CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Boys of Summer

Camp Black Bear, Dunkirk, NY: Tuesday, July 3

"Finn Hudson! Just the man I wanted to see."

Finn swallowed the food in his mouth. He looked up from the plate of eggs and bacon sitting in front of him and saw Anders walking towards his table. He, Kurt, Santana, and Dave were seated in a corner of the mess hall. The place was packed as the other campers scrambled to get breakfast before morning activities started. Finn reached for the napkin sitting beside his glass of orange juice and wiped the lower half of his face.

The Camp Black Bear uniform they were required to wear on weekdays consisted of khaki or denim shorts and a dark brown T-shirt with the words Camp Black Bear written across the front. All the letters, save for the 'a' in Camp, were white. The lone 'a' was bright orange and shaped like a pine tree. The uniform, on its own, was pretty straightforward, but each camp counselor found a way to bring their own personal style to the outfit. For Anders Hamilton that usually meant rolled up sleeves and an orange or gold bandanna tied around his forehead. His T-shirt and shorts were plastered against his brawny frame as if they had been sewn onto his body.

He dropped down into the empty chair next to Finn and greeted the whole table. "I'm sure you've all heard about the big Fourth of July celebration we're having tomorrow night," he said. Finn nodded his head and popped a small piece of crispy turkey bacon into his mouth. "It's a Camp Black Bear tradition and Jake and Katie like to go all out since for a lot of our new campers this is their first big holiday being away from home.

During a phone call with his mom the previous evening, Carole had detailed her and Burt's plans to have a cookout for the Fourth of July holiday. In addition to inviting Paul Karofsky and some lady he was apparently dating, Carole and Burt had extended an invitation to Puck, Artie, Mercedes, Sam, and Brittany. Tina and Mike were once again working as camp counselors at "Asian Camp" and Quinn was vacationing in Nantucket with her mother, sister, and her brother-in-law. Out of respect for their two sons, both Blaine and Rachel were not invited to the cookout. Finn hated that he and Kurt would be missing out but at least their parents would not be spending their favorite summer holiday alone.

Anders turned his attention to Finn. "I was heading into town to pick up the food and I was wondering if you wanted to tag-along. No pressure."

"Um, sure," Finn said trying to contain his excitement about spending some one-on-one time with Anders. "Oh, um, I forgot. I'm supposed to be leading a hike this morning."

Dave held up his hand and said, "I'm free this morning. I'll cover for you."

"You sure?" Finn asked. "You don't mind?"

Dave shook his head. "Don't mind at all."

"Thanks, bro," Finn said. He turned back to Anders and said, "Looks like I'm good to go."

"Cool beans. I'm planning on heading out here soon. How about we meet down by my Jeep in -." Anders glanced down at his watch. "Fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Awesome," Anders said slapping Finn on the back. "See you soon." He snatched a piece of bacon from Finn's plate and slid it into his mouth. He then stood up and Finn watched as he headed towards the exit.

'Is it just me or did the Trust Fund Baby get hot all of a sudden?" Santana asked.

"It's not just you," Dave said before taking a bite of his banana.

"It's the beard." Kurt licked a dallop of strawberry yogurt from his spoon. "It's definitely the beard."

"I guess I better get going." Finn shoveled the last bite of eggs into his mouth and stood up. He took a moment to brush away crumbs from his T-shirt.

'Have fun," Kurt said.

"Bring me back some Mountain Dew," Dave said. "And some Flamin' Hot Cheetos."

"Oh, and some of those Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies you know I like," Kurt said.

Finn rolled his eyes and picked up his empty plate. He carried it over to Mabel who was busy loading the dishwasher. She shot him a kind smile and he told her to have a great day. Finn left the noisy mess hall and headed towards his cabin. He did not know how far away the grocery store was, but he knew he did not want to make the trip wearing his camp uniform. Finn reached his cabin and as he pushed open the door, he heard movement coming from inside. He flipped the light switch and saw Jamal and another camper standing in the center of the room. The other camper was trying to pull his T-shirt on but seemed to be having a hard time. Jamal looked like he wanted to disappear. Finn noticed he was wearing a white Under Armour tank and a pair of black Spider-Man boxers. The other camper managed to finally poke his head through the top of his shirt and Finn realized he was one of Dave's kids. Chase Fetterman's face was bright red as he ran his fingers through his spiky blond hair.

Finn cleared his throat and directed his gaze to the cabin floor. "Shouldn't you two be having breakfast?"

"Yes," Chase said immediately. "We were just on our way there."

Finn looked up and pointed at the pair of blue jeans on the floor next to Jamal's unmade bed. "Um, you might want to get dressed first before you head down there."

"Of course," Chase said making a beeline for the discarded pants. He dressed quickly and then headed for the door.

Jamal lowered his head as he walked over to the chest of drawers beside his bed. He pulled open the middle drawer and took out a pair of plaid shorts. He peered over his shoulder at Finn and asked, "You're not gonna tell anyone about this, are you?"

Finn thought of the time he and Rachel were in the middle of one of their heavy makeout sessions in his bedroom. This was before his mom married Burt and they had moved out of his childhood home and in with the Hummels. Finn had not noticed his mom standing in the doorway, but Rachel sure had. She pushed him off of her with a strength Finn had not realized she was capable of and he had landed, hard, on the carpet. Carole, with laundry basket in hand, turned around and walked away without saying a word. Till this day, she had never brought up the embarrassing incident for which Finn was beyond grateful.

Finn tilted his head and asked, "Tell anyone about what?"

Jamal gave a slight grin. "Thanks."

Finn waited for him to leave the cabin before moving over to his side of the room. He removed his uniform and pulled on an old pair of blue jeans and his gray McKinley Football T-shirt. He slipped on his sneakers, grabbed his wallet and phone, and headed out of the cabin. He walked the same path lined with maple trees he and the others had taken the day they arrived at camp. As much as he was enjoying his time at camp, he was looking forward to getting away for a bit.

He found Anders waiting by a yellow 2011 Jeep Wrangler parked underneath a large oak. When Anders saw Finn, he grinned and slipped his phone into his back pocket.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yup," Finn said. He opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. The interior was hot and stuffy, like a room in an old house that had not been open in a long while. Anders got in behind the wheel and inserted a key into the ignition. He turned it and the Jeep's engine roared to life. While Anders entered the address of their destination into the GPS, Finn noticed something hanging from the rear-view mirror. He reached for it and turned it over in his hand. A younger, beardless Anders stared back at him from the depths of a grainy photo positioned on a piece of plastic the size of a credit card. Right under the photo were the words Winchester Preparatory School and underneath that was his full name.

"Anders Hildebrand Hamilton." Finn looked over at Anders, one brow raised.

Anders chewed his bottom lip. "Yeaaaaaaah – my mother, bless her, insisted on giving me her maiden name. The name Hildebrand is perfect for a WASP-y, southern family who has made their entire fortune on tobacco farming. For a middle name … not so much."

"My middle name is Christopher."

"See, now that's a normal-sounding middle name," Anders said.

"Christopher's my dad's name," Finn said. "He died when I was little."

"I'm sorry."

Finn shrugged and said, "It's fine. It was a long time ago."

Anders leaned forward and cranked the A/C to the highest setting. Cool air flooded the Jeep's interior. He looked over at Finn and said, "You know, now that you know my middle name, I'm gonna have to kill you." Finn's eyes widened. There was a long silence before Anders started laughing. "Kidding." He reached out and clasped his hand on Finn's shoulder. "Just messing with you." He started to squeeze the area between Finn's neck and shoulder blade. Anders grinned. "You should've seen your face."

Finn's body started to relax under Anders' touch. A few moments passed before Anders pulled his hand away. He then reached inside the pocket of his khaki shorts and took out his phone. He looked over at Finn and said, "There's a white cord in the glove compartment. Mind handing it to me?"

Finn popped open the glove compartment and found the cord coiled on top of the owner's manual. He handed it over to Anders who inserted one end of the cord into his phone and then the other end into the Aux jack on the radio. Finn watched as he clicked on the music app on his phone and started scrolling through the list of songs.

"I remembered how you said that you grew up listening to a lot of 70s and 80s rock," Anders spoke. Finn nodded his head. "My dad's taste in music is pretty bland but my mom, on the other hand, she grew up listening to a lot of rock and funk and R&B. I'm talking Hall & Oates and Rick James and Prince. Michael Jackson, of course. My older brother is like the biggest Michael Jackson fan you'll ever meet."

"That sounds a lot like the kind of music the glee club used to sing," Finn said.

"Hmm. Then maybe you'll recognize this song. It's one of my favorites." Anders mashed his thumb against the 'Play' button and then carefully sat his phone in one of the cupholders. He fastened his seatbelt, put the Jeep in drive and then pulled out of the gravel parking lot.

Finn pressed his forehead to the passenger's side window and watched as Camp Black Bear grew smaller and smaller in the side-view mirror. The song opened with a series of chords played on a synthesizer. He closed his eyes. There was something very familiar about the melody, but he could not put a finger on it.

"I've had enough of danger," Anders sang. "And people on the streets."

Finn thought about his mom's Oldsmobile with its temperamental tape deck. His mom would call out a song and that would be his queue to start digging through the old food wrappers and loose change on the floor until he found the appropriate cassette tape. He would insert the tape into the deck and keep pressing the fast-forward button until he found the song she was wanting to hear.

"I'm looking out for angels. Just trying to find some peace."

Finn slowly opened his eyes. They were speeding down a two-lane highway. There was nothing but trees and the occasional farmhouse on either side of the road. He looked over at Anders who seemed to be lost in the song.

"Now I think it's time that you let me know."

Finn thought of the man in the leather jacket on the cover of one of his mom's cassette tapes. It was one of her favorites. When they would go on long drives, they would listen to it from beginning to end and Finn would eject the tape, flip it over and insert it back into the deck. He knew all of the songs by heart.

"So, if you love me, say you love me, but if you don't just let me go," Anders sang in his best imitation of George.

"'Cause teacher," Finn sang. "There are things that I don't want to learn."

Anders lifted his gaze from the road and looked over at Finn. "And the last one I had, made me cry."

"So, I don't want to learn to hold you, touch you," the two of them sang in unison. "Think that you're mine."

"Because it ain't no joy," Finn sang.

"For an uptown boy," Anders crooned. "Whose teacher has told him goodbye."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye"

The rest of the song played with the two of them trading lines between each other. Finn found singing with Anders effortless. When he and Rachel would have to perform together, he would often find himself taking a backseat vocally. At first, he had not minded. Since the moment Rachel Berry had inserted herself into his life, Finn knew she was bound for bigger and better things and as her boyfriend he wanted to make sure he was supporting her in her pursuit to make her dreams come true. Over time he grew weary of having little to no input when it came to selecting and arranging the songs they sang in front of the other New Directions members or on stage at Regionals or Nationals.

"My mom is a huge George Michael fan," Finn spoke. "We would play his tape in the car all the time."

"Really?" Anders asked as the GPS directed him to turn onto I-90.

"Yeah – then someone broke into her car while she was at work and took all of our cassette tapes. I told Kurt about it last year and for Christmas he bought me the album on iTunes."

"Aww – that was really nice of him."

"Yeah, Kurt can be really thoughtful."

"My mom kept all her records from the 70s and 80s in the basement of our old house. I used to sneak downstairs after everyone went to bed, plug in her old record player and listen to them. I think I was about eight or nine. Definitely way too young to be singing "I Want Your Sex". I didn't know what any of the lyrics meant. I just knew I liked the music."

"Me, too," Finn said. Then a light bulb went off his head. "We should sing one of the songs from that album."

Anders' eyes went wide. "Finn, that's a great idea. That album is chock full of hits. We'd win the Talent Showcase for sure. Speaking of, I talked to Kurt and Teddy and as of yesterday we have thirteen people, including us, signed up to perform."

"That's awesome."

"Now we've just got to decide which song we're gonna sing," Anders said. "My vote is for "Faith". Easily the best song on the album."

"When's the Talent Showcase again?" Finn asked.

"August the 17th."

"Well, we have plenty of time."

Anders glanced over at Finn and asked, "For what?"

"For me to convince you that "Father Figure" is, in fact, the best song on the album."

Camp Black Bear, Dunkirk, NY: Wednesday, July 4

Finn loaded the last item, a large blue cooler, into the Jeep and closed the back. He walked over to the front of the vehicle and opened the door. Finn slid into the passenger seat and let out a deep groan. He slumped and made a sputtering noise with his mouth. He looked over at Anders and said, "I'm stuffed. I think I ate too much." Finn reached down and patted his stomach. After making sure everyone was served, he and Anders had piled their plates with hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans and coleslaw and ate on the dock overlooking Lake Erie. Finn did not consider himself a grill master like Burt but he was quite proud of he and Anders' grilling efforts.

"No such thing," Anders said looking up from his phone. "My friend Ben has this theory that since grilled food is healthier, you can eat more of it."

"My friend Puck ate like ten hotdogs at a cookout once. He threw up for like a week. It was both awesome and awful at the same time. I don't think he's had a hotdog since."

"You have a friend named Puck?" Anders asked.

"Yeah – it's short for Puckerman. Noah Puckerman."

"Hm, sounds hot."

Finn started to agree but shut his mouth before the words came out. Puck had sent him a picture a few days ago with the following message:

Puck: "the mohawk is gone. say hello to puckzilla 2.0."

Seeing his best friend without his trademark mohawk had been strange at first but having a shaved head did little to diminish how hot Puck was. Finn reckoned Puck would look good with any hairstyle. He thought about taking his phone out and showing Anders the photo. He wondered if Anders would find Puck as attractive as he did. Was Puck even his type? What exactly was his type?

"Let's get this stuff back to the Welcome Center," Anders said starting the Jeep. "I want to see the fireworks."

"Sounds good," Finn said tapping the dashboard.

Anders' phone chirped and buzzed in his lap. Finn watched as he held up his phone and appeared to read something on the screen. He saw something dark pass across Anders' face. Anders frowned and lowered his phone. He placed his hands on the wheel and the Jeep started to move forward.

Finn pulled at the safety belt digging into his chest. He watched as they turned down a narrow dirt road connecting the main part of camp to the lake. Finn looked over at Anders. His jaw was tense. His hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly Finn thought he might snap it in half.

"Everything alright?" Finn asked severing the silence.

"Yeah."

Finn was not exactly the most perceptive person when it came to picking up on other people's emotional states. However, being around so many different personality types in the glee club had made him more aware of the people around him. When Santana and Kurt were upset, everyone knew it, but with someone like Dave, he had to pay closer attention. Dave tended to get stoic if something was really bothering him and if pushed too hard, he could lash out. Of course, things had been a lot different since February and Dave seemed a lot happier. But if things were to ever get bad for him or any of the other important people in his life, Finn would like to believe he would pick up on it.

Just like he was picking up on Anders' mood right now. There was something in the tone of his voice that indicated to Finn that he was not alright.

Anders parked the Jeep outside the Welcome Center. He unfastened his seatbelt and hopped out of the vehicle. Finn got out and walked around to the back of the Jeep. Anders opened the tailgate and started to unload the leftover food and other items from the cookout.

"Anders," Finn spoke quietly. "You sure everything is okay?"

Anders wrestled the cooler out of the back and sat it on the ground. He wiped his hands on the front of his shorts and turned around to face Finn.

"Honestly?" he asked. Finn slowly nodded his head. Anders shook his head. "No, I'm not okay. It's just … stupid family shit."

"Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want to. It's just that I'm a pretty good listener – at least I try to be."

"You're babbling, Finn."

Finn quickly ducked his head. Anders sighed and walked over to where he was standing. He reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'm just messing with you, Finn." Finn slowly lifted his head until his gaze met Anders'. "Trust me," he said. "You don't want to hear about my family problems."

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I do."

Anders chewed his bottom lip. He patted Finn on the shoulder and turned back to his Jeep. He stepped over the items he had unloaded from his Jeep and closed the tailgate. "My sister just texted me to let me know that my dad's in the hospital."

Finn's mouth fell open. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine. Sometimes if he forgets to take his meds he gets really sick. It's happened a handful of times before."

"I'm sorry about your dad," Finn said.

"Thanks," he said. "Me, too." Anders slumped against his Jeep. He looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh. "Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your stepdad like?"

"Burt? Oh, he's pretty awesome. I mean, I used to think he was scary. You see, me and some of the guys on the football team used to pick on Kurt. We waited for them to leave one afternoon and then we took all of their lawn furniture and nailed it to the roof. Burt was pretty pissed."

Anders chuckled. "I'd be, too. Sounds like a pretty shitty prank."

Finn sighed. "Yeah – it was. Then he started dating my mom. I was really mad about that. Not so much at him though. It was Kurt's idea to hook them up." He decided to leave out the part about Kurt having a crush on him and how he had nearly ruined things between his mom and Burt after he called Kurt a really bad name. "Eventually they got married and things just sort of fell into place. Me and Burt, we spend a lot of time at his garage and it's cool having someone to watch games with. He's a pretty good stepdad."

"That sounds really nice."

"What about you?" Finn asked. "What's your dad like?"

Anders smirked. "How long you got?"

"I've got all night," Finn said.

"Hmm." Anders stroked his beard a bit. "What can I say about Representative Asher Hamilton? Well, let's just say, my dad is a politician in all facets of his life."

"I'm not sure what that means."

"When you were at home, how often did you see your stepdad?"

"Uh, well he worked during the day and of course me and Kurt were at school but we'd see him in the mornings and when he got home from work. Oh, and sometimes he'd work on the weekends but most of the time he was at home with us."

"I was lucky if I saw my dad once a month," Anders said, an edge to his voice. "And even then it was usually in short intervals. Of course, any time I brought it up my mom would make up excuses for him. I can't tell you how many times I'd hear Your dad's an important man. What kind of man is too important for his own son?

"You're real lucky, Finn. I know Burt's not your actual dad but at least he cares about you. And he comes home and spends time with you. Talks to you. Some days I wish I could just pick up the phone and talk to him without getting his stupid voicemail."

"You're right," Finn said after a few moments. "If I'm having a really bad day or I need advice or something, Burt's usually the one I go to. But then I also have Kurt." Finn grinned. "He and I have this thing where at night he'll bring me a glass of warm milk and we'll stay up and talk. Usually it's mostly him talking about some fancy scarf he saw online or something he heard about someone we know at school but Kurt's a really good listener and most of the time he gives really good advice." Finn looked over at Anders who had an amused look on his face. "I'm babbling again."

"It's fine," Anders said.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, yeah, it would be really cool if you could talk about certain things with your dad but you can also talk to other people, too. Like your friends. Or me."

"Finn Hudson," Anders casually walked over to him, stopping just a few inches in front of him. Anders' eyes bore into his own. "You are way too pure for this world."

"Um, thanks …"

Anders sighed and shook his head. "That's a compliment, Finn." He reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I really appreciate you letting me vent."

"Don't mention it." He saw out of the corner of his eye Anders' hand still on his shoulder. He then shifted his gaze back to his face. Finn noticed his lips. They were full and red. And wet. Like he had been eating strawberries. His eyes moved up to his nose which up close Finn noticed was slightly crooked, like maybe it had been broken before. His eyes continued to travel upward until brown met blue. Finn usually preferred brown eyes. Quinn and Rachel and even Puck – they all had dark brown eyes. Anders' eyes were kind and inviting.

"We should probably get this stuff inside and head back down to the lake," Anders spoke.

"Yeah," Finn said. His eyes moved from the hand still resting on his shoulder to Anders' lips which were slightly parted. All it would take is the slightest movement on his part to bring their lips together but what if he was wrong? He had been wrong about Puck. And Sam. Just because Anders was attracted to guys did not mean he was attracted to him. One wrong move and he could set fire to the nearly perfect summer he was having and then where would he be?

Anders' thumb rubbed circles into his shoulder. No, he thought to himself. He was not wrong about this. This was not Puck teasing him for shits and giggles. This was someone who over the course of several weeks had taken time to know him. Someone who went out of his way to spend time with him. Someone who was willing to get on stage in front of people and sing with him. Finn may have been wrong about Puck but not about this.

Finn crashed against his body and as their lips met Finn thought he heard fireworks.