Chapter Four

A Campfire, a Bed, and the Truth

And so the campfire appeared in front of them through the clearing.

All the scouts greeted Lazlo and Edward with nods and smiles.

Everyone was there! Edward was surprised. These get-togethers were usually limited to a certain number of scouts, but tonight the entire camp was there…minus a certain Scoutmaster, but when was that ever a problem?

Lazlo took a seat beside Raj and Clam and motioned for Edward to join him.

The platypus did so, but held a glare smudged across his face as he walked past the other scouts.

"Awesome! Now everyone is here!" Ping-Pong grinned, signaling that he'd be the ring-leader of the group for the evening. "We were just talking about our favorite moments at camp this summer!"

Lazlo immediately jumped up. "Oh Cool!! Can I say mine?"

Raj stood up quickly. "Wait a minute, I believe it was my turn before you arrived, Lazlo. If you don't mind, of course."

Lazlo shook his head, ears flapping. "Oh no, Raj, go right ahead!"

Edward could feel a groan about to escape his throat. He sat through everyone's sappy discussions and laughs, all the while trying to think of his own favorite moments.

Did he really have any?

He slowly realized that he in fact did, but they were all consumed with nothing but Lazlo! All the fun times he'd had were spent with the monkey, and even Raj and Clam were involved at times too.

Ugh, they better not ask me to share any of these moments. I'd rather go cliff diving without a rope!

"How about you, Edward? What was your favorite moment at camp?" Ping-Pong's voice invaded Edward's thoughts. It seemed he had just jinxed himself.

The platypus's face turned red. "Uh……"

He peeked over at Lazlo, who was nodding with encouragement for him to say something.

He looked back at everyone else, all their eyes on him. He ended up staring into the flares of the campfire to settle the nervousness he'd built up.

Oh come on, Edward! Pull yourself together! These are the same retards you've known and outsmarted all summer! You're better then all of them! You've got nothin' to lose here. He tried to prep himself.

Finally he cleared his throat. "…Well….I guess my favorite moment would have to be….." He paused again.

"…Would have to be…?" Dave and Ping-Pong both pressured him impatiently.

"Hush, I was just building dramatic effect!" Edward flapped his hand at the twins, still in a panic. Crap, what do I say??!!

Almost instinctively, Lazlo leaned in. "….how about all the moments? That's what my answer would be!"

Edward raised an eyebrow at the monkey, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah… Sure, all of the moments I guess. They're all my favorite."

This seemed to satisfy the other campers, who nodded to one another and discussed the tender notion amongst themselves.

Edward sighed in relief. "Thanks Laz."

"Happy to help!" The monkey grinned.

"You totally cheated! I saw it!" Raj snarled from the other side of Lazlo.

Edward gave the elephant a deadly scowl. "What was that, pink boy?"

"Oh, you know darn right what I said!"

Before an argument could break loose, Slinkman came into the clearing from the bushes, humming a tune. "Good evening, Bean Scouts!"

"Good evening, Mr. Slinkman." All the scouts greeted in unison.

The slug nodded. "Now, as you all know, tonight is your last night here at good ol' Camp Kidney! I know it's hard to say goodbye, but just remember, we've had 3 full months of fun and games, friends, and nature! You'll remember this summer for the rest of your lives!"

"What's that weird looking man talking about?" Chip leaned over to his brother.

Skip shrugged. "I dunno! I think it might be mores code or something."

"Who's Mores?" A pig questioned from the back of the group, who'd been eavesdropping on the beetle's conversation.

"Smores?! Oh my gosh, someone brought smores!" Samson wailed with excitement after overhearing the pig, and eventually everyone was in a commotion about where the missing smores were at.

Edward crossed his arms, cowering in disgust. I'm surrounded by losers.

"And now, without further ado, I'd like to lead all of you in a few last campfire songs before we all head off to our cabins for the night." Slinkman enjoyed his job a little too much sometimes, as any assistant scoutmaster should. Lazlo admired this.

As Slinkman pulled out his guitar and took a seat on a tree-stump in front of the fire, Edward grew bored again. More silly camp traditions. He was sick of them all.

The slug led the scouts in Kum By Ya and Edward felt like he was going to rip his ears off.

Lazlo sang loudly and proudly, as he usually did. After a few songs had passed, he noticed Edward slouched over in misery and nudged the platypus with care, trying to urge some interest.

Edward peered up at him. Lazlo insisted a smile as he sang "The more we get together, the happier we'll be" with everyone else.

Edward blushed, looked away, then looked back, cringed when he saw Lazlo's goofy grin still greeting him, and finally started singing along to satisfy the primate.

Some of the scouts noticed this and in time grew amazed at how much of a positive effect Lazlo had on the usually unhappy platypus.

There was just enough time after the songs ended to run around with friends before lights out.

"Lazlo! Come and help us catch these cute little things with lights floating around everywhere!" Raj hopped up and down, trying to cheer his monkey friend into joining him and Clam in one last game.

Lazlo smiled. "Alright! Can Edward come too?"

Raj, of course, was hesitant on this, but after seeing Clam out of the corner of his eye with an edgy expression on his face, as if to say "Remember our conversation from earlier, Raj?" , he gave up his stubbornness quickly and nodded. "Sure, I don't mind."

Lazlo got to his feet. "Hurrah! Come on, Edward!"

Edward stayed glued to the log. "That's okay. You go ahead, I'm fine here."

Lazlo was worried that Edward was still having a bad time, but then noticed that he no longer looked annoyed as he did earlier. He instead looked calm and a bit drowsy. He must have been tired, and Lazlo understood this. "Okay, I'll be back! If you'll wait for me..?"

Edward smirked. "What else have I got better to do?"

This meant yes, of course. Lazlo smiled and then ran off with Raj and Clam.

"Look! I caught one! Aww, it's adorable! What do you think they are, Lazlo?" Edward listened to Raj's voice off in the distance.

"They're fireflies, Raj! You know, bugs!" Lazlo replied to the elephant with enthusiasm.

Clam had to emphasize. "Insects!"

After a moment, a loud, girlish scream was heard echoing through the trees.

Edward couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

He watched as the three friends ran around in the trees and through the fields by the lake, laughing and enjoying themselves. Truth be told, he was stunned with himself. It usually irritated him when Lazlo went off to play with Raj and Clam, but this time he'd actually felt compassion for the three friends who hadn't gotten any time to spend with each other on their last day of camp.

The thing of it was, Lazlo gave too much attention to him. Sometimes it was better for him to insist that the monkey spend more time with his other friends, even though Edward wanted Lazlo all to himself most of the time. A large portion, anyway.

It was nice watching Lazlo jump around, being the happy and carefree person he was. Just an ignorant little kid, really. Edward basked in the thought. He closed his eyes and found tranquility sitting there on the log by the fire, listening to the sounds of scouts running around in the dark playing, and the nighttime creatures coming out to greet the world.

Maybe, he thought, Camp Kidney wasn't so bad after all?

His eyes jolted open after he thought about this and he shook the proposal away, almost ashamed with himself that he'd for a moment believed that.

He closed his eyes again. The darkness behind his eyelids was welcoming. He sat there dozing with his chin in his hands and a half grin across his face until a warm body pressed up against his back, stirring him.

He looked over his shoulder to find Lazlo nuzzled up in-between his shoulder blades.

"I thought you were with Raj and Clam."

"I was!" Lazlo insisted. "It's been over an hour, silly! They went back to the cabin already!"

Edward sat up straight. "What!? It's been that long already?!"

Lazlo giggled and swung his legs over the log to sit beside the platypus. "You must have fallen asleep!"

Edward denied it. "I was not asleep. I was….resting my eyes for a second."

Lazlo chuckled again. "It must have been a long second!"

Edward turned away. "You're impossible! I really don't feel like arguing right now!"

The clearing was so dim. All that was left of the campfire were tiny embers. The two boys sat there on the log staring down at the glowing ashes. The night was cool and refreshing, much better than the boiling heat from that afternoon.

Lazlo tilted his head upward. "Wow, look!"

Edward jumped at the sudden sound of words and looked up to see what the fuss was about.

Above the treetops, the sky was dotted with glimmering stars across the heavens. Beautiful.

It was quiet again as they both admired the sight.

"I think this is the best part about being in nature. You get the best seat in the house to the greatest show on earth, the way it was supposed to be seen! No cities or lots of people around to ruin it. Just us and the stars. It makes you think about how small we are compared to…everything! And yet, we all sorta fit into it all." Lazlo spoke with profound intellect.

Edward had never before heard Lazlo speak with such acumen. He grinned. "You're definitely a tree-hugging hippy, Lazlo…"

The monkey laughed and lifted two fingers in a peace sign.

Edward brought his knees up to his chin and hugged his legs as they continued to watch the solar system dance overhead.

Lazlo picked out an opportune moment to scoot over closer to Edward, until their shoulders were resting against one another.

Edward felt secure in the dark. The monkey couldn't see his face. For once, he didn't have to act annoyed or embarrassed. He didn't have to pretend. No one else could judge him. He enjoyed the invisibility.

He finally turned his head to look over at Lazlo, who was barely detectable in the dimly lit scene.

He could make out the outline of his face.

It was a good thing it was difficult to see anything in that darkness, because if it had been visible, Edward's expression would have had the words of every emotion he was feeling scribbled across his face, open to the world.

But he was sure Laz couldn't see a thing.

After awhile though, he could hear the monkey trying to hide laughter.

He blinked, "What's so funny?"

Lazlo leaned closer. "Nothing, you've just never looked at me like that before."

Edward's eyes widened once he realized that Lazlo could see him perfectly! Humiliation looming over him, he turned away quickly. "SO!?"

The monkey laughed a bit more under his breath and his heart softened.

For a second Edward wished he could disappear, but then feeling the burn of Lazlo's stare on his back forced him to turn back around.

Lazlo seemed so wise all of a sudden. It made Edward feel small and submissive. The monkey was studying his face intimately, seemingly memorizing each line and curvature. There was no way to erase what was already there, and Lazlo saw everything clearly. The expression. The truth.

Both their eyes locked. Brown and blue pools experiencing the most sincere communication they'd ever passed between one another.

Lazlo smiled calmly. "….I can see you, Edward."

That was it. The final straw. Edward couldn't handle it anymore! He'd tried. He'd failed. What was the use of pretending anymore? He pushed his face forward and kissed Lazlo's lips with all the hidden valor he had in him.

Caught off guard, Lazlo had to tilt in closer to return the kiss.

They'd done this before, sure. Kissing was nothing new.

But it was much different this time. It'd never been like this.

It was deeper, more meaningful, supported with new honesty.

Was it because they both knew that they might never see each other again after tomorrow?

Maybe.

Or it could have just been because they loved each other, and never really understood how much until that very instant.

When they broke the kiss, they didn't turn away like embarrassed kids. Instead they just smiled at each other in an acceptance. Edward could have died right there and been happy and satisfied with his life. But as the moment dwindled away and he buried his face into Lazlo's shirt to hide whatever else was left written there, Edward had never before wanted to continue living so much.

The walk back to the cabins was silent, but fulfilling. They walked with separate togetherness.

When they got to the point where they had to go different directions to get back to their own cabins, they stopped, unsure what to do next.

They'd been at this parting point on other nights too, and it'd been easy to toss out a simple goodnight and then walk back to their own beds, looking forward to another day ahead of them.

But tonight, of course, was unlike the others.

Edward opened his mouth to say something, but then decided otherwise. Lazlo looked around at the other cabins, already dark and quiet.

The two looked over at one another, then grinned.

"I guess….I'll see you tomorrow?" Edward spoke finally.

Lazlo nodded. "Of course!"

"You'll be here, right?…. In the morning?" The platypus kicked up a rock in the gravel with the tip of his shoe.

Lazlo wore a kindhearted expression. "I won't leave until you leave! I promise!"

"You better not! Or I'll have to hunt you down!" Although Edward said this with hostility, he ended the threat with a genuine smile, one that was rarely seen.

The thought of the word "leave" really tore at his stomach though as he turned to walk toward Pinto cabin. "….Goodnight."

Lazlo backed up slowly. "..Night."

The two walked gingerly away from each other, almost at a snail's pace.

As Edward's feet carried him further and further away, he battled with his mind.

Just ask! Do it! You've never done it before, you might never get to do it again. So just ask!!

This was over an issue he'd already wanted to face, but couldn't.

Finally, he stopped himself, took a deep agonizing breath, and turned back around with clutched fists. "Wait!"

To his surprise, the monkey was already standing beside him with a self-conscious look, playing with the edge of his shirt. "……Hey, You wanna sleep--"

"--Can I stay with you tonight!?" Edward blurted the question out quickly to ease the awkwardness of Lazlo having to finish the question himself. It wouldn't have sounded right coming from the naive monkey.

Lazlo gazed at him with a puppy-dog-like face, nodding.

"Not like that, of course!" Edward had to make sure Lazlo wasn't thinking of anything shady. But the monkey just tilted his head with curiosity. "Like what?"

Edward slumped over. "….Nothin'." He felt a bit ridiculous even considering that Lazlo would mean that kind of 'sleep over'. Before the gut-churning images of the thought crossed Edward's mind, he was greeted by Lazlo's open hand outstretched for him.

He took a small sigh of relief, then took the open hand and followed Laz back to Jelly Cabin.

They didn't bother turning on a light when they arrived. Raj and Clam were already asleep and they didn't want to cause any commotion…even though Lazlo did trip over every single object they came in contact with, making enough noise to wake a giant. Edward could have died from the anxiety. The thought of being caught by either of the monkey's pals was humiliating enough in itself! But the two managed to make it across the cabin to Lazlo's bunk without either Raj or Clam rousing.

Edward kicked off his shoes and looked across the dark room at Lazlo, who was doing the same. There was really no need for pj's. They'd already packed them anyway. Sleeping in day clothes was no problem.

Lazlo crawled up onto his bunk and fluffed up the pillow.

Edward was suddenly so unsure of himself. They'd never spent the night together before. It was a new experience for the both of them. This wasn't like a little nap in the middle of the day! No, this would involve much more intimate contact, wouldn't it?

Edward must have looked like a ripe red apple by then.

Lazlo tapped Edward on the shoulder, knocking him out of his nervous spell long enough for Lazlo to pull him onto the bed and into the covers.

Still a bit shaky, Edward tried to calm down. It was uncomfortable at first. Neither of them said anything as they nuzzled into the blankets, which made it all the more inept.

"Isn't this how we started the day?" Lazlo finally whispered, giggling.

Edward thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so, why?"

"It's just kinda funny when you think about it!"

Edward shot a daggered glance towards the monkey, who made absolutely no sense. "Just don't talk."

Lazlo buttoned his lips like a locked door, but the silence only lasted briefly before laughter escaped them again.

Edward rolled his eyes, ready to smack him in the jaw. "Why are you still laughing? It's not even funny!"

The monkey finally calmed down, "I don't know, I just like this!"

Edward grew more frustrated. Did Lazlo mean he liked sleeping together? If so, Edward would have gladly begged to differ. He felt like he was at a slumber party and got stuck sleeping next to the one kid out of the bunch who wouldn't shut up when it was time to go to sleep. This wasn't how his brothers had explained sleeping with someone was at all!

Lazlo was now composed, but still held a smile. That smile could have brought ships home from sea had it been sitting on a cliff by the ocean. He stared over at the angry platypus and thought of the millions of things he wanted to talk to him about. So many things he wanted to say, but didn't know where to begin!

"Quit smilin' like that, would yah? It's creepin' me out!"

"Sorry Edward, I'm just really happy!"

The platypus sunk into the pillow more. "You're always happy. About what, I never know."

Lazlo bit his bottom lip, thinking. The answer was simple, but he wanted to say it right. "Well…I guess I just like the way I feel when I'm with you. I'm a gazillion times happier than I ever am with anyone else!"

Edward, despite the childish tone Lazlo had said this in, enjoyed the comment and wanted to say something innocently meaningful in return, but couldn't find the words for it. He ended up just laying there staring up into Lazlo's face, examining his features and melting in his own imagination. How on earth was he going to be able to say goodbye to that annoyingly loveable grin in the morning? It should be easy, but he just couldn't do it.

Lazlo, noticing the turmoil building, hesitantly reached over through the covers and wrapped his arms around Edward's waist, pulling him as close to him as possible, their chests pressing together securely. It was an action that happened too fast to have a reaction to, and Edward just allowed the monkey to have his way, soon finding that there was no room to breathe. But that was alright, because he was too scared to breathe. He curled down below Lazlo's chin and stared solemnly into his shirt collar, breathing on the monkey's neck.

The warm breath gave Lazlo the chills.

So many things raced through Edward's mind. He didn't want to move or speak. He just wanted to lay there like that for as long as possible.

"…I'm so tired." Lazlo whined after a period of silence.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep then."

"I don't want to." Lazlo asserted.

The platypus peered up at him, their faces side by side now. "Why not? If you're so tired…" He felt exhausted too, but couldn't find it in him to sleep yet.

Lazlo had his eyes closed. "I can't go to sleep, cause if I do, then it'll be morning when I wake up, and then…--"

He was interrupted by Edward forcefully collecting his arms around the monkey's neck and embracing him tightly to end the unfriendly sentence. "Shut up. Tomorrow doesn't exist."

Lazlo thought about this. "Really?"

Edward smirked, his face still hidden in Lazlo's shoulder. "Yeah, really."

"Like a parallel universe! Cool!" The monkey could feel hot tears soaking through his shirt. "….Edward?"

The platypus sniffed and made a muffled response that sounded something like "Mm?"

Lazlo pretended not to know Edward was crying. He knew he was trying to hide it. Edward always acted so tough and compassionless, but Lazlo wasn't stupid. He knew the platypus better than he let on, and he understood how Edward must have been feeling all day, because he felt the same. He shook away the unpleasant sadness and hugged the boy more securely.

The night was flooded with a bittersweet atmosphere.

The crickets still chirped outside and the clock on Lazlo's nightstand still ticked on. Raj and Clam dreamed peacefully on the other side of the room. And the Earth still spun slowly and endlessly around them.

Time wouldn't kindly stop for anyone. That's how life is, unfair or not.

Lazlo let Edward drench his shirt with the sour anguish he had been holding in all day. He didn't try to say anything or move a muscle. He just laid there in the bunk under the cheap Camp Kidney quilts and let Edward spill his guts out quietly without words.

It wasn't long before Edward had dried his eyes, buried himself into Lazlo's warm shoulder, and made himself forget about everything.

Both of them fell asleep eventually, after a small little whisper escaped Lazlo's lips and Edward didn't hear it because he was too far lost in his own sleep to notice anything. But even though his spirit was low, the sleep he endured was the best he'd ever experienced; laying pressed into Lazlo's chest, listening to the rhythm of heartbeat and being cradled by the up and down motion of delicate breathing. He dreamed happily for once. He heard Lazlo say something, somewhere in the back of his mind.

"I love you."

Such relieving words.

[TBC