Regret

Max was pacing outside the camp counselor's office, waiting for Nikki to come out. They had fought the Wood Scouts again hours ago, and while they were fighting, Nikki fell off of a hill, and injured her arm. While Max didn't know the extent of injury, it didn't stop him from going apeshit on the Wood Scouts with a baseball bat, causing them to retreat, and Camp Campbell to win. But, while everyone else was celebrating the victory, Max ran to Nikki, and helped her to the counselor's office.

While Max was lost in his thoughts, Neil came from their tent, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Max, I got you a Fiber One bar if you…" Neil started before Max grabbed the bar, and ate it while continuing to pace around in front of the office. "Max, this pacing around isn't going to help. You're just stressing yourself out," Neil added, genuinely worried about how Max had been acting for the past four hours.

"I'm fine. I just want to see if Nikki's alright. It was my plan that got her hurt, and I feel like shit about it," Max responded, still walking.

"Max, Gwen said that she'll take care of it. So, there's nothing to worry about," Neil responded.

"That doesn't really help. I mean, what the fuck does Gwen know about anything? She's the person that jacks off to shitty romance novels in the bathroom, and we're having her handle injuries? I mean, its such bullshit. This shitty ass camp can't even get a fucking nurse. Nikki's probably withering in pain, and Gwen's just sitting there reading '50 Shades of Gray'," Max responded, trailing off into a mumble.

"So, why did you take her here?" Neil asked.

"Cause there really aren't many places I can take her when we're in the middle of fucking nowhere," Max remarked. Neil just stood there for a few seconds before realizing what was going on.

"Oh, I get it," Neil said with a smirk on his face. Max looked back at him with a confused look on his face.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Max responded before really looking at the face Neil was making. Max erupted into a blush, and finally stopped pacing and started waving his hands in front of him. "It's not like that, I swear! I'm just worried, it's not like I LIKE her or anything, I'm just…"

"You just proved my point. After all, I never said you liked her," Neil responded with that sly smile still on his face. Max got even more flustered as he tried to maintain a straight face.

"Big deal, that doesn't prove anything. I was worried about her, and she's my friend, so I took her to the office," Max said, trying to maintain his composure.

"So why did you nearly kill the Wood Scouts after seeing them push Nikki off the hill?" Neil asked.

"Because…they were trying to hurt Ni…our camp, and I was just defending the camp," Max stammered out.

"The camp you were just trash talking two minutes ago? You were trying to protect that camp?" Neil asked, surprised at how bad Max's excuse was.

"I'm gonna be stuck in the shithole all fucking summer, why wouldn't I try and make sure that that pizza faced loser and his butt buddies didn't make this camp even shittier than it is already," Max countered. Neil just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, OK Max," Neil mumbled, but opened his eyes to realize that Max was walking to the counselor's door. Max then knocked on the door, and the usually annoyed face of Gwen responded.

"Hello Gwen, I was just wondering…" Max started before Gwen put her hand in front of Max's face.

"Let me guess, you want to know how Nikki's doing. Nikki is doing fine, I'm just finishing the cast. You ask me the same damn question every ten fucking minutes, and it's not going to make me go faster. Now, just be patient, and she'll be fine," Gwen stated before closing the door in Max's face.

"'Every 10 minutes', huh?" Neil said, chuckling a little bit. Max looked away from Neil with the blush on his face growing even more red. "That's my point Max, you never care about anything, and now all of the sudden, you're waiting for Nikki. I'm not sure if that might have a double meaning, but still, how do you explain that?" Neil continued.

"Shut the fuck up, Neil!" Max yelled out, not even trying to defend himself from Neil's argument before hearing the happy whistling of the main Camp Counselor, David.

"Well, howdy ho campers. How is everyone doing on this fine day?" David said with the usual smile on his face. Before Max could tell David to go fuck himself, Neil jumped in.

"Oh, I was just talking about how Max REALLY likes Nikki, and how he's been essentially stalking Gwen for four hours just to get info on Nikki's condition," Neil said, getting him a punch to the arm from Max.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, NEIL!" Max screamed before punching Neil in the stomach, only to be stopped by David.

"Now Max, that's not how to treat your fellow campers. I for one think it's really sweet that you care so much for one of your campers," David said.

"Gee David, that makes me feel so much better," Max responded with an eye roll.

"Why thank you Max," David said, with an even bigger smile on his face.

"David, I was being sarcastic," Max responded with a deadpanned look on his face, causing David's smile to grow smaller, but only slightly.

Meanwhile, with Nikki and Gwen…

Gwen was putting the finishing touches on Nikki's cast and sling, with Nikki still smiling and kicking her legs off of the edge of the chair she was sitting on. She was also still smiling despite suffering a broken bone, which was amazing to Gwen.

"You know, I used to see my mom help people with broken bones, and they were never as happy as you were," Gwen said. Nikki looked at her confused.

"Why wouldn't I be happy? Not only did I not die, but I have a new weapon in my arsenal," Nikki cheered, pumping her not injured hand into the air.

"Weapon, what're you talking about?" Gwen asked, not knowing how a cast could be used as a weapon.

"Well, I saw a wrestling tape with my Dad once, and I saw Hulk Hogan using his cast to beat the hell out of Lex Luger! I CAN BE THE NEXT HULK HOGAN!" Nikki yelled out, trying to dance in place, but Gwen sat her back down.

"Don't move around too much, Nikki. You need to take it easy for the next few weeks so that your arm can heal properly. Also, I don't think that the whole 'cast as a weapon thing is real'. Anyway, I better hurry up before Max comes at the door again," Gwen mumbled under her breath, but it caught Nikki's attention.

"What're you talking about? Why would Max come at the door?" Nikki asked, not hearing what Gwen was hinting at.

"Max has been hounding me for the past four hours asking me if you're alright, and what's the progress of me casting you. He really seems to like you," Gwen said with a smile on her face.

"Well, we're friends. Of course he likes me," Nikki said with an innocent smile on her face.

"No, I mean, you know, LIKE like you. I mean, he's literally outside right now, pacing around in front of my office waiting for you to come out," Gwen explained before ripping off the final piece of gauze from the roll and wrapped it around Nikki's arm. "Alright, you're done now. Remember what I said and try to not do anything too crazy for a few weeks. Oh, and here are some child friendly pain killers if the pain comes. Now, go and get to Max. Don't keep him waiting," Gwen said with a wink, causing Nikki to blush, and head towards the door.

While Nikki was heading towards the door, she began to really think about Gwen's words; did Max really like her like that? Looking back, she does remember Max acting different around her recently. Max usually tried to spend as much time with her as possible, was nice to her more often than he was with anyone else, he held her hand for what felt like a long time at certain points, and would also get worried and go into a conniption fit if she was hurt in any way. Nikki smiled at the thought of Max liked her, as she had secretly liked him pretty much since the day she met him.

"Nikki, what're you doing just standing there?" Gwen asked, making Nikki realize that she had been just standing there for a few minutes.

"Oh…I was just…thinking," Nikki replied before she opened the door and continued with her thoughts, remembering how cool she thought Max was when she saw him try and steal the camp bus. Once she left the office, she noticed that Max stopped arguing with David and Neil and looked at Nikki.

Max was at first happy, knowing that Nikki was standing and smiling, but then he saw the cast on her arm, and seeing that cast made it feel like he was going to throw up. Nikki, sensing how uncomfortable he was, decided to say something.

"Hey Max. Don't worry about the…" Nikki started before feeling hands wrap around her lower chest in a hug. Nikki was blushing profusely now, as Max was hugging her, and even had his face stuffed in the left sleeve of her dress. "Max…?" Nikki uttered before hearing Max mumble something into her sleeve. "Max, what did you say? I can't understand you," Nikki asked.

"I'm sorry," Max mumbled a little louder. Nikki, Neil and David nearly had their eyes bulge out of their heads. Max had never apologized for anything. Not for trying multiple times to escape the camp. Not for tying David and Gwen to the flagpole. Not for nearly killing the old pet mascot. Not for any of the other horrible things he's done. It was for Nikki getting hurt during one of his plans. "This was all my fault," Max mumbled again, not realizing the state of surprise he left Nikki, Neil, and David in.

"Max, you don't need to beat yourself over it. I think those Wood Scouts did a good enough job of that," Nikki quipped with a light chuckle, quickly followed by a brief chuckle from Max. But Max stopped, and looked Nikki straight in the face.

"But it was my fault. This was my plan. If it wasn't for my plan, you wouldn't be in a cast," Max mumbled a little louder. Nikki, rubbed Max's back, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Max immediately pulled away from Nikki with a deep blush on his face.

"Max, please don't make yourself feel bad over this. Yeah, I got hurt. But I've dealt with much worse before, and you single handedly saved the camp. So, quit your moping, and pick yourself up," Nikki responded, waiting intently to see how Max would respond. Max looked at her for a few seconds, and a small smile formed on his face. Max went up to Nikki, and held Nikki's hand in his.

"Alright, Nikki. Sorry for being depressed and overreacting," Max said, with that smile on his face slightly bigger than it was a couple of seconds earlier. Nikki giggled at the 2nd apology she had ever heard Max utter.

"Sheesh, Max, you're on fire today with the apologies," Nikki quipped, pinching his cheek. Max's blush grew to cover his entire face as he started laughing. Nikki looked at him for a couple of seconds before he started laughing as well. "So Max, do you wanna take a walk?" Nikki asked. Max didn't reply, and instead kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll take that as a yes," Nikki exclaimed before she and Max walked to the forest. David was swooning over the potential new couple, while Neil just stood there for a few seconds.

"Well, at least I'll have the tent to myself for a little while," Neil stated before walking back to his tent, leaving David to swoon, and Gwen to do the same inside the Camp Counselor's office.