Chapter Text
Max glared out of the car window with a vengeance. Green patches of grass passed by in a blur, even though David was driving as slow as molasses. The Indian's arms were crossed, purposefully ignoring what the perky young man in the driver's seat was rambling on about. He kept musing on and on about Max's new life, and how much fun the pair would have.
Not like the ten-year-old boy quite believed it. David always was too perky and energetic for words, and tended to sugarcoat everything. Especially those damn boring camp activities.
His thought was cut off by the ginger's voice, a sense of worry behind the easily spoken words. "Max, are you alright?" He inquired, throwing on the blinker and making a slow by steady turn.
All Max did was purse his lips and make hesitant eye contact with David through the rearview mirror. The jackass didn't even let Max sit up front.
The black haired boy sneered and looked back out the window, ignoring the overly happy camp counselor.
"Max?" He repeated, furrowing his eyebrows. Was Max angry at him? All David wanted to do was give the tan boy a hug and welcome him!
"Fuck off, David." Was the simple response Max managed to grumble out.
"Hey... Language," Well, at least the ginger actually got a response out of him. That must mean that they were getting somewhere.
"Why in the hell did you have to foster me, of all fucking people? Goddamn, I want to kill myself."
"Max." The older male said, tapping three long and slender fingers on the steering wheel in a rhythm. He was being as stern as he could, though that wasn't his preferred method of punishment. It was hugging it out, which was just a complete downside for Max.
"What?" He snapped, crankily turning his head back towards David. "What the fuck do you want, camp man?" Max slumped back into the leather seats, in such a terrible mood. Being tossed around from home to home, rejected, and dumped into a dumbass summer camp wasn't enough, so God decided to drop the cynical young bastard into the lap of the perkiest dumbass.
"I understand that this will be hard for you-... For us. But we can make it through this!" David grinned, showing off his shockingly white teeth as he made an odd arm gesture, drawing in his right hand towards his left shoulder with a quick snap of his fingers. "I just want you to be happy."
Max remained silent, shutting his mint green eyes to hide the somewhat grateful look in his eyes. "Shut up," The boy grumbled, leaning his head back against the tan, leather seats.
David simply wasn't about to just let the conversation drop, still grinning though he had almost no reason to. "C'mon, Max! We will have so much fun!" He held up a long, pale finger, enthusiastically chiming, "We can go camping!"
"God, fuck no." Was Max's immediate retort, scowling. "I just got out of that godforsaken camp."
David immediately pouted, glancing back at the younger boy. He looked forward as soon as possible, looking back forward to the road. "We are almost home!"
Max felt a slight twinge in his chest, and it felt like glee. He mentally pushed the emotion down, uttering something about wrecking the house.
David ignored the comment and continued to happily chirp haphazardly about how much fun they will have.
After a few more dense minutes, David began to pull into an apartment parking lot, David smiling widely. The small apartment building was too drab for the ginger to live there, at least in Max's opinion.
He could only imagine David living in a picture perfect cottage, the windows clear and vivid. The siding would be painted a light yellow, like buttermilk or buttercup. Definitely not a light shade of brown with dirty windows, the apartments quaint.
David just smiled and parked his car close to the entrance, turning the keys and pulling them out of the ignition. "Alright, Max!" David chimed, eagerly getting out of the car and trotting to the younger boy's side.
He opened the door for him, waiting for Max to get out as soon as he could, but it seemed like he wasn't going to move. So, the tall ginger leaned into the car and unbuckled the darker boy, pulling him out and holding him to his hip.
Max began to violently squirm, trying to get out of his grasp. "Put me down, you fucking bastard!" He yelled, not calming down for a few more moments. He finally gave up while David grabbed his small bag of luggage out of the trunk, leaning into the taller male's body. He muttered profane words as they got closer to the front door, David just ignoring the negitiveness and happily walking towards their apartment door.
Once inside, David sat the ten year old down, beginning to escort Max to his room. "Here it is! We should go shopping together, tomorrow. We can buy you whatever you wanted!" David set the case of clothing onto Max's bed, turning towards Max. "Want me to help you set up?"
Max just stood near the doorway, quickly examining the small, seemingly cramped room. He visibly shook his head, his jet black curls bouncing around his head. "No. Go do... Whatever the fuck you do."
He stepped around David, unzipping the little bag. There was only clothes in the bag, and not a lot of them at that. Most were t-shirts (including two infamous Camp Campbell mustard yellow shirts) and jeans. Then a few baby blue hoodies, too.
David frowned, noticing that the young boy barely had anything. It made the ginger feel empty inside, apologetic for the short Indian. "Hey, Max," He mused, kneeling down. "What do you want for dinner?"
"Whatever the fuck. I don't really care, David," Max grumbled out, frowning as he threw the clothes into a small heap on his new bed.
David shrugged and stood up, grinning widely. "Macaroni and hot dogs it is then!" He said, gently patting the top of Max's head. All he got in response was a grunt, the younger boy sneering.
The ginger headed out the the kitchen, easily pulling out the needed ingredients and a copper pot.
Max collapsed onto the billowy bed, laying on his back while messing with the robin blue strings on his hoodie. He stared up at the popcorn covered ceiling, drifting away into thought. Max was glad that David came along and decided to foster him, but why? The older man and Max were like oil and water.
David was too preppy and cheerful, while Max hated everything and cursed non-stop. Max could already sense that David would soon give him "the talk", telling him that Max just wasn't the right fit for the cheerful man. God.
Max pushed himself up and off of the comfortable bed, grabbing all of his clothes and heading towards the wooden wardrobe on the other side of the bedroom.
He just messily shoved all of his clothing into the bottom drawer, not really caring enough to put effort into folding and being neat. Max shoved his suitcase underneath his bed, once again thinking about David. How long would Max even get to stay?
The ten year old wanted to stay for awhile. He wanted to spend time with David, even though the ginger makes him angry and has the worst viewpoint on life. Max just wants a happy home where someone cares about him and doesn't hit him when he fails a class or sticks up for himself.
After a moment of sitting on his knees, the black haired boy got up and headed towards the kitchen. Hell, he was so hungry for something other than raw vegetables and undercooked meat, that macaroni and hot dogs sounded like a gourmet meal.
Max made his way towards the singsongy humming that he could only assume was David. He eventually made it into the kitchen after a minute of searching, seeing the redhead grinning like a fool. Max just frowned up at him, slumping against the island counter. "Hey, David."
David was shocked to hear the ten year old, but smiled and made a sound resembling, "Huh?" David was expecting a thank you, or just maybe something unexpected.
"Hurry it the fuck up, I'm starving here." He halted for a moment, taking a few steps forward and gave him a light hug, around one of David's calves. He pulled away and muttered, "That never fucking happened, camp man."
David stopped stirring the macaroni noodles and swooped down, giving Max a nice, large hug. "Awh!" He chimed, pulling the short one close to his chest. "You're so cute!"
"And you're so fucking dumb. Let me go!" He managed to squirm away, huffing and crossing his arms. David returned to cooking, grinning widely from ear to ear. He filled up Max's plate before his own, handing him the red plastic plate.
"Here you go! Go sit down at the table, why don't you?" He said, gesturing towards the oak wood table.
Max walked past the table and went to the couch, sitting down and searching for the remote. He put his socked feet up on the coffee table, turning on the television. He changed it to Cartoon Network, where an episode of Johnny Test was playing. Damn, he hadn't seen cable or television for a long time.
The redhead pursed his lips slightly but also headed towards their living room, sitting down beside Max. "What are you watching?" He asked, digging into the macaroni.
"Johnny Test," He replied, his eyes glued to the screen. Max took a big bite out of his hot dog, concentrating on the TV.
They both watched the show and ate, Max laughing once or twice. David was just enjoying the time they were spending together.
Once they both finished their plates, David stood up and went to wash the plates and utensils. He returned, seeing the younger boy dozing off on the couch. David smiled widely, Max's face looking more angelic than angry. He picked up Max and slowly brought him to his bedroom, pulling the blanket back and tucking the black haired boy in. "Goodnight, Max," David whispered, pushing the other's hair back out of his forehead.
David left a light kiss on Max's forehead, leaving the younger male's bedroom and shutting the door. The ginger went to bed soon after, falling asleep quickly.