Charles
"Pierre I can't talk now!" I shout, and a pot falls on the panels behind me.
"What are you doing?" asks the confused boy as I turn up the phone because I can't hear anything.
"I mean Daniel is trying to kill Max!" I shout, turning towards the guys and now it's Max running after Daniel. "I mean Max is trying to kill Daniel! No, the other way around again!" the pan flies towards me, so at the last moment I move away, and it hits the wall.
"I'm five minutes away." Pierre hangs up, and I watch with resignation as the guys jostle, shout and throw whatever they have at hand at each other.
I tried to separate them, but it didn't do anything, so I gave up. When they woke up, and I told them everything about yesterday, they suddenly went crazy and went back to being enemies, because they have been trying to kill each other for an hour. Or not. At first they were just shouting, but when Daniel unwittingly got me involved, Max pushed him and started a war.
"You're going to renovate this house." I say seriously, but none of them care. So I sit down on the couch, watching them.
"I told you to stay away from him!" shouts Max, pushing Daniel against the wall. I wince as the painting falls and the glass shatters into tiny pieces.
"You're already out of your mind when you fall in love! Go treat yourself idiot!" Daniel pushes the Red Bull driver away from him and grabs a vase, throwing it in his direction, but misses. He throws him over the boy, and he falls to the carpet. Flowers and water fly out of it, and I close my eyes, counting to ten in my head.
"You're the one who fucked up when you had a choice between me or Formula!"
"Enough!" I shout, and they both freeze in place, silent. They look at me in shock, as if they can't believe I can shout. "That's the end of it. I'm sick and tired of listening and watching your childish pushing."
"But he's the one who..."
"I don't care, Max." I interrupt him. "You're friends to hell. Both of you should always be supportive of each other. I know, Max, that you won't let anyone speak ill of me, but for God's sake, you won't change everyone's mind about me. If Daniel thinks otherwise, accept it, not throw fucking pots at him!" I wave my hands in the air. "And you, Daniel, think if this sport is worth losing your friend. Not to mention how you wanted to smash a vase in his face. Seriously, how old the hell are you two?" I say brokenly, and they glance at each other reproachfully.
"I'm sorry, Max. You know that's all..."
"I'm sorry, too." he is interrupted by my boyfriend, and I am looking at them with a smile when suddenly a tired and frightened Pierre runs into the room.
"They've already killed themselves?" he asks me and wrinkles his eyebrows as he looks at the guys, who look at him confused. "Oh..." He scratches the back of his neck, glancing at me, and I shrug my shoulders with a smile.
***
"Relax, they'll love you." I say as Max squeezes my hand as we walk toward my family home. My mother invited us to dinner, and it helped that Max was partying last night, he decided to come with me when I already wanted to call and cancel that dinner.
"What if your mother doesn't like me?" he asks terrified.
"Then she'll shake hands with your father." I roll my eyes, at which I am met with his embarrassed look. "I'm kidding. Calm down, Maxie, everyone who gets to know you better falls in love with you, because you are a wonderful person." I smile, knocking on the door.
"And if..."
"Honey, if they don't like you, I'll get out of there and we'll go home, forgetting about this meeting, because now you're the most important thing in my life, okay?" I look at him. I see him nod with relief. I know he was afraid that if they didn't like him, I would break up with him. And maybe I would have done so in the beginning, but now, after what has happened for this short time, I am sure of us and I will do everything to make it last forever.
I hear the boy violently draw air into his lungs as my mother opens the door. With a wide smile, I let go of the boy's hand and walk up to the woman, hugging her. She greets me happily, and after a while Arthur and Lorenzo also appear in the hallway.
"I thought you had already forgotten about the family." Arthur says, and Lorenzo slaps him gently on the back of the head. "Hi Charles." He improves, to which I am amused to greet them and glance at Max, whom my mother is hugging and says something quietly in my ear, to which the boy smiles broadly.
I feel warmth spreading through my gut as I see the happy boy whom my family already loved before I understood how I felt about him. As they pull away from each other, the woman invites us into the dining room and we sit down at the table. We each have our own unassigned seat, but today Arthur officially stated that he was ceding his to Max and sat next to Mom.
"So, Max, I would ask, as any mother would, where you work and if you love him, but about work it's hard for me not to know, and about the latter I'm sure, because I've seen in the office how much you care, and I think Charles should be thanking you on his knees for wanting him."
"Oh, he definitely thank him on his lap." Arthur says suddenly.
I roll my eyes, Max smiles under his breath, and Lorenzo spits out the water he's been drinking on the floor. The confused mom takes a moment to understand what her son meant and looks indignantly in his direction as he raises his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Arthur, you would be ashamed." the woman shakes his head brokenly.
"But..."
"Don't even say anything." I raise my index finger, at which he snorts a laugh and nods, returning to his food.
"If Charles ever does something, remember to call me. Now you are part of the family, because if my son trusts you and loves you, so do we." the woman looks at Max with a smile.
"Then I guess I'll have to take your phone number, just be forewarned that I'll be calling every day, because he's unbearable." He says seriously, at which I part my lips in surprise. "Just kidding." He adds, glancing at my face. Arthur suddenly slaps his hand on the table, making us all look at him in shock.
"I already like him." he says contentedly.
We spend the next half hour talking and joking. I sit quietly most of the time, watching the boy happily chatting with my brothers. I am quietly pleased that he feels comfortable here and that they liked him. I was stressed about getting to know them with each other, because although they had already seen each other, he was not yet my boyfriend.
"Come on Max, you're going to win me a race, because Charles is too weak." says Arthur suddenly and he and an amused Max get up from their chairs.
"Deny it." I say, looking at the Red Bull driver.
"I love you too, Charlie." He winks at me and disappears with Arthur behind the door to his room.
Suddenly I feel my mother's gaze on me, so I look at her as well. She smiles, looking at me intently. I furrow my eyebrows, not understanding what she means, and run my hand over my mouth, thinking I've gotten dirty.
"What?" I ask finally.
"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" the woman smiles broadly.
"Everyone keeps telling me that." I says.
"Because no one has ever seen a person look at another with such eyes." Mom glances toward the door, where Max has gone. "Take care of this relationship, Charles. Don't let him go, because you will never meet someone as good as him." she adds.
"I know, mom. You don't even know how grateful I am to have him." I also smile. "And I'm glad you liked him." I add.
"I don't want to be unkind, but why don't you give him painkillers and water instead of alcohol?" says Lorenzo as Mom stands up, taking wine out of the dresser. The woman looks at me with raised eyebrows.
"He's talking about Max." I say quickly, to which the woman nods and puts the alcohol on the table. After a while, she goes to the kitchen and returns with the pills and water.
"Are you drinking?" my brother asks me, to which I nod. Yesterday I was dealing with two idiots, so I deserve to relax.
"So when are you going to live together?" mom sits down again across from me.
"We live together." I hear Max's voice.
Surprised, along with my surprised mother, we turn in his and Arthur's direction. They walk towards us smiling, and Max looks in my direction, ignoring everyone around him. Well, except for my mom, whom he glances at when he says those words.
"We live?" I ask, to which Lorenzo parries amused.
"Charles, have you been sleeping alone for several months?" he asks raising his eyebrows.
"Well, no, but... It wasn't official living together." I say confused. Yes, I would like us to live together so officially, but it's not that easy. We have races, other rooms, our own homes....
"Charles Leclerc, will you officially live with me?" he asks seriously, to which I slap my hand over my face, which elicits a laugh from Arthur.
"Yes, Max Verstappen, I will live with you." I smile broadly.
"Officially." prompts my mother.
"Officially." I repeat after her amused, which elicits that beautiful smile from the Red Bull driver.
"So when's the wedding?" asks Arthur.
Suddenly there is silence and we all look in his direction, and after a moment he understands that he said something stupid, as he mumbles something under his breath, returning to the room. Wonderful day.
***
"May I know where you're leading me?" I ask amused, glancing down at our intertwined fingers. Max, with a smile, has been leading me in an unfamiliar direction for several minutes. We flew to Japan two days ago because I recently mentioned to my boyfriend that I would like to explore the country. I'm beginning to wonder if I should keep quiet next to him, because everything I say, he remembers and fulfills it. "Max, everyone is looking at us." I add, however, it doesn't spoil my mood. The boy said that since everyone already knows, we don't have to hide at all that we are in a relationship, and despite my fear, I agreed, because after all, having him next to me will be fine.
"Are you surprised at them? I'd look at you myself, even if I were seven years out of wedlock." He winks at me. "Come on, it's not far now." He adds, climbing the stairs.
"God, don't say that... Now I'll have it in my head that he's signing caps to his fans who would gladly divorce me if I wanted them." I wince at the thought.
"So what if you would want them? I wouldn't let you out of the room." He smiles, opening some doors and we enter some room. "Remember when you said you had a terrible date at the movies?" I nod, confused. "Then it's time to make that change." he adds, turning on the light.
I look around the huge, empty cinema hall. In the middle, Next to the seats there is popcorn and drink, and Max lets go of my hand and walks in that direction, glancing if I follow him. Only after a while do I move behind him, still stunned by what's happening.
"Where is everyone?" I ask, sitting down next to the boy.
"Everyone is already there." He shrugs his shoulders, so I look at him like he's an idiot. "No one else is coming, because I rented the screening just for us." He rolls his eyes, specifying the answer.
When I want to speak up to tell him that he spends too much money on me, he stuffs popcorn in my mouth, at which I start laughing.
"Don't spoil my date with your whining." He crosses his arms over his chest. "So, you were supposed to go with Pierre to a new movie, but he stood you up. In fact, I told him to get you here, because everything was already planned then." He says, moving closer to me, as we sit on a two-seater couch.
I look at him in shock, and he places a kiss on my lips with a wide smile and glances toward the screen where the movie starts. He leans his head against my shoulder, embracing me at the waist, and I kiss the top of his head. I swear this man is the fulfillment of all my dreams. I have never met a man who loved and appreciated another as much as he does. After a while, I rest my cheek against his head and we watch the movie in this position.
Already at the beginning Max has fallen asleep, because I know perfectly well that it's not his kind of movie, so I appreciate it even more. Halfway through the video, the boy awakens, and as he moves, he accidentally drops the drink that was standing next to me. I jump away as if burned, and a sleepy Max looks at me confused. Only after a while does he realize what he has done.
"Damn, sorry." He says, wiping his face with his hands.
"I'll survive." I smile, taking off my sweatshirt. Fortunately for me, the shirt is dry. The only problem will be the sweatpants. "And how will I go out to people..." I sigh, looking resignedly at the wet chair. "What are you doing?" I ask as he starts to pull off his pants. If his plan is for us both to walk around in boxers, I'll thank him.
"Swap." he says, handing me his sweatpants. Surprised I want to refuse, but seeing his look, I nod in agreement. I take off my wet sweatpants and put on dry ones.
"You look like you peed yourself." I say amused.
"Mega nice." He says seriously, but after a few seconds he smiles, looking at the screen where the closing credits are already on. "Super movie." he adds suddenly.
"Yes, especially that moment where Pierre's dog appeared." I make up to see if he knows anything of what was going on.
"Yes." he nods, at which I start laughing. "There was no such moment, was there?" He asks embarrassed, to which I nod. "Well..."
"Maybe let's go buy you some pants. I'll pay this time." I say, extending my hands toward him. Suddenly I take a step sideways and fall on the popcorn, almost toppling backwards, but Max quickly grabs me around the waist and pulls me toward him, causing me to avoid falling.
"Soon I'll be the one who has to pay for putting your bones together." he parries amused.
"Don't spoil the date with your whining." I repeat after him and catch his hand, intertwining our fingers. "Come on honey, I'll take care of you, because you look like the seventh misfortune." he says.
"I wonder by whom."
"Because of you." I parry, walking toward the exit.