𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 ~ [𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘹 𝘖𝘊]

⇒ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪx

Crappy music? Check.

Boredom? Check

General unhappiness in everyone's faces? Check.

Wanting to be anywhere else in the world right now? Check, check, check.

It was the Lake Lilac Summer Social.

"Can't we just call it a night?" I asked. Things had gone rapidly downhill the minute David had caught me mixing alcohol into my cup of punch from a hip flask and confiscated it, chiding me for drinking in front of the kids.

"Call it a night? The Lake Lilac Summer Social only comes once a year." The redhead's enthusiasm had drawn over the usual suspects for chaos.

"I'm with Avery. This fucking sucks." Max spoke up first.

"To be honest, I thought you kids would like this sort of thing." Gwen hopped into the conversation, voicing a surprisingly hopeful opinion by her standards. "Dances give you a chance to cut loose! Party! Maybe even find a summer crush." She smirked.

"Their options are the Woodscouts and Flowerscouts." I pointed out gesturing to our neighbouring camps who'd been forced along. "Besides, they're all way too young for you to be shipping like anime characters." I added, a little uncomfortable.

"There's got to be something we can do to liven things up!" David insisted, eyes flicking between me and our coworker.

"If there is, I suggest we look outside of here, and I come with you." I gave the redhead no warning as I grabbed his wrist, dragging him out the door. Boy, was I glad to be out of there. The air was cool, a nice contrast to the stifling heat caused by the sweating of almost twenty prepubescent campers.

"Actually, I was thinking there might be something we can find back inside-" I cut him off abruptly.

"Absolutely not. I am taking this as a chance at freedom." I paused, considering something. "We could bail on the whole thing and sit by the lake?" I could tell I was tempting the redhead from how he hesitated to answer.

"Oh I don't know, are you sure we shouldn't be keeping an eye on things? And by things I mean Gwen." The turquoise eyed man inquired.

"That's a good point actually... But I have complete faith Max will fuck up whatever plans she has out of spite, so we're fine." I chuckled. I switched from having my hand loosely around David's wrist to clutching his palm. The pier wasn't far from the Mess Hall at all, which provided a short and silent walk to our destination.

"Maybe this was a better idea." He considered. "I feel like we haven't been able to sit and talk very much recently." I nodded, as usual, taking off my shoes to dip my feet in the lake. 

"Agreed." I locked eyes with the man who sat next to me, unable to stop my spreading smile if I tried.

"What are you thinking about?"

"How incredibly lucky I was to end up here, with you." I laughed a little. "Surprisingly sappy for me, I know."

"Oh no, I do the same, a lot." David assured me. I hummed in a way that I meant for him to interpret as carry on talking. "Well, what have I ever done to deserve someone so selfless, brave, intelligent, and handsome as you?" So it was going to be one of those nights, where I was slowly murdered with compliments. Sweet. I lived for them. (An ironic way of phrasing something I'd just associated with my murder). "I was blessed to have you as a co-counsellor, let alone a partner."

"You keep saying shit like that, I'll fucking die." I joked, nudging David affectionately.

"I'd prefer you alive if that's alright. Something's morally wrong about kissing a corpse..." He trailed off with a shrug. This sent me into borderline hysterics.