A jerk with a savior complex.

Kayden exhaled through his nose as the screen door slammed shut, announcing her departure. In all the years he'd known Morgan, none of their spats had ever gotten so loud or explosive. He didn't know what the hell was going on. He grabbed the discarded shower items and put them back in their rightful place before returning to get something to drink. Jayden was sitting on one of the old couches when he returned.

"You alright?" Jayden asked.

"I've been better."

"Come own some noobs with me in multiplayer. You'll feel better."

Kayden didn't particularly feel like playing, but it was a better option than sulking. They were a few rounds in when Jayden broke the ice. "What was she saying about Aaron, was it? Isn't that the rich iPhone kid?"

Kayden groaned. "You were listening?"

Jayden shrugged. "Kinda hard not to. She was being pretty loud. I think the whole camp heard."

"She's something else when she's mad."

"That's for sure. Sucks to be you." Kayden reached over and punched his shoulder. "Fuck, dude!" He laughed as he rubbed his sore arm. "I don't know anything about that guy, but I know why she hates the lake."

"Because it's not pristine white sand between her toes?" Kayden teased.

Jayden froze, letting his character get taken out, and stared at Kayden, a dead serious look on his face. "You really don't know?"

"Know what?" he spat, still irritated from before.

"She had to rescue some kid from drowning when she was 12. He got knocked out doing something stupid, and she was the closest person. I was on the shore. So, she dove under to find him. It took a few tries. She had nightmares for a while, man."

"What?" Kayden was shocked. He remembered the drowning, he had just never known she was involved. Her great disdain for lake shifts finally made sense.

"She never said anything?"

"No. Just complained she didn't want to go down there. I always assumed it was just too dirty or something."

Jayden shrugged. "Well, now you know."

Fuck. All he had tried to do was get her away from Aaron. He just wanted to create a little distance. The shifts themselves would be as needed, with small groups, so it seemed like a pretty simple plan. He had nothing to punish her over. He only wanted to help her. He hated to see good people get caught up in the wrong crowd. Despite being a thorn in his side from time to time, Morgan was a good person. She had a great work ethic, had a great personality, a great smile-

"You probably shouldn't have told her what to do, either," Jayden said, interrupting his train of thought. "She's stubborn and will dig her heels in just out of spite. So, watch out."

"Sounds about right."

-.-.-.-.-.-

The more Kayden thought about it over the next few days, the worse he felt. He'd gotten into the habit of being a little harder on her over the years, especially after her grand profession of love. He had needed a way to push her away a little, and help her get over her crush. Because there was no way that was happening, and letting her down gently did not work. Once, he even went low enough to call her a dumb blonde when she didn't pick up on something right away. What started as a reason to make her dislike him, became sort of a second nature over time, and her reactions kept it going after that. She was just so easy to rile up. After a while, she'd even started to throw digs and insults his way, and it almost felt like a game they were both playing. He'd not expected to ever actually upset her. Maybe she wasn't as thick-skinned as he thought.

He was a jerk.

Friday he'd scheduled her at the pool, if he remembered right. So, after checking to confirm, he made his way down there so he could try to apologize. The pool seemed like much more neutral ground than pulling her from her cabin, or trying at the lake. There weren't too many people there when he arrived, just some younger kids who were not old enough to go on the big trip, and some whose parents opted out for various reasons. Kayden scowled when he caught sight of Aaron loitering around the vending machines. The little weasel was right where Kayden expected him to be, hanging out by the pool, waiting for Morgan. A quick glance around did not reveal her whereabouts. Kayden walked into the pool's office to check the clipboard hanging in the small room. Her name was on the paper. It wasn't like her to miss a shift. He scanned the area again when he went back outside, but still had no luck. Instead of wasting more time, Kayden strode over to the lifeguard stand and asked Justin, the lifeguard on duty, if he'd seen her.

Apparently, she'd called in sick, but Justin didn't know anything else. Skeptical, but also oddly satisfied that if she was faking it, it wasn't to hang out with Aaron, Kayden left to go to the infirmary.

Inside, he was greeted by a dark-haired teenager with a short, blue tinted bob. He recognized her as one of the girls that shared a cabin with Morgan. Even if she hadn't come in here sick, Amy, as her name tag said, could probably help him out. He couldn't imagine Morgan not being friends with every girl in that room by now. Amy knew something.

Amy approached him first. "Hello. Can I help you? Are you hurt or not well?"

"Hello, Amy. No. I'm feeling fine."

Confusion washed over her face. "Was there… something else then? Did we mess something up? I had nothing to do with that mishap with the paperwork last week."

"No, no, no. I, uh, I'm actually looking for Morgan."

"Oh?" This piqued her curiosity.

"Yeah, Justin said she called in sick. I was just checking up on that."

"Oooh," Amy said as if she'd just realized something.

"Have you seen her today? Is she here?" he asked after a pause. Amy seemed like she was nervous or didn't want to tell him something incriminating.

"No."

"Are you going to help me out, or…" he said after another short pause.

"It's just…" He waited expectantly as the girl glanced around and leaned over the counter. "She isn't feeling well."

He raised an eyebrow, not really understanding why this girl was acting so strange. "I'd gathered that."

"Yeah, but." Amy stopped and bit her lower lip. "She's not playing hooky," she spoke quickly in a single breath.

"Oh-kay. Where is she then?"

She was nervously fidgeting with a pen now. She looked around suspiciously again and then motioned for him to come close so she could whisper something. "She has cramps."

"Oh." And then it hit him. "Oooooh," Kayden stepped back suddenly, the realization settling in. So that was it? Lady problems. Morgan's lady problems. He could handle this. He'd had girlfriends before, and they - they had lady problems from time to time. He wasn't a child, and this - this was just part of life.

"So, please," she began. "Don't go bother her if it's not important. I promise she's not skipping work to be lazy."

Kayden composed himself, squared his shoulders, and nodded. "I promise."

-.-.-.-.-.-

Kayden made a quick stop at their tiny convenience store, which was literally a 15 by 15 enclosed gazebo with some shelves lined with random things one might have forgotten or missed from the outside world, and headed over to the cabins.

Everyone was gone for the morning, and it was deathly quiet. Kayden was afraid she might be asleep, judged on the lack of noise, but when he rapped the back of his knuckles on the screen door, he heard a faint "what?" and he let himself in.

She was balled up on her bunk, knees to her chest, and a sheet pulled up over her head. There was half a glass of water next to the bed with various medication bottles next to it. She didn't even peek her head out to see who it was. It was kind of pitiful, and only served to make him feel worse about the whole argument they'd had.

"Morgan?" he called out apprehensively.

Her body stiffened under the sheet before she shot up into a sitting position, hair a complete mess. "Kayden?!"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and handed the plastic bag over to her. "I, uh, ran into Amy while I was looking for you."

She glared skeptically as she took the bag and looked into it. Her eyes got big, and for a moment Kayden was terrified she was going to start crying. Instead, she let out a symphony of giggles that turned into hearty belly laughs. "You," she couldn't get the words out between laughs. "You brought me," she struggled to say, still laughing. "You got me period chocolate?!"

Kayden rolled his eyes and looked away, suddenly embarrassed. "There is some salty stuff in there, too. I didn't know what you'd like. You know, I was just trying to be nice. You don't have to tease me about it. I don't know what to do for you," he gestured at her, "for this."

She managed to stop laughing, and smiled genuinely, which was enough to ease his embarrassment and allow him to relax a bit. "It was very considerate." She motioned for him to take a seat in Rae's bunk across from her. "Why were you looking for me? I mean, I covered my shift. So, what up?" She had a bar of chocolate open by then, and placed a square in her mouth, a look of bliss washing over her features.

Kayden let out a breath and looked away, wondering if he'd be able to continue if he kept looking at her. It wasn't anything she was doing - he could ignore his treacherous thoughts to her reaction to the chocolate - or what she was wearing - was she even wearing a bra? He wouldn't dare look to check. It was just that they were very close in proximity, he told himself, and the conversation they were about to have was bound to be awkward no matter what she was doing, or wearing. "I wanted to apologize."

"For what?"

"Friday," he said matter-of-factly. What else would he be there to apologize for?

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Don't worry about it. It's fine. I'm over it."

He knew better than to believe her. "No. It's not. I have been," he paused, looking for the right word. "Unkind, in the past. I don't think you're a dumb blonde."

"Stop it. That was ages ago."

He looked at her, she was looking down at her lap, all quiet and meek looking, very un-Morgan like. He had a strong urge to comfort her, physically, but he resisted. "I'm still sorry. I was just being a dumb kid. I didn't think it'd sting. I don't think of you like I think of the other girls. You're always so confident and thick-skinned. You throw insults as well as you take them. You're like one of the guys. I should have known better, though. I'm sorry."

She looked up through her lashes at him, a quiet anger on her face. He knew he must have said something stupid, but he kept going.

"And, I didn't know about the lake. Jayden told me. I'm sorry for that, too. I just… I didn't know."

She shrugged indifferently. "It's okay."

Morgan's changing moods, laughter to anger to indifference and back again, had Kayden on edge. He came here to smooth things over, but he didn't want to leave unless she knew he was sincere, and he most definitely did not want to cause another argument. "No," he shook his head. "It's not. In the future, I hope you can tell me these things so we won't have these misunderstandings."

"The future?" she sat up, a slight grin gracing her face once more. "While that is a nice sentiment, this is my last year. As soon as I graduate in the spring, I'm gone. I'll be eighteen in the fall, you know. There will be no sending Morgan to camp next year."

"Oh." Kayden's throat suddenly felt tight. Was this really her last year?

"If it's any consolation, you were right about Aaron." She smiled, but not so sad this time. "So, congratulations if you were trying to earn some sort of mentoring achievement." Kayden smirked at this poor attempt at humor. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Did he do something to you?" Kayden asked suddenly. He wasn't sure why he was compelled to do so, maybe it was the look on her face when Aaron's name was mentioned, or maybe it was just a feeling he had in his gut, but it felt quite odd that after all her yelling about not wanting his advice, she'd suddenly decide Aaron was no good.

"No."

He didn't buy it. She seemed defensive. "What happened?"

Morgan let out a sigh of frustration. "You were just right, that's all. He's trouble. And I don't want to hang out with him anymore."

Kayden felt relieved to hear her say that, even if he was still curious of what happened. Because something happened. Now did not feel like the right time to push for that information, however, so he'd save that for another day. "I promise to resist the urge to remind you of how I was right the next time you try to tell me I'm wrong about something," he teased. She rolled her eyes at his comment, but that was the desired reaction. Things seemed to be okay, and Kayden felt like it was a good place to leave things at. "Well, I guess I'll take off. If you need anything, just say the word."

She grinned mischievously. "I could go for a Coke and some more chocolate."