Camp Crescent Moon ⤖ applyfic (closed)

✷ chapter three ✷

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Approximately 39 Hours Remaining↞

Two Days Later

"Samuel? Samuel, please wake up...!"

Samuel blinked his eyes opened groggily, rubbing at them. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness--he was waking up way earlier than he was used to. 

"Millie? What are you doing? It's like 5 AM...!"

Millie looked down at him in bed with wide eyes. "Sh! Don't wake anyone else up, please... I... I need to talk to you."

Samuel's brain was still turning on, but suddenly, he understood that something about Millie's voice was urgent. He forced himself to sit up. He whispered, "Okay, okay. Lets go outside. Too many people in here."

Millie took ahold of Samuel's hand and led him through the dark as his eyes kept adjusting. He couldn't tell where the flor ended and the walls began. The door squeaked on its hinges as Millie opened it, but no one shifted in their beds. 

Samuel took a seat on the small porch outside of the cabin, patting next to him to encourage Millie to sit, too. Samuel realized as she sat that she was completely dressed, while he was still stuck in his pajamas fresh out of bed. She must've been awake for a while...

"So... What's bugging you, Mils?"

Millie looked away, locking her eyes onto the ground to her left. "I... I don't wanna go home."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." Samuel frowned. "That's why you woke me up so early, huh? It's Wednesday... You guys are supposed to be heading out in a couple hours. Today's your last day, and it's okay to be sad, but... there's always next year?"

"No!" Millie blurted out, then covered her mouth in embarrassment. She sniffled hard, like she was about to cry. "You don't get it..."

"Then help me understand."

"My...my mom is sick..."

Millie trailed off for a bit, but Samuel had a feeling that she wasn't finished, so he didn't say anything.

"Like... uhm... really sick. She's pretty much in the hospital all the time... It's--It's bad... A-And..." Millie's voice cracked. She rubbed at her eyes, and her fingered came away glistening with tears.

Millie threw herself into Samuel's arms as the dam broke. She burst into tears, squeezing onto him tight. 

Samuel... wasn't the best with hugs. But he wrapped his around her tight and let her cry into his shirt. "Hey now... Don't cry, it's okay... You can tell me. What's going on...? I want to help you..."

"H-He's--He's mean...! I--I don't w-wanna go home!"

...Oh.

Samuel was not properly equipped to help with that sort of problem. He squeezed Millie tighter. "Millie.... I'm so so so sorry... that's really awful. You... You can't stay forever... But, I'm--I'm sure that you could stay another day with me...? I could give you a ride home tomorrow... I know my brother wouldn't mind... If that's you want?"