On that final night, they had another campfire before the cast party to celebrate a show well done. The group sat around, cheerier than ever, as they joked and told their favourite stories from their time at camp, which they were all sad was coming to an end, though they wanted to keep the good feelings going just a little longer.
"You know what my favourite memory is?" Lauren said to Joey softly, so no one else could hear. Much like the first night, they were sitting close together, a little apart from everyone else, and felt almost more like onlookers than participants, which was the way they wanted it right now.
"What?" Joey asked.
"The very first day of training, when I saw you, and I thought I was dreaming. But I wasn't, and I got to spend the whole summer with you."
Joey kissed her temple, feeling safer to do it publicly in the darkness.
"You want to know my favourite memory?" he asked.
She nodded, looking up at him with wide eyes reflecting the sparks from the fire.
"Every time we forgot about the rules, and it was just us," he said softly.
She took a breath and then smiled, seeming both touched and sad. "We had some good times, huh?"
"Really good times," he agreed.
"This might have been the best summer of my life."
"Seriously?"
She nodded. "You're my favourite person in the world to hang out with."
"You're mine," he said, smiling at her. "But why are you being so nice to me? I hope this isn't a goodbye." He tried to sound light-hearted, but there was a part of him that she had worried. He couldn't imagine anything other than continuing to see Lauren once they went back to LA, and he didn't know what he'd do if she had other plans.
"Not goodbye," she said, shaking her head. "Just... thank you."
"You shouldn't be thanking me. I just got lucky that fate brought us back together."
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Just never leave again," she murmured, so quietly he couldn't be certain that was what she had said, but before he could clarify, she stood up.
"I just remembered I had to go give the bake sale money to Victoria," she said. "I'll meet you at the party?"
"Okay, sure," he said, watching her hurry off. He thought that he had already taken care of that, but maybe he had missed some.
It was only a few more moments before the group headed across to the hall anyway, so he didn't have to dwell on it. He tried to stay by the doors so he could catch Lauren as soon as she returned, but Jackson located him and began dragging him away towards the front.
"Hey, I was just waiting for-"
"This'll only take a minute," Jackson said, refusing to let go of his arm.
"What will?" Joey asked, not receiving an answer, just being pushed up the stairs onto the stage. Someone turned the stage lights on, and he had to squint for a second. Jackson was up there beside him, and Joey looked to him for some explanation, but he just began speaking.
"We all know we're here to celebrate the show, which was awesome by the way, so you should give yourselves a round of applause."
There was excited applause, and Joey still had no idea what he was doing up there.
"But before we really get the party started," Jackson continued, holding up his hands when the applause didn't die down on its own. "We have a very special birthday to celebrate."
