The sound of glass crunching under Oscar's shoes echoed through the hall as he wandered towards one of the tables that hadn't been overturned in the chaos. It looked out of place, amidst the torn decorations, overturned furniture and dropped glasses that littered the floor—the remnants of the panicked stampede that had followed the gunfire.

Oscar took one of the champagne flutes, still standing elegantly on its tray before heading back to the main entry. On his way he saw the housekeepers already starting to clean up the mess. At least the excitement had made his stunt seem tame. Emergency lights were just starting to come up the drive when Oscar noticed that the men they'd caught were nowhere to be seen and Max was absent too...

Dammit! He couldn't be for real... Max had slunk off without him, again!

But this time, Oscar wasn't getting left behind, he wasn't going sit here with the women and giving his recount of what happened for the police report, he was going after them.

He didn't actually get very far out of the house though, before Duncan pointed at him and motioned for him to come over. He didn't say anything until Oscar had followed him to one of their discrete gray rides.

"Get in the car, Mr. Bradley."

He would have preferred his own ride, but right now he was banking on the fact that Duncan knew where Max was and would get him there faster, so he agreed and got in.

Duncan drove him down the same road Max had taken him to get to where Max's place was... Where Ace's box and shit were. Only, when they pulled up, he didn't take the part of the drive that led to the stables, instead, he turned right, and pulled up around the back of the barn Max hadn't given him a tour of.

Duncan got out, and motioned with his head towards a side door. "Through here."

Oscar was significantly more nervous when Duncan didn't follow, just stayed put right where he was and the feeling only got worse when picked up the first trace of sounds coming within in. The faint shriek and then whimpering made his gut do a flip as he reached the door. He barely opened it, only enough to allow him to squeeze inside without making much of a sound.

Inside was significantly more disturbing than being outside had been. The sounds echoed through the dark structure, that seemed to stretch on uncomfortably. Petie was standing with his arms crossed a ways down near an open door, which was casting the only light source on his front, making it all the more noticeable when he looked over and saw Oscar.

"Mr. Bradley," he called out, beckoning with his hand much like Duncan had. "Over here!"

He swore he could hear Max ask something from inside the lit room, but couldn't understand what he'd said.

The further Oscar ventured into the building, the harder it got for him to remember that this was still part of the same place that Max had shown him the other day. And even though his brain told him that he was on their side and was supposed to be here, his gut told him that he only knew as much about Max as he wanted him to.

"No. No-no-no. I said I didn't want him here," Max said, wiping his face on his sleeve as Oscar stepped up to the doorway. There were still blood splatters speckled in amongst some of Max's freckles.

"I asked fer him here," James said, squinting at his son.

"Why? He's got nothing to do with any of this."

One of the guys was strapped into a chair... it looked like some of his teeth had already been brutally knocked out of his face, which was already swelling, and like one of his shins might have been broken.

"Ya sure about that, boy?" James asked around his smoke. "Cuz I was told he was makin' a scene just b'fore things got loud, now how's that sound to ya?"

Even in the shitty lighting, Max visibly paled. "Da, he was just being an idiot. Said Angie was givin' him a hard time about Elle, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! She told me to go jump off a cliff or something, so I did!" Oscar defended though saying it out loud didn't sound as convincing as he'd hoped.

"I'd not trust a man who caves that easily," James replied. "Take his phone."

Petie seized Oscar's arm, and Max dropped the bloody wrench that Oscar only now realized he'd been holding, and it made a deep, but dull thud as it hit the dusty, straw covered floor. He roughly pat Oscar down, finding and taking his phone with an expression that was purposefully free of much if any emotion. "I'll deal with him across the way." Max muttered.

With a short nod, James turned back to his own business as Petie all but dragged Oscar out and back into the dark center aisle of the barn, with Max right on their heels. "Does Elise know someone brought you here?" Max asked, his tone cold and detached.

"What? I don't—Hey, you know I didn't have anything to do with it, right?" Panic had already set in at this point.

Max didn't answer him. Instead, he opened a door, poked his head in, and then opened it for Petie to shove Oscar through.

"You need anything, Marcus? Cuffs? ...Tools?" Petie asked, straightening his coat sleeves.

"No, Petie. Thanks," Max replied, stepping inside and pushing Oscar forward hard enough to nearly make the punk lose his balance.

Petie glanced once more at Oscar, then nodded, shutting the door behind him. With the door shut, it was so dark that Oscar couldn't even see where exactly Max was.

In the dark, the punk's eyes and mind strained to make sense of the shadows and sounds.

"Max?"

There was a loud click, then a buzz...and then a bulb above them blinked to life.

"You actually sound scared," Max said, stepping toward him and clearly trying to restrain a grin.

"Fuck, bro!" Oscar breathed in relief as all the tension in his shoulders suddenly dropped. "No, my heart can't handle that shit..."

Max did chuckle then, wrapping his arms around Oscar from behind. "Were you getting hard already?" he teased, placing a few kisses along Oz's neck, where the mafia prince could still see goosebumps thanks to the harsh light overhead. "You know, I could still make you scream...for dramatic effect...but I don't want Da to think you actually did anything wrong."

Max wasn't wrong, despite how intimidated Oscar had been, there definitely still been that shameless part of him that enjoyed being terrified.

"Can't you just tell him...about us?"

"Noooo-" Max let go of Oscar like the punk was a hot potato. "No. Not happening."

"Oh," the punk pouted once he was no longer in the safe embrace of his prince. Had it been anyone else he might have asked why, but Oscar was pretty sure that if Max thought it was a bad idea and he was his son, then it was safe to say it was a bad idea. "So... what now?"

"So, now..." Max paused to think for a second before clicking his tongue and finishing. "We burn a little time before I check in with Da, give you the okay, and then take you back to my room."

"I like the sound of that," Oscar grinned.

Max's anxiety melted at the sight of that damned grin. "Yeah?" he whispered, as he pulled Oz close again, and pressed their lips together. It wasn't the kind of kiss he'd actually had with Oscar before... It wasn't rushed. It wasn't needy. Instead, Max was wholly focused on just feeling Oz. On tasting him and memorizing how his tongue felt against the stud in Oz's tongue. The clack their teeth made when one of them tilted at a slightly wrong angle... The way he could've swore Oz's breath hitched just a little when he lightly tugged the punk's black hair. "I'm sorry I freaked you out," he whispered when he finally broke their kiss for air. He still had his forehead pressed against Oscar's, and their noses were brushing.

The punk shook his head, which ended up being more of a slight rock with how close they still were. "Don't, we're good," he assured before locking eyes with him. "Now... about that screaming for effect?"

The grin that curled Max's lips was pure mischief. "I don't think you should actually scream," he purred as he smoothed his palm over the tent in Oscar's jeans, but jumped nearly a foot when some fucking rock n' roll song started blaring from the pocket of his own suit pants.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what in the hell is your Nan calling you for at this hour?!" Max asked as he gawked at the name on the illuminated face of Oscar's phone.

Oscar looked just as shocked as Max, but habit had already taken over, and without thinking he'd already answered it and brought the phone to his ear.

"Heeey, Nan, what's up?" Oscar answered, doing his best to not sound like she'd just royally cock blocked him. "Everything okay?"

"Ozzy! I wasn't sure if you would still be awake. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"No, Nan I was uh, just leaving a party actually," Oscar said, glancing at Max a moment before looking back down at his feet. He was still in the clothes he'd switched into just before everything had gone south, and wondered what she'd think if she could see him in his sweats and sneakers standing in a barn with a couple of Mafia—Actually she'd probably not be surprised, now that he thought about it.

"Oh, good. Well, I was calling to let you know I just got home. I haven't gotten unpacked yet, but I wanted to let you know that I got back okay. I'd like to have you and your friend over for dinner, soon so I can thank him for trying to cover for you, or whatever it was you'd gotten yourself into."

"I'm didn't—He wasn't—" A heavy sigh left Oscar. There was no use in trying to correct her. "Glad you're home safe, get some rest okay?"

"And Ozzy, you can just bring him. I know there's no girlfriend, okay? It's alright, I promise."

"Oh my gaaaah—Nan, why is it so hard for you to believe that I have a girlfriend?"

"Oscar, you haven't brought a girl home since sixth grade. There's nothing wrong with it, I'll love you no matter what your persuasion is, you know that. You do know that, right, Ozzy?"

The punk rubbed his palm down his entire face as if he were actively trying to melt his embarrassment away. "I know Nan, I love you, I'll see you at dinner..." There really was no fighting with her.

"I love you too, Sweetheart. Have a good night, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Max had his brows raised and was wearing an almost goofy smile. "Did I overhear that we're having dinner with Nan?"

Well~ did things go the way you expected in this chapter? And any guesses as to what's gonna happen when they have dinner with Nan? ( She has my entire heart <3 )

Thanks so much for your support!!