the code!!!
Albono
Well, I asked Daniel to get Max help George
I guess it worked
Maybe
Charles
George what magic did you use
George R.
I don't understand why you're reacting like this.
lando
ooh george is mad, look at that . in the end
Albono
Guys, it's not that serious???
Charles
Okay, okay, I get it
I was just surprised
Don't be mad Georgie
George R.
I'm not mad.
I didn't like the idea from the beginning, actually.
But Max was nice and pretty polite.
lando
george having a crush omg
George R.
Lando shut the fuck up.
Why would you even say that nonsense.
Charles
I don't recommend having a crush on Max Verstappen, that's gonna give you ptsd
Albono
Wow
Why?
Wanna share with the class, Charles?
Charles
It's not that! I mean he's cold and serious and like that all the time, being himself
I think Daniel is the only one here who was able to get Max's soft side
lando
they r dating?
Charles
I don't think so, but who knows
Ask Daniel
lando
one sec
Albono
Lando don't, it was a joke
PLEASE
George R.
Why is Max worrying you so much?
Charles
I just never saw him like that
You're a fucking magician
I swear that when I ask Max for help, he tells me to google it.
George R.
I've always been better at communicating.
Charles
Of course...
George R.
I don't care about Max, if you're worried about that.
I just needed some help, I don't anymore.
He's all yours.
Albono
Oh, you're all so difficult
lando
dan is offline
we won't know if they r dating
srry george maybe your feelings are inrequried
inrequered
unrequered
unrequired
yeah the last one ig
Albono
OH MY GOD LANDO
***
Meanwhile, Max and Daniel were sitting on the small couch in their room in front of Daniel's laptop. They were watching some sci-fi movie, which wasn't really good, but great enough to relax in front of the screen after a long day.
Daniel's phone buzzed with a notification, but he didn't look. He picked up a chip from the bowl and put it into his mouth. Max was right next to him, their thighs pressed against each other. The younger man was drinking another sugar free red bull even if Daniel was giving him angry glances.
"You won't sleep tonight, you know that?" Riccardo frowned and took the can from Max, taking a sip himself. "The sugar free one isn't even that tasty."
"I don't care, I love it." Max shrugged and let Daniel drink a bit. He looked at the screen, not really understanding what was happening there. A lot of effects, graphics, lights... Also a lot of noise to fill his ears.
"Was your meeting with that business boy okay actually? You didn't say much." Dan said casually, like it wasn't something Max didn't like.
"It was okay. Nothing else. Simple, quick, success."
"Maybe he will contact you again, huh, be ready. Alex told me George is a perfectionist."
"Why the hell would he contact me again? I fixed his code, what else might he need?" Max's face became unpleased.
"Perhaps he'll need more help. It turned out that Alex and George don't have any friends who are good at programming."
"How stupid." Max shook his head and rubbed the bridge of the nose. "Okay, I'll be ready if that happens."
They continued watching that not so interesting movie and even finished it. They both were tired after and pretty full after a big pack of chips.
Max helped Daniel throw the rubbish away and then went to the bathroom. He was brushing his teeth when he saw an old notification.
Unknown number
19:47
Hello again!
Sorry to bother you, but can we meet once more tomorrow?
I'm working on the same code and I got another problem
22:45
when?
Hi again
I got it just before I texted you, I added a new part and it stopped working
when do you want to meet?
Oh, sorry
Maybe at lunch? I'm going to be at the coffeeshop next to the campus at two o'clock
alright
Thank you! See you
no problem
Max changed the contact's name to George
Max sighed and spit the toothpaste out. He washed his face with warm water and walked out of the bathroom. He noticed Daniel on the couch.
"I hate you." Max said as he walked past his best friend.
"What? Why?" Daniel looked up, his expression was surprised.
"How did you know that he's gonna text me again?"
"George texted you? And what's new?" Daniel smiled immediately. He liked the concept of Max helping someone and socializing in a way. He didn't like seeing his friend rotting in front of his computer every night.
"I'm meeting with him tomorrow, another coding problem." Max shrugged and took of his t-shirt. He didn't want to sleep just yet, but the next day promised to be even longer and harder already.
"Ooh, alright. Good luck, mate." Daniel smiled and turned back to his phone. The next moment his face became confused. He stared at something for a long moment. "Why Lando is asking me if i'm dating you?"
"What the fuck?" Max snapped his head towards Daniel.
***
Every minute of waiting was too long. George sat on his bed, two pillows between his back and the wall. He looked at the screen with his code and couldn't understand how to change the situation. Max was ignoring him.
"George, you're so tensed I can feel your stress in the air." Alex said from his own bed. He wasn't stressed at all, he was just on social media doing nothing. "What's wrong?"
"I can't get this right again... Why am I so stupid?" George sighed and tried to google something again.
He checked his phone seventeen times. Eighteen now. Max wasn't online. He wasn't reading the messages. He was just somewhere, probably having a great time, while George was having a crisis.
"Firstly, you're not stupid. Secondly, what are you staring at there?" Alex pointed at George's phone.
"Uh..."
Russell went silent. It was too pathetic to admit that he waited for Max to reply. So he answered something stupid about getting distracted by Instagram notifications.
Finally, when Max answered, George looked at their chat for five minutes straight. How could Max be like that? Was he rude? Was it his usual behavior? George had too many questions. He wasn't in a mood to talk to Alex about that, especially after the group chat thing that happened earlier, so after Max's texts the Brit turned the laptop off and decided to go to bed as well. No coding for the rest of the night.