Exhale || Max X Reader - Camp Camp (Sequel to Breathe)

II

Max's POV
Word Count: 1,691

     "Max!" Not this again. David probably felt my eyes rolling back into my skull. He knew I was sick of him calling me just to bullshit. "How's school?", the auburn pressed.
     I bit my lip. Come on, try to be nice. "It's fine, David," I told him. I pulled blades of grass out from the ground. "Why are you calling me?"
     "Why are you mouthing off?", David snapped. I grumbled to myself and kicked a pebble. "I just wanted to check in."
"Sure you did," I entertained. I chuckled to myself. David was, for sure, an annoying asshole who had to stick his grubby little nose into everybody's business, but he was also there for me through it all. "There's nothing to check in on. All I do is lay around."
     "What about Lynn?", David asked. Fuck. Oh Christ. I didn't respond. "Did something happen?"

Preston's POV

Is she overwhelmed? I knew I shouldn't have bought this house! "My feet are warm. Are your floors heated?", Y/N wondered.
Her eyes sparkled in awe. I itched the back of my neck awkwardly. "Yeah," I replied. I noticed her examining my attire. "You like?"
     Y/N nodded. She continued checking me out as she removed her ponytail. Her voluminous locks cascaded past her shoulders, framing her features. "So much gold," she noted, pointing at my cuff links. "I feel like I'm too poor to be in a house this grand with a gentleman as well-kept as you are."
     "So you'd rather be with Max?", I joked, slapping my knee. Y/N deadpanned. Shit. I averted my gaze. "Or, perhaps, you could stay."
     Y/N shifted uncomfortably. "I met him today for the first time in years," Y/N admitted. I mouthed an 'oh'. She nodded. "He...we kissed."
     Miraculously, I managed to keep my eyes from shooting out of their sockets. "You what?", I screeched. I covered my mouth in horror. The frightened young woman gasped. Fuck. "H-He didn't tell you?"
     "About?"
     I licked my lower lip. Don't tell her. It's not your business. I balled my left hand into a fist. "Nothing," I muttered.
     This was a performance that Y/N was not buying. Y/N moved closer to me, reading my expression. She shook her head. "I made a mistake, didn't I?", she asked.
     I took her right hand. It was delicate, soft. Her nails were painted a tasteful shade of pink. I looked into her e/c eyes. I couldn't read her, I was far too entranced. "That's for you to decide," I offered. Memories flashed through my mind. I remembered the day Y/N helped me run lines at Camp Campbell. I remembered all of the fun conversations we had in the mess hall. Then the memory with Harrison crept up on me again.
I shivered. "Are you okay?", Y/N asked. She cupped my chin. I felt my entire body heat up. I thought about the time when Max beat the living shit out of me years ago. All of a sudden the bad memories kept popping up in my head. "Preston?" I shook my head. I remembered when I'd fallen in and out of consciousness at the hospital. Y/N was there through it all. Just when I thought I'd outgrown those memories they resurfaced. "Preston Goodplay!"
She grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me until I came to my senses. "S-Sorry," I stammered. I swallowed hard. Y/N let go of me, still expressing concern. "Just memories is all."
Y/N nodded. "Trust me, same here," she jested, elbowing me. She moved even closer to me and held my hand. She took a deep breath in. "So many memories, good and bad." She sighed. We locked eyes. I was on fire. She placed her hands on my shoulders and ran them down the length of my sleeves, messing with the cuff links at the end. "Such a dapper gentleman." Y/N's nose was close enough to touch mine when she raised her chin to look into my eyes once again. Her delicate touch against my wrists felt both foreign and comforting. I wasn't used to someone so dainty using their hands on me.
     The two of us turned our heads at the sound of the front door opening. In walked Harrison. Before I had time to scoot away, Harrison dropped his notebook and pencils. Y/N stood and slapped herself. "Harrison!", I yelled.
     "For real?", he groaned. I massaged the area above my eyebrows with my thumb and pointer finger. "Pres, I leave you alone for ten minutes!" I looked up to see Y/N covering her face while Harrison paced around the living room. "I-It's whatever. I didn't see a thing." Harrison broke the awkwardness by taking a seat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
This is so uncomfortable. "Um, Y/N, you can sit too if you'd like," I tried.
     Y/N parted her fingers. Slowly, she lowered her hands and shimmied her way back to the couch, taking a seat beside Harrison. "So, Pres, about our date tonight-"
     I coughed up a storm. Harrison frowned, but only for a moment. He quickly pasted a smile back on his face. "Of course," I chirped. Y/N twiddled her thumbs. Think Preston. "Ah, but I thought you had a frat thing with Max tonight?"
     Harrison shook his head. "Nah, he's got Lynn," Harrison denied.
     Y/N cocked her head sideways. "Huh?", Y/N joined.
     Harrison and I looked to each other for an answer. "Anyways," I interrupted, "has anyone ever read Agnes of God? It's really good. I mean, I predicted the ending way before I made it there but-"
"I have," Y/N chimed in. Did that really just work? "It was really short. I know it's a play, but I expected it to be longer. Now who's Lynn?" No.
"I think that's something you might just want to ask Max about," Harrison dismissed. "It's not our business. Now, if it's alright, I need to take you back to your car. I have a date to get ready for."
"Oh," Y/N sighed.
"I can walk her out," I offered.
"No," Harrison shot me down. He stood, glaring at me. He motioned for Y/N to stand. "I'll be back to pick you up in a few hours. Wear literally anything at all other your custom made Swarovski crystal ball gown." Harrison snapped his fingers. With that snap I was home alone. She's back for one day and he's already sick of her.

     I searched my closet for the perfect date attire. I should be running lines right now. Next to my shoe rack sat a framed photo of my grandmother. I couldn't help but smile every time I saw her. I turned my head back to the shoe rack, examining my options. My black, gold-chain detailed mules were beckoning for me. These would be fabulous with my black dress pants. I walked across the room the other side of my closet and grabbed a pair of black slacks. "Now on to the top," I grumbled to myself. I rested a thumb on my chin in thought. I turned to the left to examine my collection of tops. Maybe I should downsize my wardrobe. Harrison did always say that the walk-in closet pissed him off... "This is quite nice!" I removed a dark green blouse from the shirt rack. "Perhaps it's a little too festive." I shook my head and put the shirt away.
     My phone buzzed from my back pocket. I took a quick glance to see who was bothering me. Max. I unlocked my phone and read the text. "I heard you met Y/N," I read. I was lucky Max wasn't in the room to see my melancholic expression. "Harrison is such a piece of work. He can't shut his mouth, always having to stir the pot." I rolled my eyes and continued shuffling through my clothes, not bothering to respond to Max.
     Finally, I settled on a dark purple suit jacket with a black dress shirt. Dark purple wasn't typically my color, but tonight's occasion was special.

Harrison pulled out my chair, motioning for me to sit. "You picked an awfully nice restaurant," I noted. Harrison grinned smugly. "You're not into fancy dining, so what's this for?"
Harrison rounded the table and sat in his own chair across from me, adjusting his black gloves. "It's for you," he flirted. I blushed. "It's not like you haven't dropped a million hints, I knew you wanted to eat here."
I chuckled. Harrison smiled, displaying his pearly white teeth. "You look nice," I complimented. "If only they'd put you on the menu."
"Pres!", Harrison half-scolded. I smirked. A server sat two glasses of water in front of us. "Later, maybe." He winked. Wow...
"Hi, I'm Emily. Can I get you started with any apps tonight?", the woman asked.
Harrison and I looked at each other, trying not to laugh. I shook my head to compose myself and cleared my throat. "I was looking at the grilled chicken salad," I started, "do you think we could add green peppers to that?"
"You're so difficult," Harrison interjected.
I rolled my eyes playfully. "We can get some peppers on that, sure," the waitress replied. "And for you?" She looked to Harrison.
"Yeah, so I was thinking an eighteen-ounce filet smothered with mushrooms and Swiss? Maybe even gravy if we had that?", Harrison asked.
"You're worse than I am," I piped in.
"That'll work," Emily confirmed. She scratched down our orders on a small notepad. "I'll go ring those in and I'll be back soon to check in on you." She smiled and walked away.
"Someone's hungry," I snorted. "Jesus!"
Harrison crossed his arms. "Well I took you here. I can get whatever I want!", he defended.
"Im just messing around," I chuckled. I sipped my water. "B-But on a more serious note...Y/N."
Harrison's demeanor changed. He gritted his teeth. I noticed his shoulders tense. "Yeah. Happy anniversary to you, too," Harrison spat.
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A/N - I know most of you are probably just DYING to see the drama unfold and I literally can't wait to give that to you. BUT, I kinda have to build the plot first so that the drama makes sense. I hope you're enjoying the story so far and I hope you don't get bored of it before I can start making the drama unfold! Hopefully seeing Harrison and Preston's relationship tense up is entertaining for you. -☁️

Comment Question of the Chapter:

If you were Harrison, what restaurant would you have taken Preston to? I probably would've picked Olive Garden.