Josh brushed his face across the pillow, turning his eyes to the light. A feeling of bliss and contentment filled him, until he woke up enough to remember the events of the previous day. The brutal argument with Kurt, skipping dinner and crying in his dorm before slipping into sleep. Kurt must have come in after that, quietly enough not to wake Josh. I wonder how late he stayed out with Blaine this time, Josh thought, angst stabbing through his chest.

Josh rolled out of bed silently, letting Kurt sleep. He showered, dressed, and slipped out before his roommate woke up. He would find something, anything to occupy his time before breakfast. It was better than another emotional confrontation with Kurt.

* * * * *

Unfortunately for Josh, the daily schedule would bring he and Kurt back together in close proximity immediately after breakfast. Josh snuck a few items from the buffet and ate them in back of the building, but after stalling as long as he could, he reported to the main building for the morning's activity: “Dance Lessons – Teams Lion, Tiger, Butterfly.”

The largest room on the ground floor was set up with a ring of chairs along the outside, and a stereo in the corner, with the center of the floor empty. Adam and Amy were teamed up to instruct the campers on basic steps, ballroom dance positions, and types of music.

Josh came in the back the room as Amy was demonstrating a box step. She turned on the music and told everyone to give it a try. The room filled with shuffling noises as the teenagers trudged in squares. Most of them looked completely awkward and hopeless even at the basic step, but Josh noticed that Kurt had no trouble at all with the lesson and even managed to make it look graceful. Kurt seemed to notice him looking, and Josh quickly looked back at his clumsy feet.

Adam and Amy moved on to demonstrating closed position. “Make sure you're a little bit off-center from your partner, because your feet need room, see?” Amy said, gesturing down between herself and Adam.

“Everyone, pair up!” Adam said. “There will be some leftover guys, so for now just try and hold your arms up correctly and walk through the steps. We'll switch off in a bit.”

Josh glanced around the room, stalling. He was just as happy to start off with an invisible partner, and he hoped that the girls would each grab a boy quickly and he'd be off the hook. He didn't notice Kurt making a beeline for him.

“Josh, hi,” Kurt said, smiling warmly but with concern in his eyes. “Um... would you like me to help you with this stuff? I've had a ton of ballroom dance lessons.” Josh blinked at Kurt, tongue-tied. Kurt hesitated, then placed his left hand on Josh's right shoulder. “Here, stand up straight, relax your shoulders a little...”

Josh haltingly rested his fingers at Kurt's waist. He avoided Kurt's gaze, instead fixing his eyes on his shoulder in front of him. Josh blushed furiously as he noticed a dark red mark peeking out of the collar of Kurt's shirt.

“Hey, Kurt? Why don't I help Josh?” Amy interjected, taking his place. “You like like you've got this lesson under control, but if you want to help out, maybe one of the girls would appreciate it?” Kurt frowned, then nodded and turned to join a gaggle of girls who were hiding in the corner with folded arms.

"Okay everybody, switch partners," Amy said after a few minutes, stepping away from Josh." If you were dancing by yourself, make sure you get a chance to practice with a partner."

Adam walked up behind a small, dark haired boy who was struggling to lead the much taller Cate. "No floppy arms, Ian. You need to press into her hand in order to lead." As he was saying this, he placed his hand on Ian's left elbow.

Ian spun around and cradled his arm to his chest as if he had been burned. "Don't touch me!" He screamed, face red and eyes suddenly full of tears. "Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't!" He backed away from Adam until his back hit the wall, then slid to the floor and buried his face in his arms, sobbing.

Kurt ran over to Ian and knelt on the floor, making soothing noises. "Ian, Ian, look at me. You're fine, you're safe, no one's going to hurt you. Sweetie, look at me." When the small boy didn't look up, Kurt cautiously touched Ian's wrist, which was still covering his eyes. Ian flinched but didn't pull away completely, and after a few moments he wiped his eyes and peeked at Kurt. Kurt placed his hands on Ian's shoulders, guiding him up off the floor and out of the room.

Amy and Adam just let them go, and attempted to calm the rest of the campers and get them refocused on the lesson.

They gave up about ten minutes later, and dismissed the class with fifteen minutes yet to go before lunch. Josh walked slowly in the general direction of the cafeteria, wholly unsure of what to do with himself now that they were off-schedule.

"Josh, wait up!" Came a voice from behind him. Kurt appeared and fell into step by his side, smiling stiffly.

"Hi, Kurt," Josh said, his heart suddenly speeding up. "Is that Ian kid okay?" Kurt's forehead creased in worry.

"He's calm, at least," Kurt said, "I wouldn't say he's okay. He won't tell me what's wrong or why he reacted that way. I don't really know him that well. We met on the bus from Ohio."

"You really care about him though, don't you?" Josh said softly.

"He's just so young and fragile. It makes me want to just.. protect him from the world." Kurt sighed.

“He must be dealing with a lot. It's sweet of you to want to help him so badly.” Josh replied.

Kurt looked into Josh's eyes, frowning slightly. “He's not the only one, ” Kurt said. Josh wasn't prepared for Kurt's sincere and caring gaze, and he was briefly lost in blue-green before he was able to look away and respond.

“I know... look, Kurt, I'm sorry about yesterday. I get that you're kind of miserable being here and the last thing I want to do is make it worse.”

Kurt sighed. “That's not what I meant, Josh. You're obviously dealing with a lot yourself. I'm sorry I got so upset with you. I mean, yeah, I'm dealing with some... things.... I guess for teenagers we all have a lot of baggage. I just want you to know that if you are feeling, um, conflicted, and want to talk, I'm here for you.”

Josh's eyes widened slightly and he took a step back. “I... uh... I have to go... it's time for lunch...”

Kurt threw up his hands. “Ugh, fine, Josh, be whoever you need to be at whatever speed you need to get there... just tell me one thing. Did you mean it when you said you couldn't be my friend if I don't believe in God? I would really like for us to be friends.”

Josh's insides twisted up at the word “friends.” A pang of longing rushed through his heart, followed quickly by a rush of self-loathing. He felt like he might explode if he was around Kurt another moment.

“I have to go.” He turned and ran into the woods.