#platonic lestappen is IMPORTANT

[verstappentime]

Max mutes the TV, hoping that will get Charles's attention, and doesn't look at him when he says, "I think I'm in love with Daniel." AKA: it's 2017. charles is max's best friend in the whole world. they're turning 20, max wins in malaysia, charles wins the f2 championship, and max needs to tell him something. also: a little coming of age precursor to my unfinished maxiel divorce fic.

maxiel + max & charles | hurt/comfort & dealing with their respective hard years | 3.4k

Max has not gotten to hug Charles in so long. That's what he's thinking when he stumbles down from the podium.

Just a few minutes ago, he was livid at Prema and their stupid safety car cockup. Then he was elated as Charles crossed the finish line, and he triple checked the points to confirm – he really is champion. Now, Max just wants to see him, desperately.

Someone takes the bottle of champagne from Charles, and Max makes his move, crashing bodily into him. Charles isn't like him – he doesn't freeze, just wraps both arms around Max and hangs on. 

He had been worried about Charles not having family here. But he's reminded, as that feeling of coming home blooms, that he does now. 

Neither of them say anything for a beat. Then Max, newly bigger and broader than Charles, hefts him up and spins him around and they both start screaming. "Charles Marc Herve Perceval Leclerc–" Max stops to breathe. "You are the motherfucking 2017 F2 champion!"

Charles is breathless. He looks the happiest Max has seen him in four months. "Oh my god. Holy shit."

Charles has won a lot of championships in his life. But this one means the most. They both know it. 

Max sets him down. "Was that the French anthem?" 

Charles nods, pained. They manage to stay straight-faced for about five seconds.

It takes them a good two minutes to stop laughing. Max's ribcage actually hurts.

"I am so glad my dad was not here to see that," Charles says, once he's done gasping for air.  His smile twitches, though. Max pulls him back in for a hug.

"I am so proud of you, okay?" He presses his nose into Charles's hair, even though he's sticky all over with champagne. Herve would be proud, too, but Max will tell him that later, in private. 

Charles clings on. "I wasn't sure if you'd make it."

"Of course I made it. Did you hear what I said?" 

"Yeah." Charles's voice sounds wet. Max just keeps hugging him. "Thank you." 

"I mean it. You are so fucking crazy, oh my god," Max continues. "I don't know how you did that." Max had nearly looked away, that last lap with five cars on the back of him, not wanting to see Charles lose his win. Stupid to bet against him.

"I didn't lift the throttle," Charles says. His shoulders are shaking. Max can't tell if he's laughing or crying, but he thinks it's the second one. Max doesn't let go, incase he doesn't want anyone to see.

"Your tires were, like, a banana." 

"I know. I thought probably I would bin it." It's Charles who finally pulls back. He rubs his face with his sleeve, and Max wonders if he knows he's just smearing champagne around.

"I sent some videos to your mom, of the podium. I muted them." It gets Charles to laugh again. Max has more to say. He isn't good with words. "You're going to get the seat," he says. Maybe he shouldn't. But he's never been more certain. "You're going to race with me next year." 

"Better watch out, I guess," Charles says. 

&&&

Max got them a fancy hotel room. Having a lot of money is still weird, but he likes to spend it on stuff like this. He likes comfortable beds and having a lot of space and a big shower. He likes being able to bring Charles with him. 

It has two queen beds, even though he's shared a bed with Charles a thousand times before. He thought it would be nice. 

They're crowded on the same one for now, Max watching the history channel with subtitles on and Charles curled on his side, fucking around on his phone. He's getting congratulations from everyone he knows. Charles is popular. It's a lot of people.

After the sprint tomorrow, they'll find something to celebrate, but for now it's good to just. Be around someone who knows how to be around him. 

Max mutes the TV, hoping that will get Charles's attention, and doesn't look at him when he says, "I think I'm in love with Daniel." 

He's been wanting and wanting to tell Charles. He thought maybe when they both got back to Monaco. But it keeps trying to jump out of his throat, like he swallowed a fly or something.

He's never been nervous to tell him anything before, but as soon as it's out, his heart starts beating fast. Charles is taking too long to say something.

"Okay," Charles says, finally. He pushes himself up to sit beside Max. "That's okay."

Charles likes boys. Max has known this since they were twelve. But Max has only ever had a fleeting interest in anyone, and it's never been important, and– and now Daniel is important, and he has to think about it all. He doesn't want to.

"I don't know about being gay or whatever," he says. He still isn't looking at Charles. "I don't know if I am."

He's had sex with girls and he'd liked some of it but maybe not enough. He's had one weird hookup with a guy, a friend of Charles from school or something, after their birthday party last year. He liked that more but he was drunk and sleepy and they called it off after he sucked the guy's dick. Charles had been pissed that it happened while he was sleeping on the couch in the same flat and never asked Max any questions about it. He didn't want to dissect it then and he doesn't now. He just – liked that guy's dick, and he likes Daniel.

He knows what he likes to look at and think about, but only things in real life matter. 

"Okay," Charles says again. His voice is careful. "That's fine. We can skip that." There's a hand, gentle on his wrist. "I knew there was something going on with you." 

Max has been a little off, he knows that. He wants to talk about Daniel all the time and he's worried that he'll do it too much, so sometimes he just doesn't say anything. Charles asks about his day and he tries to sum it up: The team went to this, the team went to that. I'm tired. It was a long day. The car is shit. The car isn't shit. Something something. Charles has asked if he's okay. Max has been trying to be okay whenever Charles asks, this year. 

"I don't know if I– if I'm in love with him," he says, and his voice cracks. He finally lets himself look at Charles, needing, suddenly, to see acceptance on his face. He's the same as always, big green eyes soft. Max tries to say the next part quickly. "I know he's older than me and stuff. I don't want it to be true but I think it is." 

Charles moves so he's sitting in front of Max, criss-cross, and squeezes his ankle. "It's okay if it's true. You'll figure it out. I'll help."

"I think it's true," Max says. He wants to cry. 

"It's okay if you like him. It's good to love someone." Charles keeps his hand on Max's ankle. Touch has always been instinctual for him. Max has never been like that. "I wish you weren't hiding this from me."

"I wanted to tell you. I was waiting." 

"You told me now. It's okay." 

"It feels weird," Max says. He is really hoping he doesn't cry. He can't be crying over his teammate. He has to see him in a few days, at the factory. 

"It is weird," Charles says. He was always in love, when they were kids. Max never was. 

"I used to think I was in love with you. When we were like, thirteen," Max says. He can say it now because he knows it's not true.

"Yeah, I know." Charles is grinning at him. It's the way he looks when everything's going to be okay. "You were always staring at me with your weird bug eyes." 

"I just thought maybe," Max says, and he coughs out a laugh. "But then I realised you are so annoying and I didn't want to kiss you." 

"And you do love me," Charles says, shrugging. "That's different. Do you want to kiss Daniel?" 

That's easy. "Yes. I want to so much. And always I want him to talk to me and be near me and I get jealous if he's not. Or when we go to these things and he doesn't have time for me. And if he helps me with my helmet or something I want to throw up." 

"But it feels nice too, yeah?" Charles is searching his face. 

"Yeah. It feels nice." 

"Okay. Then it's a good thing." A lot of the time, Max feels like he's too old for everyone his age. But Charles has grown up a lot the past three years. He looks so much older than nearly twenty, right now. Calm and sure. It's soothing. It's that grating two weeks where they're not the same age. But maybe Max can be the younger one for a moment. 

"I want it to be a good thing," he says, and he sounds small and more unsure than he ever hears himself.

"You aren't not telling me stuff, right?" Charles lays his hand on Max's shoulder. "Max? Because of– because of Papa and everything?"

"I—" He's just trying to be okay when Charles asks. He doesn't know how to say that. I would die before I would make this worse for you, maybe. He chews at the cuticle on his thumb. "I haven't told anyone," he says, lamely. Charles just keeps watching him. He doesn't move his hand. He looks like he's caught Max doing something he shouldn't. "You had a championship to focus on," Max tries. 

"I won it now. So now you will talk to me, yes?" 

"Yeah." Max swallows. He'll have to. He wants to talk about Daniel all the fucking time. He's not that strong. He tries to let Charles's touch be comforting. He's in love with Daniel and someone knows. Charles knows. He wants to hear more about it. He's not angry. It's good. It should feel good. "Can you tell me how it's okay again?" He's needed to hear it so long. So, so long. 

Charles looks sad. "Come here." He untangles himself so he can flop onto his back. It's been a long time since they could do this, since Max could curl up perpendicular with his head in Charles's lap. It's nice and he didn't want to ask for it. 

Maybe if he has a boyfriend one day they won't do this anymore. He wants one but only if it's Daniel. Maybe Daniel won't care. 

Charles scratches his scalp, the way his mom does, when he's too tired to even talk with her when he comes home. Probably Charles did it first. He didn't see his mom for a long time. "It's okay," Charles says. "It's okay. It's a good thing, Max." 

He breathes. Daniel is a good thing. Max will be able to talk about it now. That's going to be better. Maybe it can feel like something new growing in his chest instead of something festering. "It's stupid," he says, just so Charles will tell him it isn't.

Charles says, "Loving someone is never stupid." He hesitates for a second. "I keep– all the time thinking about how life is short. You know. Because Jules– and Papa– It's. What's the word in English? Like I am obsessed?" 

Max's chest tightens. He wishes he could see him. Charles doesn't see life as fair or unfair, but Max does, and Charles hurting is fucking unfair. "Yeah, that's the word," he says.

"Anyway," Charles says, after a long, shaky moment. "All the time, I think about it. And I think if you love someone it is going to be a waste of time to pretend that you don't, or say it's stupid." 

He sounds grown up. Really, really grown up. He sounds right, like Max should trust him, the blind way a child does. "Okay," he says, quiet, like a secret. "I might not tell him though."

Charles starts petting his hair again. Max really hopes he hasn't made him sad. "What about Malaysia?" he asks, and he sounds normal. "Was it fun, with him?" 

Max tells him about the day of his real  birthday, about how they couldn't go out because of the race the next day but the team brought him a cake. It was Daniel who brought it out to him. Maybe it was his idea, Max doesn't know. But he looked happy. He said something about how it would be nice not to have a teenage teammate anymore, but not in a mean way. It felt like he was excited about Max's birthday, too.

"And everyone was so happy that I won," Max says. "Daniel was, even though he didn't win. He said it was like a birthday present, except for I earned it." Max's dad has been angry at him, about the season being shit. The win wasn't good enough for him and he didn't call, but his mom had been really happy, and Daniel had, too, and Christian, and GP. Charles had called. It was nice. It felt good, when Daniel hugged him and said he'd done an incredible job.

"You both looked really happy on the podium," Charles says. "You have some nice pictures now." 

"I saved them in my phone," Max admits. They do look really happy. He thinks sometimes he's the happiest he's been, when he's around Daniel. Winning, and with Daniel. He feels bad thinking it, when he's here with Charles– but it's different. Love feels different. 

Charles doesn't say it's weird or anything. "Good. Then you can look at them." 

He peppers Max with questions about their night out on Sunday, for his birthday and for the double podium. He talks about how they had an expensive team dinner and GP said some nice stuff about him before they had another cake. Charles stops him. "What kind of stuff?" 

"I don't know. Like about how all of his wins have been with me and it's special." He'd said how Max is really kind off the track and people don't always know that. He'd said he's the most talented driver he's known, and Max had thought maybe that was unfair, because Daniel was sitting there, but it had felt– really good. He doesn't want to tell Charles all of it. That can be his to keep.

Charles hums. "Okay, and then what?" 

"Me and Daniel and some of the guys went out to a club. You would have liked it. I– I wanted to kiss him a lot. The whole time. But I didn't. But it was good. I liked that he was there." Max feels around for his phone, unlocks it and passes it up to Charles. "You can look at the pictures. Some of them are funny." 

"I will kill you if there's nudes in here," Charles says. Max reaches back to wack him on the arm. 

"There are no fucking–" 

"I don't know, Max, I'm pretty sure that is a dick." Charles sounds deadly serious.

Max flips himself over. He doesn't even have time to panic before he sees the wicked grin on Charles's face, and lunges at him.

"Give me that, you shithead, oh my god–" Charles holds the phone aloft so Max can't get it. 

"Oh, hey." Charles bats at Max, half-hearted. "Daniel texted you." 

"No he didn't, you fucking liar." Max pushes himself up so they're level. Charles looks thoughtful, squinting at the screen like he's reading something. Maybe he's not– "Charles. Come on. It's not funny." 

Charles passes the phone to him. He's smiling. "I think I like him very much." 

There is, after all, a text from Daniel. It's a picture of his laptop screen. It's got the F2 race on, Charles in P1, with the whole pack behind him, just before the finish line. INSANE race, mate!! Tell him congrats from me!! That's my ROTY vote in the bag!! We are screwed when he comes to F1 tho. Hope you're having fun, England wet and boring.

Daniel likes exclamation points a lot. He likes making texts longer than they maybe have to be, and adding irrelevant details at the end. Max didn't ask about England. But he likes that Daniel wants him to know. He likes that Daniel watched Charles's race, and acknowledges how fucking good he is. He likes Daniel so, so much.

"That was nice," Max says. It sounds stupid.

"Text him back," Charles says. "Tell him I am the best driver in the whole world, and if he sends nudes you can show those to me." 

Max glares. "I will tell him your IQ is seven, so he doesn't have to worry." 

"I don't even know what that means," Charles says, but he sing-songs it, which means he's pretending. He speaks English perfectly fine, until Max is insulting him.

Max ignores him. He tries to sound normal in his response, like he hasn't just confessed he's in love with Daniel outloud for the first time ever.

Charles says thnx!! Prema are stupid idiots, I cannot believe he won. Glad I made it. Be in MK Monday, think of a good prank for GP. He wants to put a heart, but that feels stupid. It's just. He wants Daniel to know.

Something new happened today. Something changed. You changed me. You might never know, but you did. He can't communicate that with a fucking emoji.

Eventually, he puts three little race cars and the tranquil looking smiley face, and passes the phone back to Charles. 

Charles flips through the pictures without being a fucking dick. He laughs at the ones of Max eating limes at the bar, because he was fucked up and thought that's what they were for. Daniel snapped one of Max passed out in the taxi that Charles sends to himself. "I will think of a use for it later, there is a joke there," he says.

"You're annoying," Max says, but doesn't protest. It will probably be funny.

Charles scrolls some more. "Max," he says, quiet and serious. "Did you see this one?" 

When he gives Max the phone, there's a picture of him and Daniel on the screen. His forehead is pressed against Daniel's shoulder, Daniel's hand light on his back. They're laughing, and they look really, really happy. "I didn't look at the ones with Daniel. I didn't know if– if maybe they were embarrassing." Max presses his thumb to the picture, like he could transfer himself back into that moment.

"They're not embarrassing," Charles says. "It just looks like you love him." 

&&& 

Prema fucks up again, and Charles is P7 on Sunday. Neither of them care. Max takes him out for his birthday. He's a world champion. Even if it's been hard to carve out good moments this year, it's a fucking good one.

Charles hugs him extra tight when he leaves for the airport, hungover and dreading going round and round in the sim. "You'll talk to me," Charles says, not a question. 

"I will. Promise." Max pulls him back in for another hug. "I'm so fucking proud of you. Just–" It's hard to leave him every time. To think about the bad days coming and going without Max there. But Charles has other friends. He has his family. "Just. I'll see you soon." 

Charles presses his face against Max's shoulder, just for a second, and then he lets go. He doesn't like to say goodbye, and it's not for that long anyway, so he doesn't. 

Later, Charles texts him a screenshot. It's of a guy who sort of look like Robin Williams but isn't. There's movie captions on it. Our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once. He always does stuff like this. Sends Max quotes and sports highlights and things, little bits of wisdom anywhere he can find them. Max likes to text all the time, but mostly stupid shit. Charles is always with the drama. 

This one, though. He sits in his plane seat and reads it a few more times. Charles writes underneath: Not stupid. Don't ignore it ❤️❤️

Max reads it again. The not-Robin-Williams guy isn't wrong.

He sends back: I'll try, and makes the picture of him and Daniel his background.

[lestappenwdc]

Hello! Saw your tags and may I ask you-why you think Lestappen and Larry situations are different?

Disclaimer: when I say relationship in the following text I mean platonic

Hi!

Well for starters I think that people are looking at it from 1 angle only. And that is Max and Charles stopping communication with each other altogether. In that aspect sure, there is a small possibility that Lestappen could become Larry if they start (on their own accord) being guarded towards each other. But as we can see, they're both fully aware of the ship name and their interactions are being perceived and yet we have not seen a singe ounce of guardiness (is that a word?) In either of them. And what I do in situations like this is I think "Are these situations completely the same and should I expect these 2 people to act the same way? Why do I expect them to act the same way?)

Under the cut because it got long

So I took a look at both situations and realized how different they are. Hear me out.

1. Their ages. When all this started happening to Louis and Harry they were 16 years old. Their popularity skyrocketed in months if not weeks. They had no time to adjust, no time to think about their situations and their relationship outside of fame. They had 2 3 DAYS interactions with each other before they were put in front of a camera and told to entertain. They were 16 and 18. They were kids who did not expect to be a part of a world like this. They were not aware what they were and how their interactions would affect them and their relationship in the future. Lestappen Have known their entire life that their life would revolve around racing, around cameras, always known to the public. Max was going to races when he was 3 years old. It's safe to say he always knew what he was getting into when it comes to fame. Similarly Charles was always aware of this world. They both grew up in it. Charles had better pr training at 17 than most celebrities have in their 30s or 40s. So by the time they started being "close" in public (2022) they were already aware of what it would mean. They are already aware of the consequences. They have a history of interactions with each other. And now with what we are getting I think they are perfectly aware of what they are doing and they are perfectly aware of what their relationship is and what it means to them. Not to mention they probably have had time to nurture this relationship outside of the public eye (something Harry and louis were never able to do) and it allows them to have a bond beyond what we see on camera. Also we see a lot less of them than we did Larry at that time since 1d were.... literally filmed 24/7 which max and Charles are not.

2. Their professional environment. And I cant stress this enough. The people around Max and Charles encourage their interactions. Guys. This is very important. I big big HUGE part of Larry and the whole lore around it is THEY. WERE. NOT. ALLOWED. TO. TALK. TO. EACH. OTHER. Under ANY circumstances. Not bc they were disgusted by being perceived as gay. But because they were not allowed to. Everyone around 1d at the time was pretending this was not a thing. It was on every blacklist. They did not have segments when the guys were doing joint interviews and stuff. Even I'm videos of the band they were never alone in a frame together. When 1d started they were really young and marketed to a young audience. But also audience whose parents need to give permission/money In order for said audience to exist. To have rumors like that in that environment was unacceptable. Their teams thought these interaction were not working in their favour. And they told this to 16 and 18 yo kids who probably took that to heart and continued to live by it for years to come. They were told these rumors were the worst thing that could happen to their career and they believed it. Because they didn't know any better. In lestappen case? Their teams obviously don't mind it. They USE IT. It's a huge huge difference. If the team minded charles even mentioning maxs name and told professional pr trained Charles no talking to Max it doesn't benefit us you think he wouldn't listen? He absolutely would. But the teams are using this lestappen Situation to their advantage so Max and Charles have no reason to be guarded. They do not feel threatened by it.

Tl;dr there are 2 main reason I think Lestappen and Larry are different: One is their age and stage of their relationship at the time the rumors started and second is their their teams behavior and interaction with the ship. These 2 things together are causing Max and Charles to not be threatened by the public response to their relationship as opposed to Larry at that time

[valyrfia]

This may be a controversial opinion, but honestly - I am a ride or die lestappen fan, I love nothing more than the fantasy of seeing them end up together.. but if I think with my logical, realistic brain, I honestly think if any drivers were actually dating, lestappen is more fantastical than other ships.

Like if Charles were to one day actually reveal that he's in a relationship with another driver? I think it would probably be Pierre.

And if it was Max, it would be Daniel.

I love lestappen more than those two ships, but I acknowledge that Piarles and Maxiel have more real life chemistry lol

It IS controversial anon and you're brave for saying it in this economy! That being said, I fully disagree with you.

Max and Daniel are extremely close and comfortable with each other, obviously enjoy each other's company and like joking around. Pierre and Charles have known each other for ages, are very close friends who care greatly for each other. Both of these dynamics are great, with great chemistry–but I look at them and see only platonic. Not to negate the importance of them in the slightest! The vibes are just not there.

Lestappen on the other hand, feels different because there's something resembling romantic chemistry, which can feel more stilted than platonic chemistry at times because of the inherent tension. I also just personally prefer Lestappen over Maxiel or Piarles because I think the Max and Charles combo has the greatest potential for a partnership. There's a different compatibility required for romantic partners than there is for friends, and I think the Lestappen dynamic captures the essence of it. If Charles were to win a WDC, him and Max would basically be two of the only people to fully understand each other and their lived life experiences, there's a bone-deep intimacy in that. I very much advocate for a romantic partner being an equal, and Max and Charles match each other well in that way. Inevitable and predestined, etc. It's also quite obvious from interviews that the two of them love racing in a way the rest of us mere mortals don't entirely get, Max logging ridiculous hours on the sim, Charles staying up til midnight before a race working on strategy. I think the two of them would compliment each other well as romantic partners and there is a deep respect between them (moreso than Max with Dan and Charles with Pierre). So yes, I disagree and think if we were in an ideal utopia where everyone dates everyone and no one gives a fuck, Lestappen would be the most likely.

[slythereen]

If people have issues with Lestappen content appearing in the Max Verstappen tag, there is a very simple solution: You blacklist that tag.

Ship content will ALWAYS appear in driver tags, and people who get that upset about it honestly need to grow up and remember that they themselves are responsible for their own internet experience. Blacklisting tags exist for a reason. Use it and stop bitching about "being exposed to things you don't like" when you have no one to blame but yourself.

You keep tagging WHATEVER you want that's relevant to Max Verstappen, babe. Haters gonna hate. <3

yes, this is exactly the thing! it’s also important, in my mind, not to omit tags for the same reason. what if someone violently opposed to max has his name blacklisted and the filter doesn’t catch it because i didn’t tag him? (i can’t imagine why anyone could want to block him he’s just a cat, but as an example.)

usually i will only tag just lestappen & neither driver if it, in my mind, cannot have a platonic reading to it necessarily. it’s just that i typically mean it in a hehe silly goofy way, and therefore platonically, so it’s rare that i actually do that. so there’s not much i can/would change to try to keep my tags cleaner than they already are.

but also: communicating it (nicely) is also important for the tagging ecosystem, in case there is a way to tag something that helps with filters. i’ve asked people before about tagging driver imagines so i get it, but i said please like a normal person. so i really do welcome anyone to make tagging requests!! don’t be dissuaded just be nice!

[mish-tique]

Lestappen with one of them being Absolutely Not a morning person (I can’t for the life of me decide who) so the other person tries to get them out of bed with all their favorite things.

Max trying to get Charles out of bed by making waffles (they don’t turn out very well but surely the smell will get Charlie out of bed), trying to play the piano because Charles has been wanting to teach him but max was not interested, cuddling with Jimmy and Sassy because surely Charles will go weak for the cuteness. Charles only budges when Max says he will find someone else to (platonically) spend the morning with

Charles will probably try a million complicated things (half of which wouldn’t even make max happy at a normal time of the day) and then just realize all he needs to do is tell max that Fine, he will take a shower by himself and max is out of his bed like That

i lowkey have a feeling that charles would be the one who isn't a morning person. Max would be someone who would be awake very early, maybe kinda struggling with sleeping in a relaxed way but ever since he got together with Charles he finally has a reason to stay in bed longer. But he has his max and after two hours of laying in bed, staring at sleeping Charles, no matter how beautiful his boyfriend is, he gets bored. And hungry.

I imagine max to take a shower first, doing everything to make breakfest as late as he can so they could eat together (I kinda imagine that Max would find that very important. just slowly eating breakfest together, completely waking up and finding out if they have any plans together.

But Max can only wait so long so after he got used to charles sleeping in he found some blog with food recipes and while he's absolutely shit at it it's something to keep busy. When he's done he goes back to their bedroom and kisses Charles forehead, leaves kisses on his eyes, his nose, his cheeks and when he finally kisses charles on his mouth the monegasque let's himself be seduced out of bed with the promises of hugs and a new breakfast.

[verstappentime]

divorce verse best friend lestappen is eating me for breakfast bc contextualize the vegas interview or the sticker war or charles saying he doesn't wish a bad season on max or charles defending max with them being best friends since they were little and each other's platonic soulmate. like man. equally as important as max's relationship w/ daniel actually