Chapter Text
David arrived his usual three weeks early to Camp Campbell. This wasn't unusual. Even with taking an extra week in winter and spring to double check on the structures and equipment, it still normally took him that much time to set up for the kids. Upon his arrival, however, he noticed a light on in the counselors' cabin. He anxiously approached the door, wondering whether to knock or not. His hesitation was swiftly ended when the door shot open and hit him in the face.
“Davey!” Campbell reached down and lifted the scrawny man from the dirt. “What are you doing here?”
“I always come early to set up the camp.” David shook himself off, gently probing his face for injury.
Cameron Campbell cocked his head slightly. “Really? But I didn't even start paying you until the first camper arrived.” If Campbell was guilty, he didn't show it.
David laughed uncomfortably. “Well, this place is empty most of the year so it always needs a little extra help, you know?”
“I've been here all year.” Campbell explained.
“R-Really?” That made David nervous. Did Mr. Campbell have crazy parties while David was gone? Did he get attacked by bears (again)? Would he have extra work to do in setting up this year? He barely made it last year before Max's parents dropped him off without another word. That was the first day he had ever met Max, a day he would never forget...
“Stop looking like you're about to have a flashback, Davey.” Campbell commanded him. “The point is that this camp is in tip-top shape.”
David relaxed a little. “Well that's excellent news!” It was nice that Campbell was changing, actually taking care of the property he owned. “Not that I don't believe you sir,” He added, hesitantly. “but do you mind if I look around?”
Campbell chuckled. “Insufferable standards for fun.”
“As always.”
It was weird, right? He fully expected Campbell to have... well, escaped at some point. Even over the course of those last few weeks of summer, he may had gotten... better, but David knew there was still a lot of growth left in him. Then again, it occurred to David that Cameron Campbell didn't have anywhere else to go. None of them had seen him since the end of summer last year. No call, no messages, not so much as a single snap.
It had made David worried. And he wished that that was where his anxiety had stopped, but there was someone else he hadn't heard from – someone he felt infinitely more responsible for.
Max.
David had given Max a full list of ways to contact him and any other emergency numbers that he felt was necessary. The boy had tried to shrug it off, to act like it didn't matter, that he'd be throwing the list out the window as soon as David wasn't looking. Maybe... maybe that is what he had ended up doing.
Still, even if Max didn't respond to David's numerous attempts to check on him, the counselor could only hope that he was still keeping in touch with his best friends. He was sure looking forward to seeing how their hi-jinks would play out this year...
“Hopefully with less bleeding on my end...” He had pulled a ladder out of storage and climbed nimbly to the roof of the Mess Hall. Taking carefully steps across the surface of the roof and back, he was relieved when every part stayed intact.
Now he just had to check the tents for holes and get those set up.
He went about his day to day, happy and surprised each time he noticed how much work Campbell put into the camp now that he was stuck- now that he decided the camp was his home.
It wasn't until well past midnight, a hesitant knock on the cabin door, that David learned that he wasn't the only one who had arrived at Camp Campbell early.