Reading between the lines

double dates send Max spiraling

"Uhm, I beg to differ-"

Wanting to put a stop to what very well could have escalated into a group fight, Max wrapped his arm around Charles and pressed his hand flat against his mouth, preventing him from finishing the sentence. The way Oscar's usually warm eyes had turned hard all of a sudden, staring right at Charles' made it obvious that this was the only way to stop a fight.

Max had to kneel up to properly look over Charles' shoulder, a reconciling smile on his lips. No one really paid attention to him though. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, how about we all calm down. Take a deep breath." Max suggested. "This isn't that serious, guys."

This got Oscar and Lando to look at him, a hint of clarity in their gazes. Charles on the other hand didn't even seem like he'd heard Max, his gaze still taxing the two younger men.

Annoyed and without thinking much, Max captured the Monegasques chin between his fingers and yanked it towards him, so Charles had no other choice than to look at him.

"You too. Breathe."

To Max's surprise, Charles actually seemed to listen to him, watching his nose flare and his mouth open. Their eyes were locked on each other, something he initially confused as a stare off, but when Charles' cheeks took on a hint of red and he blinked a couple too many times, Max realized that he was actually struggling to look away. His mouth opened, dropping into the perfect 'o' shape as he whispered, "Oh..."

Without realizing a smile formed on his lips as for once, he had the upper hand, not Charles. It wasn't Max getting flustered, but Mr. Confident and Handsome himself.

The urge to take a picture was strong, but not stronger than the one that made him tilt Charles' chin up further. He wanted to see how far he could take this...

Someone cleared their throat, making Max painfully aware that he'd forgotten about the other people in the room. His eyes finding Lando and Oscar, watching them with wide smirks on their faces, felt like a hit to his face. In the blink of an eye he'd let go of Charles, scooting back until his back hit the armrest of the couch.

The fact that they were smiling seemed to have been blocked out by his mind, only leaving him with the fact that two people had seen him... Seen him touch Charles in a way that was more than plain friendly.

"Sorry-" The word had left Max's mouth before he could properly think about it.

Maybe then at least he would have realized that these were his friends. His friends who were very much in their own gay relationship and that surely, they'd be the last ones to care about him doing gay things.

But then again, he was Max.

The guy who couldn't even openly admit that he, too, was gay without paraphrasing it.

The guy who couldn't even hold Charles' hand at dinner, purely because an old lady at the table next to them looked at him.

The guy who'd constantly been reminded of how disgusting it was to love men as a man, how it was a sickness and something to be ashamed of. By his own father.

He felt sick, his intestines twisting painfully. Seeing Charles looking at him from the corner of his eye didn't help, intensifying the nausea to the point Max put a hand up to his throat, ready to squeeze if anything would actually dare to come up.

"You're okay. But get a room if you must." Oscar shrugged as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. "Alright, what are we watching?"

The attention drifted off Max and his little slip up, giving him a chance to breathe. Charles' gaze lingered on him for a little longer, but when Lando suggested they watch a Barbie movie, his focus broke away.