Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Noah fidgeted with the hem of his sweater vest, eyes flirting around the lounge area almost nervously. He was just looking for somewhere quiet to read when a camp meeting was called in the same place where he was looking for some peace. Lucky him.

Known by his peers as being overly sarcastic and moody for his age, he was nicknamed “Noah-it-all” by the resident mean girl. Not that he denies the title, but it’s fairly obvious to the rest of the kids he thinks (or knows) that he’s smarter than them.

“Alright campers, file in and find a seat!” The grating voice of the boys councilor, and head of the camp, counselor Chris yelled out.

Noah shifted slightly as he tried to get comfortable on the hardwood floors. At least summer camp wasn’t all bad, which he was reminded of as three familiar figures plopped down next to him.

“Hey Nono, do you know what’s going on??” The redhead asked cheerfully, grinning wildly as her curls struggled to stay tied up on her head.

Noah shrugged, feeling a bit more relaxed around his friends. His team, actually. Dubbed “team escope” by the same redhead, Izzy. 

It was the first day of camp when she bounded up to him, a round blonde boy in tow. She dragged him around as well as a little girl with a resting bitch face in blue. He was never sure how exactly she knew who to pick for her friends, but he never complained. 

Izzy, the firecracker and resident nutjob of their camp, Camp Wawanakwa. Freckles dotted her little face, but the most noticeable factor were her bright green eyes, which usually had a devious glint in them, staring into your soul. Noah blinks his own brown eyes at the thought, grateful.

Owen, the large loudmouth boy who can eat anything placed in front of him. Really, he can and he will. As well as his endless appetite, he’s also the “class clown” of all the kids. Hopelessly optimistic, the complete opposite of Noah. It was truly uncanny how he became the smaller boy's best friend.

And Eva, the fourth member of their team. An aggressive, insanely strong powerhouse of a little girl. She was the brawn’s, the protector, and fiercely loyal to her three friends. She only ever, EVER, wears blue. Seriously, Noah has seen her suitcase.

The four are all oddballs in their own way, but they work very well together. Growing up with little (actually zero, but he doesn’t want people to think he’s a complete loser) friends, Noah was both happy and terrified of his new ones.

“I think counselor Chris said he was gonna show off some of our drawings from arts and crafts yesterday!” Owen said with a smile, crumbs of breakfast still sticking to his mouth, flying out at his friends as he spoke.

Eva scrunched her nose at this, shoving him in the shoulder.

“Fuck Owen, say it don’t spray it!” She all but yells, but for Eva, it was a relatively normal volume. 

The blonde sheepishly wiped his mouth, Izzy giggling at the interaction as more and more kids piled into the big space.

Noah glanced around at the rest of the children, still attempting to learn everyone’s names. Even having friends now, he didn’t really enjoy the company of others. Especially other kids.

He was pulled from these thoughts as none other than Alejandro slinked into the room, sitting down in between Heather and Courtney. His green eyes rivaled Izzy’s, but they were more entrancing than scary.

Not realizing he was staring, Noah whipped his head away when he saw the red clad boy meet his gaze. Ugh, he hates popular kids.

Owen and Izzy exchanged a look, then began giggling wildly.

Raising an eyebrow in suspicion, Noah debates asking what’s so funny, but is cut off once again by the devil.

“Okay campers! I think everyone is here, and if not, too bad! They can stand locked outside in the rain!”

Noah looked at the double doors, seeing no one standing outside. Good, he doesn't put it past “counselor Chris” to actually lock a few eight year olds outside just to be petty.

There’s a second of quiet, and Noah can feel a gaze burning into his head.

Slowly turning to look, he saw bright blue eyes narrowed in his direction, a satisfied smirk resting on the owner's face.

A scowl overtook Noah’s as he glared back, the others' gaze finally drifting away and back onto counselor Chris.

Duncan. Ugh. He has had it out for Noah since day one when he had poked fun at his spiky black hair. Duncan had threatened to cut off Noah’s in return, and the smaller boy had only rolled his eyes.

Befriending Eva has certainly helped him avoid the little rebel’s fury, but he wasn’t sure how long that immunity would last before Duncan got too fed up with his snarky remarks.

Huffing slightly and slouching down, Noah crossed his arms and decided to actually listen to what his counselor was saying.

“As you guys know, yesterday was a fun little arts and crafts day! Per a few campers' requests, I’m here to show off a few select pieces!” 

The soulless man grinned, eyes lingering on Noah and his friends for a second longer than normal. Just a second, but Noah noted it.

Izzy and Owen began to snicker again, Izzy kicking her feet wildly in delight. Owen covered his mouth to muffle his own laughter, and Noah grew increasingly worried.

He felt his eyes once again wander over to the popular kids circle, and he shook his head, forcing his head to stay facing forwards.

Chris pulled out a few sheets of scribbled on paper, still grinning maliciously he did.

“Okay! For our first piece, a beautiful tribute to love, titled Alejandro x Noah!”

“WHAT?”

“What the fuck?”

Shouts overlapping, the two boys immediately made eye contact, panicked green eyes meeting confused brown.

Owen and Izzy were practically howling with laughter now, Duncan laughing just as loud with them. Were they all in on this?

Chris himself seemed to be stifling a few laughs, which showed more restraint than Noah has ever seen from the man. 

The drawing itself was a few shitty stick figures, but the first undeniably had Alejandro’s bright green eyes, and the second had Noah’s long dark hair. The former was smiling brightly and holding the latter’s stick hand, who seemed to be blushing.

“Seriously, what the fuck?” Noah repeats, blinking rapidly as he tries to ignore the whispers happening all around him.

“Language mister!” Counselor Chris yells, resting his hands on his hips as he glares at Noah, who grumbles out an empty apology.

The rest of the artwork was about the same. Shitty like artwork of Noah and Alejandro doing things like holding hands and even kissing . Noah didn’t even think kids their age wanted to kiss anyone! 

However, he chose to ignore the way his face burned at the thought of holding Alejandro’s hand.

Finally, Noah turned to his cackling friends and attempted to light them on fire with his eyes.

First off, why would they work with Duncan of all people? Secondly, why would they make that art, and think it’s a good idea to show it to everyone at their camp?

“Owen. Izzy.” He says quietly, the two calming down enough to look innocently at him.

“Yes?” Izzy questioned, going as far as to bat her eyelashes and tilt her head. The audacity.

“For the third time, what the fuck?” 

Owen giggled again, seemingly undeterred by Noah clearly being angry with him.

“Welllllll, Duncan thought we should make some fun little art of you and Al! We knowww you likeeeee himmmmmm!” He drawled out, sending him and Izzy into another fit of laughter.

Turning to his last hope, Noah sent a pleading expression at Eva to help him. As indifferent as ever, she shrugs.

“You do stare at him a lot.” She finally replies, making Noah splutter with denial.

“Do not!”

“You sooo do.”

“Do. Not.”

“You do!!! You were just doing it!!!!”

Burying his face in between his knees, Noah groaned in annoyance.

“You know you just sent me to the grave, right? Heather and every other girl here, have massive crushes on him. They’re gonna tear me apart!” He whined, flopping over onto the floor and curling up into a ball to wallow.

This really wasn’t ideal. He knows the kinds of kids he’s surrounded with, and he knows they’re idiots. They’re gonna assume Noah has a crush on Alejandro as well. Which he doesn’t.

Definitely doesn’t. 

His friends fell eerily quiet as he lay in misery, giving him hope they might have realized the humongous issue they’ve just burdened Noah with.

“He definitely has a crush on him.”

Noah yells with frustration.

Chapter Text

Alejandro Burromuerto does not like boys.

That’s the first thing he reminds himself of, and the thing he keeps repeating to himself as he sprints towards the lake.

Not boys, and definitely not snarky, lazy, scowling boys like Noah. 

His heart hammered in his chest, and he told himself it was merely from the running he was doing. Despite the fact this little run was nothing compared to the stamina he has on his soccer team back home.

Upon reaching the lake, Alejandro stopped and buried his face in his hands as he crouched down, rubbing at his eyes.

What would his brothers say? Would Jose call him a fag like usual? This wasn’t even his fault, he had barely even spoken to the other boy! His fellow campers were idiots, and he didn’t know they would prank him like this. 

But Jose wouldn't care, just like the other kids won’t. Alejandro felt his hands shaking, cursing at himself for showing any weakness. Jose wasn't even here, he was far away from him for two whole months. Things would be fine, things were fine.

“Alejandro?”

He turned his head to the side tearfully, seeing a concerned looking Heather standing there. It was an odd sight, the overly confident little girl standing awkwardly and staring at him with worry.

“Are you, um, okay?” She asked slowly, almost cringing at her own words as she did.

Alejandro sighed a little, readjusting so he was sitting on the ground, not even caring about the dirt he’d get on his pants.

He knew he was overreacting, that this was just teasing. For what purpose he didn’t know, but it seemed more aimed at Noah than him, seeing as it was his friends that were laughing most as the drawings were shown off.

The fact he’s so worked up means something, and he knows that, but he refuses to think about it. Not when he might not like the answer. He's been told who he is, who he should be, since he was born. There's no use questioning his parents' authority.

“Yes, apologies amiga. I’m not used to being the, “butt of the joke.” I just needed a moment.” He responds finally, half truthful, as he pushes his hair back. No use in making her worry as well, Alejandro would be fine.

“Yeah, what the hell even was that?” Heather asked with an eye roll, though she seemed to relax a little at Alejandro’s answer. 

He shrugs, genuinely not knowing who here would do that to him. It was simply uncalled for, he has gone out of his way to appear kind and helpful to the majority of his peers. Clearly he was not as thorough as he thought he had been. 

“Come on then, we should go and demand answers from Chris about who drew those! Then we should destroy them.” Heather yelled with her usual determination, yet uncharacteristically offered a hand to Alejandro to help him off the ground.

He smiled a bit at this, accepting the offer and grabbing her hand, allowing her to help pull him up. Heather seemed to be able to draw real smiles out of him, something the majority of people struggle with.

“You know, counselor Chirs would be very unhappy to know you’re not using his full title.” Alejandro smirks with a wave of his finger, and Heather frowns at him, dropping his hand as soon as he’s standing.

“Ugh, I don’t even know why I bother with you, you’re such a smartass. Let’s go before I change my mind.” She said with a scoff, but Alejandro saw her hiding a smile. 

He knew they had a mutual understanding, in which they liked to avoid their issues. Alejandro hadn't once heard Heather mention her father, and she herself saw the way he would get shaky whenever he spoke of his own family. Despite being so young, both were raised to store all their emotions far, far away. Heather came off as rude and bossy, but Alejandro could see past that. Even in the short twoish weeks they had known each other, he had gotten very close to the raven haired girl.

He knew she had a glitter collection, something she was incredibly proud of. He knew she loved stuffed animals, and already had a taste for the finer things in life. They were both picky eaters, they were both petty, they were both too smart for their age. Heather was the first real friend Alejandro had ever made, no matter how other people perceived her to be. He knew the real her. He knew the real her and still decided to be by her side, and she had done the same for him.

Opting to grab his wrist this time, Heather dragged Alejandro back towards the cabins, the latter nearly stumbling as she barreled forwards.

It was pretty nice out, although a bit chilly for the summer. The wind felt nice with the sun shining down on the camp, and most of the kids and staff were outside by this point.

“Counselor Chris!” Heather yelled, zeroing in on her target as the short adult glanced up from his phone. 

“What? Shouldn’t you go to Blainley if you have a complaint, little miss?” Chris asks, sighing dramatically as he throws his head back in exasperation. 

“All she did was ask a question..” Alejandro mumbled, subtly rolling his eyes as Heather not so subtly groaned.

“Not for this! Who were the idiots that made those drawings?” 

“I cannot, in my sound, mind give up the names of my precious campers!” Chris sassed, putting his hands on his hips as he glared down at Heather.

“Then where are the drawings? I’m sure I can figure it out myself!”

As the pair bickered, Alejandro faintly questioned why Chris worked here if he seemed to dislike kids so much. Same with Blainely, he hadn’t seen the blonde bimbo around much, but he’s heard she’s not very pleasant with the girls.

Mind and eyes wandering, his gaze landed on a dark haired boy nearby, watching and snickering at the trio.

Narrowing his own eyes, Alejandro ignored Chris and nudged Heather’s shoulder. 

“Give it up, he won’t say. And besides,” he pauses, flickering his eyes between Heather’s and the boy near them. “I think I have a lead.”

Following where he was looking she, in true Heather fashion, started yelling.

“DUNCAN! YOU PRICK, C'MERE!”  

Alejandro couldn’t help but sigh as he was dragged forwards once again.

Chapter Text

“Explain. Now!” Heather demands with a tap of her foot, eyes hardened on the boy in front of her. She truly was the bossiest person Alejandro knew, not that he’d say that. To her face at least.

Duncan sighed heavily, knocking his head back against the tree he was leaning against.

“Listen here queenie, I don’t have to answer to you, or anyone. Fuck off.” He scoffs, chucking a rock off into the distance as Chris’ head snaps towards them. A scowl was on his face as he put a hand on his hip.

“Ay! How many times do I have to remind you to watch your potty mouth Dennis?!” He yells, and Duncan blinks hard at him.

“It’s Duncan.” He replied quickly, grumbling quietly as Chris rolled his eyes.

“Dennis, Duncan, I don’t care what your name is! No more cursing, mister!”

While Alejandro swears he saw Duncan’s eye twitch, the punk merely grinds his teeth and throws another rock. He had collected a small pile that was messily stacked together at his feet, though most of them were off in the distance now.

Chris shakes his head and mutters something under his breath as he sashays off into the cafeteria. No doubt to go complain to their lousy Chef.

Heather’s eyes flicker between the two boys for a moment, deliberating her next move. Duncan flicks some of his hair up before crossing his arms at her, annoyed.

“It wasn’t just me, ya know. Crazy girl and “big-O” barely needed any convincing to help.” Duncan grinned, eyes narrowing at the tallest of the three.

Alejandro felt his face burn, but this time he knew it was from irritation. He assumed the two idiots were in on it as well, but he hadn’t considered that they were doing it maliciously, which is what Duncan seemed to be implying.

“Okayyy don’t really care, we just wanna know why.” Heather said, poking a finger into the punk's chest, glare never wavering. 

“‘Cause it’s fucking funny? Besides I was targeting the nerd, not you, pretty boy. Go bother someone else.” He seethed at the two, flinging his final rock a ways away before stalking off to presumably get more. He didn’t even spare them a glance as he left.

“You’re just gonna let him leave?” Alejandro asked Heather quietly, the pair watching him push aside a smaller boy with shaggy brown hair and a striped shirt, who frowned and stuck his tongue out in return. 

“Focus, we got what we needed out of him. Information. Besides, I dont wanna talk to a future delinquent for longer than I have too. Now we need to find the dynamic duo.” She said with a nod, eyes scanning the area, searching for her next victims in the sea of children.

Having only been here for a week or so, it was almost surprising how quickly everyone adapted and created their own social circles. “Team escope” being one of the many.

Alejandro usually found himself with Heather and Courtney, with Justin joining occasionally. They had immediately been dubbed the “popular kids,” and ended up stuck together. Alejandro and Courtney took the roles well, being kind and helpful to everyone to maintain their good image. Justin and Heather seemed to enjoy having the power more than they cared about working to keep it.

Other groups were formed as well, some of them unlikely. Duncan seemed to hang almost exclusively around Bridgette and Geoff, who have been attached at the hip since day one. The two were by far the least intimidating of the campers, so other kids found it odd how often the three were seen together, it was even odder it was Duncan's choice.

The weirdest of the bunch was the newest trio he’s seen, consisting of the pretty rich girl, Lindsey, and two dorky farm kids. Beth was a small girl with glasses, and Alejandro had heard the name ‘Zeke’ thrown around in passing, referring to the dirt covered boy in a beanie. He had steered clear of him since day one, but the other two seemed quite fond of him.

Alejandro hadn’t quite learned everyone’s names yet, such as the boy with the brown hair from earlier. He glanced back to where he was, seeing a tall girl with an almost purple looking braid had bounded up to talk to him. He didn't know her name either. 

“How perfect.” Heather muttered suddenly, pointing towards the left, pulling Alejandro’s attention over to where the campfire pit was.

Four familiar faces sat around the shoddy tree stump, two looking bored and two over enthusiastic. That’s definitely them.

“I’ll take Izzy and Owen, you talk to Noah.” She tells him, his eyes widening as he looks at her. 

Talk to Noah? Now? No! Are you crazy, chica? He thinks in a panic, looking to see said boy seemingly roll his eyes at his friends' antics. How did she expect him to talk to Noah now? He’s barely even spoken to the boy and he already makes him feel exceedingly off his game.

Alejandro opened his mouth to voice his thoughts, but Heather was already power walking towards the group of friends.

Shaking his hands to rid himself of his nerves, which he was incredibly annoyed he even had, Alejandro followed once more. He always ended up following her.

Being close enough to hear them now, he saw the oaf was busy shoving marshmallows into his mouth as the redhead obnoxiously cheered him on.

“GOOO OWEN! New record! That’s… twelve marshmallows! Let's go for thirteen!” She shouted excitedly, jumping around as she held onto the bag full of the sugary goodness.

Owen tried to say something in response, but choked on the ungodly amount of fluff in his mouth. He settled with nodding his head vigorously, Izzy reaching to grab more marshmallows as the blondes eyes finally fell on the pair standing by them.

His eyes widened and he waved his hand, attempting to smile at them. Alejandro held back his grimace at the wad of gunk escaping his mouth, Heather did not.

“Ew, Owen, either eat those things or figure out a way to close your mouth. That's gross.” She huffed, drawing the attention of the other three towards them.

Izzy and Eva quickly exchanged looks and began grinning, eyes landing on the bookworm, who was suddenly still as a statue on his seat. Alejandro allowed himself to observe the boy, and shifted nervously as he noticed Noah was refusing to look at him.

“Hiya Al! Hi Heather! Didya need something?” Owen blurted out, having quickly eaten the glob in his mouth in order to be a part of the conversation. His grin was as wide as his friends.

Alejandro frowned at the nickname as Heather snapped back to attention at the question. She quickly straightened up and resumed her confident stance, making direct eye contact with the boy. 

“Yes, actually. Question, why the hell did you and nutjob there make that stupid art?” She asked bluntly, annoyance dripping from her tone as she stared them down.

The two in question had their smiles fall as Noah quickly got up and began walking away. 

“I'm out.” Is all he said, quickly striding over towards the lake. Ironically, it was the same place Alejandro had run to. Great minds think alike it seems. The water was nice to look at, but it was cold and water activities were not till later, so almost no one was over there during the morning hours.

Heather watched the boy walk until he was out of sight, and then jerked her head at Alejandro.

“Follow him!” She hissed, shoving him before returning to deal with the other three, as Eva was now standing with her arms crossed. She was the protector, the brawns, that much was obvious. Heather would have to go through her first. 

Alejandro lingered for a moment, debating his options, then quickly jogged after the cynic.