A Moment by the Campfire

'Meet me under the stars in Studio A'

Amy reread the text from Henry again as she maneuvered through the hallways to Studio A. The message didn't make any more sense the fifth time than it had the first. There were no stars in Studio A. What was he talking about?

The lights were turned off as she entered their empty rehearsal studio, only the lights from the office lighting up the space.

"Henry?" Amy called as she walked further into the room. "What does this text mean?"

No sooner had she looked up, however, did everything make sense. A camping set had been set up in the middle of Studio A. There was a campfire, blankets, a lantern and candles, even a line of what she was certain (or at least hoped) were fake fish. And to top it all off, a tent, which Henry was standing in front of, a wide grin on his face.

"What do you think?"

Amy simply gaped in surprise, glancing around the studio at a loss for words. Had Henry set all of this up? For her?

When she finally managed to find her voice, she asked, "What is all of this?"

"You can't go on your camping trip, so I brought the camping to you." He gestured around them at the set up then looked back to her, his expression soft as he asked, "Do you like it?"

Amy nodded, holding her hands over her heart as an intense wave of affection surged through her. It had been a hard day between finding out she couldn't go on her family's annual camping trip because of Dancemania and Piper running out of rehearsal in the midst of a panic attack brought on by Miss Angela's return to the studio. Henry knew this, and he had gone out of his way to make a terrible day feel a little brighter.

This was the exact kind of grand gesture Amy had always dreamed of someone doing for her.

Henry gestured to the fake campfire and asked, "Shall we eat?"

She giggled and nodded. "We shall."

He grinned, and they settled down on the floor. Henry made a big show of pulling out sticks to roast marshmallows over the fake campfire, and Amy laughed as they "roasted" their marshmallows together. She had eaten a sandwich in The Next Steep while working on homework earlier, so she wasn't actually hungry for a full meal, and Henry seemed to have anticipated this.

"Better be careful not to burn yours," Amy joked, nodding towards Henry's marshmallow, which was no more roasted than it had been when he'd pulled it out of the bag.

"Oof, you're right. I think it's starting to smoke a little. I better—"

He pulled his marshmallow away from the campfire and blew on it as if it had caught on fire, and Amy laughed again, shaking her head at him fondly. Henry always knew how to make her laugh. This was exactly what she needed tonight.

Henry pulled his marshmallow off the stick, tossing it in his mouth and chewing as he turned to grab something behind him. When he turned back, he was holding a plate with a checkered napkin over it. "In all seriousness," he started, giving her a meaningful look. "I know how much you love your Auntie Jen's butter tart s'mores and how she only makes them once a year for the camping trip, so..."

He whipped the napkin off of the plate as if he was revealing a culinary masterpiece to reveal a butter tart s'more. Amy gasped, dropping the stick in her hand as he held the plate out to her. "Henry, I told you about that ages ago," she said in awe.

She remembered that conversation specifically. It had been after their team had lost Regionals, and the two of them had been hanging out in Java Junction with Noah, Piper, and Cassie until the others had to go home, leaving Henry and Amy alone. She had just returned home from that year's camping trip and had rambled on and on about it, and Henry had listened, taking in every word as if it was the most interesting story he'd ever heard. Amy remembered that day because it was the first time she had really noticed how handsome Henry was.