Chapter Text
++ 1:00am ++
Max groaned as he stretched his arms above his head to loosen up his back muscles. He had been sitting in the exact same position in his sim racing chair for too long again. His PT would not be happy with this in the morning. God, he was getting old, wasn’t he?
“I mean COTA is just always a big show, you know?” Max explained to the other members of team Redline when he finished displaying his extensive knowledge of various dinosaur noises. “Not really a fan of that… How long is their fucking round taking?”
They had been staring at the lobby waiting screen for what must be ten minutes at this point, impatiently waiting for the next round of the cup to start. Even the chat was starting to get annoyed at this point.
“Josh texted saying there were technical difficulties.” Crane replied dryly, his mind clearly focussed on something else happening off camera.
Max groaned again and cracked his neck. He really was getting old. “Simply lovely.”
Picking up his phone absentmindedly he glanced at the time and then tapped on the black and yellow app icon he had hidden in one of his many folders just labeled “Random Stuff” to turn on his location sharing.
“If I drove like they run the servers I would be jobless.” he complained once again, the impatience getting the best of him as began swiping through the profiles of half-naked bodies and posed serious faces.
Max had always had success finding someone to hook up with at COTA. There was just something more easy going in the US, a chill atmosphere. The men were okay with one night stands, which is exactly what Max was looking for. He could not allow himself to get more involved than that. Formula 1 was maybe ready for a bisexual driver considering how well Ralf's outing had gone, but Max was not ready to be that bisexual driver. He wanted to be known as one of the greatest drivers of all time, as the record-breaker, the one setting new standards for everyone else. He was well aware that compared to being the first out and active driver any of his high achievements would diminish. Max was simply not willing to sacrifice all he had worked so hard for. So keeping things on the downlow was quite important to him.
Crane laughed. “Maybe you should quit and run the servers instead.”
“Maybe I should.” Max grinned between sips from his RedBull can, still absentmindedly scrolling through the app, all the abs blending into one at this point. The originality of people on Grindr sure was unmatched. He scoffed and refreshed the wall of shirtless men to receive a new one that looked almost identical.
Almost.
Because there was one picture in the left bottom corner that immediately got his attention and made him choke violently on his drink.
“Man, are you okay?”
Max was still coughing like crazy as he tried to gain his composure. “Yea sorry. Saw something funny.”
Once he had managed to get air back into his lungs, he took a deep breath and then tapped on the picture that had caused this whole conundrum with shaky fingers.
Actually, the photo was not funny at all. Sure, it was another pair of abs, posed in a way to accentuate the ridges, highlight the muscles that were deemed important. But it was a pair of abs Max would have known anywhere. He zoomed in on the mole just to the side of the left hip bone. He was pretty sure he would be able to place that mole in its rightful spot even in the dark.
Because that pair of abs belonged to his childhood rival and fellow Formula One driver Charles Leclerc.
Crane interrupted his absolute disbelief through his headphones. “Race is starting, Max.”
“Yea, thanks.” Max glanced up at the loading screen and then back down to where Grindr was still open on Charles’ profile. Max allowed himself another second to greedily roam his eyes over the defined muscles and protruding hip bones.
Then he hit the flame icon, locked his phone, and suppressed every instinct to throw his phone straight against the wall.
Charles' phone vibrated on the bathroom counter while he was waiting for the hotel shower to finally warm up. He only quickly glanced at the notification as he tried to turn the nob even further in a desperate attempt to get hot water faster. Was it really this hard for the Americans to build working showers?
Okay, maybe he was being overdramatic, but it had been a long flight this morning and he could not properly sleep on airplanes and he had all these other things to do all day and now wanted nothing more than to go to fucking sleep but he had to wash the airplane air off first, okay? So yea, his dramatism was very much justified right now.
Emil has tapped you!
Charles rolled his eyes. Ever since he had installed Grindr this morning after landing his phone had been flooded with messages and taps nonstop. And that even though his only picture was one of his abs, perfectly flexed and posed of course, a black and white filter on top to minimize the chance of being recognized. Not that he thought anyone was able to recognize him through his abs alone. Because that would be crazy. Right?
That is also why he had decided to venture out into unknown territory now in the US. With the location tracker it was just way too risky to do this anywhere near Monaco. What if he accidentally matched with a person he knew in real life? That would be awkward. And possibly career-ending. So no. Fake name. Badly filtered picture. Different continent. What could go wrong with that? Charles was not stupid after all.
Another vibration alerted him of a new message from an Andy saying simply “Hi sexy^^”. Charles pulled a slightly disgusted face. American men were apparently very thirsty. Maybe because of all the problems they had with their fucking water not heating up.
~
Finally clean and showered, Charles curled up in the hotel bed a while later. Maybe it was time. So far he had only had the time - and courage - to create the profile and quickly exit out of the app, not to actually look at other profiles. Maybe it really was time. For the past ten hours he had been bombarded with notifications, swiping them away as fast as he could every time they had popped up on his phone in a speed only matched by another Formula 1 driver.
Yes, he decided, it was time.
Charles opened the app, a wall of shirtless men instantly loading up on the first page.
Okay, yeah, maybe it was not time yet. Maybe it was time later.
But then when?
Charles took a deep breath to compose himself and then hit the icon with the bouncing red dot in the top right corner calling for his attention. The wall of men was quickly replaced with a wall of messages that all seemed to blur into one. In panic, Charles hit select all and then delete. Good, yes. Maybe messaging was too far for now. Maybe just looking was enough. This was very unknown territory to him after all.
He scrolled to the next tab labeled “Taps”, a new wall of pictures appearing. Why were there so many pictures? Why did they all sort of look the same? Was the app’s intention to completely overwhelm you with all these pictures? He was about to delete all of them once again, his heart rate already at an uncomfortable speed, when his eyes fell onto a photo in the third row.
“Max?” he mumbled to himself as he automatically tapped the picture to open the profile.
Yes, Charles was sure. He knew those hip bones, was familiar with the light scar along one of it - he had been there the day of the karting crash after all - and instantly recognized the indentation that fireproofs left along your ribcage.
Charles swallowed dryly, his heart now a speed not even matched when he was racing for a win on track.
The profile might have said Emil, but Charles was certain:
That was Max Verstappen.
Before giving himself the chance to rethink the consequences of his action he tapped the flame icon and threw his phone to the other side of the bed.
Marc tapped you!
Normally Max mindlessly swiped all notifications from Grindr aside without much thought, yet this time the name made his finger hover over the screen. Could it be?
Checking his surroundings to make sure no camera was pointed at him - he was in bed in his hotel room but a habit was a habit - he tapped on the notification.
Yup. That was Charles sending him a flame back.
Absolutely no big deal.
Max was very chill about it. Totally not freaking the fuck out about it. At all. Nope.
Did Charles know that it was him? What if he did not know that it was him and he was just being polite by tapping him back? What if he did not know it was him but just thought that the picture and in proxy Max was hot? What if he did know it was him but he did not know that Max knew it was him? What if he did know it was him and he also knew that Max knew that it was him and this was a sign that he knew and that he would ruin his life with this information?
Also. Why the fuck was Charles on this app in the first place?
Beginning to sweat like a teenager pumped with hormones, Max rubbed his wet palms against his sweatpants and then got up to walk circles around the small hotel room. This had to be thought through in a strategic way.
Charles did not know. Couldn’t really. Or could he?
The picture Max had used was centered around his body, no identifying marks like moles prominent on it. He had made very sure of it. This was not his first rodeo after all.
So there really was no way Charles could have recognized him by a partial photograph of his mid region.
Right?
Right.
Still, Max knew he should just block him. Anything else would lead to chaos and heartbreak for him. Because what did he expect to happen? For them to meet up so he could go “Surprise it is me!” and for Charles to tell all the other drivers what had happened and that Max was secretly into men? Yea, he really should not be risking that. But what if that did not happen? What if Max revealed himself and Charles would be like “No way!” and they would still fuck? Because Max would like that very very much. Not that he would have ever admitted to that; not that he ever imagined that alone in his hotel room at night while he was getting himself off; the FBI could not have waterboarded that out of him.
Still pacing he was about to hit the block button when instead he found himself tapping the message icon like the absolute idiot he was.
[Emil, 02:11]
hey, thanks for the flame. means a lot coming from someone looking like you ;)
++ 10:00am ++
Did Max know?
Did he?
He did not.
Or did he?
No.
Of course not.
How would he?
So he didn’t.
But what if he did?
Charles was frantic. He was visibly shaking, trying his hardest to stay calm as he was being transported to the location of the media zone in a black van with thankfully tinted windows.
He had been on edge all morning, ever since he had seen that Max had messaged him. Well, not Max. ‘Emil’. But Max.
It had taken Charles three hours in total to work up the courage to actually read the message, locked in his driver room to stay away from prying eyes. He had been weirdly jumpy all morning. Every vibration of his phone in his pocket had sent a jolt through his whole body. When Carlos had touched his shoulder in the paddock to say hello Charles had almost jumped out of his own skin, fully expecting it to be the Dutchman ready to tell all the reporters Charles’ big secret. That yes, in fact, Charles Leclerc, the one from Ferrari and Monaco, was using Grindr. Because that was totally something that could happen in reality.
Charles sighed as he straightened his back, trying to look like his nonchalant self and not whatever had possessed his brain through the little stupid app on his phone.
Max could not have known.
Of course not.
If he had he would have never messaged him. The implications of that would have been too much. Even for daredevil Max Verstappen. Right? Yes.
So Max thought he was a stranger. And Charles could not let him know that he knew who Max was.
Of course the possibility that it was just someone using Max’ picture had crossed Charles' mind. And he had not screenshotted the profile subtly from the preview tabs and then cut out the photo and then done a reverse image search. Because that would hint at a level of insanity that Charles was not quite ready to admit to yet. However, if he had done that then he would have not found anything, minimizing the chances of this being anyone other than Max fucking Verstappen.
Charles knew that the best option would be to just delete the app all together, pretend it never happened, die with the secret of seeing Max on Grindr, continue to bury his sexual curiosity forever and ever, date exclusively women, and only watch gay porn when he was all alone in a hotel room far away from anyone he knew. Sure, it would be a sad existence, but at least it would be peaceful.
But Max had messaged him.
And it was obviously rude not to answer, right? It was only polite to reply to messages one received. It was actually very rude not to. And Charles was many things, but rude was not one of them.
As he waited in the backstage area of the stage, Charles took out his phone.
Ignoring the other forty messages that had flooded his inbox since last night, he opened Max’ - or Emil’s - chat for the tenth time that morning.
[Marc, 11:37]
Have you seen yourself??
++ 8:30pm ++
Charles obviously did not know.
That was good.
Otherwise he would have never answered Max. And he most definitely would not have answered Max what he had answered Max. Because Charles Leclerc would never tell Max that he was hot. Because that would imply that Charles always thought that Max was hot and that would have implications Max’ brain could not keep up with and that sent weird tingles right into regions that should not be reached during media day and the presence of cameras pointed at him.
Now that it was not the middle of the night anymore and Max was able to use rational thinking skills, he knew he had to play his cards right to not give himself away. The Monegasque knew practically most about his life due to their lives developing in parallel since they were little kids. Max had to tread carefully. Even though he was still not sure what his endgame was here.
So Charles thought he was hot. Well, not him, Emil.
But that was cool. Very cool. Definitely not a reason for any overreaction from Max' part at all.
[Emil, 20:55]
are u from around here?
[Marc, 20:58]
No. Im here to watch the F1 race. You?
[Emil, 20:59]
nice! im here for work actually. where r u from then?
[Marc, 21:02]
France :)
what do you do for work?
[Emil, 21:04]
im in engineering:)
so do you have a hot french accent?
[Marc, 21:04]
I guess so ;)
[Emil, 21:04]
are u good at other french things too?^^
Max was sitting at the hotel bar, sipping on a gin tonic he was definitely not supposed to be drinking during a race weekend. But what were they going to do? Fire the only driver scoring points for the constructors championship? Yea, he did not think so.
It had been an hour since he had last messaged Charles and the Monegasque had yet to respond. Maybe he was busy? Or maybe he had figured out it was Max and was currently working on exposing his big secret on the internet? Maybe he was on the phone with reporters right this moment, sending them screenshots of their chat and Max’ profile? Maybe Charles’ plan had always been to expose him so he could finally win the championship with Max out of the way. Or maybe-
[Emil, 22:17]
sry if that was too forward
[Marc, 22:19]
All good. Im just new to this.
[Emil, 22:20]
this? the app or men?
[Marc, 22:23]
Both?
Max’ fingers were shaking as began typing. However, before he could finish the phone vibrated in his hands.
[Marc, 22:24]
I am exploring my options right now.
Max was not freaking out about that at all. He did not think about Charles exploring his options, about Max being the option, about Charles exploring Max.
He quickly lifted a hand to signal to the bartender. “Can I take this up to my room?”
[Emil, 22:28]
nothing wrong with that :)
[Marc, 22:30]
What about you?
Here was the thing: This is not what Max normally did. With any other guy he would have ghosted them already. He was not about the chitchat, definitely not the right person to explore their sexuality with. He wanted to get laid, he wanted it to be one time, he did not want there to be any attachments. Losing your virginity was a social construct, sure, but losing your virginity to Max Verstappen was an attachment anyway and Max was not willing to deal with the fallout of that.
He talked to the men briefly, if he liked them he made them sign the NDA, he invited them to a hotel room - never in the same hotel RedBull was staying in -, they did their business and they both moved on. He never stayed the night, he never exchanged numbers, he never built attachments.
So no, Max normally did not do that.
But this was Charles. This was not normal in any way, shape or form. Just the thought of Charles exploring his options with anyone else but him sent a jolt of jealousy through Max’ head. He would absolutely not let that happen.
[Emil, 22:32]
lets say i have explored my options^^
Charles' mouth fell open. Somehow he had until now assumed Max was on the app in the same way he was. Just to look. Just to see what is out there. To figure things out very very slowly and from a large enough distance that covered the Atlantic Ocean.
Maybe Charles could have known that Max had experience. Any person looking at him would probably not say no to him. He probably had his free pick on the app. And he apparently made use of it. That was fine. As was his right. Nothing wrong with that. Of course.
An uncertain feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as Charles rolled over in bed and onto his side.
Max did not know this was him he was talking to, right? And yet he was still replying to him. So maybe Max was into the whole virginity thing? For all Charles knew Max had a kink for it, evidently Charles did not know as much about the driver as he had always thought.
Or maybe his experience meant that Max was not into insecure guys and would stop talking to him? Maybe he wanted him to be more forthcoming? More flirtatious? Maybe Charles needed to be more like all the other guys Max had explored? An uncomfortable feeling settled in him as he thought of all the other men that had been allowed to explore Max’ body freely. A feeling that was a little too close to jealousy for Charles' liking.
[Marc, 22:34]
Are you interested in exploring one more?
[Emil, 22:35]
im not really into being a test subject normally…
i guess i could make an exception for someone like you ;)
[Marc, 22:35]
I am not doing an experiment here. I know things.
It was not a full lie. Had Charles ever touched another man sexually? No. Had he ever seen an erect dick in person? Also no. But had he done lots and lots of internet research ever since he had seen Damiano David perform at the Eurovision Song Contest? Possibly, yes.
[Emil, 22:36]
i can be quite dominating ive been told. wouldnt want to hurt u
[Marc, 22:37]
You can hurt me all you want.
[Emil, 22:37]
u really want to bottom on ur first exploration? thats adventurous^^
[Marc, 22:38]
I would for you.
In shock Charles snapped from the weird daze he had been in and stared at the lit up display and the last message he had sent.
God, what the fuck was he doing here?
This was Max.
Granted Max did not know it was him.
Yet, still, this was Max! Max!
Almost in horror Charles switched his phone into airplane mode before he could receive another message. He tried his best to ignore the hard-on in his shorts as he got up to brush his teeth.