Max hadn't spoken to Angelus since the wedding not properly anyway. Even if he wished he could. Angelus was annoyingly professional. So Max tried to be normal. It's not like he spent the last couple of weeks looking at their text thread every night in hopes that he could read how Angelus said he missed him even if he was drunk.
He was coming out of a press conference when he saw an anxious-looking Liz staring right at him. The happy-go-lucky painfully gen z girl looked like she had just been told her hamster died.
She approached him tentatively at first but then she started rushing once she got closer.
"Is everything okay?" he asked as soon as she was close enough.
That seemed to have pulled a plug on something because Liz exploded in a long rant half of which he didn't understand
"I swear I didn't know this would happen I just told Sarah I would get him to do the interview she said it was just a couple of questions i swear I didn't know it was going to be triggering or anything I didn't even know he was in a crash he just looked so pale and rushed off to the bathroom and I don't know what to do and I look creepy standing outside the men stall and he isn't answering me"
Max reeled back a little from that awfully long run-on sentence. All he gathered was someone was definitely not okay.
"Who is locked in a bathroom" he asked his voice alert.
"Angelus he did the sky sports interview and rushed off right after "
That was all Max needed to hear. Panic started to thrum in his veins.
"where is he? What the fuck did they ask him"
He could see her face go pale his reaction somehow causing her more stress.
She let out a breath as she nodded and started walking.
" I'm so sorry" she rushed out and started walking
Max ignored the eyes that followed them till he reached one of the stalls in the back of the paddock.
He started to worry as soon as he reached the door. Through the thin door, he could hear gasping and wheezing like Angelus was suffocating inside.
He started knocking more urgently but it felt like Angelus couldn't hear him
"Angelus if you do not answer I will break the door down"
The wheezing slowed till it stopped. Max heard the tap open and close. Then as he was about to knock again the door swung right open.
Max never wanted to see Angelus like this again. He knew exactly what a panic attack looked like. It had always been him in this position, never Angelus. Memories of the tan boy holding his hand behind the kart track after a bad result, after collisions, flooded his mind. The way Angelus would cradle Max's face and wipe his tears as he struggled to breathe his cheeks going red.
Now, standing in front of him, Angelus looked wrecked. His eyes were red and shiny, his face pale and wet as if he had just washed it. Max couldn't even voice his concern; his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. His hand moved faster, landing gently on Angelus's pale cheek.
He was shocked at his own action and saw the way Angelus's eyes fluttered, a single tear making its way down his face. Max found himself wiping it with his thumb gently, muscle memory taking over. It was only a second before Angelus stepped back, shaking his head.
Max frowned sadly, dropping his hand and gently pushing Angelus back inside. The boy went easily. Max shuddered slightly, still feeling the tear on his skin.
YOU ARE READING
Maybe in another life-formula 1
FanfictionMaxy and Angel that's what they used to be. Verstappen and Reyes that's what they became. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe in another life.
