#campfic

“Excuse me, Your Tallness.”

Kayden’s eyes crept to the now cracked opened door, to greet the grinning blonde who had let herself into the cabin. Without knocking. But that was Morgan. He could let it slide. Her arrival was no surprise–as he’d heard her coming through the opened windows, chatting loudly as she always did with some other camper. So no, it was no surprise. He hadn’t realized it was already so late, though. He wasn’t quite ready to leave.

They had plans. Well, she had plans. He–he simply just followed her whims. “Are you ready yet?”

Today’s whim conflicted with his duties. “Uh,” he began, setting down the paperwork he’d been looking through into a neat pile. “One sec.” He looked at his watch, and then instinctively reached for his red clipboard. “Nuh uh,” she protested loudly. “No Clippy.”

He stilled and looked to her, hands on her hips, her finger wagging in the air as if he was a child reaching for the last cookie. He wasn’t sure what his face had contorted into, but she giggled and bounded over, pushing the clipboard back down to the old, stained coffee table. Then, she took his hand and began trying to tug him from the worn sofa. He knew not to reach for it again.

“I promise we will be back before you have to do your rounds.”

“Like the last time you ‘promised’?”

She rolled her eyes and tugged harder on his arm. “Just come on.”

And he did.

She interlaced their fingers, her hand so small in his, and began quickly leading him down a path of crushed gravel that led away from camp. Morgan was radiant and full of excitement, the last of the day’s sunshine glistening in her hair. He however could not help feeling like everyone was watching him. Watching him get pulled away from camp this close to lights out. What would they say to the one enforcing the rules sneaking off? He could hear the gossip already. Maybe he could come up with some lie? Some emergency he was taking care of. Morgan would tell him to stop worrying, that no one cared, and he shouldn’t care if they said anything anyway.

But he cared.

Mostly he cared because he hadn’t told his grandfather that they were dating yet, and he felt this terrible guilt for setting a bad example and breaking a rule. All behind the back of the greatest man he’d ever known.

But the thought of being away from her all summer was too much. They’d already spent so much time apart.

So, he didn’t disclose their relationship. He was so worried his grandfather would say no. That the rule was there for a very good reason, and grandson or not, he would not allow it. She could not stay. And what would they have done then? They could have continued just seeing each other on random weekends, talking on the phone after 8 every night, but Morgan was a pretty girl. And how long until the novelty of a long distance relationship wore off? How long until someone who lived near her started showing her attention? Before another Aaron showed up? How long before he wasn’t enough?

All this sneaking around was not as fun as Darien and Serena made it out to be the previous summer. It had only been two weeks, and he was so worried people would find out. That they’d rat him out and Morgan would have to go. He knew Jayden would never, but if he jokingly said he was going to tell just to get out of work one more time, Kayden might snap. Maybe he should just tell his grandfather? Rip the bandaid off. Get Jayden off his back. Stop lying and hoping to not get caught. His grandfather would understand, right? Morgan wasn’t just his girlfriend–

“Hello? Earth to Kayden.”

Kayden blinked. He hadn’t realized they’d arrived. Morgan raised a brow and cocked her head slightly to the side. “There you are. What were you lost in thought about?”

“Nothing,” came his casual response. But not nothing. Everything. Morgan was everything. Professing that though–

“Mmhm. Well, forget about nothing, we’re here!” she exclaimed, proudly showing off her surprise.

His hand felt cold with the loss of contact. Kayden looked around for the first time. He recognized this spot. He had caught Morgan chaperoning lunches for Darien and Serena many times here. He’d helped her cover for them here. Let them have their time in this not-so-secret make out spot. Those were the times he got to know Morgan more, as they talked while keeping lookout for the couple. When he realized she was more than she seemed.

She must have come before she gathered him, he thought. There was a quilted blanket–where she stole it from he did not know–covering a patch of grass between an open area of trees. It was quite serene this time of day, the noise of camp dying off, the shadows dancing along the ground.

She grinned when he noticed, said “tada” in her over-the-top way, and sat down. “Take a seat,” she said while patting the blanket next to her. 

She looked so pretty sitting there, the last rays of the light kissing her face and the long shadows from the trees covering the surrounding area like a blanket. He joined her and was rewarded with her leaning into him. He wrapped an arm around her and enjoyed the warmth.

“It’ll be dark soon.” He didn’t know why he said it. He probably ruined the mood, and he instantly regretted it, but the weight of getting back on time was heavy on his mind. He couldn’t help it.

“I know,” she said quietly, leaning closer, looking out toward the slowly retreating light.

He hadn’t figured out exactly what the point of coming out here was yet, other than just being alone together. Which he didn’t mind. He could be a little late for that. He leaned over and tenderly kissed the spot on her neck just below her ear. 

Instead of reciprocating, Morgan laughed and pushed him away. “Stop! You’re going to miss it!”

Kayden was confused. Why were they out here, of all places, if not for a little fun?

Morgan rolled her eyes and leaned back into his frame. “You remember when my family took me for vacation out of state for Spring Break?”

He nodded. They’d absolutely annihilated their plans to see each other with that spur  of the moment trip.

“On the phone one night while I was away, you described how pretty the sunset was.”

He remembered. After their plans had been ruined, Kayden had offered to come help his grandfather do some spring renovations. The hard labor was a welcome distraction.

“And you said, you wish I could have been there.” She paused, and he pulled her in close. “So, I wanted to share a sunset with you, since we couldn’t before.”

“I do remember,” he replied, kissing the top of her head. “Thank you for remembering.”

Harry was the perfect camp counselor. He was fun, energetic, played the guitar. Plus the kids loved him. Not only was he so completely charming that everyone wanted to be his friend, but he had the most beautiful British accent which made everyone stop and listen. Also, he was cute. 

Harry was cute. His deep green eyes which always looked at you like you were the most important thing in the world, his chocolate brown curls, often disheveled from a long day’s work. And then there were his muscles, his honey-golden skin which only tanned more as the summer went on, and his tattoos. Those damn tattoos which made Y/N dizzy if she thought about them too much.

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, Harry was the cute counselor. Not just the cutest male counselor assigned to this age group, but genuinely the cutest male counselor in the whole camp for the whole summer. Even before campers arrived he had other staff falling all over him. 

Y/N had known Harry for years, and it’s not like his effect had worn off per say, more that she exhausted all of her energy fawning over him quickly and decided to redirect her attention elsewhere - to their friendship. Harry’s aunt had gone to camp in the States back in the day, and so each summer she insisted that his parents ship him out and follow in her footsteps. So for the past decade or so Y/N and Harry had been in the same age group, growing up with each other for a few weeks at a time. 

So she was thrilled when she found out that even though she was stuck with one of the most difficult age groups, at the very least she would be working with Harry. It meant they could actually hang out and spend quality time together while working. Plus, when he talked, all the campers stopped to listen, no matter how slowly his words dripped out of his mouth. And his status as the cute counselor definitely made her cooler in the campers’ eyes for hanging out with him. So it was a winning situation all the way around. 

Eleven and twelve year olds were a handful. Y/N knew going into the summer that she might be assigned this age group, considering they were one of the most difficult to handle and she was one of the most experienced camp counselors. But still, she had silently hoped that after two years on staff she would be rewarded with the teens. Not that teens didn’t have their own issues - she knew from experience that the saying “big kids, big problems” held a lot of truth. But middle schoolers? They were a whole other ball game.

Those who had started puberty had the hormones of the teens, with the knowledge and expectations of a child. Those who hadn’t yet felt the pressure. They needed to be reminded to brush their teeth and their hair but also couldn't be left alone for too long or they might start kissing each other in broad daylight. They were obsessed with each other in the way that only eleven and twelve year olds can be. They were also obsessed with the counselors. 

One counselor, in particular. And honestly, Y/N couldn’t blame them. 

Y/N and Harry were sitting under the shade of the overhang during pool time one day, chatting at a reasonable distance away from the kids when Harry had the idea. When he first suggested it, Y/N almost spit out the sip of water she had just taken from her water bottle. But he looked at her completely seriously. 

“Really? Question time? With kids this young?” she challenged him.

Harry just shrugged, turning to look towards the campers. Half of them were still enjoying the pool, but the other half were already pretending to be too cool for it and instead sat around the edges gossiping with one another or playing cards.

“Why not? M’boys might not be ready for it, but the girls,” he nodded his head towards five or six of them sitting in the corner giggling about something. “I’m sure they’d love it.” 

Y/N mulled it over. She had ten campers in her cabin, half of them eleven and half of them twelve. They would definitely be excited about it. Especially if it was Harry coming in to do it. The best kind of “ask a counselor anything” was always “ask a boy counselor anything,” Y/N remembered from her own experience as a camper for all those years. 

“Alright,” she finally relented. “I mean, we didn’t have an activity planned for cabin time tonight, so might as well.” 

Harry smiled back at her. 

“Don’t want to do a switch night though,” she clarified. “Like, I’ll go do one with your boys but a different night. I know a couple of mine don't want to be left alone.” 

He shrugged. “That’s fair. Y’little one always struck me as quite shy.” 

“Oh no,” she laughed. “She’s the most rambunctious of the bunch. Did I tell you what we caught her planning the other day?” 

The conversation continued like that for a while longer, with each of them sharing their funniest stories of their campers from the past few days. All the while Y/N was working on a complicated friendship bracelet and Harry was decorating the back of his clipboard with Sharpies, and none of the kids seemed bothered to interrupt. 

Not long after, the lifeguard blew his whistle, driving the kids out of the pool and towards their next activity. It was the second week of camp now, so they knew the usual routine. They went back to their cabins after pool time to take showers, some of the girls changing clothes even if they didn’t swim just because trading t shirts with each other was fun. 

The whole camp ate dinner in the dining hall (tacos, for the sixth time that summer already). A few of Harry’s boys chose that night to be picky about their food, so he made a great show of enjoying his. Y/N saw him from a few tables away, his eyebrows high, smiling as he chewed his dinner and pointed towards it with fake glee. It seemed to work - she saw a few of the boys take a bite after him.

After dinner the younger half of camp went to the amphitheater for a song session. Y/N and Harry’s campers were the oldest of ‘junior camp’, and nearly all of them felt they were now far too cool to be singing and dancing with the eight year olds. The main part of the day wrapped up with their daily age-group fun program - tonight it was Capture The Flag.  Finished up with a closing circle and then off to cabins to change into pjs, do cabin time, and go to bed.

But as soon as Y/N and her campers got back to their cabin, she made an announcement. 

“Redwood cabin!” she called out to get their attention. “You can change into your pjs if you’d like, but if you are a person who wears a bra you should keep your bra on. Also please clean up the floor a bit, we’re going to have a guest tonight!” 

The girls immediately started giggling and chatting, trying to guess who was going to be joining them. Was it their favorite songleader to come and sing lullabies? Was it one of the upper staff who would give them some kind of a lecture? Was it older campers to teach them some kind of activity?”

“You’re all wrong!” one of them called out. “It’s obviously going to be a boy. I mean, why else would she say to keep our bras on?” 

“Ooh, is it that cute boy from Pine cabin?” one of them ran up and asked.

Y/N just chuckled. “I’m not telling, it’s a surprise. Now go clean up and get ready.” 

The campers followed her directions for the most part before sitting down in a circle on the floor at the center of their cabin. Y/N sat in front of them on her bed, checking her watch. Harry should be getting there any minute now. How long could it possibly take him to get his boys ready for bed and hand them off to a counselor-in-training? 

It was sweet, the way the girls were all jittery and excited without even knowing what was in store. Y/N remembered fondly nights exactly like this when she was their age. Sure camp taught her how to climb trees and tie-dye shirts and sing new songs, but the untold truth was that camp was the perfect place to learn about boys and kissing and dating and when she was just a year or two older than her current campers she fondly remembers a girl telling her about blow jobs. It seemed so grotesque at the time - boys don’t even wipe when they pee, why would she want to put that in her mouth? 

Finally a knock at the door.

“Hello? Yeh all decent?” Harry called from the other side of the cabin’s door. 

The girls all shrieked.

“Yeah, come on in,” Y/N called out. 

Harry walked in, ducking his head to make it through the barrier which had been originally built likely in the 1930s and hardly upgraded since. When he looked up and made eye contact with her, Y/N couldn’t help but notice how bright his deep green eyes looked, even after a long exhausting day of being a camp counselor. He had on a pair of worn out jeans and a t shirt which showed off his arms nicely. If she didn’t know any better, Y/N would’ve said it wasn’t just the campers with butterflies in their tummies.

He made his way over to the center of the cabin and sat down on Y/N’s bed next to her. The girls were all smiling and whispering to each other. 

“Alright ladies,” Harry started. All the campers quieted down, looking directly at him like whatever came out of his mouth was going to be the most important thing in the world. “I’m here tonight to do a question time. Ask m’anything you want. Can ask about me, or about boys, or about camp, or about school. Whatever’s on y’minds, alright?” 

He smirked, looking over to Y/N next to him. The area was small and their shoulders and legs were touching. It was almost surreal seeing him there - on her bed. A place that most of the staff and lots of the campers had probably dreamt of him being. 

A few girls raised their hands to start asking questions, and Harry called on them one at a time. They started rather innocent.

“What’s your middle name?”

“Edward.”

“How many years have you come to camp?”

“This would be m’tenth.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink.”

But it wasn’t long before they strayed... 

“What color is your underwear right now?”

“Blue.”

“Boxers or briefs?”

“Do y’even know what the difference is? Anyway boxer-briefs.” 

“How old were you when you had your first kiss?”

“Hmm...” he paused. “Think I was about thirteen. Happened here at camp actually, out behind the Oak cabin if m’not mistaken.”

“Ooh tell us the story!” 

Harry smiled, looking over towards Y/N. He opened his mouth to speak but one of the girls interrupted him.

“Oh was Y/N your first kiss?!?!?” 

Harry chuckled. “No, no. But she was kind of there, if I remember correctly.”

Y/N nodded at the memory.

“Was with this girl named Sarah. Thought she was quite cute so I gave her the pot I made in art elective. Sat next to her at every meal for three days, too. Finally she slipped a message to me to meet her outside behind her cabin at midnight, when she thought her counselors would be gone. So me and m’friend snuck out of our cabin and met her. When we got there she had a friend with her, so our two friends walked a little bit away. Was quite awkward, but she was sweet.”

“I was in the cabin,” Y/N clarified. “But we were all staring out the window.” 

“And your counselors were asleep?”

Harry laughed again. “No, we underestimated how late they would stay up. Got caught red handed, we did.” 

The campers laughed. 

“But I want yeh to know, it’s ok if you’re a lot older before you have your first kiss, or younger, or however old. The most important thing is that it’s a good experience, right Y/N?” 

He looked over at her for reassurance and she nodded. 

“How old were you?” 

“Hey now, that’s for another night. This is Harry’s question time, not mine,” she teased back at her camper. 

“Harry, do you have a girlfriend?” 

He took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling for a moment before answering. Y/N knew the question must be difficult for him. He’d been dating a girl back in London for about six months when he heard back that he had been hired to work at camp. She didn’t want to come with him. She didn’t want to do long distance. She didn’t want him to leave. 

Harry called Y/N out of the blue one day - well it was the middle of the night for him, that’s why he said he called her instead of a friend in London. He said he didn’t want to wake anyone up. And he wanted to know what she thought, since she was his best girl camp friend. And she was honest with him. 

Look H, I can’t tell you what to do. But I want you to be happy and I know I’ve never seen you happier than when you’re on a hike to the hidden campsite. And someone who really loves you should also want you to be happy. But I don’t know. Maybe you’re happier with her and I just haven’t seen it. Just... do what makes you happy H, yeah? 

He broke up with her the next day and called Y/N in a blubbering mess. 

“No, no I don’t,” he answered softly.

“You should date Y/N!” one of the younger ones called out without missing a beat. 

Y/N felt herself blushing, but she wasn’t sure why. Campers always wanted their counselors to date each other. And it wasn’t the first time someone had suggested it to the two of them. But he was sitting close to her, legs and arms touching, lounging on top of her favorite blanket. It had been a while since she had even thought about it, honestly. He was too good of a friend at this point, wasn’t he? 

Harry flashed her a toothy smile, and if she didn’t know any better, Y/N wouldn’t sworn she saw a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

It was very unusual for Gods of Goddesses to visit the Camp Half-Blood. And so naturally Genevieve had been rather taken aback when the most beautiful woman she had ever seen appeared behind her and asked for a quick chat.

“…Mom?” Genevieve asked in disbelief, suddenly feeling underdressed – not just in her clothes or even makeup, just by the fact that this was Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty who seemed to have the very power just to make you feel inferior by being in her presence.

“Isn’t it nice to finally meet in person!” Aphrodite beamed down at her daughter who clearly wasn’t buying her attempt at a friendly first encounter. “Come! Let us talk.”

Realising that she didn’t really have a say in the matter, Genevieve joined her mother as they strolled through the strawberry fields. Ever since the Titan war, the Gods had been making more of an effort with their demigod children, taking care of them, maybe sending them gifts from time to time or granting a few of their wishes. Claiming them at the very least. But a visit from your godly parent? This was still a great honour – or so they claimed. Genevieve was astonished that she of all people would be chosen, though she felt more discomfort than anything else. Maybe it was her mother’s fake smile, or the sense that the Love goddess was after more information than would usually be shared on a leisurely walk between family members.

“So, tell me,” Aphrodite began, putting her arm around Genevieve’s shoulders making her wince. “Any guys take your fancy at the moment?”

“What? No.” She replied defensively, liking the situation less and less. Relationships were not something she wished to discuss right now.

“Any girls then?”

“No. Look, Mom, I don’t really wanna go there at the moment because of-“

“Of course! How could I be so silly?! How could I possibly forget?! After all, I caused the whole thing.” And for the first time Aphrodite formed a genuine – though smug – smile to herself, as if she was looking back at fond memories where she had obviously played some great importance.

Her words took time to sink in.

“Wait… you caused all of that?! On purpose?!! All that—!”

“Hush, my dear child.” Genevieve felt her anger subsiding. She really, really wanted to be angry at her mom right now, now that she realised it was her that had caused her such pain, but she just couldn’t. Instead, she found herself letting her mum explain.

“What’s life without a little drama? I mean, come on, if all couples fitted perfectly into place the world would be pretty boring if you ask me. Besides, a little heartbreak is necessary. It makes you appreciate the depth and value of true love when you come to experience it.”

Genevieve felt her irritation boiling up inside again. “It wasn’t just a little heartbreak, it was downright humiliating.”

“Ah, emotions are all connected. You cannot separate them as easily as that. Heartbreak will always come with more than you bargained for - you’ll learn that someday.”

“Looks like you’ve already allowed for that to happen.” She replied bitterly. “What did you want to talk about anyway? This can’t be all of it – coming down from Olympus to dig up old wounds.”

“Ah, yes, gossip can always be distracting,” she said, smiling knowingly to herself again in that way that was really beginning to aggravate Genevieve. “No what I really wanted to talk to you about was a different kind of love. Sisterly love, in fact.” She paused dramatically. “You see, whereas lovers come and go – well, mine do, at least – sisters are there for life. You can never escape their love or their presence, no matter how hard you try. And if they were ever to be in danger – well, let’s just say, there will come a time soon where you’ll have to think for yourself. Make difficult choices. Ones on which the fate of Olympus will rest. I thought I’d come here to prepare you for that, but it seem like you have everything under control. Take care of her, young Genevieve, and things will get better.”

“Take care of who?”

But her question was too late. She only had a few seconds to cover her eyes before the goddess revealed her true form. By the time she dared open them again, Aphrodite had gone, leaving no trace.

Reluctantly, she traipsed back to her cabin, where she had remained for the rest of the day. She had decided by this point that mulling over her mom’s words was not going to help, nor was it very healthy, so she was trying many forms of distraction. Though no matter how hard she tried, moments from their conversation kept replaying in her mind and eventually she smudged the spiral she was drawing and it all got too much.

“Goddammit Aphrodite!!” She exclaimed into the air, much to Mitchel and Lacy’s surprise.

“Is everything okay?” He asked.

“Yeah… yeah…” She lied absentmindedly. “Just went wrong, that’s all.”

Luckily she was saved from explaining herself, however, as at that moment Marie ran over to them, out of breath.

“Two new demigods have just arrived,” she announced, slightly flustered. “Chiron thinks you should be there.”

The three siblings exchanged glances.

“Okay. We’ll be right there.”

~~~