MaxNeil Oneshots

You Care?

//AN: I wrote this a while back so its pretty bad, i fixed it a bit so it wasn't absolute sh*t,//

TW: self harm, implied abuse, angggsst

Max was walking through the forest, though he didn't really like physical activity, but he didn't hate the sounds and smells of nature as much as he let on. He hadn't told anyone he had left camp because: one, he didn't want anyone going with him and two, he didn't want people thinking that he suddenly loved Camp Campbell. Max looked around at the greens and browns of the woods and sighed, these were the few times that he actually enjoyed nature, when everything was calm and he didn't have anyone constantly breathing down his neck for everything he did.

At first he really did hate Camp Campbell because he knew that his parents had sent him there so they didn't have to deal with him. But as time passed he started liking the people who were there, David with his kindness and toleration for all of Max's antics, Nikki and her love of adventure, and...  Neil with his nerdy but sweet persona- never mind that. He did hate them all sometimes, like when they had laughed at him for having a stuffed bear, that had really sucked. No matter, because as the summer drew on he dreaded the day that he had to go back to the hell hole that was his house.

He felt tears bud in his eyes picturing the physical and mental abusive nature of the people he was forced to call his parents. He did kind of understand why they hated him so much. He was a asshole and a pessimist. He deserved every drunken slur, every painful hit, every self inflicted wound. As Max's thoughts began to quickly down spiral tears started cascading down his face. He sniffled glad no one was here to see him so weak. Not looking where he was going he tripped on a tree root that jutted out from the ground and he fell and hit the ground. Hard. He sucked in a shaky breath feeling pain shoot up his leg sharp and fast like lightning. He felt pains come from his elbows and knees, he saw that they were scraped and bleeding when he sat up. Blood spilled from his nose and dripped onto the ground. His jeans were ripped at the knees and a little at the ends. He couldn't move his right ankle without fireworks of pain exploding up his leg. He let out a heavy sob letting the pain take over him. It almost felt as if he were back home.

Neil was walking through the forest, he was trying to come up with ideas for a new invention, when he heard the sounds of someone crying. He stopped alarmed and looked around for the direction that the noise was coming from. Was someone hurt, oh this was not good for his anxiety. The sound seemed to be coming up from the left side of the fork in the path. He half stumbled up the path following the sounds of someone crying. He turned the curve and there he saw Max crying on the ground, one knee was brought up to his chest while his other leg lay splayed out in front of him. He was scraped bleeding and crying. Neils eyes grew wide

"M- Max?" he asked. Max's head shot up and he frantically tried to wipe away his tears. Neil ignored this and rushed to the others side and said "Are you okay?! What h- happened?!" The darker haired boy responded with

"I- I'm fine, I j- just tripped. Go away, Neil..." Neil looked around worriedly.

"Y- you're obviously not fine, but do- do you think you can walk?" he asked noticing how Max winced when he tried to shift his right leg. Neil couldn't help but have billions of alarming thoughts run through his head. It took all his willpower to not spiral into a panic attack. Max shook his head grimacing when he tried to move his leg. "I- I guess that i'll have to carry you?" He offered kind of hesitant, but really what other options did they have? Neil carefully rolled up Max's pants to reveal some bloody scrapes on both of his knees (He wanted to make sure Max's wounds weren't too serious). He looked over the injuries, dubbing them not too serious. The taller boy saw blood seeping through the sleeves of Max's hoodie and reached forward to roll up the others sleeves but Max jerked back.

"My arms are f- fine." he lied not wanting Neil to see the cuts that lined his wrists. "B- but you're bleeding!" Neil leaned forward and rolled up Max's sleeves before he could jerk away again. Max winced looking away. He heard neil gasp. "How did this happen!?"

"It's from the fall, f- fuck off." Max tried to sound threatening but to no avail. He shut his eyes and let a tear roll down his face.

"Max, I- I'm not stupid, those obviously didn't come from a fall." Neil sighed, "I just want to know... why?" Max closed his eyes even tighter.

"Because my life is shitty, okay?!" He yelled, but then flinched, expecting anger or disgust but instead he felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Neil looking into his eyes. Max didn't see anger... what? Instead Neil had tears lining the edges of his eyes.

"I- I won't tell David, or anyone else if you promise to never do this again. I don't want you to hurt yourself. I- I don't know what i would do with myself if something happened to you. You're- you're my best friend." Neil said and Max knew the words were heavier than they seemed. His eyes widened."B- but... you c- care?" he stuttered out. "Of course I do! As long as i'm around I promise to make sure you never feel like you have to hurt your- yourself." Neil said. "Well I p- promise I'll try my best t- to not do... th- this." Max emphasized  'try' in his head. Neil smiled and hugged him tightly (an unusual gesture from Neil so Max knew it meant something). Max was startled by the embrace. He couldn't remember the last time he had been really hugged, but he hugged back burying his face into the taller boys shoulder. Neil pulled back after a couple seconds and said "We should probably get back to camp they'll be worrying about us."Now i just have to pick you up... but I don't want to hurt you." Neil then carefully and shakily picked up Max bridal style. When Neil stood up Max gasped lightly and tightened his hold on Neil. Max then blushed in embarrassment. "N- neil?" Asked Max hesitantly. "Yeah?"

"You don't really care do you? I mean I've never ever really been nice to you. I'm an asshole!" He exclaimed. "I already said I cared, are you accusing me of lying?!" He exclaimed in fake offense, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Max laughed lightly, covering his mouth. "Well I wasn't lying, just to clarify. I care, I care a whole lot." He said. The injured boy coccked his head a bit and gave a small smile.

When Max smiled, Neil smiled back, A little surprised that the boy was smiling in a not mocking way. He began to wonder why Max would even think about hurting himself. Well, he was kind of mean sometimes, but sometimes that's peoples way of covering up their pain.

//I'm open to for suggestions for other oneshot ideas//