With a few days off between races, Max found himself feeling a bit...lonely without his older teammate around. They had done countless interviews and 'teammate bonding' activities over the past few weeks for their back-to back races and had even flown together. Yet somehow, after spending a few days on his own, Max kept hoping to run into Dan in the halls of their apartment complex, or that he'd ask him out to go cycling together.
After thinking it over, Max realized how silly that was, and just called Dan up. When he answered, Max wasn't sure what to say, though.
"What's up?" Dan asked, thinking Max might need some help with his washing machine, or maybe the dishwasher this time.
"Nothing, I was just, you know...are you free?" Max stammered.
"Yeah, Chloe's got a friend over this afternoon, so I'm just kicking around here."
"Same here, except the part about Chloe," Max amended, and could hear Dan laugh. "Do you want to hang out or something?"
"That would be great - anything to get out of this flat." Dan laughed, and Chloe shouted something in the background.
"I think you owe me a game of FIFA, if you want to come down."
"I'll be right down."
Max was getting the game set up when Dan arrived less than a minute later. "That was fast," he noted.
"I had to get out of there. Her friend's planning her wedding, and Chloe kept giving me these looks." Dan shook his head. "Not ready for that."
Max nodded in agreement, and noticed Dan had a case of beer in his left hand. "You brought some beer? Thanks, let me put them in the fridge."
"I managed to grab it on my way out," Dan explained and watched Max open his fridge - revealing absolutely nothing. "Haven't been shopping much?"
"Shopping?" Max turned after putting the beer away and set two bottles on the counter. Grabbing the bottle opener, he joined Dan at the couch again.
"For food?"
"Oh, no, well, we're away so much, it would just go bad." Max handed Dan a beer and sat down. "Grab a seat and we'll pick our teams.
Dan moved some stuff off the couch to sit down next to Max. He looked around the apartment and raised his eyebrows. "I guess your mom hasn't been here in a while?" He joked.
"She doesn't clean anymore, says I'm 'grown up' or something," Max answered without taking his eyes from the screen, too into their FIFA match to catch Dan's hint.
Dan nodded and tried to ignore the state of the apartment, but couldn't focus on the game. Max beat him in every match, which was to be expected since he plays the game all the time, but it was almost too easy.
"Are you letting me win?" Max joked and turned to Dan, only to find him staring at a mystery substance on the carpet. "Oh, that's um, probably the pad thai I spilled last week. No, wait, that was on the other end of the couch. Maybe it's the pizza I dropped?" He raised his eyebrow to think.
"Would you mind if I cleaned it up real quick?" Dan asked, and Max looked surprised.
"Sure, I think I have some carpet cleaner in the kitchen." He got up to find it, and Dan grabbed a few damp paper towels to get started on the stain.
"This ought to do it, right?" Max returned with the carpet cleaner, and Dan was impressed he'd actually brought back the correct bottle.
"Yeah, actually, thanks." He smiled and read the instructions quickly before spraying the carpet. Once he'd finished up with the pizza stain, he got started on the pad thai. "FYI, it's usually easier to clean up if you catch it right after it's happened. Once it dries it becomes a bit more difficult."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Max helped him finish it up, and put the cleaner away. He returned to the couch to continue playing, but found Dan looking through his closet.
"Where do you keep your vacuum? I just want to run it over the carpet quickly," he explained.
"I think it's in the back, maybe behind my skis?" Max joined him and moved some stuff out of the way. "There it is," he said and pulled the vacuum out of the closet.
They both looked the machine over, not entirely sure how to turn it on. "Let's plug it in first," Dan suggested, and started unwrapping the coiled up cord. He handed the plug to max, and he found an outlet to plug it into. They returned to the vacuum and searched for the on/off switch, and finally started pushing random things.
"Is it this one?" Max asked, and the filter popped out. "Oops."
"That's okay, this looks like it needs a cleaning anyway." He carried it over to the trash and Max made a mental note to clean the vacuum filter regularly.
"Alright, let's see how this runs." Dan put the filter back, and pressed a button on the top of the device, sending it roaring to life. He and Max high fived at their success, and got the right attachment on the end of the hose before starting to vacuum Max's carpet.
After a moment, Dan noticed Max watching him intently. He paused his attack on Max's dirty carpet and turned the vacuum off. "Do you want to try?" He handed it off to Max, who looked at the vacuum with wide eyes. "Just go over the carpet with smooth, even strokes, in a back and forth pattern until you've covered the whole floor. If you want, I can move the furniture out of the way so we can clean the whole thing," Dan added, thinking this carpet had probably never been vacuumed in the months Max had lived here.
"Okay," Max said, and with trepidation he flipped the machine back on, and the hose jerked in his hand.
Laughing, Dan grabbed a hold of it and helped Max get a grip on it. "Hold it like a golf club or a cricket bat," he advised, though as far as he knew Max played neither sport.
It took awhile to get the hang of it, but soon Max found the sound of dirt and debris getting sucked up the hose quite satisfying. Dan pushed the couch out of the way and Max cringed at the dirty carpet beneath it. The pair worked through the living room, the into the dining/kitchen area.
As Max was cleaning up the cheerios he'd spilled last month, Dan abruptly shut the vacuum off. "It's probably time to empty all this gunk out." He said, and worked to figure out how to open the canister. He and Max both made a face as Dan opened it and they saw all the dirt and gunk from the carpet.
"Yuck," Max said with disgust, and Dan dumped the contents of the canister in the trash.
"That is nasty," he said as he banged the last bits out. "Make sure you empty this frequently so you don't burn the motor out."
"Maybe that's what's wrong with our engines," Max joked, recalling he and Dan's recent engine failures.
Dan snorted a laugh, but didn't comment. "Well, looks like we're out of beer," he said with a quick check in the empty fridge. "I think that means it's time for me to head out."
"Thanks for helping me clean, though...is this because you were losing?" Max asked.
"What?"
"I was killing you in FIFA; did you decide to distract me by cleaning?" Max laughed as Dan feigned innocence.
"Nah, your floor just looked like shit, mate," Dan teased and earned a light punch in the shoulder from Max.
"Well, thanks for helping me out, anyway."
"No problem, any time!" Dan grinned before heading back up to his apartment.
A/N: I can't believe it's been over two months since I've updated this? Sorry for the long wait, and thank you for reading!! : D
I have started another Dan fanfic, an imagine (mostly because I'm too lazy to come up with a main character!) https://www.wattpad.com/story/165942087-to-save-you-from-drowning
Header image credit: tumblr user maxeirre
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Domesticating Max
FanfictionMax spent too much time at the track as a kid, and has no idea how to take care of himself on his own. When Max gets moved up to Red Bull, his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo and his girlfriend take it upon themselves to teach hi m how to 'adult' and...
