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Laura huffed and willed her legs to pump faster, she had to get to Max, to check on him, to see if he was indeed back to his all-human self, just then a rogue thought crossed her mind, what if he wasn’t? Could she really love a werewolf forever? Sure they had made it work so far, but it had only been two months since his turn.
Before she could continue that worrying train of thought her foot caught on a stray tree root and she stumbled, falling just enough to scrape her already bruised knees against the dirt painfully.
“Fuck!”
She didn’t have time for this, she needed to find him.
The last she had heard of him was when Emma had recounted her terrifying encounter with him, just thinking of it made her heart twinge painfully. Max wasn’t like that, that wasn’t him.
She had ditched the other counselors shortly after reuniting, hell-bent on finding her boyfriend. They would be fine she reasoned, they had Travis and he had been proven to be sufficiently trustworthy.
Laura picked herself up and brushed her bloodied hands against her knees before she began murmuring reassurances to herself.
“He’s fine, I’m fine, and there is nothing to be afraid of, not anymore.”
And with one last deep breath, Laura resumed her mission.
The boathouse was no less eerie than it was when it housed wayward werewolves, it loomed ominously over the lake, and shone almost prettily with the rising sun, displaying an array of colors Laura had never been more thankful for.
A part of her wanted to jump in the water and swim to the damned island, but that wasn’t an option, it was still far too cold and she refused to have a run-in with the poor chained hiker in its depths. Besides, Emma had taken his clothes, and hers were the only other ones available on the island, so getting them wet was a no-go.
She knew he would be wearing them, he couldn't stand the cold, he hated it, and she knew surely that seeing him in her pink hoodie-sweatpants combo would be something that they were sure to giggle and snort at looking back, but she wasn’t concerned with the future right now, she was only concerned with him.
Her feet pounded up the steps, the upstairs of the boathouse looked unsurprisingly disheveled, papers were strewn about and various knickknacks littered the floor. Her eyes scanned the room until she found what she was looking for, the towel cubbies.
After close investigation, she found no towels but had successfully managed to scrounge up a Dora the Explorer-themed kiddie towel from a carefully tucked away lost and found. She shrugged to herself, it would have to do something —even a small children's towel— was better than nothing.
She slung it over her shoulder and headed back downstairs, and as soon as she reached the last step she raced toward a brightly colored blue kayak and began to prepare for her small journey.
She carefully placed her shotgun, borrowed phone from Dylan —seeing as hers was smashed, and Travis demanded that she was supposed to contact him after she reunited with Max— and her newly acquired towel.
Getting the kayak in the water was the easiest part of the journey, but the hardest part. Well, that had to be having to balance a weighty shotgun on her lap. As with each paddle that propelled her closer and closer to her destination, the shotgun that she had precariously placed on her lap teetered every which way threatening to topple over and sink into the lake.
All worries were forgotten as she neared the dock, and as her breath caught in her throat she saw him.
Max was lying down on the dock, his back on the hard stained wood, one of his arms acted as a pillow and cushioned his head, and the other hung limply off the side of the dock.
He was coated in blood, and true to Laura’s belief, he was wearing her clothes. Her obnoxiously pink ball cap shielded his eyes from the sunrise, and her eyes trailed downwards toward her hoodie, and the large expanse of skin it exposed.
With the rising sun's rays, reflecting off the water and onto him, although bloodied and wearing ill-fitting clothes, at least to Laura, he looked like an angel.
She bit her lip and debated on waking him before she fully docked, but ultimately she decided to wait until after she had joined him on the old dock.
“Max, Max.”
Laura had carefully docked the kayak and tied it and her materials carefully to the faded wood, to ensure that it wouldn’t drift away and leave them stranded on the little island, with their only option being to swim back.
She brought her hands up to shake his shoulders, “Max, it’s time to wake up.”
After only a few more shakes Max’s eyes fluttered open, and his mouth opened into a wide yawn.
“Mhm… Laura, what, mhm, what are you doing here?”
His voice was raspy and his words slurred together, it was clear that he hadn’t woken up fully to comprehend the situation.
Laura brought up one of her hands and brushed his bloodied bangs away from his forehead, a few stray hairs stuck stubbornly on the brim of her stolen cap.
His eyes closed briefly before they sprang back open in surprise, “Laura!”
He shot up, practically tackling his girlfriend, and they both slammed uncomfortably into the dock. Laura groaned as her sore back made contact with the harsh material and she could feel Max’s lips ghost against her cheek in apology.
Max then brought up shaky hands to brush against her cheeks, the place where his lips touched only moments prior.
“Are you alright?”
His face was contorted with worry, his eyebrows were pinched closely together, and his freckled nose was wrinkled.
Laura nodded, bringing her own arms up to embrace him.
“The other counselors, are they—?”
Max’s breath hitched as his watery eyes searched through Laura’s, he moved his hands until his nails dug into the grimy, bloodied skin of her wrists.
Laura smiled, a real one, not a fake one meant to placate him before she told him bad news.
“They’re fine, all of them are fine.”
Her smile grew until he could see most of her teeth, and she shook her head in disbelief, tears of relief springing to her eyes, matching Max’s.
“Shaken up, and injured yeah of course, but all of them are alright.”
“I remember, a girl. She was blonde, and I think I—!”
Laura couldn’t suppress her laughter as she interrupted him, “That would’ve been Emma, you gave her quite the scare. But I’m afraid you didn’t get to her before she swiped your clothes.”
He sighed, his chest falling in shaky relieved bursts, and he bit his lip to stifle his own, “So that’s where those went?”
They took a moment's pause, to enjoy each other's embrace and laughter. Laura tugged him down until his head rested on her chest, she tossed away her ball cap and threaded her fingers into his hair.
“Is it really over?”
His voice shook as he spoke.
“It’s really over, Silas, who you don’t know about, but he was the original werewolf, is dead, and so is the rest of the Hackett family, save for Travis and Caleb.”
More tears brimmed at his eyelids, he was thankful that this hellish nightmare was over but, he didn’t want all of this blood and gore, at least Travis and Caleb were alive he told himself. At least the other counselors were alive, that was enough, and as long as Laura was alright, well, that's all he could ask for.
Max let out a shaky sigh as he pulled her impossibly closer and hid his face in her neck, his tears dampening the collar of her dress, damn him and his bleeding heart.
“I heard the weather in Memphis is just absolutely lovely this time of year.”
He paused before speaking again, his eyes dead-set on the steadily rising sun, it had already climbed a substantial amount in the sky.
“But, I’m afraid they have a few too many bears for my liking.”
They stood close together on one of the tree house’s catwalks, the Dora towel wrapped tightly around both of their shoulders. Dylan’s phone vibrated agitatedly where it lay forgotten under the seat of the kayak.
“You’re a dork, you know that right?”
Max smiled and turned so that he could embrace Laura fully, and paused for a brief moment before his eyes fluttered closed. He sighed and leaned down to press their foreheads together, their noses bumping into each other uncomfortably, but if it bothered Laura she didn’t show it.
“But, I’m your dork, right?”
“Of course, you are, Wolf Boy, forever and always.”
Max snorted and Laura wondered if it was possible to fall more in love.
“Are you proposing to me, Kearney?”
“In your dreams.”
Laura stretched upwards and linked her arms around the back of his neck, tilted her head, and kissed Max Brinly like he was the only thing in the world that mattered, but just before their lips met she could hear Max’s last whisper.
“Forever and always.”