Chapter Text
Charles stared fondly at the controlled chaos in front of him as Lando, George, Pierre, and Alex yelled over each other as they brainstormed where they should host his and Max’s co-bachelors’ party. He looked to his right as he felt a hand squeeze his own and calloused fingers playing with his engagement ring.
“Should we intervene?” he asked as he watched Lando push Alex’s chair with enough force to roll him all the way to the other side of the room.
Max snorted as Alex screamed indignantly and threw his pen at Lando’s head, accidentally hitting George’s shoulder instead. “And miss out on all this fun?”
“It’s a little mean to let them go on like this when Daniel already made reservations two weeks ago,” Charles snickered.
“Is it though?”
Charles hummed. “You’re right. Just last night Pierre was making fun of me while we were texting.”
Max grinned devilishly and Charles snorted, turning back to the group just in time to see Pierre put Lando in a chokehold and give him a noogie as the younger Brit squawked.
Charles had never thought he could have this; this easy camaraderie with the person he loved more than life itself, and friends he knew he could count on with not just his life but his secrets too. Pierre was a given, a rock and foundation for decades, but Lando had been surprisingly astute and mature once he’d found out about Charles’s powers. Yes, he’d been a complete knob about the marriage proposal, immediately and gleefully telling those in the know exactly how Charles had reacted, but he’d otherwise been incredibly discreet about it.
And it’d been unexpectedly freeing to have people know about his powers. He’d spent so long scared of slipping up and fearing people’s reactions that he’d never, for one second, allowed himself to imagine the possibility that they’d just… accept it. The amount of support and understanding he’d gotten over the years from the drivers who knew was mindboggling and sometimes, like in moments like these, it hit him all over again how incredibly lucky he was to be surrounded by this much unconditional love and acceptance.
But it also made him distinctly aware of those who still didn’t know and perhaps should know. Like George and Alex, two of his closest and oldest friends. Of all his on-grid friends, Lando had always been the least likely he’d have told of his own accord. Not because he didn’t like Lando, but because he just trusted Alex and George more; after Pierre, he’d always been closest to Alex, and George knew how to keep a secret. So the fact that Lando knew but not the other half of the Twitch Quartet was just weird, and it had started to make Charles’s chest feel uncomfortable, almost like an ache deep in his bones.
“No, Lando,” George sighed exasperatedly. “A party at Jimmy’z is so predictable! Max has had every birthday there for years! This has to be special.”
“And that’s exactly why it should be somewhere that’s important to them. Like Jimmy’z!”
“Fuck no, we can do so much better than that,” Pierre insisted. “For one, if we want to avoid outing them, it shouldn’t be in Monaco.”
“Oh… I hadn’t thought of that.”
“And, also, we can do way fancier and wilder.”
“No,” Max intervened before the group got any crazy ideas. “We are keeping this very simple and low key.”
“But Ma~ax,” Lando whined. “It’s your bachelor party! Something I never thought you would ever have!”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, come on. You can’t tell me you ever thought anyone would be stupid enough to–”
Max growled. Lando coughed mid-sentence and shut his mouth so fast Charles heard his teeth clacking.
“Right…” Lando said as he practically leaped out of his chair. “I’ll just… Go be over there somewhere.”
Charles watched as he hightailed it to the kitchen and winced slightly at the sound of banging cupboards. “Do you think he’ll break something?”
Max shrugged. “Fifty-fifty chance. I just hope he leaves the mugs alone.”
Charles hummed and tuned back to the ongoing debate between Pierre, who was now advocating for a party somewhere in the Italian countryside, and Alex and George who were both adamant that southern France was a better venue. And as much as he enjoyed watching his friends debate the merits of each country and why they would be best suited to host the “bachelor party of the century,” Charles had to admit that he was starting to feel bad about letting them continue.
He nudged Max in the ribs softly and gestured at the three men with his head. Max raised his eyebrows and smirked. Charles narrowed his eyes and frowned. Max grinned. Charles sighed and rolled his eyes.
“You’re terrible,” he whispered.
“You love it.”
Charles grumbled unintelligibly, which only made Max grin wider.
Charles grinned as he watched Lando cannonball off the side of the yacht and into the warm water below. He had to hand it to Daniel, charting a private cruise off the coast of Croatia had been an absolutely genius idea for a joint bachelor party. During the day they either lounged around or, in Charles’s case, scuba-dived and snorkeled, and at night all of them hit whatever island they had docked at, having dinner at little local restaurants and hitting whatever club they could find afterwards.
“You’re not going to join in?”
Charles looked up at Daniel as he stood over him, his frame blocking the sun. “Nope, I’m good,” he replied nonchalantly with a small shake of his head.
“I thought jumping off the side of a yacht would be totally up your alley. Where’s that adventurous spirit Max is always complaining about?”
Charles snorted and lifted his shirt, showing off a rather striking purple bruise around his ribs.
Daniel whistled softly and pulled over one the lounge chairs, placing it next to Charles and flopping on it. “Damn, Chuck. How the fuck did you manage that?” he asked as he leaned in to take a closer look.
“Alex pushed me off yesterday and I landed wrong in the water.”
“Fuck. Why didn’t you,” Daniel waved his hands vaguely in the air and Charles rolled his eyes.
“Not everything can be solved using my powers. Also, I didn’t have enough time to stop my fall.”
“Oh, yes, because you had so much time to stop Max’s car from crashing into the barriers.”
“Oh my God,” Charles groaned exasperatedly. “Will you ever let that go? That was instinct.”
“Nope, never,” Daniel grinned, popping his p obnoxiously. “So, saving Max is instinct, but saving yourself is not? Doesn’t seem very self-preserving.”
Charles sighed. “Alex was there.”
Daniel made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Ah.”
Charles hummed and let the moment stretch as he listened to Alex and Lando bicker beyond the side of the ship before a soft splash echoed up, closely followed by Alex screaming something incomprehensible. Charles grinned, imagining the scene below, but felt his smile slide off his face as he thought back to that moment in his apartment all those weeks ago, to that ache that had formed in his chest and how it had steadily grown over the last few days.
“Hey, Daniel?” he asked softly before he could stop himself.
Daniel hummed questioningly and Charles bit his lip. Daniel glanced at him and poked him gently in the shoulder. “What’s up, Charlie?”
“Do you think…” Charles paused, his throat suddenly dry. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, forcing himself to take a deep breath and hold it in before he accidentally worked himself up into a panic attack.
“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Daniel asked worriedly and Charles snorted so forcefully he nearly choked on his own spit.
“No, never,” he replied with a smile. “I just…” He licked his lips and inhaled deeply again as he felt that familiar tightening in his chest. “Do you think I should tell Alex and George?” he asked quickly before he could talk himself out of it. “About…” He waved his hands around in the same vague pattern Daniel had a few minutes before.
Daniel inhaled sharply at the question and hummed thoughtfully as he wiggled the lounge chair closer to him. “Do you want to tell them?”
Charles shrugged and looked down at his hand, his fingers playing with his engagement ring, watching as it sparkled brilliantly under the Croatian sun. “I don’t know…”
“No offense, Charles, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be asking me that if you hadn’t already made up your mind.”
Charles laughed softly and smiled self-deprecatingly. “I guess that’s fair…”
“Are you asking me if I think they’ll freak out?” Charles shrugged. “I mean, yes, I think they will. But,” he continued before Charles could say anything, “I’m pretty sure everyone does when they first find out.”
“Touché,” Charles conceded.
“If you’re asking me if I think they’ll accept it…” Daniel continued and paused. Charles held his breath, anxiety twisting uncomfortably in his gut. “Charles, look around you. Where are we?”
Charles frowned. “On a yacht…?”
“Oh my God, you’re such a dumbass,” Daniel chastised him as he nudged him gently. “No, stupid. Where are we? What are we doing here?”
“Oh, my– our bachelor party.”
“Your very exclusive, very secret joint bachelor party. With the people you most trust and love in the world.”
“Yes, but–”
“You really think that feeling doesn’t go both ways?” Daniel asked and Charles felt his breath catch in his throat at the question.
“Yeah?” he asked softly, almost feeling stupid for this sudden insecurity. He knew Alex and George. He trusted them, and he loved them, and he had no reason to doubt their faith and loyalty. “It’s just… It’s so hard,” he whispered as he looked at the azure sky beyond the railing. “I’ve never actually told someone.”
Daniel looked over at him incredulously. “Seriously?”
Charles nodded. “Everyone has always just… found out. I don’t know even know how I would tell them.”
“You could just go up to the railing, yell ’Hey, watch this!’, and make a giant wave come crashing down on top of them,” Daniel replied, grinning wildly. “Just let me get my phone ready first.”
“That is incredibly not helpful,” Charles huffed out as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Daniel laughed. “Well, can’t blame a man for trying. But I’m sure you’ll think of something,” he said as he patted Charles on the shoulder. He let the silence linger for a moment before he lounged back and hummed softly. “But, in all seriousness, Charlie, you don’t need to worry about them. If you think you’re ready to tell them, they’ll be there for you.”
“Thanks, Daniel,” Charles smiled.
Charles leaned back in his chair as he silently watched his friends around the table. It was their fourth night aboard, and they were anchored in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, the lights of the yacht a soft beacon in an otherwise black expanse. He couldn’t help the smile tugging on his lips as George and Alex battled it out over the last profiterole, the small ding of their forks almost drowned out by the chatter around the table.
They had another couple of days on the yacht before they docked in Dubrovnik, where Daniel had arranged for some sort of all-day Games of Throne tour for them. And after that, it was going to be a blissful few days of just Max and Charles in Croatian wine country before they had to part ways to their respective factories. As much as Charles loved his friends and their close-knit group, he couldn’t wait to spend time alone with his fiancé. Just the thought had him smiling even wider and he glanced over at Max, a small flush rising on his cheeks that he hopefully could blame on the wine he’d been imbibing.
The sudden noises of glass tumbling and loud cursing had him snap his eyes back toward the other side of the table where George and Alex had pushed their chairs back.
“Goddamn it, Alex!” George cried out as he stood up, a red wine stain visibly spreading on his white button up.
“Don’t blame me!” Alex snapped back, his blue shirt equally drenched in wine. “You’re the one who knocked his elbow against the table.”
“This is never going to get out.”
“Just use some sparkling water,” Daniel chimed in.
“Shouldn’t you be the expert on this?” Lando teased as he poked Pierre in the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ve had to deal with one too many wine stains over the years.”
Charles glanced around, his heart in this throat when he realized that the wait staff hadn’t heard the commotion and that there was no one on deck save for them. He could feel his palms sweating as he watched George lean over the table and wet a corner of his napkin in Max’s glass of sparkling water while Lando snorted at Max’s splutter. Before he could talk himself out of it, Charles dug his fingers into Max’s forearm and breathed in deeply.
“Let me help you with that,” he said, feigning calm and ignoring Max who had turned to look at him as soon as Charles had grabbed hold of him.
He stood up from his chair and leaned over, placing his free hand on the wine stain on the table. He ignored the burning stares from his friends and instead concentrated on that endless well of power swirling in his bones, that feeling of chaos he’d grown to accept thanks to Max. He imagined the molecules of the wine and pictured himself pulling them out of the threads, one drop at a time. He felt the air around his hand steaming and watched as the liquid slowly evaporated. He chanced a glance up at Alex and George and winced at their slack-jawed expression. He forced himself to stay where he was as they both looked up to stare at him, their eyes wide and incredulous. He breathed in deeply one more time and switched his concentration to the stains on their shirts, ignoring both of their soft yelps as they instinctively jerked away as the wine stains steamed and disappeared.
He leaned back into his chair once he was done and felt Max shimmy his forearm under his grip until he was gripping his hand instead, their fingers intertwined so forcefully he was surprised his bones weren’t rubbing together.
“Good as new,” he said, forcing himself to smile.
“What…” Alex whispered, his gaze switching rapidly from the table, to his shirt, and back to Charles. “Did you… What the…”
Next to him, George was doing much the same until he seemed to realize he was on a never-ending loop and forced his eyes closed. “Did you just…” he waved his hand in the air. “Like, magic the wine stain away?” he said, voice hoarse and incredulous.
Charles breathed in deeply and tightened his grip around Max’s hand. “Yes…?”
“That sounded suspiciously unsure of you…” George said as he opened to his eyes again to stare at Charles.
Max squeezed his hand once and gently nudged him with his elbow. “Yes. I did,” Charles said, this time with more conviction.
George looked around the table and frowned. “Why is no one besides Alex and me remotely shocked that Charles just,” he waved his hand around once again, “whatever-the-hell the wine away?”
“I mean, that’s old news, Georgie,” Lando grinned impishly. “You’re very late to the party.”
“You can do magic?” Alex whispered-yelled. “And Lando knew before me?! Lando?!”
“Hey!” Lando yelled, offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, don’t even start,” Alex accused him. “You can’t keep a secret to save your life.”
“Well, joke’s on you cause I’ve known for months.”
“Wait,” George frowned as he looked around the table, “Who else knows?”
Charles shrugged. “Everyone around this table. And Carlos and my family.”
“And Seb and Lewis,” Max chimed in. Charles hummed in agreement.
“Wow, that’s…”
“A lot of people?” Charles cringed.
“No, that’s a surprisingly small number of people,” Alex retorted as he forcefully shoved Lando’s face away and nearly toppled the younger driver.
“So… What exactly can you do?” George asked.
Max grinned devilishly. “Better question is, what can’t he do?”
“No, stop that,” Charles said as he pointed an accusing finger at Max. “Every single time you say it like that, everyone immediately thinks the same thing and… there they go,” Charles sighed in exasperation as Alex and George’s faces contorted in disgust, a bright red flush suffusing their cheeks.
Max grinned wider. Charles smacked him in the shoulder.
“Oh!” Lando exclaimed as he straightened in his chair and reached into his pocket. “I can finally show you the real engagement photos!”
Charles groaned loudly.
“Quiet, you,” Alex chastised him as he leaned over Lando’s shoulder. “I have years of blackmail material that I need to catch up on. Also, Gasly,” he said as he snapped his fingers. “Spill the tea!”
“Oh my God, guys, there’s really nothing to tell.”
Pierre snorted. “Don’t let him fool you. He loves making flowers bloom.”
“And he’s constantly making things float around him,” Max chimed in.
Charles glared at him. “Whose side are you on?”
“And setting things on fire,” Lando said.
“That was one time!”
Lando looked up at him, unimpressed. “That’s not what Carlos said.”
“Or Seb,” Max seconded.
Charles poked him in the shoulder. “You’re on very thin ice, Verstappen.”
“Ooo,” Alex teased as he wiggled his eyebrows at the pair. “Trouble in paradise already?”
Max smiled widely as he grabbed Charles’s finger and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss. Charles flushed at the gesture and couldn’t help the besotted grin that stretched across his lips. “Nah,” he shrugged. “I can’t stay mad at this face.”
“Gross,” Lando gagged. “Forget them. Come look at Charles setting the bushes on fire when Max proposes to him,” he said as he smacked Alex in the shoulder to get his attention.
Charles sighed exasperatedly as both George and Alex leaned over Lando’s shoulders to look at his phone, their gleeful expressions settling something deep within him. He glanced over to the other end of the table and bit his lip as Daniel raised his eyebrows and mouthed I told you so.
“Hey, Charles,” Alex called out to him, and he hummed distractedly. “Have you ever used your powers to manhandle Max during sex?”
Charles squawked and, before he could stop himself, one of the bottles of Perrier cracked and shattered, sparkling water spilling all over the cloth and off the side of the table. Charles blushed furiously as Alex cackled at his reaction, George bursting into uncontrollable giggles next to him.
“Oh yes, that’s another thing he does all time. Make things explode,” Pierre said, his lips spread into the most shit-eating grin Charles had ever witnessed.
Daniel had been wrong, Charles thought with dismay as he bent over the table and hid his face behind his hands. He should have been worried about his friends finding out about his secret. The teasing from now on was going to be unbearable.
“Hey,” Max whispered as he nudged him gently, and Charles groaned behind his piss poor hiding place. “That was very brave of you.”
Charles turned his head to the side and peeked at Max between his fingers. “Yeah?”
Max smiled softly at him as he pushed his hair back, nails scarping over his head gently until his warm hand rested on the back of his neck. “I’m really proud of you.”
Charles smiled back. “I couldn’t have done it without you. You make me braver.”
Max beamed and leaned over, kissing his temple. “You never really needed me, schatje. You’d have gotten there eventually. But I’m glad I could help.”