Max woke with a start as his alarms went off like sirens, he glanced at the time. Nine forty-eight a.m. Shit! Dillion's gonna be here in ten minutes!!!! How had he slept through his first three alarms?! Max yanked his clothes on, glad they didn't stink since he hadn't been able to do laundry since he'd arrived. He was slipping into Dillion's hoodie as someone knocked on his door.
"Yo Max, you up mate?" Dillon asked from outside the door.
"Yeah! Just a sec!" Max called stumbling as he tried to slip his old sneakers on. How freaking embarrassing!!! Max could hear some light chuckling as if Dillon were speaking to someone quietly outside the door. Max continued to rush.
Max nearly fell on his face as he stumbled to the door, backpack slung over his shoulder, "Ready!" He announced swinging the door open. Dillon had his face turned to the side with a grin, Max glanced down the dimly lit hall… but no one was there. Maybe he had a headphone in? As Dillon turned his head… empty ears…
"No rush mate. Did you make sure you grabbed everything so you can move in tonight?" Dillon reminded glancing to the bed with some papers strewn about.
Max hesitated, gritted his teeth, then turned around, "Uhh, two minutes, I, uhh, don't have much." He called as he ran to the bathroom, stuffing everything in his backpack or his two reusable shopping bags.
Dillon grabbed one of the overstuffed shopping bags and backpack from Max, "Did you check out already mate?" he asked glancing over the shabby room.
There was a hint of nostalgia in his voice that confused Max, but he just shook his head. "Uh, not yet." Max led the way so he could check out. His gut clenched at how much he'd already spent, over a hundred and sixty dollars of his thousand gone. Not to mention he'd bought food, taxies, bus fare… he was already down to less than eight hundred dollars left.
Max carefully placed his bags on the ground of Dillon's car, "Uh, thanks, for waiting, and um, picking me up." He added as the silence continued. Dillon seemed startled for a moment before grinning.
"All good mate, life if ruff. Besides, I can use the extra hands, it's a small place but its crazy how much I've accumulated over the last few years. Glad I can leave lots of the big stuff behind." Dillon added as he waited for a hazardous pedestrian to cross.
Max almost asked, ruff, he could just be hearing Dillon wrong. "So, uh, how many friends will uh, be helping?"
"Two friends, Jake and Jack, I know, I know, but they're cousins, always great if ya need extra muscle. Oh, I ordered ahead from the diner, hopefully same as yesterday for you is okay. I just need to run in and pick it up." Dillon added.
"Oh, um, thanks, really appreciate it." Max agreed with a quick nod. Dillon kept telling him about Jack and Jake, then their plan of attack for the packing. As they pulled up, two big guys were leaning against an older pick-up truck. They were in overalls, wearing bandannas, and construction gloves…
"Yo! Yall are always on the ball! This is Max, possible tenant. Dillon, big boy in red is Jake, in blue is Jack." Dillon greeted as he grabbed the four take out bags.
Max nodded, they dwarfed him, both had to be well over six feet, maybe closer to six' five. Their gaze barely passed over him to land on the takeout bags. Max wasn't sure if they were just really tanned from days in the sun, or it was their natural skin tone. They had the palest blue eyes he'd ever seen on a person before though. They both had dark hair, but he wasn't sure if it was brown or black, you could almost mistake them for full blood brothers.
"Hurry yer ass Lynn, and for gods sake stop with the damn dog jokes." Jake half growled as he started stomping up the stairs.
Max almost thought the rusted old stairs would give under their combined weight. Dillion winked at him as he followed them up.
"You know you like em, it half my personality at this point. Come on Max, don't let their bark scare ya." Dillon added as he jogged past the two to his door. With practiced ease he opened the door and held it open with his foot as the three bodies walked past him.
Max awkwardly stood off to the side as the two larger guys slipped their shoes off and headed for a rolling shelf. To Max's surprise they slid it away from the wall without a word, then raised a wooden ledge he hadn't seen.
"Chairs shorty." Jake called as they secured the ledge's lock.
Max jumped at the gruff voice, but after looking around he found three folding chairs, he grabbed two intending to bring them over, when the first one fell open causing him to stumble. Max closed his eyes as he braced himself for a fall, only something caught his arm in a painful grip.
"Careful shorty." Jack growled taking the chairs in one hand as he steadied Max.
Jake raised a brow, but didn't say anything as Dillon brought the food to the table.
Dillon grabbed a gallon of orange juice as he settled at the table, "Nice save, you okay Max?"
Max nodded trying not to rub his forearm, "Uh, yeah, oh, thanks. Uh…" Blue was… who again…
"Jack," Jack reminded as he sat down to pour the juice for all of them.
Max nodded, "Right, Thanks Jack." Max added as he was the last to sit. It wasn't a big space, but how had Jack caught him so quickly? Max tried not to hunch in on himself as Jake stared at him. The whole makeshift table rocked, then he let out a breath as Jake stopped staring at him.
Max was half convinced someone had kicked Jake… still he was thankful for the unnerving stare to have moved on.
Dillon grinned, "Relax mate, Jake is super intense, but he's got a heart of gold."
Max gave a weak smile, "Oh, uh, okay." He wasn't sure what to say to that exactly. Max listened as mostly Dillon spoke, and the cousins made gruff comments. They kept eyeing him warily. Like for real… if anyone is a threat in this room… he was last on the list.
"Max, you mind wrapping all the dishes in paper, or between clothes then putting them in these few boxes?" Dillon asked as he set aside two large sets of dishes, then seven smaller sets back in the cupboards. The rest were stacked along the counters.
"Sure!" Max was almost relieved to be working, Dillon started playing some music with fast beats, explaining it was his gym playlist. The cousins were fast with their hands, piling the contents of shelves along walls as they dismantled the rolling countertop they'd used as a table. Max snapped a picture of the brand, it had been super convenient.
Max was mostly in charge of packing small or delicate items as Jack and Jake made trips with filled boxes to the truck. Max had to admit… he was surprised no one stole the unattended items from the unlocked, unsecured bed of the truck.
"Okay, we're going to make a quick trip to the new place to unload, you can ride with me Max," Dillon offered wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.
Max nodded as he taped up the latest box he'd been working on. Most of the shelves had already been taken apart, the bedroom mostly packed, all that was left was the living room. Max couldn't help but glance over the computer… Dillon… wouldn't really leave it behind… I mean, it's a thousand dollar laptop…
Max slid into the passenger seat with a box on his lap. The car and truck had to be breaking half a dozen laws with how full they were. Luckily, the ride was only about thirty minutes. Max slid out of the car gaping at the apartment complex. Not only near the city center, but it was a new construction…
Max stared enviously at the clean hallways, security guard who buzzed them in… Dillon had probably only been in the other place to save up… not because it was all he could afford. Max stared at the pristine carpets… he felt so out of place.
"Max mind grabbing the door?" Dillon called propping the box against the door. Dillon hadn't been able to keep the box from falling, and unlock the door.
"Oh! Yeah! Sure!" Max jolted grabbing the keys, after a bit of fumbling with his own box he managed to get the door open, he quickly went in to keep it from closing. The apartment still had that new smell. Max tilted his body to the side to let the others pass. Jack and Jake bringing in a shelf piece from the truck that had been used as a makeshift weight so nothing flew free during the drive.
Dillon grinned as he set the box in the living room along the wall. "Let's just get everything in the living room today, not going to lie, securing everything in the truck took longer than I thought."
Jake used his sleeve to wipe his sweat, "You're picky." Jake casually glanced around then helped himself to the fridge, grabbing waters and tossing them out. Jack caught his with ease.
Max caught the water bottle to his chest as he turned around to see the incoming projectile, "Ah! Oh, uh, thanks Jake." Max murmured as Dillon caught his out of the air one handed.
"I'm thinking we break for lunch, the rest of the day will just be loading the truck for trips. Whacha in the mood for boys?" Dillon asked taking a swig of water as he cracked his neck.
"Steak." Both Jake and Jack chorus at the same time, then without missing a beat they both chugged their water.
"Damn, just put the bottles in a bag for now, I'll sort and recycle later." Dillon called as he pulled his phone out to see what was close by. "Sit down or take out?"
"Take out." Jake and Jack called at the same time.
Max just watched the dynamic, it was a good thing Dillon did enough talking for all of them.
"You good with that Max?" Dillon asked as he decided to place an order for pick up rather than delivery. All those stupid extra fees, not worth it. By the time his food usually arrived it was soggy.
"Uh, yeah, whatever." Max agreed.
"Cool, found a burrito place, good reviews, big portions, I'll pass my phone around, place your orders. We'll swing by on the way back. That should be enough time to unload the vehicles." Dillon announced tossing his phone to the cousins. Jake caught the phone without hesitation and started placing his order.
Max watched their familiar ease a little enviously, he hadn't bothered opening any of his socials in days. Not only had he been busy… but Arriana had been blasting him everywhere. Max jolted out of his thoughts as Jack waved the phone in his face.
"Oh, thanks! Sorry, distracted," Max mumbled accepting the phone, his eyes went wide. Eight jumbo burritos, double meat, extra fillings, extra sides, Jesus Christ… Max looked at the pictures… he ordered one burrito, a side of chips, and a root beer. The total was already over $250. Max handed the phone to Dillon, watching his reaction.
Dillon didn't even blink as he put in his own order, then frowned, "Max, you sure this is enough? Don't go hungry mate."
Jack raised his head from putting his shoes back on so they could start unloading the truck. Jake bumped shoulders with Jack, then they both left after a shared look.
"No, it's a big burrito, really." Max explained, he didn't want to order more than he could eat, that was a good way to piss someone off, especially if he wasn't footing the bill.
Dillon shrugged, "I'm going to double your burrito order just in case, we'll probably have a late dinner, so just in case you get hungry later. I added a few extra waters too, hydrate or die yeah?"
Max hesitated, then nodded in agreement. He quickly slipped his shoes on then went to grab another box from the car. God, did Dillon know how broke he was? Were they trying to be considerate? Max flushed with embarrassment as he lowered his head. To his added humiliation, Jake and Jack were holding the elevator for him.
Max lowered his head to his chest as the doors closed. The silence was stifling.
"Relax." Jake groused shifting a bit as they watched the numbers go from twelve to the basement.
Max stiffened even more. God, if he could just burry himself somewhere that would be great. Where was that hole when he needed one? Max heard shuffling behind him, using the blurry metal walls to see the cousins, they were shoving each other with their shoulders.
Jake and Jack immediately went to their truck to grab more furniture pieces. Max… stood beside the locked car door like a moron. With a sigh, he shifted over to the truck to grab three of the shelf boards. He followed the cousins back to the apartment pretending that had been his plan all along.
Max pretended to not see the shared look between the three larger men, ugh, if he could just stop acting like a kicked puppy, they might not walk on egg shells around him. It was all his own doing, making things needlessly awkward. Max kept kicking himself as they made more trips… something! Anything to talk about!
"Uhh, how'd you guys meet? I mean, not you guys, cause your cousins, I mean, meet Dillon," God above please send down that lightning, so he had an excuse for his stupid mouth. No freaking duh!
Jack glanced down at him before answering. "Gym, swapped jogging tips."
Max exhaled a sigh of relief, so Jack was the chattier of the two, which wasn't saying much. "Oh, cool, uh, you still go? Together I mean?"
"Yeah, twice a week. Few others too." Jack nodded as he adjusted his bandanna.
"Nice, I've been, uh, meaning to go, just, time ya know?" Max said sheepishly, god could he sound any more desperate.
"Tuesdays, Fridays, 8 a.m. Wolves Den." Jake nodded as the elevator doors opened again.
"We can bring someone with a membership, check it out." Jack added as they walked to the truck. Jake leapt into the bed to pass over a smaller box.
Max quickly accepted the box, that jump had been crazy, "Do you guys like uh, parkour? That was an awesome jump." For the first time Jake smiled at him. It was an amused smile, but still, score for not sounding like a total moron, maybe he'd upgraded to a halfwit.