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This was the third fight that same week, for the same old reason. But it would be their last fight all the same.
Kelly had been his girlfriend for eight months already, and through all of it, she seemingly never learned one thing, Max wasn’t at all hers. He was his own person, and had important people in his life besides her, like Daniel. Daniel. The Australian had unknowingly been the reason for 70% of the fights and the late break up between the Dutch and his—now ex—girlfriend. She had kept making comments about how he always chose Daniel over her, that it was always Daniel this and Daniel that, until she finally gave the younger man the ultimatum, her or him. And as always, it was him.
She was often complaining about how the Dutch always had time for Daniel, time to talk to him, to hang out with him, and never had time for her (which wasn’t at all the truth). Max tried to balance out his time, but given that Daniel was around most of the time due to them being both drivers, it was a given that eventually they’d end up spending more time together than the younger man did with the girlfriend.
Then came his father. He kept saying over and over again how unusual and unnatural it was for his son to have another man’s toothbrush on his bathroom, drawer of clothing on his wardrobe, and even worse that the man had his son’s things in his house as well. Neither of the mentioned did see a problem, after all it was just for the practicality of it. They more often than not had hang outs that turned into sleepovers when one or the other saw that it was much too late to drive home safely, and so instead of awkwardly (actually adorable, had said Daniel) making each other’s clothing fit since one of them was a bit much taller than the other, so most things became a little too large, they just started leaving changes of clothing in each other’s houses, because it was the logic solution.
Something that ended up leading to them doing their laundry together, after all they had a considerable amount of the other’s clothing and they just ended up mixing it all up, also considering that they live in the same building, it would be better to save themselves from multiple trips and waste of time, and do it all together, which became one of their weekend traditions. And the press went wild, seeing as they somehow ended up making it their weekly grocery trips as well, and the paparazzi were getting pictures of them together more often, and some rumours started up, but it wasn’t like they cared to even hear what it was about.
One day, after a particularly good race, in which Max won, and Daniel had gotten the second place, the Aussie ran in his direction, hugging him and picking him up off the ground, an action that made the whole paddock freeze, in what became such a silence that they could hear each other breathing. Everyone kept looking around and at them, expecting the Dutchman to let go of the older man, push him away and for a string of dutch curse words to leave his mouth, like it usually did when anyone else attempted to hug him or even touch him when he wasn’t aware of it.
But they all became stunned when Max simply laughed, hugging Daniel back and congratulating him on the great race they had, and both drivers left everyone behind, walking off and talking about what they had thought of the race. After that day, everyone couldn’t help but notice how their eyes lit up when they were together, and how they seemed to stand closer than the both of them did with anyone else, how the Dutch seemed like the weight had been taken off his shoulders when the Aussie was around, and how Daniel’s smiles seemed to somehow get brighter and wider when the younger man was in sight.
It had been an off thing, mentioned briefly in a before-race press conference. One man had asked them how they were fairing on while not being on the same team anymore (something that had actually changed around 3-4 years ago and the press and people seemed to just not get over it), and they were joking around about how on the first year they had trouble sleeping on separate rooms, and that was why they now shared rooms even though their teams tried to keep them apart. Something which the people had thought was an extension of the joke, but had actually been the pure truth. They found out that with the being teammates for so long, and the usual sleepovers while on vacation from the driving, it felt strange to not share the same room, and so, they got their teams’ approvals and changed that.
Some of the other drivers thought they were stuck up, arrogant, weird, because whenever all the drivers had to get together for one event or another, the two of the seemed like they were stuck on their own little bubble, all night long, just sticking to one another’s side, talking and laughing, and not once talking to anyone else after the introductory good nights, unless someone came to talk to one of them first. And when that did happen, the other one just waited by the side until the talk was finished, and as soon as the other person was gone, they went back to chatting like nothing had happened.
Another reason why few drivers did like to and actively go out with the two drivers, was that it seemed that wherever they went, it wasn’t Max or Daniel, or Max and Daniel. It was Max&Daniel, like they were one. They were always sharing their food, or getting plates both wanted and swapping throughout the meals.
The teams didn’t have anything against it personally, seeing as it was always good to have someone close, and they all knew the two were lucky to have found such good friends in each other in the driving world, something rare and special, but they did admit that it was a little bit annoying, but useful, how they were always talking, always seemed to know where the other were, how and what they were doing, even if they hadn’t seen each other all day. At least they knew who to ask when they wanted to find one of the men quickly.
And oh, RedBull’s nutritionist, more specifically, Max’s nutritionist, and his mother, loved and thanked god for Daniel. A year in, when they were still teammates, the Australian had figured out that the Dutch seemed to forget to eat, and rarely drank water as it was, saying it was too boring. So the older man had gotten the habit of carrying around little snacks, and flavoured water, to give the Dutchman, who would absentmindedly end up eating whatever he was handed by the other man, and never saying, but always taking note of how Daniel cared enough to remember he didn’t like the taste of water, and had found something else to solve the issue. A habit that the Aussie didn’t break, not even when he left the team, not even as the years went by.
That’s not to say that Daniel was a whole functional adult as well. The Australian, apparently too warmed by the usual Australian sun and heat, never remembered to check the weather of the tracks they went too, way too usually forgetting to pack weather appropriately, which resulted in Max always keeping Daniel’s hoodies and clothing for the cold in his own bags, always taking him a jacket or sweater of some sort when they went out, knowing the older man would sooner or later get cold, and that he never remembered to get himself the jacket, despite always ending up way too cold.
It was now standard practice for one of them to accidentally show up wearing the other’s team cap, or jacket. Or for those that knew them more closely, any article of clothing really. It was barely there, but noticeable. Daniel’s clothing looked a bit loose on the Dutch, while his clothes were a bit tight on the Australian, but they liked it and shared it nonetheless, never being bothered by that.
Something that Max found hilarious, was that every time he went to Daniel’s house, without fail, he would always have this very old Dutch brand of cereal, that the Australian himself claimed to find hideous when the younger man had asked, and the Dutchman felt warm and touched knowing that Daniel just kept it around for him, and wanting to give it back, he started to keep around this weird, yucky in his opinion, paste thing that the Australian loved to put on bread whenever they ate it, and by the way Daniel’s eyes had lit up when he first saw it there, the younger man could safely say it was the right choice.
The move just felt natural, seeing as they spent most of their time in Max’s apartment anyways, and they both concluded it was useless and logic less to keep paying the rent on Daniel’s apartment when he didn’t even really use it. So on a week off they just finished moving his fee things left on his apartment to Max’s and changing the address on all needed records, and then the change was successfully made. With some additions, such as the calendar that appeared on now their fridge, where Daniel kept a schedule of their doctors’ appointments, dates for getting their needed vaccines and their overall day to day schedules.
After a year of being flatmates, it had become a fact just like any other that at any mutual friends’, or teams’ events such as Christmas, the gifts came from Max and Daniel, always. And that was something that transferred over to family parties, and soon enough any gift one needed to give out, went out from the both of them.
After long enough, the next step seemed all so natural and easy and like the only next logical choice to be done. They had been getting ready to the end of season’s teams joint party, and with Daniel having spent half an hour in front of a mirror, while Max went on with getting ready, just to frustratedly ask for help with his floppy messy weird hair as soon as the Dutch had finished, the younger man wouldn’t have done anything else but help, and half an hour more later, he was finishing up on getting the Australian’s hair into place. So then, Max fixed the older man’s tie, pressing a soft and quick kiss, as if it was something they did everyday, on the other man’s mouth. They both stayed silent and still for a full beat, before Daniel leaned in, kissing him more passionately, and for a bit longer, before letting the man go, getting their things and grabbing the Dutch’s hand, pulling him out the door and out to the world.
When people found out, it was more of a “you just figured it out now?” type of thing. And well, it did take some time, and a long long ride, but they did get there in the end, and if you were lucky enough and went by their cars at the right time, you could always find the Dutch leaning into the McLaren’s orange car for a final good luck kiss before the beginning of the races, or catch their celebratory kiss after a good race for either one. They had found their home, their peace before the storm and their safe haven throughout the storm, something worth living for, and definitely fighting for, something that was worthwhile and could be described as the best thing that could ever happen to anyone.