Truth be told, you missed it.

Not Shadyside, definitely not hearing how much your parents whined and complained 24/7 about living in such a shitty town, but her. You missed your girlfriend—now ex—more than words could describe; missed exploring every inch of the town while holding hands with her. Shadyside was far from perfect so the homophobia wasn't unexpected, meaning that the two of you needed to be careful—despite Natalie's usual careless personality—. Still, the world felt peaceful when you were with her, laughing and doing dumb shit together.

Things were great—so what happened?

It was stupid—so fucking stupid—and it hurt. You were supposed to get out of that hellhole together, live the life you both dreamt of ever since you were little,but not wanting anyone to know about your relationship yet was enough to put an end to the heaven you had been living in? Natalie's attempts of letting you know she wanted to be more open with her friends were subtle, but they were still present—despite knowing how hard it had been to accept your sexuality at first.

And moving away was the breaking point.

You hadn't talked to her since spring. Not because you didn't want to, but because moving to Sunnyvale had changed things even when Jackie, your sister, had promised things would stay the same. She got busy with Sunnyvale parties and her list of acceptable friends. She didn’t stop you from dating Tyler, either, a nice Sunnyvale boy that was head over heels for you. That made it worse, somehow, and you couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him because... well, you didn't love him as much as you still loved Deena.

Now there you were, at Camp Nightwing for the summer—because Jackie insisted it would be good for you to "get some air". You could tell Jackie was trying: she made a point of walking you to the hall each morning, letting you hang out with her and her friends even if it meant enduring Mari’s side-eyes or Lottie’s pitying smiles. But no amount of "sisterly bonding" could distract you from the weight that hit your chest when you saw her again.

Natalie Scatorccio. Cutoff denim shorts, a tank top with a ripped hem, combat boots despite the boiling heat. For a moment, you were sixteen again and stupidly in love. Your sister obviously noticed—she was the only one who actually knew about the relationship you had with Deena—and she tried to keep you busy so you wouldn't think about her nor cross paths with her. But you were stubborn and felt the need to talk to her.

Yet you still played dumb when she found you.

It was the third day and you had already memorized the schedule she followed—which consisted of spending a weird amount of time at the lake. Sitting on the deck, knees pressed against your chest, you failed to control the shivers from running down your spine as you heard the familiar, loud noise her boots made. She stilled for a moment, taking a deep breath before sitting down behind you. "Hey." That raspy voice you had missed oh so much said.