TW: blood and death

Max knew he'd fucked up when David didn't show up for dinner. He'd tortured David all summer long and he'd taken it with more grace than any other adult Max ever had to deal with. But as he picked at his slop Max started to wonder if setting fire to the counselor's cabin had been too far. No one else seemed too concerned, except maybe Gwen but that was mostly because she was overwhelmed trying to keep the kids in line and wanted David's help.

Once dinner was over they were all supposed to go swimming, which Max always snuck away from. He was headed straight for his tent as usual when he stopped, an eery feeling filling his stomach. He had the sudden urge to find David and find him now. Grabbing his backpack just in case the idiot had hurt himself and he needed a bandage he headed off.

He checked the cabin first, figured maybe he was crying over it like a sap. Not there. He checked the dining hall just in case he decided to eat after they left. Still nothing. He went to the docks to see if he'd gone back to the others. After a bit of squinting from afar and seeing nothing but the other campers and Gwen, he moved on. He checked the main campfire. He found the guitar, but not David. He felt his chest tighten and told himself it wasn't worried, even if he did walk a little faster.

"David?!" he called out into the forest. "David, come on man, this isn't funny!" No response. He groaned and headed into the forest. He was probably crying like a giant fucking baby as usual. He was fine, David got run over by a bus and was fine, he was overreacting. Max stopped as he heard voices talking a little ways away. Bending down like that'd make him quieter Max continued towards the voices.

"You dont look so good, maybe I should take you back to the hospital," David said. Max ducked behind a log and carefully looked over, feeling his blood run cold when he spotted Daniel standing across from David. He had a gun clearly sticking out of his pants and he looked pissed. Fuck. "Daniel? You've been awful quiet, is something on your-"

"God will you just SHUT UP!" Daniel snapped. He pulled the gun out and aimed it at David, who had enough brains to at least look concerned. "You're such a god damn idiot, thinking we're friends and I'm not a fucking murderer!" David took a step back, eyes locked on the gun as Daniel cocked it. His concern quickly turned to fear. "Here's what's going to happen, I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill the rest of those brats at that stupid camp."

"What? No!" David shouted, taking a step towards Daniel. "I can't let you do that!" Daniel scoffed and rolled his eyes. It was so fast and yet it seemed to go in slow motion as David lunged for Daniel. BANG! Max's mouth opened in a silent scream as David stopped mid-motion and fell face first to the ground. He ducked behind the log, shaking as he tried not to make a sound.

"What a shame," Daniel drawled lazily. "You were such a sweetheart, I wish you'd held still so it wouldn't hurt. Oh well, your loss." Max listened to the receding footsteps until they were out of range before leaping over the log and bolting for David, who was staring up at the sky with a hand on his bleeding abdomen.

"David, oh my fucking god!" Max screeched, falling to his knees beside him. David's gaze shifted over to him, looking confused. "Jesus Christ, why couldn't you just use your fucking head and stay away from the psycho you idiot?!" Max moved the other's hand and took a look at the wound. He felt like he was going to hurl. There was blood absolutely everywhere and the flow wasn't stopping. David was going to bleed out and there was nothing that sorry excuse for a med kit Max had was going to do about it.

"M...Max?" David said, his voice so quiet it was almost painful. That's not how David should sound, David was loud and annoying and used too many words in a single sentence. Max swallowed down a whimper and grabbed the largest bandage he had in his backpack, pressing it to the wound. He remembered something about pressure helping to stop blood in that stupid class David made them all take. "Max?"

"Yeah, it's me you fucking moron!" Max snapped, trying to tell himself he was not crying even as his vision blurred and his eyes stung. "You dumbass, getting yourself shot by a fucking cultist! I fucking told you he was a murderer, why couldn't you just listen to me for once?!" David actually laughed a little, but he wasn't smiling. The lack of a smile made Max feel cold on the inside.

"Max." David reached a hand out to rest on Max's shoulder, making him jump and look over at him. "It's not your fault, Max." The man was bleeding out and his first instinct was to reassure Max of all things. It went right to his cold heart and warmed it despite everything, but Max still denied he was crying over his stupid camp counselor.

"How dare you fucking say that like you're gonna die! You're not gonna die! You're gonna live and then you're gonna give me a long lecture about how my medical attention is shitty, and then you're gonna show me how to do it properly, damn it!" Max screamed. David's hand reached up to pat the other's cheek, thumb weakly trying to brush away his tears.

"Language," he wheezed. The hand lost its strength a little and rested back on his arm. Max looked away and back at his own hands, now covered in blood. Fuck. "Max."

"What is it now you fucking nerd?" Max swallowed heavily, his throat feeling like it was being squeezed. The hand lightly patted his arm and Max reluctantly looked over. David was smiling at him. It was small and fond, a smile he'd only ever gotten from David.

"I'm glad, you're here." He sounded so weak and frail, like he was barely hanging on. "I'm sorry, I couldn't make you happy, Max. You, deserve that." Max gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head away. The hand slowly slid away. Max opened his eyes and turned his head. David had his eyes closed and head tilted to the side, hand resting back on his still chest. Max screamed and pounded his fists on David's chest angrily.

"Damn you, David!" He was sobbing heavily, barely able to make words passed them. "Always so fucking...so fucking, patient and kind and, and...FUCK! You made me happy you idiot! I gave you so much shit and you...you actually still wanted me to be here! Fuck, you were happy I was here! No one ever...no one...FUCK!" Max shook him, even though he knew it wasn't going to do anything. "This isn't funny, David, wake the fuck up you...you idiot..." There was nothing. Of course there was nothing.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Max knew he had to go. Daniel was after the camp and he had a huge head start. But he couldn't just leave David, not like this. He didn't deserve that, being left with the possibility of being eaten by wild animals. And yet, Max knew that David would deem that stupid camp and its occupants more important.

Fuck.

That's a wrap!

Thanks for reading, please review, be good and if you can't be good dont get caught