Chapter Text
…Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
A distant buzz caught David off-guard as he abruptly stopped humming. David shut off the faucet, checking to see if he heard correctly. Sure enough…
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
That was strange. His camp phone was the only one set to vibrate, and he usually didn’t get calls on it during the off-seasons. Putting down the sponge and bowl he was scrubbing, David quickly dried his hands and sighed deeply as he found and picked up his camp phone off a shelf, phone case as pink as his personal phone, marked with a camp merchandise sticker so he always knew which was which. He put on a smile- well, smiling at the wall- and put the phone up to his ear as he hit the green accept button. With the signature David greeting, “Hello, you’re calling the Camp Campbell line! We’re open during the summer months. Is there something you need help with?”
David stood with a hand on his hip as he listened closely, his smile faltering when he heard no response. Were some of his old campers pulling tricks on him? It wouldn’t be the first time. David suddenly stilled when he heard a shaky breath in the phone, shoulders going tense. “Hello?” David repeated his greeting in confusion, trying to sound more confident.
“Is it really you?” The voice answered, quiet and small. David could feel the familiarity of that voice all too well. One of his campers, maybe? The voice sounded much too deep to be a child, though. A young adult. Could it be one of the camper’s parents? “It’s David Forrester, owner of the camp.” David elaborated, trying to figure out the voice as it sat on the tip of his tongue.
“David. Oh my fucking god, David.”
Suddenly, it hit David like a brick. And how could he ever forget that foul mouth? The boy that proudly hung on his cork board at camp, smiling as he held a roasted marshmallow on a stick.
“Max?” David couldn’t help the way his voice came out in disbelief. David wanted to get another word in, but Max beat him to it, stuttering and blubbering as his words came falling out of his mouth.
“David, I-I don’t know what to do. I’m gone, m-my parents, I left. I’m at camp. I’m in the cabin. I don’t know what to do now. I thought this would make me feel better, but- but now I feel like shit.” Max babbled on thoughtlessly as David soaked it all up with a broken heart. Max sounded like shit. His voice had grown more raw ever since he was ten, or maybe it was the fact he was crying. Max kept rambling, and David stopped him. “Max, you’re- you’re at camp?” David instinctively wanted to lecture him for his language, for trespassing the property- Max was still his little happy camper after all. But he knew that's not what he needed right now. David tried to find all the right words as Max tried to quiet himself. “Max, Max. Get a drink of water and come back. We’ll talk.”
David heard nothing but the shift of movement for a moment as Max composed himself. A sniffle, and then, “Okay.” Max was gone for no longer than a minute or two. David sat down at his kitchen dining table for two as he waited for him, putting his phone on speaker so he could hear his return. Soon enough, he heard a door close and Max came back.
“Did you get some water?” David asked carefully. Max hummed an affirmative. “Do you feel any better?”
Max sighed deeply on the other end. “My throats not fucking killing me anymore.” He spat. David sighed, still taking in the whole situation. “Well, that's good. Now, Max,” David started, and continued softly. “What happened?”
The sound was stilled in David’s log cabin, everything unmoving. Just the soft light from above the sink, and the heater warming the comfy cottage. And then, Max began, starting from this morning.
*****
Max wasn’t sure why he was spilling his guts to a camp counselor he had for one summer 5 and a half years ago. David had just held a special place in his heart since. It was always so hard to tell other people how he really felt, especially with his parents constantly encouraging otherwise so their asses wouldn’t be in jail. The fact David had tried so hard to understand him made him feel so cared for, something he’d never admit back then.
“After making it here, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do. I found Quartermaster.” Max shrugged behind his screen, laid in David’s bed, holding his own hoodie close to his chest. It was soaked with his own blood and tears. His head banged against its calcium prison, and his face felt sore and dry from the salt that had constantly streamed down his face, now his red eyes and deep eyebags being the only indicator he was ever crying. “Then he started dumping dead bodies or something, so I got the hell out of there. Then I kind of broke into your cabin- or, barely. You didn’t lock the door.” Max couldn’t help but laugh to himself at that, a small chuckle coming from him. Max almost forgot he was no longer alone as he heard David laugh, too. “Quartermaster must have been in there. It’s supposed to be locked year-round.”
Max picked up his phone and held his hoodie closer as he turned on his other side with a grunt, messing up David's green camp sheets in the process. It was nice getting to bond with David. 5 years ago, his pride was too strong to let anyone in like this. But nowadays, he craved getting to smile with or even talk to anyone that wasn’t the occasional maid or servant. His parents never had him smile like this, that's for sure. “Sounds like a great groundskeeper.” Max remarked, and David scoffed playfully. “Well, I think he's doing great indeed. He does his best.” David defended, earning a snort from Max. “Yeah, whenever he's not doing eldritch rituals.” When met with no response, Max went on. “So, after looking around a bit, I went and grabbed an old pamphlet and found your number. I called it and that's when you came in.” Max rolled on his back. “And now we're here.”
There was a moment of silence, before David spoke. “Max, would you like me to drive on over there?” David’s request shocked Max a little bit. Plus, the idea of seeing David again in person felt absolutely surreal. Max remembered his calloused hands, his skin that was shaved smooth covered with scars from all his years in nature. “Oh, no, no. David, you don’t need to do that.” Max politely refused his request. He didn’t want David to feel like he had to go above and beyond for him. He felt like he was already taking enough from him by calling at 2 in the morning.
“Of course I do. I know you’re “just a camper”, but I promised to help you when you needed it. I can tell you’re in no shape to help yourself.” David spoke calmly and softly, as if he really wasn't talking to just another camper, but a close friend. It made a heat swirl in Max’s chest. He felt cared for all over again. It was an amazing feeling.
“Well, whatever, fine. I can’t stop you.” Max sighed, and David spoke triumphantly. “That’s right, You can’t.” Max smiled. “Just, not in this snow. I’ll sleep here tonight.”
David wanted to fight that, but he knew it was getting late anyway, and he was getting tired, too. Max was drifting in and out constantly, David’s voice being the only thing keeping him from passing out in his bed. “If you’re sure, Max. But, just warning you, they’re not the most pleasant mattresses in the world.” David admitted. “I know. It’s better than nothing, though.”
Max felt just about ready to pass out and never wake up. The moonlight was the only thing that lit the room, the soft light making Max drowsier as it mesmerized him. It was so cozy compared to the harsh, artificial look of his room back at the mansion. His old room.
“David?” Max said quietly.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” For everything. For giving me hope. For being here. For helping me. For pushing, and pushing. For trying. “Thanks for listening.”
Max barely caught his little chuckle on the other end.
“It's nothing, Max. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
*****
“Come on, come on motherfucker!”
Max turned his key in the car engine several times, sputtering and then giving out like a sad balloon. He was out of gas.
David didn’t use a car, he went either on foot or on his bike, riding in Ubers or on the bus if he really needed to. He didn’t like contributing to polluting the environment. Because of that, Max offered to drive them back to David’s cottage. Except, there was one little issue: His tank was empty.
Max tried a few more times to get his car to sputter to life, and when it failed yet again, Max banged his fist on the headboard in frustration, causing the car to honk loudly from its assault. “Goddamnit!” Max yelled out loud. Max could feel tears welling up in his eyes, making him feel pathetic. He suddenly heard his father’s voice in his head, Get up and quit your crying, Max. You’re stronger than that.
Ugh. Max set his head on the steering wheel and inhaled, trying to calm himself down before he broke down again. This whole stupid situation had him on edge every single second now. It was like if he didn’t feel like shit about the fact his parents didn’t want him, he felt guilty about the fact David was on his way through the snow right now. Now on top of that trainwreck, his car wouldn’t start. Max decided the best course of action would be repeatedly smashing his forehead against the steering wheel, Honk! Honk! Hooooonk!
The sound only worsened Max’s headache, but he didn’t care. He just wished he was home, wherever that was. It wasn’t this car. It apparently was never this camp. Max guessed he just never had one, and he didn’t feel like making one from scratch. So, instead, he now laid his head against the leather of the steering wheel in his parent’s unwanted jeep.
Bing!
His phone. Max groaned as he sat up, reached behind him to grab his phone from his back pocket. He knew it could only be one person. With his only two contacts now being blocked and long gone, the only person who even knows his number now was David. His message read:
“I should be only 10 minutes away from camp now! :)”
Max sighed reading the message. This man always did too much. He never stopped going above and beyond. Max wondered how he could ever do that, never losing his mental stamina.
Well, he had sometimes. Always because of Max. Whether it was something small snapping inside of David like the time he almost killed the camp mascot, or like the time he thought David was going to kill him after he started a camp riot. The thing was, though, David always seemed to jump right back on his feet. Max could never seem to break him- actually, it seemed David broke him first. I mean, David had Max nearly crying over his steering wheel because David was walking through the snow for him and Max had no way to get him back home without hypothermia.
Max put his phone back in his pocket, deciding to get up and go back to the counselor’s cabin. His car was obviously leading him nowhere. He got up off the leather seat and stepped out of his car, the door still swung wide open as the snow had settled and the sun shone through a clear sky, warming the ground and Max’s hair quickly. The feeling annoyed Max, but it didn’t last long as he stepped into the cabin, closing the door behind him. His jacket had been discarded on David’s bed earlier, the sun practically cooking him with it on. His sweater was enough. Max looked around for a moment, pondering on what to do. The snow had made the outside grow too cold for him. Instead, he walked over to David’s side of the quarters and squatted down as he began looking around in his bedside drawer.
There was simply letter after letter and paperwork after paperwork, endless stacks of boring shit, basically. There was the occasional letter from a camper trying to reconnect, some drawings campers made for him, but nothing that Max was particularly interested in. Frankly, all the paperwork just made Max think of his father’s office.
Max sighed dramatically and stood from his squatting position, then collapsing onto David’s mediocre bed. He kicked the filing cabinet closed with his foot. Jesus, this sucked.
He laid face-down in the bed in an awkward position, like he was making crappy sheet-angels. He felt like crying, screaming, something. He felt something pent up inside him. He wanted to hit something. He wanted something to hit him. A bus, maybe. Hey, Quartermaster’s pretty good at that.
Wait. Bus, Quartermaster. Bus! Quartermaster! The Quartermaster drives a bus! Max’s head shot up as he remembered walking into the Quartermaster’s shed multiple times- whether it be to grab a shovel, snoop, or simply hide from David, he knew there was gasoline stored in there. He just had to pray that hadn’t changed in 5 and a half years. Max lifted himself from the bed with a grunt, practically dashing to the door, only to quickly skid to a stop as he realized the ground was still icy with snow, the few steps down being even more icy. Max yelped out as he skid on the icy stairs, thankfully catching himself before face planting into wet snow. He sighed in relief, and continued running through the snow to the shed, hidden behind the Quartermaster store.
Max attempted to fling the door open, only to realize it was locked with a hefty master lock. Max huffed, grabbing those bobby pins again from his pocket. He fumbled with the lock, before hearing it click and throwing it to the side. The shed creaked open now, and Max was hit with a putrid smell. His eyes watered and he put his sweater over his nose, though it barely did anything to mask the stench. Quartermaster was probably hiding dead bodies in here. Max decided not to question it, for now. He swears this dude should be in federal prison.
After looking around in the dark shed, Max found the bright red gasoline canister- when he shook it, Max realized it likely only held a gallon or so, but it was enough to get him on the road. He’d stop at a gas station- he needed more cigarettes soon, anyway. Sure, he was sixteen, but that ID in the back of his wallet said otherwise. It’s gotten him through a couple gas stations before on emergency restocks, and it hasn’t failed him yet. Things like fake ID guys and overpriced dealers with the good shit was one of the only perks for Max when it came to being a rich man’s boy.
Anyway, Max grabbed the lightly filled canister and made the trek to his car, and then emptying the contents of the container into his car. Max had to find where the tank opened from first, which was a task in itself. Not like he’d ever put gas in before. Once he did that, Max stepped into his car and tried turning the engine. With the fuel still being low, it took a minute, but soon the car went from a sputter to a nice revving. Max smiled with relief, then pride. He was able to put gas in the car. Living on his own would be difficult to adjust to, but he allowed himself to be proud of the little things like this.
Plus, this meant he’d be able to return the favor to David, even if it meant a little heat after a cold walk through the woods.
As if on cue, Bing! Max received a message on his phone.
“I’m very close to camp now. Will you wait in the cabin for me?” The text read. Max nodded at his screen, turning off the engine before stepping out of his car and into the snow again. Max closed the door behind him and began typing.
“Alright.”
*****
David didn’t lose stamina easily. After years of running after kids, hiking around nature, he had gotten very fit. So, the walk was practically nothing to him. But mentally, he could feel the anxiety wracking up in him as he approached the camp he loved so dearly. He was making his way around Lake Lilac, following along the water to get to his camper. He was approaching Camp Campbell’s dock now, letting him know he was almost there. David felt his feet pick up a little faster.
Of course, David couldn’t help but be excited. He never forgot about Max. After all, he’d saved the camp when it needed it the most. Plus, it was hard to forget that last day with him. Max had never cried like that before.
David shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. He messed up then, he realized that now. But right now, he could just do what he can.
David held his puffy jacket close to himself, and another one in a backpack just in case. Max sounded like he might need it. He also brought other essentials- food, cleaner water (God knows what was in the camp’s water supply. Max didn’t need a disease on top of hypothermia.), and a blanket. The blankets at camp were too thin, and David figured Max would want to be warm on the way to his little cabin.
He was on the main grounds now, making his way through the snow in leather heavy duty boots. His pace picked up as he spotted the counselors cabin, quickly running around to the front and stopping right in front of the door. He hesitated. What was he going to say? David set his hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath, holding it in till the door creaked open and David retreated his hand back as the mysterious force opened the door- the “force” being Max.
Shiny ocean teal eyes looked up at him, almost in awe. David was stunned. For a moment there was silence, until a signature bright smile burst onto David’s face as he just couldn’t contain himself. “Oh my goodness, Max! You got so tall!” David scooped Max up into a hug, which Max tensed against but didn’t fight, at least until he was lifted. “Wh-!? Hey, hey, put me down!” Max commanded, it coming out more like a whine as he kicked his little legs.
“It looks like you still have growing to do, too! Oh, you’re still as light as ever!” David cooed, then squeezed and set Max down softly, and Max straightened his sweater and huffed, trying to glare up at him, but couldn’t help but crack a smile. David looked back sheepishly, rubbing his neck. “Sorry. I can’t help myself.”
For a minute- or maybe it was two- they took each other in. Minding the lack of uniform, David looked around the same, besides one new scar under his eye and a small stubble. Max of course looked completely changed, but David knew it all was Max. Max would never have stayed the same as when he was ten- except for his alarmingly skinny frame, but that would need to be discussed another time. For now, David took it all in- Max’s hair grown out into a mullet, his crisp, clean clothes heavily contrasting the old hoodie he wore all summer, and- holy shit, are those the same shoes he wore 5 years ago?
David smiled fondly at the sight of him, and broke the silence yet again as their eyes met. “It’s really good to see you again.” He spoke softly, and Max returned the smile. Max hesitated, but did return it, “It’s good to see you, too.” Max looked away, and turned around, staring at his bag next to David’s bed with an empty expression. The sheets were poorly rearranged to what Max guessed was right, not wanting to leave them screwed up. “But.. What now?” Max sighed, almost sounding defeated as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets. Now, that wasn’t the Max that David knew. It seemed so much of Max remained, but at the same time, that sparkle that once made Max himself had long expired. Max never gave up. Max was persistent. Now.. Now, he just looked tired. Give him a week, David thought to himself. He’ll be back.
But no, summer camp Max really was long lost and forgotten by now.
David swayed back and forth nervously as he tried to figure out how to answer Max’s question. He really wasn’t sure. This was really rushed into. “Maybe you could go to the police. I don’t think you’re allowed to be out here on your own.” David suggested as he stepped out of the doorway and shut the creaky door behind him. Max scoffed at the suggestion. His face fell, yet his eyes untelling. Cold. “I’ve come this far. If you’re implying I tattle on them for abandoning me with just a car and some clothes and make them take me back, I’m not going back.” Max turned towards David now, arms crossed. Max tried to hold tears back, because despite the poison in his words, the poison wasn’t directed at David. He didn’t want to cry, too. “They said they don’t want me back, and I don’t want them either.” David felt bad for suggesting it, Max’s words stinging a bit. Alright, parents are out of the question here.
Suddenly, a thought came over David, one that made him smile that big smile of his. Max looked at the grin with a raised eyebrow, his face falling back to its neutral expression like it calmed him. David smiled and clasped his hands together. “Max, would you want to stay with me for a little while?”
Max’s eyes went wide at the suggestion, taking his hands out of his pockets and starting to fidget with them. David awaited his response for the proposal, worrying based on his response that he may have made too broad of an offer. He wasn’t all that close to Max anyway. Max’s mouth gaped open slightly, like he was trying to find the words, or they just wouldn’t come. And then, slowly but surely, his voice returned. “I.. David, you..” Max inhaled, and then looked David in the eyes. “You… You can’t be serious. You’ve done enough. I can figure it out, y-you don’t need to take me in.” David felt a little bit of relief wash over him, then empathy. “Oh, Max..” He stepped forward, putting a hand on Max’s shoulder. He didn’t fight it. “You don’t have anywhere else to stay, right? I just want to give you a place for a little while. At least until you’re seventeen.”
Max’s face displayed only shock at that. “So a whole fucking year?” David nodded.
“If that’s what you want. But, I know it’s what you need. I’m not doing this as a counselor Max, I’m doing it as a friend. I want to help you get back on your feet.” Max looked up at David with tears in his eyes that he didn’t realize passed without his permission. A friend. David lifted his free hand and hesitantly brought it to Max’s face, waiting to make sure it was okay before wiping his cheek with his gloved hand. The fabric was surprisingly soft. “I’m not gonna force you to come back with me, obviously. But the last thing I want is for you to have to face the world alone right now.”
Internally, Max knew David was right. Max wasn’t fine. Max was shaking trying not to break down in the arms of his ex-counselor. If Max was put in charge of his own life right now, he would probably drive himself off the nearest cliff. He didn’t know what to do with himself. But David seemed like he knew what to do with Max, because whatever it was, it was working, Max calmed down with a few shaky breaths and eased into David’s touch. A few moments passed like that, until Max instead initiated. He slowly wrapped his arms around David, David returning the embrace. David swayed as if to rock Max like a young child. Max felt like a child again. He’d never hugged David for this long, he’d realized.
“So.. Do you want to stay with me, Max?” David spoke softly, rubbing small circles into his back. It soothed Max, made him feel loved in a way he couldn’t find the words for.
Max stayed silent. After a beat or two, he nodded against David's sweater. He smelled of pine and the forest, and faintly of fresh soap.
“Okay, Max. We can go home once you're ready.”
Oh, there it was. The perfect word.
He felt at home.