The next morning it seemed like everyone woke up in a bit of a fog. Even though the sun shined bright and they'd all gotten enough sleep, the looming weight of the last day of camp held over them like a dark rain cloud, just about to let it pour. 

The boys of E1 cabin arrived in E2 soon after the breakfast bell, carrying cups of cereal for everyone. Even though they all knew it would be better to try and make the most of their last day, it was just too sad to really do anything except mope around the cabin. They all were silent, except brief words to say 'excuse me' or 'thank you'. 

"Come on, guys," Johnny said suddenly from his bed. "If we're gonna be emo and reminise, we should be emo and reminisce together." 

Everyone agreed, and they all made a circle in the middle of the cabin floor. 

"This is like when we play truth or dare," Chenle commented. 

"Oh god," Doyoung groaned. "Don't mention that." 

"What, we had fun at truth or dare!" Yukhei cried. 

"Jaehyun had to do so many weird things with my ," Doyoung responded. 

"You know you liked it," Ten teased. Doyoung answered him with a whack to his arm, but quickly the air fell back to sadness once again. 

"This year was extra special for me," Taeil started, and everyone watched as he smiled up at Johnny. "Johnny and I finally got together." Johnny grinned back down at his boyfriend and kissed him on the forehead. 

"It was about time," Ten commented, but the couple ignored him. 

"I mean, obviously I'll miss Taeil the most," Johnny said, rubbing the nape of Taeil's neck. "But I'm gonna miss all of you so much." 

"Don't lie Johnny; you're just gonna miss the ," Doyoung teased. 

"I'm not just gonna miss the !" Johnny protested. 

"We will miss it though," Taeil mouthed to Johnny, and Johnny gave him an agreeing look back. 

"That's what skype is for, kiddos," Taeyong said to the couple with a wink. 

"Aren't we the same age as you?" Johnny answered him. 

"Can we please change the conversation?" Jeno suddenly interjected. "I do not want to hear about my grandparent's life." 

"Seriously, though, guys," Johnny said. "You all are my best friends. It's just not the same without you." 

Taeil leaned on Johnny's shoulder as the others cooed at Johnny's sweetness. 

"We're gonna miss everyone too," Taeyong spoke up. "Really, nobody back home cares about me like you guys do." 

"I'll miss you a lot, my darling TY," Ten teased. Taeyong looked down at him, and Ten's smile immediately softened. "But, being honest, I'm gonna miss Chenle and Jisung just as much." Taeyong pouted. "Come on, aren't you supposed to love your kids just as much as your partner?" 

"When's the wedding, you two?" Jaehyun teased. 

"Aren't you supposed to do marriage first, then kids?" Yuta added. 

"I'm literally fifteen!" Ten whined. 

Chenle and Jisung had begun to sniffle at the thought of leaving each other and their friends behind, and Taeyong immediately noticed. "Aw, come here!" 

The two middle schoolers ran over to hug their camp mom and dad tightly. 

"Don't cry," Ten said softly, and it weirded out the rest of the campers seeing him be so gentle and sweet. "Taeyong and I will call you all the time." He dried Jisung's eyes with his hands, and let Chenle and Jisung sit in between himself and Taeyong. The couple interlaced their fingers behind their kids, sharing a bright smile of what they'd created at camp together. 

"At least you guys have friends your own age back home," Sicheng spoke in his quiet, deep voice. "I'm stuck with just my parents. I really have no friends." 

"Aw baby," Yuta spoke gently, hugging his boyfriend tightly. The two of them had been even more quiet than usual that day; they knew that things would be much harder for them when they were apart because of Sicheng's overprotective parents. 

"We should do group skype sessions!" Kun suggested, and everyone loudly agreed. 

"Can you do it with eighteen people?" Jaemin asked. 

"My dad can help us set it up," Jisung added, rubbing his eyes. 

"That would be nice," Sicheng responded with a small smile. "It's just so nice having people my own age to talk to. Maybe then I'll know what's going on in the world." 

"My cutie," Yuta mumbled, kissing the shell of Sicheng's ear. 

"And we'll talk as much as we possibly can," Sicheng spoke, and Yuta nodded back at him. "I'll do whatever it takes to be with you." 

"Of course angel," Yuta responded, and Sicheng grabbed onto Yuta's muscular arm, almost for dear life. 

"We'll make sure you stay a real teenager," Donghyuck said to Sicheng. 

"This summer was the best summer of my life," Yukhei interjected, and Jungwoo nodded in agreement. "I met so many cool people! Really, all of you are the best." 

"You're all the best," Jungwoo repeated. 

"I just had so much fun, and you all are really welcoming." 

"Make me feel welcome," Jungwoo repeated. 

"And," Yukhei started, turning to Jungwoo, "I found love too." Jungwoo blushed and buried his face in the crook of Yukhei's neck, shy about how embarrassed Yukhei always made him. 

"You both are really cool," Mark admitted. 

"It was really fun to have you guys come with us and join our little group," Doyoung added. 

"It...it's just nice, you know? Because I don't really have gay friends back home," Jungwoo started. 

"Me either," Yukhei interjected. 

"S-so here, I really feel like I can just be my true self." 

"Me too," Yukhei added. "Especially because I play sports, it's a little like....I mean, people aren't mean to me about it, but at the same time, they don't wanna hear about the guys I like. So here I can just be however I want and talk about who I like." 

"Maybe they're annoyed because you never ing shut up about Jungwoo," Renjun muttered. 

"I'm really glad you guys feel at home here," Doyoung answered. "I feel the same way here too. At home I'm just the big nerd that studies all the time and doesn't have any real friends. But... here I feel like more than that. I feel better here."

"Doyoungie! You're the ing best, honestly. The kids at your school are dumb as ," Ten said. 

"I dunno...to be honest, school is doing better too. I have more friends now, and I think it's because...because I have more confidence, you know? I have cool friends that do all kinds of things and live all over, not to mention a really hot boyfriend..." Doyoung trailed off. 

Jaehyun grinned at him and kissed his cheek. "You tell your school friends about me?"

Doyoung rolled his eyes. "Duh. I have your picture as my lockscreen and every time a new friend sees it, they think you're some celebrity or model. They never believe me when I say you're my boyfriend." 

"But you're the cutest!" Jaehyun spoke insistently. Doyoung just shrugged back. 

"As I was saying...I just feel more confident because of the people I've met here, and it's made my school life a lot better too." 

Jaehyun wrapped his arms around Doyoung's shoulders. "I'm really proud of you," he mumbled in Doyoung's ear. Doyoung immediately left to go to the bathroom; he couldn't let the campers who thought he was so tough see him blushing so hard. 

"You know, I'm in the same boat as Doyoung," Mark spoke up. "In middle school I was this big loser, because I thought I was a loser. But after camp, when I went to high school, I've had such a better time. I just do better in school, make more friends, knowing that I have forever friends too." Donghyuck made a face. "And a perfect boyfriend, of course." 

"I'm proud of you too," Donghyuck said, pecking Mark's lips. Then he pecked Mark's forehead, cheeks, nose, all over his face, showering him with smooches, until Mark was giggling like a little girl. 

"Aww!" Johnny cooed. 

"Aww!" Ten followed. 

"Aww!" The rest of the campers spoke seeing Donghyuck and Mark so adorable and crazy about one another. 

"Shut up," Mark and Donghyuck whined simoultaneously, Mark burying his face in the crook of Donghyuck's neck. 

"I love you," Donghyuck whispered. 

"I love you too," Mark whispered back. 

"Isn't it weird?" Jeno suddenly spoke. "Last year, Donghyuck was this crazy prankster who didn't seem to care about anything. Mark was the incredibly awkward dude who didn't have a clue. Now, they're dating and somehow making it work; they've matured a lot." 

"Well, that's true of you and your man, too," Donghyuck said, and Jeno and Jaemin shared a gentle smile. "Last year you guys were just little kids with secret crushes, now you're teenagers and you're together." 

"Last year, Taeyong and I were just teenagers," Ten interjected. "Now we're teenagers with two kids to raise." Everyone laughed loudly and Jeno placed a shy peck on Jaemin's lips. 

"Really, I feel like we've all grown up together," Jeno spoke as Jaemin nestled himself in Jeno's lap. "It'll be interesting to see where we're all at next year."

"Let alone when we're adults," Taeil spoke. Jisung shuddered at the very thought. "It's closer than you think, kid," Taeil said quietly to him. 

"Don't be weird, grandma," Chenle said, swatting Taeil's hand away. 

"Grandma? I don't even get to be grandpa?" Taeil protested. 

"You know what I think?" Jaemin interrupted. "I think that no matter how much I mature, I'll always love you, Jeno." 

"Aw!" Everyone cooed, and Jeno blushed fiercely. 

"Cheesy," Jeno mumbled just to Jaemin. Jaemin giggled at his boyfriend before turning back to the group. 

"Thank you for including this hetero in all your weird ," Renjun said. "Especially that," he added, pointing to Jeno and Jaemin who had began to nuzzle each other's noses.

"You're my favorite straight person!" Donghyuck said to Renjun. 

"You know, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Renjun responded. 

"Don't jinx it," Donghyuck answered with a look. Renjun laughed loudly before grimacing when his eyes landed on Jeno and Jaemin. 

"I will say that I'll be happy to be able to sleep without cheesy couples sharing a room with me," Renjun stated. 

"Same," Kun groaned loudly. "But seriously, you guys are the best. I'm...I'm really sorry for the mess I've caused," he said with a look in Sicheng and Yuta's direction. 

"It's okay. I forgive you," Yuta said, rubbing Kun's arm. "Just don't try any of that again," Yuta added. 

Kun laughed. "My homewrecking days are over, I promise. I'll get my own man." Jisung sighed to himself and stared pointedly at the floor. 

"I love all of you!" Chenle suddenly cheered in his very loud voice. "Mom Ten, dad Taeyong, grandpa Johnny, grandma Taeil, creepy uncle Yuta-" 

"Hold it right there!" Yuta interrupted. 

"I'm just saying, I love all of you. Especially you, Jisungie," Chenle said with a shy smile at Jisung. Jisung couldn't figure out why he was too embarrassed to look Chenle back in the eyes. "I feel like we're just a big family. That's what I was trying to say." 

The boys all paused, knowing that Chenle really was right: they'd become like a family. 

"I'm not the creepy uncle though," Yuta mumbled. Sicheng began to giggle, and soon enough the cabin was filled with laughter. 

The eighteen of them stood up, pulling each other into a confusing hug, holding their best friends tightly

All of the sudden, the lunch bell rang loud through camp, and the boys looked at each other. 

"Should we go?" Sicheng asked. 

"We should say goodbye to Sehun," Taeyong responded. 

"Anyways, this'll be the last day we can get Chef Kyungsoo's sandwiches," Johnny added. 

"Oh !" Donghyuck cried. "We have to." They all grinned and ran out of the cabin excitedly. Maybe that sense of sadness was still there, but for now, they could be together.  

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A/N: one last chapter after this! coming soon.