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Daniel was a little bit too drunk to be walking through the sea of people dancing in the Red Bull’s Energy Station at Monaco.
The team was celebrating the weekend win, Max always in the podium but this time Checo was by his side, and obviously they threw the biggest party in the whole Monaco Harbor, private yachts of billionaires and famous people around them as well, joining the celebration. Daniel was the first one with the mechanics to start the fun, snatching the champagne bottle from Max's hands with a mischievous grin.
He danced with models, mechanics, friends and basically whoever was closer to him on the dance floor. His hand always occupied with a glass of something, could it be beer, whiskey, champagne or all of the above, he stopped paying attention when Checo bought some Mexican tequila and started pouring it in every glass at his sight.
But now he was pretty much drunk.
His head spinning as he tried to escape the people remaining on the dance floor of the luxurious yacht, it was more empty by now and the guests probably already left but there still was a large number of people dancing or just fooling around. He vaguely passed by Checo, then by Lando and George, they were giggling and probably as drunk as him but he still stopped in front of them, trying to look the least tipsy he could -which he failed because he almost crashed against the little standing table they were using.
“Danieeel!” Lando greeted with a huge smile and Daniel obviously returned it, opening his arms so the younger boy could jump into them. And Lando did with a giggle. “You look phenomenal, mate. You should get laid!” He almost screamed when they pulled apart, making the aussie and Russell laugh.
“Thanks, Lando.” He patted the McLaren driver on the shoulder before turning his attention to George, who visibly looked less gone than the britain. “Have you seen Max?”
“Oh, yeah. I think he was about to go to the hotel, said something about being too tired.” George said with a kind grin, pointing out to the exit of the huge place that connected to the ground. Daniel just nodded with a smile, said his goodbyes and walked to the direction Russell pointed.
He always searched for Max when he was like this, even when they were in different teams he would move sea and earth just to get to the Dutch by the end of the party, sometimes wouldn’t find him or Max just would isolate himself, too sore and teared apart from losing to be part of Daniel’s happiness at the moment but he was always there in a way, via text or call or whatever. Ricciardo learned overtime that Max’s social battery is pretty low after a big win, he tries to keep going but then he just fades away in the background when the party is too lit and the bodies press too close on the dance floor, which is how Daniel always ends up.
“Hey, Maxy!” Daniel hurried his clumsy steps when he saw the cap with blonde strokes escaping from the back. Max turned around and gave him a small smile, waiting until the clearly drunk Daniel made it to the safe ground.
“You drunk already, old man? Thought you could last longer now that you’re not in the driver seat.” Verstappen grabbed Daniel’s shoulders in a half hug, the Australian noticed the lingering smell of alcohol in Max. Max was tipsy as well, and that made him smile a little bit because he knew how touchy Max gets when he drinks.
“You’re no better, Maximus” Daniel wasted no time and wrapped an arm on Max's waist, it felt smaller than usual but maybe it was the alcohol in his brain tricking him.
“At least I don't look like a peach.” Max giggled against the tan skin of Daniel’s neck, he was dangerously close to the other man but it was Daniel, it was familiar for them to do that even when they were sober.
Ricciardo was almost magnetic, Max always felt like he was being pulled to his side even when they were away.
“Do I look like one, Mr. Cherry?” they started walking while laughing, Daniel couldn’t stop looking at Max's glassy eyes and shiny lips, and his grip on the other waist got tighter. “Ah, you have no idea how I missed this.”
“I do, actually,” the blonde man rested his head on the older shoulder, his cologne making Max feel at home. “I missed it too, a lot.” His eyes were lost in the long road ahead of them, some fancy cars passing by the asphalt at his right and the music from the clubs and boats near them started to fade as they walked off the bay.
Daniel didn’t respond but he made an amused sound and gave Max one of those bright smiles that he loved, full of happiness and fondness towards the Dutch, and Max was about to melt in his arms if he kept looking at him like that. He wanted to blame the alcohol but he knew it had nothing to do with the fact that he was very much in love with Daniel since literal years .
Years.
It started as a little teenage crush but quickly developed when he noticed little details about Daniel and started remembering way too many things about him, spending so much time by his side even when they were on breaks between races, he was growing more and more fond to Daniel and to his smile, his humor, his kindness and basically every aspect of him, so when Daniel left the team he felt so hurt, so betrayed and abandoned.
It was so awful that the memories of those months still bring a bitter taste to Max's mouth.
But he thankfully came back to him one night after a win in Singapore, he cried in Max arms and the blonde boy did too, they slept in the same bed that day after apologizing (mainly Daniel).
After that, everything went better, Dan started to be more touchy and confident with Max, more than before, and he also took the chance to be as close as Daniel as he could when they had the opportunity, cameras on or not. And it didn’t change even when Daniel lost his seat in Formula 1, it got even better because now Max was the one Daniel runned to, and Max was the one who talked to Christian about offering Daniel a third driver contract, not only because he was so deeply in love with him but because he knew Dan was the only correct option for the position, and he was right because the Australian worked more than anybody, always testing, improving the sim and giving his opinion on everything so it could be better for the team.
Daniel knew Max was the one that got him signed to Red Bull again, he wasn’t dumb. He knew how much Max loved him and he loved him too, so much that his chest tightens whenever he sees the watercolor eyes, always looking at him with so much love, but he’s always being kind of a coward to express his feelings so he just acts, he’s better at doing things than saying them, he just hopped Max catched the thread of his actions towards him and no one else.
“Dan, ’m tired.” Max whined, breaking the comfortable silence between them while they walked. “Can we please get a cab?”
“Of course, baby, you should have asked before.”
Max blushed and froze by the sudden use of the pet name but quickly smiled at the sight of Dan's big brown eyes looking at him nervously, the Dutch squeezed his arm and nuzzled his face in the crook of his thick neck, smelling more of his scent. It was a mix of Daniel’s cologne, sweat and alcohol, it felt oddly comforting.
Ricciardo called the cab while Max kept holding onto him and rubbing his face into his neck like a cat. Daniel tried his best to remain calm and not shiver each time the blonde touched the skin with his nose or cheeks, but quickly failed when Max lips ghosted over a particular sensitive spot in Daniel’s neck, making the older let out a shaky whimper and tighten his grip on Max waist.
“Maxy…” his voice was a little raspy and his eyes were starting to drift from the street to the blonde’s lips. He knew Max got like that when he was drunk but this time was more different.
“Uhm?” he raised his head from Dan’s neck and looked straight into the brown eyes that were glaring intensely at him, darker than before.
“You should stop doing that here, darling, someone could see us.” Daniel explained looking away from Max, trying to not focus so much on the other boy because he felt like the more he looked at him, the need to kiss him grew bigger.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Max let out in a sad tone and tried to walk away from Daniel’s hold.
Oh, shit, he must have thought Daniel didn’t like that and was rejecting hi,. Fuck.
“Hey, no, Maxy. Don’t,” Daniel quickly bringed Max closer to him, a chill breeze washed over them and Max didn’t object when Dan pulled him to his chest in a tight, warm hug. “Better like this, we can cuddle better in our room, yes?”
The Dutch nodded against Daniel's chest and let out a giddy laugh, making the curly haired man laugh as well.
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, Daniel swaying from to time because it was nice, Max just keeped up with him trying not to nuzzle more into Daniel’s warm embrace because they were still in public and it was not good for his image to cuddle to his former teammate, he didn’t actually cared and knew Daniel didn’t either but he knew the team would be very pleased if they didn’t make it to the tabloids.
The cab arrived quickly and they had to let go of each other, which Daniel hated because he loved having Max so close to him, if he could he would be attached by the hip with him and have his arms around Max slim waist forever. Luckily, as soon as they entered the backseat of the car and Dan gave the man a quick indication in broken French, he let Max snuggle by his side and rest his legs in the aussie thighs.
The ride was calm, Max kept caressing Daniel’s hand and playing with his fingers lazily, occasionally closing his eyes because a sharp pain suddenly overtook his head, the alcohol finally hitting him like a truck. They arrived shortly after Daniel started to hug Max more, making them sigh because now they had to keep a prudent distance while walking to Max's room.
The very first thing Daniel did when Max opened the door of his hotel room was launching his body on the king sized bed, enjoying the feeling of his weight sinking into the soft bed sheets and mattress. Max followed him after locking the door and dimming the bright white lights to a warmer light.
“I want a dance,” Max blurted out of nowhere, loud enough for Daniel to raise his head and frown, confused by the sudden proposal.
“Right now, Max?”
“Yes, right now,” Verstappen got up, looking more awake, probably using the last bit of energy that his body had. “You owe me a dance, remember? You said that if I finish first here, you’ll dance with me whatever I want.” Max samiled, so happy to see how Dan sank his head again into the soft fabric under him with a happy laugh.
Daniel got up as well, nodding with a happy grin in his already changed expression, he went from languish to excited in a matter of seconds just by the thought of having Max dancing some silly song in between his arms.
“Well, then shall I have this dance, champion?” Daniel extended his hand to Max and bowed like they do in the period movies, making the blonde laugh loudly. God, Daniel was such a dork, and he loved him so much.
“Of course, loser.” Max grinned and took Daniel’s hand with a soft grip and with his free hand he got his phone out of his pocket, quickly opening Spotify and putting an Artic Monkeys song under Dan’s curious gaze.
“N.1 Party Anthem” started playing loudly from the phone speaker, Max let the thing rest in the desk that was in front of the bed, Daniel was quick to take his shoes off and Max’s cap too, freeing the blonde locks that fell into the Dutch face, making the both of them laugh like teenagers.
Daniel grabbed Max by the waist and started moving alongside the music as soon as Alex Turner’s voice started filling the room, Verstappen followed his rhythm flawlessly, placing his free hand on Daniel’s chest. They locked looks when the song got close to the first chorus, both of them smiling so wide and bright, so in love and lushed in the moment, even forgetting about how tipsy and exhausted they were just minutes ago. The intimacy of the room, both of them so pressed together and warm, Daniel felt so fuzzy that he couldn’t contain the little chuckle that escaped from his mouth.
“What’s so funny?” Max asked, resting his head on Daniel's shoulder while moving his body to the music.
“It’s not funny, I’m just… Happy,” Daniel let out with a sigh, happy and filled with emotion. “I love this, I always wanted to do this with the person I loved the most, and now I’m doing it and it feels so-” he cutted himself mid sentence when he noticed his own words.
He just confessed to Max in the middle of his hotel room in Monaco, dancing to a fucking Artic Mokeys song.
They stopped dancing, Daniel had this panicked expression that made Max heart race. The Australian opened his mouth to say something, the song kept playing and was slowly building the bridge, just how nerves and panic was building up between them.
“Y-You love me?” the younger man looked surprised, blue eyes staring straight into dark pools of brown, waiting for Daniel to show something more than his own disbelief.
“I-I…” God, he felt so stupid but the words just couldn't come out of his mouth as he wanted, so he cleared his throat and looked away from Max's hypnotic eyes. “I do, Max. I’ve been in love with you for years, maybe since I saw your first race at Toro Rosso or maybe even before that,” his hands were shaking a little bit but he still clutched Max’s Red Bull shirt for some courage. “I realized when I left Red Bull. I could still race against you but not as your teammate, I would let you win and that was not good for me, and for you. I know how much you hate when people let you win. And I panicked and runned away like the coward I am… Sorry, Maxy.”
Max was speechless. His face was bright red, mouth slightly open with a surprised look in his eyes, Daniel finally landed his eyes on him, expecting a reaction aside from the iron grip that Max was putting into his shirt.
Everything made sense to Max now, and he felt stupid for never noticing earlier. God, he could’ve been with Daniel ages ago if he just put a little more effort into analyzing Daniel’s actions than sulking and crying about his impossible crush on him, that was no longer impossible because Ricciardo literally just confessed.
“Please say something, Max. You don’t have to like me back, you know? I-” Daniel was quickly interrupted again, but this time it wasn’t himself, there were a pair of soft lips colliding into his own.
The look of love, the rush of blood
The "She's with me"'s, the Gallic shrug
The shutterbugs, the Camera Plus
The black & white and the color dodge
Daniel kissed back, Max already moving his lips softly, tasting the sweetness of his ex-teammate mouth. He waited so much and imagined so much how Dan’s lips would feel on his and it was better than he ever expected, the rush of love suddenly traveling to every part of his body like an electric wave, from head to toe. Both of them were so mesmerized by the other, their lips dancing a beautiful symphony and Daniel could swear that there was no better feeling in the world than winning a race, and now kissing Max was topping that by far.
The good time girls, the cubicles
The house of fun, the number one
Party anthem, oh
The bridge finished and they slowly pulled away, panting into each other with their foreheads pressed together, savoring the moment for longer, the feeling of warm lips still lingering in their mouths. It was like fireworks exploded around them.
“I love you too, Dan” Max whispered into Dan’s mouth, leaving a tiny kiss against it. Daniel sighed and hugged the blonde with the brightest smile he’s ever seen, so wide that it almost reached his ears.
Daniel threw them into the bed, laughing and covering Max face in chaste kisses, making the other giggle, and it was the best sound in the world to Daniel right now. They stayed like that for the rest of the song, Max crawled on top of the older man at some point and his head was now resting on Daniel’s chest while the other rubbed soothing circles in his back, occasionally burning his nose in Max's hair.
“This is the best night of my life.” Daniel whispered while looking at the warm light of the room, the smile still wide on his face. “Monaco is my new favorite place ever.”
“This is better than winning a championship.”
Daniel laughed so loud that his whole body vibrated under Max, making him laugh too, reaching his hands to cup the Australian face and give him a soft kiss, pure and loaded with silents “thank you, I love you.” They shared a few more sweet kisses before getting up and undressing, not even caring about the blush that covered their faces but more tired and eager to sleep together, pressed into the warm embrace of each other.