Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

David lived a normal life. He had a nice, lovely, clean house. He had a regular job as a retail worker, nothing major, but it paid well.

Today he had gone to the grocery store to stock up on food. He ran into a man wearing all white. 

Curious, he mused to himself.

“I’m so sorry.” David said aloud, “Let me help you.”

“Oh, no.” The guy paused, “It’s my fault.”

“Oh thank God.” David said loudly, “I thought you were going to be mad.”

He twitched at the mention of God and didn’t say anything else. He just walked away.

~

He made pasta for dinner that night. He had the urge to separate the sauce from the pasta. He usually adds it and mixes it all, but tonight something was off.

He was just cleaning up his dishes when there was a knock on the door. When he opened it, he was confused at first, but when he heard sobbing from below him, he looked down.

A child wearing all white, seemingly against their will, was sobbing.

After a second of shock, David heard bits of what they were saying.

“...Parents… gave me up… crazy…” He sobbed harder.

David looked around, noticing a man, the same one from the grocery story, walking up towards his house, rather creepily.

“Maxwell? Come out, come out, wherever you are!” He heard the man call.

He frowned, “Come inside.”

The poor child was having a breakdown, so he just quickly pulled him inside. He brought him to the guest room, which has hardly been used.

“Hide in the closet. I’ll be right back.” David commanded.

The boy nodded and tensed up when another knock on the door sounded.

“Stay safe.” David said to which he got another nod.

When he opened the door, he was met with the creep.

“Hello! What do I own the pleasure of seeing..?” David prompted.

“Daniel.”

“Daniel! Always nice to know the people you run your cart into!” David gave a wide smile.

Daniel, the weirdo in white, smiled back. It was forced, obviously.

“Anything I can help you with?”

“Have you seen a little boy?”

“Yeah! You know what? The neighbour’s grandchild, he was a boy.”

Daniel nodded, starting to lean backward to try to look through his windows.

“Tinted windows, huh?” Daniel muttered.

“Blocks out the amount of heat coming in during the summer.” David smiled, “Is that all?”

Daniel tried to look behind him into his house, but only saw a bit of the kitchen island.

"Yes… It is." Daniel nodded and headed back where he came from.

David headed back over to the guest room and flicked on the light.

"Hey," He spoke softly, "He's gone."

The door to the closet moved and the small boy peered out.

"I'm David, and you?" He started with.

"... Max."

"I won't make you tell me, but what happened?"

He started sobbing again and David frowned even more.

"How about you eat some dinner?" David suggested, "Pasta sound good?"

Max didn't even show that he heard it. So David extended his hand, and he took it.

David smiled and brought him into the kitchen.

~

After he ate dinner, David tucked him into the upstairs guest bed which was right next to his room.

He went over to his neighbours, the Campwells, and asked if they had any old clothes.

Mrs. Campwell was more than happy to give him some shirts and pants. She was understanding, as she did see what happened.

Thanking her, he left. He left the clothes in the guest bedroom. Then, when he was sure the kid was asleep, he left to go somewhere.

 ~

In the morning, David was sipping coffee from a mug at the kitchen island, watching the news. Then a bleary eyed Max came into the kitchen.

"Morning!" David said cheerfully.

He was about to respond when the TV made a loud sound indicating breaking news.

"Breaking news, cultist Daniel Gray found dead." The reporter stated.

Max stared wide eyed and in shock.

David just smiled.

Chapter Text

Thankfully it was summer so he didn't have to worry about getting Max enrolled in school. He did have a plan however.

It started with calling up an old friend.

"Hey Gwen!" David exclaimed when she picked up.

~

After explaining the situation, she agreed.

"I'm free today at 3 o'clock." She sighed.

"Thank you, Gwen. I owe you one."

"It's my job, David."

"That's true. See you at 3!"

With that he hung up and went up to Max's room.

"Max! My friend is a therapist." David smiled, "You don't have to tell her anything, but I think this'll be good for you."

He nodded, slowly and unsure. He hasn't been talking so David decided to take matters to a professional.

"Great! Her name is Gwen." David explained a bit, "We can go shopping before hand."

He nodded and slid out of the bed. Last night it seemed he was still reeling back from the events and was cautious to wear colour which was a weird prospect.

“You know, it’s fine to where colour here.” David explained.

He nodded his head as David placed a yellow shirt and some jeans on the bed.

“Get dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

~

A few minutes later they were in the car.

“I don’t want to borrow clothes from Mrs. Campwell forever. So if you see anything you like, just ask!” David smiled, “She recommended a thrift store where she donates a lot of her old things.”

For the rest of the car ride David either chatted to Max or listened to the radio. Then they pulled into a small strip mall, consisting of only five stores. A bakery, tattoo parlor, flower shop, the thrift store, and a pizza place.

The thrift store was called Thrifty Finds and with a quick read of the sign on the window David figured out it was a non-profit and all proceeds go to a LGBTQ+ charity.

The bell rang as they entered and the cashier, a guy who looked like he didn't know it was the 2000s now, glanced up.

"Hey! If you need help finding anything you can ask either me or Ered." He pointed to a teen girl sitting in a chair nearby.

"Where are the clothes?" David asked.

"Over in that corner." He said, pointing to the opposite side of the shop.

"Thank you." David smiled.

On the way back to the clothes corner, Max stopped. He was transfixed by a bear that had a few tears and was missing an eye.

David smiled, "If you want it you can have it."

Max looked up at him and attempted a small smile.

David grabbed the bear and handed it to the boy.

"Now, let's continue." He smiled.

~

After looking through a lot of the clothes, they found a few shirts, jeans, and shorts. As they were finishing up, Max grabbed a blue hoodie and looked at it before holding it up to show David.

He nodded and put it on top of the clothes he had draped over his arm, "Alright. Looks like we went through everything."

Max nodded in agreement and they walked back to the front where they saw the cashier idly talking to two men in suits.

"Did you find everything okay?" He asked as they walked up.

David nodded and smiled, "Yes we did!"

After he rang up everything he asked, "Is that all?"

David nodded and the cashier printed out his receipt.

That's when David remembered, "Oh! The bear."

The two men in the suit turned around and one of them shook their head, "The transaction already went through, why bother with a new one?"

The other one agreed, "It's yours for the price of free!"

"Can you do that?" David asked.

"I don't see why we can't. We own this place." One of them handed a dollar to the cashier, "Here you go, Jasper. Should cover the bear."

He gave a nervous laugh, "Can we call it a stuffed bear?"

"Ah. Right. This should cover the stuffed bear."

Jasper nodded and took the dollar, "Sorry, today is just a bad day for me."

They nodded and one spoke up, "You can go home early. We've got the store."

He nodded, got up, and as soon as he walked out from behind the counter he noticed Max.

“Oh my gosh! Max!” Jasper exclaimed, “Do you still have that bracelet I gave you?”

Max’s eyes widened and looked close to tears.

“Oh, it’s fine if you lost it.” He smiled, “I can make another. It was old fabric after all.”

Max nodded and Jasper gave him a confused to look.

So David explained, “He came up to my door while being chased by that cult leader.”

He nodded, a bit nervously actually before writing something down on a scrap of paper, “Here’s my number if you need anything. He’s been coming to the camp I work at for 3 years now.”

David nodded and as they were leaving Jasper suddenly passed out.

“Jasper!” He heard Max cry out, first time he spoke in while.

Ered got up, eyes wide, and asked, “I knew something was up with this new therapist.”

Meanwhile the owners called 9-1-1.

“Who’s his therapist?”

“Some new girl named Jen.” Ered explained, “Been making him take a weird pill after his usual therapist ended up in the hospital for unknown reasons.”

David nodded, “Make sure he or someone else calls me with an update.”

Ered nodded, “This is so not cool. Dad, is he okay?”

The men both responded with, “Yes.”

Max tugged at David’s hand and he turned, “Yes, Max?”

In a soft voice he asked, “Is he going to be okay?”

David nodded trying to put on a smile, “Now it’s time to go meet Gwen!”

Max nodded, taking one last glance at Jasper.

“Sorry. I made an appointment with someone or else I would stay to see if he was okay myself.”

“That’s okay. We’ll keep you updated.”

~

Once at the therapy center, David walked up to the front desk. The receptionist had blonde hair that was a lot like Daniel’s in a ponytail and wore a pink shirt with a white belt around it with an upside down peace sign.

“Hi, I’m here for my son’s appointment with Dr. Sparks.” David smiled.

“She’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Is there a Jen here by any chance?” He asked.

“Yeah. That’s me, actually.” She have him a suspicious look, “Why?”

“Just my boyfriend’s had you as a therapist recently and he’s been complaining about the pills giving him a headache, along with worsening his anxiety.” David lied to see if it was actually the Jen he was looking for.

“I’ve been getting to much complaints. That’s why I’m the receptionist today. Now go away.” She shooed him away.

He nodded and took a seat next to Max, who was now wearing the blue hoodie he picked out and clutching the stuffed bear.

“Did you like camp?” David asked.

Max shrugged.

“Do you remember the name of the camp?”

“Camp Campbell.”

“It’s still summer, did camp get out early?”

“Shut down until the bear problem in sorted.”

“Is that why..?”

Max cut him off with a nod.

“Ah.” David nodded.

Not a moment later, Gwen came up to them.

“Gwen! Nice to see you.” David smiled.

Gwen gave a smile back, “Long time no see. Is this Max?”

David nodded, “Max, this is Gwen.”

He gave a smile wave.

“Hi.” She greeted and bent down to his level, “I’m Gwen. We’re going to go into my office, okay?”

Max nodded and slid out of the chair.

“Do you want David to join us?”

He nodded and grabbed David’s hand.

“Alright.” Gwen gave him a small smile and she stood up, “Follow me, please.”

~

At the end of the session, David made another appointment a week out and Gwen suggested actually adopting him legally. When they got home it was around 5 o’clock so David decided to help Max put away his new clothes along with teaching him how to use the guest room shower.

An hour later after Max showered and dressed, they were on the couch watching a movie along with eating a pizza David had ordered.

Soon it was around 9 o’clock and Max was nodding off where he sat, so David brought him up to bed and tucked him in.

At 10 o’clock David checked to make sure he was sound asleep, which he was, before slipping off into the night.

He came back at 12 o’clock and took a shower. Then he crawled into bed himself.

~

The next morning David was once again watching the news. Max had yet to wake up so he was alone when the news report came on.

"Psychiatrist Jen Todd was found dead. Police are saying that, as it turns out, she was planning on skipping town after giving some of her patients a prescription that was poisoning her patients. They also suspect that she was behind the mysterious nature of her patients usual therapist-"

That’s when David changed the channel, smiling to himself.

Chapter Text

They settled into a routine in the following weeks. The Millers called with information every once in awhile. Jasper is recovering well, but he got completely wrecked by those pills. Max has still been seeing Gwen every week, he’s starting to open up more to what happened. David is finishing up the classes he needed to take in order to prove able to adopt.

Tomorrow, David is enrolling Max into school, but for today they’re just chilling at home for the day.

Or at least that was the plan until they got a knock on the door. So David got up and opened it.

There was his mom standing there.

“Hi, mom.” He laughed, nervously, “I didn’t know you were coming today.”

“You kept going on and on about my soon to be grandchild! I just had to come meet him!” She beamed, “I even brought your step-brother!”

“I’m not sure how Max will take to him.” David shrugged.

“Which is why I bought him a new game for that device of his.”

“Is that why he hasn’t even made it out of the car yet?”

She nodded and laughed, “Yeah.”

“Do you mind staying here while I go get Max?”

“Not at all.” She smiled.

David stepped away and when he went back, Max was still laying on the couch.

“Hey, Maxy. My mom came to visit us!”

Max looked over at him and got up, following David back to the door.

“Mom, this is Max.” David said, gesturing to the small child.

She gave a wide smile, “Oh! It’s lovely to meet you! I’m your Grandma Selene.”

He waved shyly and hid behind David.

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” She said, warmly.

“Lucky today was a lazy day, huh?” David laughed, “Or else we wouldn’t be home.”

Max nodded and gave a small smile.

She laughed, “I should’ve called first.”

“It’s fine.” He smiled, “Is Pikeman coming in or no?”

“His name is Edward, dear.” She looked over and frowned, “I’ll have to drag him out.”

As his mom went over to get his brother, he turned to Max, “If it gets too much you can hang with the Campwells, I think their grandkid is over today, though.”

Max nodded as she came back up to the porch with Pikeman by the ear.

“Max, this is David’s step-brother, Edward. He’s your uncle.”

“I’m a what?” Pikeman looked up, surprised.

She sighed, “I explained it on the way over.”

“Oh yeah… I knew that, but could you explain it for Max?”

Max huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m pretty sure he already knows, unlike you.” She sighed again, “I’m not mad, Edward. Just disappointed.”

“Mom!” Pikeman whined.

“Now hush.” She scolded, “Maybe we can go see a movie, my treat.”

“As long as it’s kid friendly.” David said, glaring at Pikeman.

“Of course!” She said then leaned over and whispered, “If anything we leave him in the car.”

“Hey I heard that!”

“Also did you mention a neighbour kid? Maybe we can invite them.” She suggested.

“We haven’t exactly met them, but I guess we could. However, we should get dressed first.”
~

They walked over to the Campwells’ house and knocked on the door.

“Oh what a lovely surprise! Neil is here today too!” Mrs. Campwell smiled.

“My mom is offering to take me and Max to the movies and we were wondering if he would like to go?”

“Neil!” She yelled and leaned to whisper to them, “He can be a bit socially awkward.”

Neil came down the stairs, “Yes?”

“The lovely neighbours I was telling you about are offering to take you to the movies.”

“I’m not interested.” He said and turned to go back up the stairs.

“He has a kid your age.” She said, then closed the door until there was only a crack open and said, “At this point, it’s a demand, not a suggestion.”

“Fine! I’ll budge. Let me go get my shoes.”

She opened the door back up and smiled, “He’ll be happy to go.”

David smiled and Max snickered, which caused her attention to go towards him.

“Oh, I didn’t even realize you were there. Such a quiet child.”

“That’s Max for you!”

She gave a polite laugh, “He’ll be down in just a second.”

Neil cleared his throat from behind her and she turned and gave a smile.

“Hi, Neil!” David started, “I’m David and this is Max!”

Max covered his ears and David gave him an apologetic smile.

“Let’s just get this over with.” He sighed.

“Neil,” His grandmother scolded, “Be nice.”

Max peered curiously at him and David nudged him and urged quietly, “Go say hi.”

Max shook his head, but David pushed him gently forward as they walked to his mom’s car. Max shot him a glare then proceeded to trip over a rock and fell with an ‘oof’.

David had the urge to grab a knife and threaten the rock, but as it stands, the rock cannot be stabbed.

Before he could do anything, Neil turned around, and asked, “Are you okay?”

Max lifted his head up to look at him and then laid it back down on the grass. Neil looked at David with a confused look.

“He’s being dramatic.” David explained and Max huffed.

Neil bent down and offered Max a hand, which he took. Once up, he brushed himself off. Max then gave David a glare, to which he just shrugged apologetically.

“Come on guys!” Selene waved them over to the car, “Movie time!”