Just a short little drabble piece.

Don't know where it came from.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even Max (damn it!).

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Maxwell Carrigan sat outside his beautiful suburban home on Thanksgiving night, leaning back comfortably in the rusty lawn chair. He knew he should be inside, catching up with relatives and what not, but right now, he was too pissed off at all of them to go back inside.

He rummaged in his jacket pocket, desperate for a smoke. Telling his parents that their precious little boy wasn't going to be a Princeton grad after all hadn't gone as perfectly as he had planned, and he needed something to take the edge off.

Finally, he felt the smooth, soft coating of a fresh cigarette and he whipped it out eagerly. Pulling out a lighter as well, he lit the end of it and inhaled the first, blissful hit of nicotine.

"They'll kill you if they see you doing that," said Lucy, his little sister, as she walked up behind him, with Jude trailing behind.

"Yeah? They can deal," he grumbled, taking another long drag before exhaling. Princeton hadn't been all bad. It had introduced to him to his new favorite things:

Nicotine. Girls. Booze.

She sat opposite him, folding her legs in and huddling from the cold, November air. Max graciously took off his coat and threw it at her, so that she could stay warm.

"Thanks," she said, taking the coat and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Hey man, sorry about earlier…" Max apologized to the young Englishman as he stood beside Lucy.

"No worries…you owe me a smoke," Jude replied, giving him a little pat on the back.

"What do they talk about when I'm not here?" Max asked curiously.

Lucy smiled and shook her head a little. "You, mostly."

He rolled his eyes and took another drag. "I'm so sick of their shit. Honestly, why can't they let me live my life the way I want to?"

Lucy giggled and pinched his cheeks. "They want their dear little Maxwell to grow up just like they did…"

He slapped her hands, causing her to yelp in pain. She pouted, sticking out her lower lip and widening her gorgeous blue eyes. Max couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm serious, though," she said. "They're afraid that you'll end up on the streets. They just want you to be alright. They do care."

"Psh…right. That's why they pay for college tuition but not my car insurance," he griped, but he knew his sister was right.

Lucy, always the sensible one he thought to himself. He figured that was the reason why they disapproved of his behavior so much. Lucy was a straight-A high school senior, probably heading off to an Ivy League the next year. She had a perfect boyfriend, who was proudly serving his country. She had perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect boyfriend, perfect grades. She's just perfect, perfect, perfect.

"You alright, mate?" Jude asked, placing a hand on Max's shoulder and interrupting his thoughts.

"…yeah, yeah, I'm good…" he mumbled, throwing his cigarette on the ground and stomping it. Suddenly, it wasn't as good as it was earlier.

Lucy stood up and stuck out her hand. "Come on. Let's go in, they're probably getting worried about you."

Max muttered something, but took her hand and stood up.

He just wanted out of this. All his damn life his parents had been deciding everything for him. When he left for college, he thought he was finally free. But au contraire, he had to call home all the time, he had to take this course, he had to do this, he had to do that…

So, as he walked back into his house, he decided that he was leaving. New York he thought I've always wanted to go there. What better to do? He was now officially a college drop-out, and no parents or parent's money could control him.

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