Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“DAVID!”

It wasn’t hard to hear Max’s nasally yelling due to the volume he was shouting. Gwen sighed and rubbed her temples. It was gonna be an even longer night thanks to him causing all this noise.

Fighting again, she guessed as she grabbed an umbrella to shield her from the pouring rain. Why the FUCK did she sign up for this?

“Stay inside, idiots,” she said as she went for the door and Neil mumbled something about ‘a waste of a first kiss’. Preston was less tame about his complaining and Nurf was trying to calm him down. Well that was a very… generous term. More like yelling and punching as Dolph helplessly attempted to calm them whilst also stifling his own tears at the let-down of the ‘prize’. Thank god for Ered and Space Kid. She shot a glance at the girl in the corner bobbing her head to music with Space Kid staring into the fireplace that’s always been there with awe. Probably something about stars or some shit.

She stomped outside after telling Space Kid not to touch the fire. Gwen could see jack shit in the rain. Approaching a blue, shifting blob she called, “Max, stop screaming!”

He sloshed his feet over to her and grabbed the hem of her shirt. “GWEN! Thank fuck you’re here!” Well, that was unusual. He pointed to the pile of logs that wasn’t supposed to be there. “DAVID’S STUCK!”

It took her a second to process. “What?” she blinked.

“HE’S STUCK, DUMBASS!”

The usual insulting shrill voice snapped her back into reality and she rushed over to the pile of the logs, dropping her umbrella as she went. Gwen scraped at the wood. God DAMN it was slippery. Her eyes started getting misty with… rain. Max looked helplessly up at her with his large green eyes also filled with ‘rain’.

He got up stiffly and walked towards the abandoned red umbrella and held it back over her. He was unusually silent and the umbrella was shaking in his grip.

“…thanks,” she stammered out through gritted teeth.

She managed to move the logs one-after-one eventually and dragged David into the dining hall. It wasn’t the best thing to do in front of a sea of children but she was under stress and on the verge of a panic attack.

“Alright, kids! Get him some blankets and closer to the fireplace that’s always been there!” Harrison was unnaturally fast at moving David for a ten year-old on his own. Nerris took off their cloak and laid it over him. The frenemies worked in perfect synchronization as Harrison lit the fire and Nerris brought over more blankets from a fort she and Nikki were making. Gwen shouted orders and work was getting done.

>~•~<

“There’s a place I know that’s tucked away…”

Gwen hopes David and Max liked the song. She had nothing compared to her dad’s voice but she got Quartermaster to help with the guitar for this small surprise. Even if she DID know how to play it she wouldn’t have been able to. Her nails were cracked and her fingers were bleeding because of all the scraping at wood. The bandaging was happily offered by Space Kid and she couldn’t bring herself to say no to him.

“A place where you and I can stay…”

Max rolled his eyes but Gwen was happy to see his small smile at her feeble singing. She had to make up for her anger at him. Anger at a ten year-old. She was a PSYCH major, for God’s sake. And an adult.

“Where we can go to laugh and play and have adventures everyday…”

She noticed how David’s eyes were shining in the firelight. His eyes gleamed with childlike awe before asking Max something. The bonfire was nice, to Gwen’s surprise. The warmth was very welcome after fucking around in the freezing rain. She never cared much for the outdoors - she actually kinda hated stepping a foot outside the cabin - but the sparks in the sky muted that thought. For a moment.

“THAT WAS AMAZING, DO IT AGAIN!” Nikki shouted over the yelps of the other campers aimed at the exploding fire. Nerris and Harrison were arguing about who caused it as Preston lay in a dramatic fainted pile on the floor. Dolph and Space Kid were huddled together for protection and Neil was contemplating how the explosion happened in the first place. Everyone was fine, Gwen gathered, and David softly laughed.

Maybe she should treat him better as well. Max seemed pretty shaken as he gave a less-than descriptive recalling of the events that took place before the accident.

“I know it sounds hard to believe, but guys and gals it’s true,”

Plus, he wasn’t too insufferable…

“Camp Campbell is the place for me and you,”

>~•~<

David had caught up to her and was following her back to the counselors’ cabin with nearly silent footsteps. His ear-gratingly cheery voice broke the silence much to Gwen’s dismay.

“Hey, Gwen!”

Gwen grit her teeth. “Hey,”

“Wasn’t that amazing? I’m so proud that you and Max put together such an incredible moment!” He was bouncing and flapping his hands wildly. He looked like he could get to the moon in one jump if he was determined enough. Which he always was, but that’s not what Gwen was focusing on.

“Me? What’d I do?”

David let out a single laugh like it was the most entertaining question he’s ever heard. “Clearly you helped!”

She feigned confusion and tilted her head. “Why do you think that?” She was too tired to deal with his overbearing praise and expected a minimum of 4 back-breaking hugs if she admitted it.

“Do you really think Max would want to ask for help from Quartermaster? Now, I don’t know what happened, but he practically faints every time he sees our beloved custodian!” Gwen shuddered. She remembered when she first found out about his… interests. She did her best to suppress those memories and it wasn't a very happy ‘welcome back’ to the forefront of her mind.

She opened the door to their cabin with a loud SQEEEEEAK. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, Gwen,” his voice was softer than before and his gaze dropped. Is this what he sounded like tired? Maybe he should get hit in the head more often, she mused as she absentmindedly undid her ponytail.

“Goodnight,” he walked to his bed.

Before turning the lights off he shot her a knowing smile. It was better described as a smirk, if she was being honest. Gwen preferred it to the grin that was present at all times.

She couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t fair. All this work and she couldn’t get any fucking sleep. She quietly - David would wake at a pin dropping - groaned as she turned to look at her roommate.

His brows were knitted together and he was clenching that dumbass log he slept with. Small whimpers we’re cutting through the silence of the night. Occasionally, he flinched.

She thought of what her dad would’ve done in this situation. Gwen’s mind went back to her dad stroking her hair. She shuddered at the idea. Too personal. She didn’t want to touch him. Maybe just…

She shimmied into the empty space on his bed and held onto his sleeve. This is weird her mind scolded but she waved the thoughts away. It doesn’t matter. David’s breathing slowed and his forehead un-creased. He began to hum. Holy shit- she stifled a laugh. Is he seriously-

The camp song worked like a cat’s purr. Her eyes grew heavy and her mind fogged over. Nothing else was there, just Gwen, this stupid song, and the owner of the sleeve she was gripping. She could’ve stopped. What if he has another nightmare? She settled with that excuse.

She’d never admit that she began to hum as well. Never admit that she thought their voices sounded nice together. She’d deny that until the day she died. This moment was for her and the night to share.

Maybe I should pick piano back up, she thought. Preston would think it’s cool… She traced the hem of the sleeve thoughtfully. Her forehead pressed to his back. She hugged her waist.

“Goodnight, dork,” she whispered into the dark.

Chapter Text

“Okay, Max,”

Max wasn’t expecting that response. He thought he would get scooped up and spun around or some shit like that. Not… acceptance. That was different for David. Or maybe Max just wasn’t used to being treated like he was important enough to be understood.

David held the door open for him as he clamoured into the car. “Thank you, Gwen!” he chirped as he buckled himself into the front passenger seat. “Max? You buckled up?”

“Fuck you,” He clicked himself in.

“Thank you!”

Different, again. Max shifted in the absence of a ‘language!’ coming from the front of the car. Instead, David and Gwen were bickering about who should drive.

“You paid for the pizza and you’re probably tired! I don’t want you to miss out on any potential rest, Gwen,” David insisted.

“Shut the hell up, David. I can drive when I’m tired. I went through college twice,”

“Okay…but I’m just concerned that-”

As their meaningless argument died down, Max thought back to his parents. His parents who didn’t care enough to show up today, didn't care enough to remember his clothing size, didn’t care enough to learn his ACTUAL name. Yet they claimed they loved him.

“Mahamayuri, darling, can I have a moment? I need to get this,” were words that were grained into his head. Too many times he was left sitting in silence as his parents talked on the phone about something that was more important than their son.

But Gwen and David, the two idiots that weren’t competent enough to figure out who would drive, actually cared. Cared enough to get back Mr. Honeynuts, cared enough to remember his favorite food, cared enough to try to get him to at least fucking BEHAVE.

He hid his face in his far-too-large hoodie. At least his parents got something that was multi-purposed. He covered his misty eyes in the hood as Gwen turned on the radio. Trashy pop music blasted out of the speakers and David gasped.

“Gwen!” he scolded as the music spouted profanities. He sounded like he was going to faint.

“Come on, David,” Gwen retorted in exasperation. “He’s said worse shit, than ‘damn’”

Their good-natured back-and-forth was like white noise to Max and his eyes slid closed. He wasn’t entirely asleep, though. He could hear what was happening in the front seats and it annoyed him to no end at their borderline-cooing.

“He almost looks like a kid and not a little hell raiser,” he heard through a daze. Bitch, he thought in a half-hearted retort.

David simply stayed silent and had his eyes locked on the boy. He brushed his messy curls away from his eyes. Max felt his hand freeze. Shit, he saw me crying. Strangely enough, he didn’t want to swat the calloused hand away. David resumed petting his hair.

This wasn’t too vomit-inducing. Not that he’d ever say that out loud. David might have an aneurysm out of pure shock. Or happiness, that’s more like him. He could hear him and Gwen humming something from the radio together. Goddamn idiots.

As the car swayed back like a rocking chair back to camp he drifted into sleep.

>~•~<

He was woken up as he felt the familiar stiffness of his bed. David was standing over him, preparing to leave the tent. Max cursed out the part of him that wanted him to stay here. To lay with and hold him. More than my actual parents did.

He paused. ACTUAL parents? As opposed to fake parents? What a load of shit. He didn’t think of David as a parent! He hated his guts! He tried to KILL him, for god's sake. He shook off the(completely incorrect and stupid) thought as he tried to sleep.

Shit.

It would be nice to be held. He glanced over at Neil. Nah, he thought after consideration, he’d probably have a heart attack at even the thought of holding someone’s HAND.

Max didn’t want to leave the tent, though. It wasn’t routine and that’s the one thing Max clung to. Maybe that’s why you want David to hug yo- he cut off that part of his brain with a quick fuck you as he shut his eyes in determination. Determination to sleep and to forget… other things that were idiotic and wrong.

Fuck it. He creeped out of his tent quietly(not because he didn’t want to wake Neil or anything) and headed off to the dock. He shivered as he pattered over to the lake. As he plopped onto the deteriorating wood he heard footsteps coming from behind.

“Max?” Goddamnit, he recognized that voice. “Why are you out here, weren’t you sleeping?”

“What do you think, David? That I’m fucking sleepwalking?” Max shifted to glance at him. He wasn’t wearing his stupid bandana or puny vest. Does he sleep in that fucking camp shirt? David wasn’t responding and it felt weird to be with him in silence. He groaned. “I couldn’t sleep, dumbass. Why are you out here, gonna run into the woods to escape this hellhole?

“Oh my gosh, of course not!” David was appalled at the accusation and couldn’t believe Max would EVER think such an OUTLANDISH thing and was somewhat offended at that assumption.

“Learn to read tone, idiot,” Max sighed. “I’m obviously shitting you,”

David sat down on the dock. “Language,” He began picking at the soft wood beneath him.

Max looked closer at the parts of his hands that weren’t covered with bandages. His fingers seemed as though there wasn’t a single spot not dotted with tiny white and red cuts. They looked like they were burnt by how many calluses were on them.

“Max? You good, bud?” David had noticed him seemingly staring into space. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be,” he snipped back. No fucking way was he studying David’s hands. “You also didn’t answer my question,”

“I have a little thing that makes it a little difficult to sleep. I come out here to see the AMAZING lake all the time!” God, that was said with way too much excitement.

“So you have insomnia? Why? What caused it?”

David wound his hands around and around each other. “I just do.” That was that.

They sat there in silence for a while, just looking at the lake and the stars. David’s hand tapped idly on the boards. He didn’t seem to notice, even though it seemed way too loud for Max to bear.

“Can you cut that shit out? It’s fuckin annoying,”

“Hm?” David tilted his head as scanned for what he was doing wrong. “Oh! My bad,”

Max grunted and felt his eyelids grow heavy as he looked at the waves lapping at the wooden posts of the dock. It wasn’t too bad out here. He slumped a little.

David bounced to his feet. “Looks like someone is getting sleepy! Time for you to get back to your tent and me back to Gwen!”

Max tried to complain but it only came out as incoherent mumbles and swears. Looks like I got held by da- David after all…. Shut up.

He was tucked into his stiff camp bed and given a soft ‘sleep tight’ before he was left with a snoring Neil once again.

The next morning he noticed that he was allowed to sleep in.

Chapter Text

“Now it’s perfect!”

Gwen glanced over at her grinning companion. “David, that sounds fuckin creepy,”

His eyes widened cartoonishly. “My apologies, Gwen! I’m just so excited!”

“You’re excited about everything,” Max and Gwen said in unison. “And how are we supposed to financially handle another staff member?” she continued. “Don’t tell me we have to pay for THIS shit head,”

“Do not worry, Gwendolyn, he will be here with no cost laid on your shoulders,” The two agents took each other’s hands. “Don’t let us down. Don’t cause trouble sweetie!”

“Bye, dads,” Ered called back with a smirk. She could get away with anything with Nikki by her side. Gwen sighed.

The kids immediately got back to their bullshit, Max taking the lead of the chaos once more by spraying David.

Instead of dealing with that she turned her attention to David. “You sure you’re okay with Campbell being here?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? He’s the great Cameron Campbell!”

“He betrayed you! Twice!” More than that.

“I can HEAR you!” Campbell called over the noise of the children. He lumbered his way over to them. “Where will I be staying anyway? I doubt you have a hidden suite,” he paused. “If you do, can I have it?”

“First off; no, we don’t,” Gwen counted on her fingers. “Secondly; if we DID have a suite it would be mine.” Her attention was caught by David trying to get the water out of his hair and the water gun out of Nurf’s hands. She jutted a thumb in his direction. “And maybe David’s,”

“Awe, thanks Gwen!” He beamed at her.

“Don’t count on it, this is only if you can stop your sleep talking.” Gwen had lost count how many times he had shot up in bed yelling ‘STOP’ or ‘HELLO’ at top volume. She’d grown accustomed to punching him on the top of his head to get him to shut up.

“Okay, so, where will I be staying?” Campbell asked again.

“Where you were before you got arrested for the… whatever the fuck’th time,” She rolled her wrist in dismissal. “It’s not our problem either way,”

“Now, Gwen, let’s not treat Mr. Campbell so rudely!” David popped up beside her, a confiscated water gun in hand. She rolled her eyes and pushed Cameron in front of her.

“You can take him to his room or whatever if you’re so excited,” His grin looked like it would crack his face apart. His fists started shaking with excitement.

“THANKS GWEN,” he wrapped his arms around her in a bone-crushing hug. “YOU’RE THE BEST CBFL I COULD EVER HAVE!”

“Yeah… sure, I guess.” When he finally put her down she couldn’t seem to look him in the eyes. She oughta be punching him right now, instead she pushed him away and patted his arm awkwardly. “You can go now,”

He shot her a smile and a Camp Campbell salute as he trotted away with a dejected Cameron in tow. Hm, she was kinda disappointed to see him go. Who else would help her with these little shits? She groaned as she got blasted with water. How did Nurf have another gun? Harrison whimpered from the grass as he clutched his stomach. Ah, okay.

She looked down at the feeling of her shorts being tugged on and forced a tired smile. “Yeah, Space Kid?”

He fidgeted with his cape and looked down. “I miss my mom,” Shit, she didn’t know how to deal with homesickness. She didn’t have it much so she couldn’t relate in the slightest.

“Do you wanna call her?” He shook his head and mumbled something about space. “Well, what do you want?”

“Can I cuddle with you?”

>~•~<

She headed back to the counselors cabin, leading Space Kid gently along whilst holding his hand. “Uhm, in here, I guess,” She didn’t feel great about leaving the kids alone with Quartermaster. Then she realized that they’ve probably done worse than intensely playing with water guns.

She sat on the softest recliner and sat him in her lap. She laid her arms stiffly on his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her. It had been a minute and his grip hadn’t loosened. This’ll take a while.

She grappled with the TV remote and flipped through channels that were suitable for someone like Space Kid.

“I like horror,” he offered. Unexpected but helpful. She looked at a channel that showed some lanky bitch in the forest murdering people. She clicked past it to land on a cartoon. Something about twins or whatever. Looks scary enough, she settled as a man’s face was shuffled around.

It was about thirty minutes before David slammed the door open. “Hi!…Gwen,” He lowered his voice at the sight of Space Kid sleeping in her hold. His eyes shimmered and he fanned his face. He bent down to kiss the kid in her arms on the forehead. On the way back up he put his hand and her cheek and kissed his back palm.

She tried to keep her voice down as her eyes widened. “What the fuck David!?” He smiled down at her. How did he not know that what he just did was weird as shit?

“Thanks for taking care of the kids!” He plopped down on the recliner to the right of her and placed the bases of his palms on his knees as he looked intently at the TV. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she really only took care of Space Kid.

“…sure,”

He rocked back and forth as his eyes were glued to the screen. Was he already that invested? He was there for like two minutes. She patted Space Kid’s helmet as the show’s noises and David’s respective verbal responses to it filled the background.

She glanced back at her fellow counselor and let a small grin on her face. It was nice how into something he got. Max was living proof. Hell, this entire camp would crumble to the ground without David. She hoped that he knew she didn’t hate him. Still, the kiss was a fucking weird. She grimaced as her face warmed and she fiddled with her hands.

I’m doing fine with expressing affection, her mind darted back to all the times she’d crawled into his bed and held him. After the first time, it had become routine when one of them had a nightmare or an anxiety attack. David had what they started to call ‘nightly aired episodes’ - or ‘nightlys’ for short - the most. He usually laughed it off and spouted an excuse about being easily startled. Still, Gwen worried.

“Liking the show?” She blurted. David snapped to attention and turned to answer her. His eyes were watery, she noticed.

“Yeah, yeah! Just… they love each other so much!”

“The siblings? In a DISNEY show?” She joked.

His face pinked. “Oh my word, absolutely not like that, Gwen!” He waved a finger at her and his lips pursed. “I meant sibling love.”

“God, you suck at reading tone,”

A mildly insulted expression came over his face. “Why does everyone keep saying that?” He murmured to himself. He bounced his fists on top of eachother absentmindedly.

“Because you ARE,” she defended feebly but she still felt bad. She knew he was autistic, why does she keep doing that? “Sorry, I guess.” God, she was an idiot.

>~•~<

“G’night, Space Kid,” Gwen said as she closed his tent flap and walked back into the night and back toward the counselors cabin. She opened the door and there was David, still sitting in that chair and looking at the TV. A new show, this time.

“Look at this, Gwen! Isn’t this so cute?” He pointed towards a character with green hair who looked like an elf stammering over her words.

“What’s goin on?” She stood behind his chair and listened carefully as he explained with wild gestures about how this green haired chick from a weird world had a crush on a human. She didn’t want to admit that she lost track after that point and was too focused on how pretty his eyes were.

“Cool, so basically it’s gay?” He didn’t miss a beat. “YES!” The word seemed to explode from his mouth as his fists rocked to and fro at top speed. He couldn’t form words that made any sense. God, he’s so… nice when he’s excited. She stopped that thought from going anywhere past that.

“Why ya so happy about it?”

“Don’t you get it? This is GREAT for little kids!” He seemed at a total loss for how she didn’t understand. “I wish I had this!”

It was kinda sickening how much of his happiness rubbed off on Gwen. She felt a small grin grow on her face. “C’mon, man, we gotta sleep.”

He groaned - a sound she wasn’t used to him making - and hung his head over the back of the chair to flash a playful smile up at her. “Okay, you’re right. You’re always right,” he whispered softly.

“Hell yeah I am, now get up.” She yanked him up by his arm and dragged him to their room. He spouted facts from the show as they walked at the same capacity as he did before.

They entered their tiny room and set up their beds. “Have you seen my earbuds?” David had given Gwen ear plugs recently as a gift. It didn’t do much when he sleep-yelled but she made sure to use them for his quieter mumbling.

“No, I don’t think so. Do you need help finding them?”

“Yeah,” she grunted as she crawled on the floor to look for them.

So there they were,12:30 a.m., looking for tiny earbuds on the floor. “Are you SURE they’re not on the side table?”

“YES IM FUCKING SURE, DAVID.” Why was she getting so anxious about this? They didn’t really matter, she could sleep without them. But… she needed them. She began to breathe heavily.

She wasn’t the only one getting agitated. David seemed paler than usual and was sweating. He was also swallowing more often than usual. They were both inhaling faster than they should’ve been. Of course they both had anxiety, why wouldn’t they? Just her luck.

She sat, dejected, on the floor. “We’ve looked EVERYWHERE in this room! Where could the little bastard be?”

David gripped the sheets of his bed as he leaned against it. “Maybe it’s not in here?” He beamed. “The mystery continues!”

She stood up and kicked him lightly in the side. “That’s not a good thing, dumbass!” His meaningless complaints was just a nagging at the back of her head as she formed a ball on the floor.

“Gwen? What’s-“

“I can’t do ONE THING right! I lost something that doesn’t even matter, and I can’t even keep my head cool. What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I such a FAILURE?” She kicked a pen away from her feebly. The tiny clacks of it rolling made the noise in her head worse.

David wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on her shoulder. “I know you think that but you’re not. You are the best co-counselor I’ve ever had. You’re helpful and smart and funny. You’ll never be a failure, not to me or any of the kids here.”

She took deep breaths and leaned her head into his arm. “And I’m a sexy motherfucker, don’t forget that.”

“… okay,” he was a little confused but agreed anyway.

“I wanna sleep. Don’t fucking talk.”

“Aye aye.” She could practically feel him resist a salute.

They leaned back on the floor. Another nightly to add to the list. She lay to the right of him, his arms wound around her. Her eyes were finally fluttering closed. “G’night,”

“Sleep tight,” he whispered from her left shoulder. With that, they fell asleep on the floor.

The next day, they woke up with aching backs.

Chapter Text

Max was on the dock when it happened. David’s absence had made the camp dull and Max’s sleeping issues worsened. He went to the dock every other night now.

Then, without warning, he heard the counselor’s cabin door slam open. Gwen rushed out with some guy halfway slung over her shoulder. His red beard and hair covered most of his face but he was wearing a long-sleeved camp shirt. Fuckin creepy.

She dragged the man to the car and helped him in the front seat as Max snuck into the backseat through the trunk.

“Okay, okay, okay…” she muttered like it was a chant. She buckled the guy in with one arm and herself in with the other. She left a hand on his shoulder as she fumbled with her keys and gripped the steering wheel. “Okay! It’s okay! You’ll be fine! Why you wanted to change into a FUCKING DIFERRENT OUTFIT before we left is beyond me but it’s cool! We’re okay, we’re cool!”

“Gwen,” the guy protested. Wait a damn second… “Gwen, I’m fine! Just a little bruised, is all, nothing too bad,”

“YOUR GODDAMN LEG IS IN SHAMBLES, DAVID!”

“WHAT?!” Shit. Max covered his mouth and shrunk into the corner of the backseat. Actually. Fuck that. “What the actual hell, David? You’re gone for two weeks and then just show up? That’s a shitty thing to do, dumbass!”

“Not now, Max!” Gwen growled, knuckles lightening on the steering wheel. The car zoomed past the few others on the dirt road, leaving the camp behind at top speed.

“It’s okay, Gwen. It really is my fault!”

“Shut the fuck up, you can explain once you’re fixed,”

The uncomfortable silence left a gap so that the sound of loudly screeching tires filled the car as Gwen drove carelessly to the E.R. In what felt like no time and all the time in the world, they arrived.

“David! Let’s go! Max… do whatever.” They stumbled out of the car and Gwen marched in with David in tow.

Max went after them. No shit.

The next few hours were like static in his brain that would rarely clear. Somehow he ended up in a hospital room, a place he’d seen maybe once in his life: his birth. He was mesmerized by the blinding lights and the smell of medicine. This was the safest he’d felt since… ever.

“When’s David coming here,” Max whined loudly.

“God, will you stop that? This is like the twentieth time.”

“Twenty-third,” he corrected. He hoped that he could stay here longer when David got back. He breathed in the scent of antiseptics and sighed. Why didn’t his parents take him there more often? Gee, what a mystery. Max swore at himself.

He couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t taken care of himself. Mostly falling down stairs when he was littler, stealing box after box of bandaids from the convenience store. He had a tendency to hurt himself in serious ways and had to learn to treat himself quickly. He learned how to make meals and knit before he knew how to read. Max thought back to the small moments when his dad patted him on the head or his mom hugged him.

“Mahamayuri! Guess what,” he remembered that day clearly. The voice of his dad rang throughout his head. “Your mother and I are sending you to summer camp! Won’t that be fun?” He guessed that it was sort of thoughtful of his dad to pretend to care about his opinion on this bullshit.

“But what the fuck will I even do?” Not that they’d question it or even notice if their son was upset. They didn’t even notice him as their son.

“You can make new friends, Maha!” Not my name. “We’re signing the papers right now, would you like to help?” He was shown a sheet of paper with a few lines on it and a pen.

He held the pen, unsure what to do. “Uh, aren’t you supposed to do this?”

His dad merely waved off the concern as his phone buzzed. “It doesn’t really matter, sweetie. You can bring it up with mom. She’s in her office.” With that, the conversation ended with his dad picking up his phone and talking into it.

Max marched over to his mom who was clicking away at her computer. “Mom, can you help me with this? It’s a form for some shitty camp,” He held up the sheet above his head.

“Hm?” She removed her gaze from the screen for a second. “Oh! You mean that Camp Campbell.” She returned to typing. “Charming place, isn’t it?” Max’s frustration was growing.

“Sure, why not. But what am I supposed to put here?” He stuck a finger at the ‘home address’ and ‘phone number’ lines. His mom’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Well what would they need that for?”

He stamped his foot. “Emergencies!”

She didn’t acknowledge his frustration. “Well, you’re not very accident prone, are you? I’m sure you’ll be fine. You have that dumbass bear to protect you or something. After all, you’re our little surgeon!” She absentmindedly pat the air. She didn’t seem to notice that she missed his head.

“Yeah but-“

“Quiet. I’m not going to lose this opportunity,” she leaned towards the screen until she was inches away. Some big ‘steal of a deal’ was happening. Far more important than her son.

He huffed and stomped to the couch. The pen hovered over the paper.

‘Name’.

That wasn’t a very easy question for Max, because he didn’t know himself as ‘Max’ yet. All he knew was that he wasn’t Mahamayuri. He didn't want a big name. He wanted something short, snappy. Something to hold the attention of a room when it’s announced. Maha, Maha, Maha. He didn't HATE the nickname. It fit his criteria but it didn’t quite feel right. Ma…x. Sure, okay. He liked it. He really liked it! He jotted it down. What was his last name again? He glanced at his mom but he wasn’t sure she would know either. He decided to leave it blank, doing the same with the next two lines.

‘Camp’.

“Hey, mom?”

“Mm?”

“What camp am I going to?”

“Camp Campbell, sweetie, you know that.”

“…thanks.”

He chose to leave that line blank, too. The bitchasses in charge could figure it out. They were the reason he was going in the first place. If they didn’t exist his parents would be around him, maybe even talk to him! Yeah, these counselors were the problem! How dare they work there, making his parents even more neglectful! He came to a decision;

He would make their life hell.

>~•~<

Eventually, FINALLY, they were allowed to see David. He looked pretty shitty. Max didn’t quite get to see him on the way to the hospital, but man was he rough.

“Holy shit, David!”

Gwen looked down at him. “Language, Max, you’re in a hospital.”

David waved the exchange off and shot him a tired grin. “Hey, Max! Nice to get a good look at you! Haven’t done that in a while…” His eyes became vacant, remembering something Max couldn’t begin to imagine. He was jolted back into reality when Gwen sat in a chair next to his bed. She gripped the sleeve of shirt and looked at him hesitantly.

“Hey man, you good?”

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I told you that, didn’t I? Why would I lie?”

A nurse came into the room looking at a clipboard. “Actually, quite a lot of your bones are bruised and your tibia is cracked in two areas. So not great.” His head popped up from the board, platinum hair bouncing with the sudden movement. “But you took care of it pretty well for what you had I guess!”

“Thank you!” David’s eyes brightened at it being mentioned. “I’m actually a camp counselor, I worked really hard!” The nurse beamed at his excitement.

Max decided to ruin it. “That’s not why we’re here, David. Also; what’s with that fucking beard? It’s HIDEOUS.” He fiddled with his beard.

“I was planning on shaving it…”

“Good, you look disgusting.”

He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Awe, didn’t know you were so concerned for me!” The corners of his eyes crinkled.

“I don’t, shut up.”

“Okay, Max.”

The nurse piped back up. “Uhm, I don’t mean to interrupt,” He didn’t have to. “But you will need to stay here for about a month and two weeks.”

“But we just got him back,” Gwen glared at the young man. “We can’t just leave him in a hospital!”

The blonde paused. “I’m not gonna question what you mean by that but the bones need to heal. We can maybe speed up the process by a few weeks but that’s in the best possible scenario. I’m sorry, ma’am, but he needs to stay.”

Gwen was about to retort when David raised his hand like a child waiting to be called on. “Yeah?” She asked, looking down.

“It’s okay, Gwen. It’s probably for good to not be out and about in nature right now.” That was weird, typical David wouldn’t be able to sit still long enough during the wait period. He’d barge through the exit at the first moment he could.

“I guess you’d know better… Okay, David.” She rubbed her fingers together through his sleeve. “But you better call me if anything happens, okay? Don’t leave me out of these things!” She quickly stood up, suddenly realizing that she was holding on to him.

With a few ‘goodbye’s and some ‘see you later’s they were out of the hospital. The car ride back to camp felt longer than the one there. Max could hear every bump the car went over. If he focused hard enough he might even be able to hear Gwen’s breathing.

“Why did he leave,” Max finally asked. “Like, why was he gone for so damn long?”

Gwen thought about it. “I don’t remember exactly. He just mentioned something about a canoeing accident.”

“THAT’S where the canoe went? I just thought another kid was lost to the lake.”

Gwen hummed in agreement as she took another turn. Holy fuck, that road was bumpy.

“When…” Max struggled to form his question. “When did you notice he was back? From wherever he was?”

Gwen chewed on the side of her cheek, rolling the ways to phrase it over in her head. “Around nine p.m,” is what she came up with. Max glowered at his feet, unsatisfied.

“But like how did you know? Weren't you sleeping or some shit?”

Her hands fiddled on the wheel. “Not really,” She held back from something. “I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.”

Max was used to adults not wanting to talk to him any more and he could feel it radiating off of the woman in the front seat. He wanted to talk. He wanted to express his emotions and be respected for them. He wanted David to be okay.

He wanted to be with David.

Chapter Text

“Isn’t Mr. Campbell just so wonderful?”

God, would he just shut up? Gwen gripped the fire extinguisher. She was too hungover for this. “Focus on the FUCKING…fire.” She winced. Shouldn’t have bitched so loudly.

“But it’s so small, only the kitchen is on fire now!” She couldn’t see his face through the gas mask(provided by Quartermaster) but she was ninety-percent sure he was beaming. David took in a breath to say more but he was going to exclaim was cut off by a groan from his companion. “Sorry, Gwen,”

A few minutes passed with the ear-scraping ‘wsh’ filling every corner of the kitchen as the duo attempted to contain the tiny fire. Gwen, for the seventh time that day, wished she didn’t work here. Sure, she SORT OF liked some of the people here. She could at least manage being around them. But she wanted more. Not an office job(Camp Corp stopped that aspiration dead) but she wanted to feel… important? Yeah, important.

They were finally done with the dumbass fire when they left and David yanked his mask off to take a breath. His hair swept over his forehead wildly with auburn strands sticking in all directions. The heat of the fire combined with the stuffiness of the mask and working diligently left a light sheen of sweat on his face and pink in his cheeks. His mouth was slightly parted and his heavy breathing sent a quiet whistle through his teeth. And he was smiling, of course. He was ALWAYS smiling. It was way more dulled down than usual but still. Wait, shit. Gwen caught herself staring and quickly turned away. Why was she doing that in the first place? The flagpole suddenly became much more interesting. She picked at the withering wood.

“Gwen!”

“David!” She mocked. How long does it take someone to realize that headaches hurt?

He gave her a disapproving glower and placed his hands on his hips. “Don’t ruin our beautiful flagpole please, it’s very important.” He shot a salute at it whilst blocking Gwen’s hand from scratching any further by holding it. “Also, Gwen, I think I have a solution for your… little issue,”

She decided to not focus on the hand holding as they entered the counselor's cabin. She plopped in a chair as he rushed to their mini-kitchen that was mainly stocked with energy drinks and junk food(eaten by Gwen) to grab an egg.

“Oh GOD no.” She shook her hands. “I’ve tried that, not doing it again.” He simply replied with a sideways smile that she didn’t know how to feel about. “What the fuck are you gonna do?” After a few minutes of him fucking around in the kitchen he handed her a cup filled with raw egg.

“Well, here goes nothing…” She downed the glass in one fail swoop. She was taken off guard by the sudden tanginess. “Holy shit!” She sputtered despite it not tasting like ass.

He smiled down at her. “It’s a thing I picked up a while ago! The shock takes away from the disgust!” He triumphantly held up two lemons that had been squeezed dry.

“You seem pretty proud of yourself.” She snarked. Yeah, sure, she didn’t predict it, but anybody who had half a brain could find a way to make raw egg better. The bar was pretty low. NUTMEG could improve it, that sonofabitch. But it wasn’t often he was proud of something he’d done, especially not today. She could tell how torn up he was about the whole ‘St. Campbells Day’ thing. She decided to humour him. “How’d ya come across this trick in the first place? You’re definitely not the drinking type.”

He shuffled a foot in front of him. “Mom had that problem a lot so I picked up on how she fixed it.” His knuckles tapped to the side of his thigh before he bounced onto his heels. “I never used it for myself but it came up enough for me to use it!” His smile looked strained. Gwen didn’t want to push him further.

“Well…good job, I guess.” She touched her temple. “I’m gonna go to sleep now.”

“It’s 6:27?”

“I’m turning in early. Don’t wake me up.” With the wave of her finger she entered their bedroom. She practically collapsed onto the bed. Could this day just end? Nutmeg disappointed her, kids were singing, and David cried. She then realized that was just a normal day at camp. Why was it so much worse than usual? It could’ve been the hangover but she’d been hungover before. She just felt that something was off. Her head hurt too much for this anyway.

With confusion and ever-numbing pain fogging her mind, she fell into sleep.

>~•~<

The clock showed she woke up at 3 a.m. Gwen felt like she woke up at 6:28.

She groaned and turned to the bed across the room. David wasn’t there. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, usually he’d get antsy and head out to the dock. Still, it was nice to do something and she wasn’t ‘I need to sleep’ tired, more ‘I would rather die than think critically’ tired. With that, she slogged out of the bedroom to look for her idiot.

“Hey, David? It’s probably stupid to not be sleeping right now.” Hypocritical but it got the point across. “I know you’re an idiot but I’d prefer an awake idiot to a tired one.” She rolled her eyes at the lack of a response. Great, so he’s being difficult now.

She stalked around the creaking cabin and called his name, searching for the bitch. Her footsteps stopped dead outside of the bathroom when she heard the gasps of sobs.

She gently pulled the door open. “David? Are you-”. Her mouth clamped shut as she took in the view before her. There he was on the floor, rocking back and forth on a ball. He hit his head with the heels of his palms over and over again. Tears welled up in his eyes and were scattered across his flushed face. He looked up at her.

Gwen didn’t know what to do, she’d never seen any other person do this but her. “Hey, uh…” she chewed herself out. Best to ask him if she could stay. “Uhm, can I-”

“No.” His gaze met the floor before he tacked on “Please.”

She reluctantly took a small step back. “Okay. If you need anything… say something.” Slowly, she backed out of the room filled with David’s ragged breathing. Shit, was that the right thing to do? Placing herself about seven feet away from the bathroom door, she was in the kitchen. Gwen was already there, might as well eat something. She grabbed a chocolate pastry from a small cupboard. After taking a second to think about the man in the room next to her, she snatched a second one. Maybe what he wanted was normalcy.

“David? Do you want a snack?”

A pause. She could barely hear his response when it came. “Alright.” She filled up a glass of water and headed to the bathroom.

When she opened the door a second time he looked more composed. Not good by any sense of the word but at least he wasn’t hitting himself anymore. She sat down next to him and gave him his things. He seemed almost nervous to eat it. “Thank you.”

She decided to shoot her shot. “What’s going on? If it’s alright to ask.” She cringed at herself nearly forgetting that boundaries fucking existed.

He responded by shaking his head slightly. “Well, kind of. But not really? Sorry, I’m not really making sense,” he stumbled over his words, grasping them about as well as one grasps a snowflake. That being, melting away the moment you can feel it. Damnit, Gwen, now wasn’t the time for writer’s brain! God, she was tired.

“It’s just… Mr. Campbell is so forgiving and kind to me!” He gestured vaguely above his head. “I really don’t deserve it. He’s been trying so hard to change and I doubted him! I really messed up, Gwen.” His voice hitched at the very end. Shit shit shit.

“Uh, well,” when in doubt, turn the gun on yourself. “At least you didn’t get mad at Max. He’s just a kid and I told him that he’ll never get better.” Remembering that outburst made her upper lip curl. “I mean, he did do a shitty thing but that doesn’t excuse telling a ten year old about what an asshole he is. He IS one but yeah.” Fantastic phrasing, Gwen, you’re gonna be a real respected author.

David looked at her empathetically. “Well, while I disagree with your methods of teaching, he did seem sorry! It taught him a lesson. You should be proud!” His gaze returned to a nonexistent place in front of him. “And he hurt your feelings, that’s never a bad reason to get angry.”

She wondered if he really meant that or if he was just making things up. He had more reason than anyone to be angry yet here he was, comforting a grown woman after she cussed out a child. His actions actually made sense today. Wait, yesterday. She wanted to sleep again, like that was the answer to all her problems.

“Hey man, we should probably sleep. Come on.” Maybe a little too forcefully, she yanked him to his feet. She watched him wobble before he caught his balance. It was odd to see him go through his usual day-to-day actions after witnessing what she just did. He really was something. How could he forgive Campbell after all the shit he did? Was he really that delusional to think that he didn’t deserve to get angry at that asshole? After making him cry?

They entered their room. Gwen hesitated. How could she make him feel better? He didn’t seem to want to sleep in the same bed this night. She thought back to the stunt he pulled when she had Space Kid. Slowly, she placed her palm on his cheek and kissed the back of it. He looked at her, eyes wide.

“Gotcha back or whatever.” She coughed and walked to her bed. “And David?”

“Mhm?”

“Don’t… don’t beat yourself up about this. You’re a good counselor. A good PERSON. Don’t let this get to you. You’re the best person I’ve ever met.”

As she fell into a dreamless sleep she didn’t realize that he never replied. In fact, he didn’t even say goodnight. All he could do was crash into his pillow and dream.

>~•~<

‘Daisy, don’t do that,’ was something he had heard often when he was little. That phrase would become his mantra at home. Don’t do that, not with mom. That afternoon, however, the saying would become a blessing.

“Hey, kid,” his mom called. “Come here now.” David tensed and scurried to the woman. His ponytail - usually swinging wildly when he moved(and he moved a lot) - stuck to his damp neck as he shuffled over.

“Yes, mom?”

“Sign this shit.” She handed him a piece of paper and a pencil and cocked an eyebrow expectantly.

He pinched the sheet hesitantly. “What…do I do?” He never was asked to do anything like this. Yeah, there was homework but he didn’t even try to work on that, it was below him.

“Sign your name, dumbass.”

He scrawled his name messily on a dotted line. His handwriting wasn’t great, the letters connected at some spots and the ‘y’ looked like a ‘d’. It didn’t look like ‘Daisy’ in the slightest except for maybe the first two letters, and that was a very big maybe. His mom didn’t notice when he handed it back.

“‘Kay. Thanks, Day.” David’s heart swelled at the nickname. She must be happy with him! He started shaking his fists and stuck his tongue out.

“Daisy, don’t do that. This is why we’re sending you away.” His hands stopped dead and he shot up to make himself straight as a board.

“Huh? Send me where?”

“We’re sending you to some camp, get you out of our hair.”

“A camp?” He chirped in his forcibly-lowered voice. It hurt his throat but he liked the sound it made. Still, he didn’t want to have to do it more. To add onto that he HATED camping. A reason to get out of the house, at least.

“Are you deaf? Yeah, ‘a camp’. Camp Campbell or some shit.” She poked at his stomach forcefully. “It’ll get ya less fat.”

David looked down at his belly. The boy hadn’t noticed before but he guessed he could see about an inch of fat poking out of his shirt. He wrapped his arms around his waist instinctively. Another thing to fix.

He learned that he would go away for the summer along with other kids his age, upsetting him. He didn’t get along well with his peers. He repeatedly lashed out and shied away from them. He’d make it work, though. That’s what he’s for.

Despite the small negative it was largely overweighed by the positive of being allowed to go outside for something other than school and getting groceries. He didn’t really know much about the outdoors and it’d probably suck but, hey, it’ll be great. Maybe.

He could help people be tougher! That would help make people like him! The tough love effect, his parents used it on him all the time. He’d do his best.

He’d make their lives miserable.

Chapter Text

“Why are you like this?” Max heard Gwen groan.

“Like what?”

It was a lake day again, to Max’s dismay. He glared enviously at the kids struggling to stay afloat. It was hypocritical of him, if he was being honest. To want to swim but refuse to take lessons. He was a dumbass, really.

Not as big of a dumbass as David, though. Fully clothed and in the water, he stood. He had removed his shoes and socks but that hadn’t stopped the water from covering him from head to toe. He didn’t seem to mind it if the smile plastered across his face said anything. His eyes maintained that infinite sparkle as he looked at all of his campers. God, imagine being that happy being around people that probably think nothing of you, what a joke.

Despite Gwen’s fingers being split over her face, Max could see her grinning at the idiot redhead. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked over to her spot on the grass.

“Hey,”

She jumped and looked over at him. He annoyedly noticed that he and Gwen were the same height when she was sitting.

“Yeah, twerp?” Now that he was thinking about it, Max didn’t have a plan when he came over.

He kicked at the dust. “Uh, what’s up?” His reply was a snort and the shake of a head.

“Not much, honestly. Things have been suspiciously calm lately.” She tilted her head to the sky. “I want to do work. Fun work.”

“Fuck, gross!” His nose wrinkled and his face scrunched up. Remembering Gwen’s nasty-ass fanfiction was something he’d rather NOT do. “Keep that shit away from me.”

She looked borderline offended. “What I make is art! Also, not that kind of work.” Pulling out her phone, she opened a photo album.

“God, did you play piano?” Max exclaimed. The photos presented a teenage Gwen, red-faced and concentrated, thrumming on black and white keys.

Cocking an eyebrow, she corrected him. “Technically keyboard, but sure, I also say piano. It’s taken more seriously. Less of a ‘basement creature’ and more of a ‘refined scholar’.”

“Gross,” Gwen just snorted in return.

They fell into comfortable silence and gazed at the lake and the people in it. Nikki was looking in awe at Erid, basking in her coolness. In fact, she was so enthralled in what she liked to call ‘Erid’s glory’ she didn’t notice Nerris doing the same to her. It was like a conga line of childish crushes. Meanwhile, Space Kid was busy holding onto David’s leg even though he had a ring floatie. He was attempting to hold a conversation with a frustrated Neil whilst using the man’s ever-moving leg as an anchor. Neil threw his arms around angrily and screamed at the other kid in a blind rage, furious at something inaccurate the smaller kid had said. Harrison tried - to no avail - to start an argument with the starry-eyed Nerris. The slump in his back was noticeable when he kicked the lake water, splashing Preston in the process.

“Harrison, you scoundrel! You ruined my beautiful hair,” he screeched.

Harrison looked at him sheepishly. “Sorry, but…you’re already in the lake?” He apologized when Preston let out a gasp.

Preston marched out of the lake, nose upturned. He daintily prodded at his perfect curls with his fingertips. Max sneered at him but didn’t stop looking. God, he’s such an idiot, was one of the very few things that went through his head when he was gazing at Preston.

Gwen elbow nudge made him realize he was staring. “Look at this motherfucker,” her finger directed him to look at David getting ambushed by a very tiny, very rabid Nikki. “He’s useless without me.”

“No shit.” Nikki bodied David into the rocks on the shore but he didn’t even flinch. He’d been hit by a bus multiple times so Max was used to him powering through everything. David was the only person Nikki could roughhouse with and not come out victorious. He’d just laugh it off and place her next to Max and Neil or some of her other dumbass friends.

“This is boring,” Max whined.

“Let’s fix that, Maximillion!”

“HOLY SHIT,” he nearly jumped out of his skin and gaped at Preston who was looking down at him.

“AHA! I see you’ve noticed me! Took you long enough!” He placed his hands on his hips and had a wild expression on his face.

Gwen looked over and Max just squinted. “My name is Max, not Maximillion, bitch. What do you want?”

The lanky boy was vibrating and couldn’t seem to keep his fucking voice down for the life of him(the life Max was going to end if he didn’t hurry up). “GET THIS; a young pirate dreams of a bigger world outside of her life on the sea and meets a dashing young man after saving him from drowning! The man is a prince and it’s a FABULOUS forbidden romance!”

“Isn’t that just The Little Mermaid?”

“Technically yes, but we don’t have the budget to get the mermaid costumes so I had to MAKE DO.” He put extra emphasis on the last two words as though it were the focal point of the sentence.

Gwen took up what was supposed to be Max’s spot in the conversation. “When is this supposed to happen?”

“Next Thursday!”

Ignoring the very short time for memorizing the lines she chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Uh, Preston, that messes up the timing of dance camp.”

He let out - what was supposed to be - a maniacal laugh and continued. “Ohoho but GWEN, don’t you know it’s going to be a musical?”

“How the fuck would I know that Pre-”

“WE SHALL BE PERFORMING ONLY 6 SONGS DUE TO THE SHORTENED REHEARSAL TIME!”

As that registered with Gwen, a grin cracked across her face. She shot up and ran into the lake and to David. She explained something with big gestures at a volume Max couldn’t quite make out the words of. What he could make out was the amused smile on David’s face. He couldn’t seem to say a full sentence without being interrupted by the hyper woman in front of him.

When that brief conversation had ended the counselors had wrapped up lake day and made an announcement after dinner.

David stepped forward. “Alright kids! So what we’re gonna do is-”

“Listen up!” Gwen shoved his face out of the way and used the other hand to point at us. “You guys are going to practice the shit out of this play Preston is making, got it?” It wasn’t a question. Max knew when an adult didn’t want questions. Space Kid, on the other hand, had not learned such a lesson.

Gwen stared at his raised arm with wild eyes. “What is it?”

“Why do you want this so bad?” His muffled voice morphed louder with awe. “Are we gonna be on TV?”

“GWEN,” Preston shouted. “How could you not tell me this before? We need FAR MORE time to rehearse this MASTERPIECE of a script.”

Max could see Gwen’s eye twitch from a distance. “God… God NO SHUT YOUR YAPS!” The silence was instant. “We are doing this because I want us to!” A pause. “And my whole family is coming over.”

“Ohhhhhh,” Max jeered. “So really you wanna make up for the dog shit that happened when your dad came over!” He knew he was lying so he couldn’t help but ask, “Is Missy gonna come too?”

Gwen waved away the rest of the conversation. “Sure, but that’s not what matters. What does matter is that rehearsal time will be pushed forward and I will be the dance instructor! For all of you.”

A lull in the room cut the flow of the conversation. Eventually, Nikki had the bright idea of actually saying something and not sitting there silently like the rest of them. “But… why?”

“I actually have experience with dance, unlike the rest of you people at this god-forsaken camp,”

Max wanted to tell her to not group him in with the other idiots but Ered beat him to complaining. “Uh, excuse me, but I’m cool enough to do this by myself.”

“Self-importance isn’t cute, honey,”

Nurf let out a loud gasp. “Gwen! As a bully myself I, for one, am appalled at how large the power imbalance here is! You should know better to not pick on kids,”

“But Nurf, you bully us daily?”

“SHUT UP, HARRISON, NOTHING THAT COMES OUT OF THAT FACE HAS ANYTHING USEFUL TO CONTRIBUTE!” Max was actually impressed that Nurf hadn’t threatened to kill the now slouching Harrison.

“Oh my god shut up,” Gwen’s groan was directed towards the ceiling as she rolled her head back. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she turned to the man next to her. “David, handle these shitheads.”

“Now now, kiddos, let’s not get dramatic over this little thing,” He put his hands palms-out in sign of surrender at the noise filling every corner of the room. In true desperation he piped up with, “Whoever shows the best dance will get ice cream!”

“Holy shit!” Max exclaimed. “There’s more? And you’ve been hiding it?”

Nikki let out what was best described as a mix between a growl and a hiss. “LEMME AT IT!”

David let out a nervous chuckle. “Only if you dance well!”

“I call Preston!” Max announced loudly whilst grabbing the theatre kid’s wrist and marching out the door to practice.

“LOVING the commitment Max. NONE SHALL STOP US FROM PREVAILING!”

Though he wouldn’t say it, Max smiled. He got the dancing bitch, that’s the only reason why he chose him. He’s got this in the bag.

Chapter Text

“God, they’re all shit at this, huh?” David and Gwen gazed amusedly at the campers stumbling over each other.

“Well I’d say that’s a little mean,” he scolded.

“You’re not disagreeing.”

Max was about as stiff as a board whilst Preston spun frivolously around him. His jaw clenched as the taller boy forcibly made him lead. The sweating was visible on both of them even though Max had barely moved a muscle during the whole first hour.

Today had been assigned to creating the dances, about one team for each song. So far they’ve completed about… actually basically nothing. Gwen groaned. “HURRY YOUR ASSES UP!”

David tapped on her shoulder. “Uh, shouldn’t we be doing something, too?”

Gwen’s mind landed on about a million different topics before landing on the (obvious)answer. “Oh shit, yeah.” They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. “Do you not know how to dance?”

“…not exactly,” he rubbed his arm. “But I’m not against learning!”

Gwen sighed with a smile. “Okay so,” she placed her right hand on his waist. “First off, I’m going to be leading because I actually know what the fuck I’m doing.”

He nodded exuberantly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Yes, ma’am!”

“Sure as hell ‘yes ma’am’,” she wasn’t sure why her body warmed so quickly. The conclusion she drew was that it was the middle of the day during summer. “Alright, put your right left hand on my shoulder.” David did so. Gwen intertwined the fingers on their loose hands (with a bit too much force, she admits).

“Ow!”

“Now follow my lead.” He caught onto the dance pretty quickly. He was nothing if not a quick learner. The pairs’ moves became more certain and concise as practice continued. Gwen found herself gazing at David’s concentrated expression. A nervous grin was plastered on his face and his frantic eyes were glued to both of their feet.

She was suddenly struck by a realization. “Ah, shit.”

He cocked his head like a puppy. “What is it?”

“We need more space for this next part so we gotta move. Also I don’t want to give the kids more ammunition for insults. For both of us.”

“Well,” he laced their fingers and started walking in long strides. “Let’s go!”

>~•~<

They settled just outside the counselors cabin. “Okay,” they got back on into the first position. “I’m gonna dip you.”

His steps bounced as they twirled through the dance once again. The counselors came to stop in the last pose they were in. David’s leg was propped over her left thigh.

“Now slide your left foot under me but not far enough to slide down.” He did as such, extended arms quivering. Gwen pulled him back up to face her, spinning him over her leg. They spun and spun and spun. “How heavy are you?”

“Uh,” he panted slightly. “189 pounds I think?”

“Oh, that’s easy, okay.” Before he could ask what she meant she hoisted him up. She used her forearms as a semi-throne for him to sit on, his legs wrapped around her. Remembering the next part, she swore. God, why did she join competitive dance?

“Uh… okay uh so,” she couldn’t seem to look him in the eye. “So uhm, you gotta uh…” Motioning towards his legs by tilting her head she sputtered on. “You gotta… fuck. You gotta wrap your legs around my neck and flip to the ground. Let’s pray to GOD that you know how to do a basic somersault so that we don’t both die.” Sure, that’s why she was nervous. No other reason.

Hiking him up was relatively easy, it was the next position that was difficult. David got into spot on command but Gwen was having a hard time. His heels were pressed against the middle of her back, knees to the side of her face, not the most comfortable. She knitted her shaky fingers with his. “Okay, flip.”

He toppled over, landing flat on his back. “Gosh darn it!” He crossed his arms and beamed up at her. “Well, if at first you don’t succeed!”

They practiced over and over and over again, one of them screwing up every time. Gwen’s companion grew more tense as the dance repeated over the hour. His grip on her shoulders and fingers intensified and he borderline strangled her with his thighs one time.

“David, you’re gonna kill me!” She dropped him in the dirt. She gasped, the flush on her face clearly only from lack of airflow, nothing else.

“Shoot, sorry Gwen! It’s just a little frustrating, yeah?”

“Well we only have today to make the dances so get your ass moving.” She helped him up and they resumed. Their swaying was more certain than ever. She lifted him up, he wrapped his legs around her shoulders, and he flipped. And he landed. Wait.

“OH MY GOD, FINALLY!” She bounced on her toes. She wasn’t one to smile, especially not this wide, but it felt like a clothes hanger was stuck in her mouth. “Shit, man, good job! Took ya long enough!”

David was shaking his fists as he often did when he was excited. “Yes! Woohoo!” His eyes’ smile lines were especially prominent now. He picked her up in a bone-cracking hug and spun her around. He froze.

“What’s-”

“Shh,” David’s voice was more hushed than she’d ever heard. His fear trickled through to her in his shallow breaths. “Don’t move, I’m going to back away slowly.” His arms were locked around her as he stepped away from whatever he was afraid of. Gwen noticed that he had a slight limp in his left leg. His breathing became increasingly faster and he began to hiccup. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard him murmur. “Please… please not mom… not again…”

Slowly and surely, they had escaped the enemy that only David knew of by retreating into the counselors cabin. He let her down and dusted himself off. His eyes were still unnaturally wide but his chest rose more steadily than before.

“The fuck was that?”

“Momma bear.” He collapsed into a chair and rubbed his forehead.

She stood idly by his chair and let that sink in. “Oh,” was all she could manage. When in doubt, ignore the problem and watch TV. She grabbed the remote that was stuffed in between her chair cushions. “What channel do you want?”

“Gwen, we need to go help the kids with their dancing.”

“Nah, man, they can do that themselves. They wouldn’t listen to us anyways.” He tried to protest but she pushed forward. “You like Disney, right?” He nodded and she clicked forward to it. They didn’t say much to each other, they didn’t want or need to. Gwen knew he didn’t want to talk about how scared he was, that was fine. She’d always be there. She hoped he knew that.

She couldn’t help but glance as he massages his right leg. He caught her staring this time. “Hm? Oh, I put too much weight on it sometimes, it hurts to stand on my left leg.”

Gwen looked back at the TV but paid no mind to the dancing lights on the screen. David hadn’t told her what exactly happened when he was gone for those weeks. In fact, he acted like it had never happened. She never wanted to be a part of his personal life, she tried to do the exact opposite, but she wished she knew what was going on. Why was she like this? Why couldn’t she just let things go or put her full heart into things? She just half-assed everything she did.

Biting the inside of her mouth, she resolved to care.