camp | eruri

Lateness and a Leather Journal

My eyes fluttered open. I realized it was morning. And Erwin and I were still in the gazebo. I couldn't remember much of the last thirty minutes I was awake, because I had been drunk. I did see that I had my boxers and shirt on and that I was lying on top of Erwin with a blanket overtop of the two of us. I bent down and grabbed my phone from the ground, looking at the time.

Fuck.

It was 6:30, the time I'm usually waking the younger cabin members up. I jumped up from where I was lying, slipping my pants on quickly and shaking Erwin awake. I was so focused on getting back to the cabin that I didn't realize how much my ass hurt from last night, although, it was amazing.

"What's got you moving so fast this early?" He asked me sleepily.

I pulled him up harshly from the position he was laying in. He stumbled towards me, almost causing me to fall to the ground.

"Erwin, we have to get back to the cabin as fast as we can. We're gonna be in deep shit if we don't."

He seemed to get a grip on what I was saying and he began putting on his clothes. He was fully dressed in thirty seconds, making my day easier already. We gathered all of our things and started running up the steep hill we tracked down last night to get to the lake. I don't know about Erwin, but I ran faster than I ever had right then. My chest hurt from all the harsh breaths I took while running, but I wasn't allowing myself to stop. We got in sight of the cabins when Erwin and I both began to slow in pace.

After barely jogging the rest of the way to our cabin, I knocked on the door with whatever strength I had left in my body and Marco answered the door in a matter of seconds. He looked me up and down, Erwin as well; he giggled before letting us inside.

The cabin was bustling with nearly twenty boys who were rushing to get everything done before they left for breakfast. Erwin and I headed straight for our shared room and plopped down on our beds, still recovering from the loss of breath from running. It had only felt like a minute, but Marco came running into our room almost ten minutes later.

"Erwin, Levi, it's time to go to breakfast."

It almost sounded like he was our leader.

Erwin and I both grumbled and moaned as we forced ourselves out of bed. We walked slowly to the front of the cabin and counted the heads of everyone in the cabin, making sure they were all here and accounted for. Erwin took the front of the line, almost speed walking down the steps. I was in the rear, taking my own speed at what I thought was comfortable.

Afternoon

All of our classes were done for the day, and I was thankful for that. Most of our kids were at the pool with Erwin while I stayed at the cabin with the few who didn't want to go. I was sitting on Erwin's bed while the other kids were in the main part of the cabin laughing about something. I looked around at Erwin's stuff, which I knew was a little weird, but I wasn't going to be invasive.

I was looking through his drawers to see where he kept his beers, and ending up finding something that looked like a journal. I pulled it out, examining the old, leather cover. It looked very used and was thick with so much paper. There was a band around it to kept it from being loose. I knew I shouldn't look in it, but I had the urge to because I could find out things about him I may never find out otherwise.

I did the right thing and put the journal right back from where I found it. Unfortunately, right as I was putting it back, Erwin walked into the room. His face flushed red and his eyes grew wide. He rushed over to where I was, and I swear, for a second, I thought he was going to punch me directly in the face. He slammed the drawer shut for me and leaned over me, only a couple of inches away from touching my face.

"What were you doing with that?"

"I was trying to find where you kept your beer  and I stumbled across that, but I never opened it up, I swear on my life."

Erwin glared at me, not totally convinced.

"Then why were you holding it and sneakily putting it back?"

"I was holding it because I was looking at the leather on it and I was putting it back sneakily because I was afraid this was gonna happen."

A short silence fell between us.

"You promise you didn't read anything?"

"I swear on my dying breath, Smith."

He blushed, slowly taking a seat beside me on the bed. He let out a long sigh and started laughing. It started as giggles but grew to his genuine laugh. I was curious as to what made him laugh so hard when I hadn't seen anything happen.

"What's so hilarious?"

"I should just let you read that damn journal, Levi."

"Erwin, those are your private thoughts and I don't want to invade them."

"Oh, but sweetheart, you're always invading my thoughts."

I gulped, my cheeks heating up quickly. He kissed my forehead and bent down the the drawer, taking the journal out. He loosened the string holding the journal closed and opened it. He began flipping through the pages, going to his more recent ones. He laid the journal in my lap.

"Here, read from this page until the last one that I wrote." Erwin said, grinning a bit and leaning away.

I looked down at the paper in front of me and began reading.

July 6th
Camp: Day 1

What the hell?! Okay so, last night you were drinking with Levi Ackerman and you guys kissed. Under the moonlight. How fucking romantic. (Good going, Erwin. I mean it) You guys are "dating" but we shouldn't make that official until something more happens. Make sure you keep this on the down low and don't make too many moves right away. This guy may be a keeper, Smith. Don't screw up.

"Erwin, this is hilarious."

"It was meant to be a motivator for me, but I'm glad you found my stress comedic."

I laughed at his comment, my smile almost going from ear to ear.

"Now flip to the most recent thing I wrote."

I flipped a few pages, skipping a lot of journal entries. I looked down at the date, and it was today.

"When'd you write this?"

"That doesn't matter, just read."

So I did.

July 26th
Camp: Day 20

Holy shit, Erwin, you had one hell of a night last night. Levi took you down to the gazebo on the lake, which was one of the most magnificent things you've ever seen. You all drank and laughed, and got sexual. That's how you lost your virginity and oh my GOD. It was amazing; by far the best feeling ever. It hasn't been long, but you have major feelings for this boy so please, don't mess anything up. Levi is such a great person, and you're never gonna find someone like that if you let him go.

I looked up to Erwin, my eyes starting to fill with tears. He smiled down at me, rubbing my leg.

"Erwin, god..." That was all I managed to get out.

He embraced me tightly, and I cried softly into his shoulder. His warmth wrapped around my small body, making me feel peaceful and at home. I smiled into him.

"That's just part of the things I'm too wimpy to say out loud. I can hardly speak when you're naked or almost naked, 'cause you leave me speechless." He held me by the waist, placing a kiss on my lips.

"Erwin, I think I love you..."

He smiled into my hair.

"Y'know, I kinda think that too."