𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 ~ [𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘹 𝘖𝘊]

⇒ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ

I'd be lying if I said things hadn't gotten massively complicated in my life as of late. After David's confession and our shared agreement to hold off on whatever this was, things had only gotten harder. But hey, it wasn't just me to blame this time. The redhead would find any excuse to be in physical contact with me, whether it be a subtle hand hold or an arm around my shoulders. Things that could pass off as friendly. It was endearing and rather adorable to say the least.

I'd yet to remember kissing him the night of my dad's wedding like he said I did, but honestly, I'm kind of glad I did it, as it meant our mutual feelings had gotten out into the open. Even if now it was arguably worse because I knew he felt the same and we could do nothing about it. But I promised him I'd wait, and I planned on doing so. I had to admit though, and I hated myself for using this word, I was yearning.

Gwen also found out, naturally, after wondering why the two of us had emerged from the woods giddy and blushing. Honestly we only explained because her mind had immediately jumped the gun implying we'd done some... Adult things up against a tree, and we hurriedly explained what was actually happening so she didn't think that. Because that thought was fucking horrifying. She squealed a lot when we told her, which I suppose was to be expected.

Things with the campers had been a handful too, and I'd in fact just gotten back from one of the worst incidents I'd had to sit through. It was supposed to be a normal trip to the hospital for Space Kid after Nikki, Neil and Max had coated the inside of his suit with super glue making it impossible to remove without ripping off several layers of his skin. David and I were pissed at the kids, making them come along in the car as a punishment. Downside? It was a long drive to Sleepy Peak General.

And then of course Nikki triggered one of the redhead's stories by asking what the Camp Campbell pendant on the inside mirror of the car was.

It had completely thrown us off course, making us pass the turning for the hospital two hours before he actually finished the story, too invested to actually notice. The kids and I had tried to tell him, but David was just too intent on relaying the story. It was kind of a horrifying one too.

It was useful though, because it gave me some insight into something I was still trying to solve: Jasper, the most likely ghost kid on spooky island who was also in a picture of David's old camp friends when he was younger. Turns out, as he told me the night of the Camporee, they were best friends. His continued existence on the island had been nagging at me, and I'd been meaning to get round to do some snooping, but here was David sitting and telling us everything.

Apparently, when the Order of the Sparrow was actually a successful camp activity, Jasper had been the one the staff had been passed onto. His final quest to seal this position was to go into the woods and return with the branch of the Great Sleepy Pine without the use of technology. And this next part I don't believe, David was made to go too because he was the 'bad kid' on camp. I'm willing to bet any money that he only added that to try and make it more relatable to Max and push him in the right direction of loving nature, but I didn't say anything.

From what I gathered, Mr Campbell had been utterly shit at guiding them. David had then told us of how Jasper had slipped, holding onto a tree branch for dear life as he hung over a chasm. The redhead had tried to reach him, but he'd fallen. I thought that was it, but from the fact David continued, it wasn't. The poor kid was alive down there, waiting for them to come save him. And then Jasper got attacked by a bear. From what my colleague had told us, him and Cameron had found bear tracks leading to a cave and used some form of light-up shoe to distract the bears while they escaped. I thought back to what Jasper had said when we entered the mansion on the island.

"If only I had my LA Gear Light-Up shoes.. They light up the night." Poor fucking kid. I made a vow to go to Spooky Island and talk to him at some point.