Chapter Text
After the defeat of Maddox Hatter, his father, and the unbirthday tea party the Queen of Hearts threw, Max finally got to lay down in his dorm in Auradon Prep and relax.
He was back. They've won the fight and restored peace in Wonderland, and he played a pivotal part in that, but what does it actually mean? Sure, he almost got them all in the hands of his dad at one point and turned Cinderella's daughter into a VK version of herself but it was just a lapse of judgement and he was pardoned.
What was really on his mind was how things were going to be now. In this timeline, he grew up in the Isle of the Lost and even if he was in Auradon for five years now, people still looked at him weird for being his father's son. But now that he helped save his homeland, he could only hope things would be different now.
See, Max was a gentle soul, that's why he wanted to help the HK's and why he was so hurt when he found out the truth about the locket watch in the first place and while the whole ‘great hero’ shtick wasn't really his thing, he still went sleeping thinking he could finally breathe a little lighter in the school he called home, knowing he had finally proved that despite his klepto tendencies, he was good.
He woke up with Felix opening up the curtains of their shared dorm, an unusual sight for sure, he didn't have time to ask what has gotten into him though because he was met with a loud ‘Good Morning’.
“Ready for the second first day of school? You got a big day today, since you saved Wonderland from your dad and all” he said with an uncharacteristically happy smile.
“You were there too, besides, what's gotten to you today? You're like, glowing.” Not that he got a problem with it, it's just that Felix was the Shadow Man's son and Max would be the last one to judge someone based on their parents, but Felix really played that part well, being a mysterious night person, that is.
“Oh, um… Nothing! Just excited, and while I was there, you, Red, Chloe, Pink, Luis and Hazel surely did more than me, the Smees and… Robbie.” He swore he saw Felix blush when he said that last name, but he wasn't gonna pry into that yet. He was too tired to care at this time and he had to get ready to face eight different classes today.
But it was like Felix saw the future and knowing him, he probably did, because as soon as they left the dorm building they were met with a bunch of looks from other students. His first reflex was to tense up, he knew the feeling of being looked down on in this school all too well but there was something different with those looks, instead of fear or disdain, he felt curiosity and not the usual mean kind.
It was… strange, but a good kind of strange, maybe this was admiration? He wouldn't know. He parted ways with Felix since they had different first periods and got on his way. He was lost in thought when he saw a group of other kids approaching him smiling. That was definitely new.
“You're Max Hatter, right?”
“Can you tell us what Wonderland is really like?”
“You stood up to your dad, didn't you?
“That was so brave.”
He was bombarded with questions, smiling politely as he tried to answer all of them, not used to be getting this much positive attention, sure there was the tea party at the Castle of Hearts, but he was dividing the attention with nine more people. He couldn't help but wonder how any of these people would react if they knew what he had done to Chloe and Red at that cave, almost helping his dad win. The ten of them had agreed on not disclosing that to anyone, since it also involved telling people about the girls’ time travel a few days before all went down.
Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts knew, but not all the details involving it, of course. And despite getting pardoned by them he still felt uneasy about it all. But he would be lying if he didn't like this a little bit, maybe he could finally be seen as Max, be trusted as the boy he is, not the son of Maddox Hatter. His life could be brillig now.
The day went like this until lunch, when it got too overwhelming. The number of questions, whispers, smiles and waving he had to face was starting to feel too much. It didn't take long for Max to understand what was happening, they weren't celebrating him. They were celebrating the hero they expected him to be now.
Great, he stopped being perceived as a greatest villain wannabe and started being seen as a savior. It seemed as if Max could never just leave the expectations people put on him, what a fool he was to think that he could.
He left the dining hall, storming off through the doors when he heard someone whispering how they had seen him stealing someone’s pen in class this morning. Like it was his fault that he'd forgotten his and the person was just not careful with their things. Honestly, it was not even the worst thing he did this past week, and he's not talking about what happened in his dad’s cottage.
He needed time to breathe and think, so he went to the Crest Statue, a monument of the first VK's brought to Auradon. It was a quiet place around this time of day and he got quite calm when looked at the crests set in stone. His mind was always running a million miles per hour, another thing he inherited from his father beyond the chaos magic he was still learning to be accustomed to. Being here made him feel grounded, like he was part of something good.
He started thinking about all that was happening, more calmly now. He didn't know exactly what he expected when they all came back from Wonderland the day before, but certainly it wasn't a topsy turvy version of what he already knew. Now, he was expected to be perfect like a prince of something and he didn't quite know how to feel about it beyond being exhausted. He felt alone, and not any more seen than he felt before the whole adventure.
That was when he felt someone approaching, he swore if it were more deluded people talking nonsense to him, he would actually go mad.
“Hey.” Oh. Yeah, he knew that voice and it was worse than what he expected. “I saw you coming here.” the voice said behind him.
“Hey, Madrigal.” They were enemies just a few days ago, they'd made amends but were still in a strange place. Especially if you considered how Max felt about him. He found out he was gay relatively early and had an occasional crush here and there but things were different with him. Despite him and Hazel antagonizing the strong boy at every opportunity in the past, he would be lying if he said he didn't find him handsome, or amusing, or cute.
“Are you okay? You seemed pretty anxious before.” Huh. Max couldn't remember the last time someone asked him that in the last few days. And to think Luis of all people would be the first one to actually notice his emotional state, he couldn't help but blush.
“I-I… Yeah. Sure.” Damn. Why did he have to stutter?
“Now that sounded convincing.”
“What do you really want? Come to tell me how I'm supposed to smile for all of them? I'm good.”
“Wow, claws in, kitty cat.” What the fuck? “Just came to check on you, I got worried with how you looked, like you didn't get enough sleep or food.”
“You worried about me? Didn't know I deserved that kind of attention from an amazing Madrigal.”
“Max, can we be for real now? I saw how you looked when those people were swarming you, believe me, I know that feeling.” That was unexpected. Usually by this time they would be arguing. What was Luis doing? Not actually caring about him, that can't be possible. Can it? “Huh. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to actually be worried.”
“Why? Is it so crazy to think that I would care about you?”
“Actually? Yeah. I mean, we were never that close.”
“But we saved a world together and almost died together like three times, dude.” So that was it.
“Oh, I get it. Trauma-bonding.”
“No. We actually got to know each other during these last few days. Despite everything, you still helped us. Despite the way I treated you, especially. And I know you didn't do it for me, but I just started seeing you differently I guess.” Nice. Max thought he would catch a break now but it was just more expectations being dumped on him.
“Yeah, no big deal.”
“Except it kinda was? And seeing you earlier, I couldn't help but be worried cause you were not looking fine.”
Oh.
“Um, I don't really know what to say? I never expected to be in this kind of situation with you.” He was honest, figured this would be the best approach.
“It's okay, just know that if you want to talk about anything, I'm here for you, even if you just want to spend the rest of the day relaxing here.” He didn't know where all of this was coming from, but he wasn't gonna comment any more than he already had, afraid of pushing Luis away. What a curious thought.
Max then took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. He thought.
“It's just that… I don't know… I spent my whole life here being expected to be just like my dad. Another mad Hatter, and after all that I thought people would lay off me a bit, not that it was the reason why I did it, you know?” He corrected himself, he didn't like giving space for people to assume things about the way he behaved the way he did, even if they didn't get the same grace from him. “Just… Didn't expect to come back to the same thing, only now people expect me to be this perfect hero and that's just not who I am.” He blurted out.
Luis found himself actually surprised, he did went there so he could talk to Max and figure out why he looked so distraught. He was truly worried about the purple haired boy and was honest about his reasons, but didn't expect Max to open up so easily, he guessed he was really stressed out about it.
He thought about the way he related to Max, and how he treated him before Wonderland despite getting to talk to him was all it took for him to acknowledge that they weren't so different, just opposite sides of the same coin.
“I get it, you know? Being a Madrigal means a lot of people depend on you for all kinds of things, it's easy to feel drowned out by everyone else's needs.” Max heard that and it sounded like Luis had read his mind. “I really struggled with it too, sometimes let it go through my head and all, you saw me and Hazel in Wonderland. But after seeing you deal with all that happened… I realized you weren't trying to be a hero."
Max frowned at that.
"Then what was I doing?"
"You were scared."
"...Thanks."
Luis rolled his eyes.
"No, listen." He sat beside Max on the edge of the monument. "You were terrified. You made mistakes. You doubted yourself. You almost gave up."
Max looked away.
"...Yeah.”
"And you still went back.”
"Maybe. But everyone out there thinks I was brave every second. I wasn't.” he let out a deep breath, frustrated with himself. “And I'm scared they're waiting for me to mess up.”
“They probably are.” Max's stomach dropped. “...But that's because people are unfair, some people will always see Maddox Hatter's son.” Luis said, looking into the distance, maybe he did relate to him after all, curiouser and curiouser.
“Then what's the point? We changed everything and it's all too much for me.”
“The point is… That I don't.” he shrugged. “Before Wonderland, all I saw was someone trying to cause trouble.”
Max snorted.
“Fair.”
“Except… It wasn't.” Luis scratched his neck. “I got you wrong… I'm sorry.” he looked at his eyes deeply. “Now I see the guy who saw what his life could've been, and still chose to continue living this one so other people wouldn't suffer. the guy who caught me before I fell on the chessboard.” Luis laughed when he remembered, he was so embarrassed at the time, now he felt fond of that moment. It was not very often that someone
“You remembered that?” Max blinked and laughed in response.
“Course I did. What I'm trying to say is that all you need is time to just be, and we can figure out together, if you want to, I mean.” He looked almost hopeful, Max wondered what that exactly meant, but he didn't dwell much into that thought, there was no need to weigh this moment down on impossible things.
“Thanks, Luis. That means a lot, actually.”
Luis put his hand on his shoulder.
“Come on.” he said standing up and offering a hand for Max to do the same.
“But lunch is probably over by now.”
“Then let's skip the rest of the day.”
“...Seriously? Is my VK already rubbing into you?”
“You do look like you could use a break.”
Max stared at the offered hand for a second longer than he should have. Nobody had asked him to stop being the hero all day. Everyone else wanted something from him. Luis was the first person who simply wanted him around. Max smiled, small and almost involuntary, then took his hand.
He could get used to this.