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nurse-floyd · 6 months ago

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Broken Promises - Part 2

Max Verstappen x Leclerc!Reader

Anon request: I wanted to make a request for an angst by Charles Leclerc, where they have an argument because he has been very distant but he doesn't want to accept it and end up saying hurtful things without knowing how to fix things later.

I took this request and ran with it deciding it would be a good continuation of this fic

Warning: mentions of crash, ICU and hospital stays. Angst with a sweet ending.

The evening spent with Max had been amazing, if you were being honest you dreaded going back to your apartment to the loud noise and people and just wanted to spend it by the ocean with him. He managed to convince you…or maybe it was the birthday cake that was waiting. It was definitely the cake.

He led you back to your apartment and you managed to sneak back in, Arthur and Lorenzo had kept your guests entertained and told them you needed a moment. Turns out the break was exactly what you needed, and of course you were still mad at your brother but it didn’t matter tonight. You smiled as Max brought out your cake and you made a wish before blowing out your candles. The pair of you cut a slice to save to enjoy later when all of your guests had gone for the night.

The next morning you woke up to a text from Charlies and your bad mood started all over again.

Charlie: I hope you enjoyed the night, Arthur and Lorenzo said it was good. I’m so sorry once again.

You didn’t care for his apologies. You were done with him and his promises.

He must have seen that you’d opened his message but didn’t reply because the next thing you knew his caller ID was lighting up your screen.

“What?”

“Is that any way to speak to your brother, sœurette?”

The tone of his voice just irritated you in a way only one of your brothers could. How could he speak to you like that after how he treated you yesterday.

“What do you want, Grand frère?” You almost spat the pet name you use for him.

“I told you I was sorry, y/n. Did you have a good time?”

“No, Charlie. I didn’t. I wanted you there. You promised me. Arthur and Lorenzo were there and Max. The only reason I didn’t cancel was because he convinced me.”

Charles knew there was no point arguing with you further when you were like this and he’d been beating himself up ever since he’d sent that text; but duty called. He had to work and he couldn’t get out of it, especially with how last minute his team had called him in.

He sighed, “will I be seeing you at the race this weekend?”

“Yes. Unlike you, I keep my promises. I’ll be there, but not for you Charlie. I’m going for Max.”

“Y/n wait-”

You didn’t bother listening to what he had to say, “goodbye Charles.” You hung up, cringing at the use of his full name. You never called him Charles.

Max walked into the kitchen where you were sitting at the breakfast bar and kissed you as he passed. “Was that Charles?”

“Yeah, just asking if I was coming to the race this weekend.”

“You need to for-”

“If you say forgive him so help me Verstappen,” you warned slightly playfully but also not wanting or willing to forgive your brother just yet.

He held his hands up in surrender, “just, don’t give him too much of a hard time, he’s probably been beating himself up over it.”

You knew Max was right, but still he’d hurt you. Two days later as you made your way through the paddock holding onto Max’s hand you decided to forgo seeing Charles, he was probably too busy anyway. You both made your way to the Red Bull hospitality tent avoiding Ferrari and Charles at all costs.

Luck, however, wasn’t in your favor. Charles had heard about your arrival and seen it on his socials. He’d seen you in your Red Bull jacket and baseball cap, not a hint of Ferrari red on you. Usually you’d have a piece of merch from both of the drivers in your life, wanting to support the pair of them; but you knew this would piss him off. This was a final act of defiance to show how much you were still angry with him.

You knew you’d gone too far when you saw a red shirt moving through the crowd of blue. Charles was in your face before you had a chance to react, “Why are you doing this?” your brother asked. You’d never seen him look so angry and hurt; maybe now he’d understand how you felt the last three years. “I’m your brother and you’re not even supporting me, how is that going to look to the fans?”

“To the fans? Is that all you care about? Maybe now you know how it feels to have your own sibling not show up for you. Besides, I’m not here to only support you Charlie, Max is my boyfriend and I support him too. He is just as important to me.”

His face fell, “you know what? I’m done. Do whatever you want y/n but just don’t expect me to be okay with it.”

You couldn’t help the tears that welled up in your eyes as you watched him walk away.

The few people who were around for your argument slowly went back to their business leaving you alone. Charles nearly slammed into Max as he left the tent to prepare for the race.

“Charles?” He called but his friend ignored him. He turned back to see you nearly in tears and rushed to your side.

“What happened?” he asked as he put his arm around you to lead you to somewhere more private, where prying ears couldn’t listen in.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just get you ready for the race, yeah?” You wiped your tears and turned your attention to him.

You made your way to the monitors and placed the headset on your ears, standing with the rest of the Red Bull team as the formation lap began. Then it was lights out.

Max pulled away first, closely followed by Lando, Carlos and Charles. They battled for first place as they inched round the first corner. It always made you nervous seeing your brother so close to the other drivers but thankfully they made it through unscathed.

You could tell Charles was driving aggressively, the way he inched closer to the McLaren’s on the corners and pushed his car to the limit as he overtook them. You watched nervously, trying to focus on enjoying the race, Charles knew what he was doing.

Suddenly, a gasp went through the room and time seemed to go in slow motion as Charles' car clipped the back of Lando's, sending it into a horrific flip. Charles’ car somersaulted through the air before it finally crashed down and skidded to a halt, only stopped by the wall.

Your heart was in your throat as you waited for any signs of life. “What’s going on? Is he responding?” You asked as you all watched on in shock.

“We don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” You called back, you wanted nothing more than to rip the headset off and run to the Ferrari garage. You heard the red flag being called and the cars were called back to the garage, but your focus was on the screens as you watched the medical car rush to the scene.

You didn’t know how much time had passed, but Max had made it back and was at your side. He walked you over to the Ferrari garage where you were met with red rimmed eyes as they tried to get any information from the track medics. Max could tell you were in shock. He kept tight hold of you, his touch a grounding presence as you waited for any news.

One of Charles’ engineers made his way over to you and Max as he noticed you standing there. “The medics are with him now, he’s alive but he’s unconscious. They’re working on getting him out.”

You finally let the tears you’d been holding fall. If it weren’t for Max holding you up you would have fallen to the floor right there. The race was called off, none of the drivers wanting to continue after that.

You were in a state of panic, your breaths coming in short painful gasps. You wanted nothing more than to be with your brother. “I need to go with him. Let me go!” You cried.

Max held you tight against his chest, his own face etched with concern for his friend. “We’ll go to the hospital. I’ll get us there, okay? He’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“You don’t know that,” you looked up at him, tears still streaming freely down your face. Your mind was a whirlwind of guilt and worry. The last words you’d both spoken to each other ran over and over through your head. You couldn’t let this stupid argument be the last thing you both said to each other.

When you got to the hospital, the news wasn’t what you wanted to hear. You wanted nothing more than to go into his hospital room and see him sitting up; to be able to tell him how sorry you were and how you hated fighting with him. The news wasn’t good though. Your brother was in the ICU, unconscious and his condition though stable was critical. You sat in the waiting room, your hand in Max’s as you waited for a nurse to bring you back to see your brother.

Hours felt like days before a doctor and nurse finally approached you and Max. They updated you on his injuries and you were finally allowed to see him. Your heart broke as you saw him through the window hooked up to various tubes, machines and wires.

You hid your face in Max’s chest as your tears fell once more, not being able to look at how broken he looked. You weren’t sure how you even had any tears left to shed.

“I should have been there for him. I shouldn’t have said those things. He wouldn’t have been driving so recklessly -“

Max cut you off, “we all drive like idiots sometimes, it’s the nature of the sport. This wasn’t your fault. He knows how much you love him.”

You nodded, knowing he was right but the guilt was still there.

“Do you want to go in and see him? I can come with you or stay out here?” Max asked.

You nodded and gripped your boyfriend's hand tighter as you both entered his ICU room. All you could do was sit and wait and pray. Pray for Charles to wake up, pray for a chance to make things right.

You sat by his side, never leaving. You barely slept, your eyes fixed on your brother, willing with everything you had for him to wake up. As the days went by the news was getting better, the machine breathing for him was removed and he was showing signs of recovery, but he still hadn’t woken up.

It was late into the third night when you felt his hand tighten around yours. You thought you had imagined it at first but your heart leapt when his fingers twitched around yours once more and his eyes began to flutter open. You jumped to your feet, tears flowing down your face once more but this time out of relief.

“Charlie?” You called hopefully, your voice thick with emotion.

Charles blinked against the harsh bright lights, disoriented but a small smile came across his lips as his gaze landed on yours.

He coughed weakly, his voice raspy from disuse, “y/n?”

“I’m here. I’m right here, Charles,” you reassured, smoothing his hair back.

He looked at her with a small smile playing at his lips despite everything he’d just been through, “you’re wearing a Ferrari hoodie?”

You let out a shaky laugh, tears still streaming down your face, “couldn’t exactly be representing Red Bull at a time like this.”

He laughed, followed by a groan.

“I’m sorry, Charlie. I am so sorry for everything. For my birthday and the fight…”

Charles squeezed your hand weakly, “I’m sorry too. I should have been there, I promised and the fight at the race…I just wanted your support as well. I didn’t realize how much I’d hurt you.”

“None of that matters now. I’m just glad you’re awake. I just need you to be okay.”

Charles nodded, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’ll be okay and I promise I will make it up to you,” he held up his pinky which you linked with yours.

You both stayed like that for a moment, your hand clasped in his. Max stood at the doorway happy to see his friend awake and the pair of you making up.

As the doctors finished their checks and left the room, you sat down beside Charles, holding his hand.

“You scared the shit out of me, you know? Why were you driving like a dumbass?”

Charles let out a small chuckle, “not my finest moment, huh?”

“No, but you’re going to be okay and that’s all that matters. We can figure everything else out later.”

Charles nodded, his grip on your hand growing a bit stronger. “Yeah, we will. Together.”

You leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Together.”

The road to recovery wasn’t going to be easy for him but you knew he’d be back to racing and annoying you in no time. He was going to be okay and you two would work through your issues when he was better. That’s all that mattered.

#f1 #formula 1 #formula one #max verstappen #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen imagine #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc imagine #leclerc!reader #max verstappen x leclerc!reader #mine #beth writes #my writing

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zyonsay · 11 months ago

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Hello! Could i ask for some super niche things about max's relationshoip w his bf? Thankl you so much :DD

Niche Relationship Hcs MV1

Fem aligned people may read but not f3tishize my work!!

Summary: The title!

Reader: Male/Genderneutral

Warnings: None

Now playing: 'Salvatore' by Lana del Rey

AN: Hey anon! Sorry for taking so long to make this... I try to do request in order they were sent in and i got really busy in the last few weeks! I hope you like it nevertheless <3

Max’s schedule is annoyingly busy, he’d rather be with you than having to attend press conferences and PR related appointments. But, no matter how busy he gets, he will always leave you a small note on your bedside table or on the fridge door. ‘Hey baby! Hope you have a great day, can’t wait to see you in the evening!’, along with a scribbly smiley and a few hearts.

I’ve mentioned this in all the Hcs I’ve ever written about him, BUT: He’ll always be touching you in some way. They are light, innocent touches like a hand on your back while you’re walking through a crowded area or his head on your shoulder while you’re cooking him some soup while he’s sick.

THE shirt. On your very first date, Max had worn a light blue dress shirt, which accentuated the blue hues in his eyes perfectly. Sadly, at the end of the night he accidentally spilled red wine on it. The Bordeaux red liquid left terrible stains on the light fabric, the only thing he could do was throw it in the bin, but this was THE shirt he wore on his first date with you, he could never throw it away! This snowballed into a running joke and to this day, the shirt remains in a picture frame on the wall. Whenever you have guests over, they’ll ask about it and Max loves an excuse to talk about you guys’ first date.

The dutch definitely likes to spoil you, so loads of gifts come naturally when dating him. But it’s not in a show-off type of way, he doesn’t just randomly buy you a sports car or another 4’000-dollar Bengal cat. It’s smaller, more practical gifts. Your favorite perfume is empty? He picked up another bottle of it when he went grocery shopping. You lost your favorite pen? Not even a day after there’s a new pack of the same ones on your desk, doesn’t matter if you’ve already found the ‘lost’ pen, which actually just rolled under your bed. Max loves seeing that shy little grin on your face when you tell him that he didn’t need to buy it.

A sort of ritual you and Max began was playing Mario Kart. Yes, when you get bored you two play on the switch together, but it’s become a tradition to play it the night before the Quali race. It’s some good old lighthearted fun, to settle down and relax before the stressful weekend began.

Even if Max himself isn’t a great cook himself, he loves to create dishes with you. If you know a lot of things about cooking (or maybe you’re a chef), he’ll ask many questions and try to get better. Believe it or not, this man couldn’t cook an egg when you two first got together!

Max travels often, either for Races or different press conferences, there’s always something up. He likes travelling by plane, but usually he sleeps through the flight. But there’s a very specific reason for that! The dutch likes to sew, he used to watch his mother sew his karting suits together when he tore it. You on the other hand, struggled with it. You never knew how long the thread had to be, or which setting you needed to use on the sewing machine. But, Max gladly helped you and with your new set of skills you had sewn him a pillow, as a small gift. It was a tiny bit wonky, but it came from your heart and he appreciated that. Before every flight, especially when you can’t accompany him on it, he’ll spray a little bit of your perfume on the pillow. As soon as he rests his head against it while gazing at the clowds, he sinks in your sweet scent. He’ll fall asleep swiftly, with a gentle smile on his face.

#ZyonsRequests #male reader #f1 x male reader #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #male reader insert #max verstappen x male reader #reader insert #x reader #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen fic #f1 imagine #f1 fic #gender neutral reader #x male reader #male!reader #male x male #gay

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silvervioletvalentine · 1 year ago

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🦋!Starstruck! Part 2!🦋

Pairing: Max verstappen x Supermodel Cherrie

Word count: 7.3k

Summary: in which he’s her kind of boyfriend but not yet boyfriend . Featuring a night out with some horrifying realisations. He’s really gotta ask her to be his girl before somebody else does.

Warnings: none? Fluff mainly . I think. Idek. Not serious at all really. Enjoy, Bye bye!

Max was having a horrible , stomach turning, sinking feeling of regret over something that hadn't even happened yet.

They hadn't even made it to the club , where they were meeting a few of the other drives for a night out , and already he just wanted to drag home his beautiful, not girlfriend but really wanted her to be his girlfriend , but he was too damn chicken to fully ask her to make it official yet.

So really, it was his own fault that he was feeling so worried over how the rest of the night was going to go, because taking his supermodel , not yet girlfriend to get her drunk with Charles, Pierre and Lando , two out of the three that she had hooked up with before, was not leaving him with very good thoughts or feelings at all.

He was holding onto cherries hand tightly , lagging behind her as she practically dragged him down the darkened street to where the neon lit club was.

The closer they got , the more whinier max got too.

Cherrie was simply raising a perfectly shaped brow at her, totally not boyfriend, because the whimp had yet to ask her to be, kinda boyfriend .

Feeling like she knew had a extra child to deal with instead of one. sometimes it was easier to take her five year old daughter out than it was the world champion.

Really, it was no surprise that Star and Max now got along so well. The five year old now had a man child to play with. She was loving every minute of it, dragging max around with her everywhere and demanding he do this and that with her.

Everyday that he had taken star out for the day while Cherrie was busy doing photoshoots somewhere, he would spoil her already spoilt rotten child even more.

Just last weekend Cherrie had come home after a girls night with her friends to find max dressed in a pink , sparkly fairy costume while her five year old was dressed like Peter Pan. They had cut out a large black shadow from paper and attached it to the ceiling fan so that it spun around with them.

And well, Cherrie had been tipsy but nothing could have prepared her for the sight of her not so boyfriend , but will be soon boyfriend , jumping off her expensive couches and landing face first onto the rug while dressed like tinkerbell.

Her daughter giggling hysterically as she jumped down onto his back and declared him 'dead' before ripping off his sparkly wings like the little psychopath that she was.

But she loved it. She truly did.

She loved seeing her usually hard to please daughter being so taken by max, despite the snarky comments and mean attitude she has, max had managed to match her personality perfectly. Now instead of one troubleMaker, she had two.

But one night , she just wanted one night out with him, no costumes and no kids clinging onto them like a baby monkey all day long. Max may have loved being followed around by little star twenty four seven, but Cherrie had put up with it for five long years.

And now she had finally, sort of , gotten herself a soon to be boyfriend , one that she wanted to go out and have fun with. To meet up with their friends and get drunk and do stupid shit while they were still young.

Was that really so much to ask for? Apparently the answer was a loud 'I want to go home!' From her anti social lover who would rather be cuddling with her five year old daughter , and watching Disney movies with her than hanging out with his own friends.

"Max! Stop whining . Otherwise I'll need to drink tequila instead of vodka just to put up with you!" She warned him, giving his side a little shove, grinning up at him as she tried to get him to cheer up.

Not understanding why he was already being so crabby , considering that she was the one currently on her period and feeling like her poor pelvis was being ripped out, yet she wasn't behaving like a baby.

Max frowned back at her, huffing as he pulled her into his side so that he could wrap his arm around her waist instead. Wanting to keep her close.

"You just want to see all your little boyfriends at once!" He scowled at her, grimacing to himself in misery the closer that they got to the club.

Don't get him wrong, he adored the fact that Cherrie was so free in her ways, that she didn't let socitial expectation pull her down. She did what she wanted, when she wanted without any hesitation.

She was loud, proud and free. Sometimes the blunt way she talked about things that most people were too uncomfortable to talk about, had even him blushing. Him! Who was as blunt as a fucking toothpick!

But it was different with Cherrie because she had absolutely no filter at all. She didn't even think before she said something, it just came out of her mouth without any fear of the consequences.

Most of the time it left max being the one to butt into the tense conversations she had accidentally made by running her big mouth off, swiftly changing the subject before she could get him into a fight with someone simply because she had pissed somebody off again for her own entertainment.

But max loved her and he would do anything for her, he adored all the good things and all the bad things. Loved that she was so comfortable in her sexuality and spoke her mind.

He just wished that she hadn't been so sexually free with two other f1 drivers as well.

It kind of made him want to tear their eyes out so that they could never look at her again, knowing that they knew what the love of his life's pussy felt like made him want to kill them both.

A bit of a exaggeration but still... Charles and Pierre had gotten to fuck his soon to be girlfriend , before he ever had.

It just didn't sit right with him at all.

So no, he really wasn't looking forward to spending the night with Them. Lando being the only driver there that she hasn't sucked tongues with.

He was feeling a little jealous and territorial. He just couldn't help it.

He was just a man. A man that was crazily in love with a crazily beautiful supermodel that was way out of his fucking league too. He was bound to be a little on edge, especially since, technically... she wasn't his girlfriend yet.

Even though they spent almost everyday together and star now had her own bedroom in Max's apartment too. He had met her family and she had met his. Their lives were intertwined perfectly , and anybody that saw them would assume that they were on the road to get married, unable to believe that they weren't even officially together yet.

Totally his fault but still... did he really deserve to be tortured with a night out with the two drivers that she had sex with before she met him?

Was this his karma for pushing Charles off the track that time?

Well, the asshole should call it even really. Max made him lose a race and Charles had his dick sucked by Max's dream woman. And soon to be girlfriend.

No. He wasn't bitter of jealous at all. Nada. He was feeling completely fine.

"I wouldn't say little.." Cherrie joked, unable to stop herself. Finding his petty jealously more than amusing.

She lived for drama, sue her. She was a top model , having men fighting over her was a beautiful plus side of her job.

Plus she knew that max was it for her, she could feel it in her heart and in her loins that she didn't , and wouldn't want anybody but him again.

Still, she couldn't help but tease him a little. She hasn't even known him when she had hooked up with Pierre and Charles .

She had still been in her hoe faze , tequila and beautiful European men? How could she ever say no to that?

She was but a woman. Who loved sex. Plus it was so long ago now. None of it mattered to her anymore , she could barely even remember the nights she spent with them. They had all been drunk .

Cherrie didn't need to drink any alcohol to get turned on by max . In fact , he was the only man that she had ever fucked while being completely sober. To her, that spoke volumes.

She loved him and she knew for a fact that he was in love with her too, she was simply just waiting for him to stop playing chicken and just make things official between them already.

But until he did, she was going to torture him a little.

Who knows, maybe it would help push the commitment on A little quicker .

She giggled to herself as she pulled max into the club, smiling prettily at the bouncers who easily let them past as soon as they saw her face.

Max was still pouting behind her, keeping a handful of the back of her dress in his hand so that he didn't lose her as she pushed through the crowed to get to the vip section.

"I could have stayed home making pasta necklaces with star." He grumbled with a deep frown on his face , watching cherries face light up as she spotted the drivers waving them over. "Why did I have to come?"

Cherrie just smirked at him as they climbed up the small stairs that led them to their private booth up top, waving at a excited Lando with a laugh.

"Because you're my ..." she let her words hang on as she side eyed max with a small smirk "friend." She said unable to keep a straight face.

Max immediately shot her a glare "do not call me your friend Cherrie." He snapped at her, rolling his eyes when she giggled slyly, simply shrugging her shoulders at him. Enjoying winding him up.

"Well, you know what you have to do. But until then.." she sighed dramatically , patting his shoulder "you're my best friend." She told him mischievously before quickly hurrying off to their table to greet their friends happily.

Leaving max to huff and puff his way over on his own, hating that she was right . He just needed to ask her to be his girlfriend , to never even consider touching another guy ever again.

So why was it so hard for him to do so?

He frowned as he watched Pierre and Charles immediately stand up to hug her affectionately. Their eyes never leaving her as they took in the supermodel in her tiny , silver slip dress .

"Cherrie! You look even more beautiful than the last time I seen you!" Pierre flatters her with compliments as he held her hand above her head, giving her a twirl as he admired her with a fond grin. The two having grown quite close during their own small 'adventure' together.

Cherrie just giggled, batting her eyelashes at him jokingly "I know, it's like magic. Everyday I just get hotter." She sighed as though it was a burden making them both laugh "it's a curse really. I mean how much hotter can I get?" She joked as she took a seat beside a grumpy max.

Charles laughed at her arrogance , used to it, passing her a tray with three shot glasses on it. Knowing that she wouldn't be wanting to leave this club sober tonight.

"I also ask myself that question everyday." He said struggling to Maintain a straight face. Picking up his own shot glass and tapping it against cherries as they both threw the vodka back into their mouths quickly.

Cherrie didn't even wince.

Instead she just picked up the next shot and downed that one too before seeing Max's wide eyes beside her as he watched her effortlessly down them all like it was water.

"You want one?" She offered to him, pulling landos tray over to them. Ignoring the loud 'hey!' She got from the driver, just sticking her tongue out at him like a child.

Max just shook his head , smiling a little as he gently brushed her long hair over her shoulder. Knowing how irritated she would get if the curls got stuck to her lip gloss again.

"Nope. I'm having a whiskey. Did you eat something before we came out?" He asked her in light concern knowing what a lightweight she was. Drinking on a empty stomach was a hard no.

Humming , she nodded her head . "Yeah. I had the last burrito that was in your fridge." She casually told him, knowing fully well that he had made it for himself.

Max looked at her in betrayal "my burrito? Cherrie.." he whined , running a hand over his face in exasperation.

"I made you pasta. You just needed to heat it up!" He exclaimed, more amused than anything because she always did this.

If she said she wanted pasta , she would take one look at his food and suddenly decide that she wanted what he was eating instead.

She just shrugged, both of them oblivious to the amused and surprised looks that they were getting from the other drivers at the table.

Charles looking on in disbelief at how close and familiar they were together , feeling as though he had missed a important chapter out of their book.

"I didn't want pasta anymore. I gave it to star instead. She loved it. Well done." She told him with a smile, picking up yet another shot and throwing it back quickly. Nodding her head along to the music that was playing in the club.

Max flushed from her simple praise, yet he still flicked her elbow with a slight scoff escaping him in disbelief.

"Then why did you ask me to make it then?! You could have just asked me to make you a burrito as well!" He exclaimed , not understanding women at all.

Cherrie rolled her eyes at him "it's not the same max. But it was a good burrito. If this racing thing doesn't work out you could totally become my personal chef. Id pay you well." She told him with a grin before finally looking away from him and noticing the looks that the others were giving them.

Pierre looked at them in shock "are you two-" he motioned between the two of them with his finger, eyes blown wide in disbelief .

Meanwhile max was chuckling to himself, shaking his head in amusement . "Racing thing." He repeated her words underneath his breath with a grin.

he was already her personal chef, Cherrie couldn't cook to save her own life. It was up to him to keep her and little star fed.

The poor kid had been eating frozen waffles and frozen pizza for far too long. Max enjoyed seeing the amazement on the five years olds face whenever he made her a new dish to try for dinner.

They had also made it a new little ritual for them to do when Cherrie was busy too, max would take them both out to different restaurants from different cultures and let her try new foods. She loved it.

Max just loved spending time with her. Even if the five year old still scared the absolute shit out of him sometimes. He was finding that her snarky, sarcastic and quite frankly mean, attitude was a perfect match for his own blunt , and also slight mean attitude too.

She was turning into a mini max and he loved it. Really he did.

Max looked over at Charles and pierre with narrowed eyes, speaking up before Cherrie could call them 'friends' again.

"We've been spending a lot of time together. We're taking it slow." He told them simply as he downed his own glass. Raising a eyebrow at Cherrie when she started giggling.

Smirking to herself in amusement as she leaned back in her seat, "yeah. He's gonna wait till I'm married and have my own kids , then he'll ask me to be his girlfriend." She joked, taking the piss out of him with a shit eating grin on her face.

Lando looked at max in disbelief "still? It took you months to say hello and now it's taking months to ask her to be your girlfriend?" He said out loud judgmentally "do you want me to ask her for you?" He offered with a cheeky grin on his face.

Max just rolled his eyes at him "no thank you. I'll do it when I'm ready thank you." He muttered , glaring over at the giggling idiots opposite him.

"Something funny?" He challenged them, downing the rest of his drink in one go.

Charles, never one to back down from pissing him off, merely smirked back at him and let out a amused laugh . Eyes flickering between the odd pairing in front of her, both amused and slightly (okay more than slighty) jealous , that max was the one that she had stayed for.

He really couldn't blame him of course, who wouldn't want a woman like Cherrie by their side? He was just shocked that a woman like Cherrie wanted a max by her side, when she could literally have anybody she wanted . Woman or man, she was the IT girl . The woman of every straight mans dreams.

And definitely a woman that had appeared in his own dreams over the years as well. Then he had gotten to meet her in what seemed so long ago now, having spent the night dancing and drinking in the New Years with her .

He had entered the new year with his head between her thighs , finally joining the mile high club after she had found out that he hadn't done it yet.

She had given him the best weekend of his life. So it was safe to say that he had been a little dejected and a little sad when he had woken up on that Monday morning to her side of the bed empty. Not even a note saying her goodbyes.

Charles had found out from Instagram that she had flown straight back home, and by the time he had managed to stumble his way back to the airport to fly home from Vegas , Cherrie had already been pictured in a different country with a different man.

Pierre had somehow managed to find her in a club and have his own fun weekend with the supermodel as well.

Charles hadn't known whether to laugh or cry when both the drivers found themselves pouting over lunch together as they complained to each other about how she had ditched the both of them without any hesitation once she had gotten her fix.

Which was apparently f1 drivers.

It was a little funny now. Not so much at the time since both pierre and Charles had been pussy drunk and convinced that she was the love of their lives that weekend. That they had a connection with her when she had just been playing them both to cure her own Boredom .

Because they had forgotten that girls were players too.

"I never thought I'd see you again after Vegas. I wasn't expecting you to show up with max of all people." Charles mused, looking between the odd pairing in front of him. Wondering what Cherrie even saw in max that she just hadn't seen in either him or pierre.

It certainly can't have been for his good looks, Charles didn't think of himself as arrogant but he liked to think that he beat max on the 'hot guy' scale. Thank you very much.

Cherrie just let out a giggle, already on her way to getting drunk as she emptied all of the shot glasses on the table without even blinking an eye.

Pushing her perfectly curled hair over her shoulder again, she smiled over at the Ferrari driver "the plan was to never see you again." She bluntly let him know, not meaning to be brash but just telling it as it is.

She looked between Charles and Pierre in slight amazement as she came to a conclusion , gasping out a little giggle .

No filter on her mouth whatsoever as she said what came to mind "isn't it a little weird that I've seen three out of four of you guys dicks?" She realised , laughing loudly when she caught the almost traumatised look on Max's face.

He pushed her shoulder scoldingly while Pierre and Charles giggled along with her. Enjoying the disgusted look on the redbull drivers face.

Pierre smirked "you did more than just look." He reminded her slyly.

Cherrie pointing at him with a large grin on her face "that's true! You know I didn't think that I had a type-" she said as she looked between the drivers around the table in amazement at herself "but clearly I do!" She exclaimed , kind of proud of herself for bagging such beautiful men.

"Don't sound so proud of yourself." Max grumbled to her with a scowl , glaring at her giggling figure beside him. Quickly pouring himself another glass of whiskey. Feeling his skin crawl at the thought of her with anybody that wasn't him.

Why , out ot all the drivers, did it have to be Pierre and Charles that she had hooked up with? The best looking ones on the grid.

He glared over at them as well, wishing that they were ugly so that he didn't have to worry so much.

Lando looked between all of them with a frown, wishing that he had been in Vegas with them.

"I'm feeling a little left out. I'm the only one who's dick you haven't seen!" He exclaimed with a slight pout, jokingly, trying to get a rise of out max.

It worked . Max immediately scoffed at him "and it's going to stay that way , shrimp dick!" He snapped at him.

Wishing that he had just stayed home and had a arts and crafts date with star instead . That sounded way more fun than this torture.

Cherrie was just giggling in her seat , humming along to the music , easily getting distracted as she looked down at the dancing crowd longingly . Sipping on the cocktail glass faster , wanting to have some fun.

"Can I volunteer cherrie?" Lando joked.

Max pushed him out of his chair with one smooth shove to his head. Before casually leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest , as though he hadn't flung poor Lando from his seat.

Lando was laid out like a starfish on the floor, everyone laughing as they looked down at him. Pierre taking pictures of Max's pissed off face and lando's gaping one as he looked at his friend in betrayal.

"Hey!" He whined as he pulled himself back into his chair, Cherrie patting the top of his head in sympathy. Straightening out his curls for him as she did so.

Max pulled a face at him "don't hey me! Stop making it sound like she's collecting drivers!" He exclaimed, looking at Cherrie. Expecting her to be upset or something.

Instead the love of his life was just giggling like a little kid. Cheeks flushed from the alcohol as she grinned at them all happily . Not ashamed at all.

"Like Pokemon cards!" She gasped out making the other theee drivers laugh hysterically .

Max wasn't as amused. Rolling his eyes at her as he pulled the bottle of tequila that Pierre passed her away from her reach, side eyeing the others with a grimace.

Knowing that's it was the tequila that had gotten her so horny last year that she had gotten herself a two for one with Charles and Pierre.

There was no way In hell that he was ever letting her drink that shit near them again. Or any other male athlete for that matter. He just didn't want to test his luck again.

She was finally, almost , his. He wasn't going to let some horn dog drivers get in his way of keeping Cherrie by his side forever . She was the woman he was going to marry someday, he was sure of it.

And just because she had sucked their dicks once or twice in the past, didn't mean shit to him. Because they only got a weekend with her.

He had the rest of his life with her if he was lucky. That was something to feel pretty smug about.

She hadn't walked out on him. Hadn't left on a Monday. He got her all week long.

Whenever , wherever. They were meant to be together. Just like Shakira said.

"I can't tell if you've downgraded or not over time. Weren't you collecting footballers a few years ago?" Lando asked her curiously , the two having become good friends. Because now that max was her, kind of boyfriend , Lando liked to tag himself along to their dates whenever he could.

Cherrie wasn't offended at all, she had been a hoe. There was no denying it. But a girls got needs and if men could fuck their way through the week then why couldn't she?

She was young, beautiful and had the head game of a pornstar. Of course men wanted her. She had it all.

But something had been missing in her life for so long and as she looked over at a pouting max beside her, she knew just what it was that she had been craving . Had spent so many times going through bodies and kissing someone else's lips in hopes to feel something different.

It was love that she wanted, love that she needed. And she had finally found it in a dutch driver that seemed like a grade a cunt but was actually as needy and lovable as her five year old daughter was.

He was everything that she never knew she needed. He fit into her and stars life perfectly, now all she was waiting for was for him to get over his little stage fright and ask her to be his officially.

Because she wasn't going to do it. Oh no.

She could. But she didn't want to. She wanted to see him sweat a little, to squirm in his seat as he realised that the only reason he had her right now was because she was choosing to stay.

She could have any man she wanted. Including the ones sat at the table with them. His own rivals on the track.

He needed to put in the effort if he was wanted to keep her because she knew her own worth , she knew what she deserved. And that wasn't to be strung along like someone's second choice.

She gave him a couple more hours and she was sure that she'd be leaving this club with a boyfriend , instead of a 'kind of boyfriend'. He just needed a little nudge and a little scare to help give him the confidence he needed to set things straight between them.

Cherrie hummed at landos musings, nodding along in agreement. "You're totally right. I used to be so obsessed with football players but now , apparently I like men who can't kick a ball to save their own lives." She giggled as Pierre and Charles immediately tried to defend their lack of football skills.

Charles looking offended "I can play! I'm just better as a ..." he struggled to find the correct word and excuse.

Max filled it in for him quickly "better not playing it to save yourself the embarrassment. Nobody wants to see you sweating on a field kicking about a ball!"

Cherrie tilted her head a little at that, letting out a little noise that had max looking over at her in disbelief .

Seeing the slightly sheepish biting of her bottom lip, he scoffed loudly . "You can't be serious Cherrie! When I played football with star you spent the whole hour laughing at me! That wasn't sexy for you at all!" He reminded her, scowling darkly .

Cherrie just laughed "that's because she beat your ass at it! Five to star, and zero to you!" She also reminded him smugly "plus you kept your shirt on...I might have felt different otherwise.." she sighed out dreamily, looking off into the distance as she pictures all the sexy drivers playing football shirtless together in the sun.

It was a nice little dream. Max didn't agree at all.

"It was fucking freezing Cherrie! You wouldn't have been turned on if my nipples froze and I had to get them cut off or something!" He snapped back at her throwing back his whiskey quickly . Missing star more and more.

He could have been making friendship necklaces out of pasta with her, but instead he was stuck watching the love of his life reminisce about fucking Pierre and Charles and daydream about them playing football without their shirts on.

Not his ideal night at all.

He felt like he was living in a nightmare. And another two glasses of whiskey later, Cherrie had finally had enough of them and wandered off to dance with some girls she had met in the bathroom. Leaving him to glare at the remaining drivers around the table coldly.

"So..." Pierre spoke up with a amused grin tugging at his lips. Finding this whole situation hilarious "is it an open relationship then? Because-"

Max inhaled sharply , ignoring landos giggles as he looked between them like he was watching a reality show. Having the time of his life soaking up the drama . Texting updates to the groupchat as the night went on, managing to sneak a picture of a scowling max looking like he wanted to murder Pierre to the group. Giggling to himself .

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I was you." He warned the Frenchman . All plans to play nice now far away from his mind.

Charles had his go at winding him up too "well mate, If it's still not serious between you two , I guess it's okay if I try again with her then? Refresh her memory of our amazing weekend together." He casually stated , a smug smirk on his face as he watched for the Dutchman's reaction closely.

All of them having had far too much to drink to realise that pushing each other buttons was not a good idea.

Max's face darkened as he immediately leaned over the table and lowered his voice threateningly "if you even so much as touch a hair on her head..I will Make sure that you never get on podium again. I mean it Charles." He hissed at him angrily, already twisting in his seat to look down at the dance floor , spotting Cherrie becoming shakira's twin as she shook her hips and danced erotically with her new girlfriends.

Max felt a small smile tug at his lips as he watched her kick some guy away from her with a judgmental look on her face , literally kicking him away with her heel. Not even giving the sucker a second glance before she turned her back on him and continued teaching her new friends how to belly dance.

Pierre hesitantly spoke up while Charles was too busy gaping at mAx with a glare , the two locked in a scowling contest apparently.

Lando snickering as he filmed the two of them without any shame, quickly texting Daniel what was happening next. Wishing that the Australian was there to witness this gold with him.

"And what about me?" Pierre wondered drunkenly.

Max didn't even hesitate "I will throw you into traffic." He told him without any remorse.

Lando gasping out a shocked laugh "max! A bit harsh mate!" He laughed as he patted poor Pierre on the back comfortingly .

"He's only joking. He wouldn't push you in front of a car. He'd be the one driving it." He unhelpfully said to him while smiling .

Max just shrugged "trying to steal my soon to be wife is a bit harsh! Don't you think?!" He shot back, the alcohol doing wonders for his jealously .

Charles let out a mocking laugh, just as drunk as he was . If they were sober, Charles wouldn't have dared to argue with him about Cherrie at all.

But vodka was a bitch and suddenly he was picking a fight .

"How are you ever gonna make her your wife when you can't even ask her to be your girlfriend? Seems like you only know fast on track mate! Cause you're slow as fuck off it! Snails pace!" He pointed at him.

Max slapped his finger away from his face , hard. Getting even madder. Lando was still giggling, looking between the two of them like a bouncing ball, while Pierre uneasily shuffled away , not wanting to get caught in the cross fire. But also not wanting to miss a single thing either.

"Maybe I'll take her to Vegas and marry her there. Maybe I'll book the same suit you had there. Ill fuck her in Same bed that she left you in without a single goodbye!" He brutally reminded him of her quick escape .

"How hard did you cry, mate?!" He mocked back to him as he shoved himself up to his feet in anger.

Charles quickly copying him as they both clenched onto the back of their chairs to stop themselves from falling over , too drunk to realise that trying to fight eachother in a club over a supermodel who only had one man on her mind, was not a good idea.

Oh well.

"Fuck you! She liked me well enough to entertain me the whole weekend!" Charles Shouted at him, ignoring Pierre pulling at his shirt and telling him to sit back down. Lando slapping his arm and telling him to leave them, to let them fight it out 'like men'.

Max saw red "entertain you?!" He repeated with a disbelieving laugh, furious "she's not a fucking comedian for your entertainment Charles!" He shouted back at him.

Glad that they had the private vip booth to themselves so that he could scream at him all he wanted without anyone butting in.

Charles , drunk and smug and lacking common sense. Couldn't help but Antagonise him further "oh trust me I know. There's nothing funny about the way she squirted all over my face when my tongue was in her pussy-"

Lando let out a girly screech, jumping out of the way with wide eyes as they watched max jump across the table and tackle Charles to the floor.

Pulling at his hair and slapping him while Charles smacked him back , the two of them fighting like teenagers girls in high school. Pulling hair and ears , different curses in different languages filling the air around them.

"Oh shit!" Lando laughed as he watched max pinch Charles nose, hard. The Ferrari driver squeaking as he tried to kick him off, Pierre quickly grabbing onto his best friend to pull him away.

Lando didn't bother pulling max away, too busy filming them to send to Danny. Still

Giggling away, throughly enjoying the drama.

Pierre , bless him, was trying to keep them separated ar arms length. His hair a mess as he dodged Charles swinging hands as he cursed out max in both french and Italian .

"Guys come on!" He drunkenly tried to be the peacemaker . Hand on either one of their shoulders to keep them apart , looking between the two of them with blearily eyes "we've all had beautiful-sexy-really hot sex with cherrie. We should be grateful that she gave us all the best nights of our lives! So let's not fight." He said to them, trying to make things better.

He only made things worse.

Max slowly turned his head to look at Pierre in absolute disbelief. Unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I'm going to kill you." He told him calmly before pulling the Frenchman down with him, a girly screech escaping him as he did so

"Not my hair!" He shouted in panic . As they all started fighting on the floor, rolling around and laying bitchy slaps on each other like children.

Meanwhile Cherrie had gotten bored of dancing and came back to the vip section, her eyebrow rising as she looked at the three drivers wrestling on the floor. Casually stepping over them as she held tightly onto her champagne glass, heading over to sit beside Lando .

"What's going on?" She asked him curiously as she leaned back in her seat, pulling her heels off her aching feet for a moment . Pulling out her phone to check the time.

Lando was surprised by how unbothered she seemed, not a ounce of shock or surprise on her face as they both watched max pull Pierre by his ear and Charles by his hair, threatening them in a mixture slurred Dutch and English.

"They're fighting over you." He told the supermodel.

She just nodded her head casually "oh yeah that happens a lot. It was the same with the football players. Lots of noses ended up broken. So dramatic! And they say women are the emotional ones." She tutted, taking a sip from her champagne as she typed out a text to reply to her other model friends asking her if she was going to fashion week.

Both Cherrie and Lando continued to make casual conversation between them while the other three drivers were fighting in front of them. Charles somehow managing to get max in a headlock while Pierre was hastily trying to fix his ruined hair.

Lando hesitated for a moment before asking her quietly "are you- is this serious for you?" He wanted to know "because max is my friend and I don't want you to break his heart. He really loves you cherrie." He told her sincerely.

Cherrie whole being softened as she let out a small smile , laughing lightly as she gazed at max with love in her heart, body and soul.

"I am. I want to fuck him for the rest of my life. I want the sex, the sunrises and the late night talks. I want it all with him Lando." She admitted to him "I love that idiot." She said , meaning it with her whole heart.

Letting out a loud laugh as she watched max grab a drink from the table and throw the champagne all over Charles face ,

"I taught him that move! I did it a few weeks ago to this bitch that called max talentless! She was crying champagne the whole night." She proudly

Told him before finally getting to her feet and breaking them up before any actual damage could be done.

"Okay baby that's enough! Don't waste anymore of that champagne! We can take it home with us!" She shouted at them, pulling max away by his arm like he was a child. Reminding her of when star would throw a tantrum in a store and Cherrie would have to quickly haul her ass out of there.

Max huffed loudly as he turned to look down at her with a scowl "okay that's enough! I've had it with all these dickheads thinking that they've got a chance with you!" He snapped , pissed off and at his wits end.

He took her by her hand and pulled her closer to him , smoothing her hair away from her face as he tried to calm the erratic racing of his heart. Kicking the back of Charles leg so he would stay down without even looking at him.

Cherrie just laughed, looking up at max with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Can I please be your boyfriend? And then your husband at some point?" He pleaded to her, having enough. His fear of rejection gone, too pissed off by Charles comments to hesitate in asking her now.

And it may not have been romantic and it may not have been the best setting to ask her to be his girlfriend, but it did the trick.

Cherrie just laughed and hugged him to her side, giving him a soft kiss to calm him down. Stoking his red cheeks as she pushed his sweaty hair from his face , completely in love with him.

"Sure. Sounds fun." She simply replied, it was that easy. That simple.

Max let out a loud cheer, kissing her again before turning on his feet to grin down at Charles and Pierre smugly .

"Ha! See! All mine!" He laughed in their faces, feeling smug . A weight lifting from his shoulders as he felt her kiss his bicep , her smile directed to him, and him only.

"I win! You lose! I fucking told you! Third times the charm I guess!" He grinned to himself as he tugged on cherries hand to pull her along with him, wanting to ger her home so that he could show her just how happy he was. To show her just how much he loved her without saying a single thing.

"We need to do a photoshoot of our own. Then I'm going to have it blown up on the billboards outside their apartments. Rub it in their stupid faces ." He rambled to her as they waited for their Uber to arrive once he ordered it on his phone . Far too drunk to drive himself, and Cherrie wasn't doing much better either.

With his arm around her shoulder firmly ,she leaned into his side with a content sigh, beaming up at him before biting his bicep gently , heart so full of love for him . Giggling quietly when he flicked her forhead in retaliation. Used to her strangeness by now.

"We could do a nude photoshoot." She suggested to him, wrapping her arms around his waist to cuddle into him. Max squeezing her gently as he kissed the side of her head.

"Absolutely not . They've already seen enough of you naked. Never again." He muttered while stroking his fingers through her hair , knowing how much she liked it.

"I'm going to send them a thousand copies of an X-ray of my ass. With a note telling them to kiss it." He said just as their Uber finally pulled up.

Wrapping his jacket around her to keep her warm as they both stumbled over to their ride, max placing his hand ontop of her head so that she didn't bump it, not moving until she had slid into the seat safely, before sliding in beside her, buckling her belt.

"I love you ya know?" Max told her quietly after a few minutes of quietness between them, both of them fighting not to nod off into a alcohol induced sleep.

Her head falling onto his shoulder as she let out a tired laugh. Kissing his shoulder gently as they snuggled into eachother in the backseat of the car.

"I know." She felt it in everything he did to make her happy. "and I love you. Nobody compares to you for me max. I mean it." She assured him just as quietly , he had her entire heart.

That was more than enough for him. Smiling tearfully to himself as he let out a sigh of pure happiness , holding her close and never wanting to let go again.

They may have had her for a weekend but max had her for the rest of their lives and ever after.

Charles was wrong. He was winning on and off the track too.

He had the most beautiful woman in the world curled up in his lap, kissing his jaw and promising him forever.

He won. Always and forever .

#f1 imagine #formula one imagine #f1 fic #f1 oneshot #formula 1 imagine #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen fic #max verstappen oneshot

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fernandoswarcrimes · 2 years ago

Text

𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓶

Summary: The one where Charles finds out Mick and Lance are bestfriends with Monaco’s very own Princess. Word count: 3.7k Requested: no but I hope you enjoy <3 Warnings: google translate German, otherwise this is nothing but soft wholesome fluff Note: this has been sitting in my pea brain for a WHILE now so please enjoy what I think it’d be like to see Charles with a princess 🫶🏻

Taglist: @totostables @yourmom-lmao @weirdestmentalityphilosopher @dessxoxsworld @aracee

If it was one thing Charles dreaded every season it was the Monaco race.

The one race that always evaded him and seemingly had it out for him like some sort of curse. But atleast he could sleep in his own bed for the weekend that was the only plus.

Some of the drivers decided to get together and have dinner Friday night since most of them lived in Monaco anyways. There were a few who opted out, mostly the older drivers who wanted to rest from the flight in.

But what piqued Charles' curiosity was once the group had got to the restaurant, Esteban explained that Mick and Lance declined the offer to come out with them, claiming that they both seemingly already had plans. It was unlike the two to not go where Esteban went, usually you never saw the trio far apart.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, they’ve been talking about Monaco for a few weeks now so there’s no telling what the two are up to, they said they’d see us tomorrow.” Esteban shrugged as he sat down next to Daniel.

“Maybe they’re at Jimmy’z?” Lando questioned, causing Max to snort. “Mick? Partying?? Yeah I’m sure that’s what he’s doing. Lance on the other hand that’s more believable but not Mick.” The Dutch boy said shaking his head, he had grown up around the German boy and even now he was still shy and kept to himself.

“Maybe they just don’t wanna hangout with us, have you ever thought of that?” Pierre asked, causing Yuki to shove him “be nice, mick is nice guy, maybe he is just busy.” The shortest driver hadn’t spent much time around the German boy but he knew how nice he was just because everyone spoke highly of him.

“Gracelinde please! We’re not supposed to leave the palace!” Mick whisper shouted as he chased after the smaller girl. Lance could only laugh as he followed after the two. “Oh come on Mick, have a little fun there’s no harm in a little exploration stop being a goody two shoes.” He said, patting him on the shoulder before catching up to the blonde, wrapping his arms around her waist as he hoisted her up, swinging her around in circles in the middle of the dead silent street.

Mick sighed as he heard Gracie’s laugh echoing through the night as Lance swung her around. He knew she wasn’t supposed to leave the palace, at least not without supervision of her bodyguards Dimitri and Alexei since it was a security hazard but she had somehow convinced him and Lance to sneak out with her.

Scratch that she convinced Lance to follow her which meant he had no choice but to go with them to make sure the two didn’t get arrested or kidnapped. Which he wouldn’t doubt the two would somehow get themselves into if they weren't being supervised.

Sebastian would be so disappointed if he saw what he was doing right now, he was sure of it.

Mick couldn’t help but be a stickler for rules, he just never felt the need to break them. He wasn’t his dad. Which is why it was stressing him out that the older girl convinced the dark haired boy to sneak out like a they were still fourteen, he was sure if they got caught they’d be in so much fucking trouble.

“Come on guys really let’s just go back already, Grace if your parents find out they’d have our heads that you didn’t take Dimitri and Alexei with you.” He tried reasoning with the bubbly blonde who just looked up at him with a pout once Lance had finally put her back on her feet. “But what if we got ice cream instead? We’re already almost to the main strip” she asked hopefully. “Yeah come on Mick ice cream??” Lance added on mirroring the hopeful look the older girl wore hoping that he’d agree with the Gracie’s idea to get the sweet treat before going back.

Mick just put his hands on his hips as he gave them a disapproving look. Lance wanted to make a comment about it but Gracie had beat him to it.

“You look just like your dad when you make that face.” The smaller blonde blurted out honestly as she pointed a finger at the look he had on his face. Which caused Lance to cover his mouth to keep the laughter at bay. The German boy dropped his hands from his hips as he threw his head back with an exasperated groan. “Gracie!” “What! I’m being honest, you do!” She said, throwing her hands up in a “what” motion.

Mick just sighed knowing she meant well. “If we get ice cream do you promise we will go straight back home?” The blonde boy questioned as he looked down at her, he was trying to think of what Sebastian would do in this situation, he probably wouldn’t have let any of them get as far as they did that’s for sure, but they were already near the ice cream shop so it wouldn’t hurt to just get it anyways before going back, it’d probably make the two listen to him better. “Yes! Swear it!” Gracie shouted, clasping her hands together excitedly.

“Fine, we can get ice cream then, but we’re going straight back to the palace afterwards-” Mick said leaving no room for argument but the blonde girl and Lance had already taken off towards the main road causing him to sigh and follow after them, he could already tell it was going to be a long night.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Gracie was never good at time management. It was something her mother always complained about but it wasn’t the blonde's fault she easily got distracted, she just couldn’t help it. Her grandad always compared her to a bunny rabbit, brain always getting sidetracked by little things never staying on track.

Which is exactly how she ended up stopping at the bakery down the street to get some croissants instead of being on time to meet Lance at the Aston Martin garage like she promised.

After glancing at the clock in the shop, she quickly paid and was soon rushing through the streets, Dimitri and Alexei hot on her heels as they tried their best to keep up and not lose sight of the smaller girl through the crowd of people lining up to watch the race that was due to start in the next forty five minutes.

The blonde princess felt her phone ring causing her to frantically dig in her purse, nearly dropping the ringing device once she pulled it out to answer it. But before she could get a word out the Canadian boy was already speaking through the phone to her.

“Twinkle Toes you said you would be here and you’re not, because I don’t see a five foot blonde ballerina princess standing in the Aston Martin garage right now. Sebastian thinks I was fibbing when I told him I had a friend coming today Gracelinde. You’re making me look so uncool right now.” Lance spoke quickly and quietly through the phone as he paced around the garage, the older German driver found it amusing how worked up the kid was getting over this.

“Lancelot relax, I’m walking into the paddock now. I got a little distracted on my way here. There were these croissants at the bakery down the street and I had to have one you know me. I got you one as well because I’m so nice-“ Gracie said before getting cut off as she ran straight into someone, her phone clattering to the ground as she caught her balance.

Both her and the mystery stranger had the same idea of bending down to pick up the phone because not two seconds later their heads were knocking against each other causing the blonde girl to let out a string of giggles as she took her phone from the stranger's outstretched hand. “I’m so sorry!”

“No no I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going and I should’ve been-“ Charles blurted out before looking at who he bumped into, his words trailing off as he locked eyes with the blue eyed girl he felt his heart catch in his throat as he realized just who she was, it was hard not to know, she was Monaco’s own crown jewel.

Holy shit he just nearly knocked over the fucking princess of Monaco-

“I’m uh- I’m Charles.” He stuttered out holding his hand out which caused the blonde to giggle again as she gently shook his hand. “I know. You drive for Ferrari, they call you il predestinato don’t they?” She questioned, her head tilting to the side as she looked up at him with a smile. Her French accent made the Italian nickname sound even sweeter which nearly made him melt on the spot had it not been for Mick calling out to her as he jogged over.

“Grace! Komm schon, Lance bekommt gleich einen Anfall, du weißt, wie es ihm geht, und Seb will dich kennenlernen.” Come on, Lance is about to have a fit, you know how he is, and Seb wants to meet you. The blonde boy spoke, putting an arm around her shoulder as he started leading her away from Charles after giving him a quick hello and a goodbye, she threw the fellow Monègasque a smile and a wave over her shoulder before focusing back on what Mick was rambling about as the two quickly walked off towards the Aston Martin garage to meet the two drivers.

Charles just watched the two leave, being left with even more questions now than before. He didn’t notice the Aston Martin Guest badge hanging around her neck, nor did he know that Mick and Lance knew the country’s princess let alone were friends with her, or that she knew German. Everything was just shocking him this weekend.

Carlos had seen his teammate standing in the middle of the paddock with a weird look on his face and wondered what was wrong with him, so he decided to go see for himself. “Ay! Cabrón you alright?” He questioned laying a hand on the younger boy's shoulder making him yelp out of fright from suddenly being knocked from his racing thoughts.

“Merde! Carlos don’t scare me like that.” Charles said, pushing the Spanish man’s hand off his shoulder as he hugged his arms close to his chest taking one last glance in the direction where Mick and Gracie had walked off to before looking at Carlos. “I’m fine mate, just a bit jumpy for the race is all.” He lied, he couldn’t tell him it was because he nearly trampled the princess of Monaco. Carlos would never let him live it down and he knew if he told Carlos, that’d just mean Lando would know and then everyone else would too because Lando and Daniel couldn’t keep secrets to save their lives.

“I need to go see Pierre, I will see you before the race mate.” The bright eyed boy said before quickly walking off towards the AlphaTauri garage in search of his best friend, surely Pierre would have advice on his sudden dilemma right?

What could possibly go wrong?

“Pierre! I need your help!” Charles called out once he spotted the Frenchman sitting outside the AlphaTauri motorhome with Yuki talking about god knows what, he didn’t have the time to be curious and ask.

“What did you do now Charles? Scare a girl and embarrass yourself?” Pierre questioned looking up at his best friend through his sunglasses who just stood there frozen causing the light haired boy to raise his eyebrows in question when the Ferrari driver didn’t deny that statement. What had Charles done now, he thought.

“Nevermind- I don’t want to speak to you anymore. I’m going to find Max, he won't make fun of me.” Charles said, turning on his heel with a pout and walked off over to the Red Bull garage. “Charles what the- did you really scare a girl!? I was being sarcastic!” Pierre called out, throwing his hands up in confusion, causing Yuki to look between the two with a questioning look not really understanding what was happening.

Charles quickly made sure to send the Dutch boy a text explaining he was coming by to talk to him.

Max was already standing outside waiting for him after getting the text, because he’d always help Charles when he needed it. “Is everything okay mate? You look a little pale.” Max questioned looking Charles over, he knew the Monaco race always stressed his emotional support rival out but this didn’t look like it was that. This looked like something more serious.

“Inearlytrampledtheprincessofmonacoafewminutesago-“ Charles blurted out, frantically as he ran his hands through his hair, the reality finally setting in for him of what a disaster it could’ve been while the Dutch boy just stood there dumbfounded not catching a single word of what Charles just said.

“Listen, I know you speak three languages but that was not any of them, try again, slower this time so I can actually help you with your problem.” Max said, placing his hands on his hips waiting for him to repeat what he just said, this time more clear.

Charles took a deep breath before explaining, “I was on my way to find Carlos and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I bumped into this girl-“ Max nodded following along failing to see the problem, Charles could charm any girl he pleased even if he was a little bit dumb, that was part of his ever growing charm. “-and when I handed her phone back to her because I completely knocked it out of her hand, I looked at her and I realized it was Gracelinde Grimaldi the fucking princess of this country mate! I nearly knocked her to the ground and I couldn't stop stuttering, I introduced myself and she said she knew who I was which just made me panic even more.”

Max gave Charles a deadpan look as he listened to him ramble, because only he could manage to be that unfortunate, of all the people he could’ve nearly knocked over of course it had to be the literal Princess of Monaco. “You do realize who you are right mate? Ofcourse she knows who you are, everyone in fucking Monaco does. Did you atleast apologize to her?” He questioned which made Charles let out a noise of offense “of course I did mate! Who do you take me for?” He questioned before pausing “don’t answer that I am already embarrassed enough, I went to Pierre and he just bullied me before I could even explain what happened.”

Max stayed silent for a few seconds, taking in all the information Charles had thrown at him. “Well, did you atleast have a conversation with her?” He asked, crossing his arms as he tried to see how Charles could redeem himself after this. If the girl wasn’t mad then there wasn’t anything to be freaking out about all he had to do was give her a charming smile and move on with his day he didn’t get why he was freaking out so bad.

“I- no. Mick showed up and pulled her away to go see Lance and Seb, I think? He was speaking in German and that’s all I understood.” The Monègasque boy said, throwing his hands up trying to get his friend to see the bigger picture of this delima.

“Wait Mick and Lance- you think that’s where they were Friday night?” Max questioned after Charles pointed out that Mick and Lance seemingly knew the girl, and both were absent from dinner; everything was starting to make sense to him now.

“I mean I guess? It’d make sense. I just don’t get how they’d know her, they don’t live in Monaco?” Charles questioned, causing Max to shrug. “So what’s your game plan? You’ve got to talk to her again after the race.”

Charles shrugged, scuffing his shoe against the ground. “I think I embarrassed myself enough for today mate, you know? I don’t want to make it worse by trying to talk to her and getting too nervous to speak again!”

Max wanted to strangle Charles.

Mick also wanted to strangle Gracie.

She had not stopped talking about Charles ever since he pulled her away to go meet Lance and Seb. He didn’t know she’d be so fascinated by the fellow Monaco native, If he had he probably would’ve introduced the two sooner but he figured she had already met the Ferrari driver before remebering how Charles got invited to the palace a few years ago.

“He seems like a really nice guy Micky!” Gracie said, looking up at the taller boy. “He is Grace, you can talk to him after the race if you like, but we promised your parents you’d be at the Aston Martin garage with Lawrence before the race started so that’s where we have to be.”

The blonde just nodded with a small sigh knowing he was right as they walked inside, Lance letting out a shout of relief at seeing the two. “Where have you been??” He asked, pulling the smaller blonde into a tight hug. “I told you! I got distracted at the shop and then I ran into someone and dropped my phone-“

“It was Charles, Charles ran into her.” Mick filled him in which Lance just looked at her like everything suddenly made sense now, of course Charles would be the one who accidentally ran into her and vice versa, the two were so oblivious sometimes.

“Oh! Your croissant!” Gracie said, pulling the paper bag out of her bag and handing it to him with a wide smile as she excitedly told him. ”It's a chocolate one, you said those were your favorite!”

Lance smiled, shaking his head as he took the bag from her outstretched hand. “Thank you G, I’ll eat this after the race.” He said handing it to his trainer to hold onto since he could really eat anything else before getting in the car.

“Okay, Dad brought you a new book to read if you get bored cause it’s gonna be about two hours but after the race I think some of us are going out to eat if you wanna tag along, if not I’m sure Mick will hangout with you at home.” Lance said, guiding her over to where his dad was sitting towards the back of the garage.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Charles managed to miss the podium by mere seconds, but he supposed P4 was better than nothing. It just sucked that he wasn’t able to win his home race yet again. After gathering his things he started making his way out to the back lot. Max and a few others wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate a good race and weren't going to let him out of going despite him saying he just wanted to relax at home.

He thought back to what the Dutch boy said about trying to talk to the blonde girl again but he figured she had left already, seeing as alot of the drivers had.

Though to his surprise he saw her standing in the middle of the walkway with a confused look on her face as she looked around it seemed like she was lost. He weighed his options, chance facing more embarrassment or just go on ahead to his car?

He chose to chance it and walked over to her.

When he was a few steps away he saw the look of relief that flashed across her face when she noticed him. “Charles! Finally a familiar face, I’m kind of lost.” The blonde admitted as she looked around “Lance told me to meet him at the back lot but I’m not sure where that is, Mick isn’t answering his phone, and I was too scared to ask Sebastian when he was leaving.”

Charles noticed the two older men standing a few feet behind her glancing at them for a second, he assumed tbose where her body guards before giving her a soft smile finding it adorable that she was scared to ask Sebastian of all people for directions knowing the German man would’ve more than likely walked her there himself just because he was that nice.

“I can show you where the backlot is I’m headed there myself, I know how confusing it can be around here sometimes especially after a race when everybody’s busy trying to pack everything up.” He offered, he didn’t mind showing her, it would give him more time to talk with her which is what he was hoping for.

“Really? You’d do that? You’re such a gem Charles.” Gracie said with a bright smile as he offered her his arm to take which just made her shake her head amusedly but looped her arm through his anyways. “Congratulations on P4, it was a good race. You did really well.” She complimented which caused his face to flush as the two made the walk to the back lot.

Charles' mood about missing the podium was lifted at hearing her say he did really well, coming from her was better than any position he could’ve placed. “Thank you, that means a lot.” He said softly as he looked down at her watching as her eyes roamed around at all the different team hospitality buildings.

“Do you come to races often?” He couldn’t help but ask, wanting to know more about her. The boy hadn’t seen her around the Monaco paddock years prior let alone any of the others but then again he doesn’t pay very much attention to his surroundings sometimes, hence the mishap of nearly knocking her to the ground earlier.

“This is actually my first time attending a race,” Gracie said with a small smile. “I watch them when I can from my phone though. It’s such an exciting sport” she gushed as she talked about how exciting it was to actually be able to be there today to see the race in person. He understood her excitement. He had been invited to the palace in 2019 but she was out for a charity event that day so he didn’t get to see her at the time but fate clearly works in mysterious ways by making them bump into each other three years later, in Monaco, at the Grand Prix.

As the two made small talk getting closer to the gate she could see Lance and his Dad talking and knew this would probably be her only chance to see him again. “Are you free this week by chance? I’d like to get to know you better when things aren’t as hectic.” The ocean eyed girl asked, looking up at him, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Charles felt dumbfounded, she wanted to see him again??? Even after nearly trampling her? This weekend had to be a fucking dream and he was fully prepared for the rude awakening that was gonna happen any second, but it never came. “I am, I am free, yes.” He stumbled over his words and nodded quickly with a bashful grin once he managed to get the right words out to answer her question.

“Gracie! Let’s go, I'm hungry!” Lance called out noticing her walking through the gate with the Ferrari driver. She ignored the boy as she came to a stop, turning to look at Charles happy that he was indeed free.

“Great! Say Tuesday? We can meet at La Pampa around one?” Gracie asked with a bright smile to which Charles nodded in agreement. “Tuesday yeah yeah, that works for me. I’ll be sure to be there, consider my whole schedule cleared.” He said giving her a smile, it was hard not to smile at her when she was looking at him with such a genuine smile. It made him feel seen, as just himself, and not Charles Leclerc, formula one driver for Ferrari.

“À bientôt!” See you soon! She said leaning up on her tiptoes, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before skipping off towards Lance and Lawrence, the brown eyed boy giving her a light shove into the backseat before getting in after her closing the door as his dad started the car. Dimitri and Alexei getting into the car next to theirs.

Charles couldn’t believe his luck, because for him the luck of the draw only draws the unlucky and usually that meant he became the butt of the joke due to Ferrari's strategies. But this? This felt different. He would just have to see how far his luck would go before it inevitably ran out.

He just hoped this time

just this once

that luck would be on his side.

#I just love them so much I want to wrap them in bubble wrap #it’s going to get so much softer from here on out #y’all aren’t ready #imagine #formula 1 #charles leclerc #princess protection program #charles leclerc imagine #formula one imagine #f1 imagine #skylightlanterndivider

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shadowsof-thenight · 6 months ago

Text

Bound for Ruin

Summary: When Jenna meets Bucky it takes her a while to realise they both want very different things. But Bucky is a stubborn man, who rarely hears no and he's not about to take it for an answer now.

Ship: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Warnings: Angst, sugar baby/daddy dynamics, some toxic attitudes.

Words: 4949 (just under the max amount!)

A/N: It's been a while since I entered Suz' (@targaryenvampireslayer) Blind Date challenge. The quote is bold.

She really put me to the test as the trope she gave me was Sugar daddy and that's far from my usual work. But instead of asking for something more familiar, I liked the idea of stepping out of my comfort zone. This isn't at all like I first imagined though, so I hope you'll like it.

And I apologise for any mistakes. This wasn’t beta’ed.

She stalked into the club, paying no mind to the bouncers or security. They knew who she was and wouldn’t bar her entry. Her strides were powerful and confident, despite the fact that she’d realised there was no plan upon entering. She hadn’t thought that far ahead at all. She’d simply been too angry to think when she’d left her house, clutching the letter that tipped her over the edge.

She took a breath as the loud music, the amount of people and the heat washed over her. Jenna never really liked clubs like this, preferring smaller bars where conversation was an option. Alas, this was where she’d find the object of her anger. It was his first business, the place where it all started and he came here every Saturday as it was the busiest day. Jenna looked to her left and saw girls dancing on the various platforms, as they did every weekend.

She couldn’t suppress a smirk as an idea sparked in her mind. She could’ve sat down at the bar and he would’ve noticed her quick enough, but this might just be better.

A devilish smile played on her lips as she walked over to one of the higher platforms and climbed up. Stepping on it, she told the girl already dancing to take a small break. The girl looked utterly confused and her eyes sought out the security guard that always stood nearby. He probably signalled for her to agree, because she backed off towards the steps.

“Don’t go far, you’ll have your spot back in no time,” Jenna added with a smirk as she took of her coat and threw it aside. She then looked straight at the camera and flipped it off, before unbuttoning her blouse to show some cleavage. Just enough to get a reaction from the one man she was doing this for.

As expected it only took Bucky mere moments to respond. He was out of his office and making his way towards her, scowling as he did so. Jenna schooled her expression as best she could, feigning innocence as she smiled and waved. She kept dancing, finishing the song that was playing, before signalling the girl to return.

As she stepped back down, the security guard that had been quietly observing handed her her coat. She thanked him with a wink—knowing it would annoy Bucky further. That was Bucky’s cue to grab her arm and pull her none-too-gently back to his office that was situated behind the bar. Inside the confines of his office he released her arm with a huff and began pacing the space between her and his desk. Seeing his frustration gave her an odd sense of satisfaction. She saw it as payback for all the trouble he’d caused her these last few months.

She took a moment to quietly observe him. His handsome face was twisted into a grimace, his blue eyes hard and his beautiful soft lips pressed to a tin line. He really was an impressive specimen, she thought to herself, if only he was less stubborn.

When Jenna had lost her job four months ago, she hadn’t imagined her life would become entangled with the man before her. Bucky Barnes had been nothing but an enigma to her. One of the most successful men in the city, incredibly private and therefore mysterious. Even though she’d met him several times through her friend Abigail, she never quite got a read on him. She still didn’t feel like she really knew him, but at least she knew which buttons to push for a reaction.

For years Abigail had had an arrangement with one of Bucky’s best friends, Sam. He treated her like a queen—luxurious gifts, trips, a stellar apartment in their expensive city and a generous allowance. All she had to do was be available to him at all times. Abigail had tried to make the arrangement sound enticing to Jenna. Tried to convince her that this was a great deal, but Jenna care for it. She was ready for something more serious. For love, equality—freedom. The arrangement that Abigail loved so much, felt too limited to Jenna. And constricting.

When she’d first gone on dates with Bucky, she wasn’t aware that he had expected the same arrangement. He’d buy her drinks, take her to dinner and charmed her better than anyone had ever done before. Jenna was certainly beguiled. Then he had offered to pay her rent and she’d gotten the gist of his intentions. It felt wrong. She had diploma’s, a good resume and interviews lined up—she didn’t need his money. She didn’t want to be a kept woman. Bucky had obviously been disappointed. He’d even offered her a job with one of his companies, but that didn’t seem all too different to Jenna.

Then one by one her interviews were cancelled. People didn’t want to cross Bucky. They didn’t want to risk doing wrong by her and invoking his wrath. While she couldn’t really blame them—he’d proven himself a ruthless businessman—it still hurt that her abilities no longer mattered now that he was involved. She’d achieved everything before then on merit. She studied hard, worked hard and pushed through when things got tough. Yet none of that carried any weight now.

Bucky hadn’t been ready to budge–unable to accept that any of her current state was due to his interest. He was enthralled. She was beautiful, smart and headstrong. Her ability to say no to him made her more interesting. He had been convinced that she’d come around to the arrangement he wanted. He was used to getting his way.

When he discovered her financial strain, he’d imagined himself swooping in like a knight in shining armour, while she simply wanted to be her own saviour. She liked him, but she wanted to be an equal partner, not subservient. The massive mismatch had caused strive.

He refused to help her get a job and she had fought his desires. But now, without a job and an eviction notice to boot, she was getting desperate. Going into his place of business and antagonising him had been her last attempt to get the upper hand. Just so she wouldn’t feel weak for bending to him.

“What was that?” He growled. He stood straight, breathing deep in an attempt to curb his anger, but she could see him clenching and unclenching his fists. He was simmering, anger still close to the surface. Funnily enough, she thought he looked rather sexy.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” She asked, her tone haughty, the fingers of her right hand playing with her still opened buttons.

“Are you here to accept my proposal? Or a job?” He asked, stepping close to her.

“You really haven’t given me much choice,” Jenna exclaimed, pulling the eviction notice from her pocket and pushing it in his hands. Looking it over quickly, he had the good sense to cast his eyes down.

“This was never my intention,” he said gruffly, taking a step back from her.

“Then what was? You wanted me at your mercy, did you not?” She asked. “To control everything.”

“I wanted you to want to be here.” He looked rather defeated as he still stared at the letter in his hands.

“That doesn’t happen by forcing my hand,” she said, her words icy. She stepped closer to him as she spoke. “You arrogant asshole, why couldn’t you have left me alone?”

Her words made him snap his eyes back to her. She stood close, perhaps too close she realised as she looked from his eyes to his lips and back. Why was he so hot?

He closed the gap between them quickly, pressing his lips to hers before anything else could be said. They were soft as they moved against her own. His movements held no urgency as he pulled her close. She pulled back at first, but he moved with her—trapping her against the wall and she sighed into the kiss before returning it. She did like him, regardless of their issues. Not to mention that she was here to accept his conditions finally, to be his sugar baby. At the very least she could enjoy herself.

Her hands found his shoulders, fingers gently tickling down his arms and he groaned into the kiss. The response intrigued her. If a simple touch could make him increase his eagerness, what else could she do to him? Her hands explored further, heat exploding inside of her as his actions mirrored hers.

The following hours were spend mapping out what the other liked, wanted and was good at. Jenna wouldn’t call it mind blowing exactly—that was reserved for their first night together months ago—but it was good. Really good.

“I don’t think control is that bad,” he said as he put his shirt back on, his back turned to her, and she smiled bitterly. How a few simple words could ruin her mood so quickly. She shook her head as she remembered that this was a business deal, even if she couldn’t help but feel like she caught the short end of the stick.

***

Five weeks later

Jenna pulled away reluctantly. She was tired. She hadn’t had many full nights sleep in weeks. Bucky liked seeing her after work, but insisted on sleeping alone. Leaving her to pack her things and go home every night, while he turned around and slept. During the day, he was a gentleman. He took her on dates, listened to her, asked for her opinions, used her insights to make decisions, made her feel important to him. But at night, he kept her at arms length. Never quite opening up to her. That was until now.

“Stay,” He whispered.

She was already dressed, so she knew he’d been debating this. Standing by the door, she looked back in surprise. His arm was tossed over his face, so she couldn’t see his expression. Still his words had shown a kind of vulnerability he hadn’t offered her before.

She assumed it was to protect himself. Still, this was him trying, wasn’t it? Jenna moved back towards the bed and sat down on the edge, pulling his arm away from his face.

“You don’t want to sleep alone tonight?” She asked, looking him straight in the eyes. When he tried to look away, she gently took hold of his cheek and held his gaze. “Talk to me,” she added softly.

“I don’t,” he said. The look in his eyes had never been quite as open as it was now. In all the months they’d known each other, there’d been a mask. One that didn’t falter, even during their arrangement. Not until this moment and her heart warmed at the thought of really moving past his walls. She knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up, shouldn’t read too much into it, but she wanted it so badly.

Jenna took a deep breath, kicked off her slippers and climbed on top of him, holding him tight. He sighed, pulling the covers over the two of them and melting into the hug. His eyes closed and he fell asleep holding her tight. As his breath slowed, she allowed herself to ponder this change in attitude. He didn’t open up as a rule. She’d realised a while back that it was why he preferred their arrangement over a real relationship.She wondered what changed tonight—apparently he needed more than he’d been asking for and she wanted to give it to him.

She knew this was a messy situation that would bite her in the ass soon enough, but she couldn’t help herself. She was falling for him, despite his attempts to keep a firm distance. With him now opening up to her even a little, that distance grew smaller.

***

Three months later

“You’re gorgeous,” his lips were close to her ear as he spoke. His warm breath sending shivers down her spine, as his fingers lightly danced over her lower back which was exposed in her dress.

One thing she’d found in the last few months was that he liked touch. He liked being close, physical, even when it wasn’t sexual. Jenna definitely didn’t mind. Even if it complicated her feelings, she didn’t fight his proximity. Since that night where he’d asked her to stay, she hadn’t spend a single night alone. The distance between them seemed to have evaporated and her heart was ignoring the reality of their situation.

They walked around the banquet greeting other guests. He was soft, gentle and comfortable and she liked being here with him. He knew how to make her laugh, how to make her swoon and how to make her cry out his name in ecstasy. She wasn’t just getting comfortable, she was falling in love. And it was dangerous.

With his hand still on her back, he went back to the conversations around them. Business people discussing new plans or boasting about their latest successes. She smiled as she observed him, he was in his element and it looked good on him. Bucky was strong and confident as he explained his own latest venture. He was charming, making sure everyone around him felt seen. And when he smiled, it lit up the room. So she stared, she couldn’t help it.

“You’re staring,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes. He pulled her even closer.

“I was admiring the view,” she winked. Bucky smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

“Thirty more minutes,” He promised with another kiss.

“I’m okay. It’s a good view.”

“Idem, but I know a better view,” he said and she didn’t need to guess what he meant as the fingers on her back teasingly dipped beneath the fabric of her dress.

True to his word, Bucky pulled her from the conversations thirty minutes later. He told the people they’d been speaking too that they had an early start the following morning and it was time to go. She didn’t protest, even though there was nothing that would urge them out of bed the next day.

His hands were on her sides as soon as they left the large hall. His lips tracing a feather light trail from her ear to her cheek as they waited for their coats. His lips found their way to hers as he first kissed the edges, first left, than right, before he smushed her lips and pushed his tongue inside her mouth. There was an urgency to his kiss, like he needed it.

When he stopped, he looked deep into her eyes—a hauntingly enthralling look in those dazzling blue orbs of his—and he smiled happily. With a sigh he touched his forehead to hers, keeping eye contact and creating a stillness between them. It felt like he could see into the deepest part of her soul and she felt heat creeping up her neck and cheeks.

“I want you,” he finally whispered, placing another kiss on her lips, this one more sensual.

Their coats were brought out then, interrupting them, and they made their way outside where his driver was already waiting for them. Her hand warmly clasped in his as they walked and his lips close to her ear, whispering sweet little nothings.

Bucky gallantly opened the door for her, before quickly walking around the car to join her on the backseat. Once seated the driver drove off and Bucky turned his attention back on Jenna. It started slowly, one hand trailing up her leg, finding the hem of her dress and then moving past it. His lips found her neck, finding the little pressure points he knew would make her sigh when he kissed them. Her hands made their way to his chest, playing with the lapels of his three-piece suit. Then she placed on hand on the back his neck and playing with the tips of his slicked back hair.

“I love you,” she spoke the words before she could think. She meant them in that moment, more than she ever had with anyone in the past. But that wasn’t want this was and she quickly pulled back with a gasp. He still held her close, staring at her face while the seductive heat on her skin changed into cold sweat—had she ruined it?

He cupped her cheek, not saying a word, the look in his eyes unreadable. Then he plunged his lips on hers and kissed her deeply, the urgency to his actions a stark contrast to the languidity of before. When he pulled back, his pupiles were enlarged. Jenna imagined hers were as well. Neither of them seemed to realised that they were still in the car. Not until a small knock alerted them of the driver’s presence.

They offered apologetic smiles as they got out and quickly moved across the sidewalk and into the apartment building where Bucky lived. Thankfully the lobby was empty at this time of the night and they were able to walk through it and into the elevator without anyone speaking to them. Once in the confined space he pushed her up against the wall, pressing himself against her. She could feel his hard length pressed against her thigh and it ignited a heat in her core that could only be quenched by him. She pulled his face towards hers and hungrily kissed his lips, while his hands freely roamed her body over her dress.

***

By the time Jenna woke up, Bucky was gone. He was supposed to have a day off, but he was nowhere to be found in the apartment. It wasn’t until she walked into the kitchen for a glass of water, that she saw his note. He’d gone into the office regardless.

She sighed, they hadn’t spoke about her confession yet and she was eager to know what he thought. How he felt. Eager and scared. So instead of waiting, she looked at the clock and decided to visit him for lunch. No sense in postponing the inevitable.

“Hey, love,” she said walking into his office after the secretary had let her in. Bucky was on the phone and held up a finger to silence her. She held up the bag of food to tell him what she was doing there and he pointed at the small seating area by the window. He soon ended the phone call and walked over to her.

“We have to make this quick,” He was brusk. She hadn’t seen him like this before. “I have a meeting soon.” He added as he pulled her into him. “Lets eat then,” she offered, pulling back slightly.

Bucky ignored her words and kissed her neck while his hands roamed over her body. His movements were rough, rushed and Jenna pushed his hands away. He halted his movements momentarily, looking at her and showing her that the wall they’d been breaking down was back up completely. Instantly she knew her words the night before had scared him off.

“Buck, what’s going on?” She asked, not ready to face her reality.

“Are you saying no?” He questioned and suddenly she wondered what his intention was. Did he want her to walk away?

“I want to know why you’re acting like this,” she pressed. “This isn’t like you."

“I’m horny, you’re here. That’s how this works,” he stepped back from her, his fingers angrily combing through his hair. He’d been letting it grow out these last few months. She focussed on his movements to ignore the effect his words had had on her. ‘That’s how this works’. She’d thought or hoped that last night had changed things, but it hadn’t. This was still a business arrangement to him. Which wasn’t sufficient for her, not anymore. Her eyes pricked with unshed tears as she really let it sink in.

He stood in front of the large windows that overlooked the city below, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his trousers. His silhouet in the weak winter sun was beautiful and she wished she could walk up behind him, like she had done many times before in this very room. She wished she could wrap her arms around him, just to feel him close. She wished to see the gentle side of him that he had shown her. Still, she knew better than to set herself up for failure. Fighting the tears that were burning her eyes and throat, she walked around the seating area and grabbed her wintercoat, her trendy tote and walked towards the door.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly as she looked back at him—part of her hoped that he would stop her, but he didn’t even turn around. Finally she let the tears fall. opened the door and walked out.

She knew what she had to do, even if it hurt. Jenna knew she could not ignore the situation they were in and she needed to act. She was not some damsel in distress—even if she let him put her in that position for months now. It was time to change that and get back to who she truly was.

Getting back to the apartment felt heavy. It would be the last time she viewed this space. Walking in she moved quickly, grabbing a trash bag from the cupboard underneath the sink. Moving through the place, she grabbed everything that was hers from before and put it in the bag. Part of her was angry that she’d tossed her old tattered travelbag, even though she knew it had been on his last legs years ago. She could’ve used it now. Instead the trash bag would have to do. She didn’t take anything that he’d given her.

She wasn’t left with much, but she hadn’t entered their arrangement with much either so it seemed only fair. Looking at her cheap wallet, all hers, she took out the money and cards that were his. She only kept a little money to help her move—promising to pay it back as soon as she was able.

She wrote as much in the note she left him, along with much more mushy comments. She apologised for the destroying their house of cards, for ignoring their initial agreement and trying to make it more than it was. And when she was done, she placed her copies of the keys on the table and left.

She repeated much of the process at her own place. Thankful that one of her old suitcases had not been thrown out yet. It was old and ugly, but it was all hers. She opened her laptop and devised an email to be let out of her lease and anything else that could keep her in this city. Then she booked a bus ticket for that evening and wrote another letter. A longer one this time, telling him to let her go. She couldn’t remain where her love wasn’t wanted.

***

Five months later

It had taken her a some time to find her bearings. A broken heart was tougher than she had imagined it to be. She hadn’t felt the energy to do much of anything. None of the activities that used to bring her joy, felt more like a chore now—shopping, going out with friends, it was all too much.

Jenna did manage to get herself a proper office job, not unlike the one she had last year. It paid the bills and even restored her savings little by little. After two months she could move out of the motel she’d been staying at and into a small but modern studio apartment. She was lucky that the cost of living was lower in this city.

Then last week, some of her co-workers even invited her out for after work drinks. She found out that her co-workers were actually pretty fun. So much so, that she was meeting them tonight as well.

It was Friday evening and in about thirty minutes she would be able to close her computer, freshen up at home and meet them at the diner across from it. Afterwards, her and Stacy were having a drink at a local bar. Stacy had been the one to show her the ropes at work. She was bubbly, eager and fun-loving. She reminded her of Abigail.

Jenna missed her friends and made a mental note to call them this weekend. When she first left, she’d postponed calling them for a full week. Despite knowing they’d worry. She was crying too much to talk. But, Abigail hadn’t been mad at her sudden disappearance. She also promised not to tell Sam or Bucky where she was. And just to be sure, Jenna hadn’t given her a precise address either. Now, they tried to talk weekly, but they’d missed each other last week.

In the first few calls, Abigail had kept her informed of Bucky’s movements, but eventually Abigail had realised just how painful it was for Jenna. So she stopped mentioning him. She barely even spoke of Sam and Jenna was grateful for it.

“Are you ready to go?” Stacy asked, interrupting Jenna’s pondering.

“Just about,” she said.

“I have to run to the store quickly, meet you at the diner?” Stacy offered and Jenna nodded in agreement. Turning back to her screen, Jenna quickly saved her work and closed the program. Time for the weekend to begin.

***

It had taken him quite a few months to finally find her again. When Jenna had gone, she really wiped every trace of herself from him life. She hadn’t taken her phone or the creditcards. She didn’t rent anything in the city, hadn’t applied to any companies as far as he could tell. Finally he had to accept that she left town. That’s when the real work started and he hired a private investigator—telling himself that it was just to ascertain that she was alive and well. Bucky tried to convince himself that all he needed to know, was that she was fine. He told himself that if he found her, he would let it go.

Instead, this Friday evening, he found himself standing on the street where she lived, watching her greet people in a diner. He realised that she had rebuilt her life, to create it much like the life she’d had before him. A life where he wasn’t footing the bill or having any say. Just as she had wanted from the start.

He couldn’t even be bitter about the turn of events. He knew he had ruined it himself. She said she loved him and pulled up a wall. It’s what he had always done before. Though he hadn’t quite regretted it as much without anyone else. One month after she had left, Jenny had sent him a check for the money she had taken with her on her hasty departure. The money had been the last thing he wanted. He wanted her back. To tell her that he loved her too, that he’d just been too scared.

He realised that even in his fear, he managed to make it all about him. Like a spoiled child, used to getting his way. He’d gotten so comfortable in his life. People rarely said no to him. Only Sam and Steve wouldn’t join the yes-sayers. In the last five months he had realised that this wasn’t enough. He needed to have more people opposing him, willing to be honest with him.

As he watched her sitting down in the booth with her friends, he noticed the bright smile on her face. One of the woman had stood to hug her before scooting in to make space in their booth. He couldn’t interrupt now. He wasn’t sure he could interrupt her life at all.

She deserved to be happy. His heart broke as he stared a little longer, before finally hailing a taxi and leaving. It was time to let her go.

Except, unbeknownst to him, Jenna had seen him get into the taxi. He didn’t see the mad dash she made from the diner or the single tear that slid down her cheek as she watched him drive away from her.

It made the surprise that much bigger, when he got a knock on his door one week later.

“Why didn’t come talk to me?” Jenna asked as soon as he opened the door. He looked a tad confused, so she added; “ I saw you last week.”

Bucky didn’t know how to respond. He hadn’t expected her to see him, he’d been so careful. And he certainly hadn’t expected her to show up at his door. Jenna didn’t exactly know what she wanted him to say either. She’d gone back and forth all week in her mind, would she go see him? Would she keep her distance? What did she want? Had he changed his mind about what he wanted?

Eventually Stacy had told her that she would never know, unless she asked him. And living with the doubt could easily become too much. So at the risk of ripping open old wounds, Jenna had books another busticket. This time in the opposite direction.

“Well, are you going to say anything?” She asked.

Unable to form any coherent sentence, Bucky did the only thing he could think off. The one thing he truly wanted—he stepped into the hall, his hand cradling her cheek as he leaned in for a kiss. Jenna smiled into the kiss and kissed him back happily.

“I love you too,” Bucky said as he pulled back for a moment.

“Well, it’s about time,” Jenna smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.

#𝐬𝐮𝐳𝐬𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 #Bucky Barnes Fanfiction #Bucky Barnes x OFC #Bucky Barnes x OFC Fanfiction #Bucky Barnes #Bucky Barnes AU

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just-my-latest-hyperfixation · 6 months ago

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WIP Weekend

Weekly WIP upate:

Currently working on ch 4 of The King's Gift. This is where the plot will slowly start to pick up, and I'm looking forward to getting some action and drama in.

@cuips-not-cute has already gotten started on some first sketches for Updraft, and let me tell you, I am in LOVE! Planning on getting chapter 4 done by the end of this month.

18 out of 29 celebration requests are done, with more coming early next week, once I finish my ficlet for this month's pop-up round of the @steddieholidaydrabbles

Send me an emoji and I'll write and share three sentences from that project.

🏰The King's Gift

⚙️Updraft (my @steddiebang2024 fic with art by @cuips-not-cute)

🥳Celebration ficlets/holiday drabble

Snippet from 🏰

Speaking of Max, she’s already in the yard when he arrives. She's holding two horses by the bridles - a large and imposing-looking black one and a slightly smaller one with a beautiful, light tan coat - and deep in conversation with a scowling Eddie.

“I don’t care about your excuses,” he hears her say as he approaches. Since she has her hands full with the horses, she can’t poke a finger at Eddie’s chest, but Steve has an inkling that she absolutely would if she could. “I want you to return them in top condition. Not a hair out of place, you hear me?”

“You wound me, Red,” Eddie slaps a hand to his chest, all dramatic affront. “When have I ever handled your precious animals with anything but the utmost care?”

She measures him with a withering look, jerking her head at the black horse, which moves its ears nervously, almost like it’s sensing they’re talking about it.

“Yeah? Was or wasn’t he practically caked in mud the last time you brought him back?”

Eddie scowls, suddenly very interested in the tips of his boots.

“‘s not my fault he likes rolling in it.”

“Oh, so it’s mine? Is that what you’re saying?”

“What? No,” Eddie groans, raking a frustrated hand through his mop of curls - sloppily tied back with a string of leather today. “C’mon, Max, you know that’s not what-”

She talks over him.

“You know what, I don’t care. But if you bring him back looking like a pig, you can clean him up yourself. No running off on important king business, no urgent matters suddenly demanding your attention. You take care of your own messes, do you-”

“Steve,” blurts Eddie, who has finally spotted him standing a few feet off, following the argument with wide eyes. “You made it! Robin found you then!”

He flounces over, leaving Max to glare daggers into his back, smile wide and overjoyed as every time they see each other.

“Yeah, obviously,” Steve retorts. He shakes his head exasperatedly, but can’t quite help the fond little smile that tugs on his lips. When Eddie entwintes their fingers to pull him over to where Max is still waiting with the horses, he doesn’t flinch or pull back his hand. He’s slowly starting to get used to Eddie’s very physical ways of showing affection. “What is this about? She said you had some sort of surprise for me?”

“Couldn’t keep her mouth shut if she tried, that one, huh?” Eddie huffs good-naturedly, and Steve resists the urge to point out that he can’t talk, exactly - not with the way his own mouth tends to go a mile a minute when he gets into a topic he’s really excited about. “As a matter of fact, I do. C’mon, let me introduce you.”

“Can I go then?” Max asks as they approach. Her face is set into her usual, annoyed frown, but when Steve smiles at her in greeting, she cracks a toothy grin in reply. “I have better things to do than watching you two being all lovey dovey.”

“Hey, we’re not-” Steve starts to say, but Eddie pushes past him, taking the bridles out of her hands and shooing her off.

“You go ahead, I’ve got it.”

Max flashes Steve an obnoxiously smug grin as she skips off into the stable buildings.

“Have fun,” she says. “Don’t let him roll in the mud.”

“For fuck’s sake, that was one time,” Eddie groans.

“I was talking to Steve,” Max calls over her shoulder, and then she’s gone, the stable door slamming behind her.

#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fanfic #steddie brainrot #fanfiction writer #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #wip ask game #wip weekend

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gayf1hoe · 4 months ago

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Part 6

After last week's race in Baku I am in a better mood and I'm not as angry at the team's mess up. We discussed what went wrong and what they are going to do to prevent it from occurring again and with optimism I believe what they said.

After Max had come to comfort me I went out and watched him on the podium and the whole time he was making eye contact with me and smiling and even though he was there for me when I was at a low, I'm still not sure on what I want to do in regards to our relationship. We spoke briefly after the podium about what we had been up to but we didn't really speak about our relationship or friendship but I could tell he was holding something back, Max is like an open book he's so easy to read. We have started to spend more time together over the past week and things are starting to go back to "normal" whatever that may be. With the Miami Grand Prix being a week after Baku I have been extremely busy yet have still somehow managed to find time to talk with Max.

We arrived in Miami a few days ago and we have been mainly relaxing. For the past few days Zhou has somehow managed to convince me to go on a run in the morning, which normally I would never do because the idea of waking up early to do physical exercise is not my image of happiness but he is very convincing.

I am standing by the palm tree outside the hotel where me and Zhou had designated as the meeting point when I receive a text message and he informs me that he can't be bothered to go for a run today. I let out a heavy sigh at the fact I got up early and got ready and he cancelled on me.

I turn around and head back to the hotel when Max comes out and sees me.

"Hey is everything alright?" He asks.

"Yep all good, minus the fact I got up early to go for a run with Zhou and he's cancelled on me"

"Well if you want you can come on a run with me, I have no one to go with so I don't mind"

I ponder monetarily and agree to go on a run with him as I don't see the point in going to all this effort for no reason.

Half way into our run we are slightly talking about the upcoming weekend and how things are going to go.

The only thing I pray for is a quick and efficient pit stop that doesn't cause me to lose positions or the chance of a podium finish.

After a long and exhaustive run we arrive back at the hotel sweaty and out of breath and we somehow find the strength to climb up the entrance steps and walk over to the elevator.

As I push the button and the elevator dings there is a moment of awkward silence and then when we enter the elevator there is an even bigger moment of awkward silence, this is what I hate about mine and Max's friendship. We can be talking and laughing and then it's just silence and no communication. The elevator dings at the third floor and we both exit heading in opposite directions. Today is media day which is never a whole lot of fun but something I merely tolerate for the sake of the team and its PR image.

I get changed out of my running clothes and have a quick shower and get changed into my usual outfit of jeans and a T-shirt.

For some unknown reason Alessandro has called a spontaneous meaning so it can only be something bad because it's out of character for him.

The paddock is inundated with journalists and TV crews making it difficult to get from one end to the other without being questioned or having a camera pushed into your face. I make it to the team trailer and I am one the first to arrive, meaning I have to wait for a while for everyone else to arrive, but once they do and Alessandro enters the room I can tell by his demeanour something is seriously wrong.

"Sorry for calling such an impromptu meeting but I feel it is imperative that I tell you all sooner rather than later. As I'm sure you're aware Audi were going to buy Sauber and take over in 2 seasons. However as of this morning the decision was made that Audi will take over Sauber in F1 from next season instead."

The room is silent and no one says anything so I take the responsibility to break it.

"So does that mean we are all out of jobs?"

He thinks for a moment "Most of the engineers and strategists will have a job at Audi"

"But what about us drivers?" I follow on.

"I'm sure Audi will reveal their plans for their driver line up in the forthcoming weeks but at the moment nothing is guaranteed, I also think I should let you all know the team and Audi are making a social media statement right now informing everyone of the change so expect media day to be full of loads of questions about it"

We all leave the room and in the garage the normal jovial scene is solemn and quiet. The morale of the team has taken a major hit, the uncertainty as to whether or not most of us will have a job at Audi lingers over all of us. We can't help but feel a little betrayed that Sauber so willingly would accept Audis's offer without much contest but it's just a fact we will have to learn to accept.

I have to attend a press conference in 20 minutes and at the moment Alessandro is briefing me on what to say and what not to say and he goes over time. I quickly run to the other end of the paddock and walk through the doors of the conference room.

When I enter they all look at me and Max points at his watch repeatedly tapping it. I take a seat in between George and Lance and wait for my turn to be questioned.

Reporter: So Y/N the first question is obviously the obvious one. What is going on at Sauber?

Y/N: So yes it's obviously been announced that Audi is joining next season instead of the planned time.

Reporter: So is your job on the line?

Y/N: My job was always on the line regardless because I'm only on a one year contract.

Reporter: So do you think you have a job at Audi?

Y/N: I truly hope so but if not I have other things lined up.

Reporter: Can you give us any insight?

Y/N: Unfortunately not.

The meeting drags on and every time I think it's about to come to an end more questions come flooding my way.

At the conclusion of the meeting we all stand up and file out of the room heading in separate directions, I think I'm walking alone when I turn to my left side and see Max walking alongside me.

"Is everything alright?" I ask.

"It's me who should be asking you that question. How are you feeling after the whole Audi announcement?"

"I feel fine, if they don't offer me a contract and no other team does well I guess that's just life"

"So what are these mysterious plans that you were hinting at?" he asks.

"Well I have an offer to race in Formula E for Mahindra Racing"

After I finish my sentence he stops in his tracks and makes me turn to face him.

"Are you seriously going to give up on F1 and your dream that easily?"

"Well it's a bit difficult if no team wants me"

I walk away leaving him outside one of the many stands of products and I head back to my garage for a media shoot and when I walk in the mood is a little less suppressed and more joyful, well as joyful as you can be after discovering you might lose your job.

The media shoot involves me and Zhou doing some photography challenge and it doesn't take too long before we get a chance to have lunch. The hospitality building is quite empty, Zhou has a meeting so I'm left by myself to go and get lunch. After I pick out a few items to eat I dart my eyes around the room trying to find somewhere to sit like a new kid at school and I see Logan sitting in one corner alone so I decide to go over to him.

"Hey, can I sit here?" I ask.

"Of course," he replies.

I place my plate down on the table as well as my glass and take a seat. The table is right next to the window where the sun is piercing through so as I let my arm rest on the table I can feel my arm burning.

"So how are things going at Williams?" I enquire.

"It's going pretty well this year in comparison to last year, but how are things going for you?"

"Erm... it's going alright I guess the whole audi thing has thrown everyone off"

We chat for a while whilst eating, discussing an array of topics including his hopes for one of his first home races of the season.

After I finish eating I head back to the garage as I received a text from Alessadbro saying he had more important news. The amount of important news I have had to digest in the space of one day is overwhelming and incomprehensible.

I quickly run up the stairs to his office skipping most of them and upon reaching the door I knock firmly and assertively although what's really going on in my mind is the complete opposite.

I wait for a moment for him to reply before entering and when he does I open the door to find him sitting behind his desk gesturing towards the chair.

It takes a moment before he speaks:

"So Y/N following your question this morning about whether or not you will have a drive at Audi they have actually confirmed their driver line up quite quickly, I didn't even know these negotiations were taking place and they sent me the email of their driver line up and the contracts -"

"Alessandro" I interject "cut the shit and just tell me if I have a contract with Audi"

He sighs.

"Unfortunately not, they have decided you are too inexperienced for the team"

"So who are they taking?" I ask.

"Nico and Valtteri"

I don't think it's all really set in yet, I don't say anything in response instead I stand up and walk down the hallway and see Zhou sitting on one of the chairs with his head tilted back against the wall.

"I take it you have heard the news then" I say taking a seat on the empty chair, whilst Zhou responds with a simple "yep".

I follow his lead and tilt my head back against the wall and sigh thinking about the predicament that we are in but I know we can't let it affect our performance otherwise our hope of a seat next year is gone.

Morale has been at an all time low at the team so during qualifying today me and Zhou intend to make a statement to Audi that they are missing out on two amazing and competent drivers and show them experience isn't everything it is made out to be.

Me and Zhou both make it to Q3 and now is the time for us to really prove ourselves but we face the challenge of both Ferraris, Red Bulls and McLarens, Yuki and Nico also make it to Q3 but I don't see them posing a threat not because of their talent but because of their cars.

We must go out at least 4 or 5 times to set quicker laps and I await the verdict as I cross the line.

"Y/N, Hamilton is on pole, You are P2, Verstappen P3, Zhou P4 and Sainz P5."

I feel slightly elated at the result and pissed that I was only 0.032 seconds off pole position but I will improve and keep my head down for the next race.

The Miami Grand Prix still in its infancy stage in comparison to most F1 tracks yet still as vibrant and popular as them. Americans have a natural love for motorsport whether it's NASCAR, Rallying or F1 and they always turn up in their thousands to show support for drivers and to indulge in the entertainment racing provides.

I'm in the midst of getting changed into my race suit when there's a light and barely audible knock on my door. I head over to the door whilst zipping up my race suit and I am shocked to see Ollie smiling from ear to ear in front of me. I quickly invite him in and hug him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Well I thought I would come and show my support for you and enjoy a race"

I'm still in a state of shock at the fact Ollie is here, I can see why people draw the conclusion that we are dating because we struggle to be apart from each other.

"So how are you feeling about Audi coming next year?" He asks as I fasten my shoes.

"I mean I'm little upset at not getting signed but it's life I will find something else to do"

"Wait you're not getting signed, I thought we would finally be in F1 together"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I'm joining Haas next year, but who's joining Audi?"

"Nico and Valtteri" I declare standing up and grabbing my balaclava and helmet.

I don't want to dwell on the future much and I put a stop to the conversation and head to the door. I would love for Ollie to stay in my garage during the race but he has to stay loyal to Ferrari.

"Y/N 30 seconds to lights out focus and have a good race"

5 red light flash before me and the adrenaline that follows through my veins puts me on edge I quickly avert my gaze to Lewis who is in P1 although I don't plan on attacking him in the opening laps as I want to conserve my tyres so I want to focus on keeping Max at bay behind me which is a lot easier said than done.

As soon as the lights extinguish I let up off the clutch and try to accelerate as fast as I can but Max comes alongside me and pushes me wide causing him to gain the place.

Lap by Lap I'm finding different people behind me and every time I somehow manage to maintain P3. The team makes me pit twice and to my relief they don't mess it up and come out onto the track having not lost many positions.

Despite not gaining any positions crossing the line in P3 is a good enough outcome for me, but if F2 me heard I was settling for third he would be having a meltdown.

Being on the podium with Max feels even more special than being on the podium. It's great to celebrate together even though it was Lewis who won it still feels really special.

We have sweat and champagne trickling down our faces when we reconvene behind the podium.

"Good job out there today" he says.

"Yeah you to, you really gave me a run for my money" I replied.

We take a slow walk back to the pit lane making general conversation.

"So I was wondering did you want to go for dinner with me tonight"

I think for a moment.

"Sure Maxie"

He laughs at my response and I question why.

"It's just a funny nickname that's all" he replies.

"Would you rather me call you Mad Max or something like that"

"No, Maxie will suffice".

As I'm drying off from my shower my phone vibrates and I walk across to the other side of the room to see it's just a notification from the F1 social media so I open it to see what rubbish they have posted this time.

I open it to see a tweet that makes reality set in:

Formula 1: BREAKING Audi Annoucne their dirver line up will consist of Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas.

After I finish reading it I place my phone down on the counter and get dressed before heading outside to the place where me and Max had agreed to wait.

The second he arrives I don't know whether it's out of anger and spite or out of passion I grab his face and begin to kiss him and as I do so he kisses me back. We don't care to look and see if there are any photographers around because I couldn't care less.

"Are you sure you want to do this? What will Sauber think?" he asks between a brief pause.

"Fuck them" I retort.

"You're slowly becoming my little rebel"

After we finish making out we head to the restaurant Max originally wanted to take me to. We are a little late for the reservation Max booked but we are still shown to our seats.

We quickly order and after the race I am starving so I probably order a little too much but my trainer isn't here to see it so it doesn't really matter.

"So how are you feeling after you found out you aren't going to be with Audi next year"

"You know I have been asked that question so many times I might as well just record my response and hit play after I'm asked it, but I really am alright if I find another seat it will be great and if I don't that's just life"

"You know I can always speak to Christian and see what he's doing with Checo's seat"

"it's fine really if Christian thinks I'm talented he will reach out to me plus I don't think he would want me around distracting you".

We speak for ages and quickly day turns into night so we head back to the hotel and as we enter the doors we are met by a barrage of questions and we are both extremely confused, until Daniel provides some context.

"A journalist stuck their camera over the fence and caught a video of you two full on making out hands going all over each other if I wasn't straight I would have found it quite arousing"

Whilst everyone laughs at the last part I inform him I could have gone without that information.

Normally I would have been a little nervous at the shitstorm I had just created but for some reason that feeling is extinct and I feel a little proud and relieved that me and Max don't have to tread carefully around our teams and the media.

Even though we aren't an established couple, in fact I don't even know what we are but it's nice to know that we try and find clarity in what we are without worrying about the media.

As me and Max lay in bed our phones are going crazy probably from both of our teams and for Max most certainly his dad going berserk.

"You know we have just created a huge drama," he says.

"I know, I can't wait for Drive to Survive"

#f1 x male reader #max verstappen #Max verstappen x male reader #Red Bull Racing #Sauber #Breakups #Relationships #Zhou Guanyu #Daniel Ricciardo #Kelly Piquet #Kimi Antonelli #Ollie Bearman #PREMA Racing #F2 #Jealousy #Revenge #Racing #LGBT #Male Reader

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magniloquent-raven · 2 years ago

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everybody's saving grace

(cw the karen and billy thing. but this is mostly about joyce finding out and getting protective of billy, so)

(read on ao3)

Jane didn't speak for seven days after they lost Hop.

Joyce made space for her in their home, accommodated as best she could. Will offered her his room and promised he didn't mind sharing with Jon, they used to bunk together on the rare weekends when Lonnie remembered he had kids anyways. More often than not though, Jane would sneak into Joyce's room in the middle of the night, awkwardly hovering in the doorway until Joyce patted the empty space next to her and Jane would crawl into the covers silently, cheeks wet with tears.

That first night Joyce tried to talk to her about it, with soft words and a story or two about the trouble she and Hop used to get up to as teens, hoping to coax a smile out of her, or at the very least a story of her own in response. Something. Anything. She tried to tell herself it was only because she was trying to help, but there was a selfish part of her deep down that just wanted someone to share her grief. Jane was the only other person in the world who felt his loss as much as she did, and she needed help shouldering the burden.

But Jane would only listen. Curled on her side and squeezing Joyce's hand, blinking up at her with red-rimmed eyes.

Joyce would wait until Jane fell asleep to shed her own tears. She's up at all hours nowadays, watching every shadow, listening in the dark, a cigarette between her shaking fingers. Her boys have noticed, she knows it. Jon's picking up more slack than usual, cooking meals and cleaning house and making sure Will is always accounted for. And Will. Will has barely said more than Jane has. He's always been a quiet boy, but…well.

Even his friends spending all their time around the house hasn't brightened his mood. Mike has been glued to Jane's side, getting more and more drawn and frustrated the longer she goes without speaking. Dustin and Lucas have been the loudest of the group, trying desperately to fill the silence, and Joyce can't say she isn't grateful for it. The house feels more full when they're here. It's easier to keep busy and not let her mind wander.

On the seventh day after the mall fire, Max Mayfield asks her if she can spend the night. She's been paler than usual. Withdrawn, but only when no one is looking.

Joyce puts a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Of course."

She gives the girls her room, and says she'll sleep on the couch. No one believes her, but they don't bring it up. She sits at the kitchen table alone, fiddling with the ashtray Jon made her when he was eight. There's a chip in it from when Will, young and clumsy, dropped it while trying to present it to her with all the puffed-chest pride of a toddler given a task.

He cried for twenty minutes after that. No amount of hugs and forehead kisses would get him to calm down until Jon told him, his dark brown eyes big and solemn, that he hadn't broken it, he'd given it some character.

Things were so much simpler back then.

Not easier, not really, just…less complicated.

At two am she decides to brush the stale coffee taste out of her mouth, but stops dead in her tracks on the way to the bathroom.

"I hate him," Max's quiet sniffling filters muffled through the closed door.

She shouldn't be eavesdropping. But she can't…not. The walls are thin, and the floor creaks, and she can't move without everyone in the house knowing she's frozen awkwardly in her own hallway.

Well. She toes at the carpet with socked feet. She might be able to sneak away. Maybe. But…

She's concerned.

God, she's becoming her mother. Nosy to a fault.

"I'm just…I'm just so angry, you know? He—he saved your life, and I'm grateful for that, but," she pauses, and there's rustling, a sigh, "Stupid asshole up and left me. Everything we've been through and he…he's gone, just like that, it's not fucking fair."

Joyce had heard about Billy Hargrove from Jonathan. Just a little bit, vague details. "There's some new guy at school," with a scrunched up face, nose wrinkled with distaste. And a week later, "He got into it with Steve, knocked him around pretty bad." It made Joyce nervous, whenever she saw him around town, picking up cigarettes from the store on the corner, driving that loud car of his up main street. She'd always think of the Harrington boy's face, bruised and swollen, the worst-case-scenario that used to haunt her thoughts after Lonnie gave Jon a black eye when he was ten.

Then, "Max's brother, he, uh…" Solemn brown eyes. It's not broken it has character. "He got…possessed, I guess." Standing in the Starcourt parking lot with a shock blanket around his shoulders, sweat matted in his hair, Jonathan pieced together what he knew. It wasn't much, and she couldn't stop thinking about Hop's teary nod, the white light that burned her eyes even though she closed them, the empty space where he'd been standing seconds before.

She feels horrible now, for only half-listening. For not giving much thought to the boy who died saving Jane.

He was just a kid. Only a few years older than Will.

"How did he even get caught up in this bullshit?" Max's voice breaks, despite the force of her anger, cracks under the strain of her grief. "Did…did you see? When you looked into his memories."

The silence is heavy. Strained. Joyce chews the inside of her cheek. She doesn't expect Jane to reply, and figuring she's heard enough she goes to tiptoe away.

"Yes."

Joyce freezes. Jane's voice is barely more than a crackly whisper, but unmistakable. There's a pang in her chest at the sound of it, emotion welling up, thick in the back of her throat.

"What happened?"

She can't help leaning in a little, stopping just shy of pressing her ear directly to the door.

"It was…nighttime. He was driving." There's a pause. "Mrs. Wheeler wanted to see him."

…What?

"What?" Max echoes, breathlessly scandalized. She can't think it was like that. Was it?

No, there's got to be an innocent explanation. She struggles to come up with one, but it must exist. Karen is her friend. Sort of. They went to school together. They've known each other their whole lives. Back when they were teenagers Karen had a bit of a reputation, sure, she was a ditz with lofty romantic notions and a string of boyfriends willing to play along, but she's settled since she got married, and she isn't a predator.

"He was going to. A mo-tel," Jane sounds out the syllables carefully, a child repeating an unfamiliar word.

Joyce's heart drops.

Her first, and worst, thought is about how that boy used to parade around town, drawing as much attention as possible. She'd never seen him with the same girl twice, and she'd never seen him in modest, weather-appropriate clothes. Karen was always weak for a flirty guy, she was easy to take in with a few flattering words, and by the time she realized they didn't mean any of it they'd already gotten what they wanted from her.

She assumes Billy must have laid it on thick, as he was prone to do, and Karen fell for it, like she always did.

But that was when she was a teenager too. When she was a silly, impressionable girl, not a married woman with three children of her own.

Her children, Christ. Joyce's stomach turns. Billy was in Nancy's year. He was Jonathan's age.

Bile burns the back of her throat.

She'd been hearing gossip about Karen and half her book club spending every day at the pool all summer and she hadn't thought anything of it. Not a goddamn thing. How long had it been going on? Was she sleeping with him when he was still in school?

Joyce puts her head in her hands and lets out a slow, silent breath. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. She doesn't feel any calmer but she feels less like throwing up. Confused, directionless anger prickles under her skin. It's easier to be angry. At Karen for taking advantage. At herself for not caring soon enough. At everyone for not seeing it before it got him killed.

She hears Max swearing, ranting, none of it makes sense and she can only make out every other word. She's not sure Max even knows what she's saying.

There's this…itch. In her brain. That little buzz at the base of her skull, when she needs to get up and do something, when she can't sit still, stay quiet, but. But there's nothing she can do. There's nothing to be done.

Her fingers clench in her hair, hands trembling as she aimlessly pushes her bangs back.

She can't do a goddamn thing.

It takes Joyce three weeks to lose her shit.

She's been trying to get Jane settled in—with a few new things and a lot of hand-me-downs, she's tall enough to fit into a lot of Joyce's old clothes—but it's been…challenging. She still barely speaks. Joyce isn't sure if that's normal for her, and that's part of the problem. As much as she wants to take care of this child she barely knows her, and the universe doesn't seem to be that keen on giving her the time to change that.

Because she has…a lot on her mind. Looking into places to move, for one. Sunny places. With minimal suspicious deaths. And work has been much busier now that the mall has burned down. And people all over town are still talking about it, people who have no idea. Who don't know. They still pat her hand and tell her Hop was a hero, like that will make her feel better about pulling the switch that got him killed.

And then there's…the Billy issue.

Max comes around the house a lot. Always wearing a denim jacket that smells like Marlboro Reds. Snapping at Mike more and more often. And Joyce has no clue what to say to her.

If there's even anything she could say.

She keeps…failing. She failed Will. She failed Bob. Hop. Twice over, when she couldn't get him out of that base alive. And now. His daughter is struggling. Her friends are struggling. Joyce is doing everything she can but it's not enough, and it's driving her crazy.

She can't scratch that itch in her brain, no matter what she does. No matter how much often she rents Jane's favourite movies to watch as a family, or sits with her after dinner and goes over the writing and grammar worksheets they got from the library, or insists on cooking dinner and pretends Jonathan isn't hovering over her shoulder the whole time expecting her to burn their grilled cheeses.

Because every time Max stays over they all act like they can't tell she's been crying, like they don't see her eyes go vacant whenever someone lights up a cigarette or a car engine rumbles in the background or any number of tiny things Joyce doesn't catch that must be tearing Max up inside. Joyce lets her stay and puts food on her plate and a comforting hand on her shoulder but none of it helps.

And four weeks after Billy died, Karen Wheeler walks into Melvalds General, her hair perfectly curled, a tiny, sad smile pulling at her lips when she spots Joyce in her employee vest. She's coming over, hands folded to her chest, freshly manicured nails sparkling, the picture of grace and sympathy, with her soft eyes and pouting lips.

The whole routine has never rung so hollow before. Discomfort tugs at Joyce's insides, writhing in her guts.

"Joyce," Karen calls, stepping delicately around the half-unpacked box of mouthwash on the ground. Stocking shelves has never been Joyce's favourite part of her job, but she'd rather keep doing that than have this conversation. Karen reaches out, grasping Joyce's elbow. "I'm so sorry. I should have come to see you sooner…I know you and Chief Hopper were close."

Joyce shakes her hand off. "Sort of busy here, Karen. Work. You know how…it…" She pauses, and shrugs awkwardly, gesturing to the bare shelf behind her. "I'm in the middle of something."

That earns her a frown, a pitying look, sympathy to the point of condescension. "Did you take any time off? After…you know."

Like she can afford that. Jonathan's making less at his new job than he did working for the Post and she's got another mouth to feed now. Two if she's counting Max, which she might as well.

Max, who's a ticking timebomb nowadays. A raw nerve trying to pretend she isn't. A shell of the vibrant girl Joyce met last November.

Because her brother is gone, and it's Karen Wheeler's goddamn fault.

The itch returns with a vengeance. Crawling up her spine, a thousand tiny needlepoint fingers prodding her back. Her stomach feels like dropped jello, jittering fragments smashed on the ground.

She hasn't been told, in so many words, what life in the Hargrove household was like—is like—but Max says just enough that Joyce can put the pieces together. It's not a pretty picture.

And Karen got to go back to her cushy little life, getting her nails done and making casseroles like there's nothing wrong in the world, like her children haven't been fighting monsters right under her nose for years. Doling out advice like she knows a single thing about what any of them have gone through. Walking around with her head in the clouds because she can still pretend she's living in a normal town with normal problems.

Something bitter an angry takes ahold, all spite and thorns and a gnarled lump in her throat.

"What about you, Karen?" Joyce manages to keep her voice steady, calm on the surface and cold underneath.

Karen blinks at her, tilting her head in confusion. "Me?"

"Well, you knew someone who died in the fire too."

"I…a few of them, yeah." She folds her arms around herself. "It's a small town. But I didn't know any of them that well."

"No?" Joyce grits her teeth, venom sour on her tongue. "What about Billy Hargrove?"

He died saving Hop's daughter, and no one will ever know. As much as Joyce hates that everyone has an opinion about Hopper's death, she's starting to hate even more that Max will never once be told her brother was a hero.

Calling Karen out won't change anything, Joyce is just tired of being angry in secret.

It's almost satisfying to watch the colour drain from her cheeks. Less so to see her eyes start to shine with tears. "He…taught Holly a lot. She used to be terrified of the water, you know."

There's guilt colouring her grief. If Joyce didn't know to look for it she wouldn't have been able to tell, but it's there. It's also not enough. It's the vague regret of a woman carrying one tiny little secret, a woman who carries her past but isn't haunted by it. The rest of them have ghosts that following them every waking hour but Karen doesn't seem to be aware of hers.

"I know what you were doing!" Her voice cracks this time, strains under the weight of everything she has to hold back. "Don't act dumb, I know you aren't," she snaps when Karen opens her mouth.

"I—I didn't do anything—"

"Bullshit! Half the town saw you at the pool every day, drooling all over that boy, treating him like a piece of meat." That's all he was to anyone, wasn't he. Eye candy. Cannon fodder. A body for the Mind Flayer to take and use up. Joyce's eyes sting, and she jabs a finger into Karen's shoulder. "He was a child! How do you justify—"

"He was eighteen!"

"Exactly!" Joyce throws up her hands, the rage thrumming through her flares, all motion and energy and flushed cheeks. She doesn't care that her voice is getting shrill, her hands are shaking, Karen is glancing around the store nervously. "You took advantage of him, and you should have known better!"

"Joyce—Joyce, I swear I never—I have a husband for god's sake! I was just, I was just—he was just so nice, and, and I was lonely, but I never…" She breaks into tears, shoulders shaking, she presses a hand over her mouth when a sob tries to escape her. "It was a mistake," she says, voice wet and muffled by her palm.

Joyce clenches her jaw, and grinds her teeth, swallowing some of the bile crawling up her throat. "It never should have happened in the first place. None of it."

"I know."

"He was far too young for you."

"But—"

"A teenager, Karen! He was a teenager! In high school! He should have been worrying about zits and homework and goddamn prom, not middle aged women preying on him because they're trapped in failing marriages and trying to relive their youth."

Karen's eyebrows shoot up, and she mouths wordlessly, tears still dripping down her cheeks. "That's…" she sputters. "At least I still have a husband." She winces as she says it, with an immediate look of regret.

"That's what you're going with? Really?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"I don't give a damn what you think of me and my life. And I'm not the one you owe an apology to."

"I'm trying to do better, okay," Karen sighs, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. She looks tired. "I'm working on my marriage. And the kids…things have been so strained lately, but…I'm trying. I really am. It's not like I ever made a habit of going around flirting with random men!"

"What about boys."

"No—listen, it wasn't like that! He was—"

"Oh please don't say 'mature for his age'."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, is there a problem here?" Joyce's manager appears around the corner of a shelf. She'd almost forgotten there are other people in the store, but suddenly she'll aware of every eye turned in their direction. The nosy old church lady in the next isle, peering through the stacks. The pair of teenagers gaping at them from over by the watch display.

It's not the first time she's been a spectacle, but it seems like Karen isn't as acclimatized. She pales, and her eyes go wide. "N—no," she pastes on an unconvincing smile.

"Joyce, that shelf is still bare."

"Yeah, yeah," she mutters, and mock-salutes. "On it."

Karen scurries out of the store, whispers following her the whole way out.

It doesn't feel like a victory. It might just make everything worse, who knows. There's petty satisfaction in seeing Karen embarrassed, but Joyce is sure she didn't get through to her, not really. She doesn't understand the depth of her mistake, and she probably never will.

Joyce scratches the back of her neck. And gets back to work.

A week later Steve Harrington shows up on her doorstep with Billy Hargrove, bloody, bruised, and half conscious, plastered to his side.

"I didn't know where else to go," he says all in a panicked rush. He wipes his forearm across his face and leaves a smudge of dirt over one eyebrow. Billy blinks at her, bleary, unfocused, seemingly unaware of Steve's vice grip on his waist, and the tiny, gentle stroke of his thumb against the arm he's swung firmly over his shoulders.

Joyce's heart is in her mouth. She swallows, and tries to stay calm. There's an open, anxious plea all over Steve's face and she needs to get him through this somehow.

"You did good, honey, bring him inside."

Will's asleep, and Jon is at work, but the door of her bedroom creaks and Jane pops her head out as Steve is hauling Billy into the living room.

She goes wide-eyed. Then teary. "Max," she says after a beat, and slips back into Joyce's room, presumably to make a phone call.

"You stay with him, okay?" Joyce pats Steve's shoulder. He's tense. Joyce wonders where exactly he found Billy, and what he had to do to get him here.

Steve nods jerkily, an perches on the coffee table across from the couch he laid Billy down on, bouncing his leg. Staring. Flexing his fingers over and over again, fists pressed to his thighs.

There's something there and Joyce doesn't have time to unpack it.

She grabs a bowl from the kitchen. Fills it with warm water. Watches the water swirl, splash, droplets clinging to the plastic sides. Her vision is a little fuzzy. She's a little light-headed.

Billy is alive.

Somehow.

It's odd, seeing him in person again. He used to scare her. She can vaguely remember it. What it was like before. When he was an unknown, a new kid projecting danger as far as he could. It's like seeing behind an optical illusion. Figuring out how a magic trick works. Realizing that he was just a moth with a flashy pattern, hoping not to get eaten.

But wherever he's been, he's lost weight, lost that mask he used to wear everywhere. He's cracked open and bleeding on her couch, looking every bit the scared kid he always was.

Her heart aches.

Steve hastily folds his arms across his chest when she walks back into the room, a first aid kit tucked under her arm and a clean cloth floating in her bowl of water.

"Is he doing alright?" Joyce asks softly, glancing between the two of them. Billy startles at the sound of her voice, and Steve folds his lips between his teeth, looking pained.

"He…um." He doesn't even glance in Joyce's direction. Not for a second. She was under the impression these two weren't friends, but maybe she was wrong. "I'm not sure."

"Okay." She plonks the bowl down next to Steve, and sits on the couch, keeping a careful distance between her and Billy. He's shaking like a leaf and she doesn't want to spook him even more. "Help me get him cleaned up a little? It'll be easier to tell if he needs medical attention."

God, she needs a cigarette. Her nerves are fried and it's taking everything she's got not to just collapse right now. She's been awake for nineteen hours and the real estate agent that was supposed to contact her today flaked, and none of that even matters right now because she just wants to do something stupid like wrap both these boys up in soft blankets and mother the hell out of them.

Steve takes the cloth, pinching it between two fingers and eyeing it like it's a bug crawling in his lunch. His movements are stilted, unsure, but Billy lets him wipe the mud from his face without incident while Joyce roots through her kit. She keeps it better stocked than she used to. And thank god for that.

Though Billy's injuries don't seem too severe, Joyce notes as Steve continues to clean him up. The way he's moving his hands might mean trouble, he winced his way through Steve's ministrations and now he's keeping them curled in his lap, stiff and shaky, bruises darkening his knuckles. But other than that they seem to mostly uncover scars.

"I, um. This water is…" Steve gestures at the bowl of murky water. His gaze flicks over Billy, jumping from his hands to his eyes to the scars crisscrossing out from under his shirt. He jumps up, suddenly, water sloshing onto the carpet as he picks up the bowl. "I'll be right back," he announces, voice high and strained.

Joyce blinks at his retreating back. Then turns to Billy, whose gaze is lingering on the doorway Steve disappeared through. "So, you two are close, huh?"

He startles, and recoils, and shakes his head. "Not really." His voice is croaky, low and dry. She should've gotten him water to drink too.

He's fidgeting, anxious, unable to meet her eye, like a kid caught doing something they shouldn't.

"Well, he seems to care about you."

She doesn't expect the tears that well up in his eyes, spilling over without warning. He ducks his head like he's trying to hide it, but she's already seen. And there's no hiding the way his shoulders shake as he tries to steady his breathing.

Her heart breaks for him. Like it has been, again and again, for weeks now.

"Oh, honey," she says quietly, sadly, and he finally looks up at her, eyes shiny, cheeks wet. They look nothing alike, not really, but she's struck by an image of Will, three years old and bawling his eyes out over a chipped ashtray. The same feeling wells up in her chest, the same overpowering need to scoop him up in her arms and keep him away from anything that's ever hurt him.

She slides over and pulls him into a hug.

"You're okay now, it's okay."

He's tense, and trembling, and she thinks maybe she did the wrong thing here, but then he shatters, with a tiny, wounded noise, collapses against her, tucked into the crook of her neck like Jonathan used to when he was having trouble sleeping and she'd have to carry him for hours while he dozed.

He's okay. She'll make sure of it.

~tag list @spreckle @growup-thatbeautiful @prettyboy-like-you @suddenlyinlove

#stranger things #joyce byers #billy hargrove #harringrove #(implied harringrove)#i didn't mean to finish this fic on mothers day but here we are lmao #joyce is a mess but she's doing her best #a raven's writing desk

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the-darkness-does-not-bargain · 2 years ago

Note

i was thinking regardless of whether ava has multiple lives or not she still heals like a normal human, and yesss i love the concept of ava getting hurt and lilith taking care of her and beatrice being around and that's how beatrice and lilith start getting along and their relationship developing sm

lilith sees how frightened for ava beatrice is and is reminded of the first time ava "died"/got fatally wounded and how lilith was just alone with the trauma and fright of it all, and for all that she dislikes/disliked beatrice, she doesn't want beatrice to go it alone and having another set of hands to help would objectively make things go smoother

maybe this is also when lilith sometimes feeding from beatrice becomes a thing, because lilith gets so caught up and focused on ava that she forgets about properly feeding herself and it's only when she's shaking and lowkey weak with hunger that she notices, and beatrice offers to let lilith feed a bit from her, and i don't think lilith accepts, because they're not there yet

but the offer sticks with her, and as a show of trust she lets beatrice stay alone to take care of ava while lilith hunts and feeds

oh, just had a thought ava’s current “death” could be very easily be directly or indirectly bc of julian, her fucking around and sciencing ava up in a /neg way to try and find how ava’s immortal and just heals from anything and everything, because she wants to see if she can help michael somehow with what she learns from ava

that isn’t really relevant except that i just like more morally grey and/or more full fledged antagonist jullian

also lilith & ava and/or all three of the girls have bad hayfever and they were so relieved when stuff to help w hayfever came out

also idk how old you’re thinking beatrice is, but i’m thinking she’s like gen z and at max she hasn’t been around any longer than the 1800s or 1900s in large part because i think ava & lilith seeing beatrice with her knowledge and interest of history and all her granny tendencies and being like wow, we can relate and understand this (relatively) current era person lots but then beatrice turning around and dryly refererncing some meme (mostly old memes like vines & the ermhagherd girl, etc) or showing them some meme and ava & lilith like:

it’s lowkey a bit odd for beatrice because usually she’s the one having that reaction and her friends are having to explain meme stuff to her, but it’s nice having the shoe be on the other foot for once

beatrice is an old soul (metaphorical), ava & lilith are old souls (literally)

*rubbing my fingers together*

The vibe I get is that Beatrice is only in her early twenties, and she just got turned into a werewolf 2-3 years ago max. I'll sneak in more of my love for werewolf lore in the Mercy Thompson series. Becoming a werewolf sucks a lot. More than just a bite, you have to be mauled literally within an inch of your life to Change, so in addition to free trauma (Bea baby I'm sorry), it could be a way to relate to ava and lil, as their experiences were probably just as traumatic if they still remember them. Werewolves also typically live in packs, for their own sanity and protection, so that could be how the rest if the girlies get involved. I'm a sucker for big sister Shannon showing Bea the ropes, regardless of situation.

Or maybe instead the pack isn't the OCS and it just sucks, and Bea is running from them. Ava figures it out almost immediately ("all runaways look the same, Bea. Trust me, I would know.") and lovingly bullies Lilith into helping too. And yes, Bea mentions memes or other pop culture references that absolutely floor the other two. Lmao maybe she'll mention an old classic movie like Casablanca or something and they'll ask "what's that about?" and she's like "what do you mean what's that about? You were there when it came out!" "We were busy that weekend."

Bea showing one or both of them how to use a smartphone. Them being like my grandma, i.e. constantly leaving it places and forgetting to answer texts until midnight.

And yes, Jillian being a more morally gray character is an idea straight out of my old werewolf!au, so I'm down with it. Searching for literally any option to save Michael, including supernatural ones. Bonus points if she begs Bea to Change him, because yes, it sucks but at least he would live and be strong and healthy.

#warrior nun #immortal roommates au #ava silva #sister beatrice #sister lilith #ava x beatrice x lilith

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sarayoon · 1 year ago

Text

Sara couldn't help but chuckle at Max's comment. She had, in fact, had given him some kimchi, which, Hanbin spent a long time whining about it being too spicy. Plus, it'd given him a stomachache, too. Unlike many judged her to be, she could be a horrible mother sometimes, especially since most things, she learned the hard way. "Take him to your place for a weekend and have him eat spicy food, then tell me how did that go." The brunette teased, sticking her tongue out at Max in a playful way. "Teokkbokki are rice cakes." Sara explained as she busied herself with the meat. "We usually have them in spicy sauce because they're very bland. But whenever I make it for him," She said, motioning her head towards the little boy, far too entertained with his lettuce wrap to pay much attention. "I don't add a lot of gochuchang."

When Max mentioned serving himself, Sara chuckled. "Oh! Of course you can serve yourself!" Sara bit softly on her bottom lip. Maybe she should've explained what it meant to serve someone else? If she did it now, would it seem weird? "That's not helping out, though." Because, as much as she loved trying to be a good host, she also wasn't going to sit there and serve him all through the day. That reminded her far too much of the type of wife Junho's mother wanted her to be, and that was definitely not Sara. That's why she also wanted for Hanbin to let Max do things by himself. "Work has been okay. We're preparing to receive a new itinerant exhibition, so it's been all about re-reading paperwork and getting everything ready." She said as she took the well-done meat from the grill and placed the meat plate in the center of the table, then adding more meat to the grill. "Woah... a tattoo both at a wedding? That sounds so rad! They'll be all temporary, right?" She assumed, given the fact the artists wouldn't have time to sanitize everything in between a tattoo and another.

Once Hanbin had fed his hyung, he made sure to make another lettuce wrap and offered it to his mother. "Eomma, aaahhhhh!" Sara chuckled, asking him to walk around the table and give it to her. When he did just that, she smiled, humming in pleasure as her little one returned to his spot right beside Max. "Hanbin-ah. 많이 먹어." Eat a lot. She said in Korean as she gestured for her son to eat with the invisible spoon she was holding and watched with a smile as the little boy nodded, then dug into his rice bowl to eat. "Hyung! 많이 먹어!" He repeated his mother's words, taking one piece of his meat pile and placing it in Max's rice bowl, too. And before Max could interject, Sara smiled at him. "You know... in our culture it's a traditional way to show respect and generosity to serve food to someone else." And keeping traditions alive when she lived in such a diverse family like her own, sometimes was hard. "I didn't think it would've bothered you earlier. I should've said something then." But at least now, she was explaining. "I'm so sorry if that bothered you. But really... eat." Sara smiled, motioning her hands towards his food. "I'll just keep adding more meat as we eat."

Sara took a few bites of her own food, downing it with the soju placed in front of her, sharing her attention between the five-year old in front of her and the grill. / @max-cortez

He knew little of being a parental figure, though it was something he'd wanted more than anything else after finding out that he and Chey had been expecting before their loss. Perhaps he could have learned, but the gentle correction offered by Sara was all too much proof that he wasn't solid fatherly material. "Right. See, I would have let him give it a go. Have to build up that spicy tolerance somehow," he half teased through a silly look down at Bin. Max gave his best effort at echoing what she'd said, but he fell short mid-way through, a nervous flush riding to his cheeks in the form of scarlet blotches settling beneath his cheekbones. "What's that?"

The playful swat caused his outstretched arm to retreat back to his lap. His head fell to the side as he shot the woman a look of amused disbelief. "Really? But you went through so much effort to prepare everything. I think that the least I can do is serve myself, but, if you insist," he trailed off, accepting defeat. He'd eat, but he wouldn't touch his food until Sara had sat down to start on hers. However, he absolutely would scoop of the alcohol she'd only just sat before him. "Thank you," he beamed beneath the brim as he lifted it to his lips for a long drink and warm reminder of what they'd shared at the campfire.

"It's good. My boss actually just offered me a little extra money this month. I guess someone asked him if he'd set up for tattooing at their wedding reception and he asked if I could help him out." In between explaining, he offered yet another round of quiet gratitude as his plate began to fill up. "How about you? Staying busy?"

Lips had parted to respond, but before he got a chance, Bin had started his own go of making a lettuce wrap for him. Max watched in silence, offering a smile and nod in the few instances that the child looked up to ensure that he was still watching. It was a much better job than he could have done and once Bin was finished, Max ruffled the top of his hair and peered up at Sara. "He's helping me out, it's no problem." He gave her a genuine smile that reassured her of this. "Now, think you can settle in and enjoy some food with the two of us?"

@sarayoon

#eating cw #food cw #sara.max3

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gridgirldrabbles · 2 years ago

Text

Three Isn’t Always A Crowd

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Y/N x Max Verstappen

Words: 5.3k

Warnings: smut, spanking, hair pulling, unprotected sex, oral sex

Request: Bestie I am inspired by the last vid you posted where Charles is talking about max. Anyways! I would love if you could write something where Max & Charles both like the reader and they’re fighting for her attention but in the end they end up doing a threesum bc both boys wanna prove that they’re the better person for the reader

A/N: I changed it up slightly, I hope that’s okay!!

When you had turned up at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, you thought it would be work as normal before you could head home for some well-deserved rest over the summer break. How wrong you were.

You had been over the moon when you’d been offered a job by F1, taking photos of drivers and the races over the weekend. You’d had a passion for racing since you were younger, and the moment you had picked up a camera it was clear that you had a natural talent for photography, so this was a dream come true for you.

What you hadn’t anticipated was becoming such close friends with a lot of the drivers. You thought you might have been lucky enough to say hi to one or two of them every now and again, but it appears that many of them had taken an instant shining to you. Because of your close relationship with much of the grid your photos turned out better than ever, managing to capture the true personalities of each of the drivers through your lens.

You couldn’t deny that you were particularly close with two of the drivers, getting on well with both of them instantly. Your life was made a million times more difficult by the fact they were currently rivals on the track, both very much in contention for the championship title. Charles and Max got on perfectly well, but it wasn’t like they spent a lot of time together because of their teams. If they were seen as being close friends it would’ve made it harder for both of them on and off track. In fact, the most time they’d spent together that season was when they’d been trying to steal you off the other.

Neither were very subtle in their advances, both making it clear that they were attracted to you with their flirty comments and lingering touches. Not only did they want to make it known to you that they were interested, but they needed the other to know in hopes they would back off. How naïve of them, thinking that the other was going to give you up easily without a fight. Max and Charles were two of the most competitive people you’d ever met, you usually admired them for it, but when they were competitive over you it could be quite tiresome.

Especially when neither of them knew that you’d slept with the other. You were well aware of the fact that it was stupid to sleep with both of them, risking your job and your friendship with both of them if it was to come out. The anxiety the situation was causing you was astronomical, but it was like your body couldn’t control itself when one of them sent you a text at 11pm asking if you were still awake.

You couldn’t deny that the sex with both of them was amazing. Different, but amazing. There was only one other person who knew what was going on and that was Lando Norris, the first driver you’d met when you started your job, as well as your current best friend. It was killing him not to talk about it, being close friends with both Max and Charles, but he knew that it was down to you to choose between them or call it off with both. That didn’t stop the relentless teasing though, you could bet your life that he would make a comment about it every time you saw each other when he was sure no one else was listening.

That led you to now, sat outside the McLaren hospitality with the curly haired Brit as you had breakfast, FP1 wasn’t until after lunch so you decided to have a little catch up before he was too busy to see you.

‘How’s it going with your lovers?’ Lando asked as he shoved his pancakes into his mouth, words coming out muffled as his face got covered in syrup.

You rolled your eyes both at his actions and his question, ‘It’s like eating with a child,’ you said as you shoved a napkin towards him, ‘and it’s fine, just causing me all the stress under the sun.’

He couldn’t help but laugh as you buried your face into your hands, how had you gotten yourself into this situation? ‘You could just call it all off you know, just be friends with both of them instead.’

‘I know, but it’s like my body just gravitates towards them. There’s genuinely something wrong with me.’

‘What’s wrong with you?’ A shiver went down your spine as the Dutch accent flowed into your ears, your cheeks turning a bright shade of pink at the idea of him overhearing your conversation.

Lando looked like a deer caught in headlights so the responsibility of getting yourself out of this situation fell on to your shoulders, ‘Nothing, nothing, I just accidentally left my key in my hotel room this morning, I’m going to have to ask reception for another one.’ Believable right? Max was well aware of how forgetful you were, constantly asking to borrow his stuff when you were together.

‘Well, you know you’re always welcome in my room.’ His hand lingered on your shoulder before he walked off towards the Red Bull garage. You were convinced Lando’s laughter could’ve been heard from miles around as you rested your head on the table and groaned.

‘Lando, you need to help me, I can’t do this anymore.’ You pleaded with him, as much as you liked both of the boys you knew you couldn’t keep this up anymore.

‘Hey, don’t look at me, you got yourself into this mess. They’re both my mates, I can’t get involved.’

Before you knew it Lando was being called into the garage to look over some data before the first practice session, leaving you sat outside the papaya building as you finished your morning coffee. You were appreciating the few moments of peace before you were quickly interrupted.

‘Here all on your own?’ Your eyes drifted up to the handsome face looming over you, a smile plastered on his lips, his red shirt making him stick out like a sore thumb.

‘Lando had to go to the garage, I’m just finishing my drink then I need to get to work.’

‘You can come to the garage with me if you want, get a few shots of the car, or your favourite muse.’ He winked, or attempted to, in your direction, making you laugh. Charles had first figured out that you might be interested in him when he noticed you took a lot more pictures of him than his teammate and it had become a running joke ever since.

‘You make it sound like I’m Michelangelo, I’ve only got a camera.’ You laughed, the pink hue still lingering on your face as it often did when you ran into him unexpectedly.

‘It’s still art, your shots are beautiful, much like you.’ Your cheeks were burning by this point and Charles couldn’t help but laugh, he always knew how to make you act like a school girl with her first crush. ‘Do you want to come over later?’

His question shocked you, he rarely asked if you wanted to meet up in person, rather saving it for a late-night text. ‘Okay, what time?’

’10? We could watch a movie or something first.’ First. Because both of you knew what was going to happen when the two of you were alone together, it was like you couldn’t control yourselves.

‘Yeah, that sounds nice,’ you replied as you entered the garage, ‘now make yourself look busy so I can get some good photos.’ You managed to capture the beauty of his natural laugh, his eyes lighting up and his smile wide across his face. This Charles was your favourite. The one you could have a laugh with, the one who looked most at peace, the one who made you feel butterflies whenever you caught him looking at you.

The day flew by before you could even register that both practice sessions were over. It was nearing on 8pm before you even left the track, your stomach rumbling as you’d only been able to have a quick lunch before heading to the pitlane for both practice sessions. You couldn’t tear your mind away from the bath you were going to run when you got back to your room, trying to avoid seeing Max and Charles together was becoming increasingly difficult, and it was making you more tense than ever.

‘Hey, Y/N!’ You stopped in your tracks as you heard your name being called, turning around to find the Dutchman himself jogging towards you, ‘Do you want me to drive you back to the hotel?’ You were going to call an uber, but you had to admit the luxury of Max’s car sounded much better.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah of course, I’m only driving myself so hop on in.’ You caught up on the day as you walked to the area where all the drivers parked their car. That car park was probably worth more than you’d ever make in your life with the amount all those cars were worth.

You slid yourself in to the passenger side and buckled in as Max drove the short journey back to where you were both staying. Soft music filled the car, and you couldn’t help but glance over at him as he drove. He looked undeniably attractive with his arms tensed as he turned the corner, face glowing under the street lights passing by. Max saw you staring out the corner of his eye, ‘See something you like?’

Your cheeks flushed having been caught in your admiration of the driver, ‘Maybe.’

‘Only maybe? Maybe you could come over later and I could turn that maybe into a yes.’ His eyes flickered towards you, awaiting you answer. Your heart sank at his request, as much as you would’ve loved to join him you’d already promised Charles that you would see him.

‘Oh, actually…I kind of already have plans?’ You sheepishly admitted. This was the first time that Max had asked you to come over and you hadn’t been able to. You could tell by the look on his face that he was shocked at your refusal.

‘Plans. Mind if I ask with who?’ You knew he didn’t mean anything by his inquiry, but it made your heart beat faster and your hands start to sweat.

‘Just Lando, we said we’d have a movie night to get his mind off this season.’ He nodded his head at your answer but offered no response of his own, leaving the rest of the car ride in comfortable silence.

Once you’d arrived at the hotel the both of you made your way through the lobby, Max lagging behind making you turn and furrow your eyebrows at his actions. ‘I thought you needed a new key for your room?’

Your eyes widened as you remembered the conversation you had with him earlier, ‘I actually had the spare key in my bag! I found it when I was looking for my lens case earlier.’ You fished around into the bottom of your bag until you pulled out the key card triumphantly. Max laughed at your antics before walking to the elevator with you, arm slung over your shoulder pulling you in to his side. No one would’ve glanced twice if they saw the pair of you, you two had been touchy ever since you’d first met.

As you stopped at your floor Max gave you a hug and a kiss on the forehead, your face unable to hide the joy it brought you. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow?’ He asked as you started walking down the corridor. You replied with a nod and a wave before the doors closed and he went up to his own floor.

The bath you’d been thinking about was sure worth the wait, your muscles instantly relaxing as you sank into the hot water, the bubbles enveloping your body. You could’ve stayed there all evening if it wasn’t for your rumbling stomach, and you knew you had to eat before you saw Charles. Unwillingly you dragged yourself out of the warm embrace of the bath and to the phone on the bedside table to order room service. You mentally made a note to thank your boss for having room service be included with the free hotel room when you saw them tomorrow.

While you were waiting for your food your got yourself ready for the evening. Charles never expected you to dress up for him, he thought you were sexy whether you were dressed to the nines or just in sweats, it didn’t matter to him. You settled on a baggy shirt and your favourite joggers, if the two of you actually did watch a movie then at least you would be comfortable.

Once dinner had been finished it was nearing upon 9:45, Charles had already sent you his room number for the weekend, so you figured there was no harm in heading up there early. You reached the sixteenth floor without seeing another person which you were extremely thankful for, you could do without anyone asking what you were doing outside the Ferrari drivers’ room at this time of the night. You quickly found the door marked 1627 and knocked softly, you didn’t want to be too loud to disturb anyone else nearby.

The sound of a door opening could be heard, but to your horror it wasn’t the one in front of you. The door to room 1625 opened next to you and if there was anytime you had wanted the ground to swallow you up, it would’ve been then. Emerging from the room was the last person in the world you wanted to see when you had just knocked on Charles’ door.

Max caught your figure from the corner of his eye, his face being overtaken by a look of confusion. ‘I thought you were with Lando this evening?’ Just as you opened your mouth to reply, the door in front of you began to open. You could feel your heart sinking into your stomach, knowing how badly you had fucked up.

‘Good evening cherie, are you okay? You look at little flushed.’ Charles’ worry for you soon dissipated as he noticed Max stood to your right, his jaw clenched as his eyes met Charles’.

‘So when you told me you were spending the evening with Lando, that was a lie?’ Max couldn’t hide the anger from his voice, and he had to admit that he was hurt by your actions. If you didn’t want to sleep with him then you should just tell him, rather than making up excuses.

‘Lando?’ Charles’ voice was laced with confusion, feeling like he opened his bedroom door into a private conversation that he hadn’t been invited to, ‘What does Lando have to do with this?’

‘Nothing! Lando has nothing to do with anything.’ Your frustration was evident, your cheeks growing hotter by the second as you tried to figure out a way to get yourself out of this situation. It seemed like neither of them had connected the dots yet and you very much would’ve liked to keep it that way.

‘Why do you care that she’s not with Lando?’ Charles couldn’t stop himself from asking, he knew it wasn’t really his business but it was obvious that you’d lied to Max about spending time with him, so he felt like he had a right to know.

‘I asked her if she was free tonight and she said she already had plans with him.’

‘Well we’ve had plans since this morning so…’ If you could’ve slapped your hand over the Monegasques’ mouth, you would have. He obviously knew you didn’t want Max to know, but you knew that neither of them were going to let this go easily.

‘Can we not do this in the corridor please?’ You herded the pair on them in to the room, shutting the door behind you softly as you took a deep breath. They were bound to find out so they may as well hear it from you.

‘Are you going to tell us what’s going on?’ Max was stood with his arms crossed against his chest, a displeased look plastered across his face. Charles just looked lost, he knew that the two of you were friends but he didn’t understand why you wouldn’t tell Max you had plans with him, using Lando as an excuse instead.

‘I’ve been sleeping with both of you.’ The words came tumbling out of your mouth before you could stop them, the admission of guilt making you feel like you could’ve thrown up then and there.

The looks on both of their faces would’ve been comical if you were in any other situation. Both were shocked, and they soon turned to look at each other before cringing. You could almost see their minds working to think of all the times you had said you were busy, were you with the other person?

‘Both of us?’ Charles clarified as you nodded your head from across the room.

‘How long?’ Max asked.

‘A couple of months, around when you started fighting for the championship.’ You cringed at your own words, shame filling your body. You cared deeply about both of the men stood in front of you, and it felt like you had betrayed their trust.

‘Can Max and I have a minute to talk please?’ Charles’ question shocked you. You thought they would’ve been directing the questions to you, considering you were the one who had kept your relationships hidden from both of them. All you could do was nod before trudging back towards the bedroom door. ‘We’ll text you later.’

Making your way back down to your room you felt positively sick. How could you have done this? Why did you think this was a good idea? You flopped yourself down on the bed, eyes staring at the ceiling as you waited for your phone to buzz, but it never did. You could only assume that the conversation hadn’t gone well, both of them deciding that they hate you and never wanted to see you again.

You had no idea at which point you’d fallen asleep, but your phone was still in your hand and the clock now told you that it was just past midnight. A soft knock could be heard coming from your door, and you could only assume that was what woke you up in the first place. Pulling yourself off the bed you walked to the door, opening it to find the two people you least expected.

‘Can we come in?’ You swung the door open wider to let them both past, both drivers taking a seat at the end of your bed.

‘Are you guys okay?’ You knew it was probably a silly question, but you still wanted to know. They were two of your closest friends after all.

They glanced sideways at each other, ‘We’re okay,’ Max replied for the both of them, ‘We just have a few questions.’ Expecting this would happen you nodded your head; it was the least you could do for them.

‘Who did you start sleeping with first?’

‘Max.’ A small smile took over his face, but it quickly disappeared when Charles piped up with his own comment.

‘So then you started sleeping with me because he didn’t satisfy you?’ He knew it was petty but he genuinely couldn’t help himself. Max had virtually run away with the championship at this point, he was going to take any win that he could.

You couldn’t have stopped the laughter leaving your mouth even if you’d tried, but you quickly shut up when you saw the look on Max’s face. ‘No, that’s not what happened. We just had a vibe.’

‘A vibe?’ Max asked, scowl still very much present.

‘I had a vibe with both of you, Max just made the move first.’

‘Who was better in bed?’ The question shocked you, even more so because it came from the Ferrari driver.

‘I’m not answering that.’

‘That means one of us was better.’

‘No it doesn’t.’

‘Yes it does.’ Max decided to pipe up then, also wanting to know which of the two you thought was better. They were both confident in their abilities and you couldn’t deny that both of them were great between the sheets.

‘You’re both good in bed, I don’t see why it matters.’ The way they looked at each other already told you that they had planned something while they were alone.

‘Well, we know a good way that you could make a decision.’

The way they both stood from the bed and walked toward you almost had your thighs clenching together, but you still had no idea what they had planned. You had a better idea when Charles stood in front of you, his hands cupping your face as he brought his lips to yours, and Max attached his lips to your neck from behind.

You quickly lost yourself in the feeling of two pairs of hands roaming your body, you barely noticed when Max’s fingers started to lift the bottom of your shirt until he was pulling it over your head. The boys spun you round between them, Max’s lips finding yours as soon as they could. Charles focused on removing your bra from your body before his hands cupped your tits and played with your nipples as you moaned into his rivals mouth.

‘You’re both wearing a lot don’t you think?’ You said as you briefly pulled over from the Dutchman, his hands making quick work of his shirt as you turned to help Charles rid himself of his. It was clear that both men wanted you to themselves but that wasn’t conducive with their plan to see who was the best, so they reluctantly settled for taking turns for your attention.

As things progressed, gropes got needier, kisses got sloppier, and you couldn’t contain the moans that fell from your lips whenever one of them touched you. Charles was working on your front, hands massaging your breasts as his mouth alternating sucking on your nipples, his gentle touch sending shocks down to your core like they usually did. Max was back behind you, lips gently biting and sucking on the smooth skin of your neck, undoubtedly going to leave marks but none of you cared. His hands alternated between grabbing your ass cheeks and teasingly ghosting over your pussy which made you more desperate than ever.

Somehow you ended up with your back flat against the bed, Charles perched between your legs and Max kneeling next to your head. No one needed to say where everyone was going, it was almost like the boys had planned this down to each breath. Your joggers were slowly tugged down your legs, your chest heaving as your eyes swept over the two figures around you. Surely this wasn’t real, surely this wasn’t actually going to happen. Maybe they got you all worked up just to leave you all worked up and alone.

Any doubts you had in your mind were quickly replaced when Charles licked a stripe up your pussy before sucking your clit between his pink lips. The sound you made was bound to be heard in the next room, and Max knew exactly the way to keep you quiet. He nudged his cock against your lips and groaned as your tongue swirled around the tip. You knew exactly what he liked, having done this countless times before, and had him moaning in mere seconds.

It was hard to focus on satisfying Max when Charles was doing such a good job in between your legs. He hadn’t let up at all, switching between harshly sucking on your clit and fucking you with his tongue. If he was being completely honest, he could spend hours upon hours going down on you and he wouldn’t complain once. To know that he had you such a moaning mess to the point where you were struggling to keep your mouth moving along Max’s shaft had him smirking against your centre.

You could feel the coil in your stomach begin to tighten, your mind was so clouded with lust that your hand had to do the majority of work on Max’s cock while you focused just on the head. Your legs clenched around Charles’ head and he knew that you were about to cum, so he flicked your clit with his tongue in the way that he knew you loved and had you coming undone immediately. The vibrations from your groans were enough to push the Red Bull driver toward his own orgasm and you made sure to catch it all in your mouth before swallowing.

‘Good girl.’ Cooed Max as he brushed a thumb lovingly over your cheek, as much as people thought he could be stoic and aggressive, he was nothing but sweet with you.

‘Think you can go for some more?’ Charles asked, standing from his place between your thighs, his hard on evident through his boxers. Max knew he would need a second to get himself ready again, so he didn’t mind Charles being the first to fuck you, he had made you cum after all.

You nodded shyly from your spot on the bed, immediately getting onto your hands and knees because you knew it was one of his favourite positions. Max was almost shocked at how Charles didn’t even need to ask you to move, but he knew how obedient you could be when you wanted to.

He ran his cock through your folds, teasing your clit slightly before pushing himself into you until he bottomed out. Your body couldn’t help but collapse further onto the bed, head resting on your folded arms as you looked towards Max who was sat on the loveseat in the corner of the room, hand wrapped around his cock.

Charles gave you a moment to adjust before he pulled himself out and agonisingly slowly pushed himself back in until his pelvis met your ass. He set a steady rhythm, watching your ass bounce as you pushed yourself back to meet his thrusts. While sex with the Monegasque started off sweet, it often didn’t stay that way.

The thrusts got faster and faster until he had set a blistering pace, the sound of skin slapping being the loudest noise in the room next to your moans. Your eyes screwed themselves shut as you felt his hand land on your ass, undeniably leaving a handprint for you to find later when they had both left. While Charles was making you feel so good, you couldn’t take your eyes away from Max.

He couldn’t believe that he was watching his number one rival fuck you and he was enjoying it. He couldn’t stop the pace of his hand around his cock, your face contorting with pleasure making him want to decorate it with his cum. But he knew he couldn’t cum yet, he still had a point to prove, and to do that he needed to fuck you himself.

Charles could feel your pussy clenching around his shaft, telling him that you were close to your release. His hand buried itself in your hair before tugging you up so that your back was pressed against his chest, his other hand snaking around your body until it found your clit. The added pressure of his middle finger drawing fast circles around the bud was enough to send you into overdrive, seeing stars as your hurtled toward your orgasm.

With only a few more thrusts Charles joined you, pulling himself out and cumming on your ass as he usually did. Both of you caught your breath while Max went to get you a tissue. While he was willing to fuck you with Charles in the room, he wasn’t willing to fuck you when you were covered in his cum.

‘Are you feeling okay?’ Charles asked, his face showing his concern clearly as much as he tried to hide it. You nodded, feeling your hair sticking to your forehead because of the sweat that had formed there.

The Ferrari driver made his way over to the seat Max had been occupying while the Dutchman got himself situated on the bed, waiting for you to straddle his waist. You did happily, as much as your two orgasms had worn you down you were always willing to go for a third.

You sank down onto Max’s cock causing everyone in the room to groan at both the sight and the feeling. You moved your hips back and forth slowly, your pussy sensitive from the pounding it had just gotten from Charles. It didn’t take long for the both of you to need more.

Max’s hands were glued to your waist, hands guiding your movements with increasing speed as you planted your hands on his chest to give you more leverage. He wasn’t surprised that your body was so tired from what it had already been through, so he decided to give you a little help. He placed his feet onto the mattress behind you and lifted his hips up to meet your movements, thrusting his cock even deeper inside of you.

You were captivated by his big blue eyes staring up at you, and you couldn’t help but smile when he gave you a cheeky wink as his thrusts got faster. You looked over to see Charles enjoying the show, hand lazily stroking his cock as he watched you get lost in the feeling of the man below you. Both men thought they would be more jealous when it came to a situation like this but they were both surprised by how much they were enjoying it.

It didn’t take long for that familiar feeling to build in your abdomen, your pussy clenching as your hips moved faster trying to seek release. Max quickly got the hint and moved one of his hands from your hip to your clit, thumb brushing it in just the right way to make the coil inside you snap.

Max could feel his own orgasm approaching quickly so he flipped you over before pulling out and hovering above your chest, releasing himself across your tits. Charles, who had had to get himself to that point, not that he minded too much, decided on a similar course of action. He sprung up from the chair in the corner and the way you lazily smiled up at him told him everything he needed to know as he added his own cum to the mix on your chest.

Both boys could’ve exploded as you swiped a finger across the liquid now covering you and brought it to your lips to suck it off. They cleaned you off gently, and if you weren’t so tired you would’ve seen the pair of them glance at each other as they settled down either side of you.

Max got you a glass of water while Charles lovingly brushed his hands through your hair, your eyes closing at the relaxing, familiar feeling. Your body had certainly been through a lot that evening, far more than you were expecting, so you were ready to send both boys on their way and curl up into bed.

The silence of the room was stark compared to the sounds that had filled it only moments before, and you were almost certain they had both fallen asleep until Max’s voice broke the peace.

‘So who was better then?’

#cl16 #mv1 #charles leclerc imagine #max verstappen imagine #f1 imagine #charles leclerc oneshot #max verstappen oneshot #f1 oneshot #charles leclerc smut #max verstappen smut #f1 smut #charles leclerc x reader #max verstappen x reader #f1 x reader

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hellfireclubmember · 2 years ago

Note

ok so i have a request if that’s cool.

so steve harrington x reader where the reader has scars/stretch marks and is insecure about them and doesn’t want steve to see them? maybe like hurt/comfort.

thank u🤍🤍

*okay, so sorry this took so long. just a quick warning this is the first time i've written anything that wasn’t just supposed to be fluff so pls have mercy on me <3 oh and this turned out to b a lot longer than i thought it would be*

It was summer in Hawkins, Indiana. The season of trying to keep cool by any means. Which usually meant spending most days at the town pool. Steve wasn’t keen on cramming into a pool full of preteens and their parents, which is lucky for him considering the pool in his backyard. However, he had concocted a plan to spend his weekend with you and his friends at his family’s lake house. He now just had to convince you to come which was proving to be quite difficult. Everyone else was fully on board, eager to cool off and relax for a change. He didn’t plan on his girlfriend being the one fully against the idea, honestly his money was on Max being the most difficult to convince.

“Baby, come on. For once my plan is perfect.” He was sitting on your bed begging you to reconsider. “We barely spend anytime relaxing together. Its either we’re fighting disgusting monsters or we’re both busy working.” He tugged on your hand so you would turn to look at him.

Your willpower was crumbling. Saying no to Steve made you feel horrible but thinking of saying yes made your chest tighten. Spending the weekend at the lake with everyone sounded like a dream but that also meant having to wear less clothes than you’re really comfortable wearing.

You had known everyone for a really long time but you had officially been dating Steve for about 2 months. You had loved him for way more than that and now that you were together you didn’t want anything to ruin your relationship with him. Which meant keeping him at arm’s length about some things, things you had convinced yourself would make you undesirable to him.

“I’ll get on my knees right now.” He had your face in between both his hands now. “Please don’t make me but I swear I’ll do it if you ask.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re the worst.” The grin on your face too wide for anyone to think you were being serious.

“You love me though, which is why you’re gonna say yes?” He said, waiting for you to cave and caving you were. There was really no point in continuing to say no to him. You both knew he was going to get what he wanted, he usually did.

You let out a sigh. “Fine, Steve. I’ll go” He immediately planted a hard kiss on your lips.

“You’re the best, baby. I swear you’ll have fun.” He kissed your forehead, then your nose and then your lips again. “If you don’t, we can hide all of Henderson’s clothes so he spends all weekend scavenger hunting.”

You had said yes but that didn’t mean having to actually get into the lake. There was no way he could convince you of jumping into the lake. You would put your foot down this time for sure. You were steeling yourself; no amount of begging could sway you on this.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Steve, no. I’ll watch you from here, okay? I don’t want to get in the water.” You were sat on the dock behind the house. The sky was almost unnaturally clear, the sun beaming down at all of you as if angry with the Earth. There was a slight summer breeze making its way around everyone but nothing strong enough to keep anyone from sweating. Ultimately an ideal day to be exactly where you were. Dustin, Mike and Robin were splashing each other in the water whilst Max and Lucas were inside getting food. Your very annoying boyfriend standing in front of you, beautiful hairy chest on display, hands on his hips.

“But it’s so hot, you have to be melting by now.” He had been bugging you about this since you guys got out of the car.

“(Y/N), c’mon! When do we ever have free time where we’re not knocking on death’s door?” Robin yelled from inside the water.

“Yeah! Who knows how long we have before the next slimy freak emerges from the Earth to try and kill everyone?” Lucas said as he walked past you getting ready to dive in. Max walked behind him with a bag of chips in her hands, agreeing to Lucas’ statement.

They’re right and you know they’re right. Maybe you could push past your insecurities just this once, let go and have fun. You looked up at Steve’s hopeful face again, reaching for his hand and playing with his fingers.

“You really want me to go in with you?”

Steve squatted down to be at eye level with you. Sometimes when he looked at you this closely he was overwhelmed with how beautiful one person could be. He thought himself the luckiest person in the world. “More than anything.”

You nodded, again giving in to your boyfriend’s every whim and got up to go change. Everyone cheered as you walked inside the house, you lifted your hand in the air, middle finger extended.

“I’ll wait for you right here!” Steve yelled out after you.

In the bathroom, you stared at yourself in the mirror. Your body clad in your bathing suit. This was what you were dreading about this trip. Truth is you wanted to avoid Steve seeing the stretch marks that littered your skin on the sides of your lower half. The indented stripes of skin being the only thing your eyes could see when you looked in the mirror and you were terrified of that being the same for Steve, terrified he wouldn’t want you anymore.

You could feel tears starting to form in your eyes. You couldn’t do this; you couldn’t go out there like this. You wrapped your arms around yourself as you slid down to sit on the bathroom floor. You felt pathetic, silently crying in the bathroom whilst everyone was outside having a blast.

You didn’t notice how long you had been in there but Steve definitely did. He was starting to get worried so he got up from his seat and walked over to the bathroom, knocking softly. “Babe, are you okay?”

Hearing his voice made you snap your gaze to the locked door. You wiped the tears on your face and tried to sound as normal as possible. If Steve knew you were crying then he would definitely find a way into the bathroom

“Yeah, I’m okay.” As you said that a small involuntary sob escaped you, making your eyes widen.

“Are you crying?” Oh no, oh no, oh no. You heard the doorknob jiggle as Steve attempted to get in. “Sweetheart can you let me in please?”

You looked around the bathroom, eyes landing on someone’s towel near the shower. Quickly unhooking it and wrapping it around your hips. The skin on your lips felt dry as you took a deep breath in, an effort to prepare yourself to face your boyfriend. When you opened the door you couldn’t make eye contact with Steve. He was leaning on the door frame, concern written all over his face as he examined yours.

“You were crying.” His eyebrows furrowed. He walked into the bathroom with you and closed the door behind him. Steve’s arms immediately wrapping around your body in a tight hug. “Why were you crying?” He spoke into your hair.

The second the words left his lips fresh tears began streaming down your face. Steve rubbed small circles on your back, giving you time to just cry in his arms. Every few minutes he would whisper “I love you” in your ear. You both stayed in that position until he heard your breathing start to even out. Steve pulled away wanting to look you in the eyes. You tried looking at everything else but him. Making Steve lean everywhere your eyes went. When you finally quit trying to evade him and made eye contact, he gave you a comforting smile.

“Can you tell me what made you this upset?” He was holding your hand as he spoke, rubbing your knuckles gently with his thumb. You almost started crying again just looking at him, his perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect skin.

“Stevie, I just” You breathed in slowly to keep any tears at bay. “I just love you so much.”

“That’s no reason to cry.” His voice was soft, his words coated with care.

“You’re so perfect and I want to be perfect for you too.” Sniffle. “And I’m not, I’m just not.” You couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore, opting to look at the floor instead.

Steve was so confused. He couldn’t think of any reason why you would say that. When he looked at you sometimes he had to physically pinch himself to make sure he’s not dreaming you up. To him you were as perfect as any person could be. He adored you. “Why would do you think that?”

“Because it’s true, Steve. I’m not pretty enough to be with you, I’m covered in stretch marks, and you’re perfect.” A few more tears slipped from your eyes but you quickly wiped them off. If you started crying again you don’t know when you would stop.

Steve finally understood why you were so against this trip and why you were so adamant about not getting in the water. “Baby, look at me.” He lifted your head up so you could look him in the eye again. “I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful. Seriously, you’re a knockout, a ten, a fox.” He saw a whisper of a smile on your face as he kept talking. “I’m serious. If I could worship your body all day I would.” His eyes roamed every inch of your face. He leaned in and gave you quick kiss. “You don’t have to get into the water, I’ll sit with you inside or outside or wherever you want. I just want to spend time with you because you’re my favorite person.” You fully smiled now, hearing him speak sticky sweet words with his whole chest. You loved Steve Harrington, he loved you and that was enough.

You shook your head. “I’ll get in.” You hesitated before taking the towel off. Steve took a few steps back to look at you. You held your breath as you watched his eyes scan your body.

The tall boy was momentarily at a loss for words, which for Steve was a first. He couldn’t believe you could be so insecure when you looked like this. “(y/n)” he put his hand on your hip. “You’re so hot.”

“Yeah?” You beamed up at him.

“Hell yeah.” He caught your lips in a needy kiss. “Maybe we should spend some time inside first?” Steve spoke with a lazy smirk on his face.

You laughed. “Tempting but we’re on duty, Stevie. Always the babysitters.”

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #stranger things #robin buckley #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #billy hargrove #billy hargove x reader #stranger things fluff #stranger things fic #hurt/comfort #Steve Harrington hurt/comfort

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liaromancewriter · 3 years ago

Text

The Other Valentine Twin

Premise: Max learns about a surprising incident from Sienna’s past.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Sienna Trinh x Max Valentine (M!OC) Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 1,315

A/N: This fic is inspired by the conversations on this post by @crazy-loca-blog. It was too fun to let up. Submission for @choicesmonthlychallenge May Day 4 prompt “heartfelt”.

Sienna Trinh stood in the living room with her back to the hallway, staring at her phone and waiting for Max to respond. Or not. She knew he had seen it, but she also couldn’t fault him for not replying, busy as he was right now.

He and his team were finishing up a project this week with very tight deadlines. For the last few days, he had been going into work earlier than usual and then sequestered in his home office late into the night.

Remembering how tired he had looked when he came home earlier, Sienna now wished she could recall the text message and let him take a breather.

She started to text him again when he slipped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed the side of her neck, making her shiver as his scent surrounded her.

“Boyfriend Valentine reporting for duty, Dr. Trinh,” he whispered enticingly in her ear.

“I’m sorry. I know how busy you are today, and I shouldn’t have bothered you,” she said, the words rushing out of her, making him go still.

He didn’t say anything, turning her around instead and framing her face between his hands.

“Hey, we’ve talked about this before, Si,” he said gently, peering intently into her eyes. “You’re never a bother. If I’m busy, I tell you; just like you would tell me. Open and honest, remember?”

She smiled up at him, nuzzling her cheek against his palm to show him she understood.

“Now,” he checked his wristwatch, “we have 26 and a half minutes before I need to get back. You said something about wanting cuddles…”

She took his hand and led him to the couch, waiting for him to sit before she climbed up on his lap. He folded his arms around her, and she snuggled close, tucking her head under his chin and sliding one arm around his waist to clutch at the back of his shirt.

“Feel better?” he asked after a couple of minutes and Sienna nodded.

“Thank you,” she said, savoring his closeness and the warmth of his breath washing over her.

“It’s entirely my pleasure,” he laughed. “Personally, I can’t think of a better way to relax.”

Sienna raised her head, her eyes smiling into his and he bent his head, claiming her lips in a soft kiss, once, twice. He hadn’t shaved and his beard prickled against her skin; a frisson passed through her, making her want more. She parted her lips for him, and he captured her mouth in a long, clinging kiss that made her head swim and her heart pound.

“I stand corrected,” he said, lingering against her lips. “I can think of another, more pleasurable way to pass the time.”

She lifted his wrist to check the time. “We only have eighteen minutes left.”

“I can be quick,” he said with a smirk, fingers fiddling with the buttons at the front of her shirt only for her to slap his hand away playfully.

“But can you make it good?” she teased.

“Hey, I resent the implication that I can’t be fast and make you feel good,” he protested, eyebrow raised in mock offense.

She giggled, shaking her head in amusement before brushing her lips along the edge of his jaw and resting her head back down on his chest.

“Let’s just stay like this,” she said. “I’ve missed you these last few days.”

“I know,” he kissed the back of her head, “Me too. I’ll be done by Friday and then I’m all yours.”

The comfortable silence stretched. Sienna closed her eyes, enjoying the sound of his heartbeat beneath her and the feel of his fingers combing through her hair. A delicious drowsiness enveloped her as the minutes ticked by and she wished for time to stop.

“Wanna go out this weekend?” his voice rumbled above her. “The Nationals are playing an exhibition game on Saturday for season ticket holders to close out the season. If we play our cards right, we could give the folks manning the jumbotron kiss cam a show for the ages.”

Sienna smiled at the memory of the last time she’d been featured on one of those things. She didn’t think Cassie would really kiss her, but she had and right on the mouth. Sienna remembered laughing the whole time and thinking it was still better than any kiss Wayne had ever given her.

“That would be nice,” she said sleepily. “The Valentine Twins are great kissers after all.”

“Excuse me?” Max sat up straight, removing his arms from around her. “What do you mean the Valentine Twins are great kissers? As far as I know, I’m the only twin you’ve been kissing. Sienna?”

Sienna’s eyes flew open at his words. She lifted her head to gaze up at him, squirming when she saw he was deadly serious.

“Oh…uh…” she stammered, struggling to find the words against the incensed expression on his face. “Well…um, back in intern year, the Roomies went to a baseball game and…”

She gulped before continuing. “The kissing cam found us in the crowd, Cassie and me. Everyone was watching us, shouting, and we just, well…kissed. On the mouth. It was like a joke, and we were laughing the whole time, so it was nothing really.”

“I see,” he said neutrally, setting her aside to stand up. “My break’s over. I need to get back to work.”

“Max, come on…” she implored, reaching for his wrist only to have it slip out of her hands as he walked away.

Half an hour later, Sienna paced outside his office, putting her ear against the door to check if he was free, but all she heard were muffled voices.

She really was bad at relationships, she thought. Three months in and looks like they might be over before they’d truly begun.

She wracked her brain for ideas on how to dig herself out of this hole and came up empty. What would Cassie do? Her best friend had managed to not only catch the Ogre of Edenbrook but also marry him. As far as Sienna was concerned, Cassie had earned a gold star in relationships.

She sure could use some inspiration from her example even if she had gotten them in this mess to begin with. After all, Cassie could have kissed her on the cheek instead of clowning around by kissing her on the mouth.

And then it occurred to Sienna she knew exactly what to do. Men were simple creatures; Max himself had told her so, she thought with a grin. It was time she took him at his word.

Sienna glanced at her phone in dismay. He’d left her on ‘read’ again and that had been twenty minutes ago. He was either still busy or he wasn’t coming. Tired of holding the seductive pose, she started to shift on the bed when she sensed a movement up ahead.

“I love you too.”

She looked up to see Max leaning against the doorway, arms folded across his chest, watching her with a distinctive gleam in his eyes. Not giving it another thought, she pulled up the camera app and pointed her phone at him, zooming in to capture every loving and heartfelt detail on his face.

“I believe you said something about making it up to me,” he drawled, stalking towards her in a way that reminded her of a wolf prowling closer to its prey.

Sienna smiled inside when he joined her on the bed. His hand grasped her chin, tilting her head back. His lips cruised down her throat to suck at the sensitive skin at the base before descending further.

Maybe she wasn’t so bad at relationships after all, she thought dreamily as she fell back on the bed and pulled him on top of her. And then she wasn’t thinking at all.

Perma-tags: @jamespotterthefirst @genevievemd @forallthatitsworth @queencarb @potionsprefect @quixoticdreamer16 @schnitzelbutterfingers @mainstreetreader @bex-la-get @headoverheelsforramsey @thegreentwin @dorisz @custaroonie @takemyopenheart @jerzwriter @mm2305 @a-crepusculo @rosebudde @lucy-268 @writer-ish @wanderingamongthewildflowers @trappedinfanfiction @rookiemartin @anonymousrookie @natureblooms24 @coffeeheartaddict2 @mysticalgalaxysstuff @lady-calypso @sincerelyscarring @beezybean

Max & Sienna only: @gryffindordaughterofathena @utterlyinevitable

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

#sienna trinh #sienna trinh x oc #open heart #open heart fanfics #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #choices monthly challenge #open heart choices #sienna trinh x max valentine #sienna x max

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made-ofmemories · 2 years ago

Text

When Life Tears You Asunder, But You’re Not Alone

(Chapter 5/17)

General Warnings/tags: Found family, implied Wayne/Susan in future chapters, Max & Eddie have a sibling like relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort

Chapter specific warnings/tags: Nothing way too detailed but there is some talk of shitty parents, past childhood traumas and parental death, Billy’s abuse is also mentioned in this chapter

Word count: 2559

Summary: Billy was a pretty shitty brother, there was no denying it, but Max still finds herself mourning for the sibling relationship they never got to have. With him gone she thinks so are her chances of ever having the big brother figure she’s always wanted. Then in a turn of events that she never saw coming, Eddie Munson waltzes into her life. Or more like, almost runs her over.

Notes: A lot of the stuff about Billy and Max in this chapter directly references or was heavily inspired by the book ‘Runaway Max’

Co-written with the wonderful @ladydorian05 and crossposted on AO3. Updates every Friday.

Series Masterlist

——-

Max is in a bad mood and has been since the first period of the day, English with Mrs. Ross. By the time the bell rings at 3 pm and she’s stomping out of the building to where Eddie is waiting for her, she's long past hiding it. She spots the van across the parking lot. Eddie seems revved up, as usual, his hands on the steering wheel are drumming along to whatever song is playing on the stereo and he’s banging his head back and forth to the rhythm of it.

The entire vehicle shakes when she slams the van door behind her. Eddie flinches at the sudden noise and she feels a little guilty for startling him. He must pick up on her mood pretty quickly because he doesn’t make a remark about it like she would expect from him any other time.

“How was school?” He asks tentatively as they’re leaving the parking lot.

“Fine.” She grumbles. She really isn’t in the mood for small talk, she can feel a headache coming on and to make matters worse Eddie just had to be playing that song, “Can you turn this off?” She snaps, maybe a little too harshly.

“Uh- sure.” He sounds confused and Max can’t blame him. Usually, she loves anything by Metallica, just last week she had been shouting along to the lyrics of the very same song with him. Right now though, all it’s doing is dragging up memories she’d really rather not deal with.

He turns off the stereo and they travel in silence until Eddie stops somewhere that very much isn’t the trailer park. Max had been too caught up in her own head to even realize they had been driving the completely wrong way for the past 5 minutes.

“What are we doing here? I just want to go home.”

“I’m hungry, aren’t you hungry?”

“No. Eddie. Please can we just go, I have… homework.” It’s a lame excuse, unconvincing even to her own ears.

“It’s Friday, you have the whole weekend to do homework. Come on.” He’s hopping out of the van and heading towards the diner they’re parked in front of before she can get another word in.

She groans, throwing her head back against the seat. He’s impossible sometimes. She weighs up her options, she can either stay here in this freezing cold rust bucket of a van which is only going to get colder or she can go along with whatever the hell this is.

“This is technically kidnapping of a minor you know.” She complains when she catches up to him.

“Yeah yeah, add it to the list.”

She waits close to the entrance while Eddie orders to go. She’s skated past the building several times before, but it’s the first time she’s ever been inside. There are a few servers bustling around and one or two customers but overall it’s not too busy. Some old 60’s pop song is playing quietly on the jukebox.

Max insists that she doesn’t want anything. Eddie orders her a hot cocoa anyway and despite her grumbling, she has to admit that the warmth of the hot drink is appreciated. She takes a sip of it once they’re back in the van, it’s good.

“There used to be a place just like this near where I grew up.” Eddie says breaking the silence they’ve once again fallen into, “My mom used to take me there when I had a bad day and we’d eat ice cream and drink milkshakes until we both felt sick.”

He looks sad despite the faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips, a bittersweet memory Max thinks.

“She sounds nice.”

“She was. Things got hard, near the end, but sometimes she’d have a good week, manage to stay clean for a few days and I’d get my mom back for a little while.”

“What happened to her?” She asks cautiously. He’s never really spoken about his birth parents to her before and she’s more than a little wary of crossing some kind of line.

“She passed away when I was a kid. My dad had always been kinda shitty but he went totally off the rails after that and ended up in jail a couple of months later.” He taps his fingers against the steering wheel, his rings clinking against each other, “I was, uhhh about 10? At the time. I didn’t have anywhere to go so Wayne took me in and I’ve been with him ever since.”

"My stepdad, Neil, was kind of shitty too before he left. My real dad is… less shitty, but I don’t even know where he is right now. I lost contact with him when we left California."

“Shitty parents are the worst,” Eddie confirms. He starts the van which rattles to life with a splutter and they fall into another silence while he drives.

Max is less surprised this time when they come to a stop and it’s somewhere other than the trailer park. She has to admit Sattlers Quarry seems like an odd choice, but trying to figure out how Eddie’s brain works rarely gets her very far.

“Come on, let’s eat.” He grabs the paper bag containing the food as well as his own cup of cocoa.

Max follows when he hops out of the van and takes a seat on the floor beside him. They’re at the bottom of the quarry, next to the water. She hasn’t spent much time out here, but it’s kind of pretty when the sun low in the sky hits the water just right illuminating it to a vibrant shade of blue.

“I’ve always liked how quiet this place can be,” Eddie says, reaching into the bag to pull out a carton of fries. Max reaches over to steal some, she’d barely eaten at lunch and now that she’d calmed down somewhat the hunger was starting to creep up on her.

Eddie rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything. He reaches into the paper bag and pulls out 2 burgers wrapped tightly in foil, he sets one onto his lap for himself and hands the other to Max.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He chuckles, handing her a paper napkin from the bag when she takes a bite of her burger and smears ketchup across her face in the process, “I can assure you I’ve dealt with worse just walking down the street.”

Max doesn’t doubt that it’s true, she’s heard the things people say about him even now after his name has been cleared. None of it is true, of course, but she thinks maybe that makes it worse. Eddie never seems to let it get to him. She’s not sure how he does it, her fists clench just at the thought of some of the awful things she’s overheard.

“Someone said something, at school,” Max says, picking up the disposable cup of hot cocoa from her side and swirling the remnants around in the bottom of the cup.

“Said something? About you?”

“About Billy.” She’s staring down at the plastic lid covering the cup in her hands, not able to bring herself to make eye contact, “And it’s stupid really because I thought I was over all that shit but turns out I’m not.”

“He was your brother, right?” Eddie asks and Max forgives him for needing the clarification. Just as he never talks about his birth parents Max doesn’t have a tendency to talk about her family either.

“Stepbrother, technically.”

“And the mall fire, I’m guessing that wasn’t a fire?”

“No. Not exactly.” She scoffs at the lame government-issued excuse, mall fire, sure.

She forgets sometimes that he’s been around for even less of all the crazy upside-down stuff than she has, usually they make an effort specifically not to talk about it. He wasn’t there for the demodogs, the underground tunnels, or the mind flayer versions one and two. All he knew from the pre-Vecna days was the very brief and massively oversimplified version of events given to him the day they had found him hiding out in Reefer Rick’s boathouse.

It sounds crazy, even to her own ears when she starts recounting the events of the past 4 years. She tells him briefly of the stuff Lucas had recapped to her from the year when everything began and Max was still back in California thinking the biggest problems in her life were going to be an asshole of a brother and a shitty step-dad. She goes into a little more detail when she gets to her own experiences with the upside-down after moving to Hawkins, but puts the most focus on the Summer of ‘85. She tells him about starcourt, about the mind flayer, the flayed, and what happened to Billy. What really happened to Billy, not the watered-down excuse that had been fed to everyone who wasn’t there to witness the truth.

“Well, shit.” It takes him a moment to process, understandably, “And you still miss him.” It’s more of a statement than a question, he’s expecting her to agree but she hesitates. She shrugs and her eyes dart to Eddie’s for the first time since she started talking. Eddie has never judged her for anything, but she’s worried this might change that.

“It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“He was an asshole.” She states matter of factly, “I was so excited when my mom told me I was going to have a big brother. Then Billy came along. I thought he was cool at first, but that didn’t last. He was awful to me, and my friends. He hated me, I hated him. And Neil… Neil didn’t know how to deal with him and only ever made things worse. He thought all of his problems could be solved with a belt. Or his fists.”

She glances at Eddie. The hand resting on his leg balls up the fabric of his pants so hard his knuckles are turning white. She’s never seen him angry. Frustrated, or scared? Yes, but never truly angry. She thinks judging by the sullen expression on his face that this is as close as she’s ever going to get.

“He never touched me, didn’t think I was worth it, I guess. I was just some stupid little girl to him most of the time.” She’s quick to clarify and Eddie lets out a relieved breath, though he still seems tense. He encourages her to continue with a little nod when he realizes she’s paused, "I just- for a long time I would have given anything to have Billy out of my life and now that he’s actually gone, I don’t know. It feels like it was my fault, maybe if I hadn’t had those thoughts or if I’d done more than just stand there he’d still be here. And maybe things wouldn’t have changed and we’d have still hated each other and he’d have continued making my life hell, but I wish we’d gotten a chance to try to be real siblings. I didn’t want us to hate each other.”

She takes a deep breath and fixes her eyes on the cup of hot cocoa in her hands again. It stirs up a strange mixture of emotions talking about everything, the guilt she still feels over Billy, the fear she feels when she wakes up from a nightmare and isn’t sure if she’s still in her bed or trapped in the upside-down, and the longing she would feel for a real sibling bond on those rare occasions when Billy wasn’t terrorizing her and everyone around them. But she also feels the relief of finally getting so many years worth of bottled-up emotions off her chest. She’s barely even scratched the surface and still, she’s never shared this much before, not even with Lucas.

“I had no idea. Shit.” She hears rather than sees him lie back onto the crunchy dry leaves scattered around them. It’s a lot, she knows that. She doesn’t think she’d know how to respond either, “It wasn’t your fault. None of this was ever your fault. Not Neil, Not Billy being an asshole, and certainly not Billy’s death.” He says after he’s taken a moment to process everything. It’s said with a fierce tone, one that doesn’t leave room for negotiation, she’s only ever heard him use it a few times, usually when he’s arguing with Mike or Dustin about something.

She sniffles, managing to hold back the tears that are starting to sting at the back of her eyes. She doesn’t trust herself to speak so she just nods in acknowledgment, she’s done enough talking for now anyway, she thinks.

“I’m sorry that you never got your second chance with Billy.” His voice is softer this time and she peeks over to him and sees him sitting upright again, “Hey, you have Harrington though. He seems pretty awesome, surprisingly.”

It’s meant to lighten the mood and it works, the mention of Steve bringing a small smile to her face. Steve had shown her a kindness she never would have expected in those first few months in Hawkins. He had put himself right in the face of danger to protect her and the others without second thought time and time again. He’s a mother hen for sure and a good friend, but he’s not the first person who comes to mind when she thinks of the word brother.

“Yeah. He’s pretty cool.” Her voice wobbles just a little, but her smile grows wider, “If you ever tell him I said that I will end you.” She jokes, jabbing a finger in Eddie's direction.

“I’m sworn to secrecy!” He raises his hands in surrender. He gives Max a few minutes, before he asks, “You ready to go?”

They gather up their trash, balling up the foil from the burgers and placing their empty cups into the paper bag which Eddie then tosses into the back of his van. Max is slowly starting to understand why it’s always such a mess in there.

Eddie drops her off in front of her trailer, as usual. She grabs her things, says her goodbyes, and starts making her way inside. She makes it as far as the front door before the thoughts gnawing away at her brain finally win. She dumps her school bag and skateboard outside and turns to face the other side of the street.

“Eddie!” She yells when she sees that he’s just gotten out of his van and hasn’t made it inside yet. He stops in his tracks and turns to look at her with a confused expression when she calls him. He looks even more confused when she’s jogging across the street towards him.

“Hey, did you forget somet- oof.”

She wraps her arms around him in a hug so fierce it makes him stumble back a step or two. It takes him a couple of seconds to register what’s happening, but when he does he brings his arms to wrap around her and squeezes her back just as tightly.

“You’re a pretty great big brother.” She says from where she’s squished against his chest.

If she happens to glance back on her way over to her trailer and notice him wiping at his eyes, well no one needs to know.

#max mayfield #eddie munson #stranger things

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