Toughen Up. (Max x Reader)

-5-

3rd Person

The food was shitty.

I mean, what did Max expect, really? A restaurant? Please, this isn't the Flowerscouts. It was much worse.

The cafeteria was loud and obnoxious, people yelling and shoving each other to get to the food. Max was pretty sure a fight broke out in the middle of the room.

Max himself sat at the only table without anyone sitting at it, leaning on his hand with his elbow on the table. He'd pushed his food around a little bit before taking a hesitant bite out of the potato.

And, let me tell you, he would've just spat that shit right out and walked away, but he couldn't.

He had this strange feeling that someone was watching him from the kitchen, but he didn't dare look up and potentially catch someone's eyes. He could've gotten beaten up. Again.

So instead, he just swallowed it down, trying not to gag too much.

After the terribly lonely and frankly quite scary dinner, Max walked back into his and YN's tent, seeing her laying down on her bed reading again.

She had changed into a short sleeved grey shirt and long black pants. Max assumed that this was because it rained every night, making it feel cold even in summer.

That's when Max realised it. He had no clothes to sleep in. They had already taken away his Camp Campbell shirt and jeans, and his hoodie was covered in dirt and mud.

He groaned, dragging himself over to his shitty excuse for a bed and flopping down onto it.

It was silent for a few seconds until YN spoke up. "No pjs?"

Max hummed angrily in response, lifting his head out of the pillow and turning it to look at her when she chuckled.

"What's so funny?" He asked, making sure not to swear again. YN glanced over at him before turning the page of her book. She shrugged and Max groaned again.

"I hate everything," YN laughed again before switching off her lamp.

"Go to sleep, you've got an early start tomorrow," He heard YN shuffle slightly, and he sighed quietly.

"I was hoping you forgot about that," He mumbled. He felt YN's gaze on his face through the darkness.

"I never forget, Maxwell," It was silent for a few seconds before Max turned around in his bed to face the tent wall, "Goodnight."

He mumbled a response, letting himself fall into a deep slumber quickly.

It's been a long day for him. And YN had been a bit harsh on him, too. But she knew that he just needed a push in the right direction.

She stared in his direction, trying to figure him out. He was a strange boy, one unlike any of the obnoxious horny teens at this camp. She knew he would eventually break and become just like them, but she secretly hoped he didn't.

He was a quirky kid, one who acted and seemed older then he was, but still just as childish. It was as if an adult and a child were in the same body, fighting over control.

YN assumed it was just because he had shitty parents or something.

She sighed, listening to her own breathing and heartbeat as she did every night, but this time there was another.

Max was breathing evenly, in a deep sleep and hearing nothing around him.

It was weird having another person in the same tent as her, and hearing him breathing and living just felt unnatural.