Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Max was sitting on his bed in his room he was pretty sure the caretakers had forgotten him again. Honestly, he wasn't sure if living in the group home was better than with his dad. The big difference was that he wasn't getting beaten but at least he had gotten food from his dad.

He looked at the small clock in his room that had stopped working. He didn't know how late it was the only thing he knew was that it was dark outside. He also missed going to school. He was getting home schooled now but the caretakers had said he was old enough to do it himself. So he had gotten some old books to learn from and that was it.

He sighed again and tried listing to what happened outside of his bedroom. If you were able to call it a bedroom. He had a small window which was the size of maybe a football but it was a square. His bed was placed directly under it. Both ends of the bed were placed against the wall. His desk was right next to the bed and also used as a bedside table and more didn't fit. He had stuffed his clothes under his bed just like everything else he was allowed to bring from his old home.

Home. What even was home. Max wasn't sure anymore.

He didn't hear any noises indicating that everyone was already asleep. Maybe he could get some food again? No, he wasn't going to get risked getting locked into his room again. Why didn't anyone want to foster him again? Maybe he could get some more food with a foster family.

But the last two foster homes didn't quite work out either. I mean he was sent back to the group home. He didn't have any friends in the group home. All the kids were under five years old and mostly only there for a couple of months before they had their new forever home. But Max wasn't that lucky.

Maybe it would be better on the street. He could look into garbage for food a lot of people threw away food when it was still good. But then he wouldn't have a roof above his head or a place for shelter. Just two more years until he was 18 and thrown into the street.

With those thoughts, Max ended up asleep in a bed that wasn't a bed. It was too old and Max could feel all the springs from the mattress.

—

Sebastian was out with his friend Lewis. Sebastian was a stay-at-home dad while his partner Kimi owned a tattoo shop. He and Lewis had been friends for a while and the other had asked to go out for a couple of beers it was Friday night after all. Kimi had stayed home if the kids needed him both knew it was just because Kimi didn't like hanging out around a lot of people because both of their kids had a sleepover with friends.

"How are Lance and Charles doing?"  They were seated at the bar drinking their first beer.

"Good Lance is still mute not talking to anyone besides Kimi and me but just a couple of words more than last month. Charles is doing great," Lewis saw the smile on the other one's face whenever he talked about his kids.

Sebastian and Kimi had adopted Charles when he was just four years old. Through the adoption agency in their city. Lance hadn't been living with them for long. They had fostered him for 5 months before they officially adopted him at the age of 14.

"How old are they again? I always forgot their age," Lewis lifted his empty beer glass when the bartender was watching them.

"Charles is 16 and Lance is 15," Seb drank the last bit of his beer and made the same gesture Lewis had just made. Two beers were placed in front of them.

"Did you two ever think about adopting one more?" and Sebastian knew that face. Lewis had planned something and tonight wasn't just about catching up. But he wasn't going to lie.

"Yes, why? You heard something?" Lewis was the reason Kimi and Sebastian had adopted Lance. Lewis was a cop who specialized in child care and all cases that had to do with children.

"There is this group home that we have been monitoring and Valtteri has made uncover visits twice. There is supposed to be a sixteen-year-old boy in there but Val hasn't got a hold of him, and some little kids have complained to their foster parents that they weren't treated well." Lewis took a big gulp from his beer. This was the second group home in three years that they were trying to shut down and it made his blood boil. Most of those kids had been through enough. He heard his friend let out a deep sigh.

"Are you guys sure the boy didn't just leave?" Seb looked over and took a big gulp of his beer as well. He knew Lance used to talk before going to the group home and that's where he went mute. He just hoped this other sixteen-year-old didn't go to something similar.

"Well Val hasn't seen him but some of the younger kids did mention him. Look can you and Kimi maybe visit once and see if he may fit in with your family. Before we shut down the group home because we know what will happen then." Lewis's eyes were pleading. Sebastian knew what was going to happen if the teenager wasn't able to get a foster home. Kimi had told him enough about his story to know it wasn't sunshine and rainbows.

"I will talk to Kimi about it and text you after," Lewis smiled and nodded at him. It didn't take long before they settled back into another more relaxed topic.

When Sebastian came home he saw his husband sitting on the couch in front of the television watching what looked to be an ice-hockey game. He sat down next to his husband who directly wrapped his arm around him.

"How are the boys doing?" Kimi looked over. Of course, he would ask about their boys directly. Kimi smiled at him knowing they were doing okay.

"Charles texted me, he is having fun and Esteban's father called saying Lance was smiling and looked happy they even invited another boy named Mick." Kimi was surprised when he picked up the phone and was told Lance had agreed to invite another boy. They had never heard or in Lance his case he had never signed that he was friends with someone else besides Esteban. But Kimi felt incredibly proud of Lance.

"That's good," but Kimi looked over to his husband again something was off. He knew by the way Seb was hugging him closer than normal.

"What happened?" Seb looked up for the first time since he came home.

"Lewis and his team want to shut down another group home, he asked if we can go there first and see if this teen fits with our family. " Seb didn't look at Kimi again. They had talked about fostering a kid again but they were thinking about a younger age this time.

"How old are they?" Seb smiled softly, before looking back up.

"Sixteen, the same age as Charles. However, Valtteri has been there twice and he hasn't seen the boy." Kimi took a deep breath, it was the same age when his group home was shut down and he didn't want the boy to go through something similar.

"Let's call our agency tomorrow and see if they can set up a meeting," Kimi gently kissed his husband before they both settled better on the couch.

-----

A loud knocking on his door woke him up. Max quickly hid his stuffed animal under the thin blanket before answering.

"Yes?" it took a minute before the door was slammed open a shiver went through his body. He hated loud noises.

"Get up, and be downstairs in five minutes. You get visitors." Not even a second later the woman was leaving his room again. Leaving the door wide open. Max sat in shock on his bed. He had never got visitors.

He got out of bed and put the stuffed animal in his trash bag under the bed. He quickly made himself ready so he was a bit more presentable. His clothes looked old and dirty. He had two t-shirts one of them had a hole in it the other didn't but the color had changed and it didn't look nice.

He slowly made his way down the stairs. The door to the living area was closed but he could hear voices he didn't recognize. They didn't get anyone new right so this must be the visitors they were talking bout.

When he opened the door he saw two men talking to the lady that had woken him up. One of them was broader, and they both had almost the same hair color. The broader one had lighter eyes and was wearing a t-shirt which made all the tattoos visible. Max was lying if he didn't feel intimate with the man.  The other man had long hair, which started to curl.

The lady had looked at him again, Max had never seen her so friendly.

"Ah there he is, Max this is Sebastian and Kimi, guys this is Max," she looked at him with an expression he couldn't place. Both men turned toward Max and he started to feel even more intimate.

"Hey Max, we are here for a placement visiting and we were wondering if we could take you out to eat breakfast?" Max was again in shock. He knew what a placement visit was. It was a visit to meet your potential foster family. Which had meant they may want to foster and he was going to get some food during the visit as well.

Max opened his mouth to speak but the way the caretaker looked at him made him close his mouth again. It looked like she was telling him to decline, but Max would not let that happen. So he just nodded and hoped Kimi and Sebastian didn't care.

He looked at both of them but they still had a soft welcoming smile so Max realized they probably didn't care he wasn't talking directly to them.

"We already signed some papers so we can take you out directly. The car is in front, you're going with us?" Didn't he just nod his head confirming he wanted to go? He looked to both men who were waiting for another confirmation. So Max nodded his head again.

"Let's go," Max followed both of them toward the car that was indeed parked in front of the building. Sebastian opened the car door for him to get in. He slowly sat in the back of the car. He saw Kimi taking place in the passenger seat and Sebastian behind the wheel. The car looked nice, it definitely wasn't a cheap one and Max was scared he was going to ruin the leather with how dirty his clothes were.

He looked around him in the car after he buckled himself up. There was a bandana lying in the middle seat and Max wondered if they had more kids. Then noticed the car moving and decided to look outside for the ride. Both men in front of him had slipped into an easy conversation but Max hadn't been paying attention.

When the car stopped Max looked outside, it was a cute diner that looked straight out of the 80s. He unbuckled himself and went to open the door when he saw Kimi had already opened it. He smiled slightly still not trusting them which of course was not surprising. He had only met them ten minutes ago.

"We made a reservation for three but there is a possibility our kids will be joining later today," Kimi told him while closing the car door again. Oh, so they did have more children. Max wondered how old they were and if he was going to like them or if it ended up being like the last two foster homes. Again he just nodded his head. Which both men didn't seem to mind.

When they had ordered their food and were comfortable sitting at their table Max got more nervous. He had ordered some waffles after just nodding his head when Sebastian had suggested it. Not knowing how to start a conversation and what he was allowed to ask and what not. So he started to fidget with his fingers. 

"Max?" It was a soothing voice and Max looked up to Sebastian who had called him. Both he and Kimi were sitting in front of him.

"You can ask us anything you want." Sebastian and Kimi were still smiling, not creepy smiling but a comfortable smile. Max opened his mouth to ask a question he had wanted to ask since he found out they had more kids. But nothing came out, he knew it was his anxiety but he also knew he had to speak if someone talked to him. However, the last time he spoke was with his last foster family almost 18 months ago.

Kimi seemed to notice that the boy had trouble speaking. Like he wanted to but was physically restricted. Kimi took his phone out of his pocket and opened the note app. He had done the exact same thing when they first took Lance out. After that day they took online sign languages classes with the whole family. It had definitely helped and Lance was using it every time.

"Here, you can just type your question in the notes app. You don't have to talk if you're not ready to and no question is stupid or off limits, okay?" Kimi handed him the phone. Max carefully took the phone in his hands. Not wanting to drop it, he used to have a phone until it broke and no one bought him a new one.

Max slowly typed the question out in the app and thought a couple of seconds about it before he added some more text and another question.

Thank you for letting me type

How many kids do you have?

What are your jobs?

Max handed the phone back to Kimi who let Sebastian read the text as well. They had to buy a small whiteboard for Max if they were going to foster him. Maybe he could use Lance his old whiteboard at first.

Kimi handed the phone back to Max. Max looked up confused which made Kimi chuckle slightly. "For when you want to say something more," Max smiled at them so they really were okay with him not talking.

"As Kimi said, we have two kids. Charles who is sixteen, which I believe is the same age as you are," Sebastian waited for confirmation which still surprised Max. So he slowly nodded his head and looked at the phone. He looked back at the men who gave him a slight encouragement to type out what he wanted.

30 September

He turned the phone for them to look at and heard a surprised noise from Kimi and Sebastian. Max looked up again and wanted to type something but Sebastian spoke up before he could do anything.

"Charles is just sixteen days younger than you are. His birthday is October sixteen," A waiter arrived at their table to hand them their drinks. Both Kimi and Sebastian had ordered a coffee while Max had ordered a smoothie. He had actually chosen that himself by pointing to it.

"Oh and we have Lance, he is fifteen. What was the other question again? Or jobs right" Kimi asked him again. Max could only nod again. His neck was going to get sore from all the nodding.

Sebastian was the one who started talking again. "Kimi owns a tattoo shop which is right next to our house. I don't have a job, I do a lot of paperwork for Kimi," Sebastian thought it was better to not tell the boy he used to work with the police department. He didn't know which experience the boy had with the police and he didn't need to get overwhelmed.

Max looked over to Kimi his arms again, Max had secretly always wanted a tattoo to cover up some scars but he wasn't old enough to get one. Maybe if he asked nicely Kimi would give him one. That was of course if they decided to foster him.

"What year school are you in, or are you getting homeschooled?" Kimi decided to ask. They knew from experience that homeschooling meant Max had probably fallen behind a lot.

Max started to type again. He wasn't that fast he had noticed that when they first let him type.

Homeschooled

Kimi nodded his head. Of course, they had taken him out of school. "Do you want to start with school again or do you prefer homeschooling?"

Max looked up. They were already thinking about the further while he still was shocked he got asked for a visit, but he had his answer already ready. He absolutely wanted to go back to school. He hoped some of his friends were still there.

So it was no surprise when he turned the phone and the men read the words back to school. Sebastian smiled sadly. It was weird to think a kid especially a teen wanted to go back to school. That's when you know their life is messed up.

They fell into an easy conversation after that asking about their favorite hobbies which Max wasn't really able to name. It has been a while since he was allowed to have fun. Max happily typed out the answers to their questions while eating making sure his hands were always clean before he touched Kimi his phone.

Kimi and Sebastian had looked at each other a couple of times both knowing they didn't really want to take the boy back to the group home. "I'm going to call them and tell them we will pick up his stuff."

Kimi nodded at Sebastian. The last one had whispered in his ear making sure Max didn't hear it yet. Kimi looked over to the boy sitting in front of him. His mouth was covered in whipped cream and a small smile on his face. There was no way Kimi was going to bring him back to the group home.

Kimi grabbed a tissue from the box on the table and give it to the boy in front. Who took it while a blush started to cover his face.

Max couldn't believe he had embarrassed himself in front of the men. Sebastian had gone up and excused himself while Kimi had stayed seated.

They were done eating and Max had looked at Kimi his phone to see the time. It was already 11 am and he had gotten the phone at 9 am. He couldn't really believe he was with them for two hours.

He still didn't trust them but they were nice so far and he was willing to give it a try he just hoped they also thought he was good enough.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Sebastian walking back to the table.

"It's settled. You're coming home with us Max,".

Max looked up in shock. The words rang in his ears. Max took the phone that was still laying next to him with the notes app open. He needed to know two things.

Are you joking?

He wasn't able to type in his second question he turned the phone quickly to the man that was still standing in front of the table. Sebastian smiled down.

"No I'm not joking, I just called our agency and they are making all the papers ready for us to sign."

Max nodded his head still in shock. He was going to get into another foster family he's just hoped they were just as nice at their house as they were now.

He looked back at the phone. There was another question he wanted to ask but he didn't want to bother them. Kimi seemed to notice something was up and gently started talking again.

"What's going on Max?"

Max looked up and started to type before slowly turning his phone again.

Am I allowed to get my stuff?

Both men smiled before answering Max his question. "Of course, you are allowed to bring your own stuff. We are going back right now and we will sign the paperwork while you grab your stuff okay?"

Max nodded his head a deed breath left his mouth. Good cause he wasn't going to be able to sleep without his lion.

"Let's go, Max," Kimi stood up as well and waited for Max to join them. Max looked back at the table and saw Kimi had left his phone there.

He tried to speak up but only a couple of weird sounds made it out. Both Kimi and Sebastian looked up. Not expecting Max to try to speak again. It was Kimi who saw the discomfort on Max his face first. Realizing the boy was in pain.

"Are you okay?" It was Sebastian who was the first to talk. Max nodded his head and pointed to the phone that was still laying on the table. Both men followed his finger.

"Oh, thank you, Max!" Kimi give him a small pad on the shoulder feeling how Max flinched from the gesture. He made a mental note to talk about it with Sebastian and quickly grabbed his phone.

They made it back to the group home in just a couple of minutes. Max was sent upstairs to pack his stuff. Not that he had packed a lot. He always kept everything in the trash bag beside the books he got to learn. But they were property from the group home.

Max signed and sat down on the bed looking at his worn-off shoes. He couldn't really believe what was happening. Was he really allowed to go back home with a new foster family?

He heard someone come upstairs and snapped his head up to meet his brown eyes of Sebastian. "Do you have everything?"

Max nodded his head. Sebastian looked around the room. Well, it wasn't really a room. It was more like the size of a small closet. He stole out his hand to grab the trash bag. He made a note to himself to buy the boy a bag and suitcase.

Max handed him the trash bag and Sebastian got even sadder. It felt extremely light there were definitely not enough clothes in there. He looked at Max again. He looked to be the same height as Lance and of the same build. He just hoped Lance wouldn't mind sharing some clothes.

"Let's go to the car and go home," Max looked up. He wasn't sure if it was going to be home. He didn't know what home was. He still stood up and walked after Sebastian to the car. He didn't say goodbye to the caretakers. There was a big chance he would see them again.

It was a big house. That was all Max could think when he saw it. The small building next to the house was clearly being used as a tattoo shop. The house definitely wasn't modern but Max loved it.

Sebastian had shown him around the house. Including their bedroom, the bedrooms of Charles and Lance were kept off-limits. Which Max understood, he didn't like it either when people just walked into his room. 

"This will be your room, we can get you some more stuff tomorrow and decorate it a bit. I will get you some comfortable clothes and then you can take a shower okay?" Sebastian had opened the door to a guest room that obviously hadn't been used for a while. 

It was a simple room, at least for a time bigger than he had in the group home. His trashbag was put on the bed. It was a double bed, which he had never had before. There was a big closet in the wall and a desk under the window. 

Sebastian had gone out of the room to get the clothes and Max took a couple of steps toward the bed. It looked soft he carefully touched the bedding, before he went over to the bag. He took out the couple of clothes he had and laid them down on the bed. 

Next, he took out his stuffed animal and quickly hid it under the pillows. His last foster home had almost trow the animal away and Max couldn't have that happening again. The only thing left was a couple of old photos with his family. 

Sebastian and Kimi had texted their boys to let them know the visiting had turned into a placement. Kimi and Sebastian had informed their boys back in the weekend about what was happening and it was Lance who had directly offered to share the room if needed besides knowing they had two guestrooms. 

Sebastian had texted Lance again asking if he could take some of his more comfortable clothes for Max to wear. Lance had texted back saying that it was okay. Sebastian had grabbed the softest materials he could find and walked back to Max his room. 

Just before he walked in he saw Max unpacking the small back. His heart broke when he saw Max quickly hiding the plush animal. He just hoped Lance would show his room to Max soon so he saw he didn't need to hide the lion. 

On the bed were fewer clothes than Sebastian was expecting and made another mental note to get some clothes for the boy the next day. After Max had laid the photos on the bedside table Sebastian decided to make himself noticeable. 

He knocked on the door before speaking up. "The bathroom is just in front of your room. You can use the shampoos standing in the corner and set the shower at the temperature you want. You don't have to take a cold shower okay." Max wondered why he specifically told him about the temperature. He nodded his head and took the clothes from Sebastian and went to the bathroom. 

It didn't take long before Max was under the shower and his body completely relaxed. It was the first time in over 18 months he had actually had a warm shower. 

 

Lance was the first to be home. He walked in the kitchen to see his papa making dinner. He didn't see Max anywhere. A small voice made Sebastian turn his head. 

"Papa," It was whispered but it always made Sebastian smile like a maniac. It had taken Lance a while to start speaking just words and he still preferred to use sing language but whenever he needed the attention from his fathers he would actually speak. 

"What's going on?" Sebastian set the stove on a lower fire before turning around completely to listen to his son. 

"Where is Max,?" Sebastian realized that Lance had signed each letter instead of the full name. 

"In his room, he saw the small library and took a book. You can go up to him but, he was okay with that but take your whiteboard he doesn't know sign language. Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes." Sebastian looked to Lance who nodded happily and walked away with a small wave and pointed to Kimi his small office in the house. Sebastian chuckled before turning around and going back to prepping dinner. 

 

Lance walked up the stairs to his bedroom and grabbed the two small whiteboards and the marker for it. His dad had texted him that he Max had trouble speaking and Lance felt like someone was going to understand him better. He didn't even meet him yet he felt a small bond already. 

He went to the biggest guestroom that was now Max his bedroom. The door was left open in a small gap. He knocked on the door before opening it more. He saw Max sitting on the bed with his back to the board. Lance directly recognized his clothes. Lance took one of the boards and started to write before entering the room. 

Max heard a knock on the door before it opened more. A boy around his age was standing on the other side. He had dark hair and brown eyes. He looked happy. Max saw him writing down something on the board while still standing next to the door. Why wasn't he coming in? 

Can I come in?

Max looked at the board that was turned. Oh, the boy had waited for permission before entering. Max nodded his head and saw him walking into the room. He went to sit on the desk chair and turned towards Max. 

He whipped the board clean and started to write something else. It was at that moment something clicked and Max realized this must be Lance. Kimi and Sebastian had told him more over lunch after his shower. 

Im Lance

Max looked at Lance so he was right. He felt weirdly comfortable that Lance was mute as well. Knowing or more like hoping that it meant Sebastian and Kimi really didn't care. Max wanted to reply but before he could Lance handed him a board with a marker as well. 

He cleaned his board again before he started to write. 

you can keep that one 

Max nodded his head before closing his book and taking the cap of the marker and starting to write as well. 

I'm Max

Lance smiled at Max before writing again. 

you like video games?

Max nodded his head. It had been a while since he played some video games. Lance made a hand gesture for Max to follow him. Max stood up slowly from the bed and followed Lance to what he assumed was his room. 

Lance opened the door to his room and walked straight to the PlayStation. Max took the time to look around. The walls were blue and there were a lot of posters from marvel. He looked over at Lance his bed. It was as big as the one he had in his room but the difference was that on Lance his bed were more pillows and surprisingly a couple of stuffed animals. Max got a bit confused about if it was allowed in the house or if Lance had forgotten to hide them. 

Max felt a small tap on his shoulder but still flinched, Lance noticed and decided he need to find something else to get Max his attention. Max turned around to the younger bot who pointed towards his PlayStation that was ready to use. 

They both sat down on the bed Max had left a good distance between them. Lance didn't care, he still remembered how his first couple of weeks were with the family. 

The boys didn't realize the time and when Kimi had asked Charles to get the boys for dinner they were in the middle of their second game of FIFA. Max was genuinely enjoying himself for the moment and Lance had realized that when he looked over to Max. 

Charles knocked on the door and saw both boys playing with big smiles on their faces. Small noises of happiness and playfulness were made by both of them and Charles smiled big. He knew Max was mute just like Lance but hearing the small noises of happiness was just something else. 

Both boys looked up after hearing the knock. "Dinner is ready," Lance started cleaning up. While Max looked nervously at Charles. The boy had brown hair and eyes but it was lighter than Lance. Charles walked into the room towards Max. "I'm Charles, you're Max right?" Charles had seen the whiteboard laying around with Max his name still on it. 

Max nodded his head before following them downstairs. He took waited with sitting on the others. There were five places set ready and Max didn't want to sit in someone else his place. Kimi was seated at the head of the table with Sebastian on one side of him. On the other side of Kimi, Lance and Charles took their places. A bord with food was left next to Sebastian and Max made his way to the chair to sit down and eat with his foster family for the first time. 

Chapter Text

While Charles and Lance went back to school the next morning Max stayed with Kimi and Sebastian for the rest of the week to settle in before going back to school

While he was staying with Sebastian more than Kimi, Kimi had a busy day at the tattoo shop which Max learned was one of the best in the country so clients came from far.

Sebastian had told him last night that they were going shopping for some clothes during his first dinner. Max knew most people didn't have just two sets of clothes but he also had trouble letting Sebastian spend his money on him.

That's how he found himself in a clothing store. Sebastian had asked if the clothes he was wearing were alright and he had whispered "yes," the look on Sebastian his face when he had talked was something else. He looked so proud and Max had never experienced that. However, Sebastian was also heartbroken that Max was okay with wearing those clothes.

Sebastian was holding up clothes but Max kept shaking his head. He didn't want them to spend so much money on him. He heard Sebastian sigh, "Max listen to me. We have enough money so I do not want you to worry about that. We are here for shopping and that's what we are going to do."

The voice was stern and there was obviously no room for an argument. Max had looked at Sebastian while he was speaking and the voice may have been stern his facial expression was the opposite.

"Do you understand?" Sebastian asked him to make sure Max understand that money was not a problem but he still didn't feel comfortable. Max nodded his head and Sebastian went on with showing more clothes. He noticed how Max only picked out soft materials at first and even tried the refuse wearing jeans made out of denim. So Sebastian got him softer pants which seemed to be a success.

Sebastian also noticed how Max wanted to touch every material first before he nodded or shook his head. It took them up till lunch before Sebastian thought Max had a decent amount of clothes.

They were sitting in the car on their way to get some lunch before Sebastian wanted to take him to another couple of shops. He wanted the boy to have a phone for communication and a laptop. He also wanted Max to choose some decorations for his room.

Sebastian knew they shouldn't go over the top but he couldn't help himself. He just wanted to make sure Max had everything he needed for the next couple of weeks and hopefully years.

They walked into the restaurant and the waiter took them to a table in the back for some more privacy. "Just remember you can choose what you want by just pointing to it on the menu, you don't need to choose a full meal it can be something small." Sebastian was wondering if Max was going to eat at all.

Yesterday Max had eaten a good amount of breakfast normal lunch but barely any dinner. Kimi had reminded Sebastian that Lance had told them he wasn't used to eating so much and had trouble in the beginning. They had told Max he could have less but he had taken more which led to Charles telling them what happened after dinner.

Max was looking at this plate he had they had given him less food than everyone else but he wasn't hungry at all. He had eaten more in one day than he had ever eaten in the last 18 months. His stomach wasn't used to it.

However, he didn't want to tell them. They had made extra dinner for him and he didn't want to find out what happens if he told them he wasn't able to eat so much.

He ate the dinner with a stomachache and got nauseous early on in the dinner but kept going. As soon as they were allowed to leave the table he excused himself and said he wanted to be alone.

He walked up the stairs to his bathroom which he found out only had to share with Lance and Charles. The nauseous only got worse so Max locked the bathroom and set himself in front of the toilet.

It didn't take long before he had to throw up. He however didn't notice Charles had followed him.

Charles had seen Max getting paler and paler during dinner. It reminded him of Lance on his first day and what he had told him later. Max was playing around with his food but still managed to eat all of it.

When they were allowed to leave the table Charles decided to follow Max. He was pretty sure Max was in the same situation Lance had been almost two years ago.

He made sure Max didn't realize he was following him. He saw Max going into the bathroom and heard the lock of the door. It didn't take long before he heard the sounds of someone throwing up and he knew enough.

Charles waited a bit in his room before he heard Max going back into his own bedroom. Lance had told him how scared and embarrassed he was when he had thrown up so Charles waited until he didn't hear anything anymore.

He walked over and looked into Max his room. The door was left open on a small gap and he peeked inside. Max was lying on the bed already looking exhausted.

Charles turned around and went downstairs again where he saw his dads sitting on the sofa watching a show game. He didn't like them at all but for a certain reason, his parents did.

"Papa, isä?" Charles decided to sit on the couch between his dad's. He looked around and saw Lance was sitting on the other couch with a blanket around him, completely snuggled up with his legs tucked on the couch as well.

"What's going on Charles?" He felt his dad curdle his hair. He looked to both his dads before looking over to Lance.

"Remember when Lance told us his food problems from when he just became part of our family?" Lance looked up when he heard his name. He heard two soft yes knowing they remembered he looked over to Lance whose face had fallen.

Charles started taking again. "I think Max has the same problem, I just heard him throw up in the bathroom. He currently looks to be sleeping."

He heard two deep sighs before he hears his isä start to talk. "Lance what would you have wanted us to do?" 

Lance looked up again. Charles saw how he was thinking probably not thinking about happy moments. Lance got his hands out from under the blanket and started to sign.

"Just small gestures like less food or let him fill up his own plate and let him know it's okay if he can't eat everything."

Sebastian was grateful Lance had wanted to tell him how he wanted them to act about this situation.

Max had pointed to a drink but still didn't know what he wanted to eat. He looked over the menu to see everything they had to offer. He wanted something that wasn't expensive.

In the end, he settled for a small sandwich that he found. It wasn't big and it was one of the cheaper items. Which honestly was a win-win situation after he realized he was still full from breakfast.

Even if he barely had breakfast. They had let him make his own breakfast after setting different stuff on the table. He made sure they weren't looking when he got some cereal.

"So I know this day may be a bit overwhelming but I was thinking we could get you a phone for communication and get some stuff for your room." Sebastian took out his phone to open the notes app on his phone and gave it to Max.

Max took the phone and saw Sebastian had already opened the app. He didn't know if he was supposed to say something back or not.

"If you are completely exhausted, doesn't have to be physical, you can say it and we can go home."

There was the word home again but for Max, it still didn't feel like home. It was just a house.

Max thought about his options. He would love to have a phone and try to see if he can get in contact with some of his friends again. But he also didn't want to make Sebastian spend more money on him. In the end, he decided to go along.

Sebastian smiled at him when he turned the phone again. They made small talk during their lunch and Max was definitely stuffed after it. He didn't feel like throwing up but he definitely wasn't able to eat more.

Max was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed looking at the decorations in the bags. There was also a pot of paint in one of the bags. Max had however told Sebastian that he was too tired to do anything else. Which is why he was sitting on his bed.

His phone was laying in front of him it had been installed but he hadn't done anything with it yet. He was too scared to download any social media app.

He did have Instagram but he hadn't been able to use it in the last 18 months and with having a new phone number now he had to download Instagram again if he wanted to get in contact with some of his friends.

He sighed and let himself fall back on the bed. He took his stuffed animal from under his pillow and cuddled it close. This day was so much that he didn't know how to process it. He just wished his dad was nice or his mum and sister were still here.

He felt a tear go down over his face and angrily whipped it away. Why was he so weak? He was sixteen he shouldn't be crying over all of this.

He completely curled up and went under the blankets and closed his eyes. Silent tears still made their way over his cheek. But it didn't take long before sleep took over.

Kimi made his way upstairs, Lance and Charles were already sitting at the table ready for dinner. Standing in front of the door that was again left on a small gap he peeked inside, Max had curled up under the blank his face not visible since he was facing the other way.

Kimi slowly knocked on the door, but Max didn't move or stir. He tried knocking again but still, nothing happened. Kimi didn't want to walk into the room without permission but it look like he had to.

He opened the door more and stepped into the room. It still looked like a guestroom and not like a room of a teenager. Kimi looked over the bags laying against the wall a small smile came to his face. Glad Max had at least decided to get some decorations.

He walked over to the bed and slowly crouched down in front of the boy. But the smile Kimi still had from seeing the decorations fell when he saw the dried tears on Max his face.

And then he saw the plush animal that looked like a lion completely squished against the chest. Kimi hadn't seen it before and wondered if Max had tried to hide it. It brought back memories of his plusher animal that was thrown away by a foster family.

He sighed deeply before slowly calling Max his name. Hoping they weren't going to bring the boy into panic by being so close.

Max heard his name being called and slowly open his eyes. Kimi was in front of him, he looked up but thought Kimi was going to be angry with him. Who sleeps in the middle of the day anyway. But to his surprise, Kimi didn't look angry at all.

"Hey, had a good nap?" Kimi lifted up his hand. Trying to make it look like he wasn't going to do anything painful to the boy not knowing what he went through in the past.

Max looked scared and was following the hand with his eyes. But soon felt the hand stroking his hair. He relaxed a bit before nodding his head and slipping out a soft yes. Kimi didn't look angry so he thought it was okay to say yes.

Kimi smiled softly and with pride. He hadn't heard Max talking so it felt like a big step forward and he was also proud of the boy for allowing him the small touch.

"So has the lion you're cuddling a name or do we need to just call him lion?" The moment Kimi asked him he saw the panic in the boy's eyes. So he decided to quickly add more.

"Hey, calm down. It's completely normal to have a comfort item for some people it's a blanket and for some, it's a plush animal." Kimi had kindly tapped the lion his noise and had taken this hand back out of Max his hair.

Max visibly relaxed again. So it was true all the plushies he had seen on Lance his bed weren't accidentally left behind. A small smile came on his face when he took the lion completely from under the blanket. Kimi directly recognized it. It was Simba from the Lion King.

Max looked around and saw the phone he had gotten from Sebastian. He opened the notes app and Kimi patiently waited for Max to finish typing.

Simba

"Completely fits him don't you think?" Max nodded his head again. He then realized he hadn't done it a lot today.

"Dinner is as good as ready, you're coming downstairs with me?" Kimi stood back up and directly realized he was getting older. He took a couple of steps back so that Max had enough room to get out of the bed.

He came out of the bed cause he still wasn't ready to call it his own bed it felt too soon. He slowly made his way downstairs and saw Lance and Charles already sitting at the table in the same places as the night before.

He was again sitting next to Sebastian with Kimi next to him at the head of the table. Charles was the first one to make his plate and the rest followed. Max looked at all of their plates and saw they all had different portions sizes. So he started with a small one and looked around.

It was Lance who gave him a soft smile that made him relax. Nobody commented on how much or more like how little he was eating, which made him extremely happy and easier to eat without the amount of anxiety it gave him.

He slowly eat while the rest made small talk. They made sure to translate everything Lance was signing and Max wondered if they would teach him sign language so that he could easier talk to Lance. However, Sebastian interrupted his thoughts.

"I had a phone call with mister Alonso today," he started at the same moment Max heard a big gasp coming from across the table and it looked to be from Lance.

But it was Charles who directly spoke up. "I don't know what he said but Pierre, Yuki, and I didn't do it!"  Max saw how Seb and Kimi directly looked up.

"What is this thing you supposedly didn't do?" Seb had his eyebrows raised Max looked at Charles and saw he almost looked embarrassed.

However, Lance started to sign with a big smile on his face and soft giggles escaping his mouth. Even if Max had no idea what he was talking about he still couldn't suppress a smile.

"No way! Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Räikkönen-Vettel. You should have told us this!"  While the voice was stern Kimi was laughing silently and Max was wondering what it was.

"It was an accident we didn't light the science classroom on fire on purpose!" Max's eyes went wide. Charles had done what now? He for sure wouldn't have been able to sit at the table if he had done this when he still lived with his dad.

"We are not done talking about this young man," Sebastian sighed deeply. "If the school didn't say anything to us it probably really was an accident," Kimi looked over to Sebastian with a pointed look.

Max couldn't believe that was it. Charles wasn't getting in trouble for lighting up a classroom on fire and he was kinda flabbergasted.

"Well if it really was an accident we can maybe let it slight," Kimi wanted to chuckle again but looked over to Max. It was at that moment he realized why the teenager was probably put in foster care in the first place. And it made his heart ache again.

But before he could say anything his husband was speaking up again. "So as I was saying I spoke to Alonso this afternoon and he wants you, Max, to do a standard exam to see where you at academically."

Sebastian looked to his right to see if Max had understood everything he had said so far. He saw Max nodding his head and Sebastian opened his mouth to talk again but was interrupted by Charles.

"Wait so he isn't going to be in my year?" Charles looked confused. It was then that Max realized he was just two weeks older than Charles but he felt closer to his age than Lance.

"No, Alonso wants him to place in the year which fits him academically best, but we still need to find out where his official birth certificate is to make sure he can actually get a diploma after finishing high school." Max looked up.

What the heck did Sebastian mean with an official birth certificate. He had seen his certificate a couple of times when he moved from group homes to families. He grabbed the phone and went to the notes app.

Official birthday certificate?

He turned the phone to Kimi and Sebastian hoping those three words were enough and he didn't need to type more.

"Yes, we found out it's a fake certificate. While it's confirmed that you're biological parents are your parents they don't know if your birthdate is correct."

Sebastian explained and Max was in total shock. He wasn't the only one. Charles who normally was talking more than eating went completely quiet. Lance looked shocked too.

"Max, we have a meeting with a couple of people soon who hopefully can help us out okay,". Kimi silently cursed his husband they had talked about it last night in their bed. When they received a phone call from their foster agency telling them that the certificate looked suspicious.

Just before the boys got home from school Kimi had gotten another call that it indeed was a fake one and now they were wondering why his parents had faked one or if it was the foster home that did it.

Max looked over to Sebastian and then back to Kimi. Whispered a soft okay before slowly starting to eat again. Thinking about his past to find maybe a piece that didn't really fit but he couldn't find it. He had suppressed his past as best as he could.

Charles slowly started speaking up again about this boy Yuki who had joined at the beginning of this year and was apparently taking his best friend away. Max kept listing trying to distract his mind from the fake certificate.

Max was sitting alone at the table the next morning. He was tired but had fun the night before. Lance had asked after dinner if he had wanted to play some more video games and Charles had joined them. Max was thinking about skipping breakfast but decided to eat some fruit instead.

Sebastian had gone out real quick to bring the boys to school since they were running late and Kimi had left to go to the shop again. Max was going to lie he was kind of interested to see what Kimi did.

He was deep in thoughts and didn't realize Sebastian was standing in the kitchen opening. Max had almost finished the apple when he heard his name. He heavily flinched before turning around completely in shock.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Sebastian stepped a little bit closer to the table to start cleaning up everything that was left from the rush. He looked over to Max who just shrugged his shoulder up like it was nothing.

"I was thinking that we could maybe start painting your room after lunch today, at that time Kimi is off at well," Sebastian explained while unloading the dishwasher.

Max hadn't even realized they had a dishwasher and made sure to know where Sebastian put everything away. He nodded his head before picking up the phone again. It didn't feel right to call it his phone yet.

That sounds good

"Good, I'm going to get some groceries to feeling free to roam around the house or Kimi is shop. His clients of today wouldn't mind it," Sebastian told him. Max nodded his head not bothering to type something out again.

He made sure to clean up everything he had used before he started to think about what he was going to do today. He could visit Kimi, Sebastian had told him he was okay with it and it gave him the opportunity to see what the man actually did.

He had gotten a key to the house for when he wanted to explore the era or for whenever he wanted to leave the house and be able to go back. He put on the new shoes and looked at himself in the mirror in the hallway. He wasn't going to lie but the new clothes did make him look better than the old ones.

He hadn't thrown away his old clothes they still stayed in the bag at the bottom of the closet still scared he was going to get sent back and then not have any clothes at all.

He put on the jacket and closed the door behind him. The texted Sebastian saying he was going to Kimi and got a dumps up back. He then texted Kimi letting him know he was going to come to him. Despite it only less than 100 meters away and he was probably going to be there before Kimi was going to be let to rest the text.

Max walked the small distance from the house to the shop and opened the door. It smelled like cleaning chemicals in there. Max looked around and saw a couple of people he saw Kimi looking up with a big smile.

There were three more people in the shop. One of the looked to be working as well. He had blond hair and looked younger and had tattoos as well.

Kimi looked busy with a boy that looked to be just in his twenties. He was getting a thigh tattoo and had curly brown hair. The other man was working on an arm from someone who looked to be close to Sebastian's age.

"Hey Max, if you want something to drink it's in the back room." Kimi pointed to the door which had privately written on it. He looked around and saw the older man watching him with wide eyes.

Max didn't say anything but quickly made his way to the back room to pick a soft drink. He walked back into the main era wondering if Kimi wanted him to stay in the back room.

"Ah mate it is looking so good, I can't wait to get my rose tattoo next month," Max realized it was an Australian accent and looked up to the young man that was sitting up and had a big smile.

"Lay back down, Daniel," he didn't see Kimi his face but it was clear this wasn't the first he had to remind this Daniel to lay down.

He heard to other two chuckled lightly. "Max that's Kevin he works here as well and this is Daniel and Kevin are working on Lewis." Kimi looked up quickly to Max before he went back to work on the tattoo.

"I don't think I've ever heard you say such a long sentence," Max looked over to the other two it was Lewis who had said it and Max wondered if he knew Kimi from just the tattoo shop or from somewhere else.

"So Maxy, you have already been to school here?" It was the Australian voice that spoke again. Max looked back at him again but he was still laying down. So max didn't know how to communicate with him.

He knew he was able to speak a couple of words before it started to be heard so he could try it here right. Kimi and the others weren't going to make fun of him right. He could feel the anxiety slowly building up again. Before he started to speak up.

"No," it wasn't loud but it the others still heard it. Max saw a free chair close to the counter and decided that he was going to sit there. He had a perfect view of the shop and the view outside.

"No? Why not I heard the science class for lit on fire yesterday," he was laughing while talking and it made Max smile as well. He saw Kimi wanted to answer but Lewis was him.

"Wait what?" The shock was good to hear in his voice. "Yeah, mate was a good laugh after but getting all the students out was a nightmare. It was just a small incident you weren't working yesterday?" Daniel sighed thinking back to yesterday.

"No I was off, are the kids who did it know with the police or?" Lewis asked him. And it was suddenly clear to Max he worked for the police station. Max didn't know what to think about it but he sounded nice. Kimi looked however more nervous. Max realized it was probably it was his kid that lit up the classroom.

He also started to wonder what kind of teacher Daniel was. He looked so relaxed that Max couldn't see him as a teacher at all.

"No, normally not really kids that get in trouble. Guenther accidentally gave them the wrong substance which caused the fire." He explained while waving his hand.

Kimi his face instantly relaxed and Max wondered if it was because Daniel didn't mention any names or because it was the fault of a teacher and not Charles and his friends.

"So which year will you be in?" Daniel asked him. He started to turn his head so that he could actually see Max. However, Max didn't know what to say. He looked over to Kimi for help. He didn't know what to say and he didn't want to go up with this phone either.

Kimi looked up when he didn't hear an answer from Max. "Why don't you type it in the app Max and I will tell them, okay?"

Max nodded his head and take his phone. He typed in what he wanted Kimi to say. He looked to be okay with everything and it made Max slowly more comfortable.

He walked over to Kimi and showed him what he wrote.

Kimi nodded his head and started speaking up.

"He is going to do an exam first to see where he is academically before they put him in a year," Kimi pushed Daniel back when he saw the man had come up again.

"Ah I think you will fit in with the year Lance is in as well, it's a quiet year, not a lot of drama, and overall good kids. The year above them is a completely different story. How old are you?" Max was wondering if the Australian ever wasn't talking.

How old was he? Max wasn't really able to answer that question after yesterday. He had talked about it a bit more with Kimi and Sebastian but he had a meeting on Thursday after he had the exam.

Max looked and typed again something on his phone before letting Kimi read it again.

"We think he is sixteen," Kimi told the Australian but it was Lewis who responded first.

"What do you mean you think?" He looked over directly while Kevin was wrapping up his arm. Max looked over and then remembered he was probably a police officer.

Kimi looked over with a questionable face and Max knew what it meant so he nodded his head. He didn't know what was going to happen but it wasn't going to be worse than the group home or his first foster home.

"The foster agency had a suspicion that his niet certificate was faked and it turned out that his biological parents are easily traceable but not his birthdate."

Max wondered how Kimi was able to keep working while talking at once keeping his focus on both things.

Daniel seemed to be in shock and wasn't talking for once since he stepped foot in the shop. "Oh, so that's what the call was about. I was supposed to schedule a meeting but I can come over after you finished with Daniel," Kimi looked up again with the same face he just had when he looked at Max.

"Yeah sounds good," Kimi directly went back to Danie and Max toke his place back in the chair that was extremely comfortable.

Max was sitting in a decorated room he had talked to Lewis and after that, he, Kimi, and Sebastian had not only painted his room but also hung up the decorations.

He hadn't felt comfortable telling everything to Lewis but he knew it was important to help find out what had happened to his real birth certificate. The people he was supposed to talk to on Thursday were apparently from Lewis's team too.

He sighed and looked around the room. It felt a little bit more like it was his but he still wasn't able to call it his room or his home for now it was just a house in which he lived in.

Chapter Text

It was Friday night and Max was sitting on the couch with Sebastian and Kimi. He had now been here for five days and he still wasn't used to it.

Charles had a sleepover again and Lance was going to be home around 10 pm. At least that's what they had told Max.

The week had gone by swiftly. The exam he made yesterday was quite difficult. He had known some answers but also found it really difficult. Sebastian had got a phone call this morning that told them he was academically behind.

Well depending on his real age. They still hadn't found anything and Max knew there was an investigation going on. He had talked to another police officer a couple of times.

His name was Valtteri and he had liked the men. He was younger than Lewis but he felt like he could trust them.

Mister Alonso was apparently the headmaster of the school they wanted him to go to. He had told Sebastian that academically Max would fit the best with the year below Lance.

Max wasn't going to lie he felt disappointed that he fell behind so much on his academic skills and he secretly hoped that his age wasn't real so that it seemed like there was less damage. He truly felt like he was giving Sebastian and Kimi more problems.

Alonso however had said that they didn't want Max to put him in a year in which he was two years older than the others. So he preferred to put him in either Lance his year or wait on the birth certificate.

The last one wasn't really an option since they had no idea how long it was going to take to get the real one.

Max hadn't been paying attention to the television he had been looking at his phone with the App Store open. He was thinking about downloading Instagram again to see if he could contact some friends, but he didn't know if social media was allowed in this house.

So he decided to text Charles, he just hoped he wouldn't mind that Max was going to text him during his time with friends.

> Can I download insta or is that not allowed?

He closed his phone directly almost too scared to look at it again to see Charles his reaction.

He looked over to the other couch Sebastian and Kimi had put different snacks on the table all unhealthy and Max had never been allowed to eat them so hadn't reached out. He didn't even know if they tasted good or not.

He snuggled again under the thin blanket he had seen a thicker one and wanted to grab that one but he chose not to. He didn't want to accidentally grab a blanket that wasn't for him and Kimi had given him this one.

However, Sebastian had seen Max trying to snuggle further and further under the blanket and realized the younger one must have been feeling cold.

"Max, you want me to grab a thicker blanket for you?"  He looked over the boy on the couch hoping he would give an honest answer.

Kimi looked over too and saw Max was thinking again. They had seen how much time Max spent in his head and they talked briefly about therapy but didn't know how the boy stood in that.

Lance had gone as well but stopped going two months ago. He had felt like he currently didn't need it anymore and promised he would tell the others if he felt like he needed it again.

Max nodded his head to the relief of Kimi and Sebastian, Sebastian stood up to get another thicker blanket for the boy. Max looked back at his phone and saw a reply from Charles but he was too afraid to open it.

He saw Sebastian next to him with a thicker blanket and went to give the thinner one to the older men, but Sebastian refused to take it.

"You can have both Max," Sebastian gave him the blanket and walked back to his husband to snuggle back against him. Max had never really seen two parents so lovingly to each other and it made him wonder if that was what real love was.

Max looked back to his phone after adjusting the blankets over himself. With a slight tremble in his hand, he unlocked the phone and opened Charles his text.

> Yes!! Me and Lance both have Instagram!! My username is CharlesRV97

Max let out a small sigh to not bring any attention to him. He clicked on the download button and started to think deeply. He tried remembering what his username was.

He wasn't sure if he had used his karting number in it or not. The download button turned into an open button and Max clicked on it.

After three attempts he was in his old account. But was he ready to give this one to Charles that was the next question?

He decided to look at his old posts first. Most of them were with his dad or had something to do with racing. Should he delete them and start over or just let them up.

Max didn't realize that in his slightly panic phase his hand was up in his hair slowly pulling on it. It was a habit Max was used to. He always did it however, Kimi and Sebastian didn't like it.

"Max, what's going on?" Max looked up to Kimi his left hand still in his hair. All of them did not realize Lance had been standing in the door opening from the living room trying to figure out if this was going to be a moment he was allowed to walk into or if he should back off a bit.

Max sighed deeply not knowing what to say and looked around until his eyes landed on Lance. Both Kimi and Sebastian follow their eyes to their son.

"Hey Lance, how was it?" Sebastian padded the space next to him. Lance walked into the room and wondered if Max would mind him sitting next to him.

Lance was closer to the couch Max was sitting on before he pointed next to Max. Kimi and Sebastian watched carefully to see the reaction, but Max just nodded.

Lance let himself fall on the couch which got an eye roll out of Sebastian but a chuckle out of Kimi. Max had realized quite soon that the men were the opposite of each other.

Lance started signing while also trying to eat from the snacks on the table. Making it harder for his parents to understand him.

It was fun we were with the three of us again.

Seb nodded before speaking again. Lance had taken one of the bowls with snacks now in his hands and put it on his lap. Claiming the bowl as his.

"Glad you had fun," Kimi made a noise that sounded like he was agreeing with what Sebastian said. Lance nodded his head happily while eating the snacks.

Max looked again at the snacks and wondered how they tasted. Lance looked over seeing Max eyeing the bowl he had put in his lap. They were just natural chips (or crips). He hold the bowl towards Max so that he could take some out of it.

Max picked up only one piece not knowing how it would taste. He tried it but found out he didn't like it at all. The others were watching Max with curious eyes. His facial expressions said enough and it made Kimi wonder why Max had never tried the most common snack before.

A comfortable silence settled back over the living room and Max was thinking about his Instagram again. He picked up his phone to look at the posts one more time.

After everything his dad put him through, he didn't deserve a spot on his social media, so Max deleted every single photo he had with his dad on social media, and there were a lot of photos.

When Max had deleted everything they all decided to go to bed. Max walked towards his own room when he saw Lance going into the bathroom first.

When Max was ready to sleep his mind drifted back to his Instagram. He picked up his phone from the nightstand and lifted himself up so he was sitting with his back to the headboard.

He opened the app and to his surprise, he had a private message.

He clicked on the button to see from who he had gotten the message.

Lando Norris

Max felt his eyes getting wet. Max and Lando became teammates for the karting group they raced for, despite Max being one year older. It actually meant he was able to compete in the higher classes.

He opened the message with a higher heartbeat than that was good for his own health.

> Hey Max! I tried texting and calling you multiple times but you never answered and now it says your number is no longer in service. I saw you removed some photos. How are you? Do you want to catch up sometime?
> it felt like you suddenly disappeared and I moved yesterday to another town but maybe we could video call?
> only if you want of course, cause I don't even know if you still want to be friends
> just let me know, okay?

Max didn't know what to text back. He was sitting with so many tears in his eyes and slowly felt a couple of them escape. He couldn't believe Lando still taught they were friends.

The tears which were definitely there because of the happiness and not sadness made their way down his cheek. He smiled big before he realized he had to answer. Yet he didn't know what to say.

He looked over to his profile and went to the profile of his other best friend, whom he had known for years. Basically, since he was born. He was more family than a friend.

Mick Schumacher

He clicked on the profile and it took a little bit before it was loading. It was still a private account and he saw there were more people following it now than 18 months ago. Max had never taken a photo for his social media with friends.

He scrolled back fast to the last photo he knew was posted. Because he scrolled so fast he missed a photo between Mick and Lance. Max saw a photo he recognized.

It was from just before he was thrown into foster care. He wishes the police had waited for Mick and his family to come back from their vacation. He was so sure they would have probably taken him in.

He looked at the photo from Mick and Micheal, the man he used to call Uncle, and he probably still would. He went back up to the next photo and read the caption.

His heart dropped. There was no way. Tears again fell and made their way over his cheeks just this time it wasn't because of happiness.

He should have been there for Mick, but he wasn't he was the worst friend ever. A tear landed on his screen and accidentally made him like the post.

Liking a post was not the right thing to say. He couldn't believe he wasn't able to talk with uncle Micheal anymore.

He didn't make an attempt to unlike the post. Mick had gotten the notification already anyway. He went back up without looking at the other post and opened direct messages. He had to say sorry.

> Mick I'm so sorry about what happened during your vacation!! I'm sorry I wasn't there for you!

He hoped Mick wasn't mad at him but he as sure knew that was the case. He was supposed to be there, to support his friends but he had failed massively.

He closed the private message with Mick and opened the one with Lando. He now had to respond. He took a deep breath before he started to type.

>Hey, I would like to catch up. I also moved cities. Let me know when you have time!

Before Max could think more about it he pressed send. He was so nervous about it. He knew tomorrow wasn't really an option and was already anxious to go back to school.

Despite it being his own choice he already felt the anxiety and it wasn't even Monday yet. Sebastian had promised to bring him and pick him up again.

Charles and Lance normally go by public transport but they were also joining them on Monday. So that Charles and Lance could show him around a bit.

The Sunday consisted of mentally preparing for school and spending the day catching up with Lando. He hadn't told Lando everything but he had told him he was currently with a foster family and no longer did karting.

He did miss getting on the karts but he also hated that time and he felt extremely frustrated by it. Lando had told him he was currently getting into the British F4 and it was easy if they lived closer to London which was why they moved.

Max hadn't told Lando that he was moved to a family just outside of London.

Max was so proud of his best friend and was incredibly happy to have contact back with him. He hadn't received a message back from Mick which he did feel sad about but he understood Mick as well he had let him down.

Lando had given him his phone number again so they didn't have to use Instagram for everything. Max hadn't followed Charles yet not ready to expose his past and Charles hadn't asked for it.

Everyone could see Max kept texting someone whit a faint small one on his face, one they hadn't seen before yet. Kimi wanted to ask but was afraid the boy was going to think he wasn't allowed to.
It wasn't until dinner someone brought it up.

"Who are you texting?" Max looked up at the curious eyes of Charles. Max got nervous and looked around the table. Lance looked curious as well.

"Max you are allowed to text your friends, Charles and Lance do it all the time," Kimi looked towards Max. Making sure the boy understood.

Max took a deep breath before he started speaking. "I got in contact with a friend from before, we hadn't spoken in a long time," Max played with his food instead of looking up. Still a bit afraid of their reaction despite Kimi his words.

"That's amazing Max, what's their name?" Max looked up to see Sebastian smiling with a big smile. He looked around the table first before answering the question.

Kimi was smiling as well but not as big as Sebastian. Lance looked to be excited and Charles was just eating happily while smiling as well.

"Lando," Max whispered the name. He had become more comfortable talking with others. If he talked too much his throat still hurt but it was slowly getting better.

"Wait, is his last name Norris?" Charles had dropped his fork and knife next to his plate and looked with wide eyes to Max.

Max nodded his head not knowing what was going on and didn't know if he liked the easy Charles reacted.

"He is going to drive in the British f4," Charles sounded excited but Max only wondered how he knew this.

"How do you know that Charles?" Sebastian looked over toward Charles with confusion on his face as well.

"Remember George and Alex? The ones I was put into a group project two years ago?" Charles asked and looked around waiting for an answer.

Max had heard those names before. In the karting world and they would hang around Lando a couple of times. Max never talked to them. He wasn't allowed to have friends. His friendship with Lando was one big secret for his dad, he always believed they were just teammates.

"Yes, the ones that did karting right?" Sebastian asked. So Max was right he knew them as well. He was probably following them on social media as well.

He looked up just as Charles started to talk again.

"So I was gaming today with them, cause Pierre doesn't like the same video games, and Lando joins us from time to time cause he is friends with them and that's when he told us," It looked like Charles wanted to say something more but got interrupted by Kimi.

"Max, did you ever do karting?" Max looked up to Kimi and then back to Sebastian who seemed to understand what was going on.

But Max didn't he just nodded his head wondering what was going to happen.

"When you started karting who were in the same age group as you?" It was an innocent question but could have a lot of meaning. Especially when Max realized it for himself. He started together with Mick and then suddenly was in the competitions a year above him.

His dad had changed his age so he could start karting earlier in bigger karts. Now it all made sense to him. But he didn't know what to say or do with it. Why would his dad change it?

He felt his breath picking up and he wasn't the only one who noticed it. "Max, calm down take a breath in hold for a couple of seconds, and breath out," Sebastian told him.

The voice sounded distant to Max but he tried his best to listen to it. He felt how his chair was turned around and now only faces Sebastian. The slowly got his breath back to normal and focused back on Sebastian.

"What were you thinking, you don't have to share it with all of us if you want to talk to only one person that's good too," Sebastian told him. He looked up trying to see if Sebastian truly meant what he said or if it was a trap.

Max looked over to Kimi, the man had the same facial expression as Sebastian and Max wondered if they would be mad finding out who his dad was but then he remembered they had seen his fake birth certificate and had already seen who his dad was.

He looked over towards Lance and Charles. Charles was almost finished with his eating not really paying attention to everything going on. Lance however had a look of sympathy and it was probably because he was adopted out of foster care as well.

He took a deep breath before he made the decision if he was going to actually say it or type it out. With typing, he could have a bit more privacy but Sebastian had said he was allowed to just tell one person.

But in the end, he decided to actually say it. He had to try to talk more again if he was going back to school tomorrow he couldn't just type out everything he wanted to say.

He wondered how Lance did it. Did he write everything down on his phone or did their friends learn sign language? He reminded himself to start learning sign language as well so he could understand Lance better if he was allowed to stay with them.

He took a deep breath and started to play with his hands before slowly starting to speak up. He didn't look up while talking.

"I think my dad changed my birthday so I could start in the bigger karts sooner," he refused to look up to the others.

"That's a possibility, that I think we need to talk about with Lewis and Valtteri," Kimi said and Max looked up. They didn't look angry at all and he slowly felt the nerves leaving his body.

The rest of dinner was talked about the next day and their after-school activities. Charles was apparently part of a drama/ theater club and couldn't wait for the next session since he would find out who would play the lead role.

Lance however didn't really have after-school activities. He sometimes played football with the local team but only if he was up for it. He wasn't part of the players who went to the competition not liking that either.

Max hadn't thought about a sport or another activity he wanted to do. He had only known karting and hadn't done anything else. Well, he had done football for less than a season his dad not liking and putting him back in the karts.

Max was staining in front of the school building. Alonso had asked if Charles or Lance would bring Max to the headmaster so that he could explain everything to him.

He had said goodbye to Sebastian with more nerves than he ever had. He had gotten quite comfortable spending time with Kimi in the shop or helping Sebastian in the kitchen.

He holds the straps of his backpack thigh. He walked behind Charles into the school. Lance was already on his way to his friends apparently he had forgotten his homework and was allowed to copy his friends. However according to Charles Lance probably didn't want to make it.

"And there is the office of mister Alonso," Charles ended the small tour to the office. He had pointed toward different things on their way into the school.

Charles knocked on the door impatiently waiting for mister Alonso to open it. It didn't take long before a middle-aged man opened the door. "Ah, Charles and Max right?"

The man waited for the teens to nod or say something for confirmation before talking further. Max nodded his head.

"Well Welcome, Charles you're allowed to go. Max you can walk in were waiting for the other new student who is going to be in all of the same classes as you and then I will start explaining everything."

Alonso opened the door further so that Max could walk in. He heard Charles say where he was sitting for lunch and then the other teen walked away.

Max was walking toward the armchair. There were two of them in the room with a big desk as well. Max sat down and looked around the room. It was just a typical principal office.

There was another knock on the door that was left open and Max looked up. He heard a gasp from the boy standing in the opening and when he looked up his eyes went big.

"Lando?"

"Max?"

They both spook at the same time and Max stood up again. Lando made his way over to Max and hugged him directly. Max flinched heavily before relaxing. It was Lando he wasn't going to do anything.

The last person Max had hugged was Mick before he went on the dreadful family vacation. But now he was embracing Lando he realized how much he had missed physical contact.

Max hugged Lando back, it was a thigh-desperate hug and Lando had wondered what had happened for Max to get so desperately hugging him back.

"You two know each other?"  Both got shaken out of the hug by the voice of their principal. Max looked up scared again that he had already done something wrong.

Lando noticed his facial expression of Max changed from surprised and happy to anxious and Lando didn't like it all.

"Yeah we used to be teammates and are good friends," Lando explained. Mister Alonso nodded his head with a big smile.

"Well that's good to hear since all of your classes are the same," he pointed towards the chairs in which Max had sat briefly before Lando came in.

Max smiled liking the idea of having class together with one of his friends. He looked over to Lando who smiled back at him.

"Go sit down," both boys listened and took a seat in the armchairs. Max was playing with his fingers a habit he had when he was nervous.

"So here are your schedules, as I said before they are the same," Mister Alonso handed them both a sheet of paper with their schedules on it. It looked to be all the same subjects Max had done before.

He knew it was going to be harder though because he had fallen behind a lot. The academic exam showed he was up to a level below the year he was currently placed in.

"I will show you guys around all the classes and your locker and after that, I think it's time for your guys' second class." He clapped his hands together and waved to the boys to follow him.

Max had texted Lance and Charles his schedule asking if they had lunch together. They had, Lance had also texted back that they had all the classes after lunch together.

Max had gone through math and English before it was time for lunch. He was nervously walking behind Lando. He didn't have to talk in any of the classes and Max had wondered if Sebastian and Kimi had said something.

Lando had been happily talking to Max and told him he didn't mind reading out of the notes app on Max his phone.

Lando remembered back when they were barely 10 years old a month that Max hadn't talked either. Whenever his dad had done something extreme Max went quiet and didn't want to talk.

They walked into the cafeteria, Max had told Lando where Charles was sitting. Lando however also had gotten a message from George and Alex and that's how they found out they were all going to be sitting together.

Lando walked towards the table as if he had been there before Max walked behind like a lost puppy.

It didn't take long before they reached the table Charles was sitting at with four different boys. Two of the faces he slightly recognized from the karting days as Alex and George. The other two next to Charles he didn't know. But from the stories, he knew it must be Pierre and Yuki.

They were greeted enthusiastically and Lando took place closer to George and Alex. Max was standing awkwardly at the table not really knowing if they would mind if he was sitting with them or not.

Charles had told him where he was going to sit but Lance was in his year and Max didn't want to bother Charles or Lance too much.

Charles looked up to see Max still standing. He looked extremely nervous and anxious and Charles wondered why he wasn't sitting down.

"Max, come sit down this is Pierre," Charles pointed to the boy with brown hair and green eyes. "And this is Yuki," Charles now pointed towards the only boy he didn't know the name of.

"And that there are Alex and George but I believe you all know each other. So guys this is Max and Lando,". Charles made a gesture for Max to sit down in front of him.

Max slowly sat down and looked around the table Lando had already slipt back into a conversation just like Charles and his friends. So he started to look around the cafeteria while slowly starting his lunch.

His eyes found Lance who was talking to, probably, his friends. One of the guys was tall and slim but was laughing about something that was said. The other one, Max's eyes grew wide. No that was not possible.

What was Mick doing here? Since when did he live in London? Max looked up again and followed Mick who was close to the tall guy next to Lance and Lance. How had he not heard about this?

Max almost felt tears in his eyes. Mick still hadn't responded to his message and he was just hoping Mick had seen it but deep down he knew Mick was probably mad at him.

"Are you okay Max?" Max directly looked away to see Charles looking at him with a questionable look. Charles looked over to where Max was looking at. His face went from confusion to suddenly shock.

"Oh, now it makes sense," Charles mumbled. Max was extremely confused. What made sense?

"What," Max his voice sounded like a whisper which made Lando look up as well. Following Charles his eyes to Mick.

"I didn't know Mick also went to this school," Lando said with a mouthful of his lunch, it made Max cringe.

"He transferred at the beginning of the year something about a new start. He talked a lot about letting his best friend or brother, he referred to him as both, behind and how guilty it made him feel."

Max looked at Charles, in the corner of his eyes he saw Lance, Mick, and the tall guy coming his way. Mick hadn't noticed him yet.

Lance had and smiled at all of them. "I was wondering when they were going to show up, late as always," Max looked over to Pierre to see if he was joking or not. But the teen had a big smile on his face.

Max looked back to the three boys approaching them. Lance looked up and smiled at them and waved which made the other look up too. 

Mick directly froze in his spot looking at Max. Max wasn't going to lie it did feel uncomfortable. Mick however was in disbelief. He couldn't believe Max was sitting in front of him.

He had let him behind. After everything had calmed down with his dad he realized his best friend hadn't responded to any messages or calls. So he had gone to his house with his mom only to find police tape for the front door and the neighbors saying the dad got arrested.

His mom had tried to get more information in the hope to find Max but no one was allowed to say anything and Mick felt extremely guilty about the whole situation.

"Hey," Mick his voice was just as soft as Max remembered and it made him feel safe. He just hoped Mick wasn't angry about everything that had happened.

Max waved at Mick with a small smile. Lance who was standing with a big smile at the table grinning from ear to ear and looking from Max to Mick and back. Before he sat down happily and pulled the tall guy with them so that the only space that was left for Mick was next to Max.

Mick carefully sat down next to Max. The teen looked different almost exhausted and skinnier than Mick remembered.

They both sat awkwardly together during lunch. Almost at the end of lunch, Mick completely turned toward Max.

"Can we talk after school?" Mick sounded nervous and Max wonder why Max was the one at fault, not Mick. So Max nodded his head. Before they went to class Mick handed over his phone with a new contact open so that Max could put his phone number in.

Max smiled at Mick before taking the phone and typing his number. He handed Mick his phone back with an even bigger smile. Mick wanted his new number was a good thing right?

Max was waiting next to the school on a bench. It probably was still on school property. Max had texted Sebastian that he had seen an old friend and they wanted to talk for a couple of minutes. Sebastian had told him to take his time and he was going to wait in the parking lot.

"Hey," Max looked up to Mick. The other teen looked less nervous than he did during lunch. Smiling more made Max smile as well. 

Mick sat down next to Max a little distance. Max looked at Mick again. He was starting to get nervous again. Biting his bottom lip. Max knew Mick long enough to know when Mick got nervous.

Mick took a deep breath before he was facing Max again.

"I'm sorry," That was all it take for Max to get extremely confused. Why was Mick sorry? He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Why? I am the one that needs to say sorry," Max realized that his voice crack in the middle of his sentence.

Not only had his voice cracked but his throat started to hurt as well. He brought his hand up to his throat to stimulate it a bit but it definitely didn't help.

Mick who as well as Lando knew Max went mute when something had happened seemed to realize what was going on.

"Type out what you want to say okay?" Mick looked carefully at Max knowing how to suborn the boy can get, but to his surprise, Max nodded and got the phone out of his pocket.

He opened the note apps and started to type but was interrupted by Mick.

"Look, you have nothing to apologize for. We should have been there for you before the police interfered and I'm sorry for that."

Mick gave Max the time to type out. For Max, he didn't care that they didn't do anything before the police cause he always played it off as if nothing was wrong. Maybe he should talk about it with someone would that help?

He looked back at his phone and started to type.

It wasn't your fault either

Mick smiled but still felt incredibly guilty if he and his family had known how worse it really was they would have called someone.

Mick sighed deep before he started to speak again. Getting a little bit closer to Max.

"I saw your insta message and was just in shock that's why I hadn't replied yet. I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me. But if you like I still want to be friends,"

Max looked up at the hopeful eyes of Mick. His friend because he didn't want to lose his longest friendship.

When he sat in the car back to Sebastian's and Kimi's place he couldn't believe that both of his best friends were back in his life.

Cause now he finally had friends again.

Chapter Text

School had been going well, Max was happy to be able to spend more time with Lando and Mick. He had even been to Mick his house today. There had been a lot of crying from everyone involved and he knew his eyes were red. He was sitting in the car with Corinna driving and Mick next to him. They were bringing him back home. At least that's what the Schumachers had called it. For Max, it wasn't a home. It was just a house with people who were kind enough to let him stay until they got tired of him.

Max was slowly getting out of the car, hugging Mick whenever he could and talking to stretch the time.

Sebastian was looking through the window while making dinner. Noticing how Max seemed to clinch to the boy. Wondering if they knew each other from the past or just became friends quickly.

Charles walked into the kitchen at the same time Sebastian was looking out of the window.

"What are we looking at?"

Sebastian turned his head while Charles walked towards the window as well.
"Oh"

"Oh? They seem pretty close?" Sebastian mentioned. Trying to find out if his son knew more than he did.

"They were, remember how Lance told us that story about Mick his best friend from home?" Charles turned away from the window and jumped up the counter to talk to his dad.

"Yes, I remember," Sebastian still didn't get the link between what Charles just told him and what he had seen from the window.

"That best friend is Max," Charles sighed, not understanding how his dad didn't get it.

"Oh," Sebastian said. Now it all started to make sense to him too.

He saw how Max and Mick parted and Mick put both of his hands on Max's shoulder and told him something before Sebastian saw that Mick was brushing some tears away from Max his eyes.

Charles looked back out of the window. "They must have been really close," Charles tried stealing some of the cookies that were on the counter next to him. But Sebastian hit his hands before he was able to take one.

"We have dinner soon, you can have one after dinner," Charles pouted in reaction. Sebastian made a movement with his hands for Charles to get off the counter again since he needed the space.

The front door opened and closed indicating that Max was now inside. Sebastian turned around to see Max walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Max," Charles greeted him with a big wave and jumped again on the countertop as soon as Sebastian had turned around.

Sebastian signed when he heard Charles jumping back on the counter. He put the stove down and turned around to Max again.

"Did you have fun with Mick?" It was then that Sebastian noticed that it was obvious that Max had cried a lot. He wanted to step towards the boy and give him a hug but he didn't know if Max was already comfortable with it.

A small yes however was heard from Max who was slowly walking and more in the kitchen closer to Sebastian and Charles. Charles who was able to steal the spoon from the homemade applesauce was eating away while watching Max and his dad.

He too wanted to give Max a hug but he had only seen Mick give Max a hug. He hadn't really seen Lando touching Max at all, so he decided to give his younger brother some extra space until he was used to it like with Lance.

Max looked at the pans on the stove looking to see what was for dinner when he saw he liked it stepped back again a little and started small talk with Charles and Sebastian about their schoolday.

It didn't take long before they were all eating dinner together at the table. Max was happy to say that he was slowly eating more and more and both Sebastian and Kimi started to notice and were happy with it.

After dinner everyone went to their separate rooms, Max was sitting on the bed he was thinking. Something he had done a lot lately. He wanted to understand Lance more and not have to use the whiteboard or others to translate for him.

He stood up and made his way to Charles his room. The door was closed and Max didn't know if that meant he was allowed to interrupt Charles. With more nerves than he hoped he would have he knocked on Charles his door.

"Come in," Max slowly opened the door to look in the room. Charles was playing a game on his ps. Charles scooted over to make extra room on his bed for Max.

Max slowly sat down next to Charles but still made sure there was space between the boys. He had only sat next to Lance during video games but other than that he had still left space between him and the rest.

Charles paused his videogame and turned towards Max before, he could tell the other one was nervous by how he was fiddling with his fingers and how he kept looking around him.

"What's up?" Charles put his controller down to focus more on Max.

Max wondered if he wanted actually to talk or to type it out. In the end, he decided to speak up instead of typing. He was getting used to talking and talking more to the delight of everyone around him.

"I was wondering if you can teach me sign language?" Charles had realized early on that Max hated looking people in the eye. So he wasn't surprised when Max only looked down at his lap.

"Of course, I can!" Max slowly looked up after hearing the excitement in Charles his voice.

For Charles, this means that Max is thinking about the future and not only about the present. 

Max started smiling happy Charles wanted to teach him. He was going to ask Kimi as well. He liked how the man didn't say much and only when it was needed despite Max's past with the silent treatment he wasn't scared at all.

Charles had told him that they were going to start with the basics. Max was happy that Charles wanted to spend some of his time learning Max's sign language instead of hanging out with his friends.

The next couple of days Max spent an hour every day with Charles to learn sign language, but besides that, he also learned more and more about Charles. It became easier and easier to talk with his throat hurting less and less.

Max also tried spending more time with Lance, he loved playing videos games or just sitting together and doing their homework. He could see how easy it had looked for Lance while Max himself was struggling more and more.

Max also went online a lot to teach himself more and more sign language.

However, he has more fun with Lance and Charles every day. He finds out Charles really likes fashion and music and Lance is more into snowboarding and video games, which is also when he finds out they go on winter sport every year Max hates the cold weather due to past events yet he doesn't say anything yet.

Max was sitting at the table when Lance was telling a story about what had happened during PE, it was one of the classes Max didn't have with Lance together. Max was understanding the biggest part of it so when Sebastian wanted to translate what Lance was saying Max interrupted him.

"I understand what he was saying," Kimi looked up with clear confusion on his face and he wasn't the only one. Lance was also looking shocked. Meanwhile, Charles was sitting proudly at the table.

"How?" It was the only thing Sebastian was able to say. Lance nodded his head in confirmation he too wanted to know how Max had understood him.

"Charles helped me and I watched a lot of videos online," Max kept eating while talking, he and Charles were the only ones that were eating the rest still too shocked by what just had happened.

For Lance, it meant the world that Max had learned sign language. He didn't mind typing in his phone what he wanted to say so that Max was able to understand him but knowing Max wanted to be able to understand him when he was signing was the best feeling in the world.

For Kimi and Seb, it wasn't only a big surprise but also a big step forward. Max getting closer to both boys and learning something that meant he was thinking about the future as well.

Kimi couldn't be prouder of both of them, for Max to feel comfortable enough to ask Charles and for Charles to teach Max.

"That's amazing boys, I am proud of both of you," Sebastian was only able to praise both of them.

Max's cheeks turned slightly red. No one had ever told him that he was proud of him and he wasn't going to lie but it was a really good feeling for someone saying that he was proud of him.

Charles's smile was huge as well happy that he could have helped with his surprise. He has also loved spending time with Max. He had learned a lot more about him. How he loved playing video games but was too nervous to ask Lance or Charles to join him. How Max was really competitive but didn't show it.

They slowly started eating again after the big surprise, with small talk about school, friends, and activities they liked doing. Max had wanted to ask if he could start an after-school activity but he was still too afraid.

He also didn't know what he wanted to do. He had thought about karting again but he knew how expensive that was and he didn't want to bring back all his bad memories. However, the only other sport he ever tried was football and he didn't really like that either.

He was sitting in his room when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," his voice had cracked a little bit. Sometimes it still hurt to talk but it was getting less and it was easier every single day to talk.

Charles had opened the door further. Max had never really closed the door completely. Too afraid someone would lock it from the outside and he wasn't going to be able to get it open.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you on the bed?" Charles asked before sitting down. He had seen how Max had always left space between them. Max nodded his head in response so Charles went to sit down. Making sure he left some space between Max and himself.

"Did you ever think about doing an after-school activity?" Max looked up. Of course, he did he just didn't know what.

He nodded his head but kept silent. Charles didn't say anything to let Max gather his thoughts.

"I thought about it but I don't know what," Max mumbled. Charles nodded his head. He too had trouble finding an after-school activity because he liked too many things.

"You can always just come and watch with different activities," Charles suggested.

Max nodded his head he could always do that. Charles looked around Max his room the boy had just sat on his bed without doing anything. His PlayStation was off just like his pc.

"Are you okay?" Charles asked. He remembered Lance had an episode of him just staring into space too. I normally meant he was overthinking.

"Yeah, just thinking." Max smiled up at Charles. He didn't want to worry his brother anymore. His brother felt good to say but also scared.

"You want to play a videogame?" Max pointed to his ps. "Of course," Charles answered. He wasn't going to let an opportunity down where he could bond with Max.

 

 

Max was sitting at the table with Kimi and Sebastian. They were eating lunch while Charles and Lando were at their after-school activity that had some kind of event. For Kimi and Seb, this was the opportunity to ask Max if he wanted to do something.

"Max, do you want to do any after-school activity? You don't have to," Sebastian asked Max who was sitting in front of him.

Max struggled with his shoulders. He had thought about what Charles had told him but he didn't like the idea of being with a lot of strangers and besides that, he didn't even know what he liked besides playing video games.

Kimi sighed, he knew from his own experience that you could yourself easily when you were out into foster care.

"Max, we have been thinking and we think it is a good idea to see a therapist, we have known her for a while and we like her. But if you end up not liking her or don't have a good feeling about it we can quit directly," Kimi explained to the boy sitting in front of him. He and Sebastian had talked about it for a while. Max had been with them for almost two months now and was definitely doing way better but there were still moments they realized how much he went through. Besides, it had really helped Kimi himself and Lance.

Max looked up, he had thought about it already. He had talked about it with Mick, who had after everything that had happened with his Dad, also been to therapy.

"I think it is a good idea," Max whispered. Who knows maybe it will help him find another hobby besides video games as well.

Sebastian and Kimi couldn't help but gave Max big smiles. They hadn't really thought the boy would agree to go see a therapist, but they couldn't be more proud.

"Do you mind if I set an appointment for the upcoming week?" Sebastian asked him. Max nodded his head. He wondered who went to therapy since Kimi had said they had known her for a while.

Max started to eat his lunch while Kimi and Seb started small talk. He had wanted to ask Kimi and Seb about their winter vacation that he knew was coming up but in the end, he chickened out. Cause it also meant he had to talk about his past and he didn't want Kimi and Sebastian to think he was weak.

"How is school going?" Sebastian was focusing back on Max. Max looked up again how was school going. He had received an exam back and it wasn't great. He was struggling a lot while before he used to be one of the best.

Kimi directly notices the change in Max after that question. Max opened his mouth but nothing came out. This was it. They would send him back when they realized how dumb he really was.

His breath started to pick up and his anxiety was at its highest. Sebastian quickly noticed what was going on. It wasn't Max his first panic attack with them.

Sebastian quickly stood up and went around the table. He shifted Max his chair so that it stood sideways and Sebastian was crouched down in front of him. He carefully took Max his hands in his own before starting to talk.

"Max, take a deep breath in, that's it. Now hold for a couple of seconds and then breathe out. Yes exactly like that." Max had followed Sebastian his instructions easily.

Kimi watched from the other side of the table. He already had his answer to Seb his question with how Max had responded. When Max had calmed down from his attack Sebastian took place on his own chair again.

"Max you can tell us if school isn't going well. We are supposed to help you or find a solution for it," Max looked up skeptical. His dad always got angry. This must be a trick to get him to tell them how bad it really was.

He didn't really answer the question and just shrugged his shoulders. Kimi and Seb didn't want to send Max into another panic attack so the men decided on another topic.

 

In the evening Max went up to Lance his room not knowing if Lance was okay with being bothered by him. He knew Lance didn't have anything planned for the evening just like Max.

The door was left open and Max looked inside. Lance was reading on his bed. Max loved reading when he was a kid. But his dad had taken away all his books when he started to get more serious about karting. It would only have been a distraction.

Max knocked on the door, Lance looked up and waved Max in. Max looked around and wanted to sit down on the chair but Lance patted the place right next to him. So Max went to sit next to Lance on his bed.

"Can I ask you something?" Max whispered he had closed the bedroom after him. Too afraid that Kimi or Sebastian would hear this conversation. He just had to know if it was a trick and Lance was also fostered by them so he had to know the truth.

Lance nodded his head before closing his book with a bookmark so that he knew where he had left off.

"What's going on?" 

Max was never so happy that he had learned sign language cause it was going to make the conversation so much easier. It would have been a nightmare to type everything for Lance.

"I am struggling with school and Kimi and Sebastian said that I could always tell them and they would help, but is that true?" 

Lance looked up. Max looked nervous and almost panicked. Like he wasn't allowed to talk about this. But he completely understood Max. In his group home, he would get punished if he didn't do his homework or if he failed an exam.

Luckily for Lance, he never really failed an exam, but he knew the feeling when his dads had told them that he could always go to them for help. He had asked Charles the exact same question Max had asked him. 

"It's not a trick, but I can help you out if you need help!"

Max nodded his head. He still didn't really believe it. He was glad Lance had offered to help him. He much rather wanted to tell Lance he needed some extra help than Kimi and Sebastian.

"Don't you mind helping me?" Max asked. He knew Lance had offered it but Max needed to know if he really didn't mind. He didn't want to bother his brother too much.

His brother. It still didn't really sound right. He knew his time here was probably limited but he could at least enjoy it while still being here.

"Of course, I don't! What are you struggling with?"

Max was brought back to his schoolwork. The better question was, with what didn't he struggle?

"A lot but the most with math and science," he whispered.

Lance nodded his head, he was actually pretty good in both those subjects. He liked science, however, he hated math but he would still help his brother if he needed it.

" I can help you with that, you want to start tomorrow or Monday after school?"

Tomorrow it was Sunday and Max liked to take the Sunday off. Or at least not bother his sibling on the weekend.

"Monday?" Max looked over to Lance who nodded his head with a smile. He pointed towards the tv and asked Max if he wanted to watch a movie together. Max smiled before nodding his head and making himself just a little bit more comfortable on Lance his bed.

He was glad Lance wanted to help him out so he didn't have to talk to Kimi and Sebastian. Even if Lance had said it wasn't a trick he still felt on edge.

Lance signed that he was going down to get them some snacks and drinks. While he let Max choose the movie.

Lance went through the living to go to the kitchen. His dads were sitting on the couch cuddled together. Lance had seen it multiple times and he wasn't going to lie he was quite happy with it. He loved seeing his dads together, especially if he looked back at previous foster homes he was in.

Sebastian looked up when he heard someone walking into the living room. Smiling at Lance when he walked in.

"Everything okay?" 

Lance nodded before signing.

"Yes, I'm going to watch a movie with Max. I'm going to grab some snacks and drinks,"

Sebastian smiled. Just like Kimi had looked up when he had heard his husband ask him the question. Kimi was glad Max was getting along with his sons. According to their social worker, Max was not going to be able to get back to his dad and so they had to option legally adopt him. However, for Kimi and Sebastian, the option wasn't up to them but to Max.

Lance went to the kitchen to grab some snacks. He hadn't seen Max eating a lot of snacks if he was eating something it mostly was fruits. So he just hoped he had picked something Max liked as well.  He also grabbed something to drink and was barely able to hold everything.

With his hands completely full he walked back to the stairs. Passing his dads he could hear them shouting have fun. With his hands full he wasn't able to sign back to them. So he decided to say a really soft thank you.

Both men on the couch smiling really big at Lance. They were always proud when the boy said something instead of signing and they made sure he knew it. But before they were able to say something to a Lance the boy had disappeared back to his room.

When Lance walked into the room he saw that Max still hadn't chosen a movie to watch. He had already expected it. He remembered when Charles had asked him to watch a movie for the first time. He was extremely nervous and too scared to make a decision about the movie or snacks.

He went to sit back on his bed and decided to give Max multiple options of movies he knew he liked and still wanted to see. Which seemed to work since Max actually chose a movie.

Two days later both boys are sitting in Lance his room. Lance explains and shows Max how he comes to the answers. Max is slowly starting to understand it. He knows it's not just going to happen with one meeting and he and Lance probably need to sit together a couple of more times but Max is happy with the help.

The topic of a winter sports vacation comes up again. It's also now that Max finds out Kimi and Sebastian have a vacation house in the mountains in Switzerland.

Lance sees Max visible finch at the mention of going there in two weeks for the Christmas break. Lance takes Max his hands in his own so that the other boy finally looks up and he can start signing.

"Are you okay?"

Max nodded. Not really ready to talk about the reason why. So he focused back on his homework. Lance understood he didn't want to talk about it, so he got Max his attention and just signed that if he ever wanted to talk about he could. Which made Max smile. Glad to have such understanding brothers like Lance and Charles.

 

 

Wednesday came soon, it meant the first therapy session with someone named Susie. Max had never met her but apparently, Lance went to her as well and Kimi had told her even he had gone to her. Max didn't really know why Kimi went and he didn't feel like it was his place to ask.

He was sitting in a spacey room in a comfortable chair. It was more of a cozy living room that was he was glad it didn't look or feel like an office.

"So Max, tell me about yourself," Max looks up but looks down at his hands again. What was he supposed to tell her? His age, his favorite subjects in school, his hobbies, or his past.

Max didn't really know how to respond but Susie had seen his breathing picking up. So she started asking him simple questions that he only got responded with simple answers like his age.

"With who are you living?" Of course, Susie knew of the situation. Sebastian had told her but Susie preferred hearing it from the children themselves.

"Uhm with a foster family," he mumbled he always thought it was weird to say it mainly because he never thought he was going to live with a foster family again.

"Do you have any foster siblings?" She asked them. Directly after that question, Max looked up with a small smile. He nodded his head.

"Yes, Charles and Lance," Susie could clearly hear the smile in his voice. She was glad that he at least had a bond with the siblings in the family.

They started talking more and Max doesn't even know but the topic of the winter sports vacation comes up. Susie can see that it makes him visibly nervous.

"Why does the winter vacation makes you nervous?" Max wiggled a little bit in the chair. It was quiet for a while Max not knowing how to respond. Was he going to tell all of it or just one of the reasons?

But he was in therapy for a reason and he likes Susie so far and his dad or other foster families weren't here.

"It's because of things that happened in the past," Susie nodded her head for Max to continue talking.

"My dad made go-kart while snowing and my hands would get so cold I couldn't move them anymore," Susie asked him more questions about it, however, it wasn't the only reason he didn't like winter vacations.

So he told her about the foster family that went on winter vacation and took Max with him, but at their vacation house, they told Max to sleep in the garage that wasn't heated. He wasn't allowed to go do the activities they did and just sat outside the house waiting for them to get back.

He still wonders how he didn't get hypothermia or even survived that trip in general.

Susie was sitting there almost speechless. It was clear that Max had been through a lot. Even more, than she could imagine. She gave Max a couple of tips to deal with his anxiety. But she had told him Kimi and Sebastian were different from the foster homes he had gone to before and so she suggested telling them how he felt.

For Max, this was definitely a no-go. He was not going to tell Kimi or Sebastian anything. Still too afraid they would do the same as previous Forster families or his dad. He also didn't want to go back to his group home. What he didn't know was that Lewis and his team already shut the group home down. After having found a safe home for all the little kids.

When they were eating dinner everyone was noticing how Max was more silent than usual. Kimi and Sebastian knew it was probably because of this therapy session. Kimi knew it from his own experience and Sebastian was reminded of how Lance was after his first therapy session.

Max kept the whole evening to himself and went to his bedroom after dinner. Max was sitting on his bed thinking about everything. He wanted to take Susie's advice and tell someone about his fear but he didn't want to burden Lance or Charles again.  He had already burned them enough with his homework troubles and wanting to learn sign languages.

However, he didn't really spend a lot of time with Charles lately and Lance had told him he could tell him everything and Lance had been in foster care too.

He walked towards Lance his room already hearing that Charles was in there too. Max was standing in front of the door not knowing if he was going to talk to them or not. He had wanted to tell it to one person but he couldn't really wait any longer. In the end, he waited a couple of seconds before knocking on the door.

"Come in," it was definitely Charles who answered the knocking. Max opened the door and Lance and Charles were smiling at him and directly making space for him on the bed.

"We just wanted to get you for a movie night, we know it's Wednesday but we felt like it," Charles told him. Max smiled at them while climbing on the bed. They had made space between them and as much as Max wanted to sit on the chair he didn't want to disappoint them.

"Are you doing okay?" Charles asked. Max looked visibly nervous more nervous than Lance and Charles had ever seen him.

"I wanted to talk about something," it was a whisper but both boys understood him clearly.

"It's about the winter vacation," Lance nodded his head. He had noticed that Max always got nervous or flinched when they talked about the winter vacation.

Max slowly started to tell the same stories as he told Susie. Charles was sitting in shock not knowing how to react Lance had told them stories but nothing like that.

Lance was also speechless he was only mistreated by the foster home and not by foster families or his biological family.

Lance now understood why Max had always reacted the way he did. Charles was still deep in thought. He knew his dads weren't going to react that way ever. He knew they had multiple spare rooms in their vacation home and he also knew that one of the rooms was currently getting redecorated into a similar style to what Max had in their house.

They hadn't bought winter sports stuff for Max yet since Kimi and Sebastian didn't know if he wanted to snowboard or ski. Lance loved snowboarding and had done that with his biological family while Charles preferred to ski like his dads.

So Charles made the decision to ruin his dad's surprise and tell them they were currently redecorating a room for Max and were going to buy the stuff later.

Max still didn't feel at peace but after Charles had shown them some photos he was a little bit more relaxed.

The next step was telling Kimi and Sebastian.

Chapter Text

It was the next day and Max was still extremely nervous. He knew he had promised Lance and Charles to tell Sebastian and Kimi everything but he knew he couldn't at least not today.

They were leaving in two weeks, which meant he still had two weeks left to tell them everything, but it also meant two weeks full of anxiety.

He had noticed he was tenser than in the last couple of weeks. He started to talk less and isolated himself more.

All because he was too scared, but the therapy session did help. He liked the feeling he got after he told his stories without getting judged.

A couple of days later he had a full day of school and an after-school activity. There was an online racing team and he had talked to one of the boys in there and they had invited Max.

He had texted Sebastian to ask if he was allowed to stay for the activity. Sebastian of course had directly said yes. He was just happy that Max felt comfortable enough to go to an after-school activity.

-

Charles was waiting for his dad to show up. It had been a couple of days since Lance and he talked to Max. As he heard a car coming up he felt someone stand beside him. He looked over to see Lance smiling, looking back he saw his dad waving.

He went to the passenger seat to sit beside his dad, Lance went to the back.

"How was school?" His dad asked them once he drove off towards their home. It was a 15-minute drive from home to school and back. Most of the time Sebastian decided to bring them but once in a while, they went by public transportation.

"Good Pierre said their family is also going to winter sport this year, but of course, they are going back to France."

Lance just nodded his head when his dad looked back at him through the rearview mirror. Sebastian and Kimi had always gone back to Finland for their winter sports vacation. Mainly because their vacation house was right next to Kimi his parents.

"Your grandpa asked us they needed to buy something else for Max his room there, do you guys know if he wants something?" Sebastian glanced at Charles who seemed to tense up, so he looked into the rearview mirror at his younger son and saw him also tensing up a little bit.

"What did I say wrong?" Sebastian looked over to both of his sons wondering if Max had told them something he didn't know or, if they had already spoiled the secret. He didn't even think Charles was going to be able to keep it a secret.

"Max said it looked good," Charles mumbled. Sebastian let out a chuckle of course his son wasn't able to keep it a secret. He knew it.

Charles glanced back towards Lance who nodded they knew Max hadn't told their dads anything yet but Charles wasn't able to stay quiet. He knew it wasn't his story and he wasn't going to tell everything but he had to say something.

"We have to tell you something," Charles looked down at his hands. He didn't know how to start telling his dad that Max was terrified of going on winter sports but he also knew if he didn't say something Max his anxiety would go through the sky for the next week because the day that they were supposed to leave came closer and closer.

"What happened?" Sebastian looked to the right and he didn't think he had seen his oldest son looking so nervous. So he looked around and saw he was close to a parking lot. He knew this was going to be a serious conversation so he didn't want to drive during it.

When the car was parked he turned to the side so that was able to face both of his sons. He looked at both of them, not just Charles but also Lance looked nervous.

"I can't say a lot because it is not my story but something happened in the past and Max is terrified to go on our winter sports vacation," Charles let out a big breath he didn't even know he was holding. Why was he so nervous? His dad wasn't going to make fun of it.

Charles knew at that moment that it must have taken so much courage for Lance and Max to tell them the stories they had already told.

"He told you guys?" Sebastian looked over to Lance who nodded his head. He had noticed how Max flinched every time they mentioned the vacation, he however didn't know the extent of how serious it was. He was glad Max had trusted Lance and Charles enough to tell them. It had meant he started to get comfortable around them and that was such a big step that it almost made Sebastian tear up.

By the looks of the boys Max had told them more and it made him proud of Charled for not going completely behind Max his back.

"You okay dad?" Sebastian felt a small tap on his shoulder. Realizing he had been in his thoughts instead of talking to his boys.

"Yes," He nodded his head before looking at the both of them. "I will talk to Kimi when we are home and we will see what we are going to do but thank you for telling me," he hoped he said it with reassurance. He turned back to start the car but he felt Lance tug slightly on his shirt.

"You wouldn't tell Max we told you right?"

"No, it is Max his story, Kimi and me will wait until he tells us," He heard Charles take a deep breath probably happy to hear Sebastian wasn't going to tell on them. With that being said Sebastian started the car again and made his way back home.

-

When Sebastian was home he decided he needed to talk with Kimi about it before he was going to pick Max up from his after-school activity. He knew Kimi had the afternoon off and was probably sketching tattoos.

He walked towards the office they had in their house. He knocked on the door. Not wanting to disturb Kimi but knowing they had to have a conversation.

"Come in," Seb heard from the other side of the door. Walking in he saw Kimi sketching on his iPad. Seeing his husband walking in he put the iPad down and looked up. Sebastian's face was scrunched up meaning nothing good.

"What's going on?" Kimi stood up and walked over to the sofa grabbing Sebastian's hand on his way and taking him with him.

They both sat down before starting to talk. They just had to find a solution to get Max comfortable without the boy knowing he was so scared of going away. They decided Kimi was going to talk about their trip when he was going to pick up Max after his school activity.

It was a great idea for Kimi and Max to bond more and Kimi could slip in some things of his past and discuss Max his room in their vacation house that Kimi and his parents were transforming.

-

Max was walking out of school with a boy named Thierry.  He enjoyed the activity. They were prepping for an online race that was in three weeks. Max, of course, wasn't that good to join yet but he was enjoying it and according to the others, he was a lot better than they had expected.

Max was looking around to see if he could spot Sebastian but instead saw Kimi. He was taken back a little bit, he had gotten comfortable with Sebastian in the car. He was the one to always pick him up and bring him back to school.

He wasn't that close with Kimi yet so he was more nervous. He said goodbye to his new friend and slowly walked towards Kimi his car and opened the passenger door to sit down.

"How was the virtual racing club?" Kimi asked before starting the car. He looked over towards Max who looked happy.

"Good, I really liked it!" Kimi saw the big smile and was happy that the boy had found an activity he actually liked and not because Charles or Lance was doing it.

"I'm glad you're liking it. I wanted to talk to you about our vacation." Kimi glanced to the side to see Max tensing up and the smile he had slowly disappearing.

"We are going to Finland since my parents live there. They are not my biological parents but they adopted me two days before I turned eighteen. But we have an extra house there and we are decorating the guests-room but how do you want it?" Kimi had gone a different route not going back home and it made Max even more nervous.

Max who had listened to Kimi had been surprised to hear he had been adopted just before the age of 18. He didn't even know he was adopted.

"I don't know," Kimi looked over to see that Max got visibly more nervous and it hit Kimi that he had never told the boy where they were going.

"You can think about it, we normally go to Finland multiple times a year. We are going to a sports shop now so we can figure out what we need for you to be able to go out in the snow with us."

The shop wasn't far but it was in a different direction than their home, meaning Max had probably seen that they were going a different way which definitely was making him more anxious.

Max was indeed nervous and anxious but so far Kimi and Sebastian had never lied to him, so he was able to trust Kimi right. If he told him they were going to a shop that meant they truly were going to a shop, right?

He didn't have to wait long before Kimi parked the car in front of a shop, that indeed looked like it was for just winter sports. Kimi opened his door and Max followed his lead.

The shop was big, it definitely didn't look that big from the outside. There were skies, snowboards, winter clothing, boots, and everything that you may need for a trip somewhere cold.

"I made a list with everything we need from thermos clothing to stuff we need for skiing or snowboarding wherever you want to do," Kimi took Max to the clothes first.

It slowly started to dawn on him that he really was getting clothing to keep warm meaning even if he wasn't allowed to go with them he would still be warm.

It wasn't until Kimi made him try the clothes on that he realized what was really happening. This clothing really had to be for him right? He was also allowed to keep all the other clothes he was given by Sebastian.

He really was going to be warm during the vacation even if they still made him sleep in a garage. He went with Kimi to the other side of the store. He wasn't able to choose between snowboarding or skiing. The person who worked in the store had explained they only needed the extra boots since they had extra's skis and snowboards from Charles and Lance that Max could easily use. 

With over four full bags they went back to the car. Kimi was hoping the clothes would make Max less nervous for the vacation. He still hadn't been able to get out of Max how he wanted the guest bedroom but now that they knew he liked playing video games and racing online it was definitely going to be easier to include some of it. 

Kimi started up the car again to make their way home. For him, it was a successful day he was able to tell Max a little bit about his past and gave him the clothes he needed for their trip. He had also noticed Max getting more relaxed the longer they spent in the store. 

For Max, it wasn't a bad day or experience he had enjoyed spending time with Kimi, but he wasn't going to lie it had also made him nervous. Especially when he didn't know where they were going since he had recognized the road or route they were going, but he had started to relax so much more the more time they spent together. 

 

 

Max had come back to the house with a smile, he was so happy when Kimi had said he was allowed to store the clothes in his closet. It meant that Sebastian and Kimi weren't going to take it from him. 

During dinner, he wasn't able to get a smile off his face. Knowing he had warm cotes for the trip and his amazing time at the after-school activity, in the end, it really was a good day. 

It was Charles who had started to conversation at dinner. 

"Did you like the sim racing thing?" 

Max looked up to see if Charles had been talking to him or Lance even though Lance didn't have an after-school activity. He put his fork down to give Charles an answer. 

"I did, they told me I wasn't bad and I have a big chance of joining their team for competitions." Everyone at the table could see the big smile he had on his face. 

"That's exciting news, let's hope you are able to join them soon," Sebastian was happy Max was enjoying the sim racing. It was definitely a lot better than going back to karting with so many bad memories Max had. 

Max nodded his head happily before he started to eat again. Looking back he was so proud of himself for today. He had more friends, went to sim racing alone, and was less nervous about their trip to Finland. 

 

 

 

The following day Max had another appointment with Susie. He was less nervous than he was the last time. 

"How has it been going?" She looked at them from the chair across from him. Max was looking out the window it overlooked a beautiful park. He had to think about it how was he really doing. 

"Better," it was the only thing he could say but he was definitely doing better than he was before. 

"What makes you say that," Max looked over again. He was slowly starting to hate all the questions she was asking him. 

"I told Lance and Charles what happened during the last winter sports vacations," 

Susie smiled big at him. It gave Max a weird feeling. 

"I'm proud of you," Max looked up, nobody had ever said that to him Nobody ever told him they were proud of him, and now this woman he barely knew was telling him she was proud of him. 

She was asking him more questions about things that happened and how it had made him feel. Max tried to answer them honestly but he didn't always know how to describe what he had felt. The only thing he knew he was slowly starting to trust the people around them. 

Max had noticed she had started to write down his answers and was wondering if it had something to do with the social worker that was coming in two days to check on him. 

Sebastian was the one that told him about it. It was a social worker he had never seen before or heard about them. Apparently, the previous ones he had all got their license taken away by Valtteri and his team. 

Lance however had noticed the name and said it was the same social worker he had gotten after he was taken in by Sebastian and Kimi. 

"How is school going?" Max was brought out by his thoughts by Susie.

"I am a little bit behind but Lance is helping me," He looked over to Susie again. He just couldn't help himself but the park looked so beautiful from the window. 

"How does it make you feel that you're a little bit behind?" Susie wrote down something before Max was given 

How did it make Max feel? He remembers his first talk with Lance and how nervous he was. He had asked Lance in private if he wanted to help too scared to ask Kimi or Sebastian. 

However yesterday the school had apparently called Sebastian to tell them Max was falling behind more than they had expected. 

Max was in his room doing his homework or at least the ones he understood, when Sebastian called him downstairs. Max was too nervous to actually yell back he was coming. He was never called down. 

He slowly walked down the stairs, Sebastian and Kimi were both in the kitchen. Kimi was making hot chocolate. So he couldn't be in too much trouble right otherwise they weren't making it. Unless they were going to give Lance and Charles the hot chocolate and not him. 

Max sat down on the chair he usually sat down in during dinner. He didn't know what was going on. He wasn't able to think of something he did wrong. He had left the door of his room open, he never went with shoes inside the house. 

Not that Kimi or Sebastian had ever told him those rules but those were just a couple of rules from previous foster families or the group home.

"The school called about something we want to talk with you about, you are not in trouble," the breath Max didn't even know he was holding in came out with a big sigh. He truly wasn't in trouble. 

"They told us you're falling behind, which is understandable," Sebastian started and Max knew what was coming. He had seen the grades, and he had tried really hard with the help of Lance to get his grades up but sadly that didn't happen despite his hard work. 

Kimi came back with a big mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. Max looked at Kimi with a confused look. Why were they giving him a treat for doing badly at school? Weren't they supposed to punish him by taking away his PlayStation that he had gotten the weekend before or his phone? 

"We know it's been hard from going to not even real homeschooling back to public school," Sebastian had a mug with tea in front of him. Kimi had a cup of coffee and they both didn't seem angry at him. 

Max completely agrees with them. The transfer from homeschooling if you even got to call it that, it were just a couple of education books that he didn't understand. So of course he had missed a big amount. 

"I know how hard it is to get any education back on track after the books they call homeschooling in those foster homes, but we want you to know if you ever struggle or find something difficult you can come to us," again Max looked up. 

This was the second time Kimi had told him something about his past that seemed more similar to how he grew up than he thought. He knew now that Kimi was in a foster home, and got adopted, Of course, he wasn't adopted and he didn't even know if he wanted to get adopted. But now he started to understand why Kimi reacted or acted with him in certain situations. 

"Are getting any help right now with your schoolwork?" Max looked up Sebastian had asked the question while sipping on his tea. Max looked back to his chocolate and decided it was safe to take a couple of sips before answering the question. 

He nodded his head before giving a verbal answer. "Lance is helping me out." 

It was more of a mumble than a real answer but both Kimi and Sebastian had heard them. Again happy that Max had started to trust Lance and Charles to go to when he was struggling but also a little bit sad that Max still hadn't trusted them enough for him to go to them. 

"I'm glad  and proud of you for going to Lance, are you currently struggling with a subject?" Sebastian smiled brightly at Max. Wanting to make sure that the boy wasn't going to think he was a burden or that it was bad that he was struggling with school. 

Max nodded his head not feeling like answering that question. Kimi smiled slightly before he started to talk again. 

"Why don't you go upstairs grab your schoolwork and come back so we can help you out? Sebastian is probably better at it than me."  Sebastian shook his head slightly before laughing lightly. 

Max stood up carefully still not a hundred percent sure he was not in trouble for failing at school but he had to trust their word so far Sebastian and Kimi hadn't lied to him yet. 

So he went up the stairs to pick up his science and English books to show his foster parents. It turned out Sebastian was indeed the person to go to for school work instead of Kimi.  

He came back from the memory realizing he was still in the room with his therapist and she was still waiting for an answer. 

"Bad at first but Sebastian and Kimi, well more Sebastian are helping me," he smiled slightly at her. 

"So you trusted them enough to talk with them?" she looked hopeful and Max instantly started to feel bad. No, he hadn't the school but why did he suddenly feel bad like he let her down?

He shook his head no, she still kept smiling at him. "They found out after the school had called, but it was a good conversation," Max was smiling, he was still happy that they didn't seem to mind him falling behind in school. 

They started to talk about a couple of more things but before Max even realized the time was over. He was happy that he had agreed to the weekly meetings. It was really helping him with his mental health and he started to trust the people around him more. 

 

 

It was the next day and apparently, it was the 3-month visit. Max never had a social worker visit him while he was staying with foster families but according to Sebastian and Kimi, it was a norm. 

He was taken out of school a little bit earlier than normal not really knowing what to think about it. He was stressed about it too. He was starting to think that he finally found a foster family that seems nice, he didn't want to get sent back to a group home. 

He was waiting in the living room the television was on but the didn't pay any attention to it. 

Kimi was at work next door while Sebastian was in the kitchen already prepping stuff for dinner. He never started this earlier and Max wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that a social worker was coming over. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a ring of the doorbell. He didn't even know it was this loud or maybe it just sounded loud because he wasn't paying attention. 

Sebastian walked to the front door to open it to the social worker that they knew by the name of Hannah.

He saw Kimi walking behind her to the house. He just wanted to be there to make sure it went like normal. Not that they didn't trust Hannah but still. 

"Sebastian, Kimi it is nice to see the two of you again," Hannah still was as polite as she was when she came for Lance his 3 and 6-month visit before he was adopted. 

"Welcome Hannah, come in," Sebastian opened the door for her so she was able to walk into the house straight through the living room where Max was sitting. 

Max looked up when he heard all the doors open and voices coming closer. He saw a woman with blond here walking in with Sebastian and Kimi. She seemed nice and Max wondered if it was an act or if she really was as kind as Lance told him. 

"Hello, you must be Max. I'm Hannah your new social worker." She extended her hand for Max to shake as an introduction. Max smiled slightly but didn't say anything yet too nervous to give a verbal answer. 

Hannah who had been working with Lance and actually knew sign language didn't mind Max not giving a verbal answer. She sadly had met more children who were placed in foster care that went mute. 

"Can I sit down and explain what is going to happen?" Hannah pointed to the couch the one Max was not sitting on. 

"Of course, still tea instead of coffee?" Sebastian was already on his way to the kitchen while Hannah confirmed she wanted tea instead of coffee. She sat down close to Max but still gave him enough space.

"Okay, so this is what is going to happen today. We start with an individual conversation about your time here. This will be happening in Kimi his office while Sebastian and Kimi are not there. After the conversation, I will be seeing where you have been sleeping to make sure it is according to standards and then I will be evaluating it with the team at my office and will call back Kimi and Sebastian." 

Max had been sitting still on the couch not knowing what to do. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation but he also liked that she explained what was going to happen before they started in the presents of Kimi and Sebastian. 

Together they walked to the office and Hannah let Max decide where they were going to sit. Max who had seen the small couch with lounge chair knew he rather wanted to sit there than behind the desk. 

"So how long have you been staying with Kimi and Sebastian?" Max looked up not expecting her to ask basic questions first. 

The questions slowly started to become harder and harder, it went from friends to how Kimi and Sebastian reacted to him and how he felt. 

He knew he was supposed to answer the questions as honestly as possible so that's exactly what he did. He told them Kimi and Sebastian never react angrily to him. They always took their time and Kimi seemed more relaxed than Sebastian but Sebstian was better if he needed help with schoolwork.

Hannah smiled through the conversation always staying kind and polite. She hadn't expected Max to talk during the whole conversation. The information she had gotten had told her he was mute which was either false or the boy in front of him was doing a lot better than the papers told her. 

With how nervous Max however still seemed to be after every question she guessed the boy had started talking again with Kimi and Sebastian. 

"So how are you getting along with Lance and Charles?" She asked him. She had already written down a lot and Max didn't even know if he was giving the correct answers. 

"Good, I think. I like spending time with them," Max smiled giving that answer. He really liked spending time with them. Lance because he understood him like no other. He knew how nervous and anxious normal day life could be. 

Charles because he was so carefree and was always laughing, liked playing video games just like Lance, and was always ready to help Max out if he needed someone. 

"I think I have enough information, can I take a look at your room?" Even if she was asking it as a question, he knew it really wasn't a question and it was part of their routine. 

He walked up the stairs to all the bedrooms. He opened his door and showed the room. He still thought it was a big room and he had gotten more than he needed. He got a tv, PlayStation, and laptop in the last couple of months. 

He had told Sebastian and Kimi multiple times he didn't need to have all this stuff he could use Lance his PlayStation if needed but they had both seemed stern about Max getting all the stuff. 

Hannah looked around the room and smiled seeing everything in it. It was clear Sebastian and Kimi had done a lot to get it more comfortable for Max. 

After the visit, Max felt a lot better. She had said that she wasn't allowed to tell anything yet but they didn't need to worry and it made Max happy. 

Because he was slowly becoming part of a family, something he never had before.

 

Chapter Text

It was a week after the social worker had visited before she called back. She told Sebastian and Kimi that they were doing a great job with Max and that they wouldn’t hear from her again until the six-month visit.

Max woke up from a nightmare, and he knew why. Today was the day they would go on vacation to Finland. Sebastian had walked in and given Max a suitcase—his own suitcase. He couldn’t believe it when he saw it.

They had given him a list of things he had to bring with him, and the rest of the suitcase he could fill with things he wanted to bring himself.

The list had started with clothing items and toiletries. It took Max a while to realize that either Sebastian or Kimi had bought him more clothes than necessary, but he wasn’t going to complain. A couple of clothing items had disappeared into the trash bag under his bed, so that if he was ever sent back to the group home, he would at least have some extra clothes and warmer clothes than he used to have.

He had packed the stuffed lion in his backpack, which he was using as hand luggage since they were taking a plane this year. Charles had told him they normally always flew and only took the car during the summer. They would make multiple stops, including one in Germany where Sebastian’s parents lived.

Max looked around his bedroom, making sure he had packed everything he needed. He had made sure to bring all the things with emotional memories, just in case Sebastian or Kimi were to leave him behind.

It was still a little early, but Max decided to get out of bed. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyway, especially not after the nightmare. While he was starting to trust Kimi and Sebastian, this vacation was bringing back everything from the past.

He went to the bathroom to freshen up before putting on the clothes that were already laid out on a chair in his room. He took his phone off the charger and put the charger in his backpack. Now he was ready. The suitcase had already been put in the car the night before, so he only needed to bring the backpack with him downstairs.

Walking down the stairs, he could already hear the voices of Kimi and Sebastian.

“So the only things left to pack are the phone chargers, passports, and Max’s papers that say he’s allowed to travel with us,” said Sebastian. Max had found out that Sebastian did most of the packing, while Kimi just listened and put all the suitcases in the car.

Max still didn’t understand how all the suitcases fit in the car. Yes, the car was big, but he was still impressed with how Kimi made it work.

Max stepped into the kitchen, where the table was set with leftovers from the days before—everything from pancakes to pasta. Both Sebastian and Kimi looked up when they heard him enter.

“Good morning, Max, hope you slept well. Take whatever you want for breakfast. Everything that’s left over we’ll have to throw away, so eat as much as you like,” Sebastian said, gesturing at all the food spread out on the table.

“Thank you.”

Kimi just nodded while grabbing the last couple of things Sebastian had listed for the trip.

Max decided to sit down and take a couple of pancakes and waffles. He wasn’t going to take any of the dinner leftovers; he was pretty sure his stomach wouldn’t be able to handle that.

“Are you excited to go to Finland?” Sebastian had gotten a cup of coffee for Kimi and himself before sitting down at the table with Max.

Max looked up at the question. Was he excited? He was more terrified. But if they really were going to let him join in all the activities, then yes—he was more than excited. He just didn’t know if he could trust Kimi and Sebastian yet. If everything they had told him turned out to be true, then Max knew he had found a home. But he still needed to find out if it was all a lie.

So how was he supposed to answer the question? He knew he wasn’t ready to tell Kimi or Sebastian what had happened in the past, and he didn’t want to make them worry if the vacation turned out to be amazing. So he settled on yes—yes, he was excited.

Max nodded, and both Kimi and Sebastian noticed how nervous he was. They just smiled softly when Max nodded. They hoped he would relax more once they arrived at the house and he had met the grandparents.

It didn’t take long before Sebastian stood up to wake Charles and Lance. They didn’t have much time left if they wanted to be at the airport on time.

When everyone was awake and had eaten breakfast, Kimi and Sebastian cleaned up the kitchen while they told the boys to get their shoes on and make themselves completely ready.

The drive to the airport took almost an hour. It was still early in the morning, around 6 a.m., which meant the roads weren’t as busy as usual. At the airport, they didn’t have to wait long for check-in. There was a line for security and customs, but overall it only took about thirty minutes. According to Sebastian, that wasn’t bad at all.

Since they went to Finland at least once a year, they knew where the gate was. So they decided to go to the shops. Kimi gave them each a £50 bill to spend on whatever they wanted from the different shops—as long as the three of them didn’t separate.

Max wasn’t going to lie, he was nervous. The last time he had been at an airport was with his dad, when he moved from the Netherlands to the UK—before all the abuse started.

He looked up when he noticed Lance start signing.

Where do you guys want to go? I want to buy a book.

Max looked over to Charles, who nodded his head before looking around.

“We can go look for a bookstore first. I want to buy some candy! And you?”

They both looked at Max, who had no idea what he wanted to buy with the money Kimi had just given him. So he just nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

“Maybe you’ll find something when we’re at the bookstore or the candy store. Let’s go!” Charles said, turning towards the shops. Both Lance and Max followed him.

They found a bookstore, and Max was looking around when a book with two boys on the cover caught his attention. He knew he was into boys, but he’d never had any support in his previous foster homes or groups. He also knew Kimi and Sebastian would be okay with whoever he brought home—at least, that’s what they had told him.

He slowly picked up the book Heartstopper and read the title. He opened the first couple of pages and was happy to see it was a comic. He read the back of the book, then looked around, wondering if he was allowed to buy it.

He noticed volume 2 standing next to it and picked that one up too, just as Charles walked up to him.

“You want to buy those two? I heard they’re good—they even turned them into a Netflix show.” Charles pointed at the books. Max looked up and saw the smile on Charles’s face.

“I can?” Max held up the book, hoping Charles would understand the question so he wouldn’t have to explain further. He was already too anxious about the trip.

“Of course you can,” Charles said, taking Max by the arm and walking with him to the checkout. Before Max even realized it, he had bought both books and was carrying a small paper bag with them inside.

Lance had also found a science fiction book to buy before they all went to the candy store. Charles went straight to the candy he liked most, while Max wandered around, unfamiliar with most of it. He noticed Lance picking up different kinds of candy, only to put them back on the shelves.

Max had never really had unhealthy food until he started living with the Raikkonen-Vettel family. Sometimes Charles shared candy with him, but it had taken a while to figure out which ones he liked. So far, he hadn’t really found one he loved.

After the candy store, it was time for them to go back to the gate. Lance had found some chocolate he liked, while Charles had way too much candy with him.

“It’s almost time to board the plane, so please stay close to us,” Sebastian told them when they got back. Max wasn’t planning on letting them out of his sight. He didn’t want to be left behind—by accident or on purpose.

It didn’t take long before they were boarding the plane. Lance and Max ended up with Kimi, while Charles sat with Sebastian behind them. It wasn’t a long flight, and Max mostly focused on his phone, too scared to start reading the new book he had bought next to Kimi.

It didn’t take long before they were in Finland. The first thing Max noticed was the snow. It was freezing, and he was grateful for all the new warm clothes he was wearing.

“Welcome to Finland. First we’ll pick up our luggage and then the rental car. This way,” Sebastian said, pointing towards baggage claim. Max kept looking around, still not believing they had really brought him to Finland.

It didn’t take long before they collected their suitcases and found the rental car. Kimi got behind the wheel; according to Sebastian, Kimi was used to driving in this kind of weather.

“Okay, so when we arrive, my parents will probably start asking you all kinds of questions. But if it gets too much, just let me or Seb know and we’ll tell them, okay Max?”

Max looked up and saw Kimi glancing at him in the rearview mirror. He nodded when Kimi looked again, still trying to figure out exactly what he meant.

The drive to their house wasn’t long, but Max was impressed by the amount of snow. He had never seen so much before.

“It’s beautiful, right?” Charles whispered in his ear. Max could only nod. It truly was—the snow covering the trees against the clear blue sky.

A big house came into view, almost as large as the one Kimi and Sebastian owned in England, and Max started to wonder how they managed to pay for it all.

Kimi stopped the car in front of the house. Looking to the left, Max saw another, slightly smaller house. Before he realized it, two people came almost running out of it.

Both had gray, almost white hair. Charles and Lance had already opened the car doors and were hugging the two people outside. Max was glad he had sat in the middle so he had more time before getting out.

He slowly climbed out of the car while his brothers—his brothers, it still felt strange but warm—were hugging their grandparents.

“Okay, now I want to hug my new grandson,” said the woman, holding out her arms. Max looked up and saw her smiling warmly. He glanced at Sebastian and Kimi, then at his brothers, who nodded encouragingly. So Max stepped forward and slowly let himself be hugged.

It felt strange. He hadn’t even hugged his brothers yet—only Mick and Lando after everything that happened. He didn’t really know who this woman was, yet somehow he felt strangely comfortable with her.

When he stepped back, she smiled at him brightly. Max looked over to the others, but Kimi was quietly talking to his dad, while Sebastian was unloading the car. His brothers were looking at him with wide smiles.

“My name is Paula, and that’s Matti,” the woman said, pointing to the man talking to Kimi. “We’re Kimi’s parents. You can call us whatever you’re comfortable with. You’re Max, right?”

Max nodded. He was glad he didn’t have to call them grandparents yet, because he still hadn’t been able to call Kimi and Sebastian his dads.

He picked up his backpack and followed everyone into the house next to the one his grandparents had come out of. Grandparents. The word sounded right. He silently prayed he wouldn’t have to spend the night in the garage.

“Okay Max, let me show you your room. I hope you like it. Paula and I didn’t really know what you liked,” said Matti—his grandpa—as he started up the stairs. Max glanced at the others, who smiled or continued their conversations, then followed Matti up. The hallway had several doors.

“This is the bathroom you’ll share with Lance and Charles, just like at home. And this is your bedroom.” Matti pointed at the doors as he spoke. Max heard footsteps and turned to see Kimi coming up with the suitcase Max had completely forgotten.

He slowly opened the bedroom door, nervous about what he’d find. To say he was surprised was an understatement. The room had more decorations than his room in the UK. His room. It sounded strange, but good—like it really belonged to him, and no one was going to take it away.

There was a big bed, a television on the opposite wall, a bookshelf against another, and a larger window than he expected. He stepped inside, not really knowing what to say. While Charles had told him he would get his own room, he hadn’t really believed it. Yet here it was—his own room.

He turned to look at Matti and Kimi, who were waiting for his reaction.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Kimi smiled brightly, happy that Max liked the room.

Matti smiled as well. “Paula and I will start on an early dinner. You boys take your time unpacking.” He patted Kimi on the back before heading back downstairs.

Kimi walked further into the room with the suitcase and set it down. “Everything okay?”

Max looked up. Kimi sat down on the bed, watching him. Was everything okay? He didn’t know. He was still nervous, but looking around at the room, he couldn’t believe this was where he would be spending the night—and not in a garage. Unless, of course, this was all a big lie.

Max nodded and sat down next to Kimi on the bed. Did Kimi expect him to talk, or was the nod enough? He glanced at the man beside him.

“If you need something or someone to talk to, Lance’s room is to the left, and Charles is next door. Seb and I are at the end of the hallway.”

Max nodded his head again. His fingers tightened around the strap of his backpack, the weight of his stuffed lion pressing reassuringly against his side. He didn’t know what Kimi expected him to say. Words always seemed too big, too complicated.

Kimi didn’t push. He just sat there, hands resting loosely on his knees, as if waiting in case Max wanted to speak. After a long silence, Kimi finally stood up and patted Max gently on the shoulder.

“Unpack slowly. No rush,” he said quietly, before heading for the door. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

When the door clicked shut, Max let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He glanced around the room again, taking in the bookshelves, the wide bed, the window that let in pale winter light. His room. The thought felt dangerous. He had learned the hard way not to get used to nice things.

Still, he unzipped the suitcase and began unpacking. Each folded shirt, each pair of socks, went into drawers and shelves like little promises that maybe—just maybe—he would be here long enough to need them. Finally, he placed his stuffed lion right in the middle of the bed. The sight of it there, not hidden in a trash bag or tucked in a corner, made his throat tighten.

Dinner was noisy in a way Max hadn’t expected. Paula and Matti told stories about Kimi as a child, and Lance and Charles nearly fell off their chairs laughing. Sebastian kept shaking his head in mock disbelief while Kimi muttered that none of it was true, though Max noticed the corner of his mouth twitching like he was fighting a smile.

At first, Max ate in silence, hands tight around his fork. But when Paula leaned over to pile more potatoes on his plate and winked at him, the knot in his chest loosened just enough that a laugh slipped out when Charles made a joke. Nobody stared at him when he laughed. Nobody asked why it had taken so long. They just laughed with him.

It was… strange. Strange, but good.

Later that night, Max lay in his new bed, blankets pulled up to his chin. The house was quiet except for muffled voices downstairs and the distant crunch of snow as someone brought firewood in. He kept waiting for the familiar dread to creep in—the fear that someone would come take it all away.

A soft knock startled him. Before he could answer, Charles and Lance peeked in.

“You awake?” Charles whispered.

Max nodded.

“Good,” Lance signed, smiling as he stepped closer. “We’re playing cards. Want to join?”

Max hesitated, eyes flicking to the lion on his pillow. But the way his brothers looked at him—like it was obvious he belonged there—made him push the blankets aside. He followed them down the hall, heart pounding in a way that wasn’t entirely fear.

For the first time in a long time, Max didn’t feel like a guest. He felt like part of something.

And when he finally whispered a quiet “goodnight” hours later, the replies of “night, Max” came without hesitation. He hugged his lion and let himself believe—just a little—that he was home.