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It came out of nowhere one Saturday morning as the two of them were eating breakfast while Gwen was at work.
“Am I a liability?”
“What? Max, of course not. I love having you here. Why, did someone say that?”
“Well, yeah, kinda. I hear it from all of you and Gwen’s friends, they mean it innocently enough but it still kinda gets to me. All of that ‘you’re so brave to take on the responsibility of caring for him’ ‘I could never take care of a child, it’s so heartwarming that you took him in.’ Like it’s some big thing on you. I hate when people talk about me when I’m there, like just because I’m a fucking kid, it means I won’t hear them. But it makes me think sometimes, I mean, I’m sure this wasn’t what you had in mind for your twenties, having to parent some stupid kid, especially one with this much fucking baggage. I mean, if you had to have a kid, it’s pretty shit you ended up with me and not a normal one. You’d probably be happier without me anyways, so you could be a normal fucking adult and go out without having to worry about babysitters and all of that dumb shit, or just leave me here while you do fun stuff like my parents did. I know how it is to be a young parent, David, mine wouldn’t shut the fuck up about all of the hardships I caused on their goddamn lives.”
“Max, I wouldn’t trade having you here for the world. You are my favorite person, and I’m so happy that you’re living with me. And if I’m going to care for you, I’m going to take every responsibility that comes with it, whether that means canceling plans to go out because I can’t find a babysitter, or taking off of work to take care of you when you’re sick, even if it makes my boss mad. I’m not going to leave you alone to go out, because when it comes down to it, I’d much rather stay home and hang out with you. I know you went through a lot with your parents, but I’m going to try my best to be as different from them as possible. I’m never going to abandon you Max, and I love you, with your so-called baggage and all. I would much rather have you than any other kid, normal or not, because I care so much about you.”
“God, you sappy piece of shit.” Max laughed weakly, with tears in his eyes. “I love you too.”
It was barely audible, but it made David tear up as well. In the two months Max had been living with David, this was the first time he’d said it. David was always telling his friends he loved them, so when Max first moved in, he didn’t really think anything of it. Except when he’d first said it to Max, just offhandedly after a conversation, the boy had froze, looking at him with an expression impossible to read, and ran off to his room. After that, David didn’t say it nearly as much as he would with his adult friends, but he would every night when tucking him into bed. Max would always just reply with a short “Good night,” and after a while, David just figured he wasn’t ready for it, and that was just how it would be for the time being. He’d almost stopped expecting him to say it at all. But there he was, just working it into a conversation and David didn’t know how to react. Part of him knew he should stay composed so he wouldn’t scare the boy off from saying it again, but that part was overridden by the part of him that was now crying tears of happiness, tears of love.
“David, are you alright there? You look like I fucking short-circuited you or something. Oh god, I broke him.” Max rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.
“Can I hug you?” David knew Max wasn’t really a physical contact kind of person, so he asked to avoid the boy wriggling out of his arms and cursing wildly if he didn’t want to be hugged.
“Sure, you big fucking sap.” And David got up and pulled him into a big bear hug, and before long the two of them were sniffling and smiling, standing in the kitchen.
“I’m so glad I have you.” David wasn’t really crying anymore, but god, he was just so full of love for the small boy he’d taken in, and for as long as Max was with him, he wanted to tell him as much as possible.
“Yeah, yeah. The feeling is mutual. Just don’t expect me to be this sappy again for a while.” Max snarked back, but he didn’t try to move out of the hug. They stayed like that for a while. Max not used to having affection shown towards him at all, much less physical affection, and David just trying to keep himself together and not cry again because sometimes it just hit him that he had Max now, for good, that the boy would be safe and taken care of and actually cared about.