Lestappen fic - Ice cream shop owner!Charles AU
I don't typically get excited by AU ideas for Lestappen because Lestappen in canonverse is so appealing to me in and of itself. But, while AO3 was down yesterday, @thearchercore received and answered a whole bunch of asks from lovely anons about a Lestappen AU fic where Charles owns an ice cream shop (as inspired by the news that the man is actually going to open an ice cream shop in Milan.) And, well, for the first time ever, I got excited about a Lestappen AU. So, I wrote something.
This is, obviously, dedicated to the incredible @thearchercore, a true pillar of the Lestappen community, and to each and every anon who has sent in asks about this AU. And because this was entirely inspired by people on Tumblr, you can read the whole fic in this post. ❤️
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Max realizes that he has probably let this whole thing go too far. Way too far.
What had started as a chance encounter after the Monza Grand Prix, where Max had gone on a drive and ended up in a small, lovely ice cream shop - LEC - in Milan that served the most delicious vanilla ice cream Max had ever tasted, had spiraled and developed into what was now practically a weekly occurrence. Every chance he got, when the race calendar, his PR and training schedule would allow it, Max would fly to Milan, spending ridiculous amounts of money and contributing an unnecessary amount to further pollute the environment, just to go back to that ice cream shop.
And yes, although the vanilla ice cream was divine, that's not the real reason Max kept coming back.
No, the real cause of his travels was the ridiculously beautiful shop owner, with the fluffy brown hair, the captivating green eyes Max kind of wanted to drown himself in, and dimples that Max saw every single night when he closed his eyes. And what’s more, the shop owner — Charles — didn't even seem to like Max, because the Monégasque was a die-hard Ferrari fan and he seemed to have made it his personal mission to put all the blame of Ferrari’s lack of success for the past fifteen years on Max. Even if Max hadn’t been in F1 for the entirety of those fifteen years.
Not that he was surprised, really. The passion of the Tifosi did, on more than one occasion, seem to seriously impact their sense of logic and capability of rational thinking.
And apparently, the beauty, sass and stubbornness of the shop owner did the exact same thing to Max's.
The irony of that is not lost on him.
The fact that the two of them had discovered they were on the same page about the superior ice cream flavor the first time Max had been in that ice cream shop — “vanilla is my favorite” Max had said at exactly the same time Charles had said “vanilla is the only right choice” — had not been enough to endear him to Charles. His allegiance with Ferrari and Max currently on yet another dominating winning spree with Red Bull was too strong. (Even if there had been the flicker of something in those green eyes when Charles had learned that he and Max were on the same page about vanilla ice cream.)
After yet another failed attempt at charming Charles a few weeks ago, Max had gotten so desperate that he had genuinely started considering a move to Ferrari, even starting to subtly ask around about the possibility, Red Bull’s superior car and strategies be damned. But then word had reached GP and his race engineer had told him, in no uncertain terms, that he would not be moving to Ferrari to impress ‘some ice cream guy in Milan’. Which Max had taken offense to, because Charles was not just ‘some ice cream guy in Milan’, thank you very much.
(Max really had to learn how to keep his mouth shut around GP.)
So yes, his obsession with the ice cream shop and its owner has gone way too far. And yet, on a warm August afternoon, Max finds himself walking back into that ice cream shop.
Summer break has finally arrived, and Max had genuinely considered renting an apartment in Milan for the next three weeks so he wouldn't have to fly back and forth so much. But then he had come to the conclusion that that would be excessive.
(Because flying back and forth between Monaco and Milan definitely wasn’t excessive. No, sir.)
Charles is there when Max walks in, as he is every single time Max walks in. The guy never seems to leave his beloved ice cream shop, and Max finds himself wondering if the other man gets enough sleep. Or if he even goes home to sleep, or if he has a bed set up in the back somewhere so he never has to waste time going back and forth between the ice cream shop and his home.
He may not know Charles all that well, despite seeing him regularly for the past few months, but he does know that the man must have an incredible work ethic.
The little bell above the door announces his arrival, and Charles looks up from behind the counter. For a brief second, Max is sure he sees a flash of excitement cross those gorgeous features, but the Monégasque quickly schools his expression into one of exasperation and indignation, complete with an overly dramatic eye roll.
“No Red Bull Racing team members allowed,” Charles tells him with a huff, as he puts a brand-new tub of chocolate ice cream in the display freezer.
Max snorts as he walks towards the counter. He had expected a frosty — pun intended — reception following Ferrari’s double DNF in the last race before the summer break, so Charles’ grumpy demeanor doesn’t deter him.
“Hello to you too, Charles,” the Dutchman sing-songs, ignoring the way a couple of teenage girls at a table by the window gape at him. “Let me guess, Ferrari’s double DNF in Belgium was somehow my fault?”
Charles meets his gaze and narrows his eyes. He points an ice cream scoop at him. “I am not sure how, but yes.” He waggles the scoop accusingly.
It’s Max’s turn to roll his eyes. “Right, because the two of them crashing into each other in turn two, while in P8 and P9 respectively, while I was at the very front definitely had something to do with me?”
“Obviously,” Charles confirms with a sniff.
“You’re ridiculous,” Max laughs, shaking his head in a manner that can only be described as fond. He comes to a halt in front of the cash register at the counter, and waits for Charles to ask him what he wants.
But Charles never does; instead busies himself with rearranging the different bowls of topping on top of the display freezer, wiping down the counter, and restocking the ice cream cones, all the while completely ignoring Max’s presence. Or general existence, even.
Eventually, Max runs out of patience.
“I’d like three scoops of vanilla ice cream, please.”
Charles doesn’t even stop what he’s doing. Doesn’t even look at him. “We’re all out of vanilla.”
Max stares. At Charles, then at the almost full tub of vanilla, with its little sign labeling it as vanilla sticking out of the fluffy ice cream.
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, we are.”
“Charles, I can see the vanilla ice cream. It’s right there,” Max insists, pointing at the flavor through the display glass. As if Charles isn’t completely aware of its existence, as if he’s not just being a little shit and punishing Max for something that isn’t even remotely his fault.
Charles pauses in his bustling to look at Max. Then, he follows the length of Max’s arm to where his finger is pointing directly at the vanilla. His gaze returns to Max’s eyes as he says, deadpan: “That is only a display ice cream.”
Max blinks repeatedly.
“A display ice cream?” he echoes incredulously.
“Yes,” Charles confirms, raising his chin. “It’s only for display, it is not to be served.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, well, it’s like this,” the Monégasque says, lifting one shoulder in a careless shrug.
Max doesn’t know if he wants to smack him or kiss him.
(That’s a lie, he knows damn well that he wants to kiss that smug look right off of Charles’ stupidly beautiful face.)
“Fine,” the Dutchman sighs, moving his finger slightly to the right. “Then I would like three scoops of the chocolate.”
“I’m sorry, but that is also only a display ice cream,” Charles tells him with a completely straight face.
“You’re not serious.”
Charles raises one full eyebrow. “Does it look like I’m joking?” he asks.
And, well, Max has to admit that it absolutely does not.
He stands there in silence for a while, wondering why the hell this infuriating man has been the object of his deepest desires for the past few months. Wonders why Charles’ face is the only thing he sees when he closes his eyes to sleep at night, and why he is the one person that keeps appearing in the majority of his dreams. Wonders why, when his mind wanders as he has a secure grip around himself in bed, it keeps wandering to the mental images of what Charles would look like, feel like, sound like if he was there with Max, when all Charles seems to want to do is get under Max’s skin and infuriate him in ways and for reasons Max hadn’t even known he could let himself be infuriated.
Oh, who is he kidding? Those reasons, coupled with Charles’ overall appearance and being, are exactly why his mind never seems to tire of Charles whatever-the-fuck-his-middle-name-is Leclerc, and only him.
Max has always been a sucker for challenges. And Charles is definitely a challenge.
Had Charles been an F1 driver instead of the owner of an ice cream shop, Max just knows their on-track battles would have been epic. Their rivalry would have been one for the ages; their names and lives so intertwined that people could not have mentioned one without also mentioning the other. Because Max is sure that Charles’ passion, his stubbornness and his outright refusal to give in to anything or anyone would have translated into a fierce, unyielding, unapologetic driver.
Forcing himself out of his reverie, Max gives a quick shake of his head to clear is racing mind. Then, he fixes Charles with a hard stare.
“Let me guess, these are all ‘display ice creams’?” he asks, gesturing with a hand at the numerous tubs of flavors in the display freezer.
“Of course not,” Charles scoffs, as if that’s the most ridiculous statement that has been made in the ice cream shop in the past few minutes. “That would be a horrible way to run a business. We have one flavor that is not only for display.”
Max is almost afraid to ask, but he does anyway. “Which is?”
Charles doesn’t answer the question with words, just points to the bottom tub at the far left. The little sign reads ‘Mint chip’.
“Who the fuck eats mint chip ice cream?” Max asks, scrunching up his nose in disgust. “That’s like eating toothpaste.”
For the first time since Max stepped through the door, Charles smiles. A beautiful, self-satisfied, mischievous smile that does things to Max’s body, mind and soul. It makes his heart rate pick up and his skin tingle with an excitement he has no business feeling.
Pathetic. He’s absolutely pathetic.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Max. That's all I have to offer today.”
And Max, proving just how completely gone he is on this ridiculous man, lets out a long, tired sigh.
“Three scoops of mint chip, please,” he requests in a voice that is completely resigned.
Charles’ face lights up like a fucking Christmas tree, and he scurries to get one of the small glass bowls reserved for customers who want to eat their ice cream in the shop, not even needing to ask if that’s what Max is planning to do, or if he wants his ice cream in a cone. And although Charles is doing his damnedest to make Max believe that his general existence on this earth is causing Charles physical pain and emotional turmoil, the fact that Charles remembers his preference doesn’t go unnoticed by Max.
He won’t even entertain the idea that Charles might just be adamant on making Max sit in his shop and eat his mint chip ice cream so Charles can watch him suffer with every spoonful.
Charles is generous with the scoops — incredibly so — and Max is sure those three scoops he requested actually equal the size of at least six regular-sized scoops. He realizes that he probably should have asked for one scoop instead of three. He watches as Charles sticks a spoon in the ice cream and places the bowl on the counter in front of Max with the biggest grin on his face.
“It’s on the house,” Charles tells him, probably just to further add to Max’s suffering.
The Dutchman eyes the bowl of ice cream warily, quietly cursing it and himself, before picking it up with a hesitating hand. Charles watches him expectantly the entire time as Max makes his way to a small table in one corner of the shop. Behind him, a small child, probably around five or six, had entered the shop with his mother while Max was waiting for Charles to finish scooping, and Max hears the boy ask for two scoops of strawberry ice cream. And Charles — the fucking asshole — makes a point out of saying ‘coming right up’ in both Italian and English just to fuck with Max some more.
Max takes a seat with his back to the window so he can face Charles. Because if nothing else, he’s not going to let Charles win.
The first spoonful really does taste like toothpaste with a hint of chocolate, and it’s an awful combination. It takes every ounce of willpower Max has not to let the disgust he’s feeling show on his face. He lets the ice cream melt in his mouth for a long moment, before swallowing the disgusting liquidized ice cream, all the while maintaining a completely unaffected expression.
Charles watches him eat the entire bowl of ice cream, and Max never breaks eye contact. With every expressionless swallow, Max can see the thinly veiled disappointment on Charles’ face and the satisfaction he gets from that is enough to motivate him to finish every single bite. He even makes a point out of scraping the melted remains of the ice cream from the sides of the bowl, scooping it up into a mint green coloured soup in his spoon, and eating it. He even briefly considers licking the bowl clean just to get a rise out of Charles, but the Monégasque turns away from him with a huff before he can put his plan into action.
Which, thank fuck, because Max is starting to feel a bit sick from the ridiculous amount of toothpaste-flavored ice cream he has just consumed out of spite and spite alone. He pushes the bowl forward and away from himself on the table with a frown.
Charles goes back to ignoring his presence for the next fifteen minutes, and Max waits. Just because he can — just because he knows this wasn’t the outcome Charles had expected and he wants to revel in the satisfaction of finally getting under Charles’ skin for once for a little while longer.
Eventually, Charles comes to collect his empty bowl and gives Max a disapproving glare.
“Well? How was it?”
And Max, unable to resist, gives Charles his biggest, brightest smile. “It was delicious, thank you.”
If looks could kill, Max would have been dead. Then, Charles turns on his heels and walks away with Max’s empty bowl and spoon.
Taking the win, Max gets to his feet and waits for Charles to look over at him from behind the counter. When he does, he gives the other man a wave. “See you tomorrow, Charles.”
“You’re not coming back tomorrow!” Charles shoots back.
“Oh, but I am,” Max counters. It sounds like a promise, and it is.
As he walks out of the ice cream shop, feeling Charles’ gaze boring into the back of his head as he does, Max pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts looking up hotels in the area with available rooms.
***
Max stays in Milan for two weeks, and he goes to Charles’ ice cream shop every single day.
Every day, Charles tells him the only flavor he can serve him is mint chip. By day three, Max has stopped trying to argue with him. By day five, Max orders vanilla and Charles responds with ‘three scoops of mint chip coming up’. And every day, Max sits at his little table by the window to eat his ice cream while Charles stands behind the counter, watching him eat the entire time.
Every. Single. Day.
And every single day, Max can see Charles’ resolve crumbling, little by little, convincing him that his tragic efforts are not in complete vain. They might be mostly in vain, but Max is in far too deep at this point to care.
On the eighth day, Max stays until closing and Charles spends the majority of his free moments actually hanging around Max’s table and engaging him in conversation. It's a step in the right direction, even if Charles does end up kicking the Dutchman out when he has to count the register.
And on the eleventh day, as Max is about to leave after finishing yet another disgusting, massive portion of mint chip ice cream, Charles finds himself looking at the blond from behind the counter, watching as Max smiles down at his phone. Those piercing blue eyes are crinkling in delight, causing adorable smile lines to appear at their corners, his full, inviting lips stretching to expose his straight, white teeth. A wave of something — jealousy, Charles would define it as if he wasn’t a pigheaded dick when it comes to four-time F1 World Champion Max Emilian Verstappen — washes over him at the thought of whatever or whoever it is that puts that smile on Max's face.
It makes the Monégasque realize that all of his attempts over the past few months to convince himself that he doesn’t find Max attractive or charming as hell, and that he definitely doesn’t want to find out whether Max likes vanilla in bed, too, have been for naught.
And so, with an overwhelming feeling that he's losing a battle he's been fighting for months, Charles throws away the paper towel he had been using to dry his hands and resigns himself to his fate. Because sometimes, perseverence needs to be rewarded.
And he's not just referring to Max's.
“You can take me out to dinner tonight,” he tells Max, and it sounds like the statement pains him. Which it kind of does.
Max stops dead, one hand on the door handle, half-turned to face Charles. The look on his face is one of utter surprise.
“Really?” he asks, and he sounds so fucking hopeful that it should probably make Charles change his mind. But instead, it makes him want to close up the shop immediately and let Max take him out to dinner right fucking now.
Which is pathetic, really. But then again, so is the way Charles has been waking up every day hoping Max Verstappen would walk through the door of his ice cream shop for the past few months.
But, having no intention of showing his hand, Charles maintains a stoic expression as he nods.
“Pick me up here at nine.”
Max's smile is so wide that Charles wonders if it makes his cheeks hurt. He also wonders if said cheeks will feel as warm to the touch as they look.
“Okay,” Max says, still smiling. “Then I'll see you again at nine.”
And with that, Max turns, pulls the door open, and walks out of the shop.
When Charles can only just see the back of the Dutchman through the window, he sees Max stopping briefly on the sidewalk and pumping his fist in the air in the same celebratory manner Charles has seen after so many victorious races over the years.
He looks ridiculous, and Charles might just be falling a little bit in love with him.
Charles doesn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.
***
It turns out that Max's preferences in bed are far more adventurous than his taste in ice cream.
Which turns out to be yet another thing they're on the same page about.
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mint choco hater 🍦– k.s
genre. fluff, non idol au, ice cream shop au, acquaintances to lovers (?) // pairing. non idol!kim sunoo x fem!reader // cw. cringe, flirting (?), vvv silly // wc. 1.2k // synopsis. sunoo works at an ice cream parlor and you’re their number one customer, freezing weather or not.
“here comes your favorite customer,” sunghoon’s voice rings out from the front. sunoo would never admit it, but he definitely perked up and almost jumped in joy at the sentence, before heaving out a sigh loud enough for sunghoon to hear.
“you can’t be serious. it’s like -10 outside,” sunoo huffs.
“oh i’m dead serious. get up here.”
sunoo rolls his eyes dramatically, but it was hard to hide his smile over the arrival of a certain regular in the ice cream parlor.
i mean really. it was -10 degrees outside. who wants ice cream in that kind of weather?
apparently this girl. and apparently she wants it in every kind of weather. the girl frequented the parlor weekly, sometimes daily, to get her beloved favorite ice cream flavor, (…). rarely was it ever something else that she got.
“it’s not even that good,” sunoo thought to himself. he was kind of still in disbelief over her appearance on today of all days.
“hello to my favorite ice cream parlor employee! how’s business today,” the girl questioned, a smile lighting up her face as she made her way up to the order station.
“very slow. i don’t know if you realized but it’s pretty cold outside.”
“oh i know… i just was really craving ice cream.”
“yeah…,” sunoo doesn’t know how to reply, so he asks, “do you want your usual?”
“not today! can you surprise me? ‘m getting kind of tired of(…),” the girl buzzes, her cold face beginning to warm up.
“surprise you?”
“yeah,” the girl nods.
“okay…”
sunoo grabs one of the cups and looks over the many flavors of ice cream.
“she’s practically had all of these,” sunoo thinks. “why is this so hard?”
then, his eyes glance over green and his eyes light up. “perfect!”
upon seeing his expression, the girls eyes trail over to where her look and she pales.
“not mint choco! i hate it,” the girl frantically calls to him, hands waving in a “no” motion.
sunoo can’t help but roll his eyes at her reaction, but still wants to manage to convince someone to try it.
“you sure? have you ever had it? it’s my favorite!”
“um i haven’t had it in a while, but most people don’t really like it and i’m not a big mint fan..,” the girl admits, her hands twiddling.
“cmon ice cream girl! try something new! you won’t regret it… if you do it’s on the house,” sunoo smiles, beginning to scoop the ice cream in the cup.
“…okay,” the girl whispers, hesitation laced in her voice. “if you say so my favorite ice cream parlor employee.”
“my name’s sunoo yknow. you can call me that if you want, since we see each other so much,” sunoo laughs, a smile beginning to form on his face.
“well you can call me y/n then sunoo,” the girl, y/n, smiles back at him.
sunoos smile is on full display now, a light blush dusting his face. it’s just first name basis… why is he so happy?
“okay y/n, here’s your mint choco ice cream,” sunoo beamed, sliding the ice cream across the counter towards y/n.
“thank you sunoo”
y/n grabs the cup but only stares at the ice cream, not moving to try it.
“don’t be scared y/n. it’s ice cream! it’s not gonna kill you,” sunoo laughs, coming around the counter towards the girl, but not before grabbing an extra spoon, “i’ll eat it with you,” he winks.
y/n feels a heat grow across her face, but does her best to keep her expression the same and act normal.
sunoo sees her face darken and a satisfied feelings envelops him. “atleast i’m not the only one who got flustered today,” he thinks.
“okay sunoo,” y/n whispers, looking up at him before looking back down quickly at the ice cream upon making eye contact with him.
“why am i acting like this? we always casually talk and make eye contact… usually he’s the more shy one,” y/n pouts to herself.
“okay count of three we’ll both take a bite okay!”
“okay…”
“1,”
y/n looks up at him again, fighting the urge to look away. she needs to be the confident one.
“2,”
sunoo notices her gaze and looks at her. a blush rushes to his face again but he maintains eye contact.
“3.”
they both bring their spoons to their mouths, y/n shutting her eyes as the ice cream hits her tongue.
“yup. not a big fan of mint,” y/n admits, her face scrunching in disgust.
“you’re being dramatic. it can’t be that bad,” sunoo laughs, reaching behind the counter to grab y/n a napkin.
using all the courage he had, he wiped some ice cream off of the girls lips, reveling in her face darkened once again.
y/n felt like her face was radiating heat, and honestly felt like she was about to short circuit.
“apparently it can. but atleast it was free.”
sunoo laughs again, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth.
“wow, he’s really pretty. how have i not noticed this before,” y/n thought to herself.
“y/n, did you really not like it,” sunoo asks, his head tilting to the side. y/n can’t help the smile that falls upon her face at the sight.
“i really did not like it.”
“why not?”
“i don’t like mint… like at all.”
“you’re a weirdo,” sunoo huffs put jokingly, “how can you not like mint but you’ll eat (…) almost everyday?”
“because (…) is good and mint is not. hope that helps,” y/n smiles.
“hmmm… what i think is,” sunoo starts, “that you came in with a bias and you didn’t give mint choco a full chance! you need to try it again some other day, when it’s not cold!”
“why would i try something i don’t like again a different time?”
“because we’re gonna go to a different parlor and eat it on a nice sunny day.”
“we are?”
“we are,” sunoo smiles, “if you’re not opposed to it of course!”
“i am not. so when do you want to have our mint choco redemption,” y/n questions, her eyebrows raising at the boy in front of her.
sunoo smiles again. he’s relieved she didn’t say no. but he hadn’t really thought that far ahead.
“not sure. can i get your number? to plan out the details of course.”
“sure.” sunoo pulls out his phone and y/n takes it from him and begins typing in her number.
she raises it and takes a picture before handing it back to sunoo.
when he looks at the new contact, a blush rushes over his face again.
“y/nie 🩷” accompanied by a very cute picture of y/n.
“very cute,” sunoo says, not realizing he’s talking out loud instead of in his head.
heat rushes to y/ns face as she tries to cover her face. she laughs, “thank you? your turn.” she hands her phone over to sunoo and he excitedly takes it.
he types and the holds the phone back as he puts up a peace sign and takes a photo.
“here ya go!” sunoo hands the phone back to y/n and she glances down at what he put.
“sunoo 🦊🧡”
“it’s cute!”
“i know!”
“okay i take it back,” y/n glares playfully, “but i kind of need to get going…”
“okay… i’ll text you when i get off,” sunoo smiles at her.
“i’d like that,” y/n smiles back.
“mhm… bye y/n.”
“bye sunoo… see you later.”
ೀ mia’s notes – i asked star if i could use her ice cream shop au idea for a oneshot and so i came up with this :D it kind of gets bad towards the end but i wanted to finish and post it, especially since i reached 200!!!! thanks so much teheheh!! i hope you guys like this :DDD
for @thesunoosshining <333 i hope you like it :333
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