Archive of Our Own ^beta

Max doesn’t love racing, he needs it, like he needs oxygen. What he does love is Lando Norris. He has loved him since Lando’s first day on the grid in 2019. Of course, he remembered Lando from when they were kids in karting, when Lando was only a few years younger but so much smaller, not just compared to Max but everyone else as well. But Max didn’t know Lando was meant to be his the moment he saw him all grown up, so different, but somehow still the same as he was back then. Still tender in the places the sport had made everyone else hard. 

The first year was tense. It took a little while for Lando to realize their inevitable connection. It almost came to blows several times with Carlos when he told him that just because Max and Lando went on a few dates, he had no right ‘to be so controlling’ and ‘stalk him all over the paddock.’ Which was ridiculous. Of course, he wasn’t doing those things. 

Everything fell into place in the second half of the season. It was the first time Lando’s dad couldn’t make one of his Formula 1 races. Max knew Lando and Adam were very close and always have been. He was even jealous of Lando when they were kids, and he still is, honestly, because Lando made it to this level with parents that nurtured him instead of beating him down. 

Max was definitely not stalking Lando. He had good reason to be loitering around the McLaren garage before the race. It certainly isn’t his fault that nobody else noticed when Lando disappeared and didn’t come back for too long. It didn’t take Max long to find the boy tucked into an alcove near the bathrooms, very obviously trying not to cry. Max watched him. The moment was so tender, so sweet, so Lando. Maybe Max shouldn’t have intervened. He should have let Lando handle it on his own. That’s what Jos would do. It was probably one of those moments that would toughen Lando up. But even back then, Max didn’t want Lando to change. He has always wanted Lando to stay so soft, light, and open and still be a successful driver. He needs Lando to prove that it is possible, for everyone’s sake, but especially for Max. So Max intervened. He held Lando close and wiped away the first of many tears. Before they separated to go to their own garages, Max gave Lando a kiss on his cheek, just like he had seen Lando’s dad do before every race. 

After that, the rest was history, as they say. They became inseparable. Since that day, Max has been the one to dry all of Lando’s tears and the recipient of his brightest smiles. Lando stayed his bright, endearing self, and Max made sure no one took that away from him. Of course, as Lando has gotten older, he doesn’t need Max to step in as often. He handles most things on his own and Max is there to celebrate with him if it goes well and pick up the pieces if it doesn’t. If Lando doesn’t know that Max still steps in when things get too bad, it should stay a secret. Max would never do anything to interfere with other teams or affect a race. But he has never had much respect for reporters or drivers that run their mouths too much. Just being Max Verstappen gives him a lot of influence. But if that fails, there are very few things he can’t fix with money and online friends who can find anyone’s secrets. 

It took Lando a while to fall in love with Max, but when he did; he never looked back. The first half of Lando’s rooky season was a blur as he learned to manage his new hectic schedule, get familiar with the huge increase in demand that F1 had on his body compared to F2, and try to get to know the other drivers. One thing stands out, though. Max. He was everywhere Lando turned, always quiet and intense, but making it obvious he was there for Lando because his gaze never wavered. 

Lando was terrified. Max was intimidating and known to be aggressive on the track and sometimes off the track. Lando had no idea what Max wanted with him. Lando was so insignificant, just a rookie trying to find his way. Max tracked him down after the Chines GP, Lando’s third race and first DNF. He was chatting with the other rookies when Max approached. This time, instead of keeping his distance and staring, Max grabbed Lando by the arm and drug him away to a more secluded area. When they faced each other, Lando realized Max looked more terrified than he was. “I really like you. Go on a date with me,” Max commanded. He didn’t ask. Lando immediately panicked and asked Max, who told him he was interested in men and learned no one, Max had just hoped. Lando agreed to the date, even though he wasn’t sure about it because Max didn’t really give him an option.

Things did not go well on the first, second, or third date, which were spread out over many race weeks. Max was stoic and not really interested in saying anything, he just wanted Lando to talk about himself. It was even worse at the paddock. Max became his shadow, never speaking but watching how everyone interacted with Lando and stepping in, starting arguments anytime he thought someone did something wrong. Carlos warned Lando he needed to put an end to it. Telling him that whatever was going on with Max was unhealthy and dangerous. 

Lando was planning to tell Max that it was over at the Canadian Grand Prix, but then he found out just before it started that his dad wasn’t going to make the race, and he spiraled. Max was the one to find him. Instead of laughing or telling him to toughen up, he held Lando, wiped his tears away, and kissed him on the cheek. It was a confusing and stark contrast to the controlling indifference he had expressed up to that point. Something was shifting, but everything fell into place for Lando when they were heading back to their garages. Max was slipping through the back entrance to Red Bull when his father, Jos, appeared. Lando should have walked straight into McLaren and minded his own business but he froze in place, terrified, as Jos grabbed Max, shook him by the shoulders and shouted in his face about not being where he was supposed to be and wasting everyone’s time. Max saw Lando watching, held eye contact with him, the entire time, Jos too worked up to even notice. There was something different in Max’s expression, something vulnerable and broken that Lando had never seen before. Something no one had seen. Something Max was trusting him to see. 

That was the first night he spent in Max’s hotel room, the last night he would spend in his own passed by without him knowing. They didn’t sleep, they talked, Max finally opening up. They started the long process of learning everything there was to know about each other, sharing every secret, every dream, the details of their best and worst days. Carlos tried to break down the door in the morning and Lando had to use all of his charm to convince Carlos he was there by choice and keep Max from killing the other McLaren driver. But Lando understood now, Max grew up in a world where love was angry and demanding. He didn’t know how to love without violence, but he wanted to. So he turned the aggression on the people who he perceived to be hurting Lando, to protect him, to make sure he was never hurt how Max was. 

Max had to learn what a real threat was, and it took time. He had to learn the difference between someone teasing Lando and insulting him, between someone attacking him and George accidentally smacking him on the back too hard. But Lando taught him and Max listened, always overly eager to please him. Lando learned from Max too. He learned that it was okay to ask for help and that the things he thought made him weak were actually the things that made him strong. He never had to pretend to be less with Max, never had to dampen his emotions, calm down, or suck it up. He could be as happy and hyper or sad and teary-eyed, and Max would always be there. It became less necessary over the years for Max to come to his defense, at least in the open. But Lando knew Max still stepped in when things got too bad, making his problems disappear, but he didn’t ask about it. He didn’t want to know how he did it and if he went too far because Max would do anything for him and Lando would do anything for Max.