Camp Camp Oneshots and Ministories (normal version)

Another Max's Birthday fic

"Okay, kids!" David cheered enthusiastically, holding a box of craft supplies. "We're going to write and decorate a letter to your parents! I bet they'll be looking forward to your letters telling them all about what your experience at Camp Campbell was like."

For once the campers didn't groan, yet again they never did when it involved craft. One face stood out from the crowd of smiles. The fluffy-haired boy's scowl was worse than ever. David thought it could've been due to the fact that he mentioned everyone's parents in such a positive light. He made a note to check up on him later.

Five minutes later everyone was in a semicircle with a piece of colored paper with the art supplies in the middle. David and Gwen were in front of the blackboard.

"Okay so first you guys need to put the date on your letters so you can look back on this letter and remember what year was your best summer."

"That was summer three years ago for me," said Max.

Silly Max, he obviously forgot that three years ago he wasn't at camp.

"Aw Max, our first summer here was two years ago," said David.

"That's the point genius."

David wrote the date on the board, not thinking anything of Max's comment. The campers already started writing it down along with some other things. One thing the man noticed, which seemed kind of backwards, was everyone's bored stares at the date. One camper, however, smirked slightly then went to his paper.

Was there something about the upper middle part of August that was so important to him? Max always seemed a bit moodier around that time. Sometimes he would be happier than usual and other times he would be more grumpy. He noticed how the boy chuckled to himself as he put pen to paper, a total contrast to his scowl earlier.

He was always a bit apprehensive about asking Max about his personal life because he knew he would only be met with insults. The thought always bothered him around that time. He also wondered if it had anything to do with his parents. David knew that the boy was going to be coming to camp for the next few years, leading him to make the decision to finally find out what made his camper happy.

So, with that in mind, David strolled over to his camper. Max was casually listening to Nikki talk about probably a Nikki-ish thing and wasn't saying anything stupid. The fact that he was smiling at her made the whole thing seem off. Neil seemed to notice as well because of the skeptical look on his face as he was eyeing Max's expressions.

"Hey guys," said David, kneeling down. "So what little adventures are you guys going to tell your parents about?"

He had to ease into why he was really there to make it seem less suspicious.

"I like that time when we went to Spooky Island and Max screamed like a girl!" Nikki exclaimed.

Max's face flushed a bright red. "No, I didn't!"

David wanted to hug him when Max's smile disappeared. Maybe he shouldn't have asked that. At least he has another smile to put on the smile count, even if it wasn't there. Maybe David could mention a time where he got hurt. Max seemed to love every time he did that.

"What about all those times I got hit by a bus?" asked David, eyeing Max.

The smile was brought back out and the boy hummed a laugh.

"What's gotten you into a good mood?" asked Neil, beating David.

"David's pain," said the boy.

That wasn't good enough. Happier and sadder around the same time of the year for two years? That couldn't have been a coincidence. He also wasn't in that good of a mood when David got hurt. David knew nothing about him made the boy happy. It had to be something else.