Chapter 1 : The Family You Choose

Max was relieved when he finally reached the Millers' house.

It was still sunny and warm even though summer break had already ended. Max had immediately regretted wearing dark pants and a jacket out of the house, but he'd be damned if anyone but his friends or boyfriend saw him in his shorts. (It also had to do with the fact that he couldn't be normal and have cargo shorts or something, but that's a story for another time.)

He was wearing a dark pair of jeans with a couple of holes and his signature blue jacket (though he had upgraded his style with a couple of sew on patches) with a black t-shirt underneath. His hair was messy as ever. And he had a singular black fingerless glove, which was the new addition to his aesthetic.

It was times like these that Max regretted that he in some way cared about the way he looked. Otherwise, he would have walked naked to the Millers' house.

It had no business being 90 degrees while it was so close to fall.

If he could have drove, he would have, but his shitty parents wanted nothing to do with him and he didn't have money to buy his own car. So Max had to hitch a ride on the bus, who's stop was over a mile away from the Millers'.

Max was pissed that he was once again, the straggler. Everyone was already there. Even Harrison, whose parents refused to be in car with him unless absolutely necessary had gotten there before him somehow. Nerris' parents had probably given him a ride, or maybe Nurf did.

Max took a deep breath and sighed. There was no point in being pissed at the shitty hand life had dealt him. He was here and soon he'd be able to relax completely with the people he cared for.

The Millers, as CIA or FBI or whatever agents were obviously pretty well off and able to own a home in a good neighborhood. Max knew personally there were 5 bedrooms in the house, a spacey basement with a theater room, and deluxe kitchen.

Ered had it good, though she hadn't really lived at home for 2 years or so. She had left to go board at her school after she had graduated high school. She had been back a couple of times, especially when she had dropped out of her first college semester.

That was a tough time for Ered, though she luckily had amazing and caring parents who supported her while she figured out her life. A couple of months later and she was off to an Automotive Technology school. And even though Ered wouldn't be home until the winter holidays, the two agents let her friends come over and hang out since they had the space.

Max rang the doorbell, which was answered by one of Ered's dads. It was Steve, the darker one. (The men allowed them to use their first names because of the confusion with their names.)

"Hey, Mr. Steve."

"Hello, Max. Everyone's downstairs. And there's snacks up here if you want anything."

Max toed off his shoes and neatly laid them beside the eight other pairs of shoes lined up in a row along the wall beside the front door. "Thanks, Mr. Steve."

The man merely nodded before walking in the direction of the living room.

Max made his way to the basement without extra prompting. He had been over their house enough to know where everything was. As he opened the door to the basement and began to traverse down the stairs, the sound of laughter reached his ears. In the dark, by himself, he let a uncharacteristically soft smile grace his face. He'd probably never tell them in such sappy words, but he loved them.

Every single one of the kids who had gone to Camp Campbell with him had become his family. And may whatever god people believed in save them if they decided to fuck with his family. He finally had one. There was no way he was going to allow anything to keep him away from them.

He rounded the corner on the stairway to see everyone in the main room.

Nerris, Nikki, and Neil were on the big screen tv. They were playing some video game and barking commands at each other between curses. It seems they were being beat. Max could see Dolph lounging on a couch alternating between gazing at his phone or the game. Nurf and Harrison were on the other side of the room, playing Foosball. Though Nurf was the actual football player, it seemed the small magician with adept hands was beating him out. Space Kid was standing on the sidelines, cheering for both of them. And sitting in the recliner Max had claimed ages ago, was his boyfriend.

Max had to had to seriously resist the natural urge of his face to soften as he gazed at the most important person in the world to him. Never in a million years had Max thought that he would actually date the Playwright, but he couldn't have asked for a better person to hold his heart in their hands.

His boy had done a lot of growing since their year at Camp Camp. He was still taller than Max; almost by a whole head. He was as skinny as ever which is what dubbed him the nickname beanpole. And he had kept his hair long, though he was wearing it pulled back in a small messy bun.

Max walked his way over to his boy, a smirk across his face. He watched as Preston's eyes lit up and he sat up in the chair. "And just where do you think you're sitting? Unless I was mistaken, that's my seat, Goodplay."

Preston levelled his with his own smug smirk. "No, I believe this is my seat, dear. After all, what's yours is mine."

He was sitting there, all gorgeous with his sun-colored eyes half lidded and that satisfied look on his face.

When Max was younger, he was sure that he wanted to punch that look off his face. Now, he really wanted to kiss him. But he refrained, as they were in company of literally everyone else (yeah, no, not because Max was nervous and had never kissed anyone before, never).

Instead, Max reached under the taller boy, picked him up, and deposited him elsewhere and plopped his own behind into his chair. He was just about to gloat when instead, his boy sat down on his lap.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Goodplay?" Max asked, though he made no effort to move the boy now.

Preston gazed down at him. He made a big show out of getting more comfortable. "Just making use of what's mine, Johar. You are pretty soft."

Max narrowed his eyes and jabbed his boyfriend in the side. "You take that back!"

Preston, the bastard, only laughed.

Max leaned back and relaxed in the chair and took in the scene around him.

After Camp Campbell had shut down, he had never imagined that he'd see any of these kids again. But, when they transferred into middle school, it was soon discovered that they all lived in the same county.

They had all come a long way from their time 7 years ago. If you had looked at them now, you would have never guessed they would all consider themselves friends. Other than going through puberty, (which Max considers a blessing despite his boyfriend assuring him he was a cute little kid), they had all done some personal growing. Some of them you may not even recognize.

Nurf, in addition to being some important football player (Max didn't do physical activity unless it was Yoga or Just Dance - which he would beat every kid at), had joined the choir at school. His mom had been released from jail years ago and had gotten him involved in some church group. Nurf wasn't incredibly religious, but he enjoyed the ambience, he said. Nobody judged him. He was still big and buff. Though he rarely lost his temper nowadays.

Dolph was muscular as well, though nowhere near as dense as Nurf was. He was an amazing soccer player had joined the JROTC at his school. It was his second year and he was the highest ranking officer of the LET II's. He had confessed that he was debating upon joining the US Army when he graduated.

If not, he wanted to move to Germany. Even after all these years, his love for his country hadn't diminished. His father was forever exasperated, but Dolph had been born in Germany. It was as much his country as the US was. He spent every summer there, but sometimes his friends would notice he was homesick. His skills at art had only grown. If he moved to Germany, Dolph was hoping to go to an art college there and make some sort of career out of it. HIs high school had even appointed him in charge of the school's mural last year.

Nerris had grown quite a bit themselves. They were still into roleplay and things like cosplay, but they usually dressed normally on most days. They had come out to the group two years ago about how they didn't feel as if they were male or female and how they liked to dress however. Some days Nerris would dress up in a smart suit with a tie and wear cologne. Other days, you could catch them wearing a dress, with bows in their hair, and sparkly makeup. It just depended on their mood.

Their confession hadn't really been news to the group. There was no place for any of them to judge whatever made the kid comfortable. Max cussed at least once every five minutes and Nurf used to stab whatever made him angry. Everyone just respected Nerris and their pronouns.

Nerris was actually the kid Max frequently went to for fashion advice. His own tastes could be a little… Unorthodox. And Nerris happened to be one of those kids who could pull off any look they wanted to.

They were currently wearing an oversized sweater and leggings. Neil and Nikki were on either side of them.

The "comedy trio" didn't end up going to school together, but they had never truly grown apart.

Neil was still the smart nerd. He got straight A's and was in several advanced (even college level) classes. He was aiming for Valedictorian next year. His hair was still as curly and poofy as ever. He had dubbed it as the "jewfro". He had ditched the turtlenecks (those were more Preston's thing now) and instead wore those short sleeved button up shirts with weird designs. His favorite was a black on with little neon colored dinosaurs. Though today he was wearing a floral one. He lived with his dad on the weekends, but always made sure he was promptly returned to his mother. He didn't hate his dad anymore, but he complained a lot about the man being too much because he was trying to "make up for lost time".

Nikki had embraced her feminine side, though she was still "tomboy"-ish. She had joined the cheerleading team, and wore her uniform proudly. But she was also on the school's girl soccer team and volleyball team. She had ditched the two ponytails and usually wore her hair out or in complicated braids that she herself couldn't do. That was the advantage of having Neil as your best friend and step-brother to be. (Yes, Candy and Carl were engaged. Yes, their wedding would be soon. Yes, the two had already been like siblings so long that they dressed in front of each other and it wasn't awkward.) Neil had learned to braid his nieces' hair and whenever he was over, would help Nikki with her own hair. Nikki was still the badass female who would use her high kicks to fuck your ass up.

Harrison kept his mushroom/mullet-thing haircut. But he cut it a couple inches shorter. (You know so that his forehead was actually visible and the mullet no longer existed.) He was thin and lithe. He had a less muscle-y body type; his waist actually pulled in a bit, which he accentuated well (though unknowingly) with his waistcoats. He usually wore slacks and dress shoes, though if you caught him on more casual days, he may wear skinny jeans and a sweater over a dress shirt. He had given up with wearing the top hats (even the mini ones) though if he was really feeling himself, he may wear a fedora. He kept the white gloves on his hands unless he was alone with the Camp Camp kids.

They used to ask him why until he ripped his glove and they'd been burned where they touched Harrison's skin. The boy had been distressed for days over what happened and had locked himself in his house. Neil had been the one to convince him to come back. He had shown them many wonderful and half-terrifying things. Max would have had issues believing these feats were real if not for the time he threw up live animals at camp.

Harrison could conjure the elements on demand. Sometimes things levitated. However, sometimes he had issues controlling his abilities. One time, it snowed in July because Harrison was ignoring Neil after he said something insensitive. He took giving the "cold shoulder" to a whole new level. Other times, he couldn't touch people or he'd burn or shock them, though this was usually limited to when he was angry. He came in pretty handy when they forgot flashlights or lighters.

His parents were still afraid of him, to an extent. They had been bolder with their words in the last couple years, specifically his mother. He never told the kids how bad things ever got, but if Max's hunch was right, he'd have a visit to make.

Space Kid was almost as naive and gullible as ever. Though that just made the group do their best to make sure no one harmed him. He was still interested in the stars and space, though he wasn't sure about being an astronaut anymore. He had his own telescope that he used almost every night.

His parents had actually signed his papers to allow him to get a tattoo as a minor. It was, of course, space themed. On his forearm, was a little portal into the cosmos with galaxy and pastel colors swirled together.

He was one of those kids you could find on tumblr talking in quotes about the universe and the stars and the moon. But again, no one made an serious fun of him. Who were they to judge a kid's way of coping with the shitty world?

He obviously didn't go around with a fishbowl on his head anymore. He instead wore comfortable jeans and t-shirts. Sometimes to spice up his look, he'd wear skinny jeans and sleeveless shirts. Nikki would tease him that he looked like a tiny fuck boy (he and Max were the same small height of 5'3"), but the boy would just wave them off because his little shirts had positive sayings or drawings of the moon or something.

Max tugged lightly at the hairs at the base of his boy's neck who hummed at the feeling.

This is where he wanted to be more than any place in the world. More than his shitty house. More than school. More than Canada or some other country. He wanted to be right here, surrounded by the familiarity and camaraderie of his family.

He wanted to be where Nikki and Neil squabbled over who was supposed get the upgrade this time on their game. He wanted to be where Nurf looped an arm around Harrison's shoulders only to give him an affectionate noogie. He wanted to be where Space Kid smiled as bright as the sun. He wanted to be where Dolph shouted encouragement about "beating the opposition". He wanted to be where Nerris clucked their tongue at everyone's antics as they saved their asses by annihilating everyone with a special move. He wanted to be where his boyfriend was a warm presence in his lap, head tucked on top of his.

He was suddenly very grateful he had taken the bus to the Millers' today.

He would do anything for these kids. He would die for these kids. He would kill for these kids.

They weren't the family he was given. They weren't the family he had expected, or maybe even wanted. But he had them now. And anyone that tried to get in between their happiness would have to answer to him.

"So guys, how's hell on Earth been?"

Groans all around.

"Maaaaaaaaaax, it's so terrible! I can't stand these kids, they're so-"