#Max Brinly x reader

[moesthoughts]

Would love to see first kiss headcannons for the camp counselors

How would your first kiss be?

camp councilors x gen neu reader

warnings . . . fluff, suggestive if you squint

for the sake of max and laura’s hcs they aren’t together

dylan lenivy

Behind all the jokes and surprisingly smooth pick up lines, Dylan isn’t the most confident of people. Socially awkward is the word to describe him.

It’s you who makes the first move, the constant flirting and tension between you both practically drove you insane, you couldn’t wait any longer.

It was like any normal day, Dylan talking your ear off, making jokes to attempt to make you laugh. The way you hit his shoulder when he manages to get a chuckle out of you fills his stomach with butterflies.

“You just can’t keep your hands off of me can you?” Comes from his mouth, you’re not sure who’s face lit up brighter. You stare at him, and he instantly waves his hands around. Trying to play it off as a joke.

In the middle of his sentence you cut him off by pressing your lips against his, retreating away instantly, you scan his face for any discomfort.

To say he was taken off guard was an understatement, though once he regained consciousness from his dazed state. He chased you back down, lips crashing against yours. You kissed him back, your arms wrapping around his neck to deepen it.

He was pressed against the wall, sheepish arms snake around you. Your head was dizzy, your thoughts were clouded by Dylan.

You two would’ve gone further if it wasn’t for the “oh shit!” from kaitlyn, walking in on you two in the radio shack. You weren’t living this down.

nick furcillo

You and Nick had a pretty tight knit relationship, you both work in the kitchen so it wasn’t surprising that you are practically attached at the hip.

There was strong mutual attraction between you two, though both failed to recognize one another’s feelings.

It was the end of dinner time, and clean up was finished half an hour ago. Still, You and Nick were idle in the kitchen talking about whatever crossed your minds.

“Hey Nick, I have a question.” You spoke up, he hummed in response, raising an eyebrow. The way his name fell out of your mouth was perfect.

“Do you.. like anyone so far at camp?— Romantically.” Your feet acted on their own, slowly approaching the other. You lean on the counter near him, he seemed nervous.

“Well..” He started, his accent strong. You didn’t expect to feel a tug on your wrist, pulling you closer to him. His brown eyes were focused on your hand, his thumb caressing your knuckles. “I like you, a lot. I don’t think anyone else here interests me as much as you.”

Your cheeks tinted a soft hue of red. Out of every councilor, you weren’t expecting your name to roll off his tongue.

“That’s good to know. Yknow I feel the same way—“ before you could finish, Nick’s lips found yours, pulling you into a delicate kiss. His lips were soft and tasted like mint chapstick, your fingers wormed around his to interlock your hands.

You pull away to catch air, you opened your eyes to meet his. He was so enamored with you, it made you melt even more.

“Why don’t we go down to the campfire?” You interrupted the moment, Nick hurriedly nodded in agreement.

ryan erzahler

Ryan didn’t go out of his way to talk to the other councilors, they usually went to him. Which is exactly what you did, made an effort to talk to him. His loner persona was alluring, you never could take your eyes off of him.

You two became close surprisingly quickly, Ryan enjoys talking to you, and of course you feel the same. Conversation flows smoothly between you guys. The others quickly noticed.

Neither of you can think of a time where you haven’t been together, quality time is important in your relationship. Whether it was walking, hanging out silently, or simple quiet chit chatter.

The small things matter the most, it didn’t need to be any bigger than it already was.

You two were sitting on a log in the forest, watching the view in front of you, your eyes fixate on the view in front of you, Ryan’s rest on your face, examining your facial features.

His hand rested on yours, causing you to look over with a smile. The way he looks at you always makes you nervous.

You liked each other, it’s was obvious even to you. You lean closer to him, your eyes do the communicating. Ryan scoots closer, and pecks you on the lips, one, two, three times before going in for an actual kiss.

Your free hand cups his cheek, he leans into it with a small hum. Thank god for silent communication.

jacob custos

Jacob is a pretty open person, if he’s attracted to someone he will pursue them straight away. What can he say, he’s a charming guy!

From the start of camp, Jacob had a little “hallway crush” on you. Orientation was where it started, He couldn’t take his eyes off you. You’re attractive, and have a certain energy to you that just pulls him in.

You find yourself getting close to Jacob over the first month of camp, you two just couldn’t stop bumping into each other! of course it was on purpose, he just adores talking with you.

At one point he asked you to sneak out, of course you agree. Which brings you to the present, sitting at the dock with your legs dangling over the water. Talking about who knows what, Jacob sure knows how to keep a conversation alive.

“Hey I actually do have something important to ask you—“ Jacob suddenly switched the conversation, you look at him with curiosity. “Sure. What’s up?”

“So I actually am very into you, like very. I was wondering if yknow.. you, me? would be work out?” Jacob points his fingers back and forth between you both, you snort.

“Yeah duh, I’m into you too.” You respond, scooting closer to him. You can tell he got the hint, by the way he wraps his arm around you and pulls you in for a nice slow kiss.

You slowly bring you and him down, your back is on the dock and he’s half on top of you. The kiss breaks off then comes back alive, more passion blooming.

This has to be the best night so far.

max brinly

Max is a bit clueless, especially when it comes to romance. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have natural charm, he’s had previous experience in the dating world after all.

Infact, that’s what you’re attracted to about him. Clueless guys are cute, the way he looks at you when he’s confused makes you smile, it’s just so adorable.

You both happened to get paired up during cleaning duty one fateful lunch, you were scared to speak with him at first. Once you did though, you two hit it off instantly. Chatter curing the usual boredom of cleaning.

From that day, you both couldn’t stay away from each other. Max would go out of his way to visit your station (even if you’re actively teaching the kids something) You don’t mind though.

Today, you happened to get some free time in the afternoon. You were quick to tell Max and he seemed happy, you planned to go on a walk with him. So you were in a good mood all day.

On the walk you both chat about your days, though you both stop once you come across two camper’s names etched in the wood, a heart surrounding it. Your heart practically explodes in your chest.

“Cute kids, huh? Hey, why don’t we do the same thing?” You feel heat rise to your cheeks, but you accept either way. Max happened to have a pocket knife on him.

After it was done, you two were crouched in front of it. You equally had red faces. You turn your head towards him and reach your hand out, running your fingers through his hair. You slowly got closer to each other, before connecting with a kiss. Max places his hand on your knee and deepens the kiss.

You break off the kiss, nervous laughter spilling from you both. Once your able to think properly again, you look around you. “Shit— we need to get back for dinner.” You two quickly ran off towards the lodge.

emma mountebank

You and Emma became close pretty quickly, having a shared love for theatre really helped secure that bond. Other than her extroverted personality, you guys clicked easily.

Conversations include gossiping, rambling about your lives outside of summer camp, and complaining about how rowdy the kids could get. Emma is glad she has someone close to talk to about whatever, and You’re just glad you have a friend.

You two happened to also quickly develop feelings for one another, Emma was smitten. You were kind, funny, good with kids, and pretty good looking. You couldn’t get your mind off of her, just speaking with her now made your heart race.

Backstage is where you two were usually hiding from kids, so it wasn’t a surprise that’s where you reside currently. Emma groans, rolling her eyes as you complain about Nick and Abi dancing around their feelings for each other.

“Holy shit, I know! She’s always talking about him and not making a move, I really do love Abi but she’s gotta grow some balls.” She said, resting her head in her hand.

“I don’t think it’s her who needs to grow balls.” There’s a beat before you both break into loud giggles, Emma hit you on the shoulder.

“Hey actually speaking of crushes, do you have the hots for anyone?” Emma readjusts herself, that familiar smirk coming onto her face. It’s always when she’s getting nosey.

“Well it so happens that I actually do.” It’s your turn to smirk, Emma purses her lips and squints at you. Under your poker face, your hearts’ practically beating out of your chest.

“She wouldn’t happen to be right in front of you would she?” She asks, your face heats up.

“And what if she was?” You don’t have time to think, Emma is already pulling you into a kiss. It’s passionate right away, you don’t hesitate before pressing back into her. A satisfied whine is pulled from her.

You guys practically made out for an hour, if it wasn’t for Dylan coming in and forcing you both to help with lunch. You would’ve spent more time together.

abi blyg

Abi is a shy girl, anyone could tell that from miles away. Though that didn’t stop you guys from becoming really close at the beginning of camp, your personalities mix together really well.

You have an appreciation for any kind of art, Which is why you mean so much to Abi. You both bond majorly over your love for art, even if it might be different things you are interested in.

You sit in to watch some of her classes. The first time you decided to observe, she was pretty nervous to have an extra set of eyes on her. But overtime she got back into the flow of things again, her being so passionate made you fall in love then and there.

Abi fell in love the moment you actually made an effort to be her friend and seem genuinely interested in her hobbies, she’s never had someone like that.

Today, Abi invited you over her cabin. She found nail polish in her bag and wanted to paint for nails, you accepted straight away.

“—And I was like, Jacob you can’t just say that about a kid. I mean the lowest you can ever go is shit talk a kid. Especially when you’re at a table next to them!” Gossip spills from your mouth, earning multiple giggles from Abi.

“I’ve been waiting for someone to say something! I thought it was just me who thought it was weird.” She responds, painting your nails with caution. The way she gently holds your hand and puts effort into making your nails look good, it just makes butterflies swirl in your stomach.

Once she finishes your nails you compliment her work, making her a bit bashful.

“Hey Abi.. This is really random but, You’re practically my best friend and I don’t want to ruin what we have. But, I really like you. I want to try to have something more than just friendship.” You notice you catch her off guard, her face lights up as her eyes dart around the room.

“I.. I feel the same, I was also nervous about telling you.” She responds, taking your hands in hers. “Can I.. kiss you?” The question rolls off her tongue oh so beautifully. You instantly nod slowly closing the space between you.

kaitlyn ka

Kaitlyn is a chill girl, her vibes were what attracted you. At first her constant teasing was frustrating. You two had a rocky start, disagreeing a ton.

Though, once you injured yourself in a climbing accident. You both had a chance to finally sit down and get to know each other. Your defensive wall lowered immediately and you both genuinely enjoyed the company.

From then on, You and Kaitlyn formed a tight bond. You found yourself making constant excuses for why you needed to go to the nurses office, retreating from your task just to talk with her.

She always scolds you, but in reality she loves your presence. She adores your personality, and your face is really— fuck she likes you.

You started falling for her as well, the way she handles you so gently, caressing the small bruises you use as an excuse to see her. It makes you feel all fuzzy inside.

For the second time today, you go to the nurses office. You assume that Kaitlyn always expects you to come in, when you enter the doorway and she’s facing the medicine cabinet, she calls out your name without looking.

“Hey Kait’, No injuries this time. I just have a genuine question to ask.” A serious tone fills your voice as you sit on the cot next to her. “You never have an actual injury, dude.” Kaitlyn sasses you, effectively causing you to roll your eyes.

“Anyways, what’s up buttercup?” She turns to you with her eyebrow raised, you exhale out the anxiety that’s festering inside of you. “How do you feel about me? Like genuinely.”

“Are you serious?” Kaitlyn asks, you bite your lip with a sheepish head nod. She laughs a bit before sitting next to you on the cot, her hand resting on your thigh.

“I don’t think i’ve felt this way about someone ever since middle school, I’m so into you it’s no joke. You make me feel so different in the best way.” She looks at you in a way you can tell she’s serious, a smile creeps its way onto your lips.

“You haven’t had bitches since middle school?” You laugh nervously as her eyebrows furrow. “Kidding! Kidding! I feel the exact same way I just didn’t—“ You are cut off from her lips crashing onto yours. You kiss her back, slightly pushing her into the mattress as you do.

You break it off once your lungs start to burn, you both stare at each other with love in your eyes.

laura kearney

Laura is a hardcore animal lover, it was the field she wants to go into anyway. Taking care of animals makes her happy, which is why when she saw you feeding a squirrel a nut stolen from the cafeteria, she instantly had a small attraction to you.

She started speaking to you first, asking about how you feel about animals and mentioning how she saw you feeding a squirrel a nut. You rambled on about your favorite animals and your love for nature.

From then on, You and Laura made an effort to observe the wildlife around you as much as you could. Due to that you two are always together during your free time.

Overtime you developed mutual feelings for each other, You subtly flirted with each other every nature walk you took. Which in turn made you both fall harder.

Both of you are sitting on the steps in front of your cabin, Laura’s head is resting on your shoulder while you write in your shared log about the different types of birds you saw.

She lifts her head off of your shoulder, causing you to glance over at her to see if anything was up. Her eyes stare into yours, it looks like she’s hesitant to say something.

“I just wanted to say, Thank you so much for doing this with me. I mean, I can’t even be more grateful that such a.. lovely person decided to pick up a hobby with me.” Her words turn into mumbles as Laura approaches the end of her sentence, it happens when she’s nervous.

You smile softly, fidgeting with the pen in your hand. “..Yeah?” You feel tension in the air, though it doesn’t feel wrong. It feels so right.

“Yeah.” She responds, you two look at each other for a good minute before she cups your cheek. You set down the notebook knowingly and meet Laura half way, sharing a kiss with her.

You could stay in this moment forever.

FINALLY FINISHED THIS!! I started yapping when i got to the women so excuse that (i’m a lesbian). Also sorry for Laura’s part being lowkey rushed my sleeping meds kicked in towards the end of writing it.

[fearfics]

it’s the way secretly being in a relationship with max at camp wouldn’t work bc bro has the biggest heart eyes whenever you do Anything.

watching you help the kids put on their life jackets, serving them dinner, teaching them something new, or telling a story/singing around the campfire. bro is LOCKED. IN. and he always gets caught too. by the other counselors, chris and sometimes even the kids lmao

and whenever he’s around you, he’s got the biggest, dopiest smile on his face. it’s so obvious. but you’re just as bad bc his smile is contagious and now you’re both cheesing. cheeks all flushed after some flirtatious comments have been whispered between you making plans to meet up later that night.

when you walk away, he always checks his surroundings before he scratches his neck or rubs his face to try and hide how excited he is to hang out with you on the cool summer nights cuz you just look so beautiful the moonlight, stargazing oh he could cry and he’d probably burst into flames if he didn’t get to spend time with you and hold your hand and play with your hair he just adores you sm he needs the whole world to know he can’t hold it in!!

[danaascullysgf]

𝑩𝑶𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻 ｡୨୧˚

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝗳 𝗨𝘀 -

𝗔𝗯𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻

౨ৎ 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱! 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝘆

౨ৎ 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲. (𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 - 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗻)

౨ৎ 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀. (𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗺𝗮! 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝘆)

౨ৎ 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. (𝗪𝗶𝗳𝗲! 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝘆)

𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝘀

౨ৎ 𝗖𝗲𝗼! 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘅 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁! 𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 | 𝗥𝗲𝗾

౨ৎ 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿! 𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝘅 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿! 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 | 𝗥𝗲𝗾

୨ৎ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳! (𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸) | 𝗥𝗲𝗾

୨ৎ 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿! 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 | 𝗥𝗲𝗾

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗶𝗹

𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗺

౨ৎ 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲

𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱𝘆

𝗡𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝘁! 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻.

𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲

𝗖𝗵𝗹𝗼𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲

౨ৎ 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿! 𝗖𝗵𝗹𝗼𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 | 𝗥𝗲𝗾

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗻 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮)

𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗡𝗮𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻 (𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲𝗿)

౨ৎ 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲

౨ৎ 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 (𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱! 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸)

𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻..

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀

𝗚𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲

౨ৎ 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆

౨ৎ 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗳.

౨ৎ 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 (𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗚𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 - 𝗧𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗳𝘁)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆

𝗠𝗮𝘅 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆

౨ৎ 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘂𝗽

౨ৎ 𝗔𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸

𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗞𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆

୨ৎ 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹

𝗫-𝗠𝗲𝗻

𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁

୨ৎ 𝗜𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

୨ৎ 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘆

୨ৎ 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿

୨ৎ 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘀? (𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁)

୨ৎ 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟯

𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗲 (𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀)

𝗩𝗶

୨ৎ 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯 (𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿! 𝘃𝗶)

୨ৎ 𝗳𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

୨ৎ 𝗦𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱

୨ৎ 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀

୨ৎ 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀

𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗼

𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲

୨ৎ 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 (𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁) | 𝗥𝗲𝗾

ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ sᴏᴏɴ.. ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ ᴏɴ sᴏᴍᴇ ʏᴇʟʟᴏᴡᴊᴀᴄᴋᴇᴛs ʙᴏᴛs.

[msdi0r]

Hello! Could you write a max brinly fic about him being interested in reader but he’s nervous? Thanks!! <3

Yes, this is so cute!! We need more Max love he’s so cute <3

—

Max Brinly x Fem! Reader

requested? yes/no

summary: your best friend has something he needs to get off his chest but he’s too nervous to act on it

warnings: fluff - swearing - use of y/n - Max and y/n have been friends for a few years before this - kissing 🙈 (nothing spicy) - not proofread but used Grammarly 😭

a/n: might be a little out of character at some points but it's finee - AU where Max and Laura made it to the quarry and aren't dating.

masterlist

it was the hottest day of the summer and you and Emma were trying to hide from the kids and the rest of the counselors, mainly Mr H but whatever.

Emma groaned, “hand me the water bottle.” You grabbed the bottle and groaned, “It's warm.” Emma dramatically pretended to cry while fanning her face.

“Ah look, damsels in distress!” You heard Jacob walking towards you both. You and Emma rolled your eyes and looked over at Jacob who was walking towards you both with Dylan and Max.

Max held up 2 cold water bottles making you get up quickly and grab the bottles, you tossed one to Emma who caught it enthusiastically then you hugged Max tightly, “Thank you so much.” Max laughed nervously but hugged you back, “Yeah no problem.”

You pulled away and sat down next to Emma. “Have fun while you can ladies, I heard Mr H is looking for you two,” Dylan said smiling. “Shhh you can leave now!” Emma said waving them off while I laughed and waved to Max. He waved back and the other boys rolled their eyes and walked off mocking Emma.

“Is it just me or was there a little something in that hug?” Jacob asked when they got far enough away from the girls. “W-What? No.” Max tried to defend himself but stumbled over his words. “Yeah, my point exactly,” Jacob said laughing with Dylan.

“She’s my best friend that’s it! There’s nothing else going on.” Max said, he fidgeted with his hands and leaned against the cabin they walked to. “But you like her,” Dylan said crossing his arms. Max went to protest but Jacob cut him off, “It's okay, we’ll help you.”

——

They had a plan, it wasn’t great but it was better than Max’s original plan. He was just gonna never tell you and hope you found out.

All the kids had gone to bed and you were hanging out with a couple of others by the bonfire now. “Hey Em can you uh help me with putting the canoes away?” Jacob asked Emma. Emma nodded, “Sure, yeah. Kaitlyn come with us.” Kaitlyn followed them both. Dylan looked at them and then over at Ryan next to him. He nudged his shoulder, “Wanna go.. Uh. Walk?” Ryan looked at him and laughed, “Yeah okay.”

Abi, Laura, and Nick weren't there to leave with the others so now it was officially just you and Max alone. It wasn't a big deal though because you guys would normally hang out alone anyway. “I feel like something's going on,” you say suspiciously looking at him. He gave you a weird confused look trying to hide something but it was too obvious.

You rolled your eyes and walked over to the log he was sitting at and sat next to him, “I’ve known you for too long you can’t hide anything from me.” He ran his fingers through his hair and laughed softly, “Yeah I guess I can’t.”

He sighed, “There’s something I need to tell you that I’ve wanted to tell you for a while.” I turned my body towards him with a confused look on my face.

“I like you,” he said not making eye contact with you. You felt yourself slowly start to smile as he kept talking, “You don’t have to like me back- of course. That would be dumb if I was like ya know forcing you.” he was rambling now.

“Max.” You said smiling. He didn't hear you through his rant and you held his hand to get him to look at you and shut up, he did exactly that.

“I like you too,” you said softly and still smiling. His eyes widened and he started smiling, “really?” you nodded and he hugged you. You hugged him back tightly and when you pulled away he looked at you with a small smile, “Can I kiss you?” you smiled, “Absolutely.”

He gently grabbed your chin and pulled you into a kiss, as soon as you kissed you heard a twig snap and you both turned your head quickly. “Dude seriously?” you heard Kaitlyn whisper-yell. “It’s not my fault! Dylan pushed me!” Jacob argues back, also whisper-yelling. “I did not push you!” Dylan joined in.

You and Max got up and walked over to the bushes. “Oh my god can you both shut the fuck up? You’re going to blow our cover.” You heard Ryan lecturing the others. “Already did,” Max said. They all looked up at you and Max with fake innocent smiles on their faces.

You rolled your eyes and they all stood up awkwardly. Except for Jacob who was smiling in both of our faces, “My plan worked! I’m amazing guys.” “oh please,” Kaitlyn said pushing him out of her way. “Now that you two are finally together can we get back to the cabin? The bugs are eating me alive.” “Yes please!” Emma agreed.

As you walked back to the cabin, holding hands with Max, Emma nudged you gently and smiled widely at you. She knew since the beginning, apparently everyone did.

“Look who finally came to their senses.” Mr Hackett joked the next morning seeing you both holding hands. Yeah, everyone knew.

[house-of-kolchek]

Someone resuscitate me

The Middle

Max Brinly X Female Reader

Oneshot

APPARENTLY IF YOU’RE READING THIS IN ANY DARK COLORED FORMAT ON TUMBLR (LIKE NIGHT MODE) IT LOOKS FUCKING WEIRD AND IDK HOW TO FIX IT I’M SO SORRY.

A/N: No, I'm not neglecting my other fics to write a random oneshot? Why would you even suggest---fuck it here it is besties. Anyways, this product of procrastination is dedicated and written for my bestie @house-of-kolchek, who loves Max as much as I do.

WARNINGS AND TAGS: NSFW 18+ ONLY, this is unedited and might be awful, Reader is Jacob's cousin, manipulative!Emma but like in a good way, BFF!Emma, Emma/Jacob, Abi/Nick, making Emma cooler than she is, sweetheart!Max, unrequited love (assumably), forced proximity, sex jokes, unsafe seating situations while driving DO NOT DO THIS PLEASE, lap-sitting, erections, staring down your shirt, teasing, love confessions, very very cheesy and idc anymore

Word Count: 8k

Main Masterlist

“EMMA, that is the stupidest idea in seriously the entire world.”

You meant it, too; you already thought that this little impromptu camping trip was an awful idea; the last time that the group of you were out in the woods, it ended with werewolves, so, could anybody really be blamed for not wanting to tempt fate? And now hearing Emma’s latest plan, you couldn’t help but say fuck this whole entire trip and its mom, too. 

“Oh—come on!” Emma insisted with a pout across her face, leaning across her oversized suitcase—who in the world needed all of that space for a weekend camping trip? “Babes, you are my wing-woman here—my ultimate girl. Come on, please—Jacob won’t even look at me when we hang out. I really need your help with this!”

You sighed; a year ago, when the ten of you—eight, if you considered the fact that you hadn’t actually met two of the camp counselors until the end of the summer—worked at Hackett’s Quarry and endured that shitshow of a summer, you hadn’t even liked Emma. You didn’t like how she had your cousin, Jacob, mooning all over her like she owned the whole fucking Earth. You didn’t like the way that the nicest girl you’d ever met seemed to think she walked on water, too, and you did not appreciate the fact that she thought she was entitled to tell you all the ways that you were doing your makeup all wrong. 

But then, that night happened. The night of the full moon, when your idiot cousin sabotaged the van just to get another night with the woman he’d fallen in love with who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about him. The night where the ten of you had miraculously survived werewolves, and a crazy-ass family trying to kill you all night. That night was what changed everything. 

You’d gotten stranded with Emma running through the woods, and somehow landed yourself in a heated battle with Jacob—who had apparently been bitten by one of those things because he was now one of those things. He, obviously, tried to kill the two of you and Emma thought fast, using a piece of silver jewelry to save both of your lives and buy you enough time to get the hell out of there. 

And then, you’d been locked in a room with her and Abi, the three of you not knowing if you would survive the night, and something just…changed. You began to see her differently, and from that point on, throughout this entire past year, the three of you had been best friends. 

More you and Emma, if you were being honest, because Abi and Nick had just gotten engaged three months ago and most of her free time went to him.

Not that it hurt your feelings. If you somehow managed to bag the man of your dreams, you’d be spending every free moment with him, too. 

“Jacob just…needs time,” you informed her with a groan, throwing your tennis shoes across the room as you frantically looked for your favorite pair of leggings. “He’s still hurt, you know? You can’t just tell him you didn’t mean any of it and then expect him to forgive you and jump back into your arms, Emma.”

“Which is why I need you to get me into his cabin this weekend,” Emma pleaded, getting up from her place on your bed and digging through your drawers as she pulled out the very clothes you were looking for. You swore that sometimes, it was literally like she could read your mind. “All we have to do is fake a fight; I will refuse to sleep in the same cabin as you, and then the boys will offer to switch with us. I’ll get a whole night—and a whole, isolated cabin—with Jacob; and you? Well, let’s not pretend that you aren’t benefitting from my little plan.”

You snorted, shimmying out of your jeans and pulling your leggings up over your legs, smiling as Emma nodded towards your ass in approval. If she thought that you looked good, you could rest assured that you damn well did.

“And how will I benefit from getting into a fake fight with you and causing a scene?” You questioned, your head cocked as Emma passed you your shoes and you eagerly slipped them on. The rest of your group would be here at any minute, and you didn’t want to keep them waiting. 

“Because if I end up in Jacob’s cabin, you know who ends up in yours? Max.”

You whipped around and shot Emma a glare, shaking your head like you couldn’t believe that she would just mention his name all casually like that. You’d made her swear to never bring up your pathetic, unrequited crush on Max Brinly ever again, since the day she’d first found out that it even existed in the first place. 

You first met Max when the sun came up after that hellish night at Hackett’s Quarry. You and Emma had run back to the island to see if Jacob was there and if he was alive, and you ended up running into Max instead. After lots of screaming and confusion, the two of you finally allowed him to explain just how in the fuck he had gotten there and who he was, which is when you learned that your one night of hell had lasted two months for him and his girlfriend. 

Emma had found Jacob and ran after him, but you stayed behind with Max, talking and laughing at his jokes, attempting not to swoon at the adorableness that was his laugh. You had hoped, at the beginning of the summer, to find somebody just like him and have a summer romance. Somebody who was cute, who could make you laugh, and seemed to understand you instantly.

It didn’t work out that way, obviously—seeing as the summer had been over and Max Brinly had a girlfriend. 

Laura eventually came back for him and you parted ways, assuming that this would be the last time that you would ever see Max Brinly, attributing your budding feelings for him as some sort of trauma response to the night that you had just been through. 

Imagine your surprise when, a month after Hackett’s Quarry, the new co-worker that you were assigned to train at the coffee shop was none other than Max Brinly. You assumed right away that he wouldn’t even remember you—why would he?---but you were wrong. He knew exactly and immediately who you were, and the two of you hit it off just as well as you did the first time you had ever spoken to him. It wasn’t long before you were hanging out with him every single day, and he had slowly become your best friend. 

You went to movies together, you got dinner, he came to all of the track and field competitions you ran in at your local university, you helped him study hard enough to get into a new graduate school—literally, anything that you could think of, the two of you did it together.  You even stayed the night at each other’s apartments on occasion, both of you knowing what the other’s couch felt like pretty intimately. 

In fact, the only time the two of you weren’t together was when Laura came to town to visit her boyfriend. Before she dumped him, at least.

It was nearly a month and a half ago now, that you had sat on this very bed with Max as he sobbed, asking you just to hold him and not ask any questions when he told you that he and Laura had broken up. 

“Max isn’t into me, so that really doesn’t help your case,” you grumbled, your pissy mood only continuing to sour the more that you thought about it. After Max and Laura, you thought that you might actually stand a chance with him. After all, he spent all of his free time with you, and you knew that nobody in this world knew him as well as you did—and vice versa. But after the night that he’d sobbed with you, fallen asleep in your bed, and told you how he felt like years of his life were wasted with Laura, nothing ever happened. 

He just went right on back to being the same old Max, your friend.

“Do you seriously still think that that boy has no feelings for you whatsoever?” Emma shrieked, watching as Jacob’s car pulled up from the window, hurriedly throwing her hair up into a sexily-tossed messy bun. “‘Cause, if you do, you’re so wrong that it isn’t even funny anymore.”

“Em, if he had feelings for me, then why didn’t anything change after he and Laura broke up?!” You interjected, a frown pulling at your lips as you grabbed your tiny duffel bag and hiked it up over your shoulder. “And also, why would he date Laura for so long if he actually, secretly liked me instead? Your logic isn’t logic-ing,” you insisted, and Emma smirked.

“You are so naive that it’s actually kind of cute,” she responded, rolling her eyes as Jacob opted to honk instead of being a gentleman and coming to the door. Emma sauntered over to you, playing with the ends of your hoodie and eyeing it suspiciously. “Look, just—help me with this plan, and you’ll see, okay? And change into that sexy little top I bought you last month for the car ride.”

“Emma!”

“Just trust me!” Emma insisted, pulling the hoodie up and over your head for you and tossing you the lacey black crop top she’d bought you last month. “Put it on—good, yes, I would so bang you—oh, and just in case you find out that Max also wants to bang you, I snuck condoms into your bag.”

“You have got to be kidding me, Emma!” You shrieked, although it was with a large smile on your face as you were, once again, blown away by the antics of your friend. 

Emma only laughed as the two of you rushed down to the car, you having to help Emma with one half of her bag since she’d brought such a gigantic one. You’d barely made it to the door before there was a knock on it—apparently Jacob had decided to be a gentleman after all. Or he’d simply gotten impatient, which was the better bet of the two options.

“Keep your pants on cuz, we’re coming,” you hissed out, lowering your end of Emma’s bag to the ground as you ripped open the door to your apartment. Your annoyed glare dropped and your mouth fell open as you saw Max standing there, his cheeks red and running a hand through his freshly-cut red hair. “Max! I, uh, thought you were Jacob?”

Fuck, why did you sound so fucking awkward?! Your conversation with Emma had you paranoid and upset, and if you kept acting this way, Max would definitely notice. The two of you had crossed the awkward barrier a long time ago.

“Ah, nah,” Max answered, his signature smile flashing across his face and warming you up from the inside out. “Jake’s too possessive over that steering wheel to get his ass over to the door honestly.”

“That and he doesn’t want to have to speak to me,” Emma sighed, lugging her bag forward and hitting Max in the chest with it. You suppressed a giggle as he let out an “Oomph!”, but he caught your smile and playfully sneered at you. “Oh, what a gentleman! And damn, Max, I’ve never noticed how strong you are. Have you, Y/n?! Have you ever noticed those biceps?” 

“Cut it out, Emma,” you hissed under your breath, grateful that Max had already turned around and was heaving her oversized bag to the trunk of the car. “I know what you’re doing, and it isn’t going to work on me.”

“What am I doing?” Emma asked with faux innocence, batting her eyelashes heavily down at you before she winked. “Just use it as fuel for our fake fire, if you want, babes. Besides—would it really kill you to admit in front of him that he looks good?! Give the boy a win, Y/n!”

“He does not think of me that way—”

“Hey, um, Emma?” Max called out as you were locking your front door behind you, and you turned and ran over to where he was pursing his lips behind the trunk. “Maybe we should’ve brought a bigger car, but, your bag is not going to fit back here.”

Emma turned to look and her lips, too, were pursed. 

“Well, where’s everyone sitting?” She asked, peering her head into the car to check out the situation. 

“Well, uh, Jacob’s driving—obviously—Abi and Nick are in the row of two seats behind him, and then he wants you to sit back in the last row with me while Y/n takes the passenger seat,” Max explained, using his hands to gesture to each person. Abi turned around to look at you from her place in the car, Nick’s head in her lap as he slept, and she waved. You waved back, grimacing at the large bag that was seated at your feet. 

“Hmm, no, that won’t do,” Emma insisted with a wave of her hand, using all of her strength to heave her bag up and over the full trunk of the car and into the last row of seats. “It’s going to have to go here—and oh, I really didn’t sleep well last night, so if I don’t sit in the passenger seat, I’ll get sick.” 

Max’s jaw dropped and he scoffed lightly, looking between the two of you as you held in a large groan. 

“I don’t really see how that makes any sense?” He questioned.

“So Y/n will have to sit in the back, with you!” Emma finished with a gleeful squeal, hurrying to shut the trunk and turning to make her way to the passenger seat of the car. 

“Um—hold on a minute, just where the fuck in the back will I sit?!” You barked out, gesturing incredulously to the monstrosity that was her luggage all over the back seat of the car. “Your bag is taking up the entire row—all but one seat, Em! And it’s way too fucking big to go down at our feet!” 

Emma put a daintly little finger to her chin, and you could tell that she was only pretending to think about the predicament.

“Well, it’s only about a forty-five minute drive,” she informed you, a wicked smile pushing its way onto her lips. “It’s not that long, so, just sit on Max’s lap?”

Your eyes widened and you felt sweat beading on the back of your neck, your heart beating at an intensely quick pace just at the mere thought of having to sit on Max. One look at Max’s face showed he heard her suggestion, too, because it was unnaturally blank and pale. 

You walked closer to Emma, pulling her into you as you said, “You better be fucking for real with your next suggestion, or we will get in an actual fight, Emma,” you warned her, your voice low enough that Max couldn’t hear it. You noticed that he was already ushering Nick and Abi out of the car, hurrying to his seat in the back, and the three of them were just waiting on you. 

“Oh my g—will you just trust me, for once in your life?!” Emma begged dramatically, clinging onto your arm and giving you a little push towards Max. “Thank me later, hoe.”

Oh no, I will not be thanking you later, you sneaky little she-devil, you thought to yourself, climbing over Abi’s seat and landing ungracefully into Max’s lap. He caught you much more elegantly than you fell, luckily, and he helped you right yourself so that your back was facing his chest. 

You turned your face towards him despite the fact that it was burning, and you brushed a strand of hair back behind your ear. 

“You know, I could always just sit on her bag instead of on you,” you offered, geturing weakly over to the big problem that Emma had handed over to the two of you with a private sneer at her back. “That way I won’t crush your legs into tiny pieces of ash.”

Max actually laughed out loud at that and your heart swelled with a feeling of accomplishment; Max was funny, he had probably always been funny, and anytime that you had gotten him to laugh, you took it as a personal achievement. 

“Please sweetheart, as if you could,” Max retorted, winding an arm around your waist as he pulled your back flush against his chest, leaving his arm to rest across your stomach and his fingers splayed across your hipbone. You closed your eyes, holding in a sigh as you prayed that he couldn’t see the way that your face had reddened from this angle. “Besides, this is probably the…safer option of the two.”

You heartily disagreed with that. 

Still, you positioned yourself against him, awkwardly playing with your fingers on your lap as you had no idea where to rest your hands. You and Max were close, yes, but you had never physically been close, aside from a few silly moments of teasing tickles, accidentally falling asleep on his shoulder, or him resting his legs on your lap as the two of you watched a movie together. This was entirely new territory, and you had no idea what to do with it, and you knew that if Emma hadn’t forced this to happen, that Max wouldn’t have chosen to even be in this situation with you. Probably. 

“Jacob, the drive is forty-five minutes?” You called up to him, wincing as you watched your cousin’s teeth grit in the rearview mirror as he attempted to ignore Emma completely.

“An hour, if traffic’s bad,” Jacob called back and you groaned, your leg shaking furiously in your nervousness. As if Max could sense that you were on edge—fuck, with the way that you were bouncing around he probably could feel it—his other hand landed on your thigh, rubbing calming circles around as he successfully got it to stop shaking.

“Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so anxious today,” you sighed, rubbing a hand down your face and leaning back into Max. You could hear his groan and you winced, assuming you had hurt him, as you instantly tried to reposition yourself to take some of the weight off of him.

After a few minutes of frantic wiggling, Max’s hands harshly gripped onto your waist, his fingernails digging into you as he held you tightly into place and you froze, your eyes wide and breath held. 

“Y/n, please—stop.” Max’s voice was incredibly hoarse, coming out in a groan and you winced again, mortified that you had hurt him enough to elicit this sort of response. 

“Oh shit, Max! I am so sorry—I was trying not to hurt you and then I did hurt you and—”

“Y/n!” Max interrupted, clearing his throat so that his voice sounded a lot more normal and less husky. “Honey, you’re not hurting me, just—don’t wiggle around right—there.”

Your eyebrows raised in confusion at his words and your brain couldn’t process what the hell he was saying, so you just opted to nod, leaning forward as far as you could and beginning a conversation with Abi as you tried with every ounce of your being to not put much weight on Max. It took every ounce of concentration that you had to not think about the fact that you were touching the love of your life and focus on Abi’s words about wedding planning, but somehow, you did it. 

“Hey, uh, Jake?” Max suddenly called out, and you noticed that his voice had gone hoarse again and that his tone was tight and clipped. Higher than normal. You frowned; in your conversation with Abi, you had slipped a little further backwards than you’d realized, back into his lap. “How much longer?”

“Thirty minutes,” Jacob growled, and you noticed Emma looking a little offput herself. “It’s looking closer to an hour total at this point.”

“Alright then, we need to stop,” Max insisted and you stifled a pathetic whine, embarrassed that you were this hard to bear just sitting on his lap. It probably didn’t help that you were still actively avoiding any and all contact with him, practically leaving him here in the backseat to talk to himself as you ignored him, anxious and letting Emma’s words get to your head.

You needed to stop. You and Max were friends. Good friends, and you were being absolutely ridiculous about this whole thing. 

Three minutes later, Jacob pulled off at a reststop and you lifted off of Max instantly, watching him scamper out of the car after Abi and Nick and hurrying into the men’s restroom. With everyone out of the car but you and Emma, you climbed over the seats and sat between her seat and the driver’s seat, staring at her with wide eyes.

“So,” you started out, pointedly ignoring the tears in her eyes, knowing she wouldn’t want to talk about it right now. “Your plan to make me sit on Max is not working; I can barely say two words to the guy, and his poor legs are getting crushed by me. He probably can’t think of anything but leg cramps!” 

“Oh, please,” Emma scoffed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissued and waving your worries away with a flick of her hand. “Look at him, and look at you; there must be some other reason he needs a break.”

“Oh yeah?” You fought back, crossing your arms over your chest as you frowned at your friend. “Like what, exactly? It’s not working Emma, you’re miserable up here, and I am back there; we should just switch places. You’re smaller than me.”

“I am not,” Emma sighed.

“All I know is one minute, I can’t sit still, and the next minute, he’s grabbing my hips and telling me to stop wiggling around,” you continued on, as if Emma hadn’t even interjected. “What else could it be if not that I was—”

You instantly stopped talking as Emma looked over to you, mouth opened and eyes glinting with excitement. 

“You poor naive little thing!” She giggled, pulling your arms so that you were practically sitting on her lap. “Y/n, you aren’t hurting him—you’re turning him on and he doesn’t want you to feel it!” 

You felt pinpricks across your face as the entire thing turned white, and you were suddenly feeling a little nauseous. 

“What?” You questioned, shaking your head lutching nervously at your hair. “What? I—no, Max isn’t—he wasn’t—”

“Oh, yes, yes he was,” Emma argued, and there was a light in her eyes that replaced whatever sadness she had been feeling before you came up there to talk to her. “Okay, do exactly as I say; when Max comes back out to the car, sit back on him just like you were that first time. Wiggle around a bit again—”

“What? No!”

“Just trust me—wiggle around a little bit again, then ask him if he wants to watch something with you on your phone. When you turn it on, lean back against him so that your back is arched and he gets a good, full view down your—”

“Okay, and this is where I officially stop you, you are crazy,” you intoned, shaking your head and leaning away from your friend. “Max is not into me—in case you managed to forget about that, babes—and besides, I can’t just show him my boobs, Emma! They’re my—boobs. They’re, like, private.”

“Holy fuck, how are you not a virgin,” Emma groaned, shoving you back towards your seat as she pointed eagerly out of the car. “Okay, babes, here he comes—just trust me, okay?! Do it!” 

You opened your mouth to argue again, but the words fell from your lips as the car door opened and Max poked his head inside, grinning over at you as his eyes darted back and forth between you and Emma. 

“What, uh, what’s going on here?” He asked, and you shot a glare at Emma as she giggled, hiding her face in her shirt and sending an ominous wink your way. You tried as well as you could to tell her to shut up with your eyes, but she ignored you in typical Emma fashion. 

“Nothing,” you replied, shaking your head and sending him a smile. “I was just feeling nervous about getting away this weekend and Emma was talking me down. That’s it.”

“Ah,” Max yawned, heading back to his seat and patting his lap for you to join him. You blushed. “Is that why you’re acting so weird? You haven’t spoken to me for the last, like twenty-five minutes.”

“Yeah, sorry, just nervous,” you insisted, climbing back over Abi’s seat and settling yourself on top of Max’s lap. As you looked up after readjusting, your eyes met Emma’s in the rearview mirror and she nodded, looking from you to Max’s…well…yeah. 

You cleared your throat, feeling the burn of your phone in your pocket as you stared widely back at her, conveying that she was being way too obvious, here. Regardless, a part of you was…curious, now, and with Laura out of the picture and Max completely single, it’s not like a little testing of the waters was inappropriate anymore. What could it hurt, really? Max was too nice to reject you, so if he wasn’t into it, he just wouldn’t say anything and you’d let it go forever. But, if he really was into it—

Well that was the best-case scenario, wasn’t it?

So, you shifted; nothing crazy and nowhere close to grinding—just a small, flick of the hips that brushed right up against his crotch. Max’s breath hitched and you froze, wondering if you’d truly heard that right, completely distracted from the fact that Abi and Nick were re-entering the car and that Jacob was starting it again, getting ready to head on the road once more. 

A hitch of a breath wasn’t enough of a confirmation for you, so you shifted once again, and then again and then again, and this time Max’s hands lifted back up to your hips, grasping for dear life as you settled your ass back down to his crotch, turning your head to watch as his eyes shut tight and he bit his lip.

“Y/n—”

“Do you want to watch part of a movie with me?” You interrupted, watching as Max’s eyes flashed open, a glint of pain underneath them that had you second-guessing what had just happened. Max smiled down at you, though—that brilliant smile that God had blessed him with—and nodded.

You had no idea what you were going to watch, but your fingers worked anyway, hurriedly typing some stupid TikTok compilation that you hoped he wouldn’t get too distracted by. Max laid his chin on your shoulder, his hands that were gripping your waist winding around your front and interlocking as he held you, his face snuggling slightly into your neck.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, your mind reiterated as you slowly breathed out, your heart pounding wildly in your chest as you silently prayed that Max couldn’t hear it, and that he couldn’t feel the way that your skin had suddenly heated up and become sweaty. It wasn’t even that cuddling with Max was anything new—as a person, he was a fucking lapdog—but it was the fact that you had never sat on his fucking lap before while cuddling. Never had intentions to turn him on, never gave him this much of a glance down your lowcut shirt—

Y/n, don’t be a pussy, your inner Emma chastised and you shut your eyes tight and sucked in a breath, desperately trying to convince yourself not to go through with this. But damn it—you sort of wanted to and, so far, Max hadn’t shown a single sign that he’d wanted you to sit anywhere else. 

It was halfway through the video that you forgot the rest of the people in the car and arched backward without a minute to second guess yourself, pretending to stretch your arms above your head as you knew you were, successfully, letting Max have a perfect show of your black lacy bra underneath your shirt, and under that, the perfectly rounded mounds of breasts that it pushed up.

You heard a sharp inhale and dared a look at his face; he was as white as a ghost, and even his perfectly placed freckles had gone impossibly paler—and yet his eyes, those gorgeously sea-colored orbs, were still staring down your shirt, transfixed, as he studied your figure. 

“Alright, everybody out!” Jacob suddenly called out, and the two of you jumped, Max’s eyes meeting yours as he was brought back to reality. His eyes, no longer clouded over with lust, widened and a blush spread unevenly across his face as he realized that he’d been caught watching you. “We’re here!”

“Y/n,” Max breathed out, whipping his arms away from you and running nervous hands through his newly cut hair. “Shit, Y/n, I’m so sorry, I—I wasn’t—I mean I was but…” You smiled as he stuttered along, a giggle framing your mouth and escaping out of your lip, causing Max’s gaze to whip back onto you. You couldn’t help it; he was always so damn cute when he was flustered.

“Does it make it any less creepy if I’m aware that staring down your shirt is creepy?” Max asked, equal parts timid and teasing. You laughed aloud at that, the two of you lingering in the backseat of the car while the rest of the party headed out. 

“It’s fine, Max,” you insisted with a shrug and a wink, conveying in every way possible that you weren’t completely innocent here either. “No one wears a bra like this for it not to be seen, sweetheart.” 

The words coming out of your mouth shocked even you, and Max’s entire jaw fell open as he stared at you in complete and utter disbelief. 

“Whoa, Y/n,” he reared away from you, just to get a better look at your face, testing to see if you were saying what he thought that you were saying. His hands found their way to your waist again and he touched you softly, his thumbs running up and down the curves of your hipbones as he stared in wonder down at you. “Are you saying that you wanted me to—”

“Are you two gonna get out of the car, or do you plan on freezing your little asses off all night?!” Jacob called out as he forced open the trunk of the car, staring in disbelief at the two of you still sitting there. You both jumped, eyes turning to Jacob with guilty blushes, and you didn’t waste another second climbing off of Max and over the seats, pushing your way past Jacob and onto the dirt-clodded driveway. 

Taking your bag from your cousin and asking a hurried, “Where’s our cabin again?” You received directions and hurried off in the direction of the cabin that you and Emma were supposed to share, attempting to outrun Max so that he couldn’t question you any further.

What the hell had you been thinking?! You hadn’t, obviously, and you’d let Emma’s skewed opinion get to you. Now, you had to come up with a solution for some serious damage control before Max got to you with his, What’s gotten into you today? And his, Look, I know you must have been kidding, or his I’m sorry Y/n, I’m just not attracted to you that way—

“Fuck,” you muttered to yourself, throwing open the door to the cabin and chucking your suitcase onto the empty bed. Emma was standing on the other side of the room, facing the bathrooms, but she jumped and turned around when she heard the slam of the front door. “Fuck this whole plan, Emma, and fuck my stupid self too. I can’t believe that I actually let myself believe that Max was really into me and I—holy shit, are you crying?!?”

Emma’s pretty hazel eyes were red-rimmed, but the telltale giveaway that she’d been sobbing was the tear tracks of black mascara spreading down her cheeks and clumping up near her pointy chin.

Once her mind had registered your question, she began sobbing once again, her hands coming up to cover her eyes and you ran to her, throwing your arms around her neck and feeling her own arms go around your waist as she sobbed into your neck heartily. 

“Honey, what happened?” You asked, but your voice was muffled by your much taller friend’s collarbone. You pulled away from her and sat her down on her bed, sitting down next to her and taking her hand in yours. “Emma, what did my idiot cousin say to you? You know that big dummy acts completely on emotions, so whatever he said, I’m sure it was just in the heat of the—”

“He meant it,” Emma interrupted you, pulling her hand out of yours and using it to wipe her eyes. “But I don’t even want to talk about it right now, so—tell me what happened with Max.” You opened your mouth to protest but she shot you her “Emma” look—the look that told you that arguing would quite literally be pointless. So, you sighed, letting yourself fall backward onto the bed and groaning as your head hit the awfully lumpy mattress she’d been provided tonight.

“I don’t know what happened, Emma,” you admitted with a whine, feeling her lay down beside you and cuddle her head into yours comfortingly. “It was like I had this sudden, insane boost of confidence and I was like…grinding on him and giving him a full show of my boobs—”

“You do have great boobs—”

“And then when he noticed that I caught him staring at my breasts, I kindofsortofmaybe insinuated that I wanted him to look down my shirt and then he was about to ask me if I really meant that I wanted him to see me naked and then Jacob interrupted us and I freaked out and ran away.”

Emma just stared back at you, blinking occasionally, as if she were really confused.

“Why?” She finally asked, staring down at you in confusion. You blinked back at her, shaking your head bewilderedly. 

“Wait, why what?”

“Why did you run away, you fucking dumbass!” Emma insulted, but it was loving and the two of you laughed as she pushed you off the bed and you squealed. “Seriously, Y/n, what the fuck? You ran away? After doing all of that you just ran?”

“I was scared!” You defend your actions with a hiss, pulling yourself up off of the floor and planting down next to her again. “Fuck, Emma, Max is my best friend. I cannot risk freaking him out and losing him, okay? I just…can’t, okay, he means…he means everything to me, Emma, he’s the most important person in the whole world. He’s my best friend.”

“Ouch,” Emma responded, but there was a fond smile on her face and a happy gleam in her eyes as she gazed down at you. “Babes, you know that you’re the most important thing in the world to him too, right? Even if he didn’t feel the same way about you, he wouldn’t let this ruin your friendship. You know that, right?” 

You shrugged and looked away from her, playing with your hands as you avoided the question. Did you know that? No, not really. Yeah, the two of you were really close, and yeah, he spent most of his free time with you, but that didn’t mean that this wasn’t something that would freak him out enough to ghost you.

“Shit, if I was going to do something as fucking ridiculous as this, I should have just bit the and told him how I felt,” you finally responded with a sigh, pushing yourself off of the bed and shuffling your feet over the cold, hardwood floor. “But you know, maybe this way, there’s some way that I can play it off?”

“Okay babes, I’m just going to say this once and I’m going to say it outright,” Emma cut you off, standing in front of you and forcing your chin up to look your much taller friend in the eyes. “I know why they broke up, Y/n. The real reason, and if you just fucking ask me I will tell you right here, right now.”

The offer was, obviously, tempting; and two or three years ago you’d probably be a lesser person and taken that offer. As it was, though, you valued Max and his privacy, and if he’d wanted you to know, he would have told you himself. 

“No, I don’t want to know,” you insisted, pursing your lips and pulling away from Emma. “It isn’t any of my business, and Max made that abundantly clear by not telling me inthe first place.”

“Of fucking course,” Emma groaned with a shake of her head, rolling her eyes at you and then fixing you with a glare. “The two of you are both so stupid.”

“Gee, thanks Em.” Your words fell flat as you shot her your own sharp look and she gulped, having the common decency to at least look like she felt bad for saying what she did. “Besides, why do you even know the reason Laura dumped him?”

“Laura didn’t dump Max—Max dumped Laura,” Emma clarified and your heart dropped into your stomach. The piece of news, realistically, probably should have made you feel better, but it didn’t. It only made you feel worse, like your heart had been stomped on and used up. Because—if that was true—if Max had dumped Laura—then why had he been so upset that night when he came over to your house? And why the fuck had he lied to you about it?

“What?” You asked, your voice tiny and fragile, and Emma looked back at you, confused. 

“Max broke up with Laura,” Emma repeated, and was somehow completely missing the broken, wounded look that was written all over your face. “He dumped her, because he wasn’t in love with her, Y/n, he realized that he was—”

“Emma.” 

Jacob’s voice pierced through the air, and the two of you jumped towards the sound, to where your cousin was currently glaring daggers towards your best friend. Emma immediately shut up, shooting you a guilty look as she moved farther away from you and towards Jacob. 

“Y/n, can you please give us a moment?” Jacob asked, his throat froggy and having to clear it as he continued staring at Emma. When you saw the raw, heated look pass between them you excused yourself quickly, knowing that whatever feud they were having was about to be made up in tenfold. You forgot to bring your suitcase with you—not even thinking that you’d effectively be kicked out of your cabin for the night—as you ran outside, outside to the nothingness that awaited you.

No, seriously.

There was not a soul out here, Abi and Nick notably missing and Max even nowhere to be seen—not that you even wanted to see him right now anyways. Your heart was barely beating in your chest at the revelation that he’d lied to you—you, supposedly his closest friend—about something that was so huge. Then again, maybe he had no idea how huge it was to you. He didn’t at all, actually, because he had no idea that you were so annoyingly and stupidly in love with him. 

“Fuck this day, and fuck everyone else,” you groaned to yourself as you plopped down on a metal bench under a canopy, covering your eyes with your hands as you whined. 

“That an invitation?” 

Max’s voice sent your blood running cold and you jumped, shocked, turning yourself towards him as he stood slightly behind you, watching you warily. His face was red, but he was smiling at you, and he made his way over and sat at the bench opposite you slowly. 

The two of you stared at each other for a while—one of you, optimistically nervous, and the other of you having had your heart shattered into a million little pieces just ten minutes ago. Neither of you said anything, unsure of what exactly you should say, for a long time until finally, Max broke the silence.

“Y/n,” Max spoke, clearing his throat from the nervousness that threatened to choke and overtake him. “About what you said in the car—”

“You lied to me.” 

You hadn’t intended for it to come out like that, but there it was, and there was no taking it back now. 

Max reared back, astonishment registering across his perfect features. 

“I—what?” He shook his head back and forth, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what you were saying. “I lied about—about the car?”

“No Max, not about the fucking car!” You swore, rising from your seat in your anger. Max followed quickly, a gentle hand on your elbow that you quickly ripped out of his grasp. “You lied to me about—about Laura! You told me that she—that she broke up with you, Max! You were heartbroken, you were crying, you lied!” 

You thought that there were tears streaming down your face but you couldn’t really tell at the moment. All you could feel was the adrenaline that was being fueled by your anger, and all you could see was the shock that hadn’t left Max’s face since you’d first spoken. 

“Who told you that?” Max questioned, and the fact that he wasn’t denying it made you even more upset and you huffed, turning around on one heel and heading towards—fuck, you had absolutely nowhere to go.

“Does it matter?” You answered, turning back around and accepting the fact that the only way you were going to get to be alone was if Max went back to his cabin and left you here and, knowing him, that wasn’t likely to happen. “You lied, Max. And I’m pissed about it. That’s the only thing that you should care about.”

You still hadn’t turned around to face him, so he made his way in front of you instead, placing tentative hands on both of your arms and levelling his face with yours. 

“Sweetheart, please look at me.” Fuck; you were weak anytime that Max called you sweetheart and you knew that he knew it, too. Hating yourself just a little bit more for it, you looked up at him, unaware of how your big, sad eyes caused every cell in his body to melt. 

“Why did you lie to me?” The question slipped through your lips without your consent and Max sighed, releasing your arms and pressing a hand into your hip so that you couldn’t get away again. 

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Max answered simply and you reared back, out of his touch, away from his hold, as you scoffed in response.

“You didn’t want to hurt me?” You shrieked, pulling farther away from him and pushing your hands out in front of you to stop him when he tried to reach out for you again. “What the fuck—how the fuck would that have hurt me, Max?”

Max winced, running a nervous hand through his hair, and inspected his surroundings, as if he wished somebody else would come out any minute now. 

“Y/n, you are my best friend,” Max pleaded, and you could see the desperation in his eyes but you had no idea why he was so upset. “You know me better than anybody else in this entire world, honey, please—can you give me the benefit of the doubt on this one? Can you let me tell you when I’m ready?”

“No, Max, obviously I cannot do that because obviously it has something to do with me!” You retorted sharply, angry tears burning hot at the corners of your eyes, hotter than normal, devastated tears. “Like—what is going on, Max? I hae this feeling that everybody’s in on this secret, everybody but me—and I should know it, I should know what’s going on with you—”

“Y/n, sweetheart!” Max interrupted again, and this time, he successfully gathered your hands into his. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry that I lied—really I am, but—why is it so important to you?” You glared back at him, pulling your hands out of his grasp and beginning to walk away from him. “Why is it such a big deal that I didn’t tell you the whole truth?”

“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot!” You screamed back at him, your body turning back around on its own accord as the screech left your mouth. You both heard the words echo against a canyon somewhere, and you blanched, unaware of what you’d actually said and the weight of them until they hit you in the chest on the reverb.

Max’s mouth had dropped open and he stepped away from you in shock, his hands coming up to frame his cheeks, never making actual physical contact with his face. He stared back at you, his eyes wide and full of wonder, as if he were seeing you for the first time, all over again. 

“You’re—” Max gulped, but he took a step closer to you, a smile adorning his freckled cheeks. “You’re in love with me? Really?”

Your heart sunk again when he spoke and you shook your head, backing away from him and pressing two fingers to the bridge of your nose as you suddenly felt an oncoming migraine. 

“I’m sorry Max,” you apologized, feeling a bout of nausea spring up in your stomach as you realized that you’d just past the point of no return. “Shit, I’m so sorry, I should have never even said anything—I should have let it go—”

“I broke up with Laura because I’m in love with you.”

The words came out quickly, like Max was afraid that if he hadn’t said them as quickly as he did that he wouldn’t say them at all. You reaction was surprisingly slow compared to everything else you’d done in haste tonight, and you dropped your hands from your face and gazed up at the man in front of you, who was staring back at you with awe. 

“W—what?”

“I love you,” Max repeated, taking another step towards you with his light, airy chuckle that you loved so damn much. “And I didn’t tell you that night I broke up with Laura because I thought that you’d think I was lying, or that you were a rebound, and you’re not, Y/n. You’re absolutely not—I’ve loved you for a long enough time that I’m a total asshole for letting it go on with Laura for as long as I did.”

“Then why—why did you—”

“I lied because I didn’t want you to think that any of this was your fault,” Max continued, and he was so close now that his arms were winding around your waist and his forehead was pressed to yours. “I just—I knew, the second I saw you again in that coffee shop, that it was fate. And I lied to myself, hoping that my relationship would just fizzle out on its own and that I wouldn’t have to hurt anyone but—fuck, I would break Laura’s heart a thousand times over if it meant that I might get to be with you in the end,” Max finished, and you were stunned silent, unaware of how to speak anymore. 

“Do I—” Max took a sharp inhale of breath and a step back to assess your face. “Do I get you in the end?”

You smiled back at him before pressing your lips so tightly to his, wrapping your body so hard around his own, that the two of you could barely breathe in anything that wasn’t lingering on each other’s bodies. 

“You had me,” you answered in between breathless kisses, in between promises, in between hopeful smiles. “You had me at the beginning.”

if you liked this cheesy shit, check out my multichapters!

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FOREVER TAGLIST:

@house-of-kolchek @lorebite @yeslieutenant @kassiekolchek22 @buttermykolchek @kawaiiwitch224 @ageofbajabule

[infin1ty-garden]

So I just finished the quarry and fell in love max brinly 😅 do you think you can do a max brinly x reader? Weather they were already in a relationship or met at camp, but max makes it to camp and is there the whole summer. Something happens to where the reader get attacked/bit that night and he does whatever he can to save her? Preferably a happy ending together, but your discretion! Thank you for whatever you can do!!

I WOULD DIE FOR HER

༊*·˚ summary: [ in request ] ༊*·˚ pairing: max brinly x fem! reader ༊*·˚ warnings: werewolf attack? injury, guns, blood & curse words ༊*·˚ word count: 1180 ༊*·˚ author note: it's been a while since i played the quarry. canon divergent

masterlist.

"A werewolf? Great! What's next? Dracula?" It was the last day of summer camp. They were suppose to be on the road already but their car didn't start. Instead of eating junk food and belting songs, they were stuck here. At best until tomorrow morning.

And now, apparently a wolf or werewolf attacked Nick and Abby. Max didn't doubt Abby or Nick's words but a werewolf is something harder to believe in. An escaped science experiment would have been more believable.

No matter how believable it is or not. One thing was for certain, something was out there to get them. Dylan and Ryan try to get help via the radio shack as the others stay back in the lodge, including Max and you. But while there you hear something on the roof.

Sounding way too heavy to be a bird. Then Abby and Nick's statement proves to be right as a werewolf crashes through the roof. It starts chasing each of you, trying to see which one will catch it first. Right as you think you managed to find a good place to hide.

It charges at your hiding place. It's claws sinking into your shoulder. Max rips the gun out of Kaitlyn's arms and aims it for the creature. Shoot it in the arm then stomach. It turns its attention away from you and to Max as shots it in the head. It backs off running into the woods.

"How did you know how to do that?" Max hands the gun back to Kaitlyn and rushes over to you. "It's a gun. It's not that difficult," he assesses the wound. It's deep and without some treatment you could bleed out. He refuses to show any panic. Knowing it'll only make the situation worse.

Max knows there's some medical stuff in the lodge 'just in case something happens'. This is something. He tells Kaitlyn to keep you awake as he goes to find the supplies. He's not a medical student or anything but he will try his best.

"Don't let her die," is all Max could think about and when he gets back he makes quick work of the wound with the help of Kaitlyn. He has you bite on a cloth as they sow up the wound and wrap a lot of gauze around it. It's not perfect but it's the best they could do.

By the time they are done. Ryan and Dylan are back. They bombard them with questions on what happened. You look pale and Max, the worried boyfriend that he is, keeps sending you concerned looks. The first time you try to take a step, you almost faceplant.

But you need to leave the lodge as there is now a hole in the roof. The group decided to go to the pool house and hunker down there. Max helps you walk all the way there. Once you arrive, Nick starts acting really weird. Max and you separate from the group.

He lets you rest but does everything so you don't close your eyes. He goes back to check on the others. The next thing you hear is a lot of yelling and the sound of a gunshot. Max comes rushing back. He's in a state of shock. That much is obvious.

Quickly picks you up bridal style and runs out of the pool house. On your way out you notice the room was drenched in blood. You're left in the dark as to what happened. What you do notice is Laura, one of Max's friends and a counsellor that went missing, showed up.

She explains where she'd been this whole time. The group makes the ultimate decision to split up again. Laura and Ryan go to the Heckett's house, Emma and Abby to the basement of the lodge and Dylan, Kaitlyn, Max and you try to find a spare part to fix the car.

Even Laura suggested that Max go with her but he declined. Refusing to leave your side. Cute, considering you'll turn into one of those creatures before the night is over. At the junkyard, Dylan and Kaitlyn are working on the crane.

Dylan starts rapidly honking the horn. "There's something coming!" Max and you find a hiding place hoping that the creature doesn't find you. That hope is squashed as it's now only a few feet away from you. You feel anger bubbling up in you.

You've been through shit this whole night. Two of your friends could be dead and Max's missing ex girlfriend is now back. Is he going to dump you and get back together with her? Were you just a summer fling to him? You feel as if your insides are being ripped out.

Were you dying? Max jumps from the hiding place and shoots the creature. He aims to take another shot but the gun's empty. It runs to your hiding place. You feel as if something is trying to burst out of your chest. Excruciating pain as your bones break than a burst of blood.

You can't control your movements anymore. Attack the werewolf charging at you, killing it. Max can't believe what he's seeing. He knew it was a matter of time before you turned but this is terrifying. If he is to die by your hand so be it but to his surprise you run away.

Leaving the junkyard to go to God knows where. He goes to find Kaitlyn and Dylan, tells them what had happened. All three of them go back to the lodge with the part in hand to meet up with the other counsellors. Laura and Ryan return with Travis Hackett.

"It's over. We killed Silas," the first thought in Max's head is 'Who?' and the second how the hell is he going to find you. Laura offers to go with him and this time he obliges. If there's a possibility they find your dead body, he needs someone he trust there when he breaks down.

Instead of finding a dead body, they find you walking. Probably trying to find a way back to the lodge. Max is overwhelmed with relife and envelopes you in a bone crushing hug. "You're okay. Thank God! You're okay." He peppers your face with kisses.

"Never do that again," he rests his head on your shoulder. "What do you mean? I turn into a werewolf on a regular basis," he laughs but soon tears start falling from his eyes. Laura interrupts the moment.

"We should get back. I don't wanna spend another second in this forest," she starts walking. "Laura's back. So, when's your date planned?" Max's back straightens and his eyes look as if they'll fall out of his sockets. "What?"

"With Laura. I would assume you guys will pick up where you left off." He aggressively shakes his head. "No! I mean we didn't break up but the night before she left we realised we're just not working. To me you're like a breath of fresh air. Okay that's a cheesy metaphor but I love you and nothing will change that."

Thanks for reading!

[slayleysstuff]

I FR AM OBSESSED WITH THIS FIC !! I’ve been literally searching high and low for max fics that don’t always end in sex 😭 this one was sooo good the writing was incredible and i loved how max explains why he got with Laura near the end and how he is still in love like yes I need this 🤞

okay so i’ve been craving something with max/reader where he’s with laura, maybe laura is gonna break up with him or something, and he realizes his feelings for reader all along (no pressure if you’re not into it or don’t have time though!)

*note: this turned into a fic. it’s a gift and a curse of mine. also making this an au where they did in fact go to the motel and so they spend the summer together! also Laura and Emma aren’t the best characters in this so apologies if they’re your favorite. the drama just flowed too well.

warnings: fem!reader, harsh language, mentions of alcohol, high tension

Laura is a good person.

You’ve known this since third grade when she brushed off your scraped knee and shouldered you to the nurse’s office. She’s a good person—an even better friend.

But good people can do bad things.

If you want to get technical about the details, you knew Max long before Laura. He’s the son of a family friend and had been mixed up in your school days since preschool era. You two weren’t all that close until summer came around, your families hosting duel vacations every other year.

Those stopped around middle school, dead center in puberty. You and Max stayed in touch, practically leaning towards best friends by then, too, but you were with Laura a lot those days. The two of them met junior year of high school because of you.

One of your biggest regrets by far.

“You’re really not gonna go for it?”

Laura’s in the bathroom, you and Max going over the study guide for your first of many final exams. Steadily, you’re approaching the end of your senior year in college. He’ll be off to graduate school and Laura to vet school right beside him.

You…

You’re still figuring it out.

Shrugging, you erase an answer to replace it with the correct variation.

“I think Laura wants it to be a you and her thing. I’d be third wheeling like I always do.”

You turn it into a joke. That’s all you’ve been doing since senior year of high school. Jokes. Easier to laugh than to cry.

“There’s gonna be other counselors to hang out with,” he says, sipping on his drink as he flips to another page in his textbook. He’s always preferred the physical copies to the electronic despite the heftier price. You respect that. “She wouldn’t have mentioned the opening unless she wanted you to come with. And we’re friends. You’re not third wheeling.”

“Two months is a long time to be babysitting.”

“You’d be the swim instructor and a prep cook. I think between both of those, you’re getting about half the action.”

“As opposed to you, the great activity leader?”

He rolls his eyes, smiling into his notes.

“Obviously.”

You shake your head, biting the inside of your cheek as he calls your name.

“Come. Please,” he murmurs, blue eyes big and round and as heartbreaking as a hungry kitten in the rain. “This might be the last time we get to hang out again. If I get into that school—”

“When you get in,” you urge gently. “It was a great essay, Max.”

“Thanks to you,” he supplies, freckled cheeks extended with his ever warm smile. “I just want some more time with my best friend. So does Laura.”

It was so much easier to say no to her. With Max it’s like trying to set a broken bone by yourself. You know you can do it, but the pain. Always deterring you from going through with it even if it’s better for you in the long run.

But saying yes to him while breaking your own heart? It’s a reoccurring offense.

“Here. Got your favorite.”

You look up as plastic rustles and nearly get decked by the flying treat. Max laughs at the fumble and you stick your tongue out at him before smiling down at the snack. Cosmic brownies—a staple in old school lunches.

“You’re lucky I love the outdoors,” you huff, nodding when he raises his brow expectantly. “Yeah, I’ll send a resume in for the spot.”

Set up in the backseat of the car a few months later with the map marked and the directions highlighted, you still find yourself wondering if this was the right thing to do.

The crash is startling, even more so than the growing tension between your usually lovesick best friends. Laura, always one to take charge and not let up, is not helping the stressful situation of having possibly hit a person.

You stay behind with Max to help fix the car when Laura wants to explore, and by help you mean hold the light so that he can see what the hell he’s doing.

“Good thing you’re a mechanical degree,” you tease, swatting a bug drawn to the beam of light that sprouts from your phone. “You sure it’s fixable?”

“Guess we’ll find out,” he mumbles, expression guarded.

You shift awkwardly in place, not used to seeing him in a bad mood for so long. Honestly, you’d noticed the frequenting fights between them but you’d chosen to keep your distance and not comment. They always worked everything out in the end.

Four year relationships last for a reason.

“We aren’t lost, you know,” you say, hoping to lift the cloud darkening his brow. “I highlighted the route on my map. We’re going the right way, Laura’s just a little…impatient.”

“We had to have made a wrong turn somewhere or we’d have been there earlier.”

His tone is bordering blaming, more so directed at himself with the way he scowls and his eyes stare into the distance.

You reach forward and poke a bit of grease on his cheek, pulling him out of whatever riptide his thoughts are dragging him into.

“You have a smudge,” you reveal, showcasing your icky finger. He makes a wipe for his stain and misses, leaving your to guide his wrist towards it. The skin you touch is warm.

“We didn’t make a wrong turn, we just took the longer route that puts us past more towns and rest stops,” you explain, wishing to reassure him. “I thought we might need a hotel option since—”

You zip your mouth shut not wishing to add to the festering arguments between lovers.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just should’ve chosen the shorter route.”

“You know you get a little pitchy when you lie?”

You scrunch your face at him, earning a chuckle as he focuses back on the car again.

“I’m sorry, but you do. Always have even when we were little.”

He playfully nudges you when you grumble to yourself, “I do not…”

“C’mon. What is it?” he prods softly.

You hesitate, thinking through the options.

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

He gives you an incredulous look as he grabs a wrench from the toolbox.

“Have I ever been angry at you?”

You laugh out loud at that, phone light shaking.

“Uh, yes, a dozen of times!”

“Name one.”

You smirk, smug as you open your mouth before the words die on your tongue.

When was the last time he was mad at you?

“Oh,” your eyes light up as you dig the tip of your shoe into the dirt, “a few weeks ago. You snapped at me when I was cleaning up the glass Laura broke during the movie marathon.”

He pauses, turning his head towards you but not his eyes.

“I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad at—” he sucks in a breath, tinkering away again, “she broke your favorite mug. From when we were little. I saw the look on your face when it happened and seeing you clean it up…”

He sighs, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t mad at you,” he repeats. ”And I won’t be mad, so tell me why the longer route.”

You shift in place, discomforted. It felt like another argument waiting to happen but you suppose the truth was coming out sooner or later when you reached the camp tonight.

“Well, Laura never was able to, uh, get in touch with Mr. Hackett.”

“What?” He looks at you clearly confused as he rests his hands against the edge of the hood. “She said he knew we were coming.”

“Maybe he does,” you try to sound optimistic, you really do. “But she just left a message and so I thought the extra time on this route would give him enough time to call her back you know? And if he didn’t I was gonna suggest a motel—”

He groans sounding more exasperated than anything as he rubs his face over the crook of his elbow and not greasy hands.

“I love her. I do. But she always wants to skip too many steps,” he complains, laughing out the stress built up. “I’m so glad you thought ahead. We’re bunking up tonight whether she likes it or not. I’m not driving all the way out there if he didn’t even give her permission. That’s out of the question.”

You agree with him but don’t say so outright. Besides, you’re all tired from the long car ride. Everyone deserves a good night’s rest after this crash.

“You’re always covering her tracks,” he hums, head nearly lost to the car’s inner workings. “You’re a good friend. Maybe too good.”

“What do you mean?”

Before you can get an answer out of him, Laura is running full tail out of the denser area of forest, pale white as a ghost.

After the stuff she has to say, you’re quick to pile into the vehicle with them, shivering at the prospect of an old woman wandering around.

You nearly shit yourself when the cop shows up.

Suspiciously, Laura’s all for his plan to head to Harbinger’s Motel. With how fast he’d pulled your car out of the mud and back onto the road, you couldn’t care less how creepy the man was—he’s a savior and the motel is a great idea.

Laura does a full 180 when he’s gone. You’re not surprised; she had been dead set on being the first counselors to the Hackett’s Quarry.

“Honey, you really want to listen to the advice of some creep-ass cop, who told us in the middle of the creep-ass woods, to go to some creep-ass hotel?”

“Yes,” says Max, fully defiant. It’s another shock to your system, blindsiding you as they both turn to get your opinion on the matter.

You give Laura a guilty smile and she sighs, going silent for the rest of the trip as you read the directions to the hotel to Max. The cop had circled it despite your highlighter having already marked it.

After a tense night with the silently quarreling couple, you survive to see the next day and the group you’ll be spending the following two months with.

Abigail reminds you of Max’s shy nature. You two take to each other easily, but she’s a bit more social when it comes to the other girls. Emma and her share a cabin with the kids and while you respect the gal for her theatrical skills, she’s just not someone you can hang around with long. She drains you somehow, but it’s probably just you.

Always is, usually.

You find solitude with Dylan during morning announcements, enjoying his “DJ station” as the kids like to call it. He’s proud of all the updates he managed, happy to tell you the story behind everything when you compliment them. The little hut is his baby. He bestows you with the title of godmother despite your lack of intelligence with the gear.

You think Ryan likes you, or at least tolerates you. His affinity with podcasts and ghost stories had piqued your interest one night at dinner. You’re not all for horror or anything, but you do enjoy a good murder scene breakdown from time to time.

The other counselors are kind and welcoming but distant with their roles with the kids. You don’t run into them all that often unless they’re dropping off their group at the pool or it’s their turn to help you cook. The schedules change every day to keep the kids on their feet.

A few weeks in Laura comes to you in the dead of the night crying. You do your best to give her some solace as she describes the tiff-turn-fight with Max.

Apparently, she’d seen a rejection letter in his bag after the crash on that weird night with the cop and the thing in the road. When she’d approached him about it, shit pretty much hit the fan. That’s all she gives, eyes empty and rimmed red.

“I’m sorry, babe,” you tell her, heart hurting for her. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No,” she sniffs, wiping her face with her jacket’s sleeve. “Honestly, I think this might be good for us.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, if we’re not going to the same college it won’t last.”

“C’mon, don’t say that. You guys have made it this long—distance won’t change that.”

“Maybe not for him,” she sighs, shrugging, “but that’s not something I can handle. I need support and comfort and phone calls and texts won’t give me that.”

For some reason, that doesn’t sit well with you because, yeah, Max is always going to support Laura, that’s what he’s been doing. And now she’s saying the best that he can do won’t be enough? It’s a shit excuse. A cop out.

You wonder if it’s just her not willing to put in the work that comes with long distance.

“Laura,” you almost scoff but somehow manage to sound concerned instead, “you guys can visit each other. It’s not the end of the world—you can make it work.”

“You don’t get it,” she argues, her bullheadedness rearing as she tosses a mild glare your way. “You’ve never been in a real relationship. Not everything can be worked out, sometimes, you know?”

She could have punched a hole through your chest and it would’ve been far less painful than what she’d just said.

“You know what,” you breathe, trying to bite back the tightness taking control of your throat, even your eyes begin to water, “you’re right. This isn’t any of my business. You two can work it out yourselves.”

Laura calls your name, abashed as you stand and walk towards the stairs of the lodge. You’ve had enough for one night and sneaking out of your bunk when there’s sleeping kids around isn’t the best idea.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry!”

“Whatever, Laura.” You get to the top before you turn and throw your hands up at her. “Do whatever you want to do because at the end of the day, you don’t listen to anyone’s advice but your own.”

Fate just keeps kicking you down, it seems, because Max’s group of kids are scheduled for swim time the next day.

Standing on lifeguard duty with him by your side, you find relief that Mr. H had been strict about swimwear: one pieces for the girls and shirts for the boys. Some of the guys didn’t follow those rules, but Max did, luckily.

You don’t think a drowning kid would have good odds if his toned stomach is within eyesight.

A kid screams as a splashing contest begins. You blow your whistle at a runner, pointing in warning before the little tike slows his roll. Max laughs at your stern authority, sitting next to you on the hot concrete by the pool ledge. Both of your legs are dipped into the cool water, shifting the surface every so often.

“They listen to you.”

“Guess I scare them,” you huff, smiling to yourself as a pair of kids beg you from the other side of the pool to join their game. You shake your head, pointing to the life guard on duty sign.

They whine but continue on with their fun.

“Sure,” Max quips. “Looks like you’re a real terror they want on their team.”

You roll your eyes, remaining a keen eye for any tripping feet or diving heads.

“I might’ve screwed up,” he says, sitting close enough that you can feel the heat radiating off his side. “I think we might be splitting up.”

Your heart seizes as you whip your head to Max. There is no way Laura could be that serious about breaking up—not in one night.

“Did she say that?”

He shrugs, eyelids lowered as he kicks his feet out in the blue-hued water.

“It was a bad fight.”

“Couples fight, Max,” you whisper. He shakes his head.

“Not like this. Not over crap like this. She snooped through my stuff—how was I suppose to react? I didn’t tell her yet because I knew how she’d get.”

He blinks and glances at you.

“She already told you, right? That…that I didn’t get in?”

You nod, guilty as his shoulders drop and a pout forms on his lips.

“I don’t know why they wouldn’t accept,” you say, angry on his behalf. “You had good grades—a great essay!”

“She said the same thing,” he grouses, “but she seemed to think I didn’t try hard enough, somehow. That that’s why I was afraid to tell her.”

“Are you shitting me?”

Max’s eyes nearly bulge out as he looks at you. You don’t know why he’s so shocked before a chorus of “oooh”s break up your conversation.

“You said a bad word!” multiple, squeaky voices berate.

“Okay, okay,” you shout, blowing your whistle to reign them in. “You’re right. That was bad. You guys wanna decide a punishment?”

“Soap in the mouth!”

“Mom makes me write a bunch of sentences!”

“Let’s make her play the game she did with Jacob’s group!”

“Oh no,” you groan as they all cheer. You hide your face in your hands as Max laughs next to you.

“What game?” he asks, nudging you over and over as you shake your head repeatedly. “What? Tell me!”

A chant begins, steadily growing as more kids chime in with “Sharkbait! Sharkbait!”

“It’s torture tag,” you sigh, laying an elbow on your knee as you rest your chin in your hand. “I’m the shark and have to swim after all of them blindfolded.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“They played it for the entire pool time last week. I’m still sore.”

He laughs at that, shuffling forward and sliding into the water. Your heart trips over a rib cage or two when he smiles up at you, cheeky.

“Two sharks are better than one.”

It’s still chaos. Small pods of giggling kids running amok in the water. You only allow seven in at a time and whoever gets caught has to switch with who ever is next in line.

Between all the swimming and knocking into the sides of the pool, you catch quite a few kids despite your blinded eyes.

Then you collide with a larger body, hands finding more skin than ought to be on display. Strong arms wrap around you before Max’s chuckles reach your ears. His hands smooth over your shoulders.

“I think I caught my teammate,” he says, also blindfolded. The kids laugh around all of you.

You’re too focused on the feeling of his pecs under your hands to come up with a retort. When had he’d taken his shirt off?

“Well, what do we have here?”

You scramble back, ripping the blindfold from your eyes to stare gobsmacked at Emma.

She smirks down at you from the edge of the pool, arms crossed over her one piece. It’s more elegant than yours, black and sleek and fitting to her model figure.

“Time for activity change,” she sings, all too smug. Max’s group whines, going to change out of their swim suits as you blow the whistle.

Max climbs out of the pool nearby, your eyes drawn to the muscles in his back as he does so.

Emma clears her throat and you meet her attention again before scrambling out of the water yourself.

Something tells you a path had been chosen just then.

That same path reaches another fork come midnight a week later.

Mr. H had needed to head out for the night leaving Ryan in charge before dinner preparations had begun. He trusted the counselors to keep the kids in check for the next few hours, cautioning everyone that he’d be back come early morning.

The kids were left to run around after dinner at 6PM, leaving all of them tuckered out by nightfall. You’re busy cleaning up the kitchen and dining hall with Abigail when Dylan comes strutting in.

“Toddlers are all toddled out,” he beams and your jaw drops as he holds up an entire bottle of straight vodka.

“There is no way in hell you got Ryan to okay this,” you argue as Abigail shakes her head. “Where did you even get that?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she mumbles at the same time.

Dylan grins triumphantly.

“Smuggled in the first day. Ryan said we’re good as long as we stay by the fire pit and don’t get too rowdy or hungover tomorrow.”

“Who’s gonna watch the kids?!” you hiss.

“We’re gonna draw straws,” he answers. “Two who get the shortest miss out on all the real fun and stay by the cabins.”

“Of the dozens of kids here, we’re leaving two counselors to keep watch?” you scoff, entirely unamused. “No. This is a horrible idea.”

“No, it’s a crazy idea and it’s the full moon so,” Dylan’s purses his lips, shrugging and nodding, “shit checks out. Yeah.”

You rub your temples, the makings of a headache building with his lunacy.

Somehow, all ten counselors show up to draw straws by the little bridge separating the kids cabins from the trail leading back up to the lodge or to the lake depending on the direction.

Abigail draws first, pressured by Emma. She looks all but relieved to get one of the two short straws.

“Have fun, you guys,” she says. “If anything happens, I knew nothing.”

“If anything happens, we all have amnesia,” Ryan deadpans, earning everyone’s attention. “I’m serious. If anyone’s taking the heat for this, it’s the evil genius.”

“Aww, you think I’m a genius?” Dylan teases, a hand on his hip as he twists in place.

“That’s all you got out of that?” Kaitlyn scoffs, crossing her arms.

“Me next, me next!” Jacob practically squeals, ignoring the shushes from the others and grabbing a straw. He screams silently in excitement as he hoists a long straw in the air.

Emma snatches the next one. She’s in. Nick follows her lead in joining the party.

Dylan’s offers Kaitlyn the lot next. She groans when she reveals the second short straw.

“You dweebs are lucky it’s two responsible counselors keeping an eye out,” she says, waving as she joins Abigail in heading back to the cabins. They’d be camping out by the big tree tonight, likely taking shifts to watch and see if any kids needed help tonight.

With both short straws drawn, the partygoers make their way to the fire pit. Dylan, Nick, and Jacob are already taking shots on the way down. You doubt they’ll meet the sunrise without a hangover weighing them down.

“This is fun, right?”

You glance at Laura as she comes up on your left, smile wide. You haven’t talked to her since that rough night filled with cruel words. To be fair, you didn’t cross roads often here with her being a nurse and not a trainer like most counselors. She didn’t seem all that phased from the lack of word from you, though.

“Sure,” you mutter, watching your step in the dark shades of the trees where the bright light of the moon doesn’t reach. “Unless we get caught.”

“So we don’t get caught.” She shrugs. “Simple as that.”

“Oh, sure, very simple,” chuckles Max right behind her. She shoves back into him playfully, the two of them grinning at one another.

Your gut twists as your feet quicken.

Splitting up your ass.

Stop, you tell yourself. Stop. It was just a stupid little fight.

They’ve been together for years—what were you expecting? To slip between them and have both shoulders cried on? To maybe have Max back home for the year while he figures out his next plan?

To have a second chance?

“Dylan,” you call, pushing forward from the back of the group to the front.

He turns, in the middle of laughing at something or another. His smile fades for the quickest second when he sees your face. You try to school it into something less pitying and more determined as you hold your hand out.

“Gimme the bottle.”

“Oh, shit!” Nick guffaws.

“Yeah, man!” encourages Jacob, stealing the bottle away from Dylan to pass it to you. “Lifeguard is officially on party duty!”

You hear Max call your name as you take up the liquor.

“Cheers!” you say to the wind, drinking up.

You sputter at the burn, coughing like a maniac as Jacob whoops. Dylan pats you on the back and you follow alongside him for the remainder of the journey down to the lake, upping your energy to match them the best you can.

You would make this fun. No more moping.

Once the fire is going and some snacks are passed around, the air changes.

You catch Emma eyeing you from across the fire pit and raise an eyebrow at her, sipping on a bottle of water.

“Let’s play truth or dare,” she says to everyone but her gaze remains on you. “Rules: you can ask anyone anything and dare them to do whatever.”

She looks around at the few unsure faces. Yours is not one of them.

“If half the group vetos it, then it’s whatever. You don’t have to answer or do the dare. Everyone in?”

A bunch of college kids, a bottle of vodka, and a game that can bring out the worst in people?

Of course everyone’s in.

The game starts out somewhat soft and easy. Dylan’s turn comes around and after having to take a small sip of lake water and swallow it (courtesy of Jacob’s dare), you choose truth if only to save your stomach from the mixing of two very unsettling liquids.

Hell, you’re tipsy enough after a few shots of vodka. You’ll stick to clean and filtered water for the rest of the night.

“Hmm,” Dylan taps his chin in thought, “if you had to sleep with someone here, who would you choose?”

That sip of lake water flips in your stomach. You pray the queasiness really is just your anxiety and not some parasite instead.

“You expect me to choose one out of all these beautiful people?” you scoff, waving a hand around as chuckles enter the air. “That’s just mean, Dylan.”

“Answer up, buttercup,” he croons, one leg folding over the other. You can tell his tipsy meter is much higher than your own at this point. Half of the bottle is already gone which is fairly concerning but not your problem.

Your eyes rove the group around you, skirting over the only true answer the quickest and not daring to meet his eyes.

“Ryan was voted the hottest in bunk 7,” you say. Said boy chokes on his drink, eyes going wide.

“What?” he asks.

“Bullshit,” Jacob says, affronted. You shrug at him, muscles loose and tingly.

“Just saying.”

“Well that’s what bunk 7 thinks,” Emma says, leaning forward on her knees. “What about you?”

“Honestly, I think Kaitlyn would be interesting to sleep with,” you hum. “She’s feisty.”

“Liar,” she sings.

Heat flashes in your chest as you raise a brow at her.

“Uh, what?” you huff.

“Liar,” she repeats, squinting as she grins toothily. “You and I both know who you really want here.”

The fire popping and cracklings between the two of you is nothing on the heat building in your body. You want to lunge across, fall into violence and smash her dainty nose into the log against her back.

Instead, you deflect.

“Damn,” you sigh, “you’ve got me.”

Everyone looks between the two of you, tension mounting.

“I like someone with a bit more tenderness.” You tilt your head towards Jacob who sits next to her, drunk as skunk. “A man who isn’t afraid to cry is a winner in my book. I’d sleep with Jacob.”

Dylan flat out chokes because he laughs so hard.

“Oh, yeah,” the jock slurs, pumping his fist. “Bunk 7 my ass. I’m a stud, obviously.”

Emma’s mask looks about ready to break as she stares you down through the flames. Jacob wraps an arm around her, cooing how she’s the only one for him but he thanks you.

“No problem,” you say, leaning back against your log as the game continues.

You dare Nick to dip his feet in the lake—shoes and socks stay on. His footsteps squeak all the way back to his seat.

Jacob calls on you again soon after that, daring you to boat across to the island and do the zip line. Everyone is quick to veto it, save for Emma, of course.

When her turn comes around, you’ve long since readied yourself for whatever she’s about to throw at you.

You take a breath, not breaking away when her gaze meets yours again.

“Max,” she names.

You swear you suffer whiplash for a moment as she bades him.

“Truth or dare?”

“Hmm, truth,” he says, unbothered as he lounges next to Laura two people down from you.

“Tell us about your first love,” Emma asks, smiling sweetly towards him. “If you’ve had one besides Laura, I mean.”

Max is taken back by the question, looking about as unprepared as Dylan did with his dare, who now wears his underwear over his head.

Next to him, Laura winces and stares pointedly down at her lap. You watch the exchange in befuddlement.

“Well, uh,” he breathes out a long breath, gesturing with his hand, “it was, like, back in first grade, I guess.”

“Damn, Romeo,” Ryan chuckles, only one shot in and pleasantly buzzed.

“She wasn’t in my class, but I sat by the window and saw her playing outside a lot. Our reading time was during their playground time.”

Max’s eyes glaze over as he speaks, staring through the ground as he reminisces.

“She was super polite to the other kids she played with, never fought to be the first on the tire swing and always helped decide rules for games when people were arguing—just sweet stuff? you know?

“I think what I loved was that kindness she had, always being the best for the people around her.”

He chuckles.

“She even gave up her favorite snack during lunch a few times.”

“Please tell me it was peanut-butter butter pops,” Jacobs sniffs.

Max’s hair sweeps the air as he shakes his head no.

“Nah,” he murmurs, “cosmic brownies.”

The world stops turning, the air in your lungs growing stagnant with disuse.

Blistering blue eyes flit up to glimpse at you before looking elsewhere. All in the span of a second.

“That’s really sweet, actually,” Emma says, smugness gone. Your nose flares as she smiles at you, almost as if in pity. “She would’ve been a lucky girl.”

Max gives up his turn to Nick who targets Laura. She’s the one to have gone the least so far, surprisingly.

“I don’t know, uh, truth, I guess?” she stutters, out of it. The space between Max and her seems a bit bigger now.

“What’s the meanest thing you’ve ever done?”

In an instant she looks about ready to cry.

“No,” she says, “I don’t want to say that.”

“Hey, better than some shit we’ve had to go through,” says Dylan, underwear still adorned. “What, did you kill a guy?”

“Maybe she hit a neighbors dog but didn’t tell her because she felt so bad and then she saw her crying over the body the next day,” Jacob pipes up.

“Jacob,” breathes Nick, “what the fuck?”

“Sorry, Ms. Henderson,” he sobs, cuddling an empty bottle of vodka.

“Well, he’s in for a doozy of a morning,” Dylan states before turning back to Laura. “C’mon, let loose. No one vetoed.”

“Hey,” Max snaps, “it’s a tough question, man. Give her a sec.”

“No one else has backed out. All I’m saying,” a hiccup escapes him, “is that this might be the best time to get it off her chest, you know? Who are we to judge?”

“So?” Ryan asks. “What about it Laura?”

“I’m sorry,” she sighs, refusing.

“I bet you I can guess,” Emma says, getting her feet with a grunt. She paces around the fire in slow steps, one arm wrapped around her stomach while the other swings a pointer finger around the air as she talks. “What could possibly be so mean that she couldn’t bring up in the midst of strangers that she’ll never see again?”

“Blackmail?” Nick tries as your mouth goes sour.

“Or,” Emma hums, embodying the cat whose caught the canary, “she doesn’t want to upset the people that aren’t strangers.”

Max looks to Laura just as you do. She doesn’t meet either of your eyes.

“Something mean, something mean…” Emma mumbles in pretend thought. “Something she did behind the boyfriend’s back, maybe?”

“Stop it,” Laura snaps, getting to her feet. “You don’t know shit about me!”

Emma just smiles, finger digging lightly into the apple of her cheek.

“Or something she did behind her best friend’s, I wonder?”

“Laura,” Max whispers, looking up at her in bewilderment. “What is she talking about?”

“Nothing! She’s just taking jabs and trying to start shit,” she defends, turning away. “I’m going back. This is stupid.”

“Maybe it was even both,” continues Emma, pacing again.

“Hey, guys, let’s chill,” Ryan offers. “I don’t want bad blood between counselors; we still have a month left.”

“Dylan said it himself,” she reasons. “The truth wasn’t vetoed.”

“Okay, fine, then I veto,” he says, looking around. “Guys?”

“I kinda wanna know,” Dylan shrugs, grinning guiltily. Jacob and Nick nod in agreement.

You and Max remain silent.

“I’m not playing anymore,” Laura growls. “So say whatever you want, that doesn’t make it the truth.”

“Then why are you so scared to stick around? I’m almost done.”

“Fuck. You.”

“Yes,” Emma says softly, hair bouncing as she nods, “I do believe it involves both of them. The boyfriend who was in love with her best friend and the best friend who was too kind and let her steal him away.”

Laura flinches so hard it rips your heart to shreds.

“Alright, that’s enough,” you spit, getting to your feet. Maybe you had been right about the world freezing because, suddenly, it’s catching up to speed and you stumble onto your knees.

“Fuck,” you whisper on all fours. You’re drunker thank you’d previously believed.

Dylan, next to you, puts a hand over your back and tries to help you up.

“Hold up,” Jacob barks in the background, “how is that the meanest thing if Laura didn’t, like, decide that herself?”

“Right, so where does that leave us? What mean thing could Laura have done?” Emma declares.

“You bitch—“

“Except lie?” she finishes, all to proud of her deduction skills.

“About?” prods Nick.

Max goes taut when you look towards him, eyes wide. You mouth “what?” just as Laura yells at everyone to shut up.

“I did lie,” she admits, voice scratchy, “but that sure as hell isn’t any of your business.”

“But it is ours.”

Everyone gawks at Max as he stands, facing off with Laura.

“Tell her,” he bids, so angry he looks like a whole other person. “Because I’ve connected the dots and, shit, Laura—that’s fucking cruel.”

“He cusses?” Dylan whispers in your ear.

You shake your head.

“Very rarely,” you mumble, fully on your feet as Laura twists to stare at you.

Tears creep down her face. You don’t know what to feel.

“I lied,” she says to you, sniffing. “He asked me about you junior year and I told him you’ve only ever thought of him as a friend even though I knew you didn’t.”

You gape at her, feeling your lip begin to tremble as you scoffed.

“You—he,” you gasp, glancing at Max. He’s staring at the fire, miffed as can be. “Why, Laura? If you knew that, why?”

“Because I liked him, too!” she yelps, shaking her head. “I was jealous—I’m sorry, and y-you never made a move in all the years you knew him so I went for it—”

“You fucking lied is what you did,” you hiss, swallowing a sob.

When she calls your name, you blow her off and stumble out of Dylan’s support. Some people call out after you, but you just keep walking.

It’s hard to see though all the tears, but you somehow end up at the lake shack sitting on the edge of one of the peers. You nearly fall in, just barely catching yourself and crying like a newborn baby.

Because, really, what a fucking waste of so much time, of so much love and adoration towards the one person who had always returned it without your knowing.

It feels like your chest is fracturing open it hurts so bad. No wonder people die of heartbreak.

Feeling footsteps approach, you jump and whip around.

Max stands above you, eyes dark and turning pink.

“Did you cry?” you ask dumbly.

“Yeah,” he squeaks and clears his throat. “I hate seeing you cry.”

For some reason, likely the alcohol still in your system, you start laughing. It’s lodges a few more tears down your heated face.

“What a show, huh?” he murmurs, sitting next to you. “Breakfast is going to be interesting tomorrow.”

“To say the least,” you agree.

Max swings his feet over the ledge, yours crossed and curled close to your body. You angle your head down and to the side when he offers you something.

“Last one in the snack bag,” he says, plastic wrapper crinkling around the rainbow sprinkled masterpiece.

You take it, fingertips brushing his before you lean your weight against his side. It’s colder tonight and he’s always warm.

“Was it really me?”

He hums, waiting for more.

“Your first love?”

Chuckling, he throws an arm around your back. You look up at him, faces close.

“It still is you,” he whispers.

You sniff, closing your eyes and looking away. His hand comes up to wipe away a few more tears.

“I should’ve said something, but you were always around and I didn’t want to lose your friendship if you didn’t return the feelings.” It all comes out in a slurred ramble.

“Hey, it’s not like I did any better,” he murmurs, rubbing your back.

“Guess we’re both idiots, then.”

“Hey!” He laughs and you giggle as he tugs you closer. “Don’t be mean. We’re geniuses. Just…not all the time.”

“We’re not evil geniuses.”

“You know, Ryan says it was Dylan but the real mastermind is Emma.”

“She scares me,” you admit.

“Completely,” he agrees.

You both sit there in comfortable silence for a moment or two.

“So, what now?” you whisper, a stray breeze blowing your hair back.

“We talk to Laura, I guess.”

“Do you…still want to be with her?”

“No,” he says quickly, “no, I love her, but I learned to love her to try and get over you. It wasn’t a relationship built on good sentiments and I think, deep down, she knew that.

“And I’m still in love with you,” he sighs, your heart skipping. “It’s not fair to her.”

You lay your head on his shoulder, the full moon staring down at you two.

“You gonna forgive her?”

“Don’t know,” you murmur, eyelids heavy. “I’ll figure it out.”

“You always do,” he hums making you smile and turn to look at him.

When his eyes flit to yours, the moment slows to a stop again. His hand raises to push some hair off your face and you lean into the touch, heart prepped to burst.

“It’s hell of a late start, but can I kiss you?”

Beaming, you grab the collar of his shirt and yank his mouth to yours.

Behind you in the wooden shelter, a round of cheers have you both jumping apart.

The party had followed it seemed, now with one less counselor in the mix.

Emma raises a thumb up at you, phone on display.

“Oh my god was she recording all of that?” you ask in horror.

“I think she was,” Max chuckles, guiding your face back to his. You laugh against his lips as he whines, “What? They interrupted.”

It was looking to be a good rest of your summer at the Hackett Quarry.

[aplgy-girl]

THE QUARRY — bloodline ᝰ.ᐟ

~ fem!oc x jacob custos — fem!oc x max brinly 𝜗𝜚

CHAPTER ONE — prologue

TAGS ༉‧₊˚.

17+ !! suggestive, gorey, NOT PROOFREAD, cancellation of characters and/or dialogues, no caps friendly, lore is semi changed to fit into my characters plots! <3

no schedule — chapters might be short ྀི

────୨ৎ────

THE MOONLIGHT SHONE through the cracks of the van max borrowed from his mother, four young adults sat on the cushioned seats of it. all met from college classes, turned to study group, made into close friends. laura sat in the back with a veterinarian technician textbook in her sleep, whilst the purple haired woman, valerie, on her right side with her eyes closed, head bobbing softly to the soft music coming from her vintage ipod thrumming in her hand.

“okay, but seriously, max.. you shouldn’t be so stubborn and listen to me about directions.” a dark haired brunette cooed towards max, her hand holding onto max’s free hand, rubbing delicate circles on top his soft knuckles. max was noticeably anxious, driving into circles for what feels like eternity.

“sammie, hun, i tried. you told me two signs ago that we should go left… we are at the same sign.” he sighs, glancing towards his lover with adoration and agitation. they all decided to volunteer at a children’s summer camp over the season, to allow themselves “peace and tranquility” through the upcoming hardships they will have to encounter at university. it was also a farewell vacation for max and sammie, since they were moving universities to study abroad, or so what sammie said. max didn’t seem too keen on the plan, moving away from his childhood bestfriend, laura. sammie reasoned they will return to visit soon, since she would also be leaving her bestfriend, valerie.

valerie understood though, shes always supported samantha through everything. if you were a stranger to them, you would think they’re dating, but its quite the opposite. sammie and val always were like two peas in a pod, her mother being the sister to val’s, causing them to be close from the get-go.

they met max and laura in middle school, after sammie talked max’s ear off in aquatic science that she adored sharks, she introduced max to val, who then introduced laura to the bestfriends.

“i—ouch!-” val yelped when laura kicked her in a sleepy haze, causing val to lightly kick the girl in retort. the blonde stirred awake, eyebrows furrowed as she glares at val, in which she shrugs, kicking the blondes feet down from the seat to make more room for herself.

“whatever, whats going on guys? do you need a map, max?” she yawned out, stretching as much as she could in the confined car. she looked around the area to find the map, causing max’s attention to deviate to the movement.

sammie turned back to address max about what an offline book just experienced, before realizing he wasn’t paying attention. “max! road!” she groaned, lightly tapping his head as to signal it to turn.

he mutters a sorry, quickly turning to the road but sees a…. he doesn’t know exactly what he sees, but it’s big and most importantly, in their path. sammie’s eyes widen in realization as time feels to freeze, her hands flying to swerve the car to keep them from running over whatever that was.

the sudden movements pick up the attention of the two other women. the car thrashed wildly as you can hear sammie panicking while max tries to maintain the cars balance.

“ohmygodohmygodohmygod-” sammie rambled, one hand holding onto max’s shirt tightly, his once free hand now on the wheel to offer extra support, and the other hand holding the grab handles at the top of the car.

after what feels like forever for them, but in reality was 20 seconds, the tires screech to a pit stop. the only sound made was the panicked breathing of the group, eyes wide as saucers staring at each other.

“can somebody tell me what the fuck just happened?”

[multi-fandom-imagine]

⛑ - Some tender first-aid || Max Brinly ||

“You need to be more careful Max.”

Of course his response was nothing but a sheepish laugh as he adverted his gaze away from the wound you were bandaging. “Haha I’m fine….I mean it’s not too bad…and you do know what you’re doing so.”

Your touch was gentle, you were always gentle when it came to taking care of himself, well until he said something stupid.You narrowed your eyes tightening the bandage as he let out a yelp. “I’m going to nursing school. I’m not.” Sighing you shook your head just happy that his hand was patched up.

“God that’s hot.”

Biting your lip, you then crossed your arms over your chest. “‘ going to regret this but what is hot?”

“You being a nurse, you think you can wear one of those sexy little uniforms for me?” Max waggled his eye brows.

Blinking for a moment, you let out snort. Your hand quickly covering your mouth to hide your laughter, your hand patting his cheek. “God Max. Really, this isn’t some poring you know. I would be wearing scrubs.” You teased pinching his cheek.

Grinning he quickly wrapped his arms around your waist. “Ya but you can still make it look sexy babe.”

“While I’m flattered.”you rolled your eyes slipping out of your boyfriends arms as you gave him a teasing grin. “We need to go, we’re gonna be late.”

Rubbing his neck he nodded his head. “This is gonna be a fun summer.”

[ruewrote]

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡.

➞ jacob custos

➞ max brinly

➞ nicholas furcillo

[fearfics]

OOO! OOO!

imagine counselor!reader coming back to the bonfire with your group of campers, having collected things like rocks sticks and flowers and sitting next to max and putting the flowers in his hair, tucking it behind his ear, blushes hidden by the warmth of the fire on ur faces

[biggestxsimps]

Lost Lover

Any of ‘The Quarry’ Boys x Male Reader

A/N: This can be read with any of The Quarry boys, this is meant to be in Y/N’s POV but I guess the character of your choice also works. I’m not sure if this counts as angst, but I tried my best.

There are a lot of mentions of blood, death, gore and hallucinations. Please be wary and don’t read this fic if the content is too harsh!

You couldn’t believe he was gone. It felt like just yesterday the cops were pulling you away from your lover’s deformed corpse. His blood staining your hands and clothes as all you could smell was what remained of him.

You still smelt it now, having spent so many hours in those crimson-filled clothes gave you enough time to commit it to memory. You often smelt it on nights like this.

Cold. Dark. Silent. 

You feel the sticky blood crawl its way over your arms, it irks you how real it felt. Just like that night. Your eyes begin to fog, vision becoming indefinable as it grows dark, the blurred corpse of your former lover appearing. Your clothes feel tight, compressing your chest. It gets harder to breathe as the rotting smell fills your lungs. You gasp, voice hoarse as you try to regain composure.

The body beside you starts to become more visible, every gorey detail visible on his tormented face. Your heart aches as he lies there, lifeless. Your eyes swell with tears, the drops falling in abundance as you stare at him, unable to look away. 

You watch as his eyes shoot open, your heart leaping out of your throat as he starts to stand, unbalanced and deformed. You can’t help but feel a little joyous, seeing him alive, as mangled as he may be.

Until the screaming starts.

A blood-curdling screech rips from his throat. Blood follows as it drips down his neck, the screams turning into loud gurgling as he starts to drown in his own blood. His scarred arm lifts, his torn-apart finger pointing right at you. The gurgling stops, a few strained coherent words falling from his tongue. 

“This is all your fault-”

The sound of a door breaks you out of your trance.

“Y/N..” It’s a hushed voice, a familiar one. “Is it happening again?” You dig your head into your hands, wiping the tears flowing down your cheeks as you mutter. “Yeah.. yeah…” The bed dips as you feel the girl take a seat beside you, her hand rubbing against your arm as she whispers comforting words.

A/N: We’ve got a couple of our longest fics coming out soon (Hopefully this week) Including a Part 2 to the Hogwarts Legacy Yule Ball fic! All feedback is appreciated, I rarely write angst and I’m not all to good at it.

Masterlist

- Written by Owner 1

[moesthoughts]

ꪆৎ REQ INFO

𝜗℘ are reqs currently open? Yes , No

ꪆৎ What I do write ; smut, fluff, angst, pretty much any genre, ships, x any gender reader, drabbles, headcanons, fics

ꪆৎ What I don’t write for ; proship, pedophilia, noncon, large age gap, anything weird

⟡ my fandoms !

ꪆৎ the quarry

⟡ dylan lenivy x (male + gen neu characters/reader)

⟡ ryan erzahler x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ jacob custos x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ nick furcillo x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ kaitlyn ka x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ emma mountebank x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ abigail blyg x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ laura kearney x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ max brinly x (any gender characters/reader)

ꪆৎ until dawn

⟡ josh washington x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ beth washington x (any gender reader)

⟡ hannah washington x (any gender reader)

⟡ jessica riley x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ ashley brown x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ matthew taylor x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ chris hartley x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ emily davis x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ micheal munroe x (any gender characters/reader)

⟡ samantha giddings x (any gender characters/reader)

ꪆৎ arcane

⟡ any character x (any gender characters/reader)

exception; vi and caitlyn strictly x fem reader

ꪆৎ squid games

⟡ s1 + s2 characters x (any gender characters/reader)

ꪆৎ CURRENT REQS

⟡ jinx x reader

⟡ tending the pastures ( sam x f!reader )

⟡ backseat tunes ( josh x reader )

⟡ dating beth washington ( beth x reader )

⟡ morning announcements ( dylan x tmasc!reader )

⟡ friends with benefits ( josh x reader )

⟡ a long time coming ( nick x f!reader )

⟡ pet names with the councilors ( councilors x reader )

[bubblesreplies]

One Last Summer // Summary

Max Brinly X Female Reader

You saved his life last summer, taught him how to fight, and then watched his heart break.

A year later, you're still desperate to forget anything and everything that had happened that night; desperate to push away the human faces of the werewolves you'd helped put to an end, and even desperate to push away the friends you had made that summer.

But yet, for some reason, Max Brinly—the boy you'd met for all of two hours—wouldn't leave your mind. Tortured and comforted by the fact that you would never see him again, you receive an email from Ryan Erzahler:

I know this may come as a shock to many of you, but I've recently acquired and taken over Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp. I invite all of you back for this summer as Camp Counselors. It's what Mr. H would have wanted; to paint on some good memories after all that's happened. So, please, I humbly beg all of you to return to Hackett's Quarry and let's replace all of those bad memories with good ones. In memory of Caleb, Kaylee, and Mr. H.

A re-do summer. To get back all that you had lost. A do-over, with no werewolves, no curse, and no death.

But unfortunately, there sure would be a hell of a lot of drama.

And one Max Brinly.

WARNINGS AND TAGS: NSFW, MINORS DNI, explicit language, sex and sexual situations, dancer!reader, best friend!Dylan, sweetheart!reader, goofball!Max, mildly antagonistic!Laura(I love Laura but it has to happen this time, sorry!), fluff, angst, mentions of cheating (not in the main pairing and not by Max at all), PTSD, trauma, mentions of werewolves no actual werewolves, falling in love, big romcom energy, main antagonist!Emma, medium!reader

[infin1ty-garden]

REQUEST GUIDELINES!

⋆｡°✩ I will NOT write smut, inappropriate relationships (e.i. teacher/student, father/daughter...), pregnancy fics, dark fics, underage character, political content, please do not request things containing major spoilers, character x OC

⋆｡°✩ I WILL write character(s) (from the fandom list) x reader as well as alternate universe fic. Sometimes I will write character x character

⋆｡°✩ use the prompts list if you wanna

❝ [ prompts & scenarios ] ❞

╰┈➤ ❝ [ fandoms I write for ] ❞

✧. ┊ SHADOW & BONE

nikolai lantsov, zoya nazyalensky, genya safin, alina starkov, tamar yul-bataar & tolya kir-bataar

✧. ┊ SCREAM

billy loomis, stu macher, mickey altieri, roman bridger, jill roberts & ethan landry

✧. ┊ TOP GUN

jake 'hangman' seresin, robert 'bob' floyd & natasha 'phoenix' trace

✧. ┊ DBH

connor, nines (rk900), rk800-60, north, simon, ralph & chloe

✧. ┊ THE QUARRY

ryan erzahler, dylan lenivy, kaitlyn ka, max brinly & laura kearney

✧. ┊ ALIEN

david, walter, andy, tyler harrison & rain carradine

✧. ┊ WUTHERING WAVES

rover, chixia, yangyang, sanhua, jiyan & jinhsi

✧. ┊ HOTD

cregan stark, gwayne hightower, haelena targaryen, jacaerys velaryon & rhaenyra targaryen

✧. ┊ DUNE

paul atreides, feyd-rautha harkonnen & chani kynes

✧. ┊ THE ACOLYTE

yord fandar, qimir & mae aniseya

✧. ┊ THE HUNTSMAN SERIES

eric (the huntsman), snow white, william, ravenna & freya

✧. ┊ GLADIATOR II

lucius verus, marcus acacius & emperor geta

╰┈➤ ❝ [ submission guidelines ] ❞

ೃ⁀➷ please include reader pronouns

ೃ⁀➷ if you want to request a prompt, please use the prompt list (you don't have to)

ೃ⁀➷ be patient & kind

ೃ⁀➷ if i can tell that you haven't read any of these guidelines and have disregarded all the rules. your request will be deleted

Thanks for reading or requesting!

[motthe]

𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖑𝖊𝖙𝖘

always | leon s. kennedy (re2 remake)

“Where the hell have you been, huh?” It comes out deep. Cracks up through his throat because it’s been stuck there since two days creeped over the date you swore you’d get in touch by. “Careful,” you warn, the air of the word leaving bumps in its wake. “That’s classified information you’re picking at.”

star-crossed | bunny!izuku midoriya (mha)

part one | part two The coldest winter in your life has arrived and with it the passing of your grandmother. You fear you’ll forever be alone without her, but then somewhere nearby a rabbit cries out and things change.

‘professional’ | miguel o’hara (spider-man atsv)

“Miguel—” “I need us to be more professional from now on. Okay? Can you do that?” The cruel tone he’d set in place melts a bit, ice dripping. “Please?”

the shape of sidon | prince sidon (botw)

You work in sanitation at a government facility that keeps the strange and unusual under wraps. Apparently, a new containment has come in. You're too curious for your own good.

arcane drabbles (ao3)

Caitlyn Kiramman

toxic!caitlyn x rebound!reader

Jinx

there are windows to the soul(mate) part one | part two on ao3 It's just another in and out job, but with hints of her soulmate being nearby, Jinx hopes there will be more to come from it.

Mel Medarda

lumen au: mel x zaun!gn!reader platonic!mel x gn!reader ft viktor x gn!reader

Silco

the world can burn as long as i have you | silco (arcane): Silco doesn’t waste his time with fate with how many times it has stabbed him in the back, but tonight just might be the night he controls it. He may not be able to choose his soulmate, but he can sure as hell reject them. If that is what he truly wants.

young!silco x chaotic!fem!reader

Vander

lumen au request

Vi

sweetheart | violet (arcane) : It's been a year since Vi found her soulmate, the only problem is you're from the city she hates. Are your worlds too different to be together? Tonight, she's going to find out once and for all.

angst/fluff: Vi x reader

Viktor

the house call | viktor (arcane) part one | part two Viktor is often left yearning for his soulmate, aching to know what makes them so bright and energetic. Thanks to Jayce, he gets to find out.

sassy viktor x gn!readerlumen au: viktor x rival!fem!readerlumen au/isekai; viktor x gn!readerlumen au: early s2 Viktor x gn!reader

the quarry drabbles

ryan erzhaler

worried

max brinly

stupidly in love | long time coming | adrenaline 18+ ONLY

jacob custos

oblivious

kaitlyn ka

best friends