“Pull! Come on guys. We'll be out here all day if you don't put a little effort into it. Kurt! Your canoe is just going to keep going in circles if you can't keep up.” Jessica shouted as she focused on Kurt's ineffective paddling.

Kurt huffed in response and tried again to smooth down his hair with a flick of his wrist. It was pointless out on the lake, but he was grumpy. Somehow he had been paired with a hulking neanderthal of a boy, someone who could out-row him even if he was actually trying.

That wasn't the biggest problem, however. After the late night, he had slept in for the first time all week. He had missed breakfast, and he was starving. More importantly, he hadn't had his morning dose of Blaine-time before having to go freaking canoeing, of all things.

“Hey, cut that out!” Jessica yelled, turning to Josh who was roughhousing with the other boy in his own canoe. The boat was rocking and threatened to tip. Jessica turned away from Kurt's path and paddled over to Josh's canoe to chastise him for several minutes.

It was almost as if he was trying to distract Jessica. Actually, Josh had been artificially friendly to Kurt all morning. Obsequious, even. He must be feeling vulnerable after last night, Kurt thought. I can deal with it if it means he's going to try harder at just being 'friends'. It was starting to get on his nerves, though.

* * * * *

“...So then I told her, 'what if I don't want to calm down? There's nothing in the bible about standing up in canoes.' Her whole face got red, I thought she was going to jump out of her boat and swim over to get me.” Josh babbled happily.

“Uh huh. Wow.” Kurt said dully, staring off into the distance with his hands in his pockets.

Josh blinked at his reaction, then brightened again and kept talking. “She said if I kept it up I wouldn't be able to go to lunch. Do you think there will be something good today? I hope it isn't hot dogs, we've had hot dogs twice this week.”

Kurt had plenty of complaints about the meals at camp, but Josh's words faded into the background as Kurt noticed Blaine walking across the grass towards him. Kurt jogged over and they caught each others' hands, their faces coming together so close that their foreheads were almost touching.

“Hi,” Kurt said.

“Hey, you.” Blaine responded.

Josh rolled his eyes. “Hi, Blaine. Kurt, lunch? Aren't you hungry? You missed breakfast.”

“Sure, I guess. We'll come inside in just a second. Save us some seats, okay?” Kurt replied, his eyes not leaving Blaine's.

Josh sighed and trudged inside the cafeteria.

* * * * *

Josiah took the stage, his face grave. “Today I was going to talk about the sin of vanity, but I've received some troubling news so I've made some changes. Tragedy has struck some of those amongst us.”

Kurt listened with interest, noticing for the first time a group of campers sitting out of their sections, huddled together, crying and sharing hugs. He nudged Blaine and indicated the group, but Blaine just shrugged.

“The campers from Eleventh Baptist Church of Micanopy have lost one of their own. It was a boating accident, back home in Florida. One of their youth group members was killed, and another one is in the hospital and may not make it.” The group of campers was sobbing loudly at this point.

Josiah waited for the sobbing to subside and continued. “Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. This event has reminded me that life is too short, too precious to take chances. There's a story I want to share with you all.”

“There was a young man, a friend of my cousin, who called himself a Christian but wasn't really committed to it. He picked and choose what he liked from the bible, but he still wanted to have a good time. He liked to say that Jesus wouldn't have wanted him not to enjoy his life.” Josiah smirked to himself at the last part. “So, one night he went out to the club, and caught the eye of another young man. They started to dance, and they had a few drinks.”

Kurt did NOT like where this was going. He took Blaine's hand and squeezed, willing himself to stay calm.

“He woke up the next morning in his own bed, alone. He could barely remember asking the other guy back to his place. There was no trace of him in his apartment, except... when he turned on the light in the bathroom and saw the mirror. Written on the mirror in lipstick: “Welcome to the world of AIDS.”

The auditorium was hushed, aside from another round of sobbing and a few 'amens'. “If it was two guys, where did the lipstick come from? I don't think that's how this story usually goes.” Blaine whispered, smiling at Kurt.

His smile faded when he saw the anger mixed with anguish written across Kurt's face. A single tear rolled down his cheek. “He's just exploiting their pain. It's sick.” Kurt gulped and continued. “I'm so glad to have met you, Blaine, but I really hate this place. I don't know how I'd make it here without you.” Kurt sobbed lightly, drowned out by the wails from the group of campers from Micanopy.

Blaine wiped his tears away and shushed him. “That jackass isn't worth your tears. It's meaningless noise and in a few days we'll be out of here forever.”

Kurt shoved his emotions down and dried his eyes as a new, uncomfortable thought surfaced. It was already Thursday afternoon and they had to go home on Saturday. Once Kurt was back under the disapproving eye of his aunt and uncle, and Blaine back at home or busy at school with all of his Warbler friends, would they be able to see each other? Could they be a couple? Would Blaine even want that, or was this just a summer fling to him?

Just a few days ago, Kurt desperately wanted the week to end, and now he could just about stay like this, forever. Kurt and Blaine against the world. Whatever the end of camp would mean for them, he wanted to treasure the moments they still had together. If nothing else, this summer had taught him that life was just too short to live it any other way.

“That's better,” Blaine said, brushing Kurt's bangs back, unaware of the turn Kurt's thoughts had taken. “We're just going to have fun tonight. Meet me in our spot by the lake after dinner, for our date? Make sure you still have an appetite, by the way.” Blaine grinned, batting his eyelashes slowly.

Kurt swooned. “Of course. I'm looking forward to it.” Kurt replied, turning back to the stage after a lengthy stare into Blaine's eyes.

Josiah finished up a tacky prayer that further meshed the car accident and the urban legend. “Now, for anyone who hasn't accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, I invite you to come up to the stage and join me in prayer.” Students began to stumble down the aisles. Josiah placed his hand on the forehead of the first crying girl to reach him as she knelt on the steps of the stage.

Kurt bit his lip as he watched the spectacle. If I keep rolling my eyes so hard, they just might stick this way, he thought.