꧁*｡ﾟ"I Wɪʟʟ Nᴇᴠᴇʀ" | 𝙼𝚊𝚡 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 *｡ﾟ꧂

Ch. 24 | Alternatives

- Two days had passed. Max was avoiding you like the plague, and it was really obvious that he wasn't going to decide any time soon. Even though you were constantly surrounded by other people, you felt lonely. You missed all the hugs and kisses, and you especially missed the special feeling Max gave you. The feeling that you were the most important person in Lake Lilac. I shouldn't have. The words would echo through your head constantly.

You woke up with a start. Max wasn't in his bed, and neither were you. You moved back to your sleeping bag, and every night you would sleep with your backs turned to each other. Changing, sleeping, it was all awkward. Even being in the tent was awkward. I'm sorry. You climbed out of your sleeping bag pulled on the bear hoodie you had given Max. "Hey, Y/N!" someone greeted, Nikki. Sure enough, the green-haired girl was peeking into your tent. "Hey, Nikki," you walked past her, and she scampered after you.

"You feeling okay?" She asked, poking your back. "I guess."  Nikki paused, grabbing your wrist. "He's still at it, isn't he." You looked sideways. "Yeah, I've tried apologizing..." You trailed off. She sighed in an exaggerated matter and shook her head. "He's just being petty, he'll come around soon." Soon. You swallowed back the lump in your throat and shook your wrist out of her grasp, continuing over to the Mess Hall. Complete chaos greeted you when you opened the door.

"Ooh, food fight!" Again? Nikki grabbed your wrist again and raced inside, dragging you over to your table and sliding underneath it, releasing you a second prior. Your head collided with the side of the table. "Fuck!" You hissed, rubbing your forehead and crawling in beside her. She was looking around frantically, analyzing the scene. "You got a plan?" You asked, looking at her.

"Yeah," she looked around before scampering into the kitchen. You watched her skeptically. "Y/N?" You whipped around and glared Harrison. "What?" He jumped and his head hit the top of the table, "I come in peac-" You turned back around before he could finish his sentence. "Lets just talk" He pleaded for the hundredth time. You rolled your eyes. "I can't pick and choose who I like." Before you could reply, Nikki clambered under the table, mashed potatoes piled high in her arms. "I got the ammo!" 

You gathered your thoughts and looked back at Harrison. You couldn't avoid this conversation forever- you had to accept that. "Lets talk then," you said bluntly. He flinched, obviously startled by your response. Nikki just stared, clutching her potatoes even tighter. "This is your fault." Your heart ached at the alternative, the truth: that this was your fault. "How is this my fault?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You convinced me," you responded, forcing the question mark out of your sentence.

"I convinced you" he echoed, scoffing. "H-hey, let's just.. have a nice time," Nikki stammered, dumping the mashed potatoes in front of her. "All I said was he doesn't have to know," he said. You narrowed your eyes at him, then picked up a clump of potatoes. When you stayed silent, he leaned forward- "And you went along with it. I didn't convince you to do anything." Nikki shot him a warning glare, trying to end the argument before anything rash occurred. He stumbled into silence after seeing her expression.

"Flank me," she said, looking around frantically. Harrison gingerly picked up some potatoes and looked up at her. You rolled your eyes. "This isn't World War III, Nikki." She snorted, "one must always treat food fights as such." You and Harrison exchanged a look. "A quote by yours truly," she clarified, bracing herself. You took this as a sign and did the same, nudging Harrison, who copied you skeptically. 

Nikki surveyed her patrol. "We're going to war!" She shrieked. "Damn!" You flinched as she literally screeched in your face. Harrison jumped out of the way as she barged past him and ran out into the open. "Should we follow her?" He asked. "She asked us to, so I guess?" You grabbed another fistful of potatoes and climbed out from underneath the table, running after her. Harrison sighed and sprinted out after you, thumbing the potatoes he had.

Max's POV:

Well! This is relieving. I flung my meatloaf at Dolph's face. He squealed and fell back ..Who am I kidding- I grabbed my tray and slid under the table. "Why does Nerris always start the food fights?" I complained to myself, looking at the tray. "Oh shit!" Someone shouted, followed by a loud thump. I looked up instantly. Y/N was lying on the floor, mashed potatoes were smeared on her face. "She's down!" Nikki hissed, hurling a ball of peas at somebody.

Y/N.. Should I help her? I stared at her anxiously. "Y/N?" She instantly perked up. The words caught in my throat. "Need- uh.. need a hand?" I forced out. Her eyes literally started glowing. "Sure- whatever," she said bluntly. I reached my hand out, and she scrambled over and took it. I pulled her under the table with me and wiped the potatoes off her face. "You alright?" 

Why does she have to be so pretty?  "I am, thanks." Her voice was tinged with annoyance. "Sorry," I shook my head frantically and blinked. "You gonna stay here?" Y/N asked. "What do you mean?" I tipped my head. "You gonna watch the drama or are you gonna engage?" She clarified. "Like Nikki forced me to do," she added. I snickered and looked sideways.

"Probably." I miss you. "We could use another soldier," she said thoughtfully. "Huh?" I flashed back to reality. "We could use another soldier." I could see Harrison out of the corner of my eye, just standing there watching. I took her hand and mine and shook it excessively. "I can join!" I said loudly, making direct eye-contact with her. I can get lost in those eyes. "O-oh, okay-" 

I miss you.. I miss you, Y/N.

Third Person / Y/N POV: 

You dragged Max over to your base where Nikki and Harrison were. Nikki was writing plans on the ground with mashed potatoes and Harrison was glaring at Max, food stained his clothes. You released him and poked Nikki. "I found us a new soldier!" You said cheerily. Nikki looked up at you with dark eyes, a toothpick was lodged in her mouth. She spit it out and looked over your shoulder at the green-eyed boy. "Oh, Max- good, I guess."

"I guess?" You echoed questioningly. "He's not much," she pointed out darkly, continuing to sketch on the ground. Max laughed from behind you, and Harrison let out a dried grunt. You nudged him and gave him a stern look. This is my chance. "So, Max-" you turned and looked at him, only to discover that he was glaring daggers at Harrison. You sighed.

"What's the plan?" You asked, peeking over Nikki's shoulder. She absentmindedly shook you off and pointed at her messy sketches. "We'll catch them when they're the most vulnerable." Harrison peeked over her shoulder, too. "When will that be?" He asked, blinking. "I haven't thought that far ahead," Nikki admitted. "We can tag-team them. One by one," Max suggested.

Everyone looked at him. "What do you mean?" You asked. "Well, when they're getting more ammo or something we can catch them by surprise," he explained, making finger-guns and pointing them at you playfully. You held up your hands in defeat. Harrison rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not half-bad," Nikki praised, unexpectedly slapping his back. He doubled over, and landed on his face gracefully. You choked back a laugh and grabbed a fistful of of potatoes.

"Let's do this," you said, determination oozing off of you. -