a hell called home (completed)

...to be happy

sorry it's been so long y'all. i just got back from summer camp yesterday oof. i hope you enjoy this shitty chapter.

max's pov

"look whose being slow now." gwen chuckled as she stood by the door. we had a competition to see who could get ready the quickest. out of all of us, GWEN took the least amount time???? unbelievable. "you guys really are slow." she said, walking over to help me put my sweater on. it was stuck over my head because i was trying to rush. david was tying his shoes as i walked over towards the door. i already had my shoes on by the time he was done.
"come on, dad!" i said, running out the door. we were heading to the mall and i was so excited. it felt a bit weird calling david 'dad' but it felt... natural. like i've been doing it all my life.

we hopped into the car, david driving this time. gwen had already called shotgun, so i was in the back. i hadn't been to the mall in such a long time. in fact, i hadn't been anywhere in a long time. at my parents house, i was always either in the basement or in my room or cleaning. i never had time to do anything. but with david and gwen... it was different. it seemed like they actually... cared.

when we pulled into the mall parking lot, i immediately ran out of the car. "MAX," i heard david yell "you can't go off running around in a parking lot. you could get hit by a car!" then he walked over to me, gwen following behind and grabbed my hand. "look both ways." he said. then gwen grabbed my other hand and we all walked in. honestly... i didn't want to object.

i hadn't been to a mall i'm what seemed like years, but david decided to take me to one nearby to go 'back-to-school' shopping. i was really excited. i had never been to a good school before. the only school i ever went to, we barely even learned. and the bullies....

we walked into the macy's and started looking around. i didn't even know what i was looking for. i had never gone clothes shopping in my life. there were so many options and it was all so overwhelming. i tightened my grip around david's hand.

then i heard something. it sounded like someone... skipping? what the hell? then a faint gasp followed it and charging.

"maaAAAAAAAXXXXXX"

next thing i know, i'm tackled on the ground.
"WHAT THE FUCK NIKKI.... wait, nikki?"
"maxmaxmaxmaxmaxmaxmax-"
"OH MY GOSH MAX ARE YOU OKAY." david said, running over to nikki and me.
"david?" the girl said
"nikki? what are you doing here?"
"oh, i'm going shopping with my mom." she said, pointing over to a tall, green haired lady on her phone in the women's section. she waved over at nikki, signaling for her to come over.
"i gotta go, but it's nice seeing you max! here's my number so we can talk!" she said, scribbling some numbers onto my arm and running to her mom. she pointed finger guns at me and they walked out the door.

"wow, what a coincidence seeing nikki here!" david said in his unusually cheery tone. we continued to go clothes shopping for a while until gwen suggested we walk around a bit. i could tell she was getting bored.

we exited macy's and looked at the map on the wall. my eyes wandered the map. i heard david suggesting some places, but i was too focused on the map to listen.

david's pov

max was staring at the map intensely. had he ever been to a mall before? i don't remember him ever saying anything. max gasped and pointed at the map. "there." he said. he was pointing at a music store. i nodded a little and grabbed gwen's hand as max walked ahead, skipping a bit.

i loved his smile.

we got to the music store and max immediately left gwen and i in the dust. he hopped around, trying out a whole bunch of different instruments. i never knew he liked music. i mean he always groaned whenever i sang camp songs, but then again, everyone did. i chuckled a bit at the thought of max only a year ago. he's changed so much. i saw gwen look at me out of the corner of my eye.

"whatcha thinking about?" she said, grinning.
i laughed a bit. "just... how much max has changed. how we have changed. it's crazy, you know?"
i felt her grip tighten.
"yeah."

i looked back over to max and his eyes were glued on the wall of instruments. ukulele's, guitar's, bass's, and a whole bunch more. but max had his eyes fixated on one thing on the entire wall. he would look around a bit, but always come back to it.

"hey gwen," i said, turning to face her, "how about you go take max to the food court and get something to eat. i'll meet you guys there in a second. i have something to do."
she nodded and called max over. they both left and i rushed over to the wall.

"perfect."

880 words