Chapter Text
It was parents day once again at Camp Campbell.
Despite knowing Max’s relationship with his parents, David couldn’t grasp how a parent could possibly not love their child.
So, David decided to try again.
It should’ve been a red flag that max’s mother didn’t answer the first four times he called, but her acceptance of the invitation seemed to overshadow the alarms going off in his head.
Before the parents arrived, the campers sat in the mess hall, waiting excitedly for their parents.
Except for Max.
When David told him that his mother agreed to come, all he could muster was dread.
Why? Why would she go out of her way to visit him? She’s never done anything like that before.
Max tried to rationalize it in his head as he picked at his food.
Maybe she had too much to drink and got confused? Maybe David bribed her?
Maybe… she missed him?
A flicker of hope sparked in his mind, before he quickly shoved it down.
“That can’t be it.” He muttered to himself, desperately trying to suppress any expectations that his mother may of actually thought about him.
“What can’t be it?” Neil questioned, looking over at his friend
“Nothing.” Max muttered, looking down at his tray.
When David told Max that his mother would come, he seriously thought he was stupid. Even more so when he suggested that Max tell her about his ‘feelings’.
The sound of the doors opening snapped Max out of it. He practically whipped his head to look at the door.
When he saw his mother, his heart swelled.
David was telling the truth. She did come.
As every parent reunited with their kid, Max’s mother fell behind, only sitting with him after everyone else was seated.
While words like ‘I missed you!’ And ‘Are you enjoying camp?’ Filled the room, Max and his mother sat in awkward silence as she scrolled through her phone.
As Max watched his mother ignore him, he realized that, no, his mother hadn’t missed him. His mother didn’t even wanna look at him.
Now that she’s up close, Max smells alcohol on her.
Oh.
After several minutes of silence between them, Max finally spoke up.
“..why are you here?” He muttered, trying his best to catch her eye.
Max’s mother looked up at him, then back down at her phone.
She just shrugs at him before muttering
“I don’t know.”
Max’s brows furrow. She couldn’t even lie?
Max felt an ache in his heart as he watched his mother carelessly scroll through her phone.
They sat in silence until breakfast was over.
___
David noticed how max and his mother interacted during breakfast.
He kept looking over to them the entirety of the time they sat
While Max looked at her frequently. She only looked up at him once.
Maybe their relationship is just… strained..
While the others bonded with their parents after breakfast, David pulled Max aside.
“Max.. how come you and your mother didn’t talk during breakfast?” David questioned Max, crouching down to his level.
Max shrugged, avoiding eye contact.
“I dunno. I don’t even know why she’s here.” He mumbled, looking down at the ground.
David thought for a moment before speaking
“Maybe you could try talking to her? Tell her how you’re feeling.” David gently suggested, watching Max for his reaction.
“Oh, please, she doesn’t care about my feelings.” Max scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Well.. have you ever tried to tell her how you feel?”
Max looks away.
Truthfully, he hasn’t. But how do you expect him to when his mom is always acting like she’d rather be anywhere but with you?
David smiles before messing with his hair.
“It’s worth a try.. right?” He mumbled softly.
Max looked at his feet, pondering David’s words.
“..whatever.” He muttered before walking away.
____
Later in the afternoon, Max and his mother stood behind the counselors cabin as she smoked a cigarette.
After blowing out some smoke, his mother muttered.
“What do you want?”
Max tensed slightly. ‘Fuck it’ he thought.
“I.. wanted to talk to you about something.” He mumbled, looking at the ground.
She groaned in annoyance
“I’ve been thinking a lot about death lately.. and about.. how I kinda.. wanna-“ As max starts to open up, his mother interrupts him.
“So, what? You wanna kill yourself?” She scoffs
Max tenses at her response. He brings himself to look up at her.
The look she gives him isn’t one of concern like any normal parent would give to their kid who just admitted to being suicidal.
Instead, she gives him the most annoyed, fed up look he’s ever seen.
She steps toward him before digging through her purse.
Max looks at her in confusion.
Then, she pulls out a gun, and hands it to him.
“If you’re so depressed, go out to the forest so you don’t make a mess for everyone else.”
Max looks at her with shock and horror before looking down at the gun.
It’s loaded.
As Max looks at the gun, his mother takes one last drag of her cigarette, before tossing it in the lake.
She doesn’t look at her son as he walks past him silently. Seemingly content with what she’s done.
____
After David finishes preparing the stage for the show, he notices that Max and his mother are gone.
‘Maybe he listened to my advice!’ He thinks, smiling at the thought.
He decided to go find them, as the show was about to start.
After looking in his tent and the mess hall, he smelled smoke by the counselors cabin.
Thinking its a fire, he rushed to the source. When he finds it, he sees that it’s just a cigarette.
David softly sighed in relief, stepping towards them to let them know about the show.
However, the next words stopped him dead in his tracks.
“If you’re so depressed, go out to the forest so you don’t make a mess for everyone.”
David glanced at what his mother was handing him, what he saw filled him with dread.
Was that.. a gun?..
David watched in horror as Max’s mother walks past max without a care in the world, as if she hadn’t told her own son to go into the forest and shoot himself.
Max stared at the gun for a few minutes in shock.
David watched him, before stepping forward.
Max looked up at him, his eyes misty.
When David saw the look on his face, he hurried over and took the gun from him, horrified to find the gun loaded.
He quickly put the gun away, turning his attention back to Max.
He crouched down to meet his level, putting his hands on his shoulders. David sees the shock on Max’s face much more clearly up close.
For the first time, David doesn’t know what to say.
So, instead, he pulls Max into a hug, putting his head on his shoulder. Max’s arms hang at his sides as David wraps his arms around him.
After a few minutes of silence, David is finally able to muster something out.
“Please don’t listen to her..” he mumbles, his voice cracking slightly.
A single tear slips out as max slowly raises his arms to hug him back.
“..I don’t know what I’d do with myself if you did that.. so please don’t..” David mumbles, hugging Max tighter.
Max doesn’t respond, he only grips David’s shirt tighter.
After a few minutes, David feels silent tears drop on his shoulder. However, he doesn’t mention it.
He just holds him as he crys.