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When Max had gone round to Gabi’s and Lando’s places to hand over spare sets of keys to his new apartment, he’d expected to be seeing them in his living room by the end of the week.
He was not expecting two weeks of nothing.
He was also not expecting to run into a Mark Webber laden with groceries while waiting for the elevator.
Ding.
“Floor?” he asks, as they enter.
“Yours.”
“Of course.”
“It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
“It always is.”
There’s a boy band in his apartment, and if any of them start singing Max is kicking them out.
DC, Kimi, Hulk, and Valtteri are chilling in a nest—that wasn’t there when he left the house earlier—, Mark has just greeted Nico in his kitchen, Lewis is playing with the cats in the corner, and that just leaves Jenson, Seb, and Daniel missing, but Max counted ten pairs of shoes in the entryway to his house, so they have to be somewhere.
He’s happy they’re here. He really is. He just also thinks that Lando is a little traitor, and Max needs to find out if it was Jenson or Daniel that swindled his house key out of him.
Thankfully, unlike when Lando or Gabi let the pack into his apartment, these guests not only know how to feed themselves, but also brought food to do so. Which means that Max’s dinner is sorted!
“What are you all doing here?”
“It is a housewarming party,” Hulk tells him, “for the new apartment.”
“Okay. Well, welcome. I’ve just finished unpacking.”
“It’s nice,” Hulk tells him.
“Who’s idea was this?”
“Sebastian.”
DC kicks him lightly. “Oi. We weren’t meant to throw him under the bus.”
“Oh it’s fine. Max isn’t mad. They’re in your den.”
“Thank you. Wait–why? Surely there’s enough stuff in this nest?”
“There’s never enough stuff in the nest,” Kimi tells him.
Max looks at the nest taking up his entire living room which is certainly more than big enough for the eleven of them.
Kimi just smiles at him. Well, grimaces, but that’s a Kimi smile.
Max thumbs at the nest. He digs up a beige sleeve with two rows of black stitching near the cuff. “Did you guys bring stuff?”
“Yup, Seb was worried you wouldn’t have enough things,” DC tells hims.
“You guys didn’t discuss this in the group chat.”
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Valtteri shrugs. “Word gets around even without the chat, you know this.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, fess-up, who got the key from Lando?” Max asks later when they’re all fed and cuddling in the nest?”
“Why are you looking at me, mate?” Jenson asks.
“Cause I know you two are close.”
“It wasn’t me!” he protests. “Lando’s also close with Daniel, you know?”
“Daniel?”
“Not me, mate. I asked for it, obviously, and he was gonna give it to me, but he couldn't find it.”
“Lando doesn’t lose my key,” Max states. “He loses everything all of the time, including his own keys, but he doesn’t lose my keys. Try again.”
“No, he actually didn’t have them.”
“Oscar nicked ‘em for us,” Mark cuts in.
“Oscar!?”
“He overheard Seb and I talking about throwing you a housewarming party and just…”
Max narrows his eyes.
“I’m telling the truth, mate.”
“Fine. Where are my keys right now?”
Nico flashes them.
“Gabi also gave me his set before I knew we’d gotten Lando,” Hulk admits.
“Give me both of those.”