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Hazel noticed something was wrong before Max said a word.
That wasn’t unusual. Max had a particular way of moving when he tried to pretend nothing was wrong: shoulders squared, expression carefully controlled, every step a little too deliberate.
He’d barely made it out of the throne room when Hazel caught it. Max was limping. Not dramatically; if she hadn’t been watching him, she might have missed it entirely. But every few steps, his weight shifted away from one leg, and his jaw tightened for half a second before his expression smoothed over again.
Hazel subtly slowed, matching Max’s pace. “The fuck happened to you?”
“I’m fine,” he said, tilting his head as if he had no clue what she meant. She stopped walking, watching his gait as he moved in front of her. Max made it another few steps before realizing she wasn’t following him, then turned to face her. “What?”
Hazel folded her arms and threw him a judgmental look. “What’s wrong with your leg?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m not buying that for a second. You’ve been limping since you got back.”
“I haven’t,” Max insisted, looking down at his leg as if it had personally betrayed him, then shrugged. “I’m just tired. I didn’t exactly sleep last night.”
Hazel stared blankly at him.
From what Chloe had told them, Maddox had sent a shock wave through the cavern, causing a statue to shatter and pin Max to the ground. For a few terrifying seconds, Red and Chloe had been unsure whether they could get Max out before the rest fell on him. Thankfully, they’d freed him, but apparently not without injury.
“Let me look at it.”
Max immediately shook his head. “Hazel, I’m fine. We need to leave now if we want to make it back to Auradon tonight.”
“Let me look,” she repeated, narrowing her eyes. She didn’t like using her ‘captain voice’ with Max, but sometimes it was necessary, like when he was pretending he wasn’t injured for her sake.
Max sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Hazel, seriously. I’m okay. There’s nothing to look at.”
“That’s not how injuries work.”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you?”
Max gave her a flat stare that she returned, both of them refusing to look away first. Finally, Max turned to glance down the hallway, presumably hoping someone would come along and provide him with an escape, but no one was there.
“You’re not getting out of this,” she said, crossing her arms and taking a step closer. “I’m not moving until you let me look at it, and then we really won’t get home tonight.”
“Technically this is my home.”
“Stop deflecting. If your leg is really so fine, what’s the harm in me checking it out?”
Max muttered something under his breath, probably a curse against her. “It’s probably just bruised.”
“Probably?” she questioned, her expression immediately hardening. “You don’t know?”
“I didn’t exactly have time to conduct a full exam while trapped under a statue.”
Hazel’s face fell slightly, but she quickly corrected it. She hadn’t been there when it happened. Chloe had told them afterward, but hearing the story hadn’t quite conveyed what it must have been like: the cavern shaking, stone coming down, Max trapped underneath it while everyone scrambled to get him free.
Hazel looked at his leg again. “How long were you pinned?”
Max shrugged. “I don’t know. Not long.”
“Did you hit your head?”
“No.”
“Can you put weight on it?”
“Yes.”
“Does it hurt when you walk?”
“Hazel, c’mon,” Max complained, rolling his eyes. Hazel ignored him and crouched slightly, examining his leg from where she stood. There wasn’t much visible due to his clothes, but there was enough to make her suspicious. The fabric around his knee was dusty from the cavern, and there was a faint tear along the side of his pants.
“Did the statue hit you directly?”
He hesitated, but answered. “Not exactly. It wasn’t the whole thing.”
She sighed, grabbing his shoulders and guiding him to a nearby windowsill. She pushed him down, hard enough to make a point but not hard enough to strain his leg further, and sat next to him. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Max stared out the window, watching the skies above Wonderland darken as the day gave way to night. Hazel watched him instead.
“Chloe told us what happened,” she finally started. “She said she thought they were going to have to leave you there.”
Max’s expression tightened. “They didn’t.”
“That’s not the point.”
“What is the point, then?”
“You were pinned under a statue, Max! And now you’re limping and insisting you’re fine, but I know you’re not. I know you. I know how you act. You can say you’re fine all you want, but I know when you’re lying.”
“I know my own body!” Max protested, looking mildly offended.
“Apparently not very well!” Hazel reached towards his leg, stopping just short of touching it. “Let me look?”
Max hesitated, but nodded. Hazel bent down and slowly rolled up his pant leg, looking for anything obviously wrong. Max kept his face carefully blank, but she noticed the way his fingers curled against the edge of the windowsill. He winced as her fingers brushed over the back of his calf, and she snapped her hand back. “Did that hurt?”
Max stayed quiet, continuing to look out the window. Hazel took that as a yes.
“It’s pretty badly bruised,” she observed, rolling his pant leg back down. “I can’t believe you were going to walk back to Auradon on that. Have I ever told you how frustrating you are?”
“You might’ve mentioned it,” he said, smirking slightly.
“Seriously though,” she said, sighing and settling back down next to him. “You’re not walking on that. I’ll talk to someone and get a room for us. I’m sure the Queen will be thrilled that Red’s new friends want to spend more time here.” She made air quotes with her fingers as she said ‘new friends’, drawing a laugh from Max.
“I might stay a little longer anyway,” he said, voice so quiet she almost missed it. She blinked in confusion. “Red promised she would help my dad. I don’t know how much I believe her, but…I think it’s worth a shot. Maybe I don’t have to be at odds with my dad forever.”
Hazel nodded. “If that’s what you want, then I’m staying too.”
“Hazel-”
“We’re a team, Max. You’re part of my crew. And what kind of captain would I be if I didn’t look out for my crew?”
“What about Felix and the Smees? Aren’t they part of your crew too?”
“Someone has to terrorize Auradon while we’re gone, and it’s sure as hell not going to be Red and Chloe.”
Max snorted, finally turning to look at her. For a moment, Hazel thought he might argue again. Instead, his expression softened, the tension in his shoulders easing for the first time since they’d been in Wonderland. “Thanks,” he said quietly.
Hazel bumped her shoulder against his. “Anytime.”
Maybe they weren’t going home tonight. Maybe there were still questions waiting for them in Wonderland. Maybe there was still healing to be done, both physical and emotional. But for once, Max didn’t have to figure any of it out alone.
Hazel would make sure of that.