Chapter Text
“A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest… because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.” —Terry Pratchett
1978
Camp Skull Rock used to be one of his favorite places in the world. But now, Steve wished he were anywhere else. All because of him. Eddie Munson, aka Steve’s ex-boyfriend. The thing is, Steve still loved him, but Eddie hated his guts. Even though it hurt, Steve knew he probably deserved it.
“Steve!” Dustin yelled dramatically as if he hadn’t seen Steve two weeks ago.
“Henderson!” Steve pulled the eleven-year-old into a bear hug.
“I just got checked in and made sure that I got the best counselor ever!” Dustin’s gums showed as he grinned.
“Well, who’s the lucky bastard?” Steve asked.
“It’s you. Duh!”
Steve laughed. “I would’ve thought you guys wanted to be in Eddie’s cabin.”
“You guys are together. At least that’s what the paper said,” Dustin explained.
“What?” Steve frowned. “I’m supposed to be with Tommy.”
“Tommy’s with Billy.”
“Fu…dge.” Steve plastered a smile onto his help. “So, we’ve got to wait for the rest of the party. I’m assuming they’re asking to be in our cabin too.”
Dustin nodded.
“Then I’ll help you guys get your stuff up to our cabin.”
Soon enough, Mike, Will, and Lucas had joined them.
God, this week was going to be hell. Steve loved his kids, but goddammit, they were a lot. He grabbed Dustin and Will’s duffels, feeling a tiny sense of satisfaction that Mik would have to carry his own weight around for once.
It wasn’t that far of a walk up to the cabins, but it definitely wasn’t fun carrying two duffels packed to the rim with whatever eleven-year-olds desperately needed for a whole week away from home. Steve didn’t even want to guess at what these idiots had smuggled in. Finally, they reached Cabin 13, technically not a cabin, but an old camper that would be their home for the week. The thing was twenty years too old, mouse infested, and a rolling pile of turd. But that was just Steve’s luck, wasn’t it?
“Ah, man! We get the reject cabin!” Mike complained.
“It’s got character,” Will said softly.
“There’s the two bunks, the couch bed, and a loft,” Steve pointed them out. “Pick whichever you like.”
The boys hurried to claim their favorite spot. Will climbed up to the loft as fast as a spider monkey. Dustin jumped on the couch bed and hit Mike back with a pillow. Mike and Lucas had a silent argument about who got top bunk before Mike slid onto the bottom one.
“Where are you and Eddie sleeping?” Will asked.
“The seats,” Steve called back, dropping his own bag on the passenger seat. It definitely wouldn’t be comfy, and it was definitely too close to Eddie, but there weren’t a lot of options.
“Where is Eddie?” Dustin asked loudly.
“That’s a good question.” Steve smiled tightly. “How ‘bout you guys come up with a name for our cabin? I’m gonna go find our co-counselor.”
Steve didn’t have to look very hard for Eddie. Camp wasn’t that big, and Eddie had never been very subtle. He found Eddie in the counselor’s lounge, really a glorified shed where counselors went to fuck. And sure enough, there was Eddie butt naked being railed into by none other than Billy Hargrove.
Behind Billy’s back, Eddie met Steve’s gaze. He moaned for effect, and Steve wanted to punch him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Steve growled. “Billy, I’m sure your co needs help with your campers. And Eddie, you’re my co, and I’m not gonna let the kids find you like this.”
“Jealous, Princess?” Billy asked, pulling out with a loud pop. He turned towards Steve, not even trying to hide his nudity.
“Not even a little bit.” Steve grinned wolfishly. “Eddie’s a better top than bottom. But you’re too weak of an Alpha to ever know anything about that.”
Billy took a threatening step towards Steve.
“Leave him alone.” Eddie rumbled as if he’d forgotten he wasn’t protecting the Omega anymore.
“Thought you were done with this slut.” Billy glared at Eddie.
“Doesn’t mean you can have him.” Eddie pulled on a tight white tank and shuffled into his holey jeans. He didn’t say anything else as he followed Steve back to the camper.
“Y-You stink. You should shower.”
“We’re going to play games in five,” Eddie said. “I’ll just have to shower again.
Steve sighed. He hated smelling Billy, of all people, on Eddie’s skin.
Eddie pulled out a joint and lit it. He offered it to Steve.
“We’re in charge of children,” Steve said tersely.
“There’s no way we’re going to survive a whole week with the party without getting high.”
“This is exactly your problem!” Steve exclaimed. “You’re incapable of being responsible—”
“Oh, yes, it’s always my fault!” Eddie’s face turned red. “It’s not like you even gave me a chance.”
“Stop.” Steve couldn’t. He couldn’t do this right now. “We’re not talking about it. We’ll get through this week, and then I’m requesting a new co.”
“Whatever you say, bitch.” Eddie breathed out a trail of smoke.
Steve took a deep breath and walked into the camper. He could do this. He could get through one week of hell, one summer of hell, one more painful memory of Eddie Munson…
The kids grinned as they entered the cabin.
“Eddie!” Dustin crowed.
Ruffling the boy’s curly hair, Eddie smiled. “You got the goods?”
“I brought everything you told me to!” Dustin was practically yipping like a puppy.
Steve’s fingernails dug into his palm. He nearly jumped out of his skin at a soft touch on his wrist. Looking down, he found Will who smiled shyly before leaning against his side. Steve couldn’t love the pup anymore. Yes, he and Dustin had a special bond, but Will was a really special kid.
Murray’s announcement came over the loudspeaker. “All cabins report to the field. It’s high time we get some energy out of these brats!”
Steve chuckled. A lot of people didn’t like Nurse Murray. After all, it hadn’t been that long ago that his son Alexei had suffered a psychotic break and murdered a bunch of people. But Murray had helped Steve when no one else had. He’d lost his only child, and he was a bit odd. Steve couldn’t help feeling sorry for him…
“Are we going to play capture the flag?” Lucas asked, breaking Steve out of his thoughts.
“Nah, it’s way more fun to play at night.” Eddie waggled his eyebrows.
“That sounds awesome!” Dustin exclaimed.
“Oh, it’s fu…reaking awesome.” Eddie jumped up and down. “You should’ve seen Stevie back in the day. Whoever had him on their team won every time!”
“So, that means we’re gonna win!” Dustin shouted.
Wincing, Steve wondered for probably the first out of a million times why they had to be outside? Steve couldn’t even tell the kid to use his inside voice!
They lined up in a field where the rest of the campers and counselors were. All of the kids were talking a mile a minute, and Steve wished he’d brought earplugs. His hearing had been consistently declining ever since his first fight with Billy.
“Dingus!” Robin pulled Steve away from his line. “There’s my platonic soulmate with a P!”
Steve laughed, relaxing fully. He melted into her touch, nuzzling her head to combine their scents.
“Thought Tommy was your co?” She asked quietly.
“Apparently, there was some kind of mishap.” Steve pressed his forehead against Robin’s. “I’m fine. Really.”
Robin frowned. “Just let me know if I need to make Rocky Mountain Oysters out of his nuts, ‘kay?”
“Oh, my god, Rob!” Steve giggled.
“Hey, it’s nothing short of what he deserves!”
“I love you,” Steve whispered, hugging her tight.
Pulling away, he had his back to the directors. He already knew how to play pool ninja, so he really didn’t need instructions. Instead, he just made silly faces at Will trying to get the kid to break his dorky serious face and laugh already. He vaguely heard the director tell the counselors to hand out pool noodles to the kids. Running backward, he finally got Will to laugh. Score! Steve grabbed six pool noodles and ran back to his campers. Passing them out, he ran through the rules one more time.
“But the most important rule,” Eddie loudly interrupted him. “Is to hit Stevie as many times as you can!”
“Hey, I’m on your team.” Steve crossed his arms.
“Well, I’m not, and I say the most important rule is to hit Eddie as many times as you can!” Robin slapped Eddie with her pool noodle.
“Oh, it’s on, Buckley!”
It was cabin vs. cabin, and of course, they were paired off against Robin and Chrissy’s cabin. Pool Ninja is just like the ninja game you play with your hands, only you play with pool noodles.
Steve didn’t just have to worry about Robin’s campers but his own. He’d lost count of how many hits he’d taken. Panting, he leaned against a tree. He’d almost caught his breath when he was hit out of the blue. The pool noodle slammed into his face— crack! Blood spurted out of his nose. “Fuck!”
“Shit! I didn’t mean to hit you that hard,” Max said. “You’re bleeding really bad.
“I’m fine.” Steve gingerly cupped his nose. Definitely broken. There was blood on his hands… Suddenly, the world shifted. Steve blinked, and he didn’t know where he was.
“You have blood on your hands, Stefan Fier!”
“No more than yours,” Steve found himself speaking, but it wasn’t his voice… “I confess—”
“No! No!” Someone was screaming.
“I walked with the devil—”
“He’s lying!”
“I lay with him. I bewitched the good pastor, and I bewitched sweet Edward. I clouded his mind. It was me. It was me. It was only me… It was always me…”
“Wake up. Dammit, Stevie, wake up!”
Blinking, Steve found himself staring up at Eddie.
“C’mon, sleeping beauty, you need to go see the nurse,” Eddie said roughly. There was something strange in Eddie’s voice, and Steve couldn’t help but wonder if he would have sounded like this if he’d been there.
“I-I’m fine.” Steve’s voice cracked. He couldn’t stop shaking.
“No, you’re not.” Eddie picked him up and carried him off the field toward the nurse’s office.
They found Nurse Murray in his office staring blankly, unseeing.
“N-Nurse Lane?” Eddie asked.
“Oh, dear, what do we have here?” Murray shook himself.
“Had a bit of an accident with Pool Ninja,” Eddie explained. “Think his nose is broken.”
“I’m f—”
Eddie grabbed his lips. “He’s not fine.”
Nurse Murray nodded. “Sit still, dear. I’ll check to see if it’s broken or bruised.”
Steve tried to sit still, but he couldn’t help but fidget. He was cold, and his ears were ringing.
The witch forever lives, a thousand voices whispered.
Steve took a deep breath. He was fine. He was fine. He was… Suddenly, Nurse Murray was gripping his arm too tightly. “The doctors said it was a psychotic episode that he just snapped. The kids say Stefan Fier made him do it. I don’t think you go from being a sweet boy with dreams to ripping someone’s insides out with a switchblade. People I have found usually kill for a reason, and sometimes, that reason is justified. Sometimes, killing isn’t murder. Sometimes, it’s necessary. Sometimes, it is good.”
“N-Nurse Lane, you’re hurting me,” Steve whispered.
Murray dropped his arm and acted as if he hadn’t said anything. “Your nose isn’t broken, just bruised. You’ve broken it before?”
Steve nodded.
“I believe the previous breaks are why it bled so profusely. I’ll prescribe some pain meds, but the best thing for it will be some ice. You’ll need to hold it to your nose for about twenty minutes several times a day. You’re all set, dearie.”
A little unsteadily, Steve walked out of the nurse’s office.
“Man, he gives me the heebie jeebies.”
Steve jumped at Eddie’s voice.
“I get his son went nuts and all, but makes ya think the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Steve said.
Eddie shrugged. “I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?”
“Aren’t we all?” Steve said softly. Not one person was truly good. Even kids had something horrible within them… It was only a matter of time until it grew up, grew strong enough to hurt someone else.
***
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