A Camp For The Lost

..-_-ℙℝ𝕆𝕃𝕆𝔾𝕌𝔼-_-..

Deep in the woods, with trees so tall and large that the sun barely showed through their branches, the scent of bark and moss and river water filling the air, was a house. It wasn't a small house,  but it wasn't quite too large either. It was made of wood, accented with yellow and green paint, long faded, a small staircase leading to the double doors at the front. It stood at two levels high, with plenty of rooms, dusty and unused, all except for one. This one room in particular belonged to a young man named Daniel Walker.

Daniel found the place while he was taking a walk with his friend, Josh, a few years ago, and as time passed, they started coming to the house more and more often, almost spending more time out there than they had in their own homes.

Or, they used to. Until three weeks ago.

Josh had gone missing.
He ran away.
He ran away because his family couldn't accept the fact that he was gay, that he wasn't normal, that he'd never be the perfect son they'd always prayed for.

The police had found him after a week of searching.

Dead.

When Daniel found out, it broke him. Destroyed him. He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep... all he could think about was that last night they'd spent at the house, a few days before Josh had... left.

Daniel and Josh lay on the hardwood floor of the cabin, talking about everything and nothing. "Okay, but like... if the robots become sentient and take over the world, what would you do?" Josh asked, sitting up and facing his friend. Daniel followed his motion, thinking about his answer carefully. "I think I'd try to pass myself off as one of them, and then take out their leader, ending the apocalypse and becoming the most well-known hero in the world, and then die by falling down a flight of stairs and breaking my neck." He answered, and both boys laughed hysterically.

After their laughter had died down, Josh looked at Daniel seriously. "Dan, I gotta tell you something..." He looked down, wringing his hands together nervously as his blonde hair fell in front of his face. "Yeah, dude, what is it?"

He looked up at him, his blue eyes pleading. "If I tell you, you promise you won't hate me?"

"I couldn't hate you if I tried, Josh." Daniel assured, placing a hand on Josh's shoulder.

Josh debated whether he should tell him or not, ultimately taking a deep breath, counting to ten, and finally saying, "I'm gay."

Daniel's eyes widened, but then he thought for a moment. "Y'know, that explains a lot. Like... a whole lot, dude, I mean... Cindy Anderson? She was totally into you, and I thought you just never noticed. But now that I think about it, you stared at her brother a lot." Josh blushed, biting his lip. "So... you don't hate me?"

Daniel smiled at him, punching his arm. "I just told you, man, I couldn't if I tried." He scooted a bit closer to him, neither of them even noticing. "So... I told you my big secret, you tell me yours." Daniel scoffed. "I don't have one, you know everything about me." Josh raised an eyebrow. "You're right, I do, and I also noticed you staring at Steve Remington's ass at Senior prom." Daniel's mouth grew dry, and he screwed his eyes shut in embarrassment, a light flush on his cheeks. "Alright, I'm bisexual, I like both, everyone's hot and I'm dying." He joked, but neither of them laughed, they just gave each other a weak smile.

Josh leaned in slowly, barely realizing what he was doing, and Daniel did the same. Deep, brown orbs met shimmering blue ones in a gaze that wasn't quite loving, no, it was more desperate, confused, and scared, yet so filled with excitement. Josh paused, taking a breath, about to say something, when Daniel brought their lips together softly, closing his eyes. The older of the two boys gasped, but quickly relaxed, kissing Daniel back eagerly, his hands tangling into the other boy's brown locks.

The kiss seemed to go on forever, growing more heated each moment it went on, and somewhere along the line, Josh's hand trailed down Daniel's chest and down to his pants. Daniel gasped, pulling away from the kiss quickly. Josh's expression went from confusion, to hurt, to worry in a matter of seconds. "Dan, I'm sorry, I made you uncomfortable, I shouldn't have done that--"

"Hey, hey, no it's fine, I'm just..." Daniel started, furrowing his brows as he thought of an explanation for his reaction. "I don't think I'm ready to go there, yet. I'm not even sure I know what just happened." Josh nodded in understanding. "I get it. I don't really know, either... but I liked it." He said with a small, hopeful smile.

Daniel's lips turned up into a bittersweet smile at the memory, his nose burning and his eyes welling with tears. This was the first time he'd been back to the cabin since that night, and everything just came flooding back over him. Every laugh, every shared secret, that goddamn kiss. That kiss that he can't help but regret, but if he had the chance to re-do that night, he'd have done the same thing. It was weird to think about, they'd been friends their whole lives, and Daniel never saw him as anything more than that. Until that night.

He didn't attend the funeral. He couldn't bring himself to. Because the minute he saw his body, it would become real. Cripplingly real. He'd rather just pretend that Josh had to move away, and that he wouldn't be coming back. He knew it wasn't a healthy mindset, but to hell with that, he couldn't bear the other option.

He walked around the old, dusty house, looking around at everything inside. That was when an idea came to his mind. He smiled, for the first time in weeks, running out of the house and back towards town.

He was going to start a camp. A safe haven for runaways and kids who just needed a break.

He never wanted anyone to suffer the same fate as Josh.

---

Word Count: 1040

I apologize for any tears shed, I realized it was a mistake to listen to Forest by Twenty One Pilots while writing this a bit too late, but I just ran with it, and for that I am sorry.

I told you not to get attached to Josh.