Max glanced up at the door when he heard heavy steps on the stairs. He had about five seconds til David barged into the room to yell about whatever he was gonna yell about. The first second was him considering how David might enter the room. Maybe yelling, maybe calmly. Based off of his footsteps, the safer bet was definitely yelling, even if he wasn't angry. And in consideration of second number one, second two through five were spent tumbling off of his bed and crawling underneath it. Because hey, if he was gonna be in trouble anyways, why couldn't he delay the inevitable?

And low and behold, David opened the door, stern and determined to get his point across to the boy, but was met with an empty bed. He stammered a moment, glancing behind him as if Max could have run right under him. He frowned, taking in a sharp breath through his nose.

"Max I know you're in here," He sighed, tapping his foot,"Come out and talk to me,"

Max rolled his eyes, silent and waiting.

David sighed,"Max, come on, this is…"

Childish, Max knew what he was going to finish with. David knew it too. He'd known since he opened his mouth but, it wasn't what he wanted to say. It was true, yeah it was childish. It was hide and seek and running from a scolding, but it was something else. Max knew what he was doing, he knew running off would just annoy him. Regardless, he did it anyway. Why? Why not just suck it up and get it over with? David glanced around the practically barren room.

Max was so much younger than he acted, none of this day matched. Max was mature and snarky, not so demeaningly childish and small. He hated to cry, he loved pissing David off. David's breath was a bit more laboured, wondering to himself if this whole thing was just some new tactic to irritate him. Why- why did he insist on making him so mad! Max could just be nice and calm and talk to him. He could just be a normal kid!

And then David felt it click in his mind. In reality, Max was a normal kid. Just a normal little ten year old. A ten year old who, for his entire life, had probably not had anything for himself. Who hadn't been touched kindly or without evil intention. Who had been smacked, beaten, and belittled since he could speak. Normal kids his age wouldn't throw a tantrum like that, especially unprovoked the way Max was. They would know better than to put food on the floor, and would probably be much more adverse to being bathed. But that, again, was a normal circumstance. Max may appear to be normal, and yet he was anything but.

It's just what any kid would do. That's all it was. Davey narrowed his eyes, looking for potential hiding holes. Max was in a new place and, despite what David said, had no idea what to expect. Actions speak louder than words, afterall. David could swear up and down he had no intention to do something but Max couldn't know for sure. And just like everything unknown, that was scary. So whatever his in mind, that's just what this was. Hiding from what he didn't know. David tapped a finger against his lip, tilting his head at the wrinkled bed spread.

"Alright," he said, slowly rolling the word over his tongue,"You wanna hide? I'll seek,"

No, hide and seek was not very much a punishment, nor was it any good at talking with Max, but it was a break from the madness. If Max wanted to act whatever age he was, David could go with it. So, the counsellor made a show of lifting his feet off the ground slow, and stepping softly.

Max narrowed his eyes at the creeping socks, wiggling silently to the opposite side of the bed to keep out of David's sight.

"I mean, I don't think you could fit in a drawer but…" David yanked the bottom drawer open on the dresser,"It would be pretty impressive!"

Max pushed his lips together watching him tug the other drawer open. David hummed aloud, feet moving once more.

"Well… if you didn't miraculously fit in the drawers, maybe you could be over here…" He jumped across to the closet and pulled the doors open,"Still no? Huh… I wonder…"

David wandered back to the head of the bed, and plopped down on it. He pulled his feet up, slowly leaning over the other edge.

He sighed dramatically,"Oh where, oh where could he be…" he leaned over fully and grabbed Max's pant leg, pulling him out from under the bed quickly.

Max gasped sharply as he was tugged backwards, heart thumping in his chest. He felt hands grasp his ankles and flip him over, and Max stared up at a grinning David.

"I knew it. First try even!"

Max sat up,"It was not! You checked the drawer first, fucker!"

David decided the curse could slide without a scolding word only because of the smirk on Max's face.

"Alright alright… but you still lose," David reminded cheekily, and leaned forward further, tucking his fingers into Max's sides. Max gasped and started kicking and squirming, a loud laugh erupting from deep in his chest. He groped at David's hands, trying to push him off.

"Stop! Stop it, fuck off- hah!" Eventually David lifted his hands free, bracing himself up on the bed on his elbows.

Max's laughter died down to a breathless panting, and he once again stared up at David's soft eyes. As if suddenly realizing what happened, Max's smiled fell slowly, breath still shallow.

David's expression fell a bit too, but he kept a small, corner of the mouth turning smile on,"I know today was hard,"

Max watched him speak, and somehow held his gaze,"Yeah,"

David nodded slowly,"Yeah," a soft echo,"And I can't fix that. You know, maybe you can't either. Maybe today was just… predestined to hurt a little," David ran his teeth over his lower lip, thinking,"And there might- no, I'm gonna be honest, there is going to be worse days,"

Max flexed his fingers on his stomach, attentive eyes studying his face,"Yeah,"

"You're gonna hate me sometimes," David said, and heard the strain in his own voice,"And I'm gonna blame any grey hairs I get on you," he grinned, joking,"But there's gonna be good days too,"

Max blinked a few more times to try to take away the sting in his eyes,"Mhm,"

"Mhm, that's right," David nodded again,"And you know I thought today was a good day. I was having fun watching you roll those truffles and run around getting ready to go. But things went wrong, and sometimes that happens. Things change and go wrong and they'll get to both of us at the worst of times in just a few seconds. That kind of… that's a bit scary to me, considering things,"

Finding it difficult to use his voice, Max lowered his eyes from David's gaze and dug his fingernails into his palm,"Mm."

"But at the end of the day, we're both gonna be here, aren't we?" David whispered,"We're going to be right here, talking or not. I'll wait hours for a word from you if I could make you feel better Max."

Worried his hum might catch in his throat and become a whimper, Max remained quiet this time.

"And I will never expect to fix things. I'll never expect you to be as cheery or excited as I am all the time, or even any of the time. But I will do everything I can to make sure you're safe, and warm and fed and happy," David promised, his voice still a hushed whisper,"But we can't do today over again,"

Max's brow furrowed, and he blinked past his watery eyes to look up at him.

"I wasn't… ready… for that- for today," David admitted, taking a deep breath,"I'm- wow, I don't know what that was. I did what I could, I hope you get that. I know you're a smart kid, Max, you couldn't expect to get out of that without a consequence. I know you know better than that,"

Max remained quiet, but his gaze moved away again.

"So yeah what happened, happened. But I think there's more to what happened. There's a reason you were upset, why you spoke the way you did, and why you ran off tonight. I want to talk about it, but you might not and that's okay. But that means I don't have part of the story, and that forces me make a blind decision based on what happened and what I know. That makes sense doesn't it?"

A small, barely moving shake of his head up and down from the boy on the floor.

"Good… In that case, unless you want to talk, you're grounded for two days,"

Max pulled his lip between his teeth.

David let his words sink in for a moment before taking another deep breath and shifting on the bed.

"So, Max," David began,"Do you want to talk?"

Worrying the rough skin on his lip, Max blinked quickly. He tried to swallow the lump choking him, but had no luck. Instead, it doubled over and the burn stung harshly behind his gaze. He sucked in a breath and turned his head to the side, raising his hands to press against the waterlogged lashes. His strained breath caught, and he felt the sob in his heart before it reached his ears. And the first one only lead to another, and another after that. Max pressed his hands harder against his eyes as each deafening cry tore through his throat.

David's resolve dripped away with every sound, and he climbed forwards off the bed. In the next moment, he gathered Max up off of the floor and into his lap, a soothing hand carding through the desperately tangled curls. He leaned his head down, pressing his nose against Max's head, shutting his eyes with a pained grimace. His shirt may have muffled the sound, but he felt every rocking, shoulder shaking wail against his chest.

Max couldn't breathe any longer, he felt like every gasp was consumed with this thick coating of sadness, as though the air itself around him had darkened. Face pressed firmly against the solid form that was David, he couldn't believe himself. A puddle of tears, limp and inconsolable, being hugged and soothed by the same man he used to consider an enemy. As if the deep, pooling grief and anxiety in his stomach suddenly began to boil, Max sucked a shaking, desperate breath deep into his lungs, and out came a piercing, agonized howl of pain. And just like that, that pit in his stomach had been pushed out with it.

Something about the moment seemed to finally shove another puzzle piece into the mystery of his life. The grief of being left, discarded like an old toy, felt lighter. The feeling of being so hopelessly alone in every part of his existence seemed to melt off of his shoulders. So many worries, hateful feelings and the like all felt collectively easier to carry as that scream melded into the man's shirt. One thing, however, grew fiercer than Max had ever feared. The haunting possibility of David's leaving him tripled. He hated the feeling, imagining himself all alone again, but this time without a camp or David or anyone, really, on his side. Completely, utterly alone. Max lifted a trembling hand and dug into David's shirt, twisting hard.

"I know," David whispered above him,"I know it hurts. You hold on as hard as you want, that's just fine. You won't hurt me, Max,"

Max didn't need to be told twice, and he managed to lift the arm trapped between himself and David, gripping onto his sleeve tightly.

"Good, that's real good," David crooned softly,"You just listen to my voice and take as long as you need to," He assured him,"I'm not going anywhere,"

And he never intended to. He'd stay right here, anytime Max needed him. He would help any way he could, do everything he could to never hear such awful cries again. For now, David just pulled Max closer to himself.

"I'm always gonna be here and wait for you, buddy. One step at a time. Everything will be good, soon. We just got to get past the bumps is all." David said softly,"This will all be fine,"

He repeated similar words for a little while, still rubbing the boy's shuddering shoulders and petting his hair. It was either the words getting through to him or just a natural exhaustion that ended up calming Max down. He continued to pull in shaky breaths, but the tearful sounds had finally quieted. David gave him a few minutes, just letting him breathe, before he spoke.

He turned his head just a touch, laying more of his cheek against his hair than before,"Do you wanna talk now kiddo?"

Max pushed himself back a little from David's jacket,"No,"

"Are you going to talk?"

"Yeah,"

David smiled softly, showing his approval by giving the boy a momentarily tighter hug,"Do you want to sit up?"

There was a pause this time, and Max started moving back, away from his hold. David didn't like the way he remained so quiet, and pointedly held on.

"Max I asked if you wanted to move. It's just fine for me if you want to stay here. I'll stay here just as long as you want, okay?"

Another paused silence, like Max was thinking. Eventually, Max scoot forwards again and leaned into David's hug. He said nothing, but one little movement said a whole lot about his vulnerability. David wouldn't waste the chance to console him further, and began rubbing his back again.

"Do you want to start with the party, buddy?" David asked quietly.

A huff from Max in return, and a strange little shuffle. David frowned, watching him squirm, unsure what was upsetting him. Then, the little camper lifted a hand to scratch his head, just behind his ear, and dropped both hands back to his lap. Curious, David lifted his fingers back to Max's hair. The huffing and wiggling stopped, and the frown firmly planted on Max's expression seemed to lift. David gave another small smile.

"The party?" he repeated, a gentle reminder.

Max sighed this time, and his hands began to fidget in his lap.

"Did they make you uncomfortable? Was the party too big?"

Shaking his head, Max scowled at his lap,"It was like… another memory- thing,"

David recalled the day previous, when he'd mentioned remembering past things,"Mhm?"

"We were playing Yahtzee, and they gave me the dice in the little…" Max moved his hands like he was trying to gesture what it was,"The fuckin cup thing, or whatever. I dumped out the dice and I don't know I just…" he dropped his hands and shrugged,"I remembered back then,"

Tilting his head, David pressed,"Why'd you dump them in your hand?"

Max shot him a dirty scowl,"That's what Neil asked," he snapped, crossing his arms and leaning further against David's chest after dropping his eyes once again; the contrasting gestures brought another smile to David's lips,"It- the cup or whatever, it was too loud. If you cup your hands together it makes it quiet,"

David frowned,"So… what, did you used to play yahtzee that way?"

Max nodded limply,"I guess? With little, like," he moved his hands again, gesturing the little dice,"Pieces of tape or whatever over the edges. Made it quiet,"

"So the adults wouldn't hear," David nodded,"But… who were you playing Yahtzee with?"

Max stilled upon the words reaching his ears, staring ahead. Hands lowered to his lap again, and Max clenched his jaw.

Another uncertain frown from Davey,"Max…?"

"I don't know," Max bit out sharply.

Deciding he'd rather not push his luck, David shifted his foot and wondered what to ask next,"Okay… uh, what about the car buddy?"

Max gripped onto his own sweatshirt, scowling darkly,"I don't know,"

David took a breath,"Well then can you tell me why you were out running around instead of calling me to come-"

Suddenly, Max jerked upright and pushed away from David, clumsily gathering himself up onto his feet,"I don't know. Fuck can we just be done?"

Normally, David would have wanted to press, make him talk and calm down the situation. However, his first instinct this time was to stand up and dust himself off.

"Alright. We can be done," he held out his hand,"Phone,"

A flicker of horror crossed Max's face,"What? Fuck no!"

David kept his cool,"I didn't hear a reason for walking out in the cold, alone, and not calling me." He moved his hand a bit,"Give me your phone, I told you you'd be grounded for two days,"

Max's face flickered between anger and confusion, struggling to find words to say. Admitting what happened was just another vulnerable moment, one Max wanted desperately to avoid. He'd lost his cool too many times just in one day, he wanted to avoid it happening again if at all possible. But David was just as annoying now, trying to take away his phone. Even if he told him what happened, he wasn't sure David would let him keep his phone.

Max dug his nails into his palms, flustered as he jumped back and forth between the two ideas. David, on the other hand, wasn't about to let Max stall until he came up with some intricate story. So, retracting his hand, David crossed his arms.

"Max, I want an answer now," He insisted, calmly,"I'm gonna count to three, mister,"

Once again, a shameful redness burned on Max's face,"Cou- what?"

Instead of attempting to justify himself, David used the surprise on Max's expression as leverage,"One. I can be sympathetic to a point, Max, but someone has to draw the line,"

Mortified that he was being not only scolded but counted at, Max lost his train of thought, staring up at him in baffled horror.

"You can't do that! It's- It's not fair!" Max shouted, his foot raising and stomping back down on the carpet.

David lifted his head, eyebrow raised,"How is it not fair, Max? That I'm counting? Or that I'm taking your phone?"

"Yes!" Max shouted, then blinked, confused,"No- It's- both! I'm ten I'm not some toddler! You don't… you can't count at me!"

"I can, and I am," David replied,"And that's two,"

Max groaned in frustration, trying to think of a way out of this situation with as little repercussion as possible. Why was he so damn annoying? Couldn't he just leave? Just yell and be angry about it and leave, why did he have to talk? About everything.

"Last warning, Max," David interrupted quietly.

Max gave another angry grunt of frustration,"Why are you making this so hard?" He snapped harshly, turning away to start pacing again.

David pushed pause on his stern demeanor, unsure about his words,"Am I making it hard, Max?"

"Yes! You keep asking these weird questions and- and it has nothing to do with it!" He snapped,"Why can't you just yell like a normal person? I ran around in the dark and didn't call you, why isn't that enough? Can't you just- just here," Max fumbled with his pocket and retrieved his phone,"Just take it,"

David regarded the phone with a touch of uncertainty,"You would rather be punished than tell me what happened?"

"The fucking questions," Max groaned, throwing his phone onto his bed haphazardly.

And now was the time to push a little, David had to see where they were as far as feeling near the surface; he knelt down, forgetting the phone on the bed and looking Max in the eyes,"Max I understand you're upset and I don't very often put my foot down on this, but when you and I are talking this way, or you're in trouble, I will not have you using that language with me,"

Anger flashed on Max's face, a hateful, biting fuck you on the tip of his tongue, but something about the situation, about David's tone and the way he knelt to speak with him made Max think twice. He pressed his lips into a tight line, clamping down on the angry stream of words he initially intended to release. David didn't do it for control, or to get Max angry so he had an excuse to be angry back. He'd given David plenty of reasons to be angry so far this evening, and he had barely raised his voice above a slightly pitchy spoken tone. He was calm, and Max was cutting straight past calm or upset to angry.

Instead of letting himself do that, he quietly said,"Okay,"

David, while still a touch surprised, nodded his approval,"Thank you. And for the record I'm gonna keep asking questions, you know why?" he waited for a reply that didn't come,"Because I want to be fair. I want to be here, and help you, and try my hardest to understand you,"

Max scoffed, though it lacked what little heat he tried to give,"Right. Because somebody-"

David shook his head,"No, uh-uh. First of all, we just discussed those words," He replied, knowing the rest of the phrase Max seemed to love quoting him on,"And second, nobody has to. Nobody is required to be there for you. No one on this whole planet has any obligation, even if society may say otherwise,"

A deep breath, and David clasped his hands together,"Your parents… your foster parents… friends, all the people… People you think need to be there, sometimes won't be and that's okay. But I have every right to walk away, to send you off. People might even sympathize, being an adoptive parent isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but… that's the difference."

"I want you here. I want to know you, to help you through whatever this is. I want to know why you yell at me, or why you're upset or angry or whatever else. So I'll keep asking why, and all the other annoying questions until you tell me."

David took another slow breath,"Do you want to tell me now?"

Max clenched his jaw again, and replied quietly,"No,"

David raised an eyebrow,"Are you going to tell me anyways?"

Hefting a put-upon sigh, Max pushed his hands into his pockets and dropped his eyes,"...Yeah."

David gave a little hum and stood up, sitting on the bed near the headboard,"Well c'mon then,"

Max gave the bed a forlorn gaze, reluctantly stepping forward and climbing onto the covers. His feet remained over the edge, swinging slightly while he looked down at the floor. Remaining still, David tilted his head at the boy.

"What's wrong?" He asked, voice soft.

Another huffing sigh, this time accompanied by a shrug,"It's… it's fuckin weird,"

"Max…" David's tone was lilted with a warning.

Max lowered his head slightly, an acknowledgement to the scolding tone,"Right, uh… Look nobody asked this stuff before,"

"Habits can be broken, and created,"David reminded,"Well you must think about what happened, otherwise it wouldn't be so hard to say,"

"Yeah I think about it. I don't tell anyone," He mumbled in return.

"Well…" David's frown returned as he thought,"Uhm… why not just think out loud then?"

Max shot him a burning gaze,"As if you could keep your da-," David's chin lifted, eyebrow raised while Max hesitated,"ah… Keep quiet, I mean,"

David gave a soft smile,"Thank you. And I promise I won't say a word until you finish, okay?"

Another wary gaze, but Max finally kicked off his shoes and scoot back on the bed to cross his legs,"Fine," He pulled his hands from his pockets and dropped them in his lap,"And I'm… off the hook after I tell you, right?"

David frowned,"No, Max. I said that I wanted you to tell me so I can make a decision based on what happened. I know that you telling me this sort of stuff is hard, but that doesn't mean an automatic out,"

It looked as though Max wanted to argue with that, but he decided to save his breath and turned his eyes down to his lap again,"Whatever."

Another shift on the bed, and Max began to struggle a touch with what he wanted to say first,"We were playing like… Yahtzee, over in Nikki's room. They handed me the dice in the red cup thing and I dumped them into my hand." He squinted down at his hands; the right one ached a little from clenching around the dice,"I had… I remembered something."

David, as promised, remained quiet throughout his words,"I can't really explain it, it's like this kid keeps popping up in all of the memories. Stuff I can't remember until something happens. It's like Deja vu but… really intense. I saw him, his eyes… I heard his voice," Max hesitated,"He told me not to roll the dice with the cup, it was too loud. The parents would hear us and get mad. We actually stole the game, so they would have asked why we had it and got mad."

A steadying breath,"But… the memory just took over and when… when they said my name I was crying. I didn't know what happened, I just… ran out of there, and I grabbed your glass thing and I started walking off."

Quiet covered the room for a few moments. David took in the words he said, waiting intently for a continuation, if there was one. Max tried to clear away the burning in his eyes again, without being too obvious. The face swirled in his head, what happened at the party. He closed his hand, the bruise beginning to throb to life again. He released, and it lessened considerably, leaving once again the very dull bruise. He squeezed his fist again and lifted his head, realizing he wasn't going to get rid of whatever this was and deciding to just get it over with.

"I was gonna call you," He said, voice abnormally quiet,"I was. I just figured if I got to the main road you wouldn't be as mad when you had to come pick me up," His admission made his gaze lower again, feeling the first cool drops of tears touch his cheeks,"I just wanted to leave, I didn't think… I didn't think it bothered me so much." Struggling against his first instinct to console the small figure, David crossed his arms lightly, running his tongue against the back of his teeth to keep quiet,"It's… been ever since they left, like something just popped up and it's random, just whenever," Max shook his head and wiped his eyes,"I hate it… I hate every fucking second- Er, sorry, I didn't mean that one," Max interrupted himself, then fell silent again.

For the second time, silence reigned. Max sniffled once or twice, staring at his hands.

Finally, he sucked in a sharp breath and sat up to glare at David,"Are you just gonna sit there and fucking stare at me?"

David frowned, raising his hands helplessly,"I said I wouldn't say anything until you were done!"

"Well I'm done," Max huffed, voice breaking.

David had already sat up and scoot forward,"Oh, I know buddy, come here,"

Max had no arguments as David tugged him closer, feeling what was left of the damn start to break. Davey reached under his arms, lifting him up and pulling him into his lap for a proper hug. Once again, his hand ended up in the boy's hair, leaning his cheek against the soft curls. Max dropped his head against the warm surface of Davey's chest, pulling in heavy, shaking breaths. He lifted his sleeves to wipe at his face, feeling quite miserable in his new sorry state.

"I'm sure that was hard, kiddo," David said gently,"Thank you for telling me, I'm very proud of you; you know that don't you?"

Slowly, Max gave a wary nod of his head.

David hummed,"Good, I'm glad,"In truth, he was a bit relieved that Max knew that,"Well, I'm not gonna take your phone, and you're not grounded. I know you were upset, and that's why you left. And I really appreciate you going after my container, it's one of my favorites." David gave another gentle squeeze of an embrace,"But you really scared me okay? I know you meant to call me, but please remember I worry for you okay? I need to know where you are,"

Max gave a small nod.

"Thank you," David shifted a bit,"We haven't really sat down and talked about rules, there's been quite a bit going on since you got here, but that's going to be one of them, okay? I need to know where you are, if plans change or if you leave, I just need to know."

This time, Max sniffled and wiped his face,"Okay,"

David hummed,"Okay. Good, then." He moved his hand to rub Max's back slowly,"And for the record you can always talk to me, about anything. That's what I'm here for. And if you can only talk to me when I stay quiet, that's fine. I can wait until after you're done,"

David had nothing much to say after that, so he focused on comforting the boy in his arms. It was quiet for some time, letting the two of them think, and Max finally seemed calm again. Considering David had picked Max up at eight and spent over forty five minutes getting home, it had to be getting close to nine or nine thirty by then. Tomorrow was Monday, and David had been shopping for school stuff when he received the call from a worriedly unconcerned Candy. He wasn't even sure if Max was ready for school, but he was certainly gonna try to get him up and ready. If Max was okay to go tomorrow, then they could figure it out.

"Max," David said softly,"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Max replied,"I'm fine,"

His words weren't convincing, but David didn't think he could push much more before Max got upset, so he moved on,"Alright. I think you should go to bed then.

A pause, and Max sat up slowly, looking at David with red-rimmed, confused eyes,"It's so early,"

David tried to stay firm,"Can you honestly say you're not tired?"

Rolling his eyes, Max picked at his sweater and muttered sullenly,"No.."

David smiled at his sulking tone,"Well, since it's only…" he reached across the bed and picked up Max's discarded phone to check the time,"...Nine twelve, I think we can go downstairs and get a little snack before bed, huh?"

Max nodded his head, making the soft curls bounce once again. David patted his shoulder gently and slid off the bed.

"How's hot cocoa sound?" He hummed, in a much more cheery mood.

"Fine," he replied, leaning forward and easing down off the bed; he plucked his phone off the sheets as well.

And things went fine. David led Max down the stairs and got him settled on the couch while he made hot chocolate for the both of them. He swore up and down to himself that he wouldn't normally endulge Max in so many sweets, but added both whipped cream and mini marshmallows to the little delight. Max sipped at it while watching the TV, and quiet unfolded over them. This time, however, it was a nice quiet. David drank his hot chocolate slowly, letting it cool for the most part before taking a long gulp.

Max scrutinized the events of the day. Everything that had happened, the results of that day. Even the morning, where David had defended him in front of the guard. He wondered, only for a moment, how it would have gone down if David had been like the others. The result, he decided, was too hateful to think about. He drank more of his mug and leaned into the side of the couch.

David, through and through, had done the opposite of the others. He didn't know how far that difference would go, but Max allowed himself to hold a little faith into the idea that David was better than he had had before. He'd defended him when another home would have yelled at him for hiding money. He'd talked to him, rather than yelling at all. Even when Max had screamed and kicked and had his breakdown, David tried to talk to him. And when that didn't work? He still didn't try to hit him, or throw him to the curb, or even yell much, really. He hated the way he had dealt with the situation, but he hated it more for the fact that he had been embarrassed, and less the actual punishment. But, nevertheless, it worked to shut him up eventually.

Max couldn't remember much after that. In fact, when he woke up next, he was actually in his own room, in his own bed. And, just like every other night, covered in sweat. He sat up and felt his heart thrum wildly against his chest. It was so dark, suffocatingly so. He jerked to the left, trying desperately to find his phone in his bed, or in his pockets somewhere, but he had nothing. He gave a strained, raspy whine, looking around the pitch black room. He knew where the door was, but the distance between it and the bed suddenly seemed so much farther. He felt very much like crying, the hateful images from his dream haunting him every time he blinked.

Counting to three in his head, he tore off of the bed and raced to the door. Unfortunately, his step was off about a foot or so, and he slammed into the dresser beside the door. His stomach groaned in protest as the upper lip of the dresser crashed against it as well as his lower ribs. Too terrified to stop in his tracks, he jumped over to the door and pulled it open. Even out in the hallway, it was eerily dark. He backed against the wall next to his door, feeling on the verge of panic. No phone, no light, and no idea where he was in the house. A glance to the left, and he saw a soft light from downstairs creeping up the hallway and just barely illuminating the wall and steps leading down. Max hurried over, dropping down onto the step to sit and sliding slowly over the carpet, finally slowing once he was within the light's ray. He glanced behind him with worry, irrationally worrying that the man may race after him out of nowhere.

Gentle, silent sliding guided him the rest of the way down. The lamp from the living room was on, he knew that much. As the room came into view, he saw David's purple socks on the carpet beside the couch. A little closer, and he saw David's legs were leant to the right, as though he was slumped over. As much as he wanted to smush the fear, Max felt a sharp, all encompassing panic; was he dead? Another step, weighted with dread and quickening breath, and Max leaned down to see the rest of the room. David was slumped over on the couch as Max thought, but upon closer inspection, he also saw his chest rising and falling slowly. The idiot had just fallen asleep is all. Max crept the rest of the way down, careful to avoid any creaking.

After reaching the bottom, successfully not waking David up, he approached the couch slowly. Scattered around the unconscious man was various items; pencils, notebooks, binders, pens. All sorts of stuff school-related. Amongst the mess was a simple grey and black bookbag with lots of pockets, most of which were already filled with supplies. Max had almost entirely forgotten about the prospect of school, and considering the events last night, he hadn't thought about the fact that the very next day would be his start. He poked around the little pile of supplies, wondering where his phone had gone as he edged closer. He wasn't sure of David's nighttime policy as far as getting out of bed, but he was just going to be quiet enough that he wouldn't wake him.

Considering he had been brought up to bed- probably by David since he didn't remember going to bed- he wasn't really even sure what time it was. He glanced back at the stairs, feeling a creeping uneasiness about having the empty darkness behind him. He stepped to the other side of the couch, where David's head was laid, eyeing the dimly lit area warily. Next, his eyes turned to the front door. A few soft steps over, and he double checked it was locked shut. Back over beside David, he slowly sat down near the head of the couch, his back pressed firmly against the cushion.

Without a phone, or any desire to go back upstairs, Max settled in on the floor. He could sleep in an uncomfortable place, it wasn't too complicated for him. He shut his eyes against the light, leaning his head to the left and trying to soothe his heavy breathing heart with slow breaths. Happy thoughts, calm breathing, then sleep. That would work. So max relaxed, and thought his thoughts.

He wondered about Nikki and Neil, and where they'd be going for class. Maybe they would have the same classroom. If the three of them were together in school, Max would have gotten more detentions than ever just by playing jokes. He wondered what would happen if he brought home that slip to- to…

Max jolted upright, feeling as though he had dropped off of a cliff somewhere while he slipped into sleep. The face jumped to life again behind closed eyes, rocking him to awareness within the split second. He sighed, annoyed by the image. He glanced up at David's sleeping form. Considering his position on the floor for a moment, Max scoot himself to the left and turned around.

He pulled his knees forward, sliding under the couch slightly. His arms folded over the couch cushion as he leaned forward, resting his head on his right elbow. Now David's head was more so to his left. Eyes half-lidded and heavy, Max poked his hand out from under his folded arms and cautiously reached forward and held onto a loose fold on Davey's shirt. Eyes looking over David's face, Max's blinking became slower and slower. And he slipped into sleep once again.