a hell called home (completed)

a friend of the family

art by Miiukka

red headed sunshine boys pov

i woke up to my phone ringing. it was 4:36 am. what the hooey? who calls people this early! it's fine, i would have gotten up in 24 minutes anyway. i answered the phone.

"hello?" i said in a groggy, yet happy voice.
"uh... hey. david? listen, i know it's been a while but uh..." he paused.
i could hear crying in the background.
hooey, what is going on over there? is nerris okay??
he resumed. "i'm uh here with max, from camp. he just kinda appeared at our camp ground in the middle of the night. i don't know how he got there or why, but we took him home. and uh.. a little while ago i woke up to screaming and i don't know what to do. can you just... come over? i'm so sorry. i know it's early and you probably have other things to do, but you're the only person i know he knows. i don't want to just drop him off at CPS because he seems a little... i don't know. something's up.. and just.. psychology is your thing."

my eyes widened. "i'll be right over." i said seriously.
i don't know what happened to max, but it must have been something. if that was him crying in the background.... no... max doesn't cry. shucks, i don't know.
i threw on some clothes and hopped in my mini cooper (sorry i just always imagined david having one of those small ass cars or a fucking minivan 😂).

the Moore household was only about 25 minutes away. i was friends with nerris' dad, mr. moore in college. i was a freshman and he was a sophomore though. we still somehow became friends. he went to college late to study mathematics and sciences after he had a kid with mrs. moore.

le timeskip brought to you by hamilton the musical and my laziness

i pulled up into their driveway and let mr. moore know that i was there.

le big nerd dads pov

i grabbed max's backpack and went to the corner. he had finally stopped crying. as i approaches him, he shuffled away though. "hey, max. david is here. ya know, from camp. he is here to pick you up." i said as gently as possible.

max sniffles and grabbed the backpack out of my hands and walked towards the door. before he walked out he said something i almost missed since he said it so quietly.

"i'm sorry... thank you."

he shuffled out the door and got into the car. i stood in the doorway and watched the car pull out.

davey's pov

"hey, max." i said, trying to sound happy, but mostly sounding concerned. he looked at me for a second and then turned his head away to face the window.

his face was all torn up. a fresh black eye pressed on his face. tears stained onto his face. his eyes looked tired and lifeless. blood ran down from cuts all over his face, most likely from branches hitting his face in the woods. there was one that looked especially bad that wasn't on his face, but the side of his head. it showed when he turned away from me. it was hard to see through his thick, black hair, but it was definitely prevalent. it looked like it cut through his hair, almost as if he was hit in the head with something sharp.

i winced as i looked at his injuries. it pained me to see max like this.

i looked at the road and said "so... what happ-"
i was cut off my a quick, but quiet, "don't... camp man." max's voice cracked in the middle. he must have noticed, because he pulled his hood up, contorting his body as far as he could into the corner of the car.

this was something people did to try to distance themselves from you.

the car ride was silent until....

my bby boys pov

"why are you doing this..?" i said quietly.
david looked at me, stunned.
"because i care, max."
i scoffed "nobody cares...." i said even quieter.
david got silent before saying, "that's not true. why would i come here at 5 in the morning to pick you up if i didn't care?" i looked at him. my eyes began to sting. i knew he wouldn't lie to me. david doesn't lie.

but... why doesn't it feel true?

i quickly looked away and up at the sky.
it was still early enough to see stars if you looked high enough. you could see the sky slowly fade into a light purple, then an orange.
the sun peeked over a field we were passing by, casting a golden shade over it.

it had been a while since i had seen the sun rise. at my parents house, i was usually holed up in my room or in the basement. either that or cleaning. i didn't have time to watch the sky.

the last time i had watched the sunrise, it was with my mom. my real mom. i wish she hadn't have died.... i know it was my fault. she died protecting my pathetic ass. it should have been me, not her.

i had to stop thinking about my mom before i started crying. i quickly said, "so where are we going?"
david kept looking at the road, as i looked out the window. "we are going to my house."

i felt a small wave of calm wash over me. i soon fell asleep.

931 words