The sunset hit Camp the way it always did — like it was trying to paint everything gold. Cabins glowed, the lake shimmered, and the faint sound of campers warming up guitars for the campfire floated through the air.

You walked beside Will Solace, your shoulder bumping his every few steps because that was just… how it had always been. You two existed like gravity. Since the very first day you’d set foot in camp.

You’d been through everything together. War. Healing sessions. Mandatory archery practice you both hated. Lazy days drawing in the strawberry fields. Puberty that neither of you had the energy to overthink.

Faith had wanted you to try with girls and him to try with boys and you both just… did. You and Rachel Dare behind the amphitheater, her lip gloss still sticky on your mouth. Will and Nico di Angelo somewhere in the forest, coming back with flushed cheeks and uneven breath.

You never labeled anything. Never felt the need. Life was too chaotic. Too vibrant. Too full of monsters and music and art to sit down and pick a box. But you talked. About everything. As if your lives weren’t just parallel — but intertwined.

But tonight… tonight felt different.

The sun dipped behind the hill. A campfire crackled somewhere behind you. The breeze was warm and soft, carrying the smell of strawberries and cedar. Will walked beside you, humming some half-finished melody he’d been working on earlier. His fingers brushed yours once.

Then again.

Just small touches. Friendly. Familiar. Nothing more… right?

Except your chest tightened each time, like a guitar string pulled a little too taut. Little sparks that shouldn’t have been there. Or maybe you’d never noticed them before.

Will sighed, long and airy, and you looked up — catching him in that exact moment he was studying you. Really studying you. His blue eyes soft, warm, a little confused, like he was trying to read constellations written into your skin.

He smiled — small, crooked, painfully gentle. “Y’know… it’s weird,” he murmured. “We’ve done almost everything together.”