Breathe || Max X Reader - Camp Camp

XLVII

Max's POV
Word Count: 1,673

     Y/N spent the next day avoiding people. I tried sitting with her that morning for breakfast, but she refused to interact to me. Y/N said that she just wanted time to think and that she wasn't angry at me. I tried calling bullshit, but it didn't really work. Y/N just pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. She mumbled something about how the Preston situation was stressing her out and shoved an entire waffle into her mouth. A few crumbs stuck to her chin. Maple syrup glued her hand to her spork. Despite the fact that she looked hilarious-like she was some wild animal or something-I knew she would've been pissed if I'd said that to her. I kept my trap shut.
     The activity that day consisted of archery or some shit. I bailed out of it and used "taking time to write my goodbye letter" as an excuse, which David actually believed. It wasn't like I didn't plan on writing a letter, it was just the the fact that I actually had to write which deterred me.
From the tent area, I was able to get a fine view of the activity. David had placed a few targets around a cleared area of the campground for the campers to shoot at. Only one camper was allowed using the archery range at a time. As expected, Nikki was a little bitch and decided to hog the archery range all day. Y/N never got a chance to take her turn.

Y/N didn't act much better the following day, either. She devoured her breakfast in silence again. As much as I wanted to say something to her, I decided not to. Y/N liked taking most of her problems on alone.
David's idea of a "Tuesday activity" was cooking eggs on the dock. God, what a dumbass. Y/N and I spent an hour watching a raw egg sit on a slab of old wood. It never cooked. Eventually, David gave up on the activity and decided to give us recreation time for the next two hours. Y/N spent her free time in her tent. I never really bothered her, but when I peeked in I noticed that her eyes were red. I decided that if she had been crying, she definitely wouldn't of wanted me spying on her, so I walked away.
On my way out of the tent area, I noticed Harrison acting funny. Focusing my attention to him, it became clear that Harrison was sitting on a stump, twiddling his thumbs. It was really weird to see Harrison doing something that didn't involve magic in some sort of way. Harrison's out-of-character actions helped me to recall that Harrison had been acting weird for the past few days, too. He'd been very standoffish and didn't speak to anyone. He always sat alone for meals, and never performed any magic.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I'd had it. I took my breakfast tray and strutted over to Preston. I slammed my tray down on the table and sat beside him. Preston didn't flinch. "What's the problem?", my voice boomed. It didn't matter how loud I was, Preston refused to react. "Seriously, come on, this is fucking ridiculous. It's been two days."
Preston cupped his chin with his offhand. With his other, he poked at his slop. "Y/N and I are over, you win. So why're you so pissed?", Preston sassed.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well maybe I want her to be to happy," I grumbled. "Ever thought of that? You piss me off, but she's never gonna' be normal again without you. So why can't you just talk to her?"
Preston kept his gaze low. "She hates me, Max," he sighed. "She's so mad at me." He shook his head.
I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're such an idiot," I told him. Preston bit his lip. "Y/N thinks that you're the one who hates her. You know why? It's because you won't talk to her."
Preston locked eyes with me. "Truly?", he begged. I nodded. "Wow."
I smirked. "So, are you going to make amends with her, then?", I prompted. Preston nodded, hesitantly.

     As Wednesday progressed, Preston stole more and more glances at Y/N. He'd stare for a few moments, shake his head, and walk away. He was like a lost kid in a Walmart parking lot. He wanted to talk to Y/N so bad, but he just couldn't work up the courage.
     Until lunch, that is. I took my slop and stole a seat next to Y/N. We locked eyes for a moment. Y/N nodded and turned away. She poked at her Land O' Lakes butter packet. "How am I supposed to use this if my bread is all soggy?", she grumbled.
     I placed my slice of bread beside her. "Here," I offered. For just a second, I caught a glimpse of her beautiful smile. She nodded and accepted the bread. In the corner of my eye, I noticed Preston making his way over to our table, sulking.
     "Can I sit here?", Preston asked, pointing to the seat closest to Y/N and I. Y/N was unresponsive. I nodded for her. "Thank you."
     Preston settled into his seat, uncomfortably. He placed his strawberry milk carton to the side of his tray and cracked his knuckles. He cleared his throat. "Y/N," he started, glancing to me for approval, "I just...well, are you willing to listen?"
     Y/N shoved a spork full of mashed potatoes into her mouth. She locked eyes with Preston for a moment as she swallowed. "Okay," she mumbled, still eating.
     I shrugged at Preston. "Well," he continued, "I owe you an apology. I want you to know that...well, that I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry that I lied to you for so long. I was scared of what you'd say, so I thought I wouldn't hurt anyone if I just kept it to myself...I was wrong."
     Y/N sat down her spork. She looked to Preston solemnly. She sipped her chocolate milk. "Thank you," Y/N said, her voice raspy. She turned away for a moment and coughed. "Uh...sorry, I-I didn't expect you to do this. I-I'm sorry, too. I accept your apology."
     Preston smiled from ear to ear. Y/N smirked, but that was all. "I love hearing that from you," Preston purred.
     "Hey," I jested. "I still got my eye on you, motherfucker."
     Preston twirled a strand of his voluminous hair. "Oh, no worries. But it's not like you can say you haven't missed that smile, too," he defended.
     I grinned. "Yeah, you're right."

     The Sun kissed the horizon. I watched my shadow as it moved closer to my tent.
     My shadow stopped when it met with two new silhouettes. I glanced to my left and noticed two people moving from inside a tent. The silhouette to the left grabbed their head and groaned. The person to the right sat on their bed with her face buried in their palms.
     Slowly, I stepped closer to the tent. "I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say!", one of the voices begged. The person standing took off a small top hat and threw it towards the ground. Harrison and Preston. "I don't know what else to do, now!" I could recognize Preston's distinct whines.
     I watched Harrison's shadow crouch down. One of the boys sighed. "I can accept your apology, but it doesn't change what you did," the other boy insisted. Harrison shook his head. "Disgusting. What you did is disgusting! And I'm hurt! I'm hurting every fucking day that I'm here, because I'm here with you!"
     Preston's silhouette scooted away from Harrison's. "Then maybe we need to stay apart," Preston whispered. There was a hitch in his voice. "But can we please stay peaceful? Harrison, I still love you."
     Harrison stood and turned away. It was darker outside, now. The moon was rising. The boys' figures were much easier to make out. "I think you're right, I think we need to stay apart," Harrison responded, not a hint of emotion in his breath. Harrison's figure raised its arms above its head. "I just...I want to keep our happy memories. There's just so many good memories..." His hands lowered and made contact with his face. Harrison must've been pinching the bridge of his nose.
     "I understand," Preston quietly acknowledged. "But it's for the best, we need to stay apart. If that's what you need to heal, then that's what I'm willing to do."
     Harrison's arms fell to his sides. I watched as his figure bent down to grab his tiny top hat from off the ground. "Thank you," Harrison whispered as he dusted off the hat.
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A/N - An ENORMOUS thank you for getting us to the #1 spot in the #Max category! That's an insane accomplishment! In other notes, I want to thank you for your patience. Taking these college classes has honestly made it damn near impossible to find time to write. I want you to know that I am NOT on a hiatus of any sort and that I'm still making progress on this story, just expect some slower updates. If for any reason I did have to take a hiatus (which as I said, is NOT part of the plan) I absolutely WILL notify you as opposed to just leaving you in the dark. For this story, I would expect weekly to biweekly updates. Lucky for you, there's only going to be about two chapters left before this story comes to a close, so the wait shouldn't really be too long since it's ending soon. ☁️

Comment Question of the Chapter:

Has school started for you? If so, how has it been? And a follow-up question (I've asked this before, it's just for fun!), to sequel or not to sequel?