Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Wow, you look like shit."

Harrison startled so hard he banged his elbow hard on his desk.

It'd been a record warm February night so he'd had his window open.

The open window that the voice had come from.

The window to his bedroom.

His bedroom that was on the second story.

What the fuck?

Look, he was a magic kid, but hearing voices still wasn't a phenomenon that he was familiar with.

There was a harsh knocking on his door, "What was that noise?" His mother's voice demanded.

He cringed before whipping around to peer out the window, knowing he only had a second before she came in whether he answered or not. There was nothing outside his window though, just the big tree in his backyard.

He heard the sound of the key in the lock and then the door was opening. His Mother stood in the doorway, peering in fearfully even as her voice was full of steel when she repeated her earlier question.

"It's alright Mother," he tried to think fast, knowing that telling her he was hearing voices wouldn't do him any good, "I- I just tripped and banged my elbow on my desk!"

Her eyes narrowed into slits, even though he could see the way her hands were shaking, "No magic?"

Sometimes he wondered which his parents felt towards him more, fear or hatred?

"No magic, mother." He promised, and it was the truth, he hadn't done magic in months, "Just homework."

"Good." She nodded, "Don't give us a reason to pull you out of school."

It was a threat, but also a plea. They needed something to keep him in line, and school was the only thing he was allowed out of the house for. Even if the other kids were mostly jerks, at least they weren't his parents. Plus his parents didn't want to deal with him anymore than they already had to. He honestly wasn't sure which of them was more afraid of the threat, him or his parents.

"I won't. I promise." He assured her, trying as always to look as non threatening as possible.

It had never worked before, and it didn't work this time either. She just shut the door again and locked it from the outside.

"What a bitch." The voice said, and he whipped around again, thankfully not banging any of his limbs on anything this time.

He peered out the window, narrowing his eyes to search the darkness outside, and found that, the previously empty branch that came right up to his window was no longer empty.

"Max? Is that really you?" He asked, truly astonished at the sudden appearance of the boy he hadn't heard anything from since camp ended.

Not that anyone had heard much from him either since he was limited to the emails he could send from the outdated computer in the school library. Still though, he'd received at least one message from everyone. Everyone except the boy currently perched on a branch outside his window.

"Yeah, come out here so we can talk." Max said, just as straight forward as Harrison remembered him being back at camp.

He climbed onto his desk quickly and opened the window as far as it would go. He climbed out onto the little bit of roof under his window as quietly as he could. The last thing he needed was for his parents catch him climbing out and put bars on his window or something.

Max's hand was held out towards him, and he took it easily, accepting the help to climb onto the thick branch only a foot from where he was standing on the little ledge of the roof. Once he was steady, Max let go, giving him a nod to follow before scurrying towards the center of the tree's mass of branches. He followed at a more careful pace.

"Why are you so good at climbing?" He hissed after the boy, whose ease among the branches could almost rival a certain green haired girl's.

"Spend a whole fucking summer with Nikki and you pick up a few things." Max whispered back, which he supposed made sense.

Max stopped once they got to the trunk of the tree, turning around and leaning back on it. He looked like he always did, hands stuffed in a hoodie pocket and a resting bitch face. There were a few notable differences though.

"Wow, you look like shit." He echoed Max's earlier words before he could even think twice about it.

Max smirked at him, waving a hand towards his left eye which was bruised and swollen almost shut, "What, this?"

"Yeah, obviously that." Harrison replied, unable to help the concern that creeped into his voice.

Max didn't answer the obvious unasked question though, instead turning it back around on him, "Yeah, well, I'm not the only one, where's your stupid magic hat? And why are you only wearing white? Seriously you look like you got fucking brainwashed by Daniel again."

Harrison sighed, he knew he looked different than he had at camp. It was the only reason he was sort of glad that he hadn't been able to see any of the others from camp. He didn't want them to see him like this, the hints they'd seen during parent's day had been bad enough.

"It's all my parents let me wear." He shrugged, there was no point hiding it from Max, he'd probably already figured that much out anyways.

"Yeah, well, they're dicks." Max said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

He hadn't realized how much he'd missed Max of all people until this moment. Max, who would just brazenly say things like that without fear of the consequences. Not that his parents could hear them right now, but still, he wouldn't dare say it. He offered the other boy a small smile in thanks though, and Max returned it with his own shit eating grin.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, then backpedaled immediately when he realized how rude that sounded, "I mean, I'm happy to see you, really, just, well, what are you doing here?"

Max waved him off with a flippant hand gesture, "I have a proposition for you, magic kid."

It felt nice to be called that, to be referred to as having magic in a tone that wasn't full of hatred or fear. It'd been too many months since he'd had even that.

"What's your proposition?" He asked, very curious, especially since the last time Max had met him with a proposition it was so they could get camp Campbell back and burn down his current magic camp.

God, he could feel the magic buzzing under his skin at the memory. It hadn't been let out in so long that it was starting to burn.

He didn't need to use it to burn down another camp or anything though, he'd happily settle for just pulling a rabbit out of a hat at this point, or whatever it was Max was about to suggest. As long as he could get away with it without his parents finding out, then he'd pretty much agree to anything.

"I ran away." Max said, which was both shocking and not a proposition.

Maybe it shouldn't have been that shocking considering how many break out attempts Max had performed back at the beginning of camp last summer. Still though, stealing and crashing the bus was very different than actually running away from home.

"Why?" He blurted out, even though he already sort of knew the answer.

"Because I've got shit parents." Max shrugged, before pointing to his black eye, "Clearly."

And that, while not exactly unexpected, was still a surprise. He'd known Max didn't have great parents. They hadn't shown up at parent's day at camp after all, plus there'd been these little comments that Max would make sometimes that weren't quite right. The ones the other campers hadn't thought twice about, but he'd seen David and Gwen exchange concerned looks over their heads sometimes. The same looks they'd exchange when Harrison accidentally made his own little comments.

"I can't offer you a place to stay." He said instead of a 'sorry' that he knew Max wouldn't want anyways, "I would if I could, I swear Max, it's just-"

"Your parents, yeah, I know." Max cut him off, "That would be asking for a favor anyways, and I'm offering you a proposition."

Harrison felt his eyebrows furrow, having no idea what Max could want, "What is it?"

"I'm here to see if you want to run away too." It wasn't a question, not a demand either, no it was something softer.

An offer. It was an offer. One that he so badly wanted to take.

"Ok." He agreed, the words flying out of his mouth before he'd even consider what the other boy was really saying, "Yeah, I'll run away with you." 

Max's eyebrows shot up, causing him to wince at the pull on the skin around his injured eye, he powered on though, "That's it? You don't want to hear my plan? You don't even have any fucking concerns about us two eleven year olds out in the world on our own?"

Harrison shrugged, "I mean, the world might hurt me, but at least it won't be my parents doing it anymore." He parroted the same philosophy he held about his classmates, about pretty much everyone who'd ever been mean to him actually. "Plus it worked out pretty well with the camp corp thing, and that place sucked way less than either of our homes."

"Well shit." Max whistled, seeming to take the words to heart a bit before schooling his expression, "But seriously, no questions?"

He considered that for a moment, "I mean, yeah I'd like to know about whatever plan you have, but I don't have too much time before my parents come back for lights out." He glanced warily back towards the light spilling from his window, "I am worried that they'll report me missing though, if only to keep up appearances of us being a 'normal family' and them being 'concerned parents'."

"Don't worry, I already took care of that." Max said, "They won't think you're missing. All you need to do is play along and do exactly what they tell you to tomorrow."

He really wanted to ask more questions, but lights out was rapidly approaching, and if he was going to run away in the near future then he needed to not raise any alarms now. He glanced between Max and the window nervously.

"Your parents coming back soon?" Max asked, picking up on his nervousness, he nodded quickly  and Max added a quick "Go." Accompanied by a shooing motion with his hands.

Harrison went, crawling along the branch with Max following close behind. He reached the end of the branch, quickly and quietly leaping onto the roof ledge under the window. He was about to climb back through the window when Max stopped him.

"Harrison." Max hissed, and he turned around to look at the other boy, "I need you to promise me something before we do this."

"What is it?" He asked, knowing he'd promise just about anything right now.

"You can do all the magic you want, once we're out of here, ok? I just need you to promise you won't do any magic on me without my permission." Max said, then a strangely uneasy expression passed across his face, "It's just, the trick you did last summer, where I was throwing shit up really fucked with me."

It was far more open and sensitive than Harrison had ever expected Max to be. It wasn't uncalled for though, he'd noticed even last summer that it'd bugged the other boy. A sudden wave of guilt washed over him, maybe he really was the monster, however unintentionally, that his parents believed him to be.

"I swear I won't as long as I can help it." He said, and he meant it, "And I'm sorry for what happened last summer."

"Yeah, it's- well it wasn't really fine, it sucked, but" and Max paused suddenly, looking past Harrison towards his locked bedroom door, a determined look in his eyes when he looked at Harrison again, "I forgive you or whatever."

Harrison smiled at him, not able to express how much that meant, especially coming from Max. He turned quickly, climbing back through the window, and just in time to hear the key turning in the lock. He quickly sat down in his desk chair and picked up a pencil.

The door opened, and his father barely even looked at him as he muttered a quick, "Lights out." Before he reached a hand through the small opening of the door to flick off the lights.

He heard the door close and lock quickly, letting out a relived sigh at the close call before turning back to the window. Max was gone though, the tree outside his door empty, like the other boy had never even been there in the first place.

He changed into pajamas and got into bed with only the moonlight that filtered in through the window to guide him. It wasn't hard, not anymore, he was used to it at this point. Maybe he wouldn't have to be used to living like this for much longer though, not if he and Max actually succeeded in whatever it was exactly Max had planned.

If there'd been any doubts in his mind about this, then they'd been erased by Max's last words to him. The gruff 'I forgive you or whatever' echoing in his ears. The way that Max had given him something that his parents had been refusing him for years in a simple sentence.

Chapter Text

"Are you ready for phase two?" He said, crowding closer to the pay phone down the street from Harrison's house.

"Please kid, I'm the great Cameron Campbell, I'm ready for all the phases!" The voice over the phone replied cockily and loudly.

Max pulled the speaker away from his ear and grimaced for a second at both the volume and the ridiculousness of the grown adult he'd been plotting with. Well, not so much plotting with, more like he'd been plotting and stringing Campbell along. So business as usual pretty much.

"Whatever, Sing your own fucking praises some other time idiot. Just do your job and then meet me at the McDonald's on the corner of 7th and Rose tomorrow at One. Got it?" He practically growled into the receiver, already done with Campbell's shit.

"Yeah, kid. As long as I get my payment, you've got yourself a deal." Campbell growled back threateningly, not that it phased Max when he'd already outsmarted the man plenty of times.

"You'll get your damn money as long as the job's done properly." Max snapped and then immediately hung up, slamming the phone down on its hook a bit harder then necessary.

Now that that was taken care of, he needed to find somewhere to sleep for the night before his plan went into action the next day. He already had a plan for his sleeping arrangements though, the same plan he'd used the last two nights just in a different location.

Harrison didn't live too far outside the city, so all he had to do was hop on the nearest bus, which it thankfully wasn't too late for, and he could be in the heart of the city in an hour. The heart of the city where there was a hospital with an ER that never stopped bustling. Not a great place to sleep, but a place where at least no one would give him a second glance because there would always be a bigger emergency to deal with.

He didn't have a bus pass, but he whipped out his puppy dog eyes and pout and told the bus driver, "I forgot my bus pass, but I really need to get home before my mom starts worrying." Then offered her five dollars tip to make up for the lack of bus pass and she was waving him onto the bus.

While being eleven certainly made running away hard, in some ways it also made it a hell of a lot easier. Mainly in the getting random strangers to help him department.

He settled into the back row of the bus, which had been blessedly empty, kicking his feet up onto the seat next to him, pulling his hood up over his head and leaning back against the window. He was the perfect picture of relaxation while also giving off the perfect amount of 'Don't fuck with me' energy.

It took about forty minutes to get to his stop since some of the five o'clock traffic had died down now that it was later in the evening. He hopped off the bus and immediately headed towards the hospital that was across the street from the bus stop. The parking lot was full, and even at 9 o'clock on a Thursday it was bustling with people.

He strolled into the emergency room just behind a woman who was helping a man with a piece of PCP pipe stuck through his leg. It was grizzly in the way that he knew Nikki would love. He snapped a subtle picture of it with the handheld camera that David had gifted him at the end of summer. He grinned at the image of the face he was sure David would make if he knew what Max was using the camera for now. The sunshiney idiot should've expected this though.

As he suspected, no one even gave him a second glance as he strolled into the ER waiting room. The PCP couple had even been told they'd need to wait at the front desk, so it was clearly way too busy here for anyone to notice him. He found a nice corner as far away from the doors as he could manage and curled up in a chair there, drifting in and out of sleep until the next morning.

The ER was just as chaotic when he walked out of it as when he'd walked into it.  It was only 7 in the morning, so it was too early to head to the McDonald's to hang out and wait for Campbell to come meet him. Not without raising some red flags as an eleven year old hanging out there alone for 6 hours.

He walked down the street for a couple blocks, having already memorized maps of the city so he couldn't get lost, until he made it to the park. It was a big green area in the center of the city and it reminded him just a little bit of camp, the same way the other park in the city they'd visited near camp had. A little slice of nature in an otherwise bustling city.

He made his way past the fountain and over towards where the playground was. There was enough kids over there, albeit younger than him, that he wouldn't stand out too much as being on his own. He set his backpack down by one of the poles and took up residence on one of the swings. To an outsider he'd probably just look like a kid waiting for it to be time to head to school. Nothing suspicious at all.

It was nice out, with Spring just around the corner. It wasn't exactly warm out, especially so early in the morning, but it also wasn't cold. It made it easier to relax for the next little while until he left.

He made his way towards the McDonald's at 10. It took him till 11:30 to get there though seeing as it was fairly far from where the park was. That was for the best though, being alone at the McDonald's for too long would likely raise some red flags.

It was starting to get busy inside the McDonalds, the lunch time rush just starting. He waited in line and ordered himself a happy meal, handing the cashier ten dollars and getting his change. He didn't even question the fact that Max was here ordering on his own. In fairness, eleven was reasonably old enough to be left to do things on his own for short periods of time without raising any red flags.

He collected his happy meal from the counter and then made his way to a back corner booth, kicking up his feet and letting himself snack while he waited. And waited. And waited.

Eventually, he saw the camp bus pull into the parking lot and he couldn't suppress the grin that overtook his face at the sight. God he'd missed that stupid piece of shit bus. He half expected the doors to open to reveal quarter master at the wheel, but instead they opened to let Campbell hop out.

He wiped the smile off his face quickly, Cameron Campbell was a buffoon but he still wasn't someone to show weakness around. He watched as the man entered to restaurant and went up to the counter to order, searching the booths until his eyes met Max's while he waited for them to give him his order.

Max refrained from rolling his eyes at the man's appearance. He was dressed in an all black suit with ridiculous black sunglasses on his face and he had the most ridiculous goatee that Max had ever seen.

He snapped a picture of it. There was no way he wasn't showing the others this when he saw them again.

"Nomage Magicfixer, I have an order for a Nomage Magicfixer." The lady behind the counter called.

"That's me!" Campbell said, taking it from her.

He did not refrain from groaning then, smacking an open palm against his forehead at the name. When Campbell approached his table he leveled the man with a glare.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I did what you wanted." Campbell said as he slid into the other side of the booth.

"You look like an idiot and your name is fucking stupid." Max informed him readily, "I didn't think you could do worse than Samboy Kidwell, and yet somehow you've managed it."

Campbell scoffed at that, "Samboy Kidwell was a stroke of genius!"

"Yeah, whatever, I don't really care." Max waved him off, already over this conversation, "Did his parents take the bait?"

"Of course they took the bait." Campbell puffed out his chest, "I'm the one who put it on the hook. We should leave in half an hour."

"Great. You'll get your payment when we're at the bus stop with our tickets." He nodded decisively.

With that, they ate the rest of their food in silence, and then half an hour later headed out to the parking lot and got on the camp bus. He headed towards the back row that he normally sat in before remembering that he'd need to give Campbell directions and so he turned around and sat in the front row.

He buckled the questionable seatbelt, because as much as cool kids didn't wear seatbelts on the bus, he also really didn't trust Campbell's driving.

"Where am I going?" Campbell asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Take a right on this road until you get to the highway, then head south until you get to exit 173." He gave the directions to Harrison's place easily, having memorized them down to a T.

The drive went by pretty easily, and soon enough Campbell was parking the bus on the street outside Harrison's house. He dug into his backpack for the folder he'd put in there yesterday after his stop at the library.

He pulled out a couple of sheets of paper that he'd made to look like forms that needed to be signed. Only one of them was real, the one that signed Harrison up for Camp Campbell this summer. The rest were all fake ones to help with their cover story.

"Here." He handed the forms to Campbell, "Make sure they sign them all but try not to let them look too closely at any of them. Got it?"

Campbell just scoffed at him, "Of course I've got it, otherwise my name isn't Nomage Magicfixer!"

For Christs sake.

"It isn't." He deadpanned, and the man had the audacity to fucking pout at him. "Just fucking go."

Campbell did go, even if he grumbled the whole way to the front door. Max watched from out of sight of the bus windows as he rang the doorbell. The door swung open after a minute, and Harrison's mom and Campbell seemed to be talking with a lot of exaggerated hand motions from Campbell.

He just rolled his eyes, and when the door closed behind them as she ushered him into the house, Max hopped off the bus. He snuck around the edge of the bushes circling the front of the house and into the back yard where the tree was. He climbed it quickly, more thankful than he thought he'd ever be for the amount of times Nikki had made him do this last summer.

Harrison had thankfully left his window open again while he was at school, which left him an easy access point to the house. The door to his bedroom wasn't locked from the outside either seeing as there was no one to lock in. He would've growled at the thought of what these people had been doing to their magic kid if not for the possibility that the noise would alert someone to his presence.

He crept through the hall, not knowing where to look for what he was looking for. It was possible it wasn't even here, that they'd thrown it all away. He hoped not though, he hoped he'd find it.

"Yes, as we discussed on the phone last night, this is a program for children who truly have magic." He heard Campbell's voice echoing from down stairs, "We know that most people, even the government, don't believe such abilities exist. That there hasn't been any help for parents like you who are struggling with their children's supernatural abilities. We believe you though, and we want to help you."

There was a sob from down stairs, "Oh thank you! Thank you! It's been so hard!" Harrison's mom cried.

He headed for the door at the end of the hall that opened into a larger bedroom. It must be Harrison's parents. He went about searching it quickly, looking in all the normal hiding spots, the closet, under the bed, the drawers of the dresser. There was nothing to be found though.

He left the room quickly, easing the door closed silently behind him. He moved quietly down the hallway to another door and found it was locked. Jackpot! Maybe.

"I can assure you we have a team of professionals working with the kids." Campbell's voice continued, "Your child will be safe with us."

"He will be able to learn to control his abilities and fix what he's done?" Harrison's dad asked, not even commenting on the safety part.

Figures, shitty parents were shitty.

"Yes, we will do our absolute best to fix the pain caused by magic and then to rid him of it." Campbell promised.

Max crouched down by the locked door, pulling out his lock picks and getting to work, because of course a delinquent like him knew how to pick locks. He tried not to think too hard about the sickening implications of what Harrison's parents were saying. The idea of a Harrison with his magic taken away just seemed wrong.

The lock opened pretty easily, it wasn't a very sophisticated one so that wasn't surprising. He surveyed the contents of what turned out to be a closet. There were a couple rows of towels and blankets, even a couple boxes up at the top. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He dug a bit deeper though, moving the blankets on the bottom shelf aside, and lo and behold, there it was. The same bag that Harrison had had with him at camp was tucked away along the back wall of the closet. Max pulled it out quietly, opening it up to peek inside and found exactly what he'd been looking for.

He quickly moved the blankets back into place, strapped the bag securely onto his back, and closed the closet door again. Making his way back towards Harrison's room.

Right before he closed the door behind himself he heard Campbell say, "Yes, perfect, just sign right there." And the scratching of pen on paper.

It was working, he grinned in satisfaction as he made his way out to window and climbed back down the tree. He snuck back into the bus easily, ducking down so he could peer out the window without being seen unless someone looked really closely and then he waited.

It was maybe about half an hour later when Harrison walked around the corner. He was wearing all white, just like when Daniel had been in control of the camp. It was off putting, honestly, his clothing had absolutely no character, though that was probably the whole point.

His face though, his expression was downtrodden sure, but there was still life there. There was still magic in his eyes and maybe some hope too. Hope that grew as Harrison caught sight of the bus parked outside his house, obviously recognizing it.

Harrison saw him easily, and Max gave him a quick salute in greeting. The other boy smiled, walking over towards the bus, which was not what he was supposed to do. He quickly shook his head and Harrison skidded to a stop quickly, looking confused. Max pointed towards Harrison's house and then made a shooing motion, which seemed to clue the boy in as to what he was supposed to do.

Harrison turned, and trudged towards the front door of the house, opening it and disappearing inside quickly. Now it was just time for Max to wait again.

About another twenty minutes went by, and then the front door was opening, Harrison walking out along with Campbell who had a hand on the kid's shoulder to make it look like he was guiding him towards the bus. Harrison's parents stepped out behind them and stood on the front steps, holding onto each other and looking just as scared as they had on parent's day. They also looked relieved though, and he tried not to think too hard about that.

Harrison had his head down, looking upset. Max watched as he turned to give his parents a small wave before he got onto the bus. His parents flinched at the motion, and Harrison ducked his head again before getting on the bus. Max ducked down into one of the rows so he was no longer visible from the windows at all. He listened as Harrison sat down and Campbell got into the drivers seat and started the engine. As they drove away, he popped back up, moving to lounge in the row across from Harrison who was waving out the window to his parents and looking sad.

As soon as they were out of sight, Harrison turned, gaze finding Max's easily and grinned wide with bright eyes, "Want to see a magic trick?"

Max shrugged, tamping down on the answering grin that wanted to spread across his face, "Sure, but first," he tossed Harrison's camp bag over to him, "Here."

Harrison ripped open the bag quickly, and almost looked like he was going to burst into tears as he pulled out his stupid hat. He cradled it gently in his hands and looked up at Max with wide eyes, and he felt himself jolt at the expression.

"No." He said immediately, "This is not that deep. Your nerdy magic clothes suck but I'm not walking around with you while you look like you've been fucking brainwashed by Daniel. That's all this is."

Harrison just kept grinning though, "Ok Max." He said, although it sounded more like how David used to say it sometimes, like he was humoring him instead of agreeing with him.

"Stop that." He gestured to Harrison's expression grumpily, "Just get changed, while I make sure Campbell knows where the fuck we're going."

"I know how to get to the bus station, you little shit!" Campbell called back to him, which Max ignored.

He was heading towards the front of the bus when Harrison called out, "Max!"

He turned around slowly, sighing and shooting the boy a glare, just daring him to get all stupid and mushy, "What?"

"Thanks." Harrison said, and then that was it, no mushy speech or attempt at a hug, which he was grateful for.

"Yeah whatever." He shrugged, "Just change your clothes and then show me a shitty card trick."

Chapter Text

“Oh, hold on a moment!” Campbell said to the lady at the ticket counter, before he reached down and hoisted Max up high enough that he could be even with the lady, “Sorry, my son is just in a phase where he wants to pay for things himself, go ahead kiddo.” 

Harrison had no fucking clue when it was decided that Campbell was going to pretend to be their dad, but it’d clearly already been discussed by Max and Campbell, so he was willing to roll with it. 

They were at the bus station in Raleigh and they were buying tickets for a trip all the way to Portland, Oregon. Max had explained that they had to take public busses instead of having Campbell drive them in the camp bus because Campbell had refused to do it on the grounds of ‘transporting minors across state lines was a more serious crime than he was willing to commit for what Max was paying him’. 

Max hadn’t had a chance to explain more than that before they’d gotten to the bus station though seeing as it wasn’t very far from his house. He had a lot of questions, to say the least. He trusted the plan, even without knowing it, and even if he hadn’t then just having a reason to get out of the house was enough for him to go along with it anyways. Still though, he sort of wanted to know how Max had the money to pay Campbell, and also where he got the cash that he pulled out to give to the ticket lady. 

He had a lot of questions to say the least, none of which were being answered right now though, so he just had to roll with it. 

“Awwww, that’s adorable.” The lady cooed, smiling at Max who gave her an innocent smile in return as he handed over the cash, “I bet you’re just so excited to be all grown up like your dad someday.” 

“Oh boy am I ever!” Max laughed, “I hope I turn out as awesome as him!” 

It was a good act, truly, Preston would be impressed at the least. Harrison could tell it was forced though. There was some unnamable tension in the boy that he somehow knew stemmed from the hand that Campbell had on Max’s back. 

“I’m sure you will!” The woman’s smile widened as she handed over the tickets, “Have a nice trip!” 

“We will, thank you!” Campbell waved as he set Max down and led the two of them away from the counter. 

They walked over to a corner by the bathrooms that wasn’t too densely populated, and in a snap they’d all dropped the act. 

“I’ve done everything you asked.” Campbell turned on Max, “I want my payment.” 

“I want my envelope first. You know the one.” Max demanded in turn, “Then you can have your payment.” 

Campbell groaned, but pulled the bag off his shoulder and ruffled through it until he pulled out a big thick yellow envelope. He handed it over to Max, who opened it enough to look through the contents before closing it and cramming it in his own backpack. 

“Magic kid, give me the bag your parents sent you with.” Max said, holding an open palm out to him while keeping his distrustful gaze on Campbell. 

Harrison did as asked, handing the bag over to him without argument. Max took it and dug through it until he pulled out another envelope. He had no idea how the other boy knew it would be in there when he himself hadn’t known about it, but he didn’t question it now.

Max opened the envelope, then pulled out a couple bills that were marked as hundreds and handed them to Campbell. Harrison felt his eyes bug out of his skull at the sight of such a large amount of cash he hadn’t known he’d been carrying around, but once again he kept his mouth shut. He’d have a chance to ask later, when they ditched Campbell and got on the bus. 

“If I find out you’ve fucked us over, you can kiss any future payments goodbye.” Max warned, and then he’d swiftly grabbed Harrison’s wrist and dragged him off into the crowd before Campbell had a chance to respond. 

They wove their way through the busy station together in silence, making their way towards the bus that would take them to Boston. Once they made it to the line of people waiting to board Max stopped abruptly, spinning to face him. 

“This is your last chance to back out.” Max informed him, voice dead serious, “I won’t judge you if you do.” 

It was a declaration, straight to the point, brutally honest in the way that Max tended to be about these types of things. He appreciated it, he really did, but it was unnecessary. He didn’t want the life he’d had living with his parents. He didn’t know what sort of life he and Max would end up with, but he knew the one he’d been living until now hadn’t been right. 

He shook his head at the other boy, “I’m in this. I don’t want an out.” 

Max grinned at him, something a bit dark and mischievous, but so entirely right for him. Something that felt just a little bit like Camp Campbell right here in this crowded bus station in a city far away from the woods of the sleepy peak region. He grinned back, already knowing it wasn’t anything like Max’s, no, his was a thing of excitement and maybe a bit of nerves. He thinks that maybe together they made up the beginnings of an adventure. 

………………………………………….

“So, fill me in.” Harrison said, once they were situated on the crowded bus. 

They had a row to themselves with Max at the window and him at the aisle. They’d somehow lucked out and gotten seats in the back row, and the people around them all had headphones on for the long ride. It was as safe to talk as it was ever going to be. 

“Well, we’re runaways, and we’re going to Portland.” Max started, “My parents think I’m going to some behavioral corrections place for kids, and yours think you’re on your way to a magic kid fixer place. So no red flags will be raised that we’re gone, we just need to send them official looking signs of life and fake progress reports every once in a while and we should be fine. Honestly, I don’t think either of our parents even need much of that, as long as they don’t have to deal with us anymore they’ll be satisfied.” 

He didn’t bother arguing that, not when he hadn’t been the slightest bit surprised that they were sending him away earlier this afternoon. 

“Where’d you get the money?” He asked instead, “For the tickets and to pay Campbell.” 

Max grinned at that, “That’s the genius part! Our parents think we’re at these programs right? Programs that they’d need to pay tuition for. Obviously not too much since my parents would never go for something expensive and I wasn’t sure about yours, but it’ll be enough for us to manage to get by plus paying off Campbell to help us out.” 

“Like with the envelope stuff, what was in there anyways?” He asked quickly since that’d been bugging him. 

Max pulled out the yellow envelope Campbell had given him and handed it to him, “Don’t take anything out, just look.” He instructed, and Harrison nodded, “What’s in there is everything we need to start a new life in Portland. Keys to an apartment, forms enrolling us in school, stuff like that.” 

He felt his eyes widen in shock at that, “We have an apartment?!” He hissed, and Max laughed at his shock. 

“Hell yeah we do.” Max grinned at him proudly. 

“Wow, I think you just freaked my mind, Max.” Harrison informed the other boy, “This sounds awesome.” 

“Don’t dream too big, it’s a shitty apartment in a shitty neighborhood where people won’t ask questions hopefully. We can’t afford much, and we’re going to have to find ways to make some money once we get there, but it should be livable.” Max told him, then seemed to consider something before adding, “Well, as long as Campbell didn’t fuck us over, at least.” 

“Yeah, speaking of Campbell, how do you know he won’t screw us over?” Harrison asked, remembering all the times the man had done just that at camp. 

Max shrugged, “Because ultimately Campbell only cares about one thing, Money, so as long as we keep paying him, we should be safe.” 

“Yeah, you mentioned that earlier, but how do we keep paying him? I mean, it sounds like we’ll just barely be affording to live.” He asked, trying not to let any anxiety creep into his voice. 

Max had planned the rest of this out pretty well so far, he’d have this planned out too. 

“We are going to be struggling, but that’s factoring in paying Campbell already. Look, we’ll have a source of income, right?” Max waved his hands around like he was laying out some sort of paper, “Our parents will be sending us money to pay our ‘tuition’ monthly. 600$ for each of us. Rent is 700$ a month, plus utilities. We’ll have to pay Campbell 250$ a month, which leaves a little more than 200$ for us to get food and clothes and furniture and stuff. It won’t be easy, but we can do it if we’re careful. Especially if we find another way to get money.” 

“Our parents all agreed to pay 600$ a month?” He asked, somehow that seemed shocking. 

“Yeah, and they sent us both with 1000$ for admission and first month. Unfortunately most of that will be spent on getting us to Portland and what was already spent on first month’s rent and a security deposit. We’ll be pretty damn broke by the time we get there, but we can make it work. Our school forms say we get breakfast and lunch for free from the school, so we can make it work.” 

Max almost sounded like he was assuring himself towards the end. Not that Harrison blamed him, this was actually pretty scary. Better than staying with his parents, sure, but it was still scary, and as tough as Max always made himself seem he was still in the same boat as Harrison. 

“Of course we’ll make it work.” He said, shooting Max a cocky grin, “We’re camp Campbell campers, we can make anything work. Pussies for life!” 

Max let out a startled laugh at that, “Yeah dude, pussies for life.” He nodded. 

They settled into a comfortable silence after that, and he could tell that Max was starting to drift off. That was probably a good thing though judging by how tired the other boy looked. He made a note to ask later where the other boy had been sleeping while he was on the run so far. He didn’t ask now though, not when there was a much more pressing question on his mind. 

“So why Portland?” He asked, curious as to why Max had picked that city for them to settle down and start over in. 

Max pried his eyes open, squinting over at him in confusion, “Huh?” 

“Why did you choose Portland?” He repeated, “I mean, it’s freezing there and pretty far away from where any of the other kids from camp live, so why Portland?” 

“You don’t know?” Max’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion, still looking only moments away from sleep. 

“Know what?” He asked, his own eyebrows scrunching in confusion. 

“David lives there.” Max said, “He’s a teacher at the school we’re going to.” 

Oh, that sort of made sense now that he thought about it. David and Gwen were the only two adults who’d ever really gotten to know him and seemed to actually care. He knew it was the same for Max. 

“You know he can’t take us in, right?” Harrison asked softly. 

He knew David and Gwen couldn’t, he’d asked after all. 

“Yeah, I know.” Max sighed, turning his head to look out the window, though he could see in the reflection that his eyes were closed, “He’ll still look out for us though.” 

Chapter Text

They had six hours to kill once they got to Boston before they needed to catch their next bus to Chicago. From there they'd have an hour to catch their bus to Salt Lake City and then another to catch their final bus to Portland. 

That being said, this was pretty much their only chance to really go out and explore a new city. They wouldn't have time in Chicago or Salt Lake City. 

It was colder here than it'd been in Raleigh, and Portland would be significantly colder if the weather channel playing on the dinky old TV in the Boston bus station was to be believed. He was dressed in only his trademark blue hoodie and Harrison wasn't doing any better with the white coat his parents had sent him with. So their first stop was a goodwill that was thankfully only three blocks from the bus station.

It was stuffy, but it was also warmer than it'd been outside, so he kept his snarky remarks about the dingy interior to a minimum. Not that Harrison seemed to mind his negativity much, no the other boy seemed perfectly content to just be out and about in his normal clothes and his stupid hat. 

He'd been fiddling with a deck of cards pretty much the whole time since Max had woken up about halfway through the trip. His fingers didn't handle the cards as deftly as he used to be able to, which Max assumed was just because he was very out of practice. He was getting better though, and it was obvious how much it was putting him at ease to just have them in his hands. 

So Max had chosen to be nicer than was characteristic of him, and had neglected to make any teasing remarks whenever Harrison fumbled them. No, his remarks were currently being reserved for the baby that was screaming in its stroller only an aisle away. 

"God, doesn't it have a fucking pacifier or something." He groaned, as they looked through the kids section for a snow jacket that wasn't hot pink. 

Seriously, how had they found three of those and no others?

Harrison just hummed, and Max watched as he looked around quickly and then tore two buttons off a shirt. He watched fascinated as Harrison held them between his cupped palms and glanced around once more before holding them up to his mouth and whispering into them. He then opened his palm between them and presented two purple flowers resting on his palms. 

"You trying to ask me on a date?" He quirked an eyebrow at Harrison who was frowning down at the flowers. 

"No, they're supposed to be ear plugs." He said, "hold on." 

He watched as Harrison clasped his palms together again and then repeated the earlier process. This time, he presented cotton balls when he opened his hands between them. 

"Close enough." Max shrugged, plucking them from his palms and jamming them into his ears. 

Harrison looked pleased, even though he didn't say anything. Max didn't say anything either and instead they went back to sorting through the rack of kids clothes until they'd found two snow coats that would fit them well enough, Max's a dark grey and Harrison's black. 

They made their way up to the counter, and Harrison was the one to pay seeing as he was a couple months older and taller. He could pass for at least 12 or 13 if need be, unlike Max who was cursed with a short stature unfortunately. Another thing to hate his parents for. 

They walked out of the store and put their coats on immediately, it was too fucking cold not to. 

"So what now?" Harrison asked, looking around the bustling street with a bit of awe. 

Max shrugged, "I could eat." 

Harrison nodded, and they both started walking down the street, looking for a place to eat. It didn't take long thankfully, and they found a small shop that had a sign promising pizza by the slice. It seemed like the kind of place where two kids would be easily overlooked so they headed inside. 

The heat of the building along with the pizza oven was nice. They approached the counter, ordering two slices and a drink for each of them. It took only a moment before they were handed cups and two paper plates with steaming slices of pizza on them. Max's stomach grumbled at the sight alone, he hadn't realised how hungry he was until now. 

They set their coats and plates on a small booth towards the back before heading over to the soda fountain to get drinks. Harrison created a nauseating mixture of every soda available in his cup while Max went straight for the coffee, not bothering to stir in any sugar or cream. He'd need the caffeine considering how tired he already was and how much he didn't want to let his guard down too much.

"What the hell is that?" He demanded once they'd sat down to eat their respective slices of pizza. 

"What's what?" Harrison asked, though it sounded all garbled around the mouthful of the same pizza Max was grimacing at. 

"That!" He gestured at the slice balanced on Harrison's fingertips. 

The other boy laughed at that, seemingly split between amused and surprised, "It's just some pineapple." He shrugged, completely unbothered by Max's mounting horror. 

He scrunched up his face in disgust, "fucking why though?" 

He was a bit surprised to see a soft smile flicker across Harrison's lips before he shrugged, "It was something my brother and I used to do, sneak out to get pizza, that is. He always used to say that pizza with pineapple was like life. He said that it was a little bit sweet and a bit salty."

He resisted the urge to gag at the nice sentiment. He knew better than to be a dick about anything related to Harrison's brother. So he just nodded instead and then took an aggressive bite out of his own slice of pepperoni pizza. 

'Life sucks, but at least there's pizza.' Suddenly echoed unbidden through his head. 

That was Gwen's voice, but David had been there too, after parents day had gone to shit and they'd found out about his parents not caring. He scowled down at the pizza in his hands to stop a smile from overtaking his lips at the memory.

He would see David soon, if all went to plan, he was suddenly reminded. It shouldn't feel like a shock, not when that had been the plan all along. He hadn't let himself really picture it though, but now that he was already part way across the country with Harrison in tow he found that Camp Campbell felt closer than ever.

It didn't take long before they'd finished their pizza, they'd basically devoured it with how hungry they both were. They didn't have any reason to hurry and leave the warmth of the restaurant though so they just refilled their sodas and hung out for a bit. Max just relaxed on his side of the booth, taking the time to watch Harrison as he did some more card tricks. 

It hadn't even been a full day since he'd broken him out but he was already getting way better at them. Harrison must have really just been out of practice. 

He noticed a couple teenagers watching them, or more specifically Harrison. Not in a bad way, they just seemed to be fascinated by Harrison and his cards. Max scoffed, if they thought that was impressive then they should see him when he did something more than just basic card tricks. Seriously, he wasn't even doing magic at the moment, it was just slight of hand. 

That was something he'd figured out back at camp, something that Neil had never managed to figure out the exact limits of and Max had kept his mouth shut about his of observations. He was not getting in the middle of a magic vs science fight again, hell he hadn't even meant to that first time either. He'd realized that Harrison's tricks were usually a 50/50 though on whether or not it was just street magic that was just sleight of hand or whether it was real magic. 

Suddenly he had an idea. 

"Hey, magic kid," he said, and Harrison looked up at him with an arched brow, "How do you feel about performing with an audience?" 

Harrison's brows scrunched in worry, "I don't know Max, normally that'd be fine, but I'm really out of practice." 

"That's fine, we're kids. No one will expect anything of you anyways." Max shrugged, "You're plenty good enough, even if you were worse than you are now." 

"Are you sure?" He asked, still looking doubtful. 

"Yeah, I'm sure." Max grinned, grabbing his bag and getting up from the booth, "C'mon, I've got a plan." 

Harrison followed reluctantly, and they left the restaurant and made their way down the street to the small park area. There was a gazebo that was lit up as well as a fountain with several benches around it. Max led them over to the edge of the fountain, hopping up on the ledge and looking out over the crowd of passersby. 

"You ready?" He asked and at Harrison's sheepish nod he called out to the crowd, "Everyone! Behold the wonders of the Magic Kid!" 

He gestured dramatically to Harrison, and they got a few people looking over at them. That was enough though, they only needed a couple people to start. Crowds always grow once they start, no matter how small. 

Harrison gave the few people looking a wave before pulling off his hat, doing a fancy flip of it in his hands and then reaching inside it to pull out a stuffed bear. It was enough to draw the few people looking closer to them, and Harrison handed the bear to a little boy who was with his mom on the nearby bench. 

"Would you like to assist me on my next trick, ma'am?" He asked the kid's mom, and she nodded, looking amused. 

Harrison pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them very fancily and then fanning them out with them facing the woman. 

"Pick a card, any card." Harrison grinned, seeming to be finding his confidence more and more as more people drew near. 

Max resisted rolling his eyes at the most basic magician line ever. 

The woman drew a card and Harrison did the whole, 'Don't you remember it? Good now put it back in the deck' schtick before having another stranger from the audience shuffle the deck. 

He pulled out a random card from it and held it up to the woman, “Is this your card?” 

She shook her head, looking just as amused as before, “Sorry but no.” 

“Oh, that’s my bad.” Harrison grinned, and Max knew the mess up had been intentional, “Say, would you mind checking the front pocket of your new stuffed bear?” 

The boy looked down at the bear sitting in his lap curiously, sticking his tiny fingers into the front pocket sewn onto the stuffed animal. His face exploded in a grin as he pulled out a playing card and held it up to his mom. The woman’s eyes widened in shock and then she smiled too. 

“That’s my card!” She exclaimed before clapping, followed soon by the rest of their rapidly growing audience. 

Max let the show go on for a bit longer before he grabbed a beanie out of his bag. He started walking up and down the line of people gathered to watch the show holding it out in front of him like a bag. 

“We’re trying to get enough money to get our mom a nice birthday present!” He called to the crowd, letting his puppy dog eyes out in full effect, “If you like the show please donate.” 

Hook, line, and sinker. It worked like a charm, and when they got on their next bus and counted up the money they’d made they found they made 62.56$. 

“That’s like,” Harrison paused, counting on his fingers for a second, “Almost 1 and a half times what we spent!” 

“Sounds about right.” Max agreed dumping the money into the envelope with the rest of their money, “We should be in good shape when we make it to Portland, especially if you keep doing magic shows once we get there. We could have some money to spend for fun that way.” 

“Plus I’d get to do more magic!” Harrison agreed grinning excitedly. 

Yeah, this plan was going to work out just fine, Max relaxed contentedly.

Chapter Text

Portland was fucking freezing. 

Harrison didn't often swear, not even in his mind, but he thought that Portland's cold warranted it. 

When they got off the bus it was 9 pm. The sun had set hours ago, and the temperature was dropping more and more as time passed.

Luckily though, they were able to hail a taxi right outside. The driver had looked at them funny when he realised it was just the two of them. 

"No parents?" He asked, looking mildly concerned. 

"No, our mom had to stay late at work, but our dad gave us taxi money before we left so it's ok." Max answered, a placid smile on his face. 

Harrison had never seen Max look so perfectly pleasant before, it was a bit unnerving if he was honest. He just put on a matching smile and nodded along though, knowing better than to say anything. 

The driver just gave them another look before he shifted into drive and pulled out of the bus station. Presumably heading towards the address that Max had given him. 

Harrison was excited, sure, but dear god was he also tired. He hoped that there would be beds at the apartment Campbell had set them up with. Also blankets, he hoped there were lots of nice, soft, fuzzy blankets, and maybe some big fluffy pillows with nice fleece pajamas. He wouldn't be opposed to a nice warm mug of hot chocolate or even just some warm milk, and cookies too, cookies sounded great. 

He'd completely zoned out at this point, completely unaware of where the taxi was going or what the driver might've been saying to Max. It was the startling realization that his cravings were making Harrison sound like he was turning into Santa that snapped him out of it. He blamed the tiredness for his distractedness and Santa-like thoughts. 

"Yeah, our mom's a firefighter." Max was telling the driver, grinning like a cherub as they sped down some sort of highway, "So sometimes her shifts go longer than they're supposed to or sometimes there's big emergencies and she gets called back in. That's why she couldn't come get us at the bus station. It happens sometimes." 

He wasn't sure how Max was managing to sound so cavalier about the whole thing, like it was obviously completely normal for two 11-12 year olds to be traveling on their own like this. 

"If your mom is at work then who am I taking you to?" The driver asked, eyes narrowing as he looked them over in the rear view mirror, "You kids are way too young to just entirely be left on your own." 

"Our older brother David lives with our mom, he's home." Max shrugged, "He's seventeen but he still hasn't gotten his license which is annoying." 

The driver chuckled a bit at Max's tone, which was the equivalent of a youngest sibling pout. Harrison wasn't really sure how Max pulled it off since he didn't have any siblings. Not that Harrison was really one to talk, not after what he'd done to his own brother.

He forced himself not to think about that, instead putting a bit of a grimace across his face, "Yeah, I wish he'd let mom teach him how to drive." He commiserated Max's previous statement, "Then he could take us to the arcade and stuff." 

The taxi driver laughed at that again, seeming to be in a much less suspicious mood now, "My son loves the arcade too, I'm sure if he had an older brother he'd be begging to be driven there every day." 

Max and him agreed that they would also like to go to the arcade every day, and the rest of the drive went by in polite conversation about which arcade games the kids liked nowadays versus which ones were popular back when their cab driver was a kid. After about 20 minutes the cab pulled up in front of a grey six story building that looked stable but also not in fantastic shape. There wasn't a single nice car in the parking lot, but none of them had their windows smashed in like they'd seen that one time over the summer that they'd ventured into the city. So all Harrison's tired mind could make of the situation was an 'it could be worse'. 

"Are you guys going to be alright to walk up alone?" The cab driver asked, eyeing up the building, "I wouldn't mind walking you to your door if you like, free of charge." 

This man really was pretty nice, Harrison realized. It was refreshing, but he also hoped the guy didn't insist on walking them up because Harrison wasn't sure how they were going to explain the absence of their older brother David if he did. 

"Thanks but we're alright." Max said, sliding out of the cab and then waving up at one of the building windows, "There's David, he saw me and he'll meet us in the lobby. Thanks for the ride." 

Harrison quickly climbed out behind Max and grabbed both their bags. Max handed the driver a wad of cash and then took his bag from Harrison. They both waved goodbye at the cab driver and then headed towards the front door, which was thankfully unlocked and stepped into the warmth of the empty lobby. They went quickly for the elevator, not really wanting to wait and see if anyone showed up to question who they were. 

Once they were inside the elevator, Max dug around for the envelope in his bag and then when he found it reached inside and pulled out a silver key. 

"We'll have to make a second copy at some point." Max noted while he put the envelope back in his bag and zipped it shut. 

"What apartment number are we?" Harrison asked as the elevator came to a halt on the fourth floor and the doors slid open. 

"426." Max answered as they stepped out onto the landing, "Campbell said it was at the end of the hall by the back staircase, so we should have an easy back door escape if we need it." 

They walked down the hall quickly, both eager to see what was waiting for them and to find out if Cameron Campbell had screwed them out of an apartment or not. It didn't take them long to make it to the end of the hall to the door with a small painted 426 right above the peephole. 

Max quickly slid the key into the lock after glancing around the deserted hall to make sure no one was going to bother them. The key turned with a bit of struggle that meant they would probably need to oil the lock at some point, but it definitely worked. 

They stepped inside together, and Harrison couldn't exactly speak for Max but he was pretty sure they had both held their breaths in anticipation as they stepped over the threshold. Max shut and locked the door behind them before Harrison could really take in the apartment and then he flipped on the lights which thankfully worked. 

His first thought had been woah, nice! And then his second thought had been Max was right, this isn’t very big. That was fine though, because they didn’t need anything big, and more importantly this place was all theirs! 

Wasn’t that an exciting concept, Harrison marvelled as they poked around the apartment together. Max with a flat and slightly grumpy expression, but the more they looked around the more his shoulders relaxed so Harrison figured that Max liked it well enough. 

The first room in the apartment had a small kitchen area to the left where there was a sink, fridge/freezer, a microwave that looked like it might also be a Time Machine, and an oven/stovetop. Upon closer inspection they found that there were sponges and dish soap under the sink along with one roll of paper towels and some sort of cleaning spray. In the cupboards they found a couple of plates, bowls, cups, a singular frying pan, a singular pot, four forks, spoons, and butter knives as well as one sharp cutting knife that had a sticky note attached to it that read BE CAREFUL!

“Aw, he really does care.” Max had muttered sarcastically before flipping over the note to find our deal does not cover hospital visits you little shit! 

He and Max had both laughed at that, because what else would there be to expect from Cameron Campbell. 

As they kept looking they found that the fridge and freezer were empty, but one of the cupboards had a giant pack of ramen noodles, a box of hot chocolate packets, and a large box of flavoured oatmeal packets. Harrison felt his stomach growl at the find, and by the hunched over way Max was standing he was probably starving too. Plus cold, it couldn’t be more than fifty degrees in the apartment, they’d need to see if they could do something about that at some point. 

They popped a bowl of Ramen in the microwave along with another and two glasses of hot chocolate made with the tap water all lined up along the counter to wait their turn. 

The next thing they found was a broom, the small trash basket, and the bags that they were supposed to use for it in the tiny little closet next to the kitchen. There was a note taped to the trash can that said they needed to dispose of their trash bags by the dumpster behind the building. 

They threw away the stuff from making the ramen and hot chocolate and then went to look at the living room. The only things in there was two bean bags and a low to the ground coffee table, which was where Harrison figured they’d be eating their meals from now on. He honestly found that preferable to the dinner table that his parents had had where they all ate in heavy silence every night. He just wished there was a tv, but he could live without it until they figured something out. A quick search of the coffee table drawers produced a singular deck of cards that had both Harrison and Max rolling their eyes. 

“Don’t you already have one of these?” Max pointed out. 

“I’ve got three.” Harrison corrected with a nod. 

“Campbell’s a fucking idiot.” Max said simply, earning an amused huff from Harrison before they both moved on. 

There was a singular door in the first room, aside from the front door, and upon opening it they found what was supposed to be a bedroom. Campbell’s interior decorating skills certainly left something to be desired, and upon closer inspection Harrison was pretty sure that Campbell had been messing with them. 

There were two twin size mattresses on the floor pushed against opposite walls, and both were adorned with big fluffy comforters. The problem was that they were both pink with bows and ballet slippers adorning them. Max took a couple steps towards the one nearest him and picked up another note. 

“Sorry boys, they were but one get one free.” Max read aloud before scoffing and tearing the note up into tiny little pieces and letting them flutter down to the floor. 

“We’ll get better ones at some point.” Harrison shrugged, cold enough that he wasn’t as  bothered as he would normally be about them being so opposite to his interests. 

“Whatever.” Max scoffed, “Dibs on this one.” He declared, tossing his bag onto the bed that he’d picked up the note from. 

Both beds were the same so Harrison didn’t really care about which bed he slept in so he just nodded and tossed his bag on the free bed. Harrison moved to explore the closet while Max locked himself in the small bathroom to change into pajamas. 

In the closet he found two back packs, thankfully they were each green and blue respectively instead of being pink. The bags already seemed to be packed for them to go to school. Filled to the brim with textbooks, notebooks, and pencil cases. Everything they could possibly need to start at a new school. There were sheets of paper under the backpacks too, both of which had their school information printed out on it along with the location of their classroom and their start date, which was apparently tomorrow. There was another sheet of paper that seemed to be a map with yellow highlighter tracing a path to a bus stop. Harrison was too tired to fully decipher the map, but he assumed Max would know what it all meant so it was fine. 

Max exited the bathroom and gestured for Harrison to take his turn. So he grabbed one of his two pairs of pajamas and headed into the bathroom to change quickly. By the time he’d finished he realised that Max had left the room so Harrison grabbed the papers from the closet and went back out into the living room. 

Max was setting steaming bowls of Ramen down on the coffee table and kicking the beanbags until they were right up against the table in some approximation of a dinner table. The mugs of steaming hot cocoa were already on the table too along with forks so Harrison went ahead and sat down on one of the beanbags while Max plopped down on the other. He quickly slid the papers across the table for Max to look at before he pulled his bowl closer to himself and blew on it in the hopes of cooling it down enough for him to eat. 

Max flipped through the papers, seeming to take in the information as if he already knew it and only needed the confirmation. Like everything was going perfectly according to plan. Harrison really hoped it was, and he was grateful for Max’s unworried and in control attitude because Harrison knew that he’d probably be freaking out without it. 

Max had always been good at that though, hadn’t he? For the most part he’d always been a confident mastermind back at camp, and usually a successful one too. It was easy to forget that Max was just a kid too, but sometimes there were cracks in the mask. Little tiny ones, mostly when Max got frustrated, that proved that Max was just as much of a kid as the rest of them, and that his plans did not always go perfectly to plan like he made you think they would. 

Harrison really hoped that this plan was in the majority of Max’s plans that worked out and not in the minority. He had a lot riding on this working out actually, he couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to go back to his parents now. Especially if they knew that this had all been a lie so he could get away from them, and worse than that do magic! 

As he looked at Max now though, saw the black eye that had faded but was still visible, he realised that the other boy likely had just as much riding on this working out as Harrison did. Maybe even more, he had no idea seeing as Max hadn’t ever said anything about his home life or his parents other than the simple ‘they don’t care’ he’d heard once back at Camp Campbell. 

Maybe Max’s injury shouldn’t reassure Harrison, but it did a little bit, the reminder that he wasn’t the only one invested in this working out. Things would be ok, he was suddenly more confident in this than he’d been so far. They were sitting here in an apartment that was theirs, eating Ramen, checking over their school schedules, and suddenly Harrison didn’t feel as much like he had when Max had been crouching on a branch outside his room. Suddenly Harrison didn’t feel like he was desperately grabbing at nothing more than a chance that was likely going to slip through his fingers anyway. In fact, he felt like he was already holding it, like he really had a chance at a better life with Max at his side.