Breathe || Max X Reader - Camp Camp

XVI

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TRIGGER WARNING
In this chapter, blood is described and elaborated upon. Skip paragraph two if this may pose a problem for you. Contact me via PM if you have any TWs that I may have missed.
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Y/N's POV
Word Count: 1,282

     I woke up in David's room. Gwen was holding an ice pack to my head. I didn't understand why. I thought that I was okay.
     "Where's Neil?", I muttered. My throat was dry, and it was a little bit painful to talk. Gwen pointed behind her. At the other end of the room, in Gwen's bed, was Neil. His left eye was a dark shade of purple. One of his ears were swollen. "Is he okay?" His lip was caked with dried up blood. It was once a rich crimson, but when blood dried it turned blackish.
    "I don't know," Gwen sighed. "I think if we just give him some time to heal he'll be okay. What about you?"
     That's what I had been wondering about. "I'm obviously fine.", I told her. Gwen nodded. "So then, why am I here?"
     Gwen removed the ice pack from my head and sat it down. It was a relief not to have it anymore. The skin on my forehead had gone numb. "Preston found you on the ground.", Gwen recalled. With Max. Oh God. I curled my toes. "This was a half an hour after Neil ran here. Preston was scared that you weren't safe, since he knew you were around Max a lot. He begged us at the knees to keep you here so that he couldn't hurt you."
    "Woah.", I mouthed. He did that for me. That's freaking wild. What the heck am I supposed to do now? Did he even find me with Max? Or had Max left me to sleep alone before Preston found me? So much was going through my head. My eyes kept darting back and forth around the room, frantically looking for answers. "W-Where's Max?"
     Gwen rolled her eyes. "That's what you're worried about right now? Preston just theoretically saved your life, and you're worried about the boy who fuckin' ruined everything for you?", she asked. "You need to stay the Hell away from Max. He's no good."
     I sat up in the bed. "You don't get it.", I tried. Gwen sighed. "Max isn't like other people, I know that. But, I just...can't help but think that maybe he's okay deep down. Maybe he just needs someone who actually cares about him."
     "And he has that person, his name is David.", Gwen sassed. Fair point, I guess. I don't know. "And do you know what Max does about it? He gives David, the nicest human alive, constant shit every single day of his life."
     I didn't know what to say. She was right, but, I still thought that somehow I was right, too. But maybe he wouldn't ever change. Maybe Gwen did know what she was talking about. "Gwen, I don't know what to do, but that poor boy just needs help.", I sighed. "He just needs help. I promise."
     Gwen balled her fists. "And we do help him!", she fumed. "We work our damn asses off every day to try and help that boy! Do you think he's pulled the wool over our eyes, because he sure as Hell hasn't! I've been there and done that, and I know what his life is like. But, I'm telling you right now, he chooses to be how he is. No man or woman can tell him to be an asshole, Max makes that choice himself. How a person treats you shouldn't change how you act, Y/N."
     My lips quivered. She was right. "Is there any hope?", I whispered. My voice was weakened. Gwen didn't answer. "Can I help him?"
     "No.", she asserted. I wiped my watery eyes. I wasn't going to cry, though. I've cried enough for a while. "The only person who can help Max is Max. You can't go over and heal Neil by snapping your fingers, now can you? So why do you think you can sort out Max's trauma all on your own? You're a kid, Y/N. You can't just prance around and fix people. And I'm sorry I had to be the person to make you realize that."
     I swallowed hard. I didn't want to talk, so I nodded. I grabbed the hair on the top of my head with hand and tugged it a little bit. Just enough to sting. I was so frustrated. "Okay.", was all I could choke out.
     "Why don't you hang out with Preston more? He's a very good boy. He's very nice and I heard that you liked acting.", Gwen suggested. I shrugged. I liked Preston, sure, but I wasn't exactly infatuated with him.
     Sure, I liked all of the things that Preston did, but that still meant nothing. How could I like two people at once? I couldn't even consider it. "How is Nikki?", I asked. Everything was uncomfortable, and I just wanted to change the subject. "She's doing alright, and I know that, but I just haven't talked to her in a while."
     Gwen walked over to Neil. She started checking over his wounds and changing his IV fluids. I had no clue how they had that at camp, but it was probably a law to have medical stuff. "I don't know.", she told me. She had raised her voice a little bit. I couldn't tell if Neil was conscious. He'd open his eyes, but then he'd let them close. He didn't speak. He hardly moved. "I think Nikki is hanging out with Ered. She really likes Ered. That's really all I know about her."
     Gwen paced back over to me once she had finished up with Neil. "You can leave whenever you think you're ready. But, just a thought, you and Max really need to stop trying to be a thing.", Gwen advised. Then she walked over to the door and left. Just like that.
     That had been the first time I ever had a real conversation with Gwen. Gwen proved to be a lot more than she was willing to advertise. More than anything, she was actually very smart. But then again, all adults had an odd way of being wise. I was just glad that I could talk to someone.
     I still didn't know if I wanted to leave or not, though. And, for the first time ever, I considered how I might've felt about Preston.
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A/N - Hello readers! It's been a little while since I've talked to you. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you guys for the relentless support I get. It means a ton. And as I said, updates may start to be less frequent due to my marching band schedule. I've spent way too long worrying about the fact that my section leader wants me to play first part (AS A FRESHMAN??) on one of the songs. I have to hit high C, which is the very top of my range and very hard for me to do. I'm very nervous and stressed about it because I don't want to let my section down. I hope I can play that upper octave good enough come football season. ☁️

Comment Question of the Chapter:

Do you guys want a Preston X Reader ending? With the way that the plot is heading, I could always make two different endings. I don't know, it's just something I've been considering. It's obvious that Preston is going to kick off a love triangle, it's just the question of if you guys want me to milk it or not.