The Blood On His Hands - Maxneil

Chapter 1

It had been weeks now since Max had properly hung out with him. Heck, his best friend had hardly spoken to him even!

Neil wasn't sure why and honestly it made him paranoid. Did he say something wrong? He would never purposely offend Max because he knew how angry he could get whenever someone mocked him. What if he did something wrong? Ok so maybe he did hit him quite hard in chemistry after he threatened to pour hydrochloric acid on his textbook but that was to protect all of the work he'd done that year. Maybe it wasn't just him though? He'd hardly spoken to Nikki either or any of their friendship group. They did go out the other week without him, perhaps it was jealousy?

No, it had to be something else. Maybe it was Max's parents causing him problems?

Neil could remember Max acting weird on their last day at Camp Campbell. At first he just thought he didn't want to go home, never to see him and Nikki again (thankfully they were reunited at high school) but now he knew what it was. It was because he was anxious about seeing his parents after so long. Neil was always aware that Max really hated his parents and from how it sounded it was for a good reason. Max used to sleepover at Neil's house whenever life at home got too hard for him. All night they'd stay up watching shows on Netflix and YouTube whilst Max spoke about all the rather harsh stuff his parents did to him. From all he knew it was just verbal abuse. Still, it did sound awful. If they'd recently gotten worse it could be a reason for Max's behaviour.

Then again, would abuse from his parents be the cause of ripped clothes? There was small a chance that they might've cut him but that sounded unreal, also the rips didn't even have blood on them. However, recently Neil had noticed it more than usual. Whether it be a ripped off shirt sleeve, an unusual slash in his jeans or a sewn up part of a hoodie it stuck out like a sore thumb. That wasn't the only thing off about his appearance. Max's hair had always been a bit scruffy, that was one of the things that made him stand out, but never so scruffy to the point where it had small bits of leaves in it.

Oh, and lets not forget the bloody knuckles.

When Neil first saw the cuts all over Max's hands he questioned it, only to be yelled at and accused of being 'nosy'. He only wanted to help! However, he was afraid that there was more damage done to him. Whenever they had gym either Max didn't show up at all or would wear something that covered up his whole body. He also refused to get changed in front of everyone and instead would run off to the toilets they had in the locker rooms.

All of it concerned Neil a hell of a lot and he was determined to find out what was going on.

It was a Thursday. There was only one lesson left before the boring day came to a close and that was history. Neil sat down at his desk, head resting against the palm of his hand as his gaze locked onto Max who was sitting diagonally in front of him. He noticed his tapping foot and the way he kept quickly glancing around as an anxious tick. Neil did the same thing. As normally (well, what had been recently classed as 'normal Max') his hair was messed up, he tears across the shins on his pants and fresher cuts on his knuckles.

Neil glanced at the clock. 5 minutes. Ok, he had time to plan. As soon as the bell rang he would wait for Max to leave before following him out and continue following him to wherever the source of his pain was coming from. Yeah, that sounded good! But what if it his parents? What if he's involved in some sort of gang? What if I get caught or-

He quickly stopped his irrational thinking. Come on Neil, it's all worth it if you do find out. If it was something to do with his parents or a gang he'd call the cops! Hopefully they could sort it out and then Max would be back to the rebellious boy Neil had always known.

As he listened to the teacher finish up the lesson on the abolishment of slavery he could actually see Max visibly shaking. Was he having a panic attack? No one seemed to notice him, thankfully. Then the bell rang. Before the teacher could even remind them of the homework Max shoved the chair back, causing it to screech across the floor and hit the desk behind, and speed walked out of the class in a rushed manner. Shit. As soon as he could Neil speed walked out of the class room as well. He craned his neck to try and peer over the crowds of students walking through the hallway. Yeah, he had managed to grow to a height of 6'2" but Max was short compared to most students. Even if he could see over heads he struggled to see Max. Oh wait, the hair. As soon as he thought of that he spotted him about to turn a corner.

Neil soon managed to weave his way through chatting or walking students so he wasn't too far behind Max. That was step one of the plan. Now he just had to see where he was led.

The shorter teen led the way out of the school gates and as soon as he was free from the 'no-running rule' Max got faster. Now being probably the least athletic person in the school really didn't come handy here because fucking hell did Max's little legs move quickly. Neil knew he still had to follow.

Eventually the bustling crowds of students making their way home disappeared behind them. It was just the two of them and the occasional other student or person, most alone and on their phone. Soon they came to Max's house. Neil expected to see Max enter it but he didn't. He just looked at it, which did make Neil freak out and hide behind a tree just in case his best friend caught him out of the corner of his eye, but just kept walking.

So maybe it wasn't to do with his parents? It was probably a gang then! Max occasionally did dress like someone who would sit on a street corner smoking with a bunch of other guys like that. The thought of running into them made him scared. Come on Neil, keep going. He told himself. It was another five minutes or so before they came to some chain link fencing, separating the town from the woods. Neil ducked down and hid behind a mud covered silver car and watched silently as Max stood there for a while, as though he were hesitating, before he let out a long sigh. He slipped off his backpack and chucked it over the other side. It landed with hardly a single noise, as though it were completely empty compared to Neil's shoulder-aching satchel. Then he started to climb over to join his bag on the other side.

The way he climbed just told Neil that Max had done this many times. Once he landed on the other side, he picked up his bag and looked down the street with a worried gaze. He mumbled something inaudible before turning and disappearing into the thick shade of the trees.

Neil hesitated. Unless a gang worked in the woods then he wasn't expecting any of this. "I guess there's only one thing to do.." He sighed, standing up and going to the fence. He'd have to climb it and face whatever Max was doing blindly.

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Authors note:

Wow I've actually posted something??? Maybe I'll actually stay committed to this thing because I adore werewolves and this based on a roleplay I'm doing (that I love sksks)

Sorry this chapter is all wordy and not much action but,, all books have those chapters right?

thanks for actually reading anyways lmao