The week was going pretty well so far. I think. I may be a horrible person, however, because I will readily admit to letting Finn deal with Seth’s tears when they inevitably cropped up. Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t take money from him betting on whether Seth would be homesick?

It’s only Wednesday, but I’m already pretty sure that if I make it back as a full counselor next year, I won’t be requesting to work with the little guys. They’re cute, but I definitely prefer my kayaking and archery classes with the older kids. Maybe the kids will grow on me once they’re more settled in? Please?

We had been doing rolls with the more advanced kayakers last period, and of course, the counselors’d nominated me to demonstrate. I’d ended up completely soaked through, so I’d had to run straight back to my cabin to change before I could come help with the down time before dinner. Well, honestly, it’s not like I wouldn’t have to change anyway. There’s no way I’m showing up to dinner in a rash guard and board shorts. No freaking way. Not even at camp.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I had to fix this mood. There wasn’t really time for yoga in the grass, though maybe tomorrow morning before flag raising. I could take a few deep breaths to center myself though. I thought through everything. In the end, I decided that it was just the shiny-ness of the summer wearing off. I’d been here more than a week, and it wasn’t novel anymore. I needed to find something to lift my mood.

Walking into the bunk, that something was so easy to find. I paused in the doorframe with wide eyes for a just a moment before I completely cracked up laughing. Cabin 3 had apparently become the designated home of a dance party. I could spot Finn over to one side manning an iPod with speakers, but Blaine was out in the middle of the room, dancing wildly with a cluster of little kids in the space between cots.

To top it all off? Blaine was belting the number, something I didn’t recognize but that sounded very Radio Disney like. Seth, shy, homesick Seth, had grabbed his unbroken hand to dance around with Blaine, a look of hero worship in his eyes. It was certainly a good change from the tears.

Finn spotted me at the doorframe and put a finger to his lips. I nodded back to him. This was much too good to interrupt.

I’ll have to admit, the dancing skills of our guys varied quite widely. Jared was obviously enthusiastic about it, of course. His dancing reminded me of what I’ve seen of Finn’s attempts over the years, i.e. lots of flailing about. Liam of the sweater vests could apparently bust quite the move, on the other hand.

I’ll also have to admit, I was impressed with Blaine’s voice. Sure the song was cheesy pop, but I could listen to cheesy pop all day if it was Blaine singing it. I should have guessed he could sing, with the theater background and all, but there’s a difference between being able to sing and being able to sing.  Blaine fell into the second category, at least in my probably biased opinion.

It had been amazing this week to watch him come out of his shell around the campers. Blaine was still tentative as hell with most of the staff, but apparently he wasn’t worried about the reaction of nine year olds. Or Finn? It felt like I was getting peeks at the real Blaine as I watched him open up and do silly things with them. I feel like I suck at talking little kid sometimes, but Blaine? He’s a natural. I mean, he’s got all ten of them engaged and not snotty or crying right now.

The song ended, and Finn shut off the music. He nodded over towards me, giving me my cue. I took it, clapping loudly, realizing I had a big, goofy smile on my face. “Nice dancing guys!”

“Kurt!” I swear it pretty much went up in unison as I was suddenly swarmed by excited little people. “Did you see us dancing?” “We’re good right?” “We cleaned the cabin! It’s all neat!” “I swam out to the dock!” “Want to see what I made in crafts?” I had no idea who said what, really. I guess it’s good they at least liked me?

“Whoa, whoa. Let Kurt breath.” Finn stepped in at last, moving out into the cabin. “You’re going to smother him with questions.”

Blaine grinned over, loose and open in a way he so very rarely had been so far. He’d sagged down onto the closest cot to catch his breath. “Maybe you should ask Kurt to dance with you instead.” He suggested with an equally rare teasing look over to me.

“Yeah, Kurt! You should dance with us! We cleaned the cabin so it’s not a disaster. Now we get to bust a move.” Nick’s little brother Alex reached out to grab my hand and yank me over.

“Fine, fine, but only if Blaine joins in again.” I shot him a teasing look right back then nodded over to Finn. “If you will, DJ?”

We’d danced until it was time to head out to flag, all laughing and sweaty. Maybe it wasn’t exactly neat, tidy look for dinner time, but I knew Schue wouldn’t care. He’d much rather we’d engaged with the campers and had a good time than that everything looked a certain way. It was camp. We had at least gotten the little germ factories to wash their hands.

We’d finished the flag ceremony and the kids were streaming into the dining hall when Blaine actually reached out to pull me aside, for a change. I don’t know what had gotten into him today, but I liked the confidence.

“I, um, I was hoping you could do something for me.” Blaine gave me hopeful eyes. I’m not really sure that I could say no to those eyes whatever he was asking, especially since he was actually asking.

“What do you need?” We only had a few moments if we wanted to get in there before grace. Not that I minded missing grace, not being religious and all, but our camp just did a moment of silence. If we were late, I’d have to explain to Schue.

“I have to go into Hanover tomorrow, to go to the doctor for my arm. One of the ULs is driving, but Wes said I could take another CIT or JC with me. Will you come?” Really, Blaine has the whole puppy dog eye thing down really well. “I mean, if you’d rather stay here, I could ask Nick or Mike or someone, but I’d rather have you with me.”

“A trip to Hanover? I bet I could talk the UL into stopping for ice cream on the way back, at least. I’m in.” I responded with a grin. “And not just for the ice cream. I’ll be there whenever you need me, as best I can. You just have to keep asking.” I promised then turned towards the door. “Now we better find our table before we’re late.”

Wes apparently couldn’t get away the next day, so his friend David, the seniors Unit Leader, drove us after clean up. David had been one of my counselors when I was 14 and 15, before he became a UL, so I knew him well. Blaine had only met the guy a few times. I hoped that didn’t bite us in the ass in the long run.

I tried to push Blaine into sitting shotgun, but he wasn’t having any of it. That’s how we ended up driving towards Hanover with Blaine sitting in the back, and me sitting in the front with David.

It didn’t take long for the drive to end up being David and I singing along to whatever popped up on the radio, sometimes together, sometimes taking turns. Now that I knew how well Blaine could sing, I tried to pull him into it as well, to no avail.

When we pulled up outside the hospital, David gathered together a bunch of paperwork before he led us in. “Your parents had your records sent here. They signed pretty broad consent forms for us.” The UL noted.

Blaine just shrugged. “Sounds like my dad.” His tone, and our past conversations, told me he didn’t really expect his dad to want to be involved.

I glanced over to him, wishing I could reach out and touch his arm or shoulder in comfort. I knew he wouldn’t appreciate it though, especially in public. “What’s our first stop here?”

“The doctor wants us to go to radiology so they can get an x-ray to see how well Blaine’s arm is healing. Then we’ll come back this afternoon to actually see him.” David said after checking his folder of forms.

“So if they’re not backed up for taking the x-ray, does that mean we’ll have time to go to campus town for lunch?” I asked hopefully.

“I sure hope so. Or I was thinking maybe taking food to that dock on the Connecticut?” David suggested before he moved up to get us checked in and sent to the right waiting room.

I watched Blaine again on the way. All that confidence from yesterday seemed to be gone, out here in the real world. He was closed in on himself, eyes towards the ground. I could probably count on my fingers the number of words he’d spoken since we’d gotten into the car.

Blaine and I took quiet seats in the waiting room, and hey, at least they had the Ellen show on to watch. David took some time checking Blaine in for the x-ray, showing several of the different papers from this folder.  A few minutes later he came over to join us, and the two of us made crack comments back and forth about the show. A few minutes after that, Blaine was called back. He shook his head at me when I asked him if he wanted me to come back with him, and disappeared with the nurse.

David sank back into his chair as we waited for Blaine to be finished. “He’s a quiet one. Kind of jumpy. I can see why Wes insisted to me that he needed bring a friend.”

“He’s quiet because he doesn’t know you. Blaine doesn’t trust easily, and I don’t blame him. He’s had a hard time with bullies at home.” That was as much of Blaine’s story as I’d tell, even to someone I’d had my share of talks with over the years, back when he was my counselor. “You should see him with our campers though. He’s a natural with the younger ones. I guess he’s not afraid they’re going to turn around and hurt him.”

“No one should have to be afraid of that.”

“No. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t lots of us out there who are. Just give him time to trust you? Please?” I may not have Blaine level puppy dog eyes, but I gave David an entreating look.

“Alright. I won’t push, you either.” Yeah, it was my luck that he’d noticed I’d included myself in that, without even thinking about it. “I promise to be nice and non-scary. But next year, I hope I might see you back as a counselor of one of the senior cabins. Seems like you’re as much Blaine’s counselor as friend right now. You’re doing good. I would have taken you this year if you weren’t too young.”

I flushed pink at that bit of praise, stupid pale skin. “I’d like to be able to be just his friend.” I latched onto that part of it, considering that. “I hope that as the summer goes on he’ll need me less as a counselor-type.” I wanted to help Blaine, truly. But more than anything with him, I wanted to get to a point where we were equals in relying on each other. Then maybe I wouldn’t feel so awkward about how gorgeous I thought his eyes were.

Thankfully, David changed the subject bringing me out of my thoughts. “I was serious about going to that dock on the Connecticut, even if it probably technically belongs to Dartmouth. Never stopped me before. We could go to that basement place with the wraps and burritos on the way?”

We’d followed through on that plan, and a half an hour later, I had my sandals off and my feet dipped into the river. It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the low eighties. I had a whole-wheat tortilla filled with ceaser salad, and life was good. Life was good even if I was still playing intermediary between David and a quiet Blaine.

“I’m just saying that I think you’re rather crazy for missing spending days at a time in the woods.” I told David. “I mean, you have to dig a hole just to go number two. I don’t miss that kind of trip. I’d much rather go on a day kayak trip. Plus, there’s the whole adrenaline rush when you get out on rougher water.”

“But there’s the challenge of pushing yourself to your limits out on the trail.” David shot back. “It’s just you and nature. That semester I took off to hike the Appalachian Trail is still one of the best experiences of my life.”

That made Blaine look up from his burrito and actually join the conversation looking across me to talk to David. “The Appalachian Trail? Isn’t that really long?”

“Yeah. It was my sophomore year of college. I started in January in Georgia and finished up in Maine right in time to come to camp.” David stated proudly.

“We made jokes the whole summer about how horrible all his gear smelled.” I noted, remembering my last summer as a camper. “You can tell thru hikers on the trail from day hikers by the smell emanating off them. See? That’s another point for kayaking. You get wet so the sweat doesn’t build up as much.”

“Hah, hah.” David said dryly. “I did wash my clothes before you lot got up there to torment me.” He crumpled the paper from his burrito and looked over to Blaine. “Maybe you can settle this for us. Hiking trip or kayaking trip?”

Being put on the spot like that made Blaine gulp. “I- I don’t know? I mean, I’ve not really ever done either. Cooper tried taking me hiking a few times. It didn’t go that well, but lots of things with us were like that.”

I nodded, remembering that one of the reasons Blaine had been hesitant to be at camp this summer was because he thought we’d all be like his brother. “Well, when you get that cast off your arm, I’ll teach you some kayaking basics. Or at least take you canoeing. Then you’ll have a better comparison.” I leaned over, invading Blaine’s space just a bit to drop my voice, but not so far that David wouldn’t be able to hear me. “But you know I’m right.”

That got laughter out of both David and Blaine before the UL glanced down at his watch. “Finish up. It’s almost time for us to get back to the hospital for Blaine’s appointment.”

This time David asked to come back, so he could ‘report to Blaine’s father later’. At the look of panic on Blaine’s face at all of this, I added myself to the group. That was how all three of us managed to find ourselves in a room in the outpatient section of the hospital as the doctor stepped inside, bringing someone closer to David’s age with him as well.

“Thank you for waiting so patiently. I’m Doctor Miller, and this is Alice, one of our medical students. She’ll be shadowing me today.” He glanced over the three of us before smiling kindly to Blaine. “You must be Blaine. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve looked over your file and x-rays.” He turned to David with a curious glance. “You must be the camp’s representative?”

“Yes. I’m David. And this is one of Blaine’s friends, Kurt. He came along for moral support.” David had found a spot near the door, while I’d claimed one next to Blaine. It seemed pretty fitting for the day so far.

“Well, it’s nice to meet all of you. I had a chance to look over the x-rays,” the doctor noted, passing a folder with them over towards the med student. “You had surgery at Nationwide Children’s in Columbus?”

Blaine took a deep, steadying breath before he replied. I could see just how not okay with talking about this he was. It was awkward just knowing that I had to witness it, let alone David. At least I pretty well knew the story. Having David find out might be part of what made Blaine so antsy to talk about it. “Yes. That’s where I was after the atta… that’s where the ambulance took me, even though I’m not a little kid.”

I could see the med student hold back a laugh at that last part, but the doctor just nodded. “You’d never be able to count how many teenagers I’m heard say that over the years. It looks like your doctors did good work though, even though you’re not a little kid.”

Blaine let out a rush of air. “Does that mean I’ll get the cast off?” He asked hopefully. I could only imagine how frustrating it must be to go through camp life without use of your dominant arm.

The doctor shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. Not entirely. What I can do though is change out that cast for a shorter one. If the incisions from the surgery and the compound fracture are healing well, I can line the new cast with a material water won’t damage though. That way you don’t have to worry about getting it wet. I don’t know if I’d go swimming in it, but with a fiberglass cast with the right lining even falling in the lake wouldn’t hurt you.”

The doctor pulled an x-ray out of the folder, holding it up to the light to show the med student. “This is a different break pattern than you would typically encounter in a teenager. Most teenage broken arms are caused by falls or car accidents, but this seems to have been intentionally broken. The  original physician thinks that someone purposely stomped on ir at least twice, resulting in the multiple breaks.”

I reached out for Blaine’s hand as I watched the smile from the earlier news about the new cast fade, along with most of the color on his face as the doctor talked to the med student. “Stay with me.” I whispered over. “If you get that new cast, I can take you out in a canoe later this week when our free periods line up.” I coaxed Blaine through a few deep breaths as the doctor explained the need to still support his wrist for a few more weeks in a cast, while his radius and ulna didn’t need the longer cast anymore with the plates in them.

“You saw your neurologist for clearance before you left Ohio?” Blaine nodded his head, not answering the doctor aloud. “Your concussion shouldn’t be holding you back from physical clearance for camp activities either, then, as long as you’re not having headaches or dizziness.”

Soon enough the doctor was sawing the cast off. Blaine refused an offer to let him keep it and stared instead at the scar along the side of his arm. You could tell the difference between the neat surgical incision and the prior damage, where the bone had broken through the skin. “Scars add character.” I told Blaine softly, managing to get a small smile in return.

“I don’t want to see it and always have to remember. Or know what I don’t remember, as the case may be.” He told me, keeping his tone low enough that hopefully David couldn’t hear, as we waited for the doctor to return with the new casting materials.

I nodded over with understanding. I’d felt the same way before about bruises across my back, and that hadn’t been from anything as traumatic or permanent. I cleared my throat and looked over to David, who was busy pretending like he wasn’t there, I think. “So, doesn’t all of this call for ice cream on the way home? Fat Bob’s is barely out of the way.” I wheedled. Ice cream could fix anything, right?

That was what found us pulling into camp in the late afternoon, with drips of ice cream on David’s shirt and a brand new, but equally bright red, cast on Blaine’s arm. I felt like it had been one big step forward yesterday only to take two steps back today until I saw the remaining tension leave Blaine’s face as we pulled as the camp car pulled up to the office. Maybe it was two steps forward.