Breathe || Max X Reader - Camp Camp

Ⅷ

Word Count: 1,604
Neil's POV

     Kayaks were pretty stupid. What could possibly be dumber? Trying to fish on one. "Nikki, I really don't think we're going to catch anything.", I said. "The water is terrible. There's plastic floating right beside us!" I pointed to a plastic bottle a few feet away. Nikki shrugged. I couldn't get why Nikki didn't care. This was pollution that we were talking about. How could somebody just not care about that? While wildlife conservations were working their asses off to save our lakes and oceans, we were here littering. How disappointing. I shook my head.
     Nikki had put the fishing stick onto the ground. Insteading of holding it with her hands, she was holding it in place with her foot, between her toes. Her hands were busy using the water to gel back her hair. "Oh, cool down, Neil!", she pressed. "It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll get a bite soon enough." I scoffed. "What's up with you, Neil?" She was still trying to gel her hair with water. "Hey Neil?" Jeez, sometimes that girl is dumber than a load of bricks. "What happened with Y/N and Max?"
     I snapped out of my thoughts. "I don't know," I sighed. I pushed her foot out of my way and took the stick. It was very slimey, covered with gooey algae from when we dropped it into the lake. "I think they're talking in David's office. Or bedroom. Nobody really knows what it is." I took a hand off the stick and wiped it on my shirt. Ew.
     "Do you think Y/N and Max are ever going to confess their forever burning love for each other?", Nikki asked. She stared at me with those beady eyes.
I swear she's still five years old. "I don't think they're in love, Nikki. I think they've just got a temporary attraction to each other.", I explained.
     Nikki cocked her head to the side. "What does all of that fancy getup' mean?"
     A tug from the stick sent me jolting forward. It started slipping from my hands. I quickly manuevered my shirt so that it separated my hands from the stick. Instinctively, I tried to reel the line in. Wait. This is a stick! I slowly pulled straight up. The string kept growing and growing. At the end was a blue gill. "Woah!", Nikki gasped. "Cool! Can I pet him?"
     I laughed. "Yes, just don't let the fins get you.", I advised. I removed the fish from the hook and motioned with my free hand for Nikki to come to me. Once she was close, I gingerly placed the fish into her hands. I cupped her hands around the fins, making sure that they didn't touch her. Once I was satisifed, I let her walk away with the fish. To my left approached David from his own kayak.
     David smiled as he sat down his oars. "You caught something!", he gushed. "Let's see it!" Without a word, I pointed over to Nikki. "Nice!" David rowed a little farther to meet her. I let out a short-held breath of relief. Good greif. In all honesty, it would've been much better if Nikki would've just gotten her own kayak. Instead, she just had to tape two kayaks together to make a "two-person kayak". I still couldn't wrap my mind around how the tape still held. I also couldn't belief that Flex Seal actually sealed our hole from earlier. I also wasn't sure how our cheap camp could afford Flex Seal.
     Oh shit! I hadn't told Nikki to throw the fish back into the water. "Nikki, throw that fish into the water!", I demanded. It was a wonder that the fish was still alive after Nikki had thrown it into the water. It swam away as if it's life depended on it.

Max's POV

     "Here you go, kid.", the Quarter Master sighed. He handed me a frame that looked about the same size as the picture of Jasper and David. Jesus Christ, something finally decides to work in my favor. Y/N had been cleaning up glass for the longest time, so I was kind of happy that I was able to help fix something, too. I really hoped that she hadn't cut herself.
     The walk back to David's room was mundane. Nobody really stopped me to ask what was going on. Just for shits and giggles, I kicked open the door.
     Y/N did not think it was funny. I'd scared her shitless. "Jesus, Max!", she scolded. "I could've cut myself!" I could tell that she wasn't really mad. She didn't use an aggressive tone with me. "You found a frame, then?" I nodded. "Okay, give it here."
     I walked up to her and handed her the frame. "I'll finish that.", I offered, pointing to the pile of shards Y/N had swept up. She didn't say anything, she just nodded. Something was obviously off. And it only felt right to assume the kiss was what she was thinking about. I mean, I couldn't get it out of my mind either. "So, about that kiss..."
     "There's not really much to say about it.", Y/N replied. I didn't really have any clue what that meant, but it sounded like she was just trying to avoid the subject. I fucked up, didn't I? I grabbed the dustpan Y/N had laid out and swept the glass into it.
     Clearly, she was waiting for me to talk. But honestly, I didn't have any clue what the Hell she wanted to hear. "Are you mad at me?", I asked. I didn't want her to be angry at me. I was sick of the world. It just continued to get worse and worse. It feels like there's not a single person out there who gives two shits about me. "I get it." I didn't 'get it'.
     "No, Max, I'm not mad," she insisted. I doubted that. I didn't look at her. I just kept on sweeping. "I just don't know what to tell you." I shook my head. I tightened my grip on the broom. "W-Was that real? Do you really like me?"
     Of course I did, I wasn't some fuckboy. Who did she think I was? "I don't kiss every girl I meet, bitch.", I fumed. "Can't believe you'd ask me that."
     "No, no!", Y/N screamed. "That's not what I meant! I wasn't implying that at all!" I rolled my eyes, but continued sweeping. By this point, I was just sweeping dust. I didn't want to face her. "I just didn't know. I don't know, Max! Take me as a grain of salt. I'm so confused. I mean, I like you. I really like you. I-I just don't know how to go about it."
     At this point, I was clueless about what Y/N meant. All I knew for sure was that she was confused. "Well, you went about it pretty well earlier.", I joked. Finally, I truned around. Y/N was holding a trash bag. "Can I have that?" She handed it over with a half-hearted smile. "I like you a lot, too." I was only partly sure of that. But, I assumed that it wasn't going to stay that way. "Look, if you don't want to, we don't have to tell anyone. We can just be a secret, if you want."
     All of the glass had made it into the trash bag. I stood up and closed the bag. "What if Gwen tells David?", she asked. That was it. That had to have been what was fucking with her.
     "Then so what? He won't do shit.", I reassured her. I was pretty sure that David could actually do something about it for once, but I wasn't going to tell her that. "Plus, we all know Gwen staches porn magazines in her filing cabinet. We could always just blackmail her back about those."
     Y/N burst into a laugh. What a relief. Another less negative thing I just had to deal with. "Wait, what?", Y/N asked.
     "Yeah," I replied. "Gwen's into some kinky shit." Just for some sort of reaction, I followed that up with a "But aren't we all?". Y/N's face reddened. "Hah. Probably explains why Gwen couldn't wait to watch the security footage."
     Y/N was beet red. "W-Well, I mean-"
     "Chill!", I teased. "Now come on, we've got some cleaning to do."

     For the rest of the day, we cleaned our asses off. By dusk, David's room looked untouched. Since Gwen was happy with it, she decided she'd let Y/N and I continue our relationship in secret. The only thing that still bothered me was that neither of us knew if we were actually in a relationship or not. We were both too pussy to approach the subject head-on. I never found out what Y/N thought of the kiss, no matter how much I asked her. I, personally, didn't have much to say. It was explosive? I never really was into that lovey-dovey shit, but damn, that kiss was pretty good. It was more of a makeout, though.
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A/N - Hey there doods! If you liked the chapter, I encourage you to leave a kind comment or vote. It honestly does help motivate me to continue doing what I love most. Anyways, I'm starting a Comment Question of the Chapter. Basically, I ask you guys a question, and you answer it! ☁️

Comment Question of the Chapter:

Would you rather meet Max or David? (If you could, because obviously, they don't exist. 😭)