Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The year Liam worked at camp was the greatest summer of his life. He made so many great friends. His fellow counsellors were a lot of them, and, since he was “technically” an adult, he even befriended some of his favourite campers’ parents. He made plans with a handful of them to be their substitute babysitter when they need him, which Liam was happy about. Liam wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it without seeing, what he feels are now, “his kids” ever again.
Day one, it was a bit weird for Liam to be surrounded by girls and boys. Up until now, they’d been split into age groups and into boys and girls, but this was a new week of campers. The camp is called Camp David. He was a bit unsure about how it would go. He’d never been exposed to burn victims. No. Liam thought. They’d had a meeting about the proper language. Burn survivors.
Since most of the kids that came to camp were siblings, the kids weren’t required to be separated, except by age. Liam had the youngest group, from age seven to ten, which were typically the younger siblings or the kids who were recently burned. Some kids were burned so recent, their scars were still pink, not having had time to fade to the usual lighter, whiter shades the older kids had.
Liam loved the part of the job when they went to their activities. The camp had so many things to do, from rock climbing and ziplining, to swimming and arts and crafts. He loved seeing the kids overcome fears and reach goals. This group, Liam could feel, was going to be especially great.
These kids stayed for three weeks. Some left early due to homesickness or other factors, but the majority stayed the full three weeks. Just before dinner on day one, Liam met Stella. At the start, she was a bit wary, and she didn't interact with many of the other campers, but after a few hours, she warmed up to them.
The thing Liam noticed first, even knowing he would be working with kids who were burnt, was how hard the scars were to look at. And it was heartbreaking to look at Stella. She wore compression sleeves on her arms and compression shorts on her thighs. Under her tanktop, Liam could see the compression vest that he knew (from the short trainings he’d been through to prepare for some of the things he’d see) that kids with more recent burns wore. It was wrapped around her torso.
Later that week, Liam would learn they helped her scars heal properly. The scars that he could see despite the compression garments licked up her neck like the ghost of the flames that burned her. The scars mottled the skin of her jaw, with bright pink blotches as far up as her cheek. But she still smiled.
She was a fun little thing, and as the day grew to a close, Liam found Stella drifting towards him. He didn't mind at all.
As Liam’s group waited in line to eat after getting settled in the unit they’d be staying in, Stella immediately sought out the older kids and ran over to a boy. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tight. However, the look on his face made Liam think that he would rather be doing anything but hugging her. Liam figured he was a boy she had a crush on, and he was too young to think past her cooties. When she had rejoined the line, Liam questioned her about it.
"Who was that?"
"My brother." She chirped with a grin thrown back to the floppy-haired boy.
"Oh," Liam paused. Now that she mentioned it, he could see the resemblance, but why did the boy react that way to her hug? Liam forgot about the strange interaction as soon as he grabbed a tray, and they moved to a table to sit down, side by side.
Stella chattered away all throughout dinner, telling Liam about her dolls at home and some of her friends. Liam couldn't help but cast his gaze over the burns that covered the lower part of her face. They were a bright pink, obviously somewhat recent.
Liam wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask her what happened, so he didn’t.
That night, as they were prepping for bedtime, Liam was in charge of the shower playlist, and making sure the kids were ready when their names were called for showers. As soon as he heard the familiar squeaking of the faucets turning off, he looked down to call the next name.
“Stella, you’re up for a shower!” He called back down the rows of bunks to where he knew Stella was making friendship bracelets with a group of girls. She appeared after a few moments, dragging her feet, and worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. She hadn’t shown this much obvious nervousness since the morning she had been dropped off.
“What’s up, buttercup?” Liam asked, hoping to get her to smile. She didn’t, just worried her lip more as she fiddled with her fingers. Liam took one of her hands in his and gave her a squeeze just as the boy in the shower came out, shower shoes squeaking, with a towel wrapped firmly around him. He squeaked quickly across to the bathroom with his clothes in hand to get dressed, so the next person, Stella, could get in. Liam looked up at the girl, who still hadn’t said anything. “Lily! You’re next, love!” He called, and he saw Stella relax.
“Stella-Wella, what’s wrong?” Liam asked softly, patting the bed next to him to tell her she could sit.
“Well, um, baba told me I wouldn’t have to take showers while I was here.” She looked nervous still, as she shuffled her feet under her.
“Well you’ve got to, love. You won’t make any more friends if you’re smelly,” Liam said. Still looking for a smile, he added, “I guess that’s why you’re the only girl who talks to me. Is that it? Do I stink?” He counted it as a minor win that the assault on her bottom lip paused as the corners of her mouth twitched up.
“Nooo, Leeyum,” She sighed. “You don’t.”
“Oh, phew! Maybe I’m just too intimidating.” He chuckled. When Stella didn’t say anything else, Liam furrowed his eyebrows. “Stella, you have to shower while you’re here, love. We’ll get really sweaty at activities during the day.”
“No! Baba said I don’t have to. He even wrote it down!” She cried, drawing a couple pairs of eyes. Liam saw the beginnings of tears there, and she scrubbed at her eyes.
“Let me check your papers, then.” Liam said softly, squeezing her hand one more time before letting go to grab the binder laying on the floor. He flipped through the pages for other campers, stopping on Stella’s. He skimmed through the part about her compression garments and some kind of lotion she apparently has until he finds her hygiene page. It goes into detail about the kind of specific needs a camper has, like whether or not they need help washing their hair or brushing their teeth since some kids who come are missing limbs or fingers from more serious burns.
He skips to the shower section and sees in all caps, underlined, and even highlighted in bright yellow: STELLA ONLY TAKES BATHS. SHE CANNOT TAKE SHOWERS.
“Well, well, Stella-Wella,” Liam says as goofily as he can. “Looks like you won’t be showering. But, I can’t make the same promises about a bath.” Stella lets out a woosh of air in relief, having finally been understood. “Are you okay with going last tonight? We don’t have a bath here, but there is a bath in another unit.”
Once Stella had nodded, Liam shooed her back to her friends to continue her bracelet-making. He pulled aside his wing leader, Sarah, to let her know about the slight change of plans.
“Oh! Now that you mention it, I do remember reading something about a kid not being able to shower. Yes. We already have permission from Unit 8 to come by as long as we give them a couple minutes’ heads up. Liam nodded and made sure to tell Sarah that, if she needed him to, he would walk with Stella over to Unit 8.
***
Even though he knew it wasn’t professional, Liam always had a favourite camper. This week, Stella was his favourite. He gave her the most praise during activities, and he couldn’t even feel bad about it. He had a few other campers that hung off his every word. He always attracted the younger girls, like Olivia, Nikki, and Stella who seemed to be drawn to him from day one. Olivia and Nikki hung off him in the pool, leaving him achy and sore from the extra weight, while Stella sat out of the pool and shadowed him the rest of the day. He couldn’t help but let them, not having the heart to tell them to stop.
About a week into camp, Liam was talking to Nikki while she waited to brush her teeth. She and another camper had brought up the topic of their burns, and Liam couldn’t help it.
“How did it happen?” Liam found himself asking. He immediately wanted to take back the question, but Nikki didn’t seem bothered.
“I was playing with matches. I struck one and it burned my finger. I got scared cause it hurt, so I tried to throw it away from me, but it got caught in the wind. It fell on me and caught my shirt on fire.” She told Liam. She went on to explain that it was many years ago, and she didn’t have any bad thoughts about it.
But Liam knew more. Liam had her file. Liam knew that she was bullied because of her scars, knew she failed second grade because of her disinterest in school because of the bullying. He also knew that her younger sister still had nightmares. Her younger sister, Lily, had found Nikki on fire in the backyard. Lily had only been five years old at the time, but she had the sense to call their mother. Because something was wrong. Lily knew her sister wasn’t supposed to be on fire.
Nikki’s burns were centralized to her left upper arm. It made sense, with her story. She even showed Liam the burns on her ring finger from the lit match. She let him run his fingertips over the scars on her bicep. They felt like fish scales, Nikki told him, because of the material of her shirt.
That night, Liam went to bed feeling overwhelmed with the amount of pride he felt for all his kids. Burn survivors or siblings, they’ve made it through so much.
At the beginning of camp, Liam couldn’t have predicted how he’d feel about these kids. They crawled into his chest and made homes in his heart. His body literally ached when the second week of camp creeped closer.
“Stella, you think you’re gonna go down the zipline this week?” Liam asked the small girl attached to his hand. Stella was seven, barely tall enough to wrap her arms around his ribs when she hugged him. He swung their connected hands while she thought, her head cocked in concentration.
“I want to, but it’s scary!” She told him. Liam squeezed her hand softly, and she looked up at him.
“I’ll cheer you on, how about that?” Liam said. “I’ll stand down at the bottom and you can zip down to me.” Stella grinned. Her smile was wide enough to split her face, and Liam thought, I love this kid.
“C’mon, Stella!” Liam cheered. He watched her climb up the pole to the zipline easily, like a monkey. She sat on the platform while they attached her to the necessary clips and gadgets. Liam could see how scared she was, leaning over the edge of the platform to look at how far away the ground was.
Almost ten minutes later, Stella was still on the platform. Two kids had gone down the zipline while Stella waited, but she was stuck, scared.
Liam watched the ropes staff lower her down slowly, moving over to meet her as she touched the ground. He gathered the weeping girl in his arms, her trembling shaking Liam.
“I tried. I’m sorry. I tried.” Stella sobbed softly.
“Hey, bub,” Liam said, kneeling to be just below Stella’s eye level. “I’m so proud of you.”
“But I didn’t do it.” She sniffled.
“But you got all the way up to the top, all by yourself.” Liam told her. “Look.”
She looked up to the platform, where he was pointing, and sniffed again.
“You got all the way up there, all by yourself.” Liam squeezed her shoulders. “This just gives you something to do when you come back next year.” She nodded and curled herself against Liam’s side when they settled onto the bench to watch the other campers.
During the mid-afternoon break, Liam found his fellow counsellors, Louis and Harry, curled around each other on the couch in the staff lounge. Liam rolled his eyes but flopped down on them to get their attention. They’ve been inseparable since week two, and six weeks of camp has only strengthened their infatuation with each other.
“Hey, Li,” Harry greeted, ever the sweetest. “How has your day been?”
“Just workshop and nature studies. Nothing amazing.” Liam shrugged. “You?”
“You didn’t hear?” Harry asked, jostling Liam and Louis as he sat up.
“Hear what?”
“One of Louis’ campers, Elijah, got in a huge fight yesterday.”
“What?!” Liam asked, suddenly interested. Fight weren’t common here, so this was big.
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure he’s one of your camper’s older brother. Stella?”
“Shit. He’s Stella’s older brother?”
“Yeah. He got in a fight during Athletics yesterday. Hit a kid for ‘cheating,’ even though no one says they saw him. He yelled at the kid for being mean and said some pretty nasty words for an 11-year-old, even though he’s like a foot taller than Elijah.”
“What the hell?” Liam said. “I always miss the fun stuff. That must’ve been when Niall and I took Summer to the infirmary.”
“We don’t know his full story, but he’s a really angry kid.” Harry said.
“I know he doesn’t really like his sister, Stella.” Liam confessed. “I don’t know why, she’s so sweet.”
“I think Elijah blames himself for his sister’s accident, so he lashes out.” Harry shrugged.
“How do you know? Is it in his file?”
“He talks in his sleep. Mostly ‘sorry, Stella,’ and ‘didn’t mean it’ and things like that. I heard him while I was sitting duty the other night.” Louis chimed in.
“Do you think that’s true?” Liam asked. He couldn’t help his curiosity, wondering how his sister’s accident could have been his fault.
“Who knows?” Louis said. “Can’t believe everything you hear, babe.” He patted Harry on the back.
“Wait, Lou, how does Harry know more about your kids than you? You’ve had them for over a week.” Liam chuckled.
“Harry knows everything, mate. He’s all up in the gossip and drama of camp.” Liam caught Louis’ eye roll and couldn’t help but chuckle.
It was the next day that Liam really pinned down this elusive Elijah kid. The boys and girls of Camp David went to the pool together every day, the only other activity they all shared outside of Athletics, but Liam had always been preoccupied with Olivia, and Nikki. Today, however, he’d spent the previous three activities preparing the girls to play in the pool without him. He was going to find someone else to play with.
Liam immediately recognised Elijah sitting near the side by himself. Liam swam up next to the boy.
“Wanna play catch?” Liam asked. The first good look that Liam got at Elijah’s face was then. His face, previously blank and expressionless, lit up.
“Yeah, but not football. I can’t throw those,” He said shamelessly.
“Deal, kiddo.”
They threw a ball back and forth in silence for a bit. Liam watched Elijah watch the ball closely. He fumbled the ball a few times, but not often. Liam made sure to a few times, too, dramatically juggling it in the air a few times before it eventually splashed down out of Liam’s grasp.
“How are you liking camp?” Liam asked. Elijah just shrugged his shoulders. “It’s your first year, right? Mine, too. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about being away from home so long, but I’m making some great friends, so it’s not all bad.”
“I really like Athletics,” Elijah said softly as he passed the ball back to Liam. “When the kids aren’t being mean, at least.”
“What do you mean? Who was being mean?”
“Sam.”
“Sam from the older group?” He nodded. “What did he say?”
“I can’t remember.” It was a blatant lie, but Liam decided to let it go.
“Alright, but you can tell me if anyone is mean to you again, you know? Or any of the other counsellors.” Elijah nodded. Liam, wanting to defuse some tension, threw the ball low and pegged him in the chest. It was a soft throw, so he knew the boy wasn’t hurt.
“Hey!” Elijah barked. “You did that on purpose!” He dropped the ball he had fumbled to catch and pushed forward in the water to launch himself at Liam, who caught him easily.
“You got me!” Liam collapsed into the water dramatically, taking a giggling Elijah under the water with him. He popped back up quickly, still holding onto the boy, with a grin.
Liam was surprised that someone commented on it.
“Hey, Li. I saw you made a new friend at the pool today,” Louis found Liam reading a book in the dining hall after the kids went to bed that night.
“Elijah is super fun.” Liam shrugged. “I’ll probably hang out with him tomorrow, too.”
“I don’t think I’d seen him smile before yesterday. Unless you count grins when he pegged a kid with a ball in Athletics a couple days ago.” They both chuckled.
“He’s good at throwing and catching. It’s not a shock that he’s good in Athletics.”
“I just wish he weren’t so angry all the time. He got in another fight again today.” Louis sighed.
“With who?”
“One of the older boys.”
“Was it Sam?”
“Yeah, I think it was, but there were two of them, and I’m not sure who the other kid was.”
“While we were playing catch in the pool, he told me that Sam was being mean in Athletics the other day. I think he lied when he said that Sam was cheating.”
“Then why did he get in a fight?”
“I’m not sure, but when we go to Athletics tomorrow, I’m gonna hang around Elijah and see if Sam bothers him.”
***
Liam began to worry about Elijah at breakfast.
He had come over to Liam without a word and sat down next to him to eat. He looked exhausted, but Liam could tell from his demeanor that he didn’t want to talk. Liam just ruffled his hair and patted him on the shoulder.
When Liam saw movement out of the corner of his eyes about two minutes later, he looked up. It was Stella. She glanced at her brother and grinned, skipping over to sit next to him. By the time she got around the table though, someone else had taken the seat next to Elijah.
“Stella, you can sit across from me,” Liam offered to keep the smile on her face. She grinned back and shuffled to the other side of the table to sit down.
Liam couldn’t hear the boy who had sat next to Elijah, but he could hear Elijah mumbling under his breath occasionally. He didn’t seem like he wanted to talk, but this kid obviously wasn’t getting the hint.
“Shut up,” Liam finally understood Elijah.
“Hey, everything okay?” Liam asked the two boys.
“All good, yeah,” The other boy said. He had sandy-blonde hair and a goofy grin. Liam nodded.
The boys continued murmuring to each other, but their voices were softer. It wasn’t even five minutes later that Elijah was forcing his chair back with a piercing whine that drew the attention of the tables around them. He stood forcefully from his seat and stormed off, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his shorts. Liam looked around in bewilderment, quickly consoling an increasingly upset Stella, before he went after the boy.
Liam found him just outside, thankfully, allowing his rapidly beating heart to slow, and pulled the boy into a firm hug. He could feel Elijah shaking, but said nothing. It took a few minutes until Liam recognised the shuddering breaths and hiccupping sobs that were disconcertingly quiet as crying.
“Elijah?” Liam said softly. The hand that was previously rubbing the boy’s back reached up to tangle in his dark floppy hair. He pulled back to look at Elijah and saw his eyes swimming with unshed tears. “What happened?”
Elijah just shook his head, and Liam couldn’t tear his eyes away from Elijah’s, the tears there making his eyes appear more hazel than his usual milky-chocolate brown. He recognised them from Stella, who Liam had spent most of the past week plus with. He couldn’t help but wonder which of their parents they get that striking eye colour from.
“Can I do anything?” Liam asked softly, still holding Elijah.
“I wanna go home.” Elijah’s voice cracked in the middle, and he let out a sob at the end, jolting Liam’s body with the force of it.
“C’mon, now. I know you’ve had some fun here. Plus, what would I do without my pool buddy?” Liam steers quickly around the confession, hoping to keep the boy from going down that route. It wasn’t unheard of for a kid to go home early, but it was typically the younger kids who were painfully homesick that were allowed to leave early.
“Would it help if you were able to talk to your mum? Dad? Anyone?” Liam asked. Elijah had calmed down a bit in the time between Liam’s inquisition about his water-time catch partner.
“I -,” Elijah broke off abruptly, then shook his head. “No. This is fine.”
Liam nodded into the boy’s hair, letting him know that he wasn’t going anywhere, and they could stay as long as Elijah needed.
It was probably about ten or fifteen minutes later when they went back in to finish their breakfast. Stella, ever the distraction, immediately launched into a story about what they missed while they were gone, not missing a beat even though Liam saw her eyes flicker over to her brother a few times during her reenactment.
Liam worried about Elijah throughout the rest of the day until pool time. He was happy to have two activities, with Pool and Athletics only a short break apart, to be able to keep an eye on the boy. Elijah seemed much happier, but still a bit subdued during their normal game of catch in the pool. It gradually expanded to include nearly a third of the staff and campers, all jumping over each other the catch the ball and additional footballs that soared through the air. Every time Liam got the ball, however, he made sure to throw it right to Elijah, seeing the pull of his lips whenever he caught it and threw it back.
He felt bad wiping the smile off Elijah’s face when he caught up to him after he’d dried off and pulled his shirt back on, informing him that he had been requested by Stella to sit out with her tomorrow. Elijah simply nodded and quietly asked if he could sit next to Liam again at dinner that night.
Dinner was uneventful in the sense that no one cried, there were no fights, or even yelling (apart from the overly enthusiastic shrieks that came when the kids are told that ‘its carnival night’, and to ‘get ready to eat all the cotton candy and snow cones you could want’).
Stella came up to Liam at the end of dinner to ask if him would help her play some games at the carnival, and Liam’s heart broke when he had to tell her it was his night off, so that he wouldn’t be there. She pouted but told him to have fun before he ducked out of the dining hall to shower before the kids got back to the unit.
He finished quickly and had time to spray a bit of cologne before he got a text from Louis and Harry saying they would meet him at Louis’ car after he signed out. Liam hustled across camp to dutifully record that he was leaving camp before he climbed into the back of the car.
After a short squabble of where to go, they, of course, ended up at the river with two twelve packs of beers to share between the three of them. It only took about five drinks before they were stripping out down to their boxers and jumping into the river for a quick swim in the dwindling light. Liam was able to forget about Elijah for a while and basked in the aching of his cheeks after a childish splash-fight which ended with Louis pressing Liam’s head under the water for a couple seconds. They spilt the remaining drinks between themselves and took turns swinging into the water with a crude-but-fun rope swing that hung from a tree until they were exhausted. They floated quietly for a while as the sun fully set.
When night had fallen, and Harry and Louis had gotten distracted with each other’s mouths, Liam crawled out of the water to dry off a bit and give them a bit of privacy. He didn’t really like the gritty feeling that clung to his skin as he began to dry, but knew he wouldn’t want to, much less have the time or energy to shower when they got back to camp.
Harry and Louis appeared a few minutes later, disheveled and smiling, but Liam made no comment as they shook themselves off and plopped down on the bench next to Liam to dry off and sober up a bit before going back to camp.
When they got back and signed in, still slightly buzzed, but decidedly steadier on their feet, Liam grabbed a glass of water in the dining hall before dragging his feet back to his unit. He scanned his eyes over Stella’s, Nikki’s, and Olivia’s bunks as he walked past, simply changing into a more comfortable pair of shorts before he collapsed into bed.
***
When Liam’s alarm woke him up the next morning, he was still a bit foggy from the beers, but knew that he’d sober up after moving around and eating some breakfast. He and the other counsellors moved around quietly, dressing, brushing teeth, and fixing hair. Their routines down nearly perfectly this far into camp, they started rousing the kids from their beds a few at a time so they could stagger them in the bathrooms.
Liam was unsure of when it had happened, but it was an unspoken agreement that he got to wake up Stella. He shuffled his bare feet over to the bed right next to his and stood on his toes to brush the hair out of her face on the top bunk. Liam’s eyes wandered to the compression wrap around her chin that she wore at night.
“Stella-Wella,” Liam whispered softly, rubbing her shoulder, soft but firm. She snuffled her face into the pillow for a moment or two, something Liam had come to find utterly adorable. She did it every morning, and it never failed to put a smile on Liam’s face. “If you don’t wake up, I can’t play with you at the pool.” He reminded softly. She immediately popped her eyes open, and Liam chuckled softly, pushing the hair out of her face again as she struggled against the skin-tight garment to yawn. As soon as she closed her mouth, she unlatched the Velcro and pulled it off her head.
“Can we sit by the pool and make bracelets?” She asked, voice quiet, but leaking with excitement.
“Well only if you get out of bed, silly! You know I’m always up for making bracelets.”
Stella was out of bed and hurrying to brush her teeth before Liam could blink. He chuckled again, moving onto the next kid.
***
“Can I have the purple please?” Stella asked politely.
“Of course!” Liam grinned, passing the thread to her. It was slightly damp from the ground, but Stella didn’t seem to mind. “You know, purple is my favourite colour.”
“I do know! You’ve told me!” Stella chirped. She picked up the scissors carefully and snipped off the length she needed, along with pink and black.
They worked together in silence. Liam carefully knotting his string to make an anklet for Destiny, who had batted her eyelashes a bit too long, but Liam smiled and said he’d love to make her one. He had finished about half of his slightly-more-intricate pattern when Stella tapped on his arm. She waited until he had finished the row and put his project down to present him the bracelet she had been working on.
It wasn’t the best made bracelet he had been gifted this summer, a bit wonky and tight in some places and loose in others, but he glanced up at Stella, who had her bottom lip caught between her teeth just like all those nights ago about not taking a shower, and he couldn’t help the way his heart ached with love for this sweet girl. Liam grinned and took it carefully.
“Is this for me?” He asked. Stella nodded and Liam pulled her into a hug. “Thanks, Stella-Wella. Will you tie it on?” She nodded again, this time with a grin as she took it back and wrapped it around the wrist Liam presented, struggling a bit with the knot, but getting it tight enough after a couple of tries.
“The purple is ‘cause it’s your favourite colour. The pink is my favourite color. And the black is the colour of Baba’s hair.” Liam had no idea who ‘Baba’ was, remembering the stuffed animal perched on her bed’s name was Mr. Snuffles, but he smiled wider at the thought she had put in it, thanking her enthusiastically.
Liam knew he’d swipe the clear nail polish from Harry that night to reinforce the knot so it would never come off. He hugged Stella again before she could see the tears that Liam suddenly had burning at the corners of his eyes. He silently scoffed at himself as he thought it’s just a bracelet. I’ve gotten fancier bracelets than this before. But Liam knew it wasn’t a matter of how it was made, but who had made it that caused his eyes to get a bit misty.
Stella, as unaware as a seven-year-old could be, pulled away from the hug and told Liam that she was going to walk around the pool to stretch her legs. Liam nodded and told her he’d pop by the toilets and join her again when he was back. He couldn’t help but ruffle her hair as he walked past, chuckling softly at her giggles.
Liam glanced around the pool for Stella as he came out of the loo, finding her bright green shirt almost instantly and slowly making his way over so as not to piss off the lifeguards. They had a strict walking ONLY policy, and their whistle’s shrill cry echoed through the air at least half a dozen times every activity simply because of over eager kids getting a bit too fast on the slippery concrete.
Liam was across the pool from Stella when he saw that she was talking to the boy who had sat by Elijah at breakfast the other morning. His sandy blonde hair was a bit darker from the water, but still unmistakable. He was talking to Stella and, as Liam rounded the corner to walk toward her, he caught a snippet of their conversation.
“-should come in. Play with us.” The boy was saying. Stella shuffled her bare feet but shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“C’mon. It’s not that deep. You don’t even need to be able to swim here.”
“No, I don’t want to,” She said. Liam was familiar enough with her mannerisms that he could see she was uncomfortable. Out of habit, his eyes flicked over the bodies in the pool to find Elijah, who Liam was shocked to find was staring intently at his sister. He was stock-still in the pool, watching the exchange.
“You’re so boring,” The boy groaned. “The water isn’t cold if that’s what you’re worried about. Here, feel.”
It happened in less than three seconds, but those three seconds felt like a lifetime for Liam. He watched the boy pull a water gun from under water, one of those long, syringe-like ones that stung your skin a bit if you were too close. It was already full of water, and Stella had no hope of getting away.
Again, Liam’s eyes darted to Elijah, who looked terrified, and, Liam’s thought of oh this boy might have a slight crush on Stella, but he’s a bit too old for her that explained the light-haired boy’s interested in Stella flew from his mind as the boy pushed on the plunger, and the first scream ripped itself from Stella’s throat.
The entire pool grew deathly silent, but Liam could only hear the pounding of his heartbeat as he watched the steady, but forceful stream of water make contact with Stella. After the first scream echoed around the camp, Stella collapsed, rocking side to side while on her back. She was screaming, softer now, and whimpering intermittently, hands tight around her body before Liam kicked himself into gear.
He had half a mind to pull off his shirt and drape it over the sobbing girl as he picked her up and threw open the gate to find somewhere quiet to help her settle down. He murmured nonsense in her ear and shuffled immediately to the infirmary across the path from the pool, wincing at the blast of AC on his sun-warmed skin when he walked in. He asked for a blanket and a quiet room in between soft assurances in Stella’s ear, who still hadn’t stopped crying in his arms.
The wide-eyed nurse that showed him to a bed left two blankets that he immediately wrapped around him and Stella to keep her warm since she was soaked to the skin.
Wrapped in the blanket, and in the quiet environment, Stella’s cries quieted considerably. Liam’s ears picked up a commotion outside, but he tuned it out as he leaned back on the bed and started singing softly to help calm Stella’s rapidly beating heart. Eventually, she went completely still. Liam chanced a glance down at her to find her eyes closed and fists clenched, even in sleep, with terror.
It was about an hour later that Liam’s team leader came into the room with him. He had texted him after Stella had fallen asleep to let him know where they ended up. Nick shifted the partition back to reveal Liam and Stella, still in the same position as before.
“How is she?” Nick spoke quietly.
“She fell asleep after a bit. Been asleep since.” Liam whispered back. “Sorry I’m not with the kids.” Liam did feel bad about just walking out of the pool earlier, but what was he supposed to do?
“It’s okay, mate. From what I’ve heard, it was good that you were the one to take over. She likes you.” Nick was quiet for a bit, thinking, before he spoke again. “Cowell said that she could call home if she wants to when she wakes up. It’d be best to hear what happened now versus when she gets picked up in a week.”
“I think she’d like that, yeah,” Liam said. Simon Cowell was the stern-faced man that ran the whole camp. Liam had seen him around the dining hall during the last few weeks, but he knew he lived just down the road from camp and frequently visited. Cowell’s intimidating demeanor faded quickly around kids, as Liam had come to learn, always throwing smiles and greetings at the kids.
“Well, just text me when she wakes up, and I’ll sit down with you to call her dad.”
“Me? I’m calling dad?” Liam asked, suddenly nervous.
“I’ll set it up and explain there was a situation, but yeah. Since Stella seems the most comfortable with you, I really do think you should be there in case she can’t explain what happened.” Liam simply nodded.
It wasn’t more than fifteen minutes later that Stella woke up, once again snuffling into Liam’s chest since there was no pillow. She seemed to notice that she wasn’t waking up in bed, and Liam quietly told her where she was, so she’d be more at ease waking up in a strange place.
“Leeyum?” Stella slurred, stretching softly as she woke up a bit more. Liam shot a simple ‘She’s awake’ to Nick while he smoothed a hand up and down her back.
“Hey, Stella-Wella,” Liam said. “How do you feel?” Stella seemed confused by the question before she pushed herself up on Liam’s chest and took in her surroundings. Liam knew she knew where she was, needing to come in every night to smear lotion over her still-healing scars, but he figured she wouldn’t remember how she got here, considering the state she was in when they settled onto the bed.
“Tired,” Stella finally settled on after a long pause. “What…Leeyum, what happened?” She frowned.
“A kid at the pool sprayed you with a water gun, and I think it scared you a bit,” Liam relayed the short, less traumatic version of the story. When Stella didn’t say anything, Liam dragged a hand back up her slightly damp shirt.
“Nick, – you remember Nick, yeah?” Liam asked after a few minutes of silence. She nodded. “Nick said you could call home if you wanted to talk to someone.” Stella immediately bobbed her head up and down.
Five minutes after Nick showed up, they had an iPad propped up on a table in the small room they were in, all gathered around it at the line trilled, waiting to connect. Nick had explained to Stella that he needed to explain the situation first, then she could talk.
The line connected after three rings, and Liam saw a blur of dark hair and heard some rather loud shuffling as the person on the other end got situated.
“Mmm, ‘ello?” A voice drifted through the speakers before Liam could see the face, and Liam had several thoughts flash through his mind as he filed away the voice in his mind like he sounds young and Stella and Elijah never told me they have an older brother and holy shit he’s fit as his face finally settled in screen.
“Hi, Mr. Malik, this is Nick at Camp David again,” Nick greeted professionally. Again? Liam thought, then remembered Elijah’s conduct throughout camp and figured they’d had to talk about that as well.
“Hey, how’s Eli?” Mr. Malik asked. Liam nearly scoffed, thinking the kid on screen didn’t look much older than himself.
“The same as earlier. I’m actually here with Stella. She had a bit of a rough day and we thought it’d be best that she get to talk with you.” Liam could see worry immediately wash over the boy’s face on screen. He tuned out what Nick was saying, only half listening as he touched over the events of the day. Liam became distracted by the boy on screen, who was chewing on his bottom lip, a perfect mirror image of Stella. It made something in his chest ache.
“Here, she’s right here,” Nick’s hand settled on Stella’s back, jostling Liam where she was pressed into his chest still, even sitting up. They were just off screen, but Liam encouraged Stella to shuffle in front of the camera while he stood.
“I’ll be right outside with Nick, love,” Liam said softly, still aware of Stella’s fit brother on the screen.
“No!” Stella exclaimed. The loud sound, after the quiet few hours, made Liam jump, but he was less embarrassed when he noticed the boy on screen did, too. “Stay, please.” Her voice was softer, and she reached out a hand for his, which he took easily, letting her pull him back onto the bed.
His eyes met the ones on screen for a moment, quiet as he let the two start a conversation between the two of them.
“Hey, Stella bug,” The boy grinned sadly. “Nick told me you had a pretty big day, yeah?” Liam knew Nick had already told the whole story, but he seemed to be waiting for Stella to say something. “Can we talk about it?”
“Was scary.” Stella whispered. She didn’t look at the iPad, instead focusing on Liam’s bracelets which she began playing with. “Cold.”
“The water was cold?” He clarified. Stella nodded. She was quiet for so long, the boy seemed to figure out he wasn’t going to get much more out of her. Instead, he shifted his focus to the other person there. “Stella, who’s your friend?”
“This ‘s Leeyum!” Stella had a small smile on her face when she pulled Liam’s hand up to wave for him.
“Well, hi, Leeyum.” Liam couldn’t help but focus on the way the boy said his name, wrapping his tongue around the syllables almost inappropriately.
“Leeyum, this is Baba!” Stella said, perking up a bit as she introduced them. The boy – Baba…what an interesting name Liam thought – chuckled. The rush of the black is the colour of Baba’s hair from earlier came back to Liam, and he focused on the screen to confirm that, indeed, his hair was black, just like the bracelet.
“My name isn’t really Baba, bug. I’m Zayn.” Zayn. Liam wrapped his tongue around the name in his head. “I’m her dad. Well her Baba, but it’s the same thing.” Liam couldn’t help his reaction when he heard those words.
“Dad? You’re, like, thirty.” Liam sputtered. He immediately cringed. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re fine. I’m actually twenty-nine, but who’s counting?”
He talked about camp with Stella for a bit longer before she excused herself, as polite as ever, to go to the toilet. That left Liam alone with her unfairly fit dad – baba – Liam corrected himself without knowing what it meant. He didn’t feel like embarrassing himself with his lack of education by asking.
“Hey, Liam?” Zayn called, breaking into his thoughts. Liam made eye contact with the boy on the screen in lieu of a response. “How is she doing really?”
“She really is doing great,” Liam said, relieved that it was an easy topic. “She’s made lots of friends and she’s so very sweet. This has been the first real bump for her.”
Zayn let out a sigh of relief, quiet for a moment until Liam broke the silence, unable to contain his curiosity.
“Tell me if I’m being inappropriate, but why did Stella react like that to the water? Do you know?” Zayn sighed again, and Liam opened his mouth to apologise and take it back when Zayn started talking.
“The day of the accident, I had to put the fire out with our garden hose. I think it’s just the water coming at her that makes her think about the hose, and it freaks her out. She can’t even take a shower without going into a panic attack,” Zayn admitted quickly. Liam’s mouth fell open, of course, not having thought the aversion to showers was anything other than a personal preference.
“Oh my god,” Liam breathed. “You were with her when it…” He trailed off, unsure of where he was going.
“Yeah. Eli, Stella, and I were all in the backyard. It was…intense.”
“Zayn, I-”
“It’s okay, yeah? Well, it isn’t okay, but it’s handled.” Zayn’s voice was firm, like he’s trying to convince himself rather than Liam. “I just can’t help but worry about them, you know?”
“You have every right to worry, Zayn. But I do want you to know that they’re both great kids. Stella is just so sweet. She had everyone wrapped around her finger by day two. And Elijah, he’s so kindhearted. They’re both amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“I wish I could do more to help you sleep easier. But apart from a text or picture updates, I don’t really know what else to do.” Liam chuckled.
“Yeah, that’d be good.” Liam nearly choked. He hadn’t been looking to get Zayn’s number, okay not intentionally, but now that it was a possibility, he wasn’t going to turn it down.
They exchanged numbers and Liam sent a simple It’s Leeyum! :) to which he was able to see Zayn’s answering grin on the screen right as Stella came back.
“I’m hungry,” Stella said without a greeting.
“Well then it’s a good thing its snack-time, yeah, Stella-Wella?” Liam chuckled. “You want to talk to your dad before we go?”
“I gotta go! It’s time for food!” Stella exclaimed, seemingly unaffected by this afternoon’s events any longer.
“Alright, bug. Tell your brother hi for me. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Baba,” Stella called softly just before before the screen went still, Zayn’s smile frozen on the screen until the iPad went to sleep.
After hanging up with Zayn, Liam led Stella back to the unit so she could change into some clothes that were dry. She’d started to complain of being a bit cold, even though they were outside. They met up with the rest of the group there, thankfully no one making a huge deal about Stella’s absence. Instead, once Stella was changed and settled, the girls she typically made bracelets with pulled Liam into their group and ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ over the bracelet Stella had made him.
It wasn’t long, maybe only ten or fifteen minutes, before they were shuffling around, waking up a couple of the kids who’d fallen asleep, getting ready to head out for a snack.
Snack ended up being individual packets of goldfish, orange slices, and juice. Liam took two of each, and ate them quickly, starving as always. The portions here felt like literal rations. They only had about ten minutes before their next activity started, so the counsellors encouraged the kids to eat as they walked so they wouldn’t be late.
Liam always liked Athletics, getting to play games with his kids never failed to cheer him up, especially after such a strange day. Once the large group had settled and gone over the rules, just like always, they announced the game they were playing. Liam had already known that they would be playing Steal the Treasure, familiar with the way half the staff had set it up while the other two had reiterated the rules.
The object of the game was simple: all one team had to do was collect all the “treasure” from the opposite team’s basket at one end of the gym and bring it to their own at the other end. However, you could only pick up one object at a time, and if you were tagged, you had to go back and drop the item you were holding if you’d gotten one. It was ridiculously fun to play, and it was a big hit with the older group, the boys especially. They’d played a game geared toward the younger kids yesterday, so it was only fair the big kids got to have some fun.
It was a huge mass of bodies contained in such a small area as the teams were split and they waited for the game to start. Liam had gotten a pretty good group, several of the older boys on his team that Liam knew took the games maybe a bit too seriously, but made up for it with never-ending patience when the younger kids bent the rules a bit from a simple lack of understanding.
Sean, who was one of the more strikingly scarred kids at camp with burns that covered his head, arms, torso, and half a leg and left his head completely hair free, was on Liam’s team. He was probably the sweetest boy at camp, and Liam was bummed to learn this was his last year at camp, aging out at sixteen. He was missing all his fingers, only short stumps where they should be, and he had to either hold the “treasures” with both hands, or press them against his body as he ran, but Liam never saw the kid without a smile.
Liam watched Sean pause at the other team’s treasure basket with Stella, seeming to give her pointers about which item to grab before he grabbed his own and they both dashed back. From his vantage point at the opposite end of the gym, Liam saw a kid on the other team gaining quickly against Stella’s shorter legs. Sean slowed his run to fall behind and motioned to the boy to tag him instead of the small girl, allowing her to run off with the prize to her delight. Liam grinned and gave Stella a high-five as she dropped it into the basket. He met Sean’s eyes while he was walking back to their end, smiling softly at the boy with thanks.
Needing to get his head in the game, Liam took off with a large group of kids from his team, eager to get their hands on more treasure. As Liam waited his turn to grab a toy from the basket, he noticed Elijah standing nearby, waiting for an opening to run after someone who stole from them. The sandy-haired kid was standing next to him, looking like he was doing the exact same thing, but Liam could see his mouth moving.
Unable to help himself, Liam inconspicuously moved a bit closer to hear his words, now knowing that he was the infamous Sam that had apparently been mean to Elijah that first week of camp. He had recently confirmed his suspicion with Louis only during snack time, exceedingly curious after the boy had caused Stella’s panic attack.
Still a few meters away from the boys, but within range to hear their conversation, Liam kept his focus towards the game as the boy’s voice hit his ears.
“– she’s a crybaby.” Liam only had a second of confusion to think who’s a crybaby before there was a sharp crack and a yelp from behind him. When he turned around, Elijah was on top of Sam, hitting him and yelling nonsense at the boy.
Quick to react, Liam closed the distance and hauled Elijah off the older boy, seeing blood on Sam’s face, staining his shirt. Without so much as a pause, Liam pulled Elijah just outside the gym, blocking the door just in case he wanted to finish what he started. However, Elijah simply buried his hands in his hair and paced back and forth, chest heaving.
“Hey,” Liam called. “Come here.” He sat down on the pavement and beckoned Elijah to sit next to him, but the boy just shook his head quickly and kept pacing. Liam just sighed but gave him a bit of time to calm down.
It was probably five or so minutes later that Elijah stopped pacing, but raked his hands through his hair, and Liam noticed he was mumbling to himself. So, he tried again, coaxing the boy to sit. He counted it as an achievement when Elijah sat down, but he looked numb.
“I need you to tell me what that was about,” Liam said carefully.
“He cheated.” Came the blatant lie that Liam had been expecting.
“I know he wasn’t cheating, Elijah. You were both just standing there,” Liam said with no room for argument.
Elijah didn’t say anything, just shrugged and let out a harsh breath. Liam tentatively put his arm around the boy’s shoulder to ground him a bit before he breached the topic that he really needed to discuss.
“Who was he calling a crybaby?” Liam asked softly.
“Stella.” It was the last possible thing that Liam had been expecting to hear.
“What? Why was he calling Stella a crybaby?”
“Because she freaked out at the pool. Sam said he was going to peg her with one of the footballs, but he thought spraying her with water would be funnier since she didn’t have on a bathing suit.”
“Wait. Has Sam said things like that before?” Elijah nodded. Liam could feel a few puzzle pieces coming together, making Elijah’s hostile reactions toward the boy make a bit more sense. They weren’t warranted, he knew, but they made a bit more sense than ‘he cheated.’
“C’mon.” Liam said, he nudged the boy onto his feet, making sure he was following as he sent a quick text to Nick to meet them on the other side of the gym.
Two minutes later, Elijah, Liam, and Nick were standing outside the gym, and Liam nudged the boy softly.
“Tell Nick what you told me,” Liam prompted. Elijah shook his head, face flushed with embarrassment. Liam locked eyes with Nick.
“Elijah, you can tell me, bud,” Nick coaxed. “It’s okay.”
After Elijah had relayed the story about Sam to Nick, Liam chiming in with the snippet he’d heard in the gym to corroborate his words, Nick whipped out his phone to text someone and stepped away with a promise to be right back.
“Do you think I’m going to be sent home?” Elijah asked quietly after they’d been standing silently for a couple minutes.
“Why?” Liam cocked his head, unsure which answer the boy was looking for.
“Because I hit Sam again. Baba told me that I’d be in big trouble if I didn’t behave. I don’t wanna go home.”
“I think that if you told your dad what happened, and that you were just standing up for Stella, that he’d understand why you did it. I’m not saying you won’t be in trouble, because you did hit him, buddy, and I know you know that you shouldn’t’ve done that, but I think it’ll be okay.” Elijah leaned into Liam’s side, and nodded.
Elijah was saved from replying when Nick walked back around the corner, a frown on his face. Liam could feel Elijah tense, probably fearing that he would be kicked out. Liam rubbed his arm comfortingly but stayed quiet.
“I just had an interesting talk with Sam,” Nick said. Liam furrowed his eyebrows. Nick’s face gave nothing away, and Liam had a flash of fear that Sam had thrown Elijah under the bus as revenge for hitting him. “Elijah, why didn’t you say anything about how Sam has been acting? We don’t tolerate any kind of bullying here.” Elijah shrugged.
“What happened?” He asked instead of answering Nick’s question.
“Well, he fessed up to saying those things about your sister, so now he is packing up his stuff and he will be going home as soon as his parents get here. But I don’t want you to worry. He won’t be joining any more activities, and he won’t bother you or your sister again.” Liam felt his chest ease, not ready for Elijah to go home. The boy in question, at Nick’s profession, looked up at Liam and smiled. It slowly grew wider as Liam’s grin answered his.
“Thank you,” Elijah said softly.
Later that night, during the movie that had been prepared for the group to watch as a night acctivity, Nick pulled Liam aside, a bit flustered.
“Liam, can you help with another wing tonight? I’ve got two staff on their night out and one sick in the infirmary with only one to look after kids for showers and bedtime.”
“Of course, mate. Which wing?”
“Louis’. It’s the middle-aged kids, but I figured you’re the best all around, so I’d ask you first.” Liam, flustered with the compliment, coughed a bit in shock.
“For sure.”
“And I hate to spring this on you last minute, but could you also split night duty with Louis?” Liam chuckled, but nodded, earning a clap on the back and an enthusiastic “Thanks!” from Nick as he walked off to deal with another crisis. Liam didn’t envy Nick. His job seemed tough, with too many decisions and not enough time with the kids that make all the drama worth it.
After the movie, Liam sidled up to Louis and let him round up all the kids, accepting the smile of thanks his friend flashed as he ordered Liam to start slowly making his way back to the wing. Liam knew Elijah was somewhere in the group, as he was eleven, but Liam couldn’t make out his hair in the mess of bodies following him.
Older kids entailed a significant amount of drama, at least compared to the babies as Liam’s wing has taken to calling the younger group during breaks, that Liam wasn’t prepared for. There was bra stealing, fights over music, and even an embarrassing amount of pantsing, and Liam had only been in the wing for twenty minutes. Louis, however, seemed to take it in stride, unflinchingly, so Liam figured this was normal.
It took a little less than an hour to get all the kids showered and settled, Liam putting on his normal shower time playlist that started with upbeat songs, only to fade into more mellow ones as it went on, allowing everyone to unconsciously wind down as it got closer to lights out.
Louis was quick to call first shirt of night duty, leaving the last hour for Liam to do, between 11:00 and midnight. Once ten o’clock rolled around and the kids were at the very least quiet and in bed, Liam shuffled out of the wing for a quick phone call to his mum before he had to be back.
A quick update about camp and life in general later, Liam found himself shooing a yawning Louis to bed. However, and Liam wasn’t the least bit surprised, he immediately left the wing, probably going to meet Harry before they had to be in bed.
There were only a couple of kids still awake when Liam settled in to sit for his hour. They shifted around restlessly for about ten minutes before everything grew still. Liam loved the quiet of the wing when all the kids had gone to sleep. He knew his own wing had been asleep for at least an hour by now, the little ones always ready to settle down a bit earlier.
A quick glance at the clock on his phone as he scrolled through Instagram told him that it was 11:35. He had just over twenty minutes left. Liam’s ears pricked up when a small whine broke the quiet. Liam shrugged it off as a kid settling back down after waking up, until he heard it again, followed by rustling sheets.
Liam’s face immediately flushed, figuring that it was one of the boys, a little bored late at night. Liam cautiously cleared his throat to let the kid know someone else was awake. It was quiet for a few more minutes before Liam heard it again.
Liam sighed. He knew he’d have to figure out who it is and tell them to either take it to the toilet or cut it out. There were girls here, too. As he made his way between bunks, listening silently, Liam finally got to Elijah’s bed before he heard the whine again, this time paired with a soft, but insistent, “No!”
Now that Liam knew it wasn’t a kid wanking in their bunk, Liam was fine to walk back to finish out the rest of his night shift. As he turned around to walk back to his seat, Elijah’s voice cut through the silence again.
“S’ella, no!” Liam froze, recognizing Stella’s name through the slur of his sleepy voice. He frowned, remembering Harry’s comment from before about Elijah having nightmares. Elijah muttered a few more incomprehensible words before another whine, this time louder. He was shifting restlessly in bed, legs tangling further in the sheets as he slept on.
Liam wasn’t sure if he should wake the boy up, having never experienced sleep talking. He knew you weren’t supposed to wake up someone who was sleep walking, but he couldn’t tell you anything about sleep talkers. He hovered by the bed long enough that he could hear Elijah’s breathing quicken.
“No! Stop,” Elijah mumbled. Then, as much of a shock to Liam as Elijah, he sat up with a sharp, “HELP!” His eyes flew open, darting around the room. Thankfully, Liam was still right next to him and laid a hand on the boy’s trembling leg, kneeling down to the bottom bunk where he was.
“Hey, you’re okay. We’re at camp. You’re in bed. It was just a bad dream.” A quick glance told Liam that the other kids had thankfully not been disturbed by the outburst.
Elijah’s wide eyes landed on Liam, and he let out a shaky breath as he recognised his face.
“It wasn’t a dream,” His voice broke. “It was real.” And then he latched onto Liam as he sobbed quietly.
Liam gave the boy a few minutes. When his breathing slowed and he seemed a bit more in control, Liam pulled back to look at Elijah.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“It was like it was happening all over again,” Elijah whispered. Liam knew instantly what he was talking about, since Zayn had told him Elijah was there when Stella’s original accident occurred. “She was on fire again. Screaming. She just kept screaming. She was so loud. So loud. I can’t stop hearing it. It’s too loud. I can’t make it stop.” Elijah’s fingers twisted tightly in his hair, and Liam saw his eyes close tightly.
“Hey, it’s all over now, Elijah. You’re at camp, and you’re safe here. It’s over.”
“It’s not over,” Elijah breathed, like he didn’t want Liam to hear. “She’ll never be okay again, and it’s all my fault.” Elijah let out a sob again, and Liam’s heart broke. This boy was only eleven years old, with the weight of his sister’s traumatic accident on his shoulders.
“Elijah look at me,” Liam said, stern but gentle. It took a few seconds of coaxing before Elijah’s watery eyes met Liam’s. “Your sister is okay. She’s probably asleep right now in her bed. She’s okay. It’s not your fault that happened.”
Elijah’s breath hitched, and the fight seemed to drain out of his body. Liam noticed, rubbing a hand up and down his spine, just like he did for Stella earlier. Liam gave him a few moments of quiet before he reiterated his statement.
Liam wrapped his arms around Elijah’s body, sitting on his bed to haul him close and, once again, told Elijah that what happened to Stella was not his fault. And when he broke down again hearing those words, sobs wracking through him until Liam was shaking from the force of them too, Liam started to think that maybe the small boy in his arms had never heard anyone say that out loud.