TW (TW also contains spoilers so avoid if you don't want to know what the chapter contains) This chapter will have mentions of domestic violence and there is an underlying suggestion of physical or abusive practices in relation to therapy. It is not explicit. Just want to warn everyone incase they would prefer to avoid.
Also, although these character's are based on real people my interpretation of them and how they would react in these situation is purely fictional (obviously!)
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In a rare mistake for the Dutchman Max had crashed bringing out the yellow flags and an early end to his race in Austria. He took his time returning to the garage, not wanting to see the disappointed faces from his team. It was Red Bull's home track and they had been aiming for a 1-2 finish for the team in front of the home crowd. He hesitated briefly before nervously entering his driver's room, he knew that his dad was waiting for him and that he wouldn't be happy. He prepared himself for the usual scowl, the raised voice, the balled up fists but instead Jos had just patted him sympathetically on the back.
Jos knew that the race had been a missed opportunity, the car had been quick and normally a podium would have been almost guaranteed. Still, he tried to calm himself down before seeing Max. He suspected that he may be partially responsible for Max's performance, perhaps he had pushed him too far over the past week. He hated that what he was doing was interfering with Max's racing, it was the last thing he wanted, but he was sure that it would all work out for the best in the long run. Max knew that he should have been happy with the sudden change in Jos' attitude but it sat uneasy with him because he knew that it came at a price.
After the team debrief was completed Max headed back to his hotel room and waited for the moment he could go and see Charles. As soon as he got the text from his boyfriend he headed straight to his room and as Charles opened the door he wrapped his arms around Max and kissed him gently. Max let out a soft moan at the feel of Charles' lips against his, it had felt like it had been years since he had last seen him, although in reality it had only been a week. Charles kissed into Max's neck before pulling the Dutchman closer, but as he looked into Max's eyes he noticed that they weren't sparkling in the way they usually did, he looked completely exhausted.
"Can we just get into bed and watch a film together?" Max asked as he got undressed and climbed under the covers.
"Of course" Charles responded as he climbed in next to Max and let the Red Bull driver snuggle in close to him.
The two men lay in silence for a while, Max enjoying the warmth of his boyfriend's body next to his own. For the first time all week he felt that he could relax as he melted into Charles arms. Charles leant in and kissed him gently on the forehead and ran his fingers through his boyfriend's hair trying to comfort him. It was possible Max was just upset about the race but Charles suspected it was something more. Max had now pulled himself tight next to Charles, desperate to feel his arms around him, desperate to feel that safety.
"Do you want to talk about anything?" Charles asked gently.
He knew all about Jos' deal and he had spent most of the week worrying about his boyfriend, knowing that he would be starting whatever therapy sessions Jos had organised. Charles had suggested Max try and compromise with Jos and ask to pick his own therapist but Max had simply said it wasn't worth arguing, his dad normally got his own way eventually. To make everything worse Charles had barely seen or spoken to Max since Silverstone. After previously trying to remove Max from his life altogether it now seemed Jos was reluctant to leave his son's side for more than a second.
"No not really" Max responded sleepily to Charles question.
"How is the therapy going?" Charles asked cautiously, not wanting to push the matter too far.
"Fine, the usual questions I guess, what was your childhood like and stuff like that" Max answered.
He wasn't completely lying. The first question the therapist had asked him was about his childhood and Max couldn't help but consider it to be the most textbook start to a therapy session that there could be. The woman had looked at him eagerly and he just shrugged his shoulders. He thought she probably wanted to know about childhood trauma, he had experienced enough of it. He had heard the arguments between his parents, the fighting, the violence, the crying. He remembered covering his ears to try and block it out and as he got older trying to get between the two of them, he mostly pushed those memories far back where they couldn't bother him anymore.
"My childhood was good" he had lied.
He knew it might not be the best idea to lie to a therapist but he also knew that his dad was sat in the corner of the room, well within earshot. Max had wondered what the point of the sessions were if he couldn't even talk freely but he didn't bother to argue, he hoped that the sooner this was all out the way the sooner things with his dad could return to normal.
The therapist had moved on to talk about his career and his relationships. He noted that she seemed particularly keen to talk about his sexual history, asking intimate questions about his experiences with women. He kept it vague, it hardly felt right talking about any of this with his dad listening in but she had tried to push him for more details, asking specific details about how it felt. The process was repeated the next day, the same questions but this time drilling down into more details. Max hadn't realised quite how emotionally draining it would all be, but as the week progressed the structure of the sessions changed. Max started to long for those earlier sessions where all he had to do was answer a few questions, the new sessions were more physical, much more brutal and they were already starting to take their toll on him. He wanted to talk to Charles about it, to let him know what was actually happening to tell him that he was exhausted, that he was scared and that most of all he was heartbroken that he had to go through this just to maintain a relationship with his dad. Instead he just snuggled in closer and closed his eyes, maybe tomorrow after he had rested he could speak to his boyfriend properly.
It was gone midnight when Max sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping from him, his mouth dry, a silent scream trying to escape from his lips. Charles had instantly woken up and tried to calm him down. He could see Max's chest heaving as he tried to get enough breath into his lungs. Charles held his hand as Max slowly seemed to realise where he was.
"What happened?" Charles asked as he cupped Max's cheek in his hands, using his thumb to wipe away the stray tears falling from Max's eyes.
"I guess I had a nightmare" Max mumbled as Charles tried to settle him back down into bed.
"It's okay I'm here" he said softly as he held him in his arms. Max had never woken in the night like this before, Charles thought that it was too much of a coincidence, there was obviously something going on with Jos that was upsetting Max. He realised he had to do something, he just wasn't sure what yet. For now at least Charles knew that Max was safe in his bed where nobody could hurt him. He thought to himself that at least, no matter what was happening, Max knew he had somewhere to go that wasn't going to cause him any more pain.
Charles wasn't entirely correct. Unfortunately, sneaking off to Charles' room may have inadvertently made everything much worse for Max. Jos had been suspicious of his son since he had found his Silverstone hotel room empty during the night. His suspicions had only grown as he watched Max try to suppress his smile each time his phone rang or a text appeared. Jos had been sure that there was something going on, someone in Max's life that he didn't want him to know about. So, when Max had made his latest excuse, Jos had decided to follow him. Ordinarily Max was so careful, but he was so distracted by everything that had been going on that he didn't even notice as his dad watched him enter Charles' room late at night.
Jos had stood watching furiously, he was about to barge in there and drag Max away when he suddenly realised that he might have stumbled up on something advantageous to him. As far as everyone knew, Charles Leclerc was straight and Jos guessed that Charles would rather keep it that way. He also guessed that his son had developed feelings for the Monegasque driver and if there was one thing he knew about his son it was that he would do anything to protect those he cared about. Jos started to focus on the positives of the situation, he could definitely use this information as leverage. He hoped this might make Max more cooperative in the upcoming weeks, which would be important as things were only going to become more challenging.
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Thank you to everyone who is still reading!! And thank you all for the comments and votes, definitely inspires me to keep writing this book knowing that some people are enjoying the story! The next few chapters will be a little tough for Max I think but hopefully things can get better soon and Charles can look after him.
<3 <3