Forever?

Chapter 3

"Guys, are we sure we should let him out? He's still healing," Max said, looking at the others. His eyes then wandered over to Alec, who was sitting inside the trolley.

"I can hear you," Alec deadpanned, turning to look up at the brown-haired boy.

Max frowned. "Good, I hope you know I was against this with all my heart.”

"It's fine," Matt said. "He's hogging the trolley and we have Damian here in case he dies."

Max made a noise he didn't mean to make and Amber sighed as she patted the younger boy’s head. "It's fine, nothing will happen to him. And it's good for him to get some fresh air and move around a little. Plus, we need to restock the fridge and our drawers because they're empty as shit."

They continued walking down the aisle of the supermarket picking up the food they wanted, and placing it around Alec. Max eyed Alex. He was fine. He was laughing at something Matt said or maybe at Matt. But either way, he was fine.

"Max!" he yelled. Max jumped a little and turned to glare at him, but the glare melted away when he saw his smile.

"Yes?" he replied, with a smile of his own.

"Alec, don't shout," Alice hissed, as she leaned in and swatted her brother.

"Come, get in with me.” Alec raised his arms and Max looked at him warily.

"How strong do you think I am?" Damian grumbled, running a hand through his dark hair. "I'm struggling to push that cart with your fatass in it. And he'll crush the food. Don't crush the food."

"It's fine," Alec said, waving his hand.

Oliver helped Max into the cart and he made himself as comfortable as he could without hurting Alec, and not squashing the food. It was hard. Matt sighed.

"I'll go get another cart because we can't put anything in that one." Matt disappeared around a corner.

"Hi," Alec whispered,

"Hi."

Damian continued pushing the duo, not paying attention to what they were saying.

"We should race!" Oliver said, his eyes wide after Matt had come back with the second trolley.

"Aren't you supposed to be the mature one?" Max asked, craning his neck to look at the boy. Oliver raised an eyebrow behind his glasses.

"No, that's Damian," he replied.

"You're on," Damian deadpanned.

"Guys," Max whined. "We came to get food, not race around the store. Plus, we could hurt someone."

"Please, it's 1 am, the store's basically empty."

"It closes soon and we’re nowhere near getting the shopping done," Ani said, as she glared at the children.

"It's fine,” Damian replied. “I want to win.”

So, of course, they prepared to race around the store. Alec and Max stood in the cart and Damian was pushing them. Alice and Oliver were inside another with Matt pushing them. Ani and Amber had decided they wanted nothing to do with the idiots and so they had gotten a third trolley and continued shopping. They also claimed they would need someone to bail them out of jail when this all went south.

"Are you okay?" Max whispered to Alec. He was practically on him, with most of his weight on his legs. Max was sitting in between his legs, with his face towards him. He couldn't have his back to him. That would put pressure on him. He had his arms on the bottom of the trolley, also keeping his weight off of him.

"I'm fine. I've basically been healed, you don't need to be so cautious around me." Max snorted at him.

"Ready, steady-" Damian began.

"Max?" His head snapped over to the voice. He tried to get up but he slipped on Alec's shirt and fell onto him. s**t.

"Guess you really fell for me," he whispered into his ear. Max inhaled a little. Max tried to keep the heat from his face, but in the store’s shitty fluorescent light, he knew it was visible.

"f**k off," Matt hissed, glaring at Creed.

"No, no, I'm not here to be a d**k, I swear," Creed said, eyeing Matt. He even went as far as to put his hands in the air.

"Where's your posse?"

"Where are the other two girls?" Creed shot back.

"Creed," Max said, scowling at the boy.

Creed peeled his eyes away from Matt, to look at the boys in the trolley. "Sorry. Sorry, but can I please speak to you?"

"You can say what you need to say, now," Damian said. f*****g hell, Max thought he would at least be mature.

"I'd prefer it alone."

Max thought he owed him this. Because since the incident, he had never once asked him for anything, and to top it off, he didn't treat him like an ass. Not like the majority of them did.

Max sighed as he got up from Alec and actually succeeded. Matt helped him out of the trolley and he followed Creed. He could feel the stares of the others as they left. Creed pulled out a cigarette and it reminded him of Alec.

"Are you happy with them?" he asked after they had been standing in silence for a few seconds.

"What?"

He rolled his eyes as he smiled a little. "I said, are you happy with your new friends?"

Max couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or if he actually wanted to know. But when he looked at him with an eyebrow raised, Max nodded. From where they stood, Max could see the taller boy’s green eyes. Both he and Roland had green eyes, while Roland’s were much darker, his seemed lighter.

"Yeah, I am,” the shorter boy said after a few seconds.

"That's good, Max. You deserve to be happy, you know."

'But I-"

"That doesn't matter, you did what you thought was right."

"That's not what everyone else thought. But what matters is that I did it."

"I saw you do it."

"You did?" Max whispered and he nodded as he finished his cigarette. He never knew how he could finish them so quickly.

"Yeah, I did. When the fire got too close to us you panicked, you were scared for your friends. You just wanted to keep them safe and they didn't do that for you, you know, with the whole Rio situation and all of their behalf, I am so sorry."

"What do you mean?" Max said. He thought he knew what he meant, but he couldn’t know because he had never told anyone what he had said on that phone call.

"I got one of the officers to let me hear the call that was made. I know what you said word for word. I had it memorised when I heard how scared you were. When you were generally terrified."

"There's no way you know-"

"Hello, 911? My friend, my friend, started a fire and it got bigger than he wanted it to and it was moving so fast and I don't know what he was thinking, but he didn't mean to hurt us. It only hurts a bit, but I'm scared. They're all watching it burn and they're all high too, so I don't think they care and I've tried making them move and they're not moving and what do I do?"

Fuck. So maybe he did know.

"And you know they were all high, and the only two sober people were me and you."

"No, you smoked too. I watched you smoke that weed."

"I have a high tolerance, so I wasn't as stoned as the rest of them. But I could see you trying to get them to move and no one was listening because they were cold and the fire was warm."

"They could have been hurt," Max whispered. He remembered how scared he had been, they could have been hurt and they weren't moving. It was taking everything in him to keep them away from the fire.

"They could have," he said. "I'm sorry I had to even put you in that position in the first place."

"I'm sorry for what your dad did to you when he found out you were being taken to prison."

"It's fine. It was only two years and 500 hours of community service. The fact no one got hurt was a big thing that helped and that was due to you. If you hadn't done what you did, they could've gotten hurt."

"But-"

"Just accept the apology and move on from the past, Max. You deserve to be happy and this new friend group of yours sure knows how to do that, so don't lose them. You gotta let the past go, change, and live how you want. Get that piercing you wanted. Change your fashion."

"How did you know I wanted to do that?" Max had said that and when no one responded, he didn't think anyone had heard, so he just didn't bring it up again.

"I might have been high, but I'm not deaf."

Change. Yeah, that's what he needed. And he had that, but he wanted more.

"Hey! We get it! Get off of me!"

Max turned to the door and Alec was being manhandled. So were Oliver and Matt. Security guards were behind them, and the girls and Damian were holding some bags and sighing.

"We told you this would happen!" Amber deadpanned.

"It's fine, at least we got all our shopping done," Ani said, as she waved her bag around. They went over to the duo and all of them eyed Creed.

Max turned to him. "Thank you, Creed, for everything." He nodded as he patted his head.

"Don't touch him," Matt hissed, a scowl on his face.

"Matt, it's fine. Come on, take the shopping to the car, I'm coming." They all eyed each other and then glared at Creed and gave Max one last smile and nodded and walked off, well everyone besides Alec did.

"I'll wait for you," he said. He walked a little closer and was now standing right beside him, their shoulders brushing when the taller boy crossed his arms over his chest.

"Thank you," Max said, turning to face Creed. "For everything, I don't know if you know, but it does mean a lot."

"Good luck, kiddo." Creed turned on his heel and left.

"Are you okay? I don't like him. What did he want?"

"It's fine Alec," Max said, pushing him to the car. "It's fine, he just wanted to apologise."

"For?"

"Everything that happened in the past."

"Speaking of that, will you tell us what happened?"

Max went to the back and made himself comfortable. "I'll tell you what happened when you tell me what you're all hiding from me."

"See, this is why I said we should tell him," Matt said, staring at the group.

"We've already discussed this, the answer is no," Damian said, and Max glared at him. He shrugged.

"Sorry, Chipmunk. It's best if you stay in the dark. It's the safest option for all of us," Oliver said. Max then glared at him and his stupid nickname.

"Maybe we can tell him and then not leave his side. Ever," Ani said, and Amber snorted.

"We never leave his side now."

"Only when he wants to hang out with those two," Matt grumbled. "I still don't like them."

"Can we not talk like I'm not here, please?" Max said.

"No. It's final. He stays in the dark," Damian said and groaned.

"I can keep a secret,” Max said. He was aware people had secrets, but when everyone but him knew, it just didn’t feel right.

"It's not that you can't keep a secret, Max. We know you can. It's more on the fact that this secret is just too dangerous," Amber said. She gave a small smile from the passenger seat and he nodded.

"If it's so dangerous, then why are you all in it?" he grumbled, frowning as he crossed his arms like a child.

"Because they're dumb," Damian said, and Max raised an eyebrow. He said they, so did that mean he wasn't involved in it. But he knew. So if he knew, then why wasn't he allowed to know?

The rest continued speaking about different topics and Max had zoned out. He wanted to know why Alec almost died on his bed. That would have been very helpful.

"You know," Alec whispered, Max froze when he felt his breath on his ear. "If it was my choice, I would tell you. If you knew this and we could 100% guarantee your safety, I would tell you."

He put his arm around the back of the seat and Oliver took that as his cue to grab Alec's hand. When Alec raised an eyebrow and looked over at him, he just smiled and so Alec didn't say anything.

"Slow down, there's a police car," Ani said, as she eyed the car that was parked to the side.

"So?" Matt said.

"What do you mean so?" Ani yelled. "There are eight people in a five-people car."

Ani made an inhuman noise when the lights went off behind us.

"It's fine, no one acts suspicious and Max lay across all of us, Oliver down, Alice on the ground," Damian said, as he pulled over.

It was as if they had done this before because. Alice basically curled in on herself furthest away from the window on the ground, and Alec placed his leg down, covering his sister as he took his jacket and let it droop and Alice was hidden.

Max barely managed to lay across them, his head on Alec's lap and Amber was sitting on his feet without sitting on his feet. And he didn’t even know what Oliver did because he was practically hidden behind Matt and Alec's shoulders.

A blanket was placed over Alec's right leg and across his lap. Alec looked down at the younger boy, his face inches away from his. “Hold your breath.” Max inhaled as the blanket fell on his face and he heard a knock on the window.

"Licence and registration." Damian was driving, and so Max assumed he handed it to the officer.

“Here, officer.”

"May I ask why you are all out so late at night?"

“We had a late-night shopping trip," Damian said. Max was peeping a little. He had his hands on the steering wheel, where the police officer could see them. That made his stomach lurch a little.

Max saw the light flash over the blanket and he froze.

"Where are the bags?"

"In the back."

"Open the boot."

"Don't panic," Damian whispered, as he got out of the car and he heard the door shut. Max heard muffled talking and he was panicking.

"It's okay, Max. You're doing fine," Alec said. He felt his hands in his hair and he relaxed a little. But it didn’t change the fact that Damian was out there, talking to an officer in the middle of the night.

"Yes, no, it's fine. Thank you, officer." Damian got back into the car and drove away. No one spoke for a few minutes,

"Okay, we're clear." Everyone moved and Max was nudged out of Alec’s lap as Oliver pushed past their shoulders and Alice scrambled back towards Amber.

"What was that about?" Max asked.

"You know I was sure the dude would have been racist. I mean, look at us. Ani is the only white person here."

"He wasn't racist. It was Luca's partner. When he saw it was me, he came out instead."

"Luca? What did he want?" Matt asked.

"Wanted to ask about Romero's."

"Oh, s**t. So, it's true," Ani said.

"Romero's?" I said. Now, why did that name seem familiar?

"Yeah, they're just a family, they moved here recently. Do you know any of the Thomas's?" Alec asked.

"I don't, but Claire is friends with Wendy."

"Wendy Luca?" Damian said. That must have been a surprise because he furrowed his eyebrows and made a noise. Max couldn't exactly distinguish what type of noise it was meant to be though.

"Yeah. But I don't know if they're still in contact. She moved schools. She said all her family went there."

"Was she the only Thomas that went there?" he said.

"Yeah," Max said, frowning. "Why was Luca looking for you?"

"No reason, also he knew Max was there. So we need to find him somewhere better to hide."

"Or could we use two cars?" Max replied. It was the most logical and least dangerous option.

"But what about the plant, saving the Earth and all that," Matt said, and Max rolled his eyes.

"He didn't see Alice and Oliver. He was surprised when I told him they were in the car too."

Arriving back home, the eight of them got to the door when Damian said he was leaving.

"You can just spend the night here, it's nearly 3 am,” Max said, frowning.

Damian looked around, he refused but when he yawned Matt didn't let him go home because he was tired and he was in no condition to drive. So that was decided and when they went to Max’s room, Helios was sitting on the couch watching himself on TV.

Oliver made a face as he walked in, taking his shoes off in the corner. The rest also took their shoes off in the designated shoe area and then Amber and Max started unloading the bags and stocking up the fridge and snack drawers.

Emphasis on drawers because everyone has their own. Their taste for food was completely different. Max liked spicy, while the twins hated anything remotely spicy. Matt loved salty things and Oliver had a sweet tooth. Ani loved the mint, anything with mint she claimed she had to try, and Amber thought it was the most disgusting thing ever and that mint was basically edible toothpaste.

"Where were you all?" Helios asked.

"None of your business, Prince," Amber deadpanned. Yes, that had sort of become his name now, it was funny actually. It wasn't in an endearing way, it was more in a snarky way.

"Oh, that's not going to be my name now, is it?" he grumbled out as he turned to look over at Oliver, who was neatly putting his food in his drawer, while Amber just shoved hers in.

"Why are you here? We all made it abundantly clear we don't like you. Go hang out with your own friends," Matt grumbled.

"I know you all don't like me. That's what makes it so fun. I don't have friends."

"I wonder why," Amber deadpanned, as she took a seat on the bed.

"I don’t. I've never met anyone who didn't want anything from me, so screw them."

"Oh, that's sad. Get out," Oliver deadpanned. Max snorted and Oliver turned to wink at the brown-haired boy.

"The others are coming, too," Helios said. Max snapped his head over to him. He was lying. f**k, he hoped he was lying. Max narrowed his eyes at him as the others gave each other confused glances.

The last time the entire family had been under one roof was almost five years ago, so why were they all here now?

"You're lying." Max had decided to say.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." He got up, stretching as he heard some of his bones c***k. "Bye kiddos."

"Piss off," Oliver said, as Helios left the room.

"Who are the others?" Alec said. f**k. No.

Max really didn't want to talk about them so he shrugged. Alec eyed him and before he could do anything, Matt interrupted him. "Okay, cool. Can we go to sleep now?" Max gave him a small smile and he too winked before running and jumping onto the large bed.

"I don't f*****g think so. Max and I are sleeping there," Alec deadpanned, as he walked over to the bed, jumping on it and making himself comfortable while also trying to kick Matt off.

"The bed is huge, we can all fit and sleep comfortably," Matt whined, as he clung onto the frame for dear life while trying to avoid Alec's kicks.

"What size is it?" Ani said as she eyed the bed. She was ignoring the two fools currently arguing on it.

"I don't know," Max said, truthfully. "It was custom-made. I got asked what size I wanted and I said big and they took it to heart apparently."

"Amazing. Guess we’re all sleeping together," Ani said. Max didn't say anything, it had been a while since they all slept together.

They all slept in a line that would definitely have changed throughout the night, but it was Damian on the edge with Matt beside him, then it was Oliver, Alice, Amber, Ani, Max and then Alec.

One thing Max had noticed was how everyone liked affection. They all loved it. Well, Oliver wasn't the biggest fan of it but when they did group things, like all sleeping together, he had no choice, but they loved it.

And so did Max. He turned to face Alec, who had his arm under his head, Ani was holding his hand and Max was pretty sure she had her arm thrown over Amber's waist.

"Goodnight, Max," he whispered. He leaned in and kissed his forehead.

After a few minutes of silence, Matt spoke up. "You know in Toy Story, if one of the toys ever died, Andy would be playing with the corpse and he would never know. But the toys would. They would know," he whispered the last part. It just made the whole thing sound so much creepier than it already was.

"Matt, I will f*****g kill you," Damian hissed. Max heard an oomph and he guessed someone elbowed him. Damian probably.

"One more word out of you and I'll smother you with a pillow," Alice deadpanned. "I just want to sleep."

"It was just a thought," he grumbled, ah, s**t, now Max felt bad. Even though he didn't do anything.

Damian sighed as he groaned a little. "And it was a nice thought. No, that's a lie, it was a little morbid but have these thoughts not at 4 am."

"Amber fell asleep, shut up," Ani deadpanned.

Max got onto my elbows to see if she actually had. He saw Ani gently stroke Amber's dark hair out of her face and well. He was sure he wasn’t supposed to see that, so he laid back down.

He turned to face Alec once again, who was already looking at him. He opened his arms up and Max shuffled closer to him, burying his face in his chest. And soon, he fell asleep, with a small smile on his face.

~*~