Maybe in another life-formula 1

You are not okay

After the Bahrain Grand Prix, communication between Max and Angelus became extremely formal. They barely spoke; when they did, it was clipped and businesslike. Most of the time, Angelus passed information to Max's and Checo's engineers or directly to the mechanics, while Max relayed any complaints through GP, who then passed them on to Angelus.

The atmosphere was tense, but the system worked.

By the third race, Angelus was exhausted. His body ached all over, his knee locking up and begging for rest. Endurance races were spaced apart, and Angelus wasn't required to attend all of them, but three back-to-back F1 races with quick trips to Milton Keynes had taken a toll on him.

The 21-hour trip to Melbourne was not at all welcome, especially given the company he was with. Angelus didn't mind flying commercial flights with the rest of the team, but this time Christian had insisted they all flew together with Max.

Angelus sat in his seat, bones aching. He had taken all the painkillers possible and tried to sleep, but eight hours into the flight he woke up from the dull ache that thrummed through his body. He was seated next to Adrian, who had fallen asleep a while ago.

The only other person awake was Daniel, traveling with the Red Bull team as a third driver, but he was occupied with a show on his iPad.

Angelus tried to get up, needing to move his aching leg. He leaned his weight on the back of the chair hauling himself upwards.

He usually had more time between races to train and go to physio, but three races in, it didn't look great. Unbeknownst to him, Daniel watched as Angelus scrunched his face in pain, struggling to stand and leaning heavily on the seat. Daniel took off his headphones and looked over, concern etched on his face.

"Hey, you okay?"Angelus grimaced, trying to stretch his leg.

"Yeah, Just need to move around a bit."Daniel nodded, putting his iPad aside. "Need any help?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Angelus replied, though his voice lacked conviction. He made his way to the aisle, trying to walk off the stiffness.

Max, stirred next to Daniel who was now moving his gaze between his screen and Angelus periodically. He caught sight of Angelus's struggle and frowned, but he didn't say anything. He watched as Angelus limped slightly, trying to work through the pain. Angelus continued to pace the aisle, doing his best to alleviate the discomfort.

He had changed so much. Max remembered his angelus so clearly, the one he used to know. He was so charming energetic and full of life. You could recognize his laughter across garages his smile never leaving his face it was infectious. The way he laughed around with Max. He remembers the way Angelus mocked him for weeks when he came back after summer break towering over Max who was yet to hit a growth spurt. The way he would lean on Max on long flights like this talking about nothing till he fell asleep. He still remembers the way Angelus smiled when he called him Maxy, the way his accent curled around it.

The Angelus that stood in front of him looked small even though he was still slightly taller than Max, he looked like he was drowning in his clothes. He was still beautiful his eyes still the clearest green Max had ever seen, his hair a brown shaggy mess the way he used to keep it, it looked sunkissed with light brown streaks. But his eyes were dull everything about him missing the spark he used to have. Now Angelus was unrecognizable, he rarely smiled, he was quiet and reserved, and he looked like he wanted to disappear.

Max watched wearily as Angelus limped around, his back hunched. Max's heart clenched at the boy who stood so close to him but in reality, he couldn't have been farther away.