I said I'm fine. [Dadvid]

1.

Max:

"Tch. This place looks as shitty as ever, huh... " I scoff as I walk out the old, creaky bus and breathe in the dusty atmosphere around me.

"It really hasn't changed much, has it?" Neil approaches me from behind, stepping down from the bus with his luggage in hand.

"No kidding.. and here I thought someone would grow some balls and renovate this shithole." I mumble in response, stuffing my hands inside my pockets and kicking some pebbles around with my sneakers. "You coming?" I turn around to face Neil, who was fidgeting as if he were frantically looking for something.

"I-In a sec," Neil stutters, "uh, you don't seem to know where Nikki might be, right? I hardly saw her inside the bus on the way here." he says as he proceeds to tug on his collar, a habit of his that he seriously should try to tone down. I swear, each time he does that it feels like he's eventually going to rip his shirt off.. although I doubt that'll even be possible with those noodle arms of his.

"Knowing her, she probably jumped out of the fucking bus as soon as she smelled the camp's scent or whatever. She might even be reclaiming her fucking territory.." I pause for a moment and shake my head, trying get that weird image off my mind. I pull my hands out of my pockets and stretch myself out, something I seriously needed after that agonizing and bumpy ride inside of that worn down bus.

"Also, Neil," I grunt while stretching, "you should really stop tugging on your shirt like that, unless you're willing to (but probably fail to) rip your shirt off, which if that's the case, then continue." I point over to him, his cheeks flaring up in embarrassment as he let go of his collar. "Plus, since when did you worry about Nikki? Your nerd brain can't even begin to stop thinking about chemistry shit or whatever it is you do in that weird fucking meth lab that's in the middle of camp."

"For the last time Max, it's just a normal lab." Neil groans in frustration.

"Dude, chill," I smirk.  "...  It sure does fucking look like one though." I retort teasingly, feeling Neil's scowl forming from the back of my head.  Also, just to clarify, I don't, in fact know what a meth lab looks like, nor do I want to.

Seeing Neil get embarrassed or frustrated from any little thing is kind of funny to me. Even when you call him out for the smallest mistake like mispronouncing a word his face will flush and become as red as a tomato... its sort of adorable in a way.

...

I did not just say that.

What the fuck am I even saying? That isn't right. And I'm pretty sure that was not the word I intended to use there either.

"Pfft, you old people finished arguing yet?" A voice playfully shouts, snapping me out of my small trance. I look up and spot Nikki hanging upside down from a branch.

"Y'know, just because you're a year younger doesn't mean you have to call us 'old'. " Neil air quotes with his hands.

"Well, what can I say old man, teasing you is fun." Nikki shrugs, grinning ear to ear. I try to hold in a snort while I keep watching these two going back and forth bickering.

"You aren't that far off from becoming 16 yourself you know." He hissed back and flipped her off.

"Hey,Tarzan, I think I see Ered walking out of the bus." I gaze over to the bus and point at it to get Nikki's attention.