Friday, November 16th, 2018- Monte Carlo, Monaco
Daniel's Apartment
"Hey, Daniel!" Max pounds on the door to the Australian's place a couple times, his daughter in tow on his left side, her little hand held tightly in his, "you better be decent, the child is with me!"
Kaia whines, swinging from his arm in a rather anarchical method for demanding his attention but which he can't deny the success of it so, in spite of himself, when he gives it to her, briefly glancing down to meet his daughter's disapproval, he's already got a sneaking suspicion of what's in store for him.
For the crime of referring to her as "the child", under one perfectly raised eyebrow, the toddler gives him a dramatic, over exaggerated eye roll and a perfunctory wobble of the head that says, quite plainly, "Da! I'm a big girl! I'm telling Lovie what you said. Lovie said we have to be nice and that wasn't nice! I'm telling Lovie!"
Suddenly, untenable in the face of Kaia's reproach and finding it to be infinitely easier to pretend like he doesn't instantly feel like his two-year-old just became a full-fledged teenager right in front of his very eyes, Max quickly looks away, forcing his gaze back up to the still closed wooden door in front of him, since the latter seems to be a far safer subject for him to focus on than the former.
"Last warning! We're coming in!" He knocks once more, this time strictly as a formality, not bothering to wait for an answer or any sign that he's even at home at present before he's letting himself in, making quick work unlocking the deadbolt with the key Daniel had originally given him for emergencies only but since Kaia's arrival, it hadn't been long at all before it was common place for the four of you to come and go as you pleased between the two apartments.
Max doesn't get the door more than halfway open before Kaia's abandoning him, releasing her vice like grip on his arm, she wriggles free of his grasp in the blink of an eye, the slippery little thing, a gleeful smile on her face and her father completely forgotten, his importance instantaneously relegated by her hunt for her uncle.
Darting ahead, before Max can so much as get out a word in protest, Kaia is sliding neatly underneath his extended arm, where his hand still sits frozen in place around the door handle, and into the apartment, evading all his attempts to catch her with absolute ease, not sparing him so much as a backwards glance before she's vanishing inside.
Much to his daughter's chagrin, the residence is still and dark when he steps into the living room, flicking on the full panel of lights along one wall, Max knows immediately that Daniel is not there, since the quiet that currently reigns over the space is interrupted only by the sound of Kaia's lilting voice echoing down the hallway and her little footsteps running from room to room, a feat which would not be even remotely feasible if the Australian was anywhere even in just the general vicinity.
He knows there's little point in trying to keep the three-year-old from searching every inch of the house until she was satisfied that her uncle was indeed at home, he turns his attention to making himself entirely at home and seeing to the necessary adjustments.
Finding the peacefulness to be rather disheartening and, quite frankly, the complete opposite of what he'd come here in search of, Max decides the first order of business is to see to fixing the rather conspicuous lack of music that is usually flowing through the overhead speakers, filling the space with a steady, characteristic hum that, in the early months of his burgeoning friendship with his teammate, he'd once detested but had long since learned to love.
"Kaia! Don't break anything I can't replace!" He calls out over one shoulder as he throws himself down on the leather sofa that dominates the better half of the living room and settles in to wait out Daniel's return, feeling quite certain that between his daughter and the playlist now echoing through the apartment, drowning out the voices inside his head will be a breeze.
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Saturday, November 17th, 2018- Monte Carlo, Monaco
Daniel's Apartment
Look, in his own defense, Daniel had had every intention to handle Max and what was already shaping up to be the longest week on record with maturity and tact, but it just hadn't quite worked out like he'd meant it to.
And try as he might, he couldn't quite bring himself to really feel all that sorry about his own misconduct because the way he saw it, Max was going to get what he had coming to him one way or another so Daniel might as well make the most of it and have some fun at his friend's expense.
He'd never been a big believer in holding grudges, God knows he'd been raised better than that, but even he had his moral failings on occasion, and this was one of them.
Though he'd never admit to it, and he wouldn't dream of taking you from the child who needed you nearly as much as her father did, Daniel still wasn't entirely sure if he'd ever be able to fully forgive Max for being the reason why Horner had gone back on his word and denied the final request he'd made after nine seasons at the team.
Because he may have made his peace with the decision you'd come to two years ago, when you'd made it abundantly clear that of the two of them, it was Max that you had the feelings for, not him, he'd consigned himself to only ever having you be his at work and he'd gotten over it– that was until Max had taken that from him too.
So, sue him if, from time to time, even the best laid plans went to shit. At least Daniel could say that more often than not, he did the right thing. That was more than he could say for his teammate.
And while you and him might just be friends because he'd truly moved on, that didn't eliminate the voice in his ear telling him to have some fun with this.
Because you may have already called him and filled him in on the entirety of what had happened today, the explanation of which had been nearly as painful of a phone call for him to get through as it had been for you to make, your words barely audible through your tears as you'd begged him to do this for you, to help Max where he could... but Max didn't need to know that.
What Max didn't know couldn't hurt him, well, not unless Daniel wanted it to.
So, when he opens the door to his apartment that night, he's unsurprised to find Max sprawled out on his sofa with Kaia curled in his lap, both of them wide awake despite the hour and watching a movie, neither one of them stirring from their spots as he toes his shoes off and sits down to join them.
"I take it we're having a barbie movie marathon tonight?" He asks in a tempered voice, careful to keep his face blank as he catches his teammate's eye.
"It would certainly seem so," Max replies with a heavy sigh as his daughter clambers rather suddenly out of his grasp and rather unceremoniously flings herself into Daniel's now outstretched arms, making the latter laugh fondly at the gesture as the little girl cuddles into his chest.
"And when will your better half be joining us?" He knows he shouldn't enjoy the impact his question has on the man beside him quite as much as he does but he can't stop himself from prying.
"She won't be," his friend answers tersely, looking anywhere but at him as he forces the three words out from behind gritted teeth.
"Do I even want to know?"
"Fuck no," Max looks only mildly apologetic for his language as he continues, "how about this? I'll tell you when I know how the hell to explain it?"
