CWH 2

Gay Panic and Goodbyes

Alex

Alex did NOT think Magnus would actually go for it, but holy hell was it awesome. Smashing gender expectations, yeah! It was Friday, and Alex had dodged several hordes of makeup monsters and dress demons all day.

Would it be overly mean to tape all their beauty products to the ceiling?

Probably. Someone had already pranked one of the girls pretty bad, and in the process showed squirrels how to get to the snack stash- what was her name, started with an E?- had in her bags.

Alex didn't want to make her camp even worse, even if she had heard a particularly nasty comment about genderfluid people coming from the yellow-haired girl's lips. (if your name is actually Eilin, sorry! I just mushed random keys lol)

The smell of fresh night air from the mountain floated high, and Alex leaned back in her seat. They were waiting for the last few stragglers to come so they could play a few games before winding down for the night.

Jaz was the one to come up with the game that night. "We're playing This-or-That, huddle up."

Sophie pulled out a notepad and a pen as the group scooted into a circle.

"The game is fairly simple," Jaz explained. "Two things are brought up, say Pizza and Phones. The thing that you would be willing to live without is voted on, and the thing with the most votes no longer exists in the fantasy universe you're creating."

Chaos, awesome.

Percy

When Percy woke up, it was a moment of slight confusion. Usually he was chilly when he woke up at camp, but he was warm now. Had he fallen asleep in the bathroom after changing out of the dress Biana insisted he would wear to the UWMA ball-party thing?

No, he remembered going back to the den that night and bundling up, falling asleep in his sleeping bag next to Will and Carter. Had Percy ended up rolling into one of them?

Blinking one eye open, Percy realized he was now looking at Nico, who he would have sworn was on the OTHER side of Will.

Maybe Percy had a seaweed brain, but he could easily put together what happened.

Will probably had a nightmare or something and hugged onto him. When Will turned over, he most likely didn't let go, therefore bringing Percy between him and Nico, who had also latched onto Percy like he was a teddy bear.

The problem, Percy realized, is that they have demigod strength and if I try to get out of their grips they'll wake up.

He had a dilemma now. Wake Nico and Will up by trying to get out of their arms and cause a weird scene, or pretend to be asleep and hope they would let go when they woke up and the whole thing would blow over.

Okay, it wasn't much of a dilemma. Percy settled back into his sleeping bag, closing his eye to the dark of the very early morning. Floating off into sleep again, Percy told himself the warmth on his face was because of the awkward situation, nothing else.

Nothing. Else.

Keefe

Keefe had a habit of waking up first, cultivated over years of avoiding his dad. So, he was able to witness the adorable sight that was the pining gays cuddling in their sleep.

Will woke up first, and since Keefe had the perfect angle he could see the blond sunshine smile at Percy and Nico before reaching an arm around to pull them both closer. So cute.

The action half woke Nico up, and the facial expressions the emo went through at the rough start to the morning reminded Keefe of when Tam was raging mad but whispering so as not to wake Linh.

Shady started doing the shadow-talk thing, so Keefe turned his attention partly away and began getting up. When he looked back, the three were rubbing the backs of their necks and explaining the moment away bashfully.

Gods, these three. Were Foster and I really this obvious?

Today was the very last Friday of the camp, and Keefe felt sentimental. This camp was almost a home now, and Keefe knew every inch of the grove by heart.

Still, the summer was coming to a close, and Keefe would be starting another year at Foxfire. Don't let the sad get you, Keefe!

Sophie

Everything was ready. Sophie could literally find nothing that needed to be fixed, and it was just in time. The cloud of girls swept in and took her for a makeover again, but this time at the end she looked almost like the void (except sparkly and beautiful instead of bright and headache-inducing).

Dex had outdone himself with the music, and as Sophie walked in she admired the setup. Most of her time had been spent in the kitchen or disaster-proofing for the big night. Well, minus the de-squirreling she had to perform, that is.

The whole night was a whirl of laughter, dancing and fun. Sophie probably had way too much sugar, and the songs that were playing wormed their way into her ears even the morning after.

Will, Nico and Percy spent most of their time chatting and blushing in the corner near the snack tables, except when someone called out for a conga line and every person in the camp from the tallest to the smallest joined, with Sam as the camerawoman.

Waking up after all of the fun and knowing that they had to go home that afternoon was a hard blow, but Sophie brought out the basket of breakfast items and set up the meal. Everyone woke up on their own time, getting ready for the day before stumbling over to sit in a cluster. Smaller conversations were being held, and everyone present was expressing the same sentiment: I'll miss you.

Even as they sang songs and told stories, promised to keep in touch and shared final words of wisdom, they were upbeat.

"Next time we come to camp," Piper promised, "we're going to be doing absolutely nothing except normal camp stuff. No weird food, no conflict, no anything. Just pranks, games and s'mores."

Jaz sighed. "Sounds good. Can't wait to see you all next summer and not have to deal with being the only healer around for three months."

"Amen to that."

"Till we meet again, then!"

"I will miss you SO. MUCH."

"Keep Sadie out of trouble, you two!"

"As long as you keep Percy out of trouble!"

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"Just teasing you because I care."

"Bro, I'll miss you all."

"Who wants to bet on who's gonna Foster it next?"

"Ten drachmas on it being Leo!"

"Aww, c'mon, the McShizzle is nowhere as big of a target as Fish Jesus, Crypt Keeper and Sunnyfl-OW!"

"Thanks Will. Miss you, I guess."

"Can't WAIT to get in more trouble again next summer!"

Sophie smiled. "I'll miss everybody too. One last group hug before we all go home?"

Everybody nodded, and Sam said "I'm chill. I'll go save seats."

"Bye Sam, I'll miss you too. Air hug!"

Sam nodded, and Sophie was pulled into the mass of hugging teens happily. It lasted for what felt like minutes before they parted, and as they parted to go to their buses the words of farewell and promises to see each other again stretched around them happily.

Until we meet again, Camp Wildheart. Until we meet again.