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"They're not coming," Max says, and David shakes his head.
"Don't worry, Max, I'm sure they just got held up! They'll probably be here soon."
***
"They're not coming."
David closes his eyes. It's been too long now. All of the other campers have gone home.
He knows that Max is right.
But he doesn't know what to say, or what to do.
"Let's go inside," David eventually says. He can't think of anything better. It'll suffice.
***
"You want something to drink?"
"Dr Pepper?"
David smiles. "Sure thing, Max."
The mess hall is weird like this. Dark and quiet and sad. Too quiet.
Minutes pass, and each one is long and painful and so jarringly quiet. It's always like this when summer ends, but this year is different. Worse.
He passes Max a glass of Dr Pepper. Max doesn't drink it. He just stares into the glass, his eyes sad. Sad, and scared, which is somehow worse.
"They're never coming to pick me up, are they?" he asks.
David shakes his head. Sighs. "I don't know, Max." He pauses, sighs again. "I don't think so."
Max nods, and then shakes his head, and then laughs slightly. "I'm sorry."
"What? God, no, Max, I'm sorry. It- this sucks. This really, really sucks. It sucks that your parents don't care. I just... I need you to know that I do. I care. And I know that that doesn't mean much, but-"
"It does. It... it means a lot."
There's a long silence.
"You should probably try and get some rest," David says quietly, after some consideration.
Max frowns. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me, kiddo. I have a few things to sort out."
"Okay. You'll wake me up if you hear from them, right?"
David smiles a forced sort of smile. Something that usually comes so naturally to him, suddenly so difficult. "Of course."
***
He's been trying not to cry, but filling out these forms is hard and confusing and it's late, and David doesn't know what to do.
This is so, so difficult. Not filling out the paperwork. Seeing Max so... deflated. Crushed. It hurts so much.
He's been trying not to cry, but inevitably, his tears drip onto the page, mixing with the ink, staining the paper.
The door opens, and David hastily wipes his eyes, but it's too late.
"You're a fucking pussy," Max mutters, and joins him at the table.
"I thought you were asleep?" David asks. Neither of them miss how weak, how broken his voice sounds.
"I got kinda freaked out, being all alone in my tent." Max smiles ever so slightly. "Guess that makes me a fucking pussy too, huh?"
David makes a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. "I guess so." He wipes his eyes again and shakes his head. "No, I think you're incredibly brave, Max."
"Don't patronise me."
"Sorry. I wasn't trying to. I'm serious, though. I think you are."
"A pussy?"
"Brave."
"Oh."
David turns his attention back to the paperwork. It's confusing and it makes no sense and he's tired, but he has to fill it out.
"What's that?" Max asks, and David shrugs.
"Legal stuff. Some contract says that campers can only stay as long as they signed up for and if something changes we have to fill out forms and-"
He shakes his head. "I don't know. Try not to worry about it, I'll handle it."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I'm sorry you have to deal with... me. I know I'm kind of a burden-"
David sets his pen down calmly, his expression serious. "Don't- don't say that. Please don't apologise. This isn't your fault. This is not your fault. You're not a burden. I don't care what anyone else says. You are not a fucking burden. Okay?"
Max stares on in shock for a moment, then finally smiles weakly. "Okay."
There's a short silence before David slides Max's discarded glass of Dr Pepper across the table. "Here," he says. "It's probably flat."
Another moment of silence passes as Max picks up the glass and takes a sip.
After a while, he sighs. "David?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
David smiles. "For the Dr Pepper?"
"No, you idiot, for... for everything."
"It's okay. It's gonna be okay."
"You don't know that," Max says quietly. "It might not be okay."
David pulls a face. "Okay, I don't know for certain that it's gonna be okay. But... I can hope for the best."
Max snorts and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you always do."
He smiles again. "I try to."
Max downs the rest of his drink and shoots David a small smile in return. "Thanks. It's nice to know that someone's got my back, I guess."
***
When Max wakes up, the sun hasn't yet risen, and the dark sky is only slowly staring to lighten. His neck is stiff from sleeping in a weird position, and after a second, he realises that he must have fallen asleep still sitting at this table in the mess hall.
A quick glance up tells him that David fell asleep the same way. His hair is messed up, slumped over his dumb paperwork, pen still in his hand. Max can't help but feel a little guilty. David's probably going to pay for sleeping in such a stupid position, and it's kind of Max's fault.
No, it's not his fault, it's not his fault.
Max decides to stop thinking about it, and goes to get a cup of coffee instead.
When he returns with two cups of coffee, David is just waking up. He stretches and runs a hand through his hair, and then blinks several times, looking slightly dazed.
"Wow," David says, "it's early."
"No shit, Sherlock," Max grumbles, and sits down on the table. He glances at the two mugs in his hands and then slams one down in front of David, making him jump. "Coffee. They were both for me, but... looks like you need it almost as much as I do."
David smiles. "Thanks." He downs half the mug in one go and sets it down again. "How much coffee do you drink, anyway? Did you know that caffeine dependence is a thing?"
"David, literally shut the fuck up."
"Sorry."
Max sighs. "No, I'm sorry, you're probably right."
"I'm usually right."
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Okay, that's fair." David finishes his coffee and exhales slowly. "What do you wanna do today?"
"I dunno." Max shrugs, setting his cup down and putting his hands in his pockets. "Probably sleep. Maybe... make... cookies?"
"Cookies! That sounds like a great plan!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Can we go back to the part where I said 'probably sleep'? That seems like a pretty good plan, too."
David nods, and smiles slightly, and then rubs his eyes. "Yeah, okay, catching up on sleep might be a good idea. But we can make cookies after, right?"
Max sighs. "I can't believe I'm stuck here with you. Seriously, who the fuck gets excited about making cookies?"
"Well, cookies are exciting if-"
"David, it is way to early for this." Max slips off the table and picks up the two empty mugs. "Tell me about the wonders and joy of making cookies when I'm not about to pass out from exhaustion."
"Okay." David smiles at him and stifles a yawn, making a lame attempt to stack the papers on the table. They somehow end up in even greater disarray, and he eventually gives up. Max just shakes his head in disbelief and makes for the door. "Max?"
He stops in his tracks and turns around. "Yeah?"
"We'll figure this out."