As I skimmed through the pages, my back against a pillow with my legs crossed out on the bed, I looked over to Gwen, placing the book down,

“Why am I fucking a lizard here again? Didn’t we just meet?”

Gwen turns, “It’s a one-shot, meetings are not the part I’m interested in writing.”

I brought the book back up, “Right…” I trailed, “wouldn’t that hurt? Like, it’s scales and stuff.”

Gwen gives a soft smile, “would you prefer the werewolf one?”

“I mean, I’m reading this to give feedback, not for my own enjoyment.” I pause, narrowing my brows at the mention of caressing a lizard face before continuing, “well…”

“Here, I’ll let you read the werewolf one.”

I chuckled as I got up from the bed, “I promise I’m not kink-shaming you, Gwen.” I smile as I crouch to open up a drawer, expecting her hidden fanfictions but being greeted with tons of letters. I raised a brow, “Gwen? What are these?” I grinned, “Love letters-...?” I drag out the s staring down at the words, “rejection letters?”

She sighs, “Yeah.” She then lets her body fall back in her chair. I look at the letter, then her,

“You’ve been trying to leave camp this whole time?”

“Well, yeah. Don’t tell me you actually enjoy it here.”

I fell back onto the floor, sitting to look up at her, “It’s not bad, Gwen.”

She flings her arms up, “It’s awful! Everything about this camp sucks!” She snatches the letter from my hands before placing them on her desk, “I don’t know what brought you to this camp, but I’m starting to think you’re just insane for it.”

I laugh at the comment, looking away as images of my dad flashed through my head, “Yeah, insane.” I then looked to her, “why would you?”

“Because no other place would hire me.”

I peek back into the cabinet drawer, “Are these all your rejection letters?”

“No, these are.” She opens another drawer, displaying countless papers. I pull a couple out to examine them,

“I didn’t even know there were this many job openings…” Putting the letters back, I shut the cabinet and look to her, “Why keep these a secret?”

“Do you have any idea how much David would flip if he found out I was trying to leave?”

I laugh sympathetically as I thought about my adorably, overly sensitive boyfriend, “Yeah…” I trailed before standing, “He would understand though, after some comfort hugs, of course.”

Gwen sighs, standing as well, “why don’t you see how he’s doing anyway. You can read my werewolf one later.”

I smiled gently, “Yeah, okay. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah, yeah.”

***

“A raid?” I ask, “They’ve been conducting raids?” I snort.

“You’re laughing?” David asks, carrying a box of activities out of the mess hall.

“It’s just funny to me.” My laughter slowly comes to a halt, “It probably shouldn’t be, though.” My eyes trail to David’s exhausted features, “Is everything okay?”

He sighs, “Nurf convinced Neil into making a wedgie machine, which I’m going to take care of now.”

With such a strong change in attitude, I can’t help but place a hand on his arm, “do you need any help?” I ask, giving him the softest eyes I could manage. David was always running to help his campers at any cost, even at his own expense, but lately, it’s as if his energy is drained whenever he no longer needs to put up a front for the kids. He places his hand on mine, giving a smile,

“That’s alright, I got it.” he kisses my temple, giving another warm smile with now flushed cheeks. He then salutes, “campe diem!” with that he’s off to the activity area.

“Oh…” I trail, giving a small wave, “okay, then.”

As if on cue, Gwen the turns the corner, her face of pure urgency upon seeing I was standing there, “There you are!” She grabs my arm, “I need you to come with me!”

“What?” she drags me to the Campmobile, “where are we going?”

“To the wood scout’s camp.” She answers as she climbs into the driver’s seat. I get in the passengers, giving her a raised brow,

“we’re going all the way to other aide of the Lake? For what?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I pause, giving her a look to the human equivalent of a window’s error, “You don’t know?”

“Yet.”

**

“Why’s it always dark over here? How does that make sense?” I ask Gwen as we intrude our way into the campgrounds. “Is this trespassing?”

Gwen ignores my commentary, approaching the three boys that stood in front of a blackboard, “alright, which one of you benzoyl peroxide covered bastards has it?” She asks, putting her hands on her hips like a true camp counselor that lectures a camper’s bad behavior. Pikeman turns to her, seeming much too enjoyed by the situation,

“Look who it is, boys. Dear Gwendolyn.” He then looks to the boys, “I told you she wanted a piece of the old Pikeman.”

I visibly cringe, looking to Gwen to see how she planned on handling the situation. She raises her fist, “come near me and I’ll kick you in the nards so hard it’ll reverse your puberty.” she puts her hand down, “we’re here for something you have.”

Pikeman takes a dangerous step closer, “ah, Gwen, your lips say no, but your-” he’s cut off by Gwen grabbing his collar and lifting him off the ground with ease, “but your eyes say they’re gonna kill me!”

“Where’s Max’s stuff?”

Pikeman is set down as he responds, “What-? Oh, I see…” the shit-eating grin returns, “Little Maxwell has sent you here to do his bidding.” He waves a finger, “No, no, no! You tell him we’re not going to give it up so easily. Not something so valuable.”

Gwen, a tired camp mom sick of their shit snaps back, “What the fuck is this thing that has you drooling more than usual?”

The red-haired boy wipes some spit onto his arm, “What it is matters not. It’s what you’re willing to do in order to get it.” He raises a finger, “First, win the Pinewood derby of peril.”

“No.”

“Defeat us in the disc golf tournament of death.”

“No.”

“Come in first place in the paper boat race. It’s not quite deadly yet, but we’re working on it!”

“Or…” Gwen drags out the r, “I could just tell you how to beat the Flower Scouts cookie sale. Would that take care of it?”

Pikeman laughs, "you think you know how to defeat Flower Scouts cookie sales? Wood Scouts across the nation have been studying the problem for decades.” He grins, “Yes, I’d trade if you could figure it out. Which you never-”

“Don’t you just need to bring down your prices?” I ask, kind of tired of just standing there. Gwen shakes her head,

“Just move your sale one month early genius.”

He laughs mockingly, “But I- well-” he stumbles as Gwen continues,

“Undercut the demand for cookies with popcorn. It’s like- incredibly simple.”

He checks the states on the board beside him, humming to himself, before the mumbling. He finally turns, “We’ll make that work! Very well, we should tell you where your prize is buried.”

“Buried?” I and Gwen ask at the same time, annoyance lacing our tones. He hands us a map.

I sigh, “Can we borrow a shovel?”

**

The drive there was mostly silent until Gwen finally threw up a hand, “These campers drive me fucking nuts.” she yells, seeming to be setting up the mood for a rant.

“Yeah…” my voice drifts, “but we love them, you can’t say you don't.”

“No, I fucking hate them with a passion.”

I laugh loudly at the comment, “nah, you love them. Even space kid.”

“It’s just, I mean,” She pauses, “you see…” her eyes are planted on the road, “never mind.”

“You can talk to me, Gwen.”

“You’d think my dad being so successful, I’d follow in his footsteps. But no, here I am, a camp counselor, driving to this random spot in the mountains because I got blackmailed by a 10-year-old.”

“Your dad?”

“Yeah, he’s this musician, goes on tours. He never has to do anything, he’s just- gah!” She lets out a frustrated groan, “I’m suddenly remembering just how pathetic I am, I’m sorry you have to see me like this.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry, Gwen. It’s good to let your emotions out.” There’s a long pause as she watches the road again. I fiddle with my thumbs looking to her before smiling, “You know, this place may not pay well, and it sure can be a pain in the ass.” I glance out the window, “but it’s nice… it kind of feels like a family, y’ know?”

She smiles to herself, “yeah, a family.”

“And every family always has that one person that glues them all together, don’t you think?”

Her smile grows wider, “yeah.”

I lean back, “why are we doing this again?”

“Because Max found my rejection letters and is threatening to tell David.”

I looked to her confused, “I mean, you’re right David would flip, I remember you mentioning that earlier today, but David is really understanding you know? He’s fine with me being a spy.”

“A what?”

When we arrive, clouds started to close in on us, starting a downpour of rain that came out of nowhere, I look to the map again, stomping down on some loose dirt, “I think this is the spot right here, Gwen.” She sighs before then jabbing the shovel into the ground. With a long bit of digging she freezes. I lean in, “do you need help?” I ask.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me, come take a look at this.”

**

When we return, muddly and soaked, the rain had disappeared and most of the campers were gathered in front of the mess hall. Gwen climbs out,

“Alright, where the fuck is he?!” She yells, stomping through the crowd of children. I follow behind her, brushing off some dirt from my clothing along the way. She dramatically slams open the door, “I’ve got your prize, you little shit!”

“Just in under the wire. This is gonna be awesome!” He turns in his chair, a smug look on his features, “So what is it? Self-driving car? Ground-to-air missile?”

Gwen steps forward, pointing a finger, “you. Do you have any idea what you put me through today?”

“No, but I also don’t really care-”

Gwen goes on a spill about today’s events, but my eyes snap to David who now stood in the doorway, I grab his hand, “hey, could you come back at another time?” I ask. He looks to me with furrowed brows,

“Why? Is there something I shouldn’t know about? Space kid said-”

“So I wouldn’t lose my current worthless job-”

David’s eyes widen, stepping into the room, “Gwen!”

Gwen panics, waving Mr. Honeynuts in her hand. I shake my head at her, waving my hands before making a praying motion to say I was sorry for not stopping David.

“David! Uh, you’re dreaming.”

“Nice try, Gwen, but I won’t fall for that a third time.” David scolded.

“That would actually be the fifth time-” I attempted to correct.

“Uh, Gwen, the bear please,” Max demanded. Gwen falls in my arms, teddy bear in hand as tears started to roll down her mud-covered cheeks,

“Goddammit all to hell!” she puts her forehead on my shoulder, muffling her sobs.

David bends to her height, “Gwen, It’s okay,” he smiles with a soft tone, placing his hand on her shoulder. She moves her head to the side she can look at him,

“Ge-wha’?” she fully removes her head from my shoulder to look at him,

“I’m lucky that I’m already where I want to be,” He grins, “Working at Camp Campbell is all I’ve ever dreamed of, but if you don’t feel the same way if you hear something else calling to you, you have to go after it.” Gwen’s tears come to a slow stop, “I’ll be sad to lose you, but I’d be happier knowing you were pursuing what you were meant to do. And I’d be even happier knowing it was your time here at Camp Campbell that taught you what you needed to go succeed in life!” He stands up straight, giving an encouraging smile. Gwen sniffles,

“Taught me to succeed?” She sniffles again, “What are you talking about?”

Max interrupts to moment with an annoyed order, “Seriously, bear please!”

(the subtitles add right after that ‘(just give him the bear already)’ and I snorted unnecessarily loud)

Gwen pushes him away as David answers, “well, you said it yourself, you communicated effectively with teammates, demonstrated project management skills, showed unwavering determination, and that was just today!” He explains. My eyes widen at the answer, for someone so dense he sure can use his words when it came to work it seems.

Gwen’s eyes lit up at his encouragement, “you mean it?”

“Of course! And that doesn’t even count the years of high stress and low budget work you’ve done for practically no pay!”

“Hey, you’re right.” Gwen grins.

“Practically none!”

“Okay, I get it.” She sighs, “I guess I was just afraid you’d be upset at me for trying to leave.”

“I’ll miss you, of course, but I could never be upset with you for chasing your dreams. I want to support you! Heck, I’ll drive you to go apply for your next big job right now if I have to!”

Gwen grins, and then it was decided.

**

“That was really nice of you.” I smiled, turning to David who sat in the driver’s seat, sorting some loose change from the front compartment.

We both sat in the camp mobile, waiting for Gwen’s interview to be over.

“Well, Gwen has stuck with me thick and thin, I don’t see a reason to be mad at her.” He smiles, “I get that the camp isn’t always the best place around, and Gwen deserves to be happy.”

I stare at him for a while, taking in his features, “Something wrong?” he asks. I shook my head, looking away,

“It’s just nice, to see you smile.”

“What do you mean, I smile all the time! I have no reason not to.”

How could I explain that so many of his smiles appear fake without sounding aggressive? I sigh, “I just hope one day…” My voice drifts as I then smile at him, “I can make you truly smile.”

He gives a goofy grin, “You make me smile every day, (Y/N). Just you being here with me is enough.”

There’s a moment of silence as we smile to each other, not wanting to do anything else but feel the warm feeling that swelled in our chest when seeing the other so happy. He leans over the console to give me a gentle kiss on the cheek, “I hope I can make you smile too.”

He then returns to his seat for a blanket of comfortable silence to fall over both of us.

“I wonder how her interview is going,” I pondered out loud,

“I’m sure it’s going great, Gwen is talented. She can do this.”

///

Might fuck around and write a Gwen x reader.

*Honestly would date Gwen But I don’t think I’m her type RIP*

Would you?

(Word count - 2568)

(Finished writing May 21st 2020)

One year later- you’re welcome to clown on me I deserve it.