Camp // phan

1- 6.The Birthday From Hell + Chris' Words of Wisdom

He would like to think he was already pretty damn used to it, and that nothing about the experience was anything he thought of as 'good'. He'd heard this same lecture from his parents fifty times before they dumped him here, and he really didn't think he wanted to hear it from Emery, no matter how attractive and friendly he was. The words were starting to make him physically sick.

Em sighed at his lack of a response. "Fine. At least you have your birthday to look forward to. You'll be eighteen, right?"

"Don't remind me." Dan glared at his ankles. He wasn't some metaphorical loser who hated his birthday because it was a useless marker on how close he actually was to dying; he liked celebrating it, and he liked all the attention people would suddenly give him. This year was different though. He was stuck in a place he didn't know, with people he still called strangers. There was no real upside to turning eighteen this year, he'd been picturing it going a lot differently.

"You just hate everything, don't you?" Emery said, and Dan shrugged. He decided to stop being so morbid and serious, at least for the time being.

"I like...some things." There was a noticeable pause before Dan realized Emery was waiting for him to elaborate. "Like...scented candles."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Emery grinned at him obnoxiously. "If that's all you've got going for you, then I'd hate to see where your future lies."

"Fuck off," Dan shoved him so that he fell to the ground on his back again, but both of them were smiling.

So at least there was one person.

***

As soon as the sun was high enough to actually see two feet in front of you, Dan was up and out of the cabin, trudging across the damp grounds and cursing the heat that was already starting to make him sweat.

It was the tragic day he'd been anticipating, June eleventh, and he was officially eighteen. It was almost disturbing, how no one seemed to care about this momentous occasion; no one was waking up early to wish him well, there was no surprise party or cake, or even a change in the air that would indicate to his newfound adulthood.

But that also might be because it was 6:30 in the morning and he still felt half dead.

There was a large, open space towards the entrance of the camp, and it was filled with highly uncomfortable and splinter infested wooden tables. Dan planted himself firmly on one of these spots, watching the tips of the trees gradually become more prominent against the early morning sky.

His parents were supposed to be coming sometime in the afternoon, hours from now, but he still felt like he should start mentally preparing for it. He didn't want to end up breaking down or begging them to just take him back home. He wanted to be better than that.

This was probably the first time he'd been truthfully alone since arriving here, and it was the most content he'd been, possibly in the last year. But there was also that edge to it, like he shouldn't be sitting out here all by himself or something. It was starting to make him anxious, so he climbed off the table and made his way back towards the cabin, if not just to grab clean clothes and shower.

Fucking birthdays.

***

"Dude, where the hell have you been all morning?" Finn sat down next to him at the small table, their shoulder pressed so close together, it was strangely intimate. Dan shrugged and squirmed in his seat.