Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the last day of summer - the last day of camp campbell. A lot of kids were happy to go back home, many were sad and were sure as hell going to miss it there.

6.am. David decided it would be great to wake everyone up early, the alarm rang and everyone woke up.
Inside Max and Neil’s tent, Neil yelps and falls off his bed as the alarm goes off, whereas Max just groggily lifts his head.
“Godammit, David, do you know what time it is?” Max said, yawning. He’s checking his watch, a grumpy look on his face, as always. Neil slowly picked himself up from the ground, looking exhausted and still in shock from the alarm and the fall.

Then, David’s voice comes from a megaphone outside, “Good morning, campers! Now, today is a ve-".
Max brings a pillow over his head, still laying down, and he groans as David continues rambling on about some random activities he has planned for the day.

Meanwhile, Neil is still trying to get himself together after the fall. He’s putting on his jeans and starting to tie his shoelaces. Max is still in bed, groaning and muttering to himself about how he fucking hates camp, how he hates david, hates gwen, hates everyone, hates the woodscouts, hates the world, hates everything. Neil just looks at him, slightly amused, “Damn, Max you seem a whole lot more pissy than usual today.”
Max just slowly lifts the pillow and glares at Neil, rolling his eyes.

Five minutes later, all the kids are gathered in the mess hall for breakfast. Surprisingly, they have a relatively normal breakfast today- waffles. It’s pretty weird seeing as how the camp always has super cheap stuff, but seeing as it is the last day of camp, it’s not very strange. Max, Nikki and Neil are all sat together
“Man, I sure am gonna miss you guys a lot! I wonder what cool adventure we will go on today! I mean, it's the last day of camp, it has to be great!”
Max looks up from his full plate that he was just poking and prodding at, “Nobody cares, Nikki. It’s not like this stupid camp matters, anyway. You won't look back on now in 50 years when you’re on your deathbed and say ‘oh, that was the best time in my life!’ because it wasn’t! And we’re all leaving and one day, we won’t be coming back and we’ll have forgotten about each other by then! Life is more than just this dumbass camp!”
Nikki and Neil just stare at him in slight shock.
“Well… I mean- there is a possibility that you’re right, bu-”
“I’m right. I’m always right.” Max cuts Neil off. He sounds really casual, it just shows that he’s confident and sure of himself.
He kept poking at the food on his plate, not really having an appetite. He knows why, exactly why. He just doesn’t want to tell anyone; to seem… weak and almost vulnerable… he’s supposed to be tough, and everyone should be pissed and scared of him. Not take pity on him. His sadness doesn’t matter, it has no purpose. It's better to be tough, so nobody pushes him around. So he doesn’t get made fun of. And have people turn on him.

“So… anyway… what are you gonna do back home, Neil?” Nikki asks.
“Eh, probably some science stuff… gonna have to go to my dad’s every weekend and deal with his bullshit… you know, just the usual. His ‘sockrates’ lectures and talking about how the number your mom gave him was fake…”
“He’s seriously still obsessed over that?” Max says, making fun of him.
Neil rolls his eyes, “Yeah, he can’t just accept that she was using him and move on. He’s kind of a loser. And coming from me, that’s bad.”
Nikki laughs a little at this, “damn, Neil, that’s harsh. But it's true. But still harsh. Hey, Max, you gonna eat that?”
Max looks down at his plate. “Nah, it’s all yours. I feel sick, anyway. Plus, knowing this camp, it’s probably expired.” He shrugs, and so does Nikki.
“More for me, then, I guess!” She takes Max's plate and eats the waffles.

David then walks over to where they are all sat and begins to speak in his obnoxious, happy voice. “Can you believe it, kids! The last day of camp, huh? You sure are gonna miss each other! Oh, I sure know what it’s like to say goodbye to a best friend!”
“As if you’ve ever even had one in the first place…”
“Max! That’s not a very kind thing to say! I want you to apologise right now!”
“Whatever.”
David brings his hand up and ruffles Max's hair, it makes him flinch a little but when he realises what David was actually doing, he groaned and shooed his hand away, fixing his hair. “Now, Max, I want you to be on your best behaviour today, okay? No more fires, the incident with the quartermaster last week was bad enough. And please try to be respectful to the campers today, many of them are sad about dealing with having to let go of their friends!”
“Yeah, like I said, David, whatever.”
“Good!” David gives him a big smile and pats him on the head before walking away. Max, yet again, rolls his eyes.

Nurf is sat at a table with Ered, Preston and Space Kid. They’re all doing their own things, when, suddenly, Space Kid speaks up, “Hey, guys?.. Are you guys gonna miss me?”
“Totes, you’re like… kinda cool and all.”
“Awh, thanks, Ered!”
“No problem, dude. So, What are you guys gonna do on the other side?”
Preston speaks up eagerly, as if he’s been waiting for this moment his whole life, “I hope to become a world-famous broadway actor-slash-director in the next year! Everyone will love me and my plays!”
“Tch, good luck with that, dickturd!” Nurf responds, carving something into the table with his knife. “Anyway, I think I might bully this weird kid who’s always bothering me… maybe give him a few wedgies… stuff him in a few lockers..”
“Lame!” says Ered. “I’m gonna be working on perfecting my backside 360 kickflip. It’s gonna be so awesome.”
“Yeah, as if.” Nurf folds his arms.
“I’m gonna get a new book on planets! I’ve already got the first 12 volumes, but I need the last 3.” Space Kid says.
Ered lifts an eyebrow, “Woah. Isn’t that like… expensive..?”
“Tis his DREAM! His PASSION! Dreams, indeed, are ambition; for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream! It shouldn’t matter if it’s expensive! He’s doing what he loves!”
They all side eye Preston after he finishes speaking.
“Preston, number 1, nobody cares, number 2, your’e a fucking nerd, number 3, I’m gonna give you a wedgie.” As Nurf says that last bit, Preston is already up on his feet, running away, trying not to get wedgied. Nurf runs after him.

Nerris and Harrison are arguing over who’s the most magic, as always, and Dolph is just sitting there watching them as they bicker on.

Eventually, the whole mess hall turns to absolute chaos. Nurf and Preston screaming, Nerris and Harisson screaming, Ered rolling her skateboard around, space kid running around with a toy rocket ship, Preston reciting some random Shakespeare as he’s running away from Nurf- just pure chaos.

Max doesn’t even smirk or anything, just keeps his neutral expression, “Glad to see things being normal today.”
“Yeah, it almost seems as if it’s not the last day… huh.”
“Shut up, Neil, stop bringing that up.” Max rolls his eyes. He suddenly pulls out David’s phone and starts to scroll through it.
Nikki and Neil just glance at each other. Obviously, Max isn’t acting normal. They decide that it’s probably just him being annoyed by having to wake up so early.

David walks back into the mess hall, and he notices Max with his phone. He walks over and grabs the phone from behind him, chuckling. “Oh, no, you don't, Max!”
Max grumbles under his breath. “Why don’t you just fuck off and suck a dick?!”
“Come on, now, Max, that isn’t very nice!”
“I don’t CARE! I don’t have to be nice! ESPECIALLY to YOU! I HATE you, David! I hate camp, I hate trees, I hate the people here, I hate nature! God, HOW do you not know that already?! It’s painfully obvious, so why do you try so much?! What’s the point?!”
“Max… that was very mean.”
“NO! SHUT THE FUCK UP, DAVID!”
“I can tell something’s bothering you, do you want to maybe talk about it?”
“YEAH, YOU BEING A MORON IS BOTHERING ME!”
“Max, come on, I can tell that it’s deeper than that.”
Max slams his hands on the table before getting up and storming out of the mess hall.

David was right. There is more. But he would never admit that. He doesn’t want to seem weak. As he walked away, his eyes began to water, but he shook it off. He walked into his tent and started to get packed up. At this point, he’s used to this. It’s just life’s bullshit in all its glory. But he’s more irritable than usual today.

All the campers were outside, sat and stood around, doing their own thing, waiting for their parents to pick them up. Space Kid is already gone, so is Dolph. Their families took them early. All the campers were one by one leaving, up until it got to Neil. His dad came to take him. But he wouldn't move. “Dad, come on, we have to go! I wanna go home!!”
“Not until I see candy, son! If we’re gonna have to wait a few more hours, so be it!”
“Godammit…” Neil curses under his breath.

“Well, this oughta be interesting.” Max says, still the same bored look on his face. Neil walks over to him.
“Hey, why don’t you just tell him that Nikki’s mom’s already gone?”
“Huh… that’s not a bad idea, Max. Thanks.”
“Just trying to help.”

Neil’s dad eventually gives up and they both drive off. Ered gets picked up, then Preston,then all the others. The only ones left now are Max and Nikki.

“How come your mom’s not here?”
“Eh, I don’t know. She’s probably got a wine headache and got her licence taken off her again. Parents, you know?” Nikki chuckles.
“Oh.. damn, Nikki… I’m sorry about that.” He seems almost empathetic and.. vulnerable. That’s when a car pulls up and his expression hardens again. He rolls his eyes.

Nikki’s mom comes out of the car, looking unbothered, and texting on her phone. She walks over to David and Gwen.
“Sorry I'm late, I had to make sure that I wouldn’t see that one philosophy guy… whatever his name was… anyway, I’m taking Nicolette.”
Nikki runs over to her mom and hugs her legs. “Hi mom!! Did you miss me!?”
“Yeah, sure, just get in the car.”
She doesn't even look up from her phone for one second.

When they drive away, David turns around to face Max but realises that he’s not there. He searches around camp for him. He searches the mess hall, nothing, counsellor's cabin, nothing, tents, he notices that Mr Honeynuts has disappeared from Max’s tent. When Max first came to camp a few years ago, David realised how pessimistic he always was. He decided that to try to make him feel better, he bought Max a teddy bear. Mr Honeynuts. Max thought it was stupid and said he threw it out. But he actually kept it all these years.

David seems a bit more worried. Max is always so protective of that bear. He continues his search for max before finally finding him.
Max is sitting on a relatively big tree stump in the forest, his knees pressed up against his chest, holding Mr Honeynuts. He senses David’s presence. But instead of lashing out, he speaks up in a soft, weak voice.

“Why don’t they love me..? Why is it so hard to care..?”
David's eyes widen and he slowly moves closer to Max, sitting also on the tree stump, but far away enough to give Max a lot of personal space.
“Max… Maybe… Maybe they don't care. Maybe, they don't… love.. you. But they should. They have no reason not to.”
Max turns his head slightly away from David and sniffles lightly.
“Max… Everyone deserves love. And… if you can't find that at home… in your parents.. Then… I hope you can find it at least somewhere in life. It doesn’t have to be here. But, anywhere. I want what’s best for you. I want you to be happy.” max slowly turns to face him, still holding Mr honey nuts close
“David…”
“Yes, Max?”
“You’re lik- …nevermind.”
“Okay, max.” David gives him a small smile, when suddenly Max hands him the bear and turns away from him.
“I don’t need your pep talk… I'm fine on my own..”
“That’s okay… whatever you're comfortable with.”
There's a somber silence in the air for about 2 seconds before Max suddenly hugs David, not letting go. He’s sobbing into his chest. David ruffles his hair. “It’s okay.”
Max felt… strangely safe, in a way his own father nor mother never could do. He was for once in his life comfortable.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, Max. You don’t deserve that. You’re a great kid.” David said, looking down at Max.
Max sniffles and looks up at David, now slowly pulling away from him. “Nah… it’s fine… I mean… it’s whatever… just don’t tell anyone. Especially not the police or something.”
“Don’t tell them what?”
“...Nothing.” Max takes Mr Honey nuts from David’s hands and keeps sitting there, holding him. David looks at him. His gaze is full of care and fatherly affection, even if he’s not Max’s real dad. He checks the time. It’s 10pm. Really late. Gwen’s probably already gone home because she thinks David can handle waiting for Max’s parents.
That night, they both just waited. Eventually, Max fell asleep and David softly smiled before taking him into the councillor's cabin and placing him on a bed.

In the morning, Max wakes up. He’s in David’s bed and when he opens his eyes, he sees David looking as if he’s been sitting at his desk for hours, doing some paperwork. There’s a practically empty mug of coffee next to him.
“...David..?” Max rubs his eyes and slowly sits up
“Oh, good morning, max. How are you feeling?”
“...Fine… what am I still doing here?”
“Your parents never showed up. I tried to contact them, however, they didn't answer. I’ve spoken to social services and you’re going to have to be put in foster care.”
Max’s heart sinks. “What? D-David- no.. no, you’re joking… I’m NOT going into foster care…!”
“Unfortunately, Max… since they haven’t shown any regard for… picking you up… or for you in general…”
“No- David- They’re gonna kill me! I- I can’t be in foster care! I- I don’t want to!”
“I’m sorry, Max. It’s not up to me.”
“Then- then tell social services that I'm fine!”
“I can’t just lie…”
“No- David! Please! W-what if I get put far away and can’t come back here next year?”
“Well… as long as you’re happy…”
Max’s eyes widened. Was David seriously doing this? Was it really such a big deal not picking your child up from camp? But at the same time, he kind of understood where David was coming from. “D-David-”
“That is that, Max. You can’t change what’s done… I only want to help you have the best life possible.”
“... Okay…” Max lightly squeezes Mr Honeynuts. “Whatever…”
David stands up and goes over to grab a pen off his bedside table. This makes Max flinch a little. David notices.
“Are you okay, Max?”
“I’m… I’m fine.”
“Okay. You don't have to tell me.”
David walks back over to his desk when a car pulls up outside. Max watches curiously. That’s when Campbell steps out of the car and starts walking over to the councillor's cabin. He seems pretty tipsy. He opens the door and is confused to see David and Max inside.
“Wait, why are you here, Davey? And this kid..”
“Oh, hello, Mr Campbell. We are just sorting out some issues with his parents, they didn't turn up yesterday.”
“And… How is that my problem?” he slurs his words
“Well- mr Campbe-”
“Whatever… don’t think you’re getting paid extra for this, Davey.”
“Right. I knew that already.”
“Are you.. Talking back to me..?” He is still slurring his words.
“No, sir.”
“Good boy. I could always count on you, david.” Campbell aggressively pats David’s head. David seems very uncomfortable. Max just watches as the scene plays out.
“Uhm- thanks… Mr Campbell..”
“Now, where did I put that safe..?” Campbell says as he stumbles away from them and out of the cabin.
“What was that about?” Max turns to David.
“Oh, don’t worry, Max. it’s nothing.” He gives him a soft smile.
“Yeah, sure it is.” Max remarks sarcastically. He’s still sitting on the bed and he looks down at the teddy bear in his hands. He just looks at it for a moment. “David?”
“Yes?”
“What were your parents like?”
“...Oh… My parents? Well, Max… that’s not very important right now.”
“So… were they bad?”
“Max..-”
“It was your dad, wasn’t it? Dads are always the worst.”
“Max… let’s not talk about this right now. I’m busy, I have to call the foster agency to figure out when they’ll be taking you.”
Max looks back down at Mr Honeynuts. “Okay..” he knows there’s no point in fighting it. This was his new life, with a dumbass foster family, leaving everything he’s ever loved (which is not a lot).

(Chapter 3 coming soon)

Chapter Text

“Okay, Max, get your stuff.”
“What? Why?- A-are they here yet?”
“No… they’re picking you up tomorrow. But we can't just stay here another night, so I'm driving us to my house to get a good night’s rest!”
Max groans, “Great…”

Max packs his things into David’s car and gets into the backseat. When David gets in, he speaks up. “Do you wanna be at the front?”
Even though it’s a small gesture, Max was never allowed to sit at the front of the car. Not at home, anyway. David’s question threw him off a little bit. “Uhh… sure.”
He got out and walked to the front of the car, climbing into the passenger’s seat. He gives David a subtle glance as he puts on his seatbelt.
It was a long, quiet journey, also slightly awkward. That’s when David spoke up.
“How are you feeling, Max?”
“Why do you wanna know..”
“I don’t want you to feel bad. You can share things with me, you don’t always just have to push everyone away.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Sorry if I made you upset, Max…”
Max just rolls his eyes and stares out of the window. Eventually, they pull up at a small apartment complex and David shuts off the car. “Okay, we’re here. Do you want help with your stuff?”
Max just rolls his eyes and ignores David, getting out of the car. David sighs and also gets out, following max to the back of the car so he can open the trunk.

They proceed into the apartment block and walk up a few stairs. Then, David heads to a door and unlocks it. “Head inside, I can sleep on the couch tonight.”
Max reluctantly walks into the apartment. It smelled really clean and like.. Nature-ish. There were plants everywhere and the walls were green. He awkwardly stands in the middle of it as David walks in and closes the door behind him.
“You can put your stuff anywhere, Max. The room you’re sleeping in is just down the hallway.”
“Thanks..”
“You’re getting picked up at 9am tomorrow, so be up!”
“...Okay…”
Max walks away to the room he’s meant to be sleeping in. He walks in, closing the door, and he throws his stuff down. He’s exhausted.

Eventually, it gets late and Max falls asleep.

He’s dreaming. There’s a long corridor, it looks like his house. He can hear his parent’s voices in the distance. As he progresses further through the hallway, the shouting gets more and more violent and aggressive. Suddenly, there's a loud smash and Max sprints closer to the sound. He can see his parents both covered in blood, staring at him in annoyance. A bunch of hands start reaching out, trying to grab and hurt max. Then, all of those hands are replaced by his father’s. It’s holding a glass bottle and is about to hit Max. Just as the bottle is about to hit him, Max wakes up, hyperventilating. He grips onto Mr honeynuts, letting out a small whimper as he begins to silently sob into his knees. David, also exhausted, walks into the room slowly. “Max..?” he rubs his eyes and walks over to Max.

“What’s up?” he sits down next to him, and Max flinches and covers his ears, still sobbing. “Max, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Max lets out a small whimper and slowly lowers his hands off his ears. “P-please… D-don’t hit me..”
“I’m not going to, Max.”
“I-I’m sorry- please- please don’t let them take me away-” David’s expression softens at this. Max continues, “I- I want to stay with you-” He grips onto David, crying.

Chapter Text

David ruffles Max’s hair. “It’s okay, Max… Do you want some ice cream? We need to talk about this.”
Max sniffles and nods.

“Okay.” David says as he stands up, holding max. He walks out of the room and sets Max down on the couch, in front of the tv, then heads to the kitchen for ice cream.
“Turn something on, if you’d like.”

Max doesn’t. He’s too tired to watch TV and is still processing what happened in his dream. David comes back, places down a tub of chocolate ice cream with a spoon and sits down on the couch next to Max. Max hesitantly takes the ice cream and starts to eat it as David begins to speak.
“Are you feeling okay, Max? Why do you not want to leave?”
“I-... I wanna stay here… and- with.. You… because… I feel safe… and- I don’t think I will with a random foster family… and definitely not my own family…”
David is stunned. He thought that Max for real hated him. But he knows that what Max is asking for is practically impossible.
“I- Max… I’m glad you feel happy and safe here… with me… but… You know you can’t stay here…”
“Yeah… I just… Even though they’re assholes… I kind of will miss my mom and dad… and… I mean… I know this is dumb or whatever… but you kind of… I don't know… give me like.. Parental comfort or whatever it's called.. But it’s not like I would ever want to be your real son.” He’s quick to add that last bit to not sound stupid. “And.. I don’t think that I’d ever be able to feel that with some random family I get sent to…”
“I’ll… I’ll see what I can do.” David sounds really really determined, but also is speaking with a soft, comforting tone at the same time.

“Thanks.. David..” Max gives David a small smile, to which David smiles back and responds “No problem, Max.” and ruffles his hair.

The next morning, Max is asleep in David’s bed again. David is on the couch, calling all the social services and foster care people to try and get things sorted out.
Max walks into the room, wearing his pyjamas and holding Mr Honeynuts, rubbing his eyes. It’s 8am.

“Hi, Max.”
Max just yawns, then says, “What’s for breakfast?”
David smiles. “Whatever you want.”
“Waffles.”
“Waffles it is.” David gets up to start making the waffles. “Social services said that you’re going to have to stay in a foster home whilst we get my apartment suitable for a kid. I need to clean out my extra room and make it your room. Get a bed, let you decorate..”
“Wait, for real? I'm seriously living with you?”
David smiles. “Yep. Just up to a week in the foster home and you’ll be back. I’m adopting you.”
“Holy fuck…”
“Language!”
Just then, Max finally knew what real love was. (FATHER/SON LOVE YOU SICKOS)