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Max was taken out of his trance by a hand on his shoulder, that made him immediately freeze, scared and surprised because as far as he knew, he had been alone in his room, well, their room. Him and Daniel were sharing the room again, as was usual with them being teammates.
Daniel had noticed that the Dutch had been jumpy all day, getting startled by the littlest of things such as the situation at hand. He didn’t mention it before because he didn’t know if Max would want to talk about it, or for attention to be drawn to him. The younger man seemed to be shrinking in himself ever since that morning, and so the Australian was sure attention was the thing Max least wanted at the moment.
He had wanted to ask the younger man if he was okay, but as soon as Max seemed to notice him there, and unfreeze, he bolted to the bathroom, closing it and locking himself in there. The door soon was opened, and revealed a very scared Dutch, that was gasping for air.
Max had been startled when Daniel appeared out of nowhere, and that combined with how he had been feeling ever since the morning, was the final drop for him to break. He couldn’t breathe much, was feeling sick, like he’d throw his guts up, and like his heart was being squeezed. He felt his head pounding and his chest hurt and he still couldn’t breathe, and now Daniel was seeing him like that.
He then noticed that said man seemed to materialize in front of him and was asking if he was okay, if he could hug him, which soon had the younger man shaking his head quickly, and stepping away from Daniel. He knew the man logically wouldn’t hurt him, but the memories and the flashbacks and still being able to feel the hands all over him, over his chest, over his waist, over his hips and butt and thigh and it was just too much.
Daniel didn’t want to leave the young Dutch alone, and decided to just seat down on the floor, where he was, and stay. That was, unless Max asked him to leave, which he never did. The man waited there until he was breathing properly, and not sobbing anymore.
He had been surprised when Max had started talking, explaining what had happened. He apologized for worrying him, and told him about why it had happened. Talking about how he had been having breakfast, and then heard a voice that sounded too much like someone else’s, someone from his past, that had fucked him up in ways no one ever deserved.
Told him about how he had been just a kid, and at first was surprised someone older was paying attention to him like that. Told him about how he didn’t realize what had actually happened, until a solid year or two after it happened. Told him about how somedays he didn’t even remember it, and then others he heard a voice too alike, someone touched him without letting him know first, and it was all he could think about for the rest of the day, rest of the week.
Daniel had listened, and then, when Max said it was okay, had held him while he cried, until he ended up falling asleep. Another piece of the puzzle that made up Max Verstappen had been revealed, and it was another proof that the man was stronger than anyone ever knew. That was the day that he promised himself that he’d always be there for Max and would never let anyone else hurt him.