Chapter Text
The alarm blared and Charles groaned. It was 4 am and while they had to get up early to catch the plane, Charles still wasn't very keen on the idea. You see, he is currently cuddled up to Max and VERY comfortable, so much so that he doesn't want to move.
He lifts his head of Max's chest and flings his arm around in hope of hitting the snooze button on the alarm he set last night. Sadly, he wasn't very successful, waking up Max in the proces.
"Wha' 'ime is 't?", he questioned sleepily. Charles didn't answer. Instead he finally managed to hit the damn button, plopping down on Max again.
"Char, wha' time 's it?", Max demanded seemingly less sleepy.
"Too early," Charles whined.
"Charlie, we have to get to the airport," he started to get up.
The Monégasque whined louder in protest, swinging his arms over Max's shoulders, hoping he will lay back down again. His hopes went down the drain quickly, as Max just chuckled, untangled himself from Charles and swiftly stood from the bed. Charles rumbled quietly in response, his eyelids feeling heavier every second. The next thing he knew, he was being shaken out of his slumber by the one and only love of his life.
"Come on Charlie, we have to go soon. You have to get ready." Charles squinted his eyes just enough to make out Max's soft eyes and his beautiful smile. As it seemed his boyfriend was already dressed for their holiday. He was wearing red shorts and a Hawaiian t-shirt with mini cat's printed all over, that Charles gifted to him on their anniversary. ('Omg Charles, it's perfect', Max said that night, as they exchanged their gifts. 'I hope you don't mind the cats,' Charles responded unsurely. Max looked him deep in the eyes. 'I love it,' he breathed as their lips connected.)
"All of the luggage is in the car and I've let you sleep long enough. Come on, you have to get ready!". With little to no prostest Max managed to drag his boyfriend to the bathroom, where Charles sluggishly dressed himself. His clothes consisted of a blue t-shirt with some sort of a cat meme printed in front (that was a gift from Lando to Max, given about a week after Max broke a door down, because one of their cat's was stuck inside the room. Their cat's were currently being watched by Max's sister who luckly didn't have any locks on the door's inside the house or at least didn't have any the cats could manage to lock, so that was one problem solved) and a green pair of shorts that most likely also belong to Max.
He slowly made his way to the living room where his boyfriend was waiting on the couch.
He sighed "Finally, let's go. We don't want to keep Arthur and his friend waiting," Max said as he pulled Charles towards the front door. But it was true, they didn't want to keep Arthur and his friend waiting, especially since they were flying from Italy to Great Britain, have probably landed and were waiting for them. He quickly got his shoes on and followed Max out the door. They sat in the car, not before making sure they locked the door behind them, Max in the driver's seat and Charles in the passenger's. The ride was short and quiet, both of them too tired to participate in any kind of conversation.
The made it to the airport and flew through security, when Charles' phone rang. It was Arthur, who asked if they were there already, Charles responded affirmatively. Their conversation dragged on for a couple minutes while they tried to navigate where the other was, before finally agreeing on their meeting point.
They decided to meet at a small cafe near where their plane will be taking off, they were taking Max's private jet so they weren't in any rush, but they still didn't want to be too late. Max and Charles walked for about 10 minutes before making it to the cafe (Charles would say it was Max's fault, because the other kept insisting on 'knowing where he was going', leading them in circles and eventually getting them almost completely lost).
The cafe was nice. It had a big welcome sign hung above the door, with a soft pink-ish light on either side of it. The inside had a cozy feel to it with soft red and yellow-ish lights, very soft looking armchairs and tables made from dark wood. Charles noticed Arthur the second they stepped inside, he was sitting in the far back, talking with, who Charles assumed was, the friend he decided to take with him.
"Arthur!", he fast walked towards his table. Arthur had seen him by now and stood up, opening his arms. They hugged tightly for a few seconds.
"I missed you soo much 'thur, how are you? Everything okay?"
"Missed you too Char. Everything's okay. How have you been?"
"Good, but a lot better now that I see you," Charles smiled. He finally looked away from his brother to his companion, identifying him as one of Arthur's closest friends Ollie. He send a warm smile his way before speaking.
"Hi Ollie, it's great to see you again, how have you been?"
Ollie smiled a bit, looking tired, but before he even opened his mouth Arthur, who was greeting Max, spoke up.
"Oh yea, Max this is Ollie, Ollie this is Max."
"Hello Ollie, nice to meet you," Max said as he extended his hand to shake Ollie's. Ollie hesitated for a moment, looking at Arthur who gave him a soft nod. He reached for Max's palm, shaking it and giving Max a tired smile.
"Come on. Don't just stand here, sit! We still have time for coffe or something", Arthur urged as he sat down next to Ollie, who all but melted into him. The older two sat down opposite them and looked over the drink menu.
The couple eventually decided on their drinks, looking over the other two. They were seemingly bickering over something, but with Ollie half asleep it was more like Arthur was arguing with himself. Soon enough the waitress came by and took their order. Max and Charles ordered coffee, while Arthur ordered a coffee for himself and also a hot chocolate for Ollie.
They got their drinks a few minutes later, drinking them all relatively quickly. They payed the waitress and went on their way, dragging the suitcases behind them. After a quick walk, they were ushered towards where Max's jet would be taking off.
They walked in silence, Max and Charles in front and Arthur, who was dragging Olllie, behind. They made it on the jet where they were greeted by their captain. Max talked with him for a bit while the others situated themselves on the seats. Ollie took the window seat facing the back of the plane and Arthur sat right beside him. Charles sat in the window seat in the other row, facing the front. He was joined by Max a few minutes later.
Now that they were in their seats and their luggage had been taken care of the vacation finally started. The plane was in the air ten minutes later. Max, Charles and Arthur were participating in a light conversation while Ollie, who fell asleep as soon as he sat down, slept on Arthur's shoulder.
About 30 minutes later the only one still awake was Max. Arthur fell asleep soon after Ollie, both of them currently half laying on each other (Ollie's head on Arthur's shoulder and Arthur's head on Ollie's), along with them Charles also slept, but he surprisingly only fell asleep a few minutes ago, slumped over Max.
Max smiled at Charles, he absolutely adores his boyfriend. He reached his hand to brush a few locks of hair away from his face and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. He looked at their other companions. Arthur looked as relaxed as ever and Max honestly really liked him and even became a bit protective of him (he was Charles' brother of course he will be protective, he's his family now).
The only one he wasn't sure about was Ollie. Ollie seemed okay and from everything he heard about him, he really seemed like a great kid, but Max still wasn't totally convinced. From his interactions with Ollie (granted Ollie was exhausted and seemed half asleep) he could sense that something just wasn't right, but he had no idea what. Max vowed to figure out what that was.
But that's a job for tomorrow. Right now he will relax next to his boyfriend, in the safety of his presence. Charles' soft breaths were the last thing Max heard as he drifted off to sleep.