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The palace halls were empty and the quiet felt haunting. Daniel knew he should be sleeping. He did in fact have school tomorrow, but he didn't care. Daniel skipped school most days anyways, which came as a huge displeasure to his parents. Personally the boy didn't think school was teaching him anything important anyway, it's not like Daniel had “how to be a royal” classes in his high school. 

He doesn't know how he got so lucky, or unlucky if you held the same beliefs as him, to be born a royal. He was definitely the worst possible fit for the job. He got bad grades, always skipped school and gave zero shits about anything that came with ruling a country.

 His dad Jensen is the son of an English princess, who for some reason unknown to Daniel, decided to marry his grandpa King Albert II of Monaco. He doesn't know what exactly led a person as beautiful and kind as his grandma to choose someone as cruel and boring as his grandpa, but here they were. His dad then fell in love with his other dad Mark who is the owner of Liverpool FC and has made Daniel play football since he could walk. 

Don’t get him wrong it's not that Daniel doesn’t like football, he quite enjoys it actually it was more so how much is expected from him. The wind was howling outside as he made it to their private living room, not the one where they usually sat guests. He usually stuck to his room. But he really wanted to play FIFA and his dads took away the PlayStation in his room because he was staying up too late. It was 3:00 a.m. when he booted up his PlayStation, school started in 5 hours. He played for a few hours but decided to quit when he saw 6:00 a.m. flash on the screen. He should at least get some sleep. He thought to himself and made it back to his room as quietly as he could.

Morning came quickly, the sun rising above the vast ocean surrounding the country. Daniel’s head pounded as he opened his eyes; his body making sure he was aware it didn't enjoy the lack of sleep. He already dreaded the scolding his parents would give him once they saw his state. 

As expected, his parents were already downstairs eating breakfast when he emerged from his room. He  got dressed in haste and ended up with a wrinkled blazer, an unbuttoned and untucked shirt, trousers with grass stains on them from yesterday's football game and unkept tangled curls on his head. He looked a right mess which his parents felt the need to comment on the second he entered the dining room. “Daniel Joseph Webber I, why do you look like you got run over by a truck on the way here?” 

“Full name already, sheesh.” Out of the corner of his eyes he could see his dad looking like he's about to pop an artery. His other dad Jenson started with a softer tone, always the calmer of the pair. 

“You're a royal and second to the throne. You're required to look presentable.” Daniel was about to say something along the lines of “I look fine” but Jenson just shushed him. 

“Now go back to your room and get yourself looking proper. I'll have someone pack your breakfast for the car.” Jenson said it in such a way that showed no room for argument. 

So he trudged upstairs. He can't understand how anyone could possibly wish to be a royal. It was just being rich, but taking away all the fun parts. In his room he fixed up his hair with some water to reduce most of the frizziness and pulled a brand new uniform on which his parents had hidden in the back of his closet for emergencies. He takes the staff elevator to the garage and gets in the black SUV he took to school. A ham sandwich is waiting for him in the backseat like promised. The car then drives out of the palace followed by two trail cars. He’ll never understand why he needs to have a full Motorcade follow him every time he goes to school. Yes, he is a royal he knows this, but who in the world wanted to murder the Prince of Monaco of all people. He wasn't even the heir even though his dads reminded him almost daily that due to the fact he was second heir it was guaranteed he would be king in his lifetime. 

Daniel didn't like thinking about that. He always found the line of succession grim. How could someone be excited to be a ruler if it meant one of their parents had to die? He could understand why his dad wouldn't care, his grandpa was an asshole and he highly doubts anyone would miss him much. But Daniel loves his dad. Yes, he is tough on him but he is also the best dad Daniel could hope for. So he wasn't one bit excited or awaiting his opportunity to rule because it meant losing his dad. 

The car came to a halt in front of the school and Daniel hopped out quickly followed by two bodyguards. He walks through the doors of the entrance, the cold chill of the school ac giving him goosebumps. The guards stayed outside. They used to follow him to classes too but after years of pleading his parents agreed to let them stay outside.

 He couldn't be bothered to go to his economics class instead turning down the hall to the boys bathroom. He found Charles sitting on the ground watching TikTok. He sat next to him and took out his own phone. Him and Charles have been friends since he was a sixth grader and Charles a fifth grader. They were both skipping in the bathroom as they were now. They kept skipping together, getting closer every time. 

“You look like you haven't slept in a year.” Charles says and looks him up and down.

 “It can't be that bad.” he retorts and opens his camera on his phone to use as a mirror. He has prominent dark eye bags and he looks paler than usual, almost sick. “Okay, maybe it is that bad,” he resigns himself. Charles pulls his schoolbag towards him and pulls out a light blue Dior makeup pouch out of it.

 “Don't even try!” he warns and tries to snatch the pouch from the younger boy. 

“Don't be so dramatic. I'll just fix those eye bags.” The younger says and starts emptying the contents of the pouch on the floor.

 “Why is there so much of it?” Daniel questions once most of the space between them is filled with brushes, palettes and tubes of things he can't recognize.

“How do you think I look so beautiful everyday?” Charles jokes. Realistically, Charles doesn't need any of the products he uses, to look pretty. Half the school was crushing on him way before he started doing his makeup.

 “Okay now stay still and don't move!” Charles commands in a sing-songy voice, then adds more quietly, “this time I’ll have your shade hopefully.” Daniel is about to pull away but Charles works quick, already spraying his face with something. 

He then rubs sunscreen into his face making sure to get at least a handful of it in Daniel's mouth. After his face is ‘prepped’ as Charles calls it, comes the time for the makeup. As much as Daniel complains, he does trust Charles to do this. Charles has always been talented when it came to these things. He is great at fashion and spends most of the lessons he does attend sketching ideas for clothes. He also has his own studio at his house where he makes his own clothes. Charles is also gifted when it comes to hair styling, he often cuts his own hair but also Max’s from what he's learned recently. Charles does his makeup as roughly as he can, beating Daniel up with the beauty blender. 

After what feels like hours though it couldn't have been more than 45 minutes as the bell didn't ring yet, Charles announces he's done. He grabs one of Charles’s compacts and looks at himself. He looks way more healthy than earlier, his eye bags are gone and his face looks more lively.

 “I told you I wouldn't do anything crazy. I can still do some proper makeup for you if you want?” Charles says and throws on his best puppy eyes.

“I think I'm good.” Daniel chuckles, way too used to Charles’s puppy eyes to fall for them. 

“Boring old man.” He doesn't bother to comment on how he's just a year older. They sit out the next two lessons in the bathroom, Charles laying on the bathroom floor, which would be disgusting anywhere else but their school cleans so often that the bathroom floor is probably more polished than the one in his room. 

The bell for recess finally rings and they both get up to go find their friends. All the Avenues, as the rest of the school calls the kids from APG are sitting on one of the football pitches. Daniel is considered an Avenue as well even though he doesn't live on the street itself. He is close to all of them but he is closest  to Carlos. Carlos had been his best friend since forever, he never has to worry that Carlos or any of the other Avenues are using him for money or status as their families already have both.

 “Carlos, are you coming to extra training?” He asks his best friend. Him and Carlos play football for the school team. They are both star players and they both fight for the team captain position every season. For a month every year it seems like they are enemies, they fight and argue until the team roster comes out at the end of the month and it is announced who is the team captain. After that whether the role goes to Daniel or Carlos they stop fighting as if nothing ever happened. 

“Yeah dad’s been pissed with me so the longest I can be away from home I will be.” Daniel nods back and lays down in the grass to tan a bit. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Charles and Max talking. Max looks a bit nervous and Charles keeps teasing him for it. 

“Do you guys want to go out after school today?” Daniel addresses the younger Avenues.

 “Sure to our usual spot?” Charles asks. He joins the year tens on their escapades often enough to know where they usually go. 

“Yeah, but someone else has to bring the snacks because if Carlos comes home there's no way he's being let back out.”

 “I can go get some.” George volunteers from the back where he and Alex are doing some homework. 

“Yeah you're going to come back with apple slices and carrots are you.” Max teases causing George to go red.

 “Come on boys, be civil. I'm sure Georgeo is more than capable of bringing a couple of snacks.” Daniel quickly intervenes as he doesn't want to mediate World War 3 again. Max just rolls his eyes and goes back to focusing on Charles. After school Daniel heads to the changing rooms with Carlos.

 “Did you get new cleats?” He asks when he sees Carlos pull out new bright red Nike cleats. 

“Yeah my old ones were practically falling apart every week.” Practice is tiring as coach Grosjean forces them to run all practice because a few boys forgot their team kit and coach Grosjean was big on the one for all, all for one rule. 

After football practice, running practice if you ask Daniel, ends they go change into the locker room, both rushing so that they can go to the park and meet the rest of the Avenues. Him and Carlos stick their gym bags in their lockers, neither of them wanting to carry them all the way to the park.

 “You think George will remember the snacks?” Carlos asks once they make it out of the school and past the apartment buildings.

“For sure, knowing him he's set like 50 reminders.” He jokes back and starts to crawl below a few shrubs that surround their meeting spot. His guards stay outside the shrubs and start patrolling the area. The hangout spot in question is a little space between some shrubs that Carlos found on accident one day when they were playing football and their ball rolled under some bushes. It was a giant empty space surrounded from all sides by bushes that was only accessible through a little space where the bushes parted. It was perfect for kids like them. They could be dumb teenagers without a risk of being spotted. Charles and Max are already there kicking around a football when they arrive. 

“Where is Georgie Boy?” Daniel asks in his characteristic loud manner causing Max who didn't notice him to flinch away. Daniel winces at the reaction he caused and is quick to apologise. Daniel spreads a picnic blanket on the ground to sit on. 

“I bet George got hung up on doing extra homework. Or whatever else teacher’s pets like him do.” Charles sneers. Daniel and Carlos both roll their eyes knowing nothing they say could stop the apparent hatred Max and Charles held for George.

 An half hour later George and Alex show up, crawling under the bushes. George whines the whole time about staining his clothes. 

“Where were you for so long, princess?” Max grins.

“Shut up Max!” George screeches back. 

 “Calma boys. You don't have to fight over everything. Now more importantly show us the snacks.” Daniel says and reaches for the bag George brought along. The bag is filled with different kinds of sweets and chips and a pack of Coke.

 “Is there any Red Bull?” Max asks from his spot on the blanket.

 “Nope, but there's some Coke Zeros.” Daniel replies and goes to throw the can towards Max before reconsidering and handing it to him gently. 

“You brought a nice stash.” Carlos tells George and grabs a bag of Doritos. 

“Oh, oh yeah. I tried to grab a little of everything.” They kick a ball around for a few minutes but eventually Charles gets bored and suggests they play spin the bottle. 

“What Charlie, you don't have enough drama in your life.” Carlos laughs but grabs one of the empty Cola cans. 

“Is this really a good idea guys?” George asks warily. 

“Don't be such a killjoy, princess.” Charles is quick to retort.

 “Okay well what rules are we playing?” Alex speaks up and joins the circle they formed. 

“My rules.” Charles says with a conspiratory smirk. 

“And what exactly are your rules?” the thai-brit asks, already worried about what they could possibly be. Charles is well known for liking drama. He's always starting up Truth or Dare, never have I ever or similar party games to try and figure out all the tea. He is essentially Gossip Girl. 

“Okay so my rules are simple.” 

“Here we go. I've warned you.” George adds in

. “Shush George. So basically we play like it's truth or dare. Mouth of the can means you give the truth or dare.

 “That all?” George sasses. 

 “No it's not. Now someone shut princess up so I can finish. You can't ask for two truths in a row, you have to ask for a dare in between. And now for my favorite final rule: if you refuse a truth or a dare you have to kiss the person who gave it to you.” Charles finishes with a smirk

.“Shush princess. Don't even start complaining.” Charles says and jokingly puts a hand over George's mouth. 

“I wasn't going to.” he protests but everyone there knows that's a lie. 

“Okay who goes first?” Charles asks  as he places the can between them. 

“I'll go.” Daniel volunteers with the wildest grin on his face. “The can spins for a while before landing on Alex.

 “Okay Truth or Dare?” Alex asks.

 “Truth, let's leave the fun things for later.” 

“Okay have you ever had a crush on anyone in our group?” Alex starts with an easy question. 

“Yessir.” Daniel says unashamed as always. There's a few hollers from Carlos and Charles. 

“Okay settle down boys. Alex it's your turn.” Daniel says as he passes the can to ALex.

Alex grabs the can and spins it. The can lands on Charles and Alex rolls his eyes at how excited the other boy looks. 

“I take dare.”  He says in hopes that since it is early on in the game Charles will go easy on him. 

“Okay all of us will close our eyes, and you'll tap the head of the hottest guy here.” Alex blushes lightly but stands up as everyone closes their eyes. He walks around the circle a few times hoping to distract anyone who may be trying to figure out who he tapped based on his footsteps. He quietly stops in front of George. He reaches his hand towards his head tentatively. His palm feels sweaty as he gently places his hand on George's head. He enjoys the feel of George’s silky smooth hair before pulling his hand away like he was burned. The action almost feels wrong. He can hear George's breath hitch and a beautiful rosy pink spread through his cheeks. Alex waits for George to somehow compose himself before he tells the others to open their eyes. He notices when most of them start to look around and try to spot anyone acting off. He tries to distract them as fast as he can by moving the game along.

 “Right Charles spin it.” Charles does and then lands on Carlos. He chooses dare and is dared to show his search history to the group. It’s mostly fashion sites and makeup brands not as interesting as he was hoping it to be. When Carlos spins it lands on Daniel. “Truth or Dare Carlito?”

 “Truth.” 

“How many people in this group have you kissed?” 

Carlos seems to contemplate his answer for a few seconds. “Three.” he answers without batting an eye. Charles looks a bit shocked before answering back,

 “damn Carlos who'd you kiss?”

 “That's a different question already Charlo.” The group eyes each other suspiciously. Most of them were expecting the answer to be two, Charles and Daniel. He kissed them both at a party last summer during Truth or Dare. But no one expected the answer to be three. That left George, Max and two kids from the sixth house on APG. None of them were friends with them but it would make sense if Carlos kissed one of the two. They are twins both year 10’s. They live on APG but none of them ever fit into their group. Their parents work in the oil business and are hated by all the other APG parents.

 None of them know why. Because anytime they ask they are told they are too young or it doesn’t concern them. The game continues with a few more questions and stupid dares until it is Max's turn. “Well Max, truth or dare?”

 “Of course with my luck I got George.” Max grumbles. 

“Just choose already.” George whines.

 “Alright, be patient, truth.”

 “How many people in this group have you kissed?” 

George asks, waiting for Max to answer something like zero or maybe one if the jerk got a sympathy kiss from Charles.

 “I don't want to answer that.” Max stutters a bit with his words.

 “You know what that means Maxie.” Charles says with an amused smirk. No matter how much Charles hates George, seeing Max and George kiss would be the highlight of his year.

 “Ew, I don't want to kiss him.” George says exasperated. 

“Trust me, me neither.” Max answers with a scowl. 

“Well boys get it over with.” Daniel says and smiles wide. Max groans and reluctantly crawls forward towards where George is sitting. He leans in slowly and places a peckish kiss on George's lips, before pulling away as fast as he can.

“That was beautiful.” Charles laughs from where he's sitting and recording.

 “Charles don't you dare!” Max screeches and lunges towards Charles's phone

. “Send me that!” Daniel says as he laughs at Max who's grappling with Charles. George sits at the side looking like an angry cat

“All right. I think it's time for all of us to head home.” Alex says, always the voice of reason in the group. Alex and Carlos start packing up their belongings. Daniel is too busy dying laughing at Charles and Max to help. Once everything is packed up Alex pulls a sulking George out of the shrubs, and Daniel and Carlos separate the fighting boys.

Back at home Daniel lays in his bed and scrolls on his phone. He finds the photo Charles posted of their hangout and chuckles a bit at how aesthetic Charles could make everything seem, even their stupid hangout spot in the bushes. 

An hour into his scrolling session there’s a knock on his door. “Come in!” He calls expecting it to be one of the house staff telling him his parents want him to sleep. To Daniel’s surprise it’s Jenson who walks in.

 “Hi Kiddo.” His dad says and takes a seat on his bed. “I think it’s time to head to bed. I know you always complain but you’re running on fumes Danny. I saw you this morning, you looked like a zombie.” Daniel felt the need to rebel but stopped himself when he saw the look of genuine concern on his dad’s face. 

“Okay dad I promise I’ll go to sleep.” Jenson smiles warmly and brings the comforter higher over Daniel.

 “You don’t have to tuck me in, dad!” Daniel says a mix of embarrassment and fondness plays in his voice. “I’m not a kid anymore,” he chuckles. Jenson just smiles again and kisses Daniel's forehead fondly. 

“You’ll always be my little boy.” His dad whispers so quietly he can barely catch it before leaving the room and turning off the lights. The comfort of the words seems to lull him to sleep as he feels his eyes slowly closing and the world go dark.

The alarm rang annoyingly, stirring George from his sleep. 04:00 flashed on the alarm screen. The boy got out of bed, turning the alarm clock off and making his bed sleepily.

George had a very specific routine he did every morning. Wake up at 04:00, make his bed, brush his teeth and get dressed in his running clothes. By 04:30 he would be out of the house and in the street to go for his morning run. He’d get home by 05:00 and take a quick shower before getting in his uniform.

His parents and little brother are still asleep when he makes it to the kitchen to make breakfast. All the families on Avenue Princesse Grace have full staff teams, but most opted to not have their cooks make them breakfast, wanting it to be a private moment just for family.

George grabbed some eggs from the fridge planning to make some french toast. It is Kimi’s favorite and he knew his little brother has a math exam today so he wanted to give him some extra luck. He just about finished the last toast when his dad and mom came up the kitchen stairs. The Wolff family being the only one to choose to have their kitchen and living room on the highest floor, as they wanted the living room view to be the nicest.

“Morning.” George said, carrying the plates of food to the dining table.

“Morning Georgie, how did you sleep?” Susie asked her son as she walked over to sit at her place at the table.

“Not the best, I could hear Carlos partying all night.”

“Does Fernando know Carlos had a party on a school night again?” Toto joined in.

“I doubt it .” George replied.

It was no secret that Fernando often left his kids alone with the nannies for weeks on end. His job meant he had to travel a lot to races. Toto did so as well but Susie usually worked from home, managing Mercedes, meaning George and Kimi were rarely left alone with nannies. Fernando used to bring his kids along with him but that quickly stopped being possible as they all started school, Fernando refusing to risk their education by pulling them out of school every week. It's not that Fernando didn't love his kids, even the nannies weren’t just any nannies, they were Norland nannies, the most expensive and qualified nannies money can buy.

“Georgie, could you go wake your brother?” Susie asked, George complied and headed downstairs to his brother's room.

Kimi was like George, adopted into the family as a baby. His first name is Andrea, but recently the boy started refusing the name, only ever responding to his middle name Kimi. George teased Kimi often by calling him Andrea which almost always resulted in Kimi chasing him around the house screaming.

Kimi was sleeping soundly when George shook him awake.

“Go away George!” Kimi sleepily shouted hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep.

“I made french toast,” George says knowing it would stir Kimi from his sleep.

“Really!” Kimi asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Yes really so you need to get upstairs.” George said, hoping it would coax his brother out of bed.

“Carry me?” Kimi asks sleepily, outstretching his arms towards George.

Most brothers would probably refuse to carry their 12 year old little brother but George didn’t mind, after all there was a reason he went to the gym. George hoisted his brother up, Kimi immediately curling his limbs around his older brother like a baby koala.

George walked behind the stairs entering the hidden elevator room. His parents wanted an elevator but didn’t want to ruin the overall look of the house, so they put the elevator in a small closet room in the back. George didn’t use the elevator much but he didn’t want to risk dropping his brother down the stairs. He had to hop a bit in the elevator as Kimi kept dozing off in his arms.

George saw the amused faces of Susie and Toto when they saw him enter the dining room with Kimi hanging around his neck. Kimi started squirming around the second the smell of french toast hit his nose.

“Stop squirming you little worm.” George laughs and places Kimi down on his chair.

The family eat their breakfast, Kimi leaving at some point to get dressed in his uniform.

“Do you have any exams today?” Toto asks George while sipping on his coffee.

“Geography, but I've studied.”

“I know Georgie, I’m not questioning it.” Toto says.

“I'm done!” Kimi exclaims as he enters the dining room again dressed in his uniform and his schoolbag in his hand.

“Have a good day at school boys.” Susie says hugging her sons briefly.

Kimi fidgets the whole way to school.

“You okay?” George asks when Kimi switches positions in his seat for the sixth time.

“I’m just thinking about the Math test.”

You’ll do fine, don't worry.” George says, trying to reassure his brother.

“No I won't, I'm not smart like you.” The hurt in Kimi’s voice bleeding into his words.

George tried to reassure his brother but before he could say a word, the car came to a halt and Kimi ran out. George made a mental note to talk about this with Kimi after school before getting out of the car himself and finding Alex.

Alex was standing by the football field talking to a group of kids when George finally spotted him.

“Lex!” George said, running towards his best friend.

Alex grinned and smiled at George. Alex was so friendly and outgoing he could probably make friends anywhere and George loved that about him. Alex used to be picked on a lot during his first years at ISM due to the fact he was a scholarship student. George never understood it, why judge and make fun of someone solely because they used their knowledge and not wealth to get into school. It’s not even that Alex was poor, though George wouldn’t mind either way, but their school cost 32 thousand euros a year, and not many could afford that.

Living on Avenue Princesse Grace meant you get instantly popular, no matter who you were or how you acted, status mattered a lot at this school. Being popular came with its own perks such as dictating who else got popular, so George just made sure anyone who picked on Alex instantly fell to the bottom of the social ladder.

George stood by Alex while he chatted before they both decided to head inside to get to their first lesson. Alex and George shared most of their lessons which they were eternally happy for, because last year luck was not on their side and the only lesson they shared was p.e..

The walk to their history lesson was quick as most of their classes were located in the main building. Mr. Palmer was already sitting at his desk grading an exam for a different class when they walked in.

Mr. Palmer was one of the few teachers at the school who used assigned seating, but it didn’t bother George much as he and Alex were well behaved enough that they got to sit together anyways. Charles and Max on the other hand were sat on the opposite sides of the class, Mr. Palmer even insisting on Charles always sitting in the front row when they rotated seating to try and minimise how many distractions Charles could cause.

George’s phone pinged and it was of no surprise to him when he saw it was Charles posting something on his public account again. George valued his privacy and didn’t need the validation of random people he didn’t know in his life so he only had a private account. He understood why Alex and… Max. He can’t believe he’s agreeing with that asshole for once, had a public account. They were racers after all and had to maintain a public persona for sponsorships and whatnot, but Charles was, how to put it simply… An attention whore in George’s eyes.

It was a few hours later in the day during George’s English lesson when he got a notification again. He unlocked his phone under his desk hoping the teacher wouldn't catch him. It was a message from Oscar. George furrowed his brows. Oscar was Alex’s little brother but the boy barely ever texted him, especially not during school.

George stared at the message dumbfounded. What could Oscar possibly want with him during the lesson?

George saw Oscar typing but didn’t bother to read anymore. He quickly excused himself from the lesson, muttering some excuse about feeling sick, which wasn’t far from the truth. He felt his heart rate pick up as he rushed to the middle school section of the building.

His mind kept showing him worst case scenarios as he rushed through the hallways. He finally got to the boys bathroom. He felt how sweaty his palms were as he opened the door. The sight that greeted him didn’t calm his nerves whatsoever.

Kimi was slumped against the bathroom wall sobbing and gasping for air. Oscar was crouched next to him rubbing his back and trying to get him to calm down. He didn’t think before dropping to his knees next to his brother.

“I-I can’t breathe.” Kimi stammered out between sobs.

“It’s okay Ki, you’re just having a panic attack. You’ll be okay.” George said, trying to get his brother to look at him.

“Just follow my breaths okay?” George said and started exaggerating his breathing, hoping his brother would pick up the rhythm.

It was a long process but Kimi’s breathing slowly gets slower and deeper, his sobbing also dying down. Oscar left sometime during the process, George refusing to let Oscar get in trouble for skipping classes.

“What happened Ki?: George asked softly as he wiped his brother’s tears away with the cuff of his blazer.

“I failed my math exam.” Kimi said, his voice meek as he looked down at the floor embarrassed.

“You can’t know that Ki you didn’t get your results yet.” George said, hoping to restore some hope in his brother.

“No! You don’t get it, I left the whole thing blank. I couldn’t think at all, and Luca kept kicking my chair even when I told him to stop, and I just couldn’t focus.”

George could see fresh tears starting to build up in his little brother’s eyes.

“How about I call mom and dad to explain what happened and we can all go for some icecream.” George suggested seeing how exhausted Kimi was from his panic attack.

He grabbed his phone to call his Dad.

“No, don’t!” Kimi said and tried to grab the phone from his older brother.

George couldn’t understand what’s going on. Kimi would usually jump at the opportunity to skip school.

“I don’t want them to be mad.” Kimi said, his eyes downcast.

“Kimi they wouldn’t be mad at you for this, I know mom and dad can be hard on us but it’s only because they want us to succeed in life. They won’t be mad because you struggled. They know you tried and that’s what matters.”

“Promise?” George felt his heart drop at how upset Kimi looked.

“Promise, and if they don’t we can both go run away to Fernando’s house.” George said, trying to lighten the mood.

Seeing that his little brother was mostly calm now George reached for his phone again.

George shut his phone off again, and helped Kimi stand up as the boy looked a bit weak in the legs.

“Georgie, my chest hurts.” Kimi whined and palmed at his chest.

“I know Ki, it will for a little bit. I’ll go grab your backpack from class, you wait for me at the reception.”

He told his little brother and checked on him one last time before he left for Kimi's class. He found Kimi’s homeroom soon enough. There was no one inside which wasn’t surprising considering all the kids were at their lesson. Kimi’s Brunello Cucinelli blue backpack stood out against the white or black backpacks of his classmates. He grabbed it and shoved some books Kimi left out on his desk into it.

Kimi was standing at the reception like he was told when George caught up to him.

“Dad will be here soon.” George said and side hugged his brother.

Like expected a few minutes later the white Mercedes SUV their dad usually took for business meetings rolled into the parking lot. All of Kimi’s fears about their parent’s anger seemed to evaporate the second Toto got out of the car and pulled the younger boy into a tight hug.

“How are you doing Schatzi?” Toto said, not letting go of Kimi.

Kimi tearfully relayed all the things he told George earlier to their dad. Toto reassured his youngest hoping to ease his troubles.

Toto then helped Kimi into the backseat of the car, handing the boy some water to cool his hoarse throat and try and minimize the headache Kimi got from all the crying. George got in the passenger seat and Toto drove them to their favorite ice cream spot.

Back at home Toto and Susie cuddled Kimi on the couch and watched his favorite show with him, though Kimi fell asleep quickly exhausted from all the emotions of the day.

“Dad, I’m heading to Alex’s.” George announced as he passed the living room.

He didn’t have to ask anymore with the amount of times he’s gone to Fernando’s house.

“Try not to be too loud, I’m sure Fernando is already annoyed from Carlos’s impromptu party yesterday.” Toto warned knowing Fernando treated George like family and that included scolding.

George nodded and went outside the house walking next door to Fernando’s house. He said a quick hello to the guard before walking past them to get inside. Each house on the street had its own private security detail which included armed guards at their gates. George had to force himself not to laugh anytime his friends came over and got spooked by the guards walking up to the car.

The mansion doors were open to let in some fresh air and he could already hear Fernando scolding Carlos. George entered the manor and saw Carlos sitting on the couch being scolded by Fernando, meanwhile the house keepers rushed to clean up the mess of the party.

“Hi, Fernando.” George says and then adds a more reluctant “Hi, Carlos.”

Fernando gives him a short greeting in return, and Carlos refuses to even meet his eyes. George doesn’t blame him, he’d probably do the same in Carlos’s situation.

He quickly runs past them and heads upstairs to Alex’s room.

Alex’s bedroom door is open and George quickly peeks in. Alex isn’t in his room so George decides to head down the hallway to check out some other places Alex could be. He bumps into Oscar on his way down to the game room.

“Osc, kiddo. Do you know where Alex is?”

“Down by the pool, he said you should grab a swimsuit from his room.”

“Thanks, Osc.” George says, already turning to head to Alex’s room when he hears Oscar speak up again.

“Is Kimi okay?” Oscar asks in a small voice already sounding like he regrets his question.

“He’s doing better now Osc, I’m glad you were there to help him.”

Oscar does a short nod before running back to his room.

Alex’s room was big, like everyone else. It has a seaside view and a huge balcony which he shared with Oscar whose room was next door. The room has a king sized bed in the middle of it with some throw blankets and the plush cat George gifted him when they were 12 thrown on it.

One side of Alex’s room is stacked with cat supplies for his 3 cats who love to hog all the space on the bed when George sleeps over. The floor of Alex’s room is covered in Nomex race suits and workout clothes, which Alex was too lazy to clean up.

George walked over to Alex’s walk-in closet which was always messy. George never really understood how Alex managed to have such a messy room considering the house cleaners cleaned his room once a week. He found Alex’s swimsuit drawer fairly quickly and tugged out a pair of swim shorts from the messy bundle.

He went to the bathroom to change, not risking one of Alex’s brothers walking in on him changing. After he changed, he headed downstairs to the garden. The manor’s garden was huge, spanning multiple acres and overlooking Monte Carlo. There’s a pool in the middle of it with a jacuzzi attached to the side of it.

He spots Alex lounging on a floatie in the middle of the pool blasting music on his jbl speaker. Fernando is outside too now calming down from his earlier outburst.

“George cariño, come grab some fruit. I had the chefs bring some out.” Fernando calls from where he is sitting on the patio.

He decides to walk over and grabs a bowl of watermelon.

“Did you put sunscreen on? I don't want your parents annoying me again about how you always get sunburned at our house.” Fernando asks, wagging a sunscreen bottle in front of the boy's face.

“I did. Promise!” George says and goes to sit by the pool with his watermelon.

Alex splashes him the second he gets near the pool, the cold water shocking his system.

“Alex!” George shouts and splashes him back.

“Where did you go Georgie? I was waiting for you.” Alex asks and grabs a piece of watermelon from the bowl George brought.

“Kimi had a panic attack again,” George says solemnly. “I had to go get him. Oscar was there too, he didn't tell you?”

“No, but you know Oscar, he's a very quiet kid.” Alex replies.

Oscar is Alonso's youngest son. The boy was the headliner of many news reports when he was born as he was born looking nothing like his brother. His brother, Carlos, has black hair and dark eyes and tan skin whilst Oscar's hair is light brown and he's the palest boy George knows, excluding himself and Max.

Oscar has always been quiet. The boy preferred to play with his RC cars rather than join his classmates to play football or whatever they were doing. Sometimes George felt bad for the boy as he was always seen alone, but Oscar didn't seem to mind it.

He used to have a very good friend at ISM, his name was Logan Sargent. Logan was the son of a wealthy American Diplomat, but as diplomats often do, they moved a lot. They moved all the way to Australia and Oscar hasn't seen him since. They used to call daily, George often heard Oscar and Logan calling when he came over. But for some reason Oscar never talks about, they stopped.

Since then Oscar hasn't made any new friends. He was of course popular at school, his family's wealth guaranteed it, but none of the fake, status obsessed kids who orbited Oscar like the moon were his friends.

George laid back on the pool edge and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on his face.

“Come swim!” Alex whined and pulled on George’s legs in an attempt to drag the boy into the pool.

“Give me a sec!” George laughed but lowered himself into the water, hissing a bit from the cold.

Him and Alex swam laps for a few hours until Fernando ushered them out, not wanting the boys to catch a cold.

“Go shower and get dressed and then come down for dinner.” Fernando told them when they were going upstairs.

Back in Alex's room George throws a towel on the bed before he flops himself on it. From where he is he has a perfect view of Alex, who is currently rummaging through the closet looking for some clothes for him and George to wear to dinner.

George stares at Alex feeling his heart rate speed up. He is so handsome, his toned muscles from hours of training, his eyes which are the most beautiful shade of brown George has ever seen, his hair which is always messy on his head.

He doesn't know exactly when it was that he started crushing on his best friend. One day he was fine, the next George’s stomach was fluttering when Alex leaned in to give him a hug goodbye after school.

George was thrown out of his thoughts by a pair of sweatpants smacking him in the face, “Go change Georgie, before Nando gets mad.” Alex says already dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt himself.

He shakes himself out of his daze and grabs the clothes Alex threw at him. He goes to change in the bathroom, he doesn’t want to hold back the family from dinner for long so he decides against taking a shower now, opting to take it after dinner. He sprays himself with some of Alex's cologne for good measure, then heads out.

He goes downstairs to the dining room, passing Fernando's office and the home theater on the way. Fernando, Oscar, and Alex are already at the dinner table when he arrives. The dining room is imposing, marble floors that span the room, high ceilings covered in golden detailing and in the middle, a table that could sit 20.

He takes a seat next to Alex and smiles contently when he smells pasta in the air. George loves pasta, and Fernando makes sure they have it at least once a week.

“Where is Carlos?” Fernando asks annoyed at his eldest for making the whole family wait.

“Mathilde, could you go fetch Carlos?” Fernando asks one of the maids running around the house.

“Of course, sir Alonso.” She quickly replies and heads upstairs to Carlos's room.

A few minutes later, he hears footsteps and Carlos appears in the doorway. George finally digs into his food.

The dinner isn't very eventful, Fernando asking his kids about their school day, but other than that not much. George finishes his meal and he and Alex leave upstairs.

“Can I sleep over tonight?” George asks but he already knows the answer. Him and Alex always slept over at each other's houses, considering they were neighbors. The only time they were told no was if one of them was grounded, or Alex had a race the next day.

“Obviously yeah.” Alex says and grabs his TV remote.

George shoots a quick text to his parents to let them know.

George chuckles and turns off his phone, throwing it on the bedside table. He runs off to shower as Alex decides on a show for them to watch.

Later once he gets back, they both crawl into opposite sides of the bed and watch Brooklyn 99 together as it is Alex’s favorite show. George gets bored of it fairly quickly, considering this is not the first time he's watched the show with Alex, and decides to scroll on his phone instead.

As Susie promised there's a knock on the door soon and Fernando walks in to remind them to go to sleep. Alex turns off the TV and they both whisper to each other for a few more hours before George drifts off.

Outside Monaco is quiet, the only sounds that can be heard are the faint voices of partygoers who are going out to have fun at one of Monaco's Infamous nightclubs.

“Charles! Charles!” Sebastian shouted from downstairs, trying to wake his son.

 “I’m up.” Charles groaned, rolling out of bed. Charles squinted as the sun shined in his eyes, making it hard to see.

 “Charles get a move on!” Sebastian shouted again. 

Charles groaned again, shouting “Going!” before dragging himself to get dressed.  His uniform laid crumpled on the bottom of his closet. It was a bit wrinkled, but it would do, Charles thought as he pulled it on himself. The uniform was simple, but it radiated status. A black skirt with a grey cardigan and a black and blue tie. Their blazer has the Monaco emblem embroidered on it, the gold of the emblem standing out against the navy of the blazer. After he dressed himself, Charles walked over to his vanity. Charles has always loved jewelry, his vanity covered from top to bottom in Cartier, Tiffany and Van Cleef. His jewelry itself most likely cost more than the LaFerrari he was driven into school every morning.

 His bracelets jingled as he fastened a Tiffany gold heart necklace around his neck. He didn’t bother with his hair much, running a comb through it a few times but leaving it fairly messy. He grabbed his school bag, slinging it on his shoulder before heading down to the kitchen. Sebastian and Kimi were chatting in the living room when they heard Charles rummaging through the fridge.

 “Schatzi, what are you looking for?” Sebastian asked, raising his brow at his son who was messing up the fridge.

 “My redbull,” Charles said, not stopping his search.

 “It’s in the pantry.” Kimi said, sighing at Charles’s forgetfulness. Charles grabs his redbull, downing half of it in a desperate attempt to wake himself up a bit before heading to the living room to say goodbye to his parents before leaving.

 “Bye Isä , Bye Papa.” Charles says kissing both his dads on the forehead before going to leave. 

“Charles, come back here for a moment.” Sebastian says with a knowing smirk on his face. 

“Are you trying to shorten your skirt again?” Seb says, wondering to himself exactly how dumb his son thinks he is, considering Charles’s knee-length skirt was nowhere near his knees. Charles groaned, annoyed but pulled his skirt down to where it was supposed to be. 

“Goodbye Beine, now hurry to school you’re already nearly an hour late!” Seb said, ushering Charles out of the living room. The ride to school was shorter than Charles wanted it to be. Charles dreaded going to school and complained about it daily. The only reason he even showed up half the day was Max. However, his best friend unfortunately had a horrible trait where he refused to skip school with him. 

He heard the bell ring as he entered the school, at least he got to skip math. He absolutely sucked at math; it never made any sense to him. 

His next lesson was physics, which he would normally enjoy as it was one of the classes he shared with Max, but his stupid teacher Mr. Coulthard thought it would be a great idea to put George in their group project so now he hated that class too. 

When Charles entered the class his eyes immediately scanned the room for Max. He spotted Alex sitting by the window  saving a seat next to him for George. Alex and George were inseparable since  1st grade. Alex used to be a scholarship student and George would often tutor him to make sure he never lost his scholarship. 

He doesn’t need a scholarship anymore as his mom went to jail and he was adopted by his karting mentor Fernando Alonso. Fernando, owner of the F1 brand, president of the FIA, karting club owner and single father of three lived on the very start of the street. His parents were close friends with Fernando which wasn’t surprising considering everyone that lived on Avenue Princesse Grace knew each other and were close friends with one another.

 He finally spotted Max towards the back of the class. “Maxyyy!” Charles called and skipped towards him, throwing himself into the chair next to Max.

 “How many lessons did you miss today?” Max asked plucking the Redbull out of Charles’s hands and take a sip.

 “Just math, thought about skipping school altogether, but I have tea to tell you.” Charles finished and took the Redbull back from Max’s hands.

 “What if I lobbed it at George’s big annoying head?” He thought out loud. 

“You better not.” Max said, yanking the Redbull from Charles’s hand.

 “We have a GROUP project due next week,” Max said, exaggerating the ‘group’ part, 

“And I'd like it if you actually worked on it for once so try not to get yourself kicked out of class again.”

 The teacher walked in shortly after, George moving his chair opposite of Max’s desk so they could start working on their project. 

“So, you gonna do any actual work today?” George said, annoyed glaring at Charles.

 “Maybe if you stop being such an asshole.” Charles retorted glaring back.

 “Both of you, enough.” Max said pushing a tablet towards Charles to keep him entertained and a physics notebook towards George so they could start their research. Charles grabbed the tablet feeling just slightly offended. Sure he was dumb, he knew this, but he could do research. Right? Actually maybe this was for the best, he thought and opened up some random youtube video to keep himself entertained. Charles didn’t pay much attention to the youtube video, his mind still reeling, after a while he decided to just pull up his phone and post something to his account. He scrolled through his recent photos settling on a photo of him and Max playing padel in Max’s garden the day prior. It was slightly blurry but it was for his private account so it didn’t matter much. He tagged Max and posted it, Max’s phone lighting up a few seconds later.

He saw Max open his phone and smile before typing something.

Max smirked and placed his phone down going back to his work. “Are you going to do any work today?” 

George turned to Charles. “You know I don’t get why Max is friends with you sometimes, there’s no way your friendship is in any way benefitting him.” George sneered.

 “Don’t ever talk to my best friend like that again and mind your own fucking business you condescending little prick.” Max said, getting angrier by the second.

“Mr. Verstappen, is there a reason I can hear you all the way over here!” Coulthard shouted across the room.

 “Sorry sir,” Max said murmuring something under his breath before focusing on his work again. 

After physics Charles left, deciding to skip the rest of the school day. George’s comment just confirmed his fears of how dumb he was. He grabbed his blazer from his locker where he threw it earlier and pulled it on. The streets of Monaco felt weirdly cold as he walked out of the school ignoring the receptionist who was glaring at him the whole time. He heads to the docks. He loved the docks; it was so calm there. The soft hush of people's voices passing by or talking on the flybridges of their multi-million euro megayachts.

 He passed by their own yacht, opting not to board and instead heading to the edge of the dock. He sat down just watching the waves crash against the rocks in the distance. It’s not often he felt this calm, his mind always rushing with thoughts. But when he was by the water it all just seemed to stop. He laid down on the dock for a bit, feeling the sunshine down on his face and the cold wind tussle his hair. He doesn’t know how long he lays there for an hour or so before his phone starts to ring. His Papa’s caller ID shines on his screen. He picks up already knowing what his Papa wants.

 “Charles, why did I just get a notification that you scanned your Marina card when you’re supposed to be at school?” Charles opens his mouth barely getting a word out before Sebastian continues.

“and don’t even try to bullshit me and say it malfunctioned because I had Toto calling me from his boat saying he saw you enter the marina.” 

Of course it would be George’s father of all people who would ruin his peace. “I’m sorry Papa.” Charles says though it isn’t true at all. He’ll never be sorry about missing school; it’s not like he learns anything in it anyway. 

 “Head home Charles,” Seb says with resignation in his voice. 

Charles murmurs some sort of agreement before he hangs up and pushes himself off the dock. His back hurts from the harsh wood he was laying on and he stretches a bit.  

His chauffeur shows up at the dock entrance not long after, Charles sitting in the back seat. Sebastian doesn’t scream at him or try to scold him further once he finally makes it home knowing there’s no reason to as Charles will repeat this trick a few days later again. He walks past his Isa who just gives him a disapproving look but doesn’t say anything either. 

The moment he gets to his room his shoulders sag down and he takes a deep breath. Seeing his parents slowly give up on disciplining him hurt more than if they just screamed. He knew he was too much to handle but it still hurts to see it slowly change his relationship with his dads. He knew they both loved him, but he could also tell they were slowly getting sick of him. He’d never blame them for it though, he knows it’s his fault, he’s surprised they even have the energy to still love him, considering how unlovable he is.

 He feels a tear run down his cheek but quickly wipes it away, opening his TikTok to doomscroll instead. Tiktok doesn’t help much, the app showing him videos that kept reminding him of what he was. He hit repost on one of the videos not thinking much of it.

Charles stared at the message for a while. He doesn’t know how Max even noticed that fast, maybe he found the same video while scrolling. He thinks about what to reply for a bit, opting to lie, not having enough energy to deal with his emotions.

A few hours later he heard voices from downstairs.

 “Hi, Max. I didn’t know you were coming around. I would have asked the cooks to prepare some tomato soup for dinner.” He could hear his Papa’s voice from downstairs. 

“No need to bother Mr. Vettel, I just came to hang out with Charlie for a bit.” He heard Max reply. He already knew Papa must be scolding him for calling him Mr. Vettel again.

 Max has been around his parents more times than he could count yet he refused to call them by their first names. He knew it was something about Max’s biological dad but that’s all he knew. Max barely ever talked about his life before he was adopted by the Rosberg-Hamiltons, and he knew not to pry. 

A few minutes later he heard a knock on his door which was undoubtedly Max’s. He looked in the mirror making sure no one could tell he was crying earlier before telling Max to come in. 

Almost immediately there was a dirty blond head peeking through his doorway. Max was holding a bag of his favorite snacks and a brown bag he didn’t know the contents of. Max plopped himself next to Charles, not caring about asking if he could as he basically lived in Charles’s room.

 “For you,” Max said, placing the snack bag and brown bag in Charles’s lap. 

“You didn’t have to Max; I told you I was fine.” Charles said yet there was no irritation in his voice. 

“And I’ve been your best friend for long enough to know when you’re lying.” Max replied. Charles rolled his eyes but grabbed the brown bag peering inside. Inside was a soft Jellycat lion. Charles adored Jellycats, his king-sized bed being filled with them.

 “I know George upset you earlier today and I want you to know that nothing he said about you is true.” Max said, “Now let’s watch Gossip girls.” Max said, grabbing Charles’s remote and turning on his comfort show. Charles felt warm inside knowing no matter how hard life was Max would always be there for him. He grabbed his lion and snuggled towards his best friend.

 Max smiled fondly at Charles, covering him with a blanket and putting an arm around him periodically shoving a few Takis into Charles’s mouth. Charles fell asleep not long after the emotions of today drained him. Max simply got Charles comfy in the bed cleaning up the snacks they had and turning the volume on low, not turning the tv off knowing Charles hated when his room was quiet before heading down to have dinner with Sebastian, Kimi and Ollie. After dinner Max left to go home. Sebastian walked into Charle’s room placing a soft kiss on the boy’s temple before heading to sleep himself.   

Chapter 1

Max groaned softly, burying his head into his pillow trying to block out the early morning sun. He heard a soft knock on the door which was briefly followed by the door opening and Nico sticking his head through the gap. “Morning Liebling.”  He said, sitting on the edge of Max’s bed and softly running his hand through the boy’s messy hair. 

 “Morning Papa.” Max said; his voice was still croaky with sleep.  Nico gets up placing a final kiss on Max’s forehead,  

“Head down soon Schatz, Lewis is making pancakes for breakfast.”  The German says before leaving the room closing the door after himself.  

Max takes a few more moments before reluctantly pushing himself up and out of bed. He leans on the windowsill looking down at the empty streets of Monaco. He was still getting used to all of this, living with Nico and Lewis.  It’s been 5 years since he’s lived with Jos in their small Monaco apartment and yes 5 years is a long time but not in this case. It took him 3 years to call Nico Papa, and he still hasn’t managed to call Lewis Dad. He calls Lewis dad to his friends or when he’s asked about him but for some reason he can’t manage to say it to his face.  

Not only did his whole family change his whole life did, but he also doesn’t live in a small apartment in the middle of Monaco anymore, he now lives on the most expensive street in the world up in the hills. He still sometimes gets lost in the grandeur of the mansion he now lives in with its marble staircases and never-ending rooms. He also had to switch schools he no longer goes to the public school down the road of his apartment he now goes to the International School of Monaco alongside the richest of the rich. That all he can manage is the fame that comes with becoming the son of the owner of one of the biggest fashion houses in the world and a top model overnight that he dislikes.  

He’s thankful for the anti-paparazzi laws of Monaco because the second he steps anywhere out of the country he’s always bombarded with paparazzi. He’s pulled out of his thoughts by Lewis telling him breakfast is ready. He quickly pulls on his uniform making sure there aren’t any creases on it before running down the stairs and heading towards the kitchen saying morning to the house staff as he passes them.  Lewis was flipping the final pancake when Max entered the kitchen. 

 “Morning Maxy, how did you sleep?” Lewis asked, putting some pancakes on the boy’s plate.  

“Good, and you Lewis?” He asked as he grabbed his pancakes and sat down at the dinner table.  

“Good as well, Maxy.” Lewis replied, placing a kiss on Max’s forehead before sitting down himself. The family ate their breakfast slowly, enjoying the stillness of the morning. After breakfast Max shoved his math notebook in his schoolbag and headed to the garage where his chauffeur was waiting for him in a Mercedes-Maybach S680. “Good morning, Adrien,” the dutchman greeted his driver as he clambered into the back of the car. 

 It didn’t take long to reach the school considering Monaco is quite small. The school gates were flooded with students heading to class. Max easily spotted the bright red Ferrari LaFerrari of his best friend Charles.  

No one really knew why Max and Charles were friends. They were both so different; it would make more sense for them to be enemies. Max was a perfectionist. He was in the top set at his school the first time he joined it. He spent most of his free time studying and when he wasn’t studying, he was driving in F4. Max always wore his uniform; it was always ironed and smoothed down even though his shoes seemed to always shine to perfection. Charles on the other hand was messy so to say. He was always late to class, and his grades were always just barely above failing grades. Half the school was convinced the only reason he wasn’t kicked out yet was his parents more than generous donations to the school every year. Charles loved breaking school rules opting to wear the girls uniform instead of the boys which some of the teachers scowled at to this day though most have up on correcting him quickly learning it won’t change anything, Charles also insists on rolling his skirt up always complaining about how long they are. 

 “Chèri, thank god you’re back from your F4 race, I couldn’t handle another week without you.” Charles calls as he hangs himself around Max’s neck dramatically.  

“I was only gone a few days,” Max laughs used to his friends’ theatrics.  

“A week too long!” Charles says his Cartier necklace dangling around his neck, clinking against the Tiffany choker he was also wearing as he pulls Max towards the school building. 

 “You’ve missed so much Maxy Max; George is in a group with me and you for our physics project and he’s been annoying about it all week. He’s even more of an annoying nerd than you are.” Charles sighs dramatically. 

 “I’m not annoying!” Max says elbowing Charles in the ribs.  

“Sure, sure Maxy Max.” Charles says in a sing Songy voice as he slips into his French class before Max has a chance to retort. The first bell rings and Max rushes off to his math class. The day goes by slowly, Max jotting down notes about things he already knows. Contrary to popular belief he doesn’t actually like school, he’s good at it sure but he absolutely hates it. He doesn’t have any shared lessons with Charles today except physics, but George had to ruin that lesson for him too, like everything in his life. George and Max had been rivals since the first day Max stepped foot in ISM. At first, they just butted heads in academics. Max was winning all the awards George used to win, causing them to fight to outperform each other; that academic rivalry slowly grew into a full-blown hatred. 

 George and Max couldn’t stand being in the same room as the others, always fighting when forced to. The constant fighting also caused their friendship group to slowly split into two. Max hated George for how stuck up the boy was. George’s parents were Susie and Toto Wolff, owners of Mercedes F1 and Mercedes Road cars. 

 The brit was adopted into the family when he was a baby, meaning he never knew anything but the incredible wealth he was raised in which made Max hate him even more.  

Max was never poor growing up with a father in F1, but his childhood wasn’t great, so he didn’t grow up to be a stuck up posh to know it all like George.  

The bell for lunch finally rang, and Max rushed out of class alongside his classmates. The lunchroom was a modern design with floor to roof windows that let in the sun.  Max spotted Charles sitting at a table in the middle of the lunchroom surrounded by every popular kid in the school.  

“Maxy Max!” Charles calls when he sees the dutchman approach with his lunch tray.  

“Hi Charlie.” Max says, sitting next to Charles.  

“How many times did you get dress coded today?” Max smirked, looking at the state of Charles’s uniform. His shirt is as always untucked; his uniform cardigan tied around his waist, his blazer nowhere to be seen. His skirt is rolled as high as he could get it, and there’s countless bracelets adorning Charles’s hands. Max just shook his head jokingly before getting back to his food.  

Charles placed his head on Max’s thigh as he went to lie down on the canteen benches talking animatedly to the rest of the kids at the table. 

 School ended soon after, Max got home and threw himself into bed hoping to get some rest. He can hear Lewis and Nico having a conversation downstairs laughing along occasionally. He closes his eyes and falls asleep, not bothering to change out of his uniform.