Archive of Our Own ^beta

Darius

You might think it strange that Darius Bowman, a self-proclaimed dinosaur expert, would be reluctant to attend 'Camp Cretaceous' for a summer. Considering his extensive knowledge and general interest in all things prehistoric, he should have been thrilled at the idea of going, let alone winning a fully paid trip. Alas, he was dubious at best.

Months ago, all he could think about was Camp Cretaceous. His love of pre-history and dinosaurs came from his father, who wanted him to attend more than anything. There was even a point where they planned to go together, with his Dad thinking of volunteering as a counselor. As time went on, however, his Dad's health started to wane, and they spent a lot of their time in and out of the hospital. The expenses piled up, and the idea of a summer getaway seemed like a distant dream.

As luck would have it, there was a way for him to win his way there- a trivia contest hosted by the foundation who runs Camp Cretaceous, with the grand prize being an all expenses paid stay there. To win, one must have an extensive knowledge about dinosaurs and paleontology. Darius knew it would be sinch for him.

Even when he was bedridden, his Dad would joke how he should enter himself and go, which always got a laugh out of Darius. The hours Darius spent at his bedside was used to study and test himself, all with his dad's help. With any luck, his Dad would be out of there before Darius got to Camp.

It wasn't meant to be. 

A week before the contest, everything went to pot. His Mom picked him up from school early and the whole family gathered around to say their final goodbyes, the doctors telling them it's now or never. He talked to Darius last and gave him a raptor claw necklace- it matches the one he always wears. He had wanted to give it to him on his birthday, but that isn't going to happen. It wasn't long before he was gone.

Darius hasn't taken off the necklace since.

For a while, he focused even more on expanding his knowledge, sure that, despite being practically an expert at this point, he just didn't know enough to win. Not winning, and thus not attending, would honestly break him. He and his dad promised they'd go, so there was no way he wasn't going- for the both of them.

It took his older brother Brand intervening before he realized his obsession went too far. At first Darius was mad at him, not understanding why he was interfering. But, when he really looked himself in the mirror, and saw the bags under his eyes and how pale he'd become, he realized he needed to take a step back. He can't win if he's exhausted. So, he took his brother's advice and relaxed until the day of the contest.

Darius won with ease.

Despite his zealous efforts until now, the fact that his Dad had passed not all that long ago put a damper on a lot of his excitement. The idea of going off to have fun for the Summer felt… weird to him. Like, he shouldn’t be happy after such a terrible thing happened. Brand and his mom assured him that it was okay, that their Dad wanted nothing more than to have Darius attend, so he should enjoy himself guilt free.

When he got there, he didn't feel less guilty. At the very least, all the activities and fellow campers distracted him from those thoughts, and that was good enough. This place was everything he ever hoped it would be. 

He’s been having a great time. He's on the older end of the camper spectrum, but that doesn't bother him. He even made a new friend, Gray Mitchell. In some ways, he's like Darius- really into dinosaurs and oversharing. The other campers are cool, and so are their counselors, but even with all of them and his new friend, Darius still kind of felt… alone. Numb, almost.

Not that he shared this thought with anyone. How could he? Gray may feel comfortable sharing his woes about his brother, but how can Darius lay his troubles about his dad on anyone? This is Camp. He, and everyone else, should be having fun.

So he stayed quiet.

Until he met her.

He doesn’t remember how it happened, but he ended up in the infirmary a few weeks into summer. Kenji and Ben, the two junior counselors for his cabin, had watched over him the whole night. It was touching to Darius that the two cared enough about him to do that, but really, all he could focus on was the pain in his head.

When they, and their very loud friends, left the infirmary the next morning, Darius thought peace and quiet would follow- enough at least to let him rest off the pain and discomfort.

It would have been perfect if Darius didn’t have an aversion to hospitals.

Yes, it's an infirmary and not a hospital, but it’s close enough. It brings up painful memories- the times he’s visited his Dad. The fluorescent lights, the antiseptic smell, the perpetually uncomfortable bed. No, this would not do.

So, not ten minutes after Kenji and the others left, he tries to leave. The nurse is quick to try and usher him back to bed, but Darius is having none of it. He makes it two steps out of the door before he loses his footing and is out cold.

He wakes up an hour or so later, with the nurse looking over him again.

“Good. You’re awake. I told you, no leaving until tomorrow. You won’t get better if you overexert yourself too much.”

“Ugh… Okay. Falling sucked, anyway.” The nurse simply smiles at that.

After she’s looks him over again, she disappears behind her curtain and leaves him alone. Well, alone except for the bright pink-haired girl sitting in the bed next to him, watching something on her phone he knows she probably shouldn’t have. She must sense him looking at her, because she turns her head to look at him back.

“Wanna watch with me?”

“Huh?”

“I said--”

“No, I heard you. It’s just- Why do you have your phone?”

“So I can record stuff for my show. Duh.”

“Show?”

“You… don’t recognize me?”

“Should I…?

“Ugh, I am TOTALLY firing my agent. I get those old farts not knowing me, but this guy is my age, how can he NOT know who I am?” The girl grumbles under her breath.

“Old farts?”

“Oh. Sorry. Our cabin counselors. They were here when you woke up the first time.”

Oh, she means Kenji and Ben and those two girls. He imagines what would happen if he called Kenji an ‘old fart.’ He’d probably be super mad and go on a whole rant about how he’s only seventeen and that kids should respect their elders or something. He laughs to himself, which just makes him hurt all over, so he stops immediately. 

“Whoa, dude. You good?”

“Yeah, just… pain.”

“Gotcha. I know how that is.” She lifts her bandaged leg, then winces in regret and pain right after. “By the way, my offer still stands.” He gives her a quizzical look and she shows off the phone in her hand. Right.

“Uh, whatcha watching?”

“My last video. It… honestly isn’t doing too well views wise, so I thought I’d rewatch it and see what could possibly warrant a comment like, ‘You make this sound so boring.’ Like CHILL, internet rando. I haven’t been here all that long yet.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Great! Hey, Judy?”

“What is it, Brooklynn?” The nurse pokes her head out from behind her curtain and looks at the girl- Brooklynn, apparently.

“Could you help me move to the chair so I can watch with… what’s your name?” She points the question at him.

“Darius.”

“So me and Darius can watch my totally not-boring videos.”

“You know, I probably should say no since you refuse to rest, too. But, since you asked so nicely…” She helps Brooklynn out of her bed gently and gets her situated in the chair next to his bed.

“Thanks, Judy.”

“Mhmm. Just let me know when you want to get back into bed.”

“Will do.”

She starts to show him a video. He watches, somewhat interested in what’s on screen. It’s mostly b-roll of different things at camp, with some footage of her showing things off and making comments about it. So she’s a vlogger , he guesses. When the video ends and the next video loads, he gets a glimpse of her follower count. Holy. Crap. 24 million?? This pink-haired girl, who hurt her leg at camp and is currently sitting next to him, watching videos together as he lies in bed, is apparently not just a vlogger. She’s a celebrity.

“You’re famous, huh?” Is the only comment his brain can come up with at the moment.

“Huh? Oh. I guess. I mean, I’ve done commercials and stuff, gone on a world tour with a kpop group, but famous? Pssh.” This false modesty is kind of funny. Brooklynn obviously wants to brag a little, and is somehow restraining herself. At least, that’s the feeling he gets from her. Normally he’d be annoyed about braggadocious people, but there is something about her that draws him in.

He can sense she's feeling a bit down in the dumps. When she was mentioning that her new video wasn’t up to her viewers expectations, she looked despondent. Clearly this is something that matters to her. Just like Gray, he surmises, this girl needs someone to lean on, someone to make her feel normal- a friend.

Darius guesses can be that friend, even if they're kind of opposites.

“You built a rocket?” He questions, seeing another of her thumbnails.

“Huh? Oh, the video. I mean, sort of? It took forever, though.”

“Still, that’s pretty cool. I don't do much besides read and play video games.”

"Typical kid stuff. Nothing wrong with that." She comments, a hint of something in her voice. Darius makes a note of it, though he doesn't bring it up.

"Tell me about the rocket. Did you get help from engineers, or...?"

She sits up a little and starts enthusiastically explaining that whole situation. Darius, not understanding half of what she's saying, just smiles and nods when it seems appropriate. He doesn’t know when, but Brooklynn’s voice kind of lulls him away to sleep, letting him forget he’s in a place he’d rather not be.

--

The next day, he and Brooklynn were released on the condition they take things easy.

At first, he half expects to never see her again. Cabins are arranged by gender, and mixed cabin activities aren't all that common. Besides, he just so happened to be the one in the bed next to hers. They may have spent hours watching videos together, but that didn't necessarily make them friends. Their meeting was random- and unlikely to happen again.

Then, she walks up to him in the lunch line the very same day and asks if he wants to sit together. 

It happens slowly, but most of his time ends up being with pink-haired girl more and more often as the days go on. Despite their obvious differences, she seems really keen on talking with him. Darius guesses he was right in thinking this girl needed a friend.

Gray was a little starstruck when he met Brooklynn, having known who she was. Darius had to sheepishly pretend that he also knew who she was when they met or risk embarrassing himself. Brooklynn, however, with apparently no sense of social cues, straight up tells Gray at length how she and Darius met. Gray teased him about it for days.

It seems Ben, the other junior counselor for his cabin, has been intermediating between Gray and his older brother, Zach. The other boy no longer mopes around, and Darius is happy for him. He had offered to be a sounding board for the other, but what Ben has been doing has really been helping.

Besides Brooklynn, he's also been hanging around a few others more often- Ben and Kenji. Not going to lie, but Darius thought they were kind of weird at first. They’d be cold to each other one minute, the next they’re practically inseparable the next. They hang out with Brooklynn’s cabin’s junior counselors- Sammy and Yaz, who Brooklynn says are also weird. She has a theory that they’re in a secret romantic relationship. He doesn’t dismiss it, but he’s skeptical at best.

When Brooklynn suggested they all sit together for dinner one evening, he thought she was nuts. No other junior counselors were eating with any of their campers, so why would they? Well, except for Gray, who has been eating meals with his brother, but that’s really the only exception.

Turns out, the change wasn’t awkward or difficult at all. The six of them- Darius, Brooklynn, Kenji, Ben, Yaz, and Sammy- became a kind of group. Since he and Brooklynn are kind of the 'older kids', there isn't much of an age gap. After that first dinner, it became a routine to eat all together. It helped that Brooklynn has a bit of a rapport with her junior counselors. He’d almost call them friends.

With how supportive Kenji and Ben have been with Gray and himself, it wouldn’t be a stretch in Darius’ imagination to call them his friends, either. Darius still hasn’t told anyone what’s been bothering him lately, but he is starting to work up the nerve to. No matter how much he trusts them, the whole thing with his Dad isn't something he wants to get into if he can help it, especially since they seem too caught up in their own problems half the time. That just leaves Gray, which might not be the best idea since he’s only just starting to work out his whole thing with his brother, or Brooklynn, who he hasn’t fully figured out yet. 

The girl is talkative, opinionated, and socially inept at times. Just like him, if he thinks about it. There’s almost a sadness to her, a loneliness- another thing he can relate to.

Maybe sharing with her, if she’s willing, wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

As he said, he’ll work up the nerve.

Eventually.

--

Brooklynn

Sometimes, Brooklynn wishes she could just delete her whole online presence and become a normal kid again. Fat chance of that happening. Her parents would love it, but her agent and sponsors sure wouldn't. Heck, before she left for camp, she caught her dad trying to explain why she won't be able to appear in Paris that summer, the person on the other end not happy about it. Thanks, pop. When she can, she takes any and all chances to get away from it all. 

That's why she pushed so hard to come to Camp Cretaceous- she can cover it while still doing typical kid stuff. And, bonus, even though she has her phone with her, she never has to worry about her agent calling at all hours.

Here, she's free.

The only drawback is her needing to create content or risk having a dip in followers. Still, being away from almost everything is nice.

If she’s being honest, Brooklynn was expecting more people to know her here. Sure she got attention, but that was probably mostly because of her hair, or the fact that she has a phone while no one else does. Some people recognized her, as they should, but the majority didn’t seem to.

Like Darius.

She was kind of annoyed at first. She does have a brand to think about, after all, and it implies the PR guys aren’t really doing their job if too many kids her age don’t know her, but when she really thought about it, in the context of actually enjoying herself here, it was a blessing in disguise.

So she started to hang around the Dino-nerd, eating together -along with his friend who actually recognized her- and meeting up during breaks. It’s nice to have an actual friend, not someone who wants something from her. Wihch has happened. A lot.

And after the first friend was made, others followed. Granted, the other four are a little older than them, but they’re chill. Plus, none of them heard of her either, which is great. Yup, having an actual friend circle, not followers or clout chasers or other influencers she has to pretend to get along with, is a nice change of pace. She doesn’t know what’ll become of them post-summer, but that’s a while away anyway.

Besides, with the way things are going right now, they might not still be friends by the end of summer.

The two junior counselors for her cabin, Yaz and Sammy are… avoiding each other. They’re not shirking on their duties so Kelly, the cabin counselor, hasn’t called them out on it, but as their friend, Brooklyn can’t help but want to butt in and figure them out.

Whatever prodding she does is quickly dismissed or ignored, and frankly, she’s at her limit. She tells Darius as much during dinner one night, the lovebirds Ben and Kenji (unconfirmed but she’s pretty sure she’s right) are each eating with one of the girls leaving her and Darius alone.

“Like, what is even up with them? I can’t figure it out. I mean, did they break up or something?”

“I’m still not 100% convinced you’re right about them being a couple.” Darius says nonchalantly.

“Okay, well, even if that wasn’t the case, which it totally is by the way, they’re still being weird. Something definitely happened.”

“Well, we won’t find out until later.”

“Why can’t we go over and ask?”

“Cuz Ben and Kenji are taking care of it.”

“...So you do know something is up! Wait- They didn’t ask you to keep me busy while they talked to them, did they?”

Suddenly, Darius is wide-eyed and sweaty. He chugs the rest of his water before he stammers his answer.

“What?? No. NO.” He says very rushed and almost strained. She squints her eyes at him, willing him to spill, but he’s tight-lipped again. She pouts and picks at her food.

“I could have totally helped them.”

“No one’s saying you couldn’t, but those guys have been friends for years . Well, Kenji and the girls have. But still, they’re more suited to helping them with… whatever is going on.”

Brooklynn rolls her eyes at that. Why should it matter how long they’ve been friends? An willing ear and good advice should always be welcome! It’s just… okay, yeah, she wants to help, but most of her desire to jump into their conversations is that she’s naturally curious; some would even say she’s nosy. It’s that curiosity that drives her to make her ‘unboxing’ videos, which is her most successful series, thank you very much.

But Darius is right, as usual. Whatever is going on is probably beyond them. Best leave it to the others.

“I guess you’re right, D.” He looks at her, surprised at that response, apparently. He gives her a patient smile, but then his face stiffens suddenly and his eyes glaze over, almost lost in thought.

“I know it sucks not being able to help… but some things we just have no control over. Sometimes all we can do is hope for the best… even if it doesn’t work out that way.”

“D…”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk about that again.” He forces a chuckle to ease the tension that was mounting between them, but it doesn’t work. He told her a few nights ago about what happened to his dad and they kind of just talked for an hour before they had to report to dinner. She never would have thought that such a kind, enthusiastic, and friendly guy would have such a painful memory just constantly rearing its ugly head all summer.

“Dude, you can talk about that whenever you want. It’s not a bother to me, I promise.”

“Thanks, B. I’m good though.” His expression still looks distant, despite his words. She doesn’t think twice about it, and takes his hand in hers. Brooklynn doesn’t know why, but that seemed to be the best thing to do. Suddenly his eyes are on her, shock replacing the glazed over look he had earlier.

“I’m serious, Darius. I just… I just want you to be okay, man. You’re a great friend, and someone like you shouldn’t be shouldering this pain all by yourself. I leaned on you for all my crud, so lean on me for this. Okay?”

The small tears gathering at the corners of his eyes don’t fall, but he still looks upset all the same. But, for the first time that night, he smiled a genuine smile at her, and she sighs a breath of relief.

She doesn’t know how long their gaze lasts, but someone passing by coughs rather loudly, and the two look away immediately, both letting their once joined hands fall unto their laps. She’s not sure about herself, but Brooklynn is sure she sees Darius’ cheeks turn a darker shade. She’s suddenly tempted to check herself in her camera to see if she’s also blushing, but decides that would be too obvious. If she just ignores it, it’s not a problem.

It’s totally not anything serious. It’s not a thing at all.

They’ll forget all about this tomorrow and it won’t be a thing.

--

Darius

So a thing happened last night.

He and Brooklynn were talking over dinner and they kind of had a… moment. When he first felt his cheeks heat up, he immediately looked away from the pink-haired girl whom he was blatantly smiling at. When he glanced up, she also had rosy cheeks.

Maybe she was just embarrassed they were seen in such a weird situation? But she told him she was literally caught in someone’s closet ‘snooping around for secrets’ one time, so there’s no way she was embarrassed by such a weird and mundane thing like gazing into each other’s eyes.

And holding hands.

Her hands are really soft by the way.

At this point, she’s shown him several of her videos showcasing her myriad of adventures, doing things that definitely would have left calluses on her hands. But no. Her hands are soft- almost as soft as a newborn. 

Darius isn’t sure why he’s so fixated on this, but it’s something that he thinks about constantly in the following days since.

He thought meals after that incident were going to be awkward, but thankfully, whatever Ben and Kenji did worked, and the six of them are back to eating together. Brooklynn, unsurprisingly, seems unbothered by what had happened between the two of them, and acted like she did before. Darius wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, so he also pretended it didn’t happen. 

He just can’t get her soft hands out of his mind.

Or her eyes.

Or how caring she is.

Oh.

This isn’t a crush, is it? He’s never had one of those before, so he has no frame of reference. Maybe he’s just super glad his friend is supportive and thankful for his supportiveness. Maybe he just really needed that pep talk and Brooklynn just so happened to be the one to give it. Maybe…

Yeah, there’s no ‘maybe’ about it.

It’s a crush.

--

Brooklynn

It must be Darius’ turn to act weird, because as of late, he’s been kind of avoiding her. 

Okay, he isn’t outright avoiding her, it’s just she can never catch him alone anymore. She really wants to show him some footage she took the past couple of days, but whenever she catches up with him, he’s either with Gray or Kenji or Ben. She still ends up showing them the video, but it’s really strange how she can never seem to be alone with him.

Not that she’s trying to. 

Nope.

Okay, yeah she is. Brooklynn tried to go back to being normal, acting like nothing happened, but she can’t get that whole scene at dinner out of her head. She sat down one day and thought about it, and came to the conclusion that she does indeed like Darius in that way.

She’s never gotten close to anyone before, so at first, she thought it was simply a really strong feeling of friendship, like what she feels with the other four. Every ‘friendship’ she’s had before were people she had to collab with or people she had to only be around for a little while. When she compares how she feels with the others and how she feels about Darius, there is a noticeable difference.

Crushes are weird as heck.

Like, why do they make you feel dumb? Why do they distract you so much? Why do they consume you to the point where you feel like you need to do something or you’ll explode??

She doesn’t feel like this by the way. Nope.

Not feeling like she’s going to explode if she doesn’t say something, she totally doesn’t invite Darius to explore the forest near the camp one evening. And he totally doesn’t say yes and they head out during free period before dinner one evening.

Okay. Enough of that.

She doesn’t know what she’s going to do when they find it. And by it, she means the glowing cave that’s somewhere in the woods past the stables. She maaay have overheard Yaz and Sammy talking about said cave, saying that Kenji told them about it. They said that’s where Ben and Kenji first kissed or something. When she heard that, she knew that’s where she wanted to talk to Darius about all this.

Brooklynn was honestly surprised he agreed to go with her, what with him being hard to catch alone. She had to whisper her idea to him to avoid having to tell Gray. No offense to the guy, but having a third wheel on this kind of thing would totally be a bummer.

Once they get there, she’s at a loss. They found the mouth of the cave easy enough, but it wasn’t glowing. She was getting impatient, especially since they still had to hike back to camp before dinner was over. When the sun sets, covering them in darkness, Brooklynn feels ready to give Yaz and Sammy a talking to. Glowing cave, my foot.

They shouldn’t have waited that long. Yes, she has her phone camera but their path is still difficult to see. She doesn’t realize she’s falling onto the ground until she hits it. Apparently, Darius tried to catch her but failed, having fallen as well and ended up planted on top of her, looking down. The dim light of her phone barely illuminates their faces, but even with just this, that blushing face of his that she couldn’t get out of her mind is in front of her again.

“Um.”

“Oh, uhh…”

This was a terrible idea. What was she thinking? If she wanted to talk to him about this, they should have just sat alone at dinner or something. Now, they’re in an even more awkward, possibly dangerous situation.

“Let me just…” Darius gets up and dusts himself off. He offers Brooklynn a hand which she takes gratefully.

“Dude. Not. One. Word.”

“You’ll get no arguments from me.” he says, relief in his voice.

As they start to head out, the cave comes to life- a shimmering ambient light of different colors and hues illuminate over the pair of them. They watch in amazement, Darius practically squirming in excitement next to her. He subconsciously grabs her hand as they take it all in- at least, she thinks it’s subconscious on his part. Not wanting to ruin the moment, she squeezes his hand in return.

They walk three feet apart on the way back.

--

Darius 

Darius guesses Brooklynn also has a crush on him too. Again, it’s only a guess, but he feels that’s the only explanation for the impromptu excursion the other night. They didn’t go there to talk, they went to see some bioluminescent moss that made that cave glow pink. If that isn’t romantic, Darius doesn’t know what is.

Still, she didn’t say anything, and still hasn’t, so maybe he’s off base.

He kind of worries that once they go back to their lives, they’ll eventually lose touch and never speak again. He could always just watch her videos if that happened, but something about that thought leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Would it be better to say something? Or, would that be worse? 

He likes to think that, regardless if she feels the same way or not, their friendship will remain intact- even after they go their separate ways. With any luck, and Brooklynn's apparent wanderlust, this won't be the last they see each other. Of course, things would be swell if they did confess, reciprocate, and work around a long distant relationship.

A problem of a different kind arises on the last day of camp. He should have noticed sooner. How did he completely miss that his necklace- the one his dad gave him- is gone. He looked everywhere in the cabin, but couldn’t find it. Where the heck could it have gone?!

All during that last breakfast he couldn’t take his mind off that necklace. It means so much to him, he can’t just leave it here! His distracted thoughts don’t completely filter out the conversation the others are having though, and he hears them all vulnerably talk about their futures. At least he isn’t the only one worried about what happens after camp.

He also doesn’t miss the way Brooklynn declares them all her friends for life. Despite what he’s feeling, and the constant worry of Ben who’s noticed that Darius has been acting strange, he feels some comfort knowing that he won’t lost Brooklynn, or anyone’s friendship after summer is over. 

That said, he’d really like his necklace back.

Darius knows it’s dangerous and could get him in a whole lot of trouble, but it clicked during the assembly where he could have lost it: the cave. He and Brooklynn did fall down somewhere in there, so it may have fallen off then. Only one way to find out.

He asks Owen if he can use the restroom, then sneaks out and heads towards the forest. He doesn’t even have to ask Brooklynn to come search with him. She followed him out of the amphitheatre and headed with him to search the cave.

While they’re running over, he can’t help but smile at her. This pink-haired girl he thought was strange at first is now a dear friend that’s breaking the rules to help look for something important to him. He can’t imagine a life without her being some part of it.

He hopes she feels the same.

--

Brooklynn

She can’t imagine a life without Darius in it in some way. 

She’s made some great friends this summer, but without a doubt, Darius has become her best friend. She gets the feeling he only started to talk to her weeks ago because of the frustration she felt on that first day they met, cuz that’s just the kind of guy he is- taking on other people's problems and ignoring his own. They’ve grown beyond just being each other's sounding boards and have become genuine friends now, and she intends to keep it that way. 

She’s glad that they can share this last bus ride together before they go their separate ways.

Brooklynn hopes everyone meant what they said earlier about keeping in touch. These kinds of summer friendships typically don’t last, at least that’s what TV and movies say, but she hopes they can defy those odds and still keep in touch years from now.

Ben and Kenji happen to be on the same bus as them, the couple being almost obnoxious with their selfies. She contemplates taking one of her and Darius and throwing that into the group chat, too, but decides against it. Instead, she takes a pic of the other two and then sends it to the chat.

Darius, the traitor, laughs at Kenji’s (admittedly hilarious) reply to her comment, and she shoves him, which does nothing to stop his giggling. After a bit, she can’t help but laugh too.

When they get to the airport, it finally hits her that they won’t see each other tomorrow, at least not in person. They’re not going to be able to eat together anymore, or meet up and chat, or tell the other ‘good night’ before heading to bed.

She has never cried in her life. At least, not since she was a small child. But right now, looking at her best friend before they’re separated for a while, overwhelms her. She grabs onto him, holding him tightly, letting the seconds pass, one for each day they won’t be able to see each other in person. Darius returns the hug, his sniffling prompting her own.

Brooklynn knows people are watching them. She knows they probably look dumb, that their being over dramatic. But she doesn’t care. The walls could come down and she wouldn’t move. It takes the PA announcement that her flight is starting pre-boarding that she breaks away.

They don’t say anything. They don’t have to.

Maybe one day, they'll say those unspoken feelings aloud. Maybe one day, they can be more than just friends.

No matter what happens, they’re going to be okay.

This is definitely just the beginning.