Here We Go Again
Title: Here We Go Again
Characters: Band centric [Simple Plan]
Rating: R
Category: AU, Comedy, Drama
Warning: Language, Slash
Pairing: Pierre/Chuck
Summary:
oh baby can't you see there ain't no place I'd rather be
Disclaimer: I don't own them. And if I knew them personally, I probably wouldn't write this.
-
Here We Go Again Chapter Nine
Chuck walked across the basketball court toward a set of bleachers where Chelsea was sat at the very top. The entire gymnasium echoed with the sound of four groups of Sixteens campers playing dodgeball as he walked along and avoided getting hit by any stray tosses. The bleachers lined the walls of the gym, and they were pushed in for the time being; only the top rows were usable and they could only be reached if you were to climb up the rest like a ladder.
"You know, I could help you if you asked," Chelsea commented distractedly as she watched over the war scene before her. "No one needs that wound of yours opening up again."
"Shut up," Chuck muttered with a laugh as he pulled himself up and sat next to her. The two of them smirked knowingly at the gauze pad that was taped over his shoulder; just a few days prior was the annual camp scavenger hunt. "I still can't believe he threw me into the bin." Chuck groaned and rolled his eyes, though he was grinning all the same. "He was waiting at our bin when my group got back; fine. There was no reason for him to pick me up and dump me inside."
"Well, it's tradition!"
"But he wasn't even playing - and I wasn't wearing anything that was on the list this year!"
"Aside from the part where you got hurt, you're being a baby about it," Chelsea rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter if it helped your team or not, he wanted to keep up with the tradition. It's not like he was trying to cut your arm on the bin."
Shaking his head, he looked down at the patch on his arm and gave a shrug. "Yeah, I guess it's not so bad; could have been worse. The only reason it's still covered is because they re-wrapped it while I was at the infirmary this morning."
Chelsea laughed again and leaned back against the wall. "Yeah, well, you don't want to make those girls mad. How does Pierre like that you can't swim while wearing that thing? He must be hating it."
There was a silence between the two then, despite the exciting game happening on the court in front of them. When it dragged just a moment too long, Chelsea arched a brow and looked over to see Chuck sitting and watching the game with a weak interest. She suspected he was thinking about more than just dodgeball.
"What's up?" She prodded and gave his knee a light slap.
He shrugged, "Nothing. I haven't been up to swim lately, actually."
A nod, "I figured."
"How come you figured that?"
"I had swimming with Angie this morning," Chelsea confessed. "She said she's been up at the pool the last few nights."
Chuck heaved a sigh and dropped his head back against the wall. "How long have you known that she goes up to the pool at night?"
"A while. Why? Didn't you know?"
He lifted a hand and rubbed his face. "I found out a while ago. She came up while I was already at the pool."
Chelsea began to chuckle, "Please tell me she walked in on the two of you making out."
"Ugh, no," he gave an exasperated sigh. "She was like ten seconds too soon and ruined the whole moment."
"There was a moment?"
"Oh, yeah, there was a moment. And then she came up out of nowhere and the next thing I know, they're racing each other across the pool."
Chelsea laughed and shook her head. "Aw, I'm sorry she ruined your alone time. She did lose her race, though, right? She's always saying that she never beats Pierre."
"Yeah," Chuck confirmed and settled back into his lax position. "She tells you about going up to the pool, then? Like, all the time?"
It was impossible to help feeling for him right then. "Yeah, she does," Chelsea nodded. "And you can stop sulking right now," she pushed him by the arm-but lower than where his bandage was and he hissed anyway-and was pleased when he looked over at her. "Nothing besides racing and swimming has gone on up there."
He gave her an unimpressed look. The two stared at one another before he sighed. "I know. I'm just being dumb. It's just... it's weird that she actually hits on him. I shouldn't care, though; you do it all the time."
"Well, when I hit on Sebastien, I mean I don't really think I expect him to take the bait. It's more like it's just for fun. He's my friend; he gets it." The both of them had a brief moment of concern when one of the boys below was struck particularly hard by a dodgeball to the face, but when he simply grabbed it and threw it back across the line, they settled back. "Besides," she added when all the crisis was gone, "if Sebastien ever seriously tried to hit on me back, I'd kill him."
At hearing this, Chuck snapped his head in her direction and let out a laugh. "You'd kill him? Really? I didn't think that would be your first reaction."
"He's got a boyfriend, whom I happen to think is a very nice person. I might want to bang him, but I'm not going to help him be an asshole."
There was no arguing with her logic there. Chuck nodded and folded his arms across his chest as he observed the game. The sides were set up so that it was his and Lauren's groups versus Chelsea and Patrick's, and so far, it looked like Chelsea's side was thinning out more than his. "Well, since you know her better than I do, do you think Angela has morals as strong as yours?"
Chelsea shook her head and looked over at her friend. "You can trust Pierre, Chuck."
He turned his head to give her a very stern look. "I do trust Pierre. Completely. What I asked, was if you trusted Angela."
She exhaled slowly and crossed her arms. "No, I don't think I'd trust her."
Late at night and time to sleep, but there would be none of that, not yet, anyway. The last two hours had been spent hanging around in Sebastien and Patrick's bunk, talking with their campers, and eating Oreos. Whatever problems had been going on in the beginning of the summer within their bunk, they had been smoothed over by now, what with the season half over. With enough loosening up and paling around with their campers, spending nights allowing them to stay up and mingle a bit later than usual, the boys of Cabin 2 had all settled down into one big family. Chuck admired the way it had all resolved.
After having bid them goodbye, Chuck was left with a choice: Go back to his bunk, or go visit Pierre. The two hadn't spent any real quality time together since two days ago when Pierre had popped in on the campers and counselors eating dinner, and even that had been fairly short-lived. Chuck's decision was easy. He bypassed his cabin and headed across the lawn; he could see that the overhead lights at the pool were turned on. Before he got near the pool, however, the lights were turned off, and he saw Pierre coming out of the gate with Angela behind him. Chuck slowed his pace as he watched Pierre and Angela talk, and then Angela walked off before Pierre was through locking the gate. When he finally turned and began heading back to his own cabin, Chuck moved his own feet and followed.
Pierre kept his head down and used his towel to dry out the water from his ear. Stupid him, he forgot his iPod tonight, and now, here he was, walking back to his bunk on his own-and early at that! He usually stayed up at the pool at least another half hour. But tonight just wasn't a night he felt like swimming; Angela had seen him on his way up to the pool and joined him right away. Fond as he was of her company, he had been hoping that maybe Chuck would come and join him tonight. He gave it a half hour, but once it seemed like Chuck wasn't coming, Pierre had told Angela that he was simply not in the mood to race tonight, and they'd set to turn in.
Suddenly, there was the distinct cracking sound of a stick, and Pierre knew that he hadn't stepped on anything. He stopped his trek and turned around, and a large smile splayed across his face as he saw Chuck approaching him. "Hey," he said and waited for Chuck to catch up. The two linked hands and kissed briefly, "Just the person I wanted to see tonight."
"Oh, yeah?" Chuck laughed.
"Yeah," Pierre nodded and gave Chuck's hands, still held in his own, a light squeeze. "Hey, I was just headed back to my bunk. Come on, since you missed the swimming tonight." He tugged his boyfriend forward a step.
"Aw, I was missed at the pool?" His question earned a laugh from Pierre. "I didn't think I was."
Arching an eyebrow, Pierre stopped pulling Chuck back toward the Games Crew bunks. "What do you mean?"
Chuck shrugged, "Was Angie up at the pool with you?"
"Yeah," Pierre shrugged. He could sense where this conversation was headed, but he couldn't really figure why. It was probably best to just go with things, though; Chuck had a pointed edge to his voice. "What's wrong with that?" Angie had been up to swim with him plenty of times before...
There was an obvious switch in Chuck's mood, not only could Pierre see it on his face, but he could practically feel the air thickening. "Is there something wrong?" Chuck rolled his eyes and Pierre thought he would drop his hands, but their fingers remained linked. "What do you think is wrong with that, Pierre? She likes you!"
He was barely able to handle this accusation. "What? You think I'm - " Pierre squeezed Chuck's fingers tighter and tried to pull his boyfriend closer, but Chuck's feet didn't budge. Fine, if Chuck could be stubborn about this, then Pierre could, too. "Oh, come on, you know nothing is going on there. We're just swimming."
"And why do you think she's following you up to the pool every night?" The question was rhetorical, that much was obvious. "Why do I waste valuable hours of sleep just to sit up there and watch you do laps, Pierre? She wants in your pants!"
"Well, it's not like she's getting in!" Pierre defended.
Chuck could think of no response. He blinked a few times, and Pierre licked his lips in anticipation of the next lashing. He was more worried by the second at where this was headed - for the life of him, he couldn't even think of where it was coming from. Finally, with a sigh, Chuck let go of Pierre's hands and turned around.
Pierre stood for a few moments and watched him walk away, paralyzed with shock. When it all sank in, when he realized what was happening, he hopped into a jog, headed after his boyfriend. "Hey, wait!" He called ahead and grabbed Chuck's arm when he finally caught up with him. Chuck didn't turn-he barely slowed down-he only stopped when Pierre rounded in front of him and stood in his way. There was a very distinct look of irritation on his face. "Are we in a fight?" Pierre asked, slightly out of breath from his run. Chuck's expression didn't change. "You're going to just leave us in the middle of a fight? You can't do that now!"
"What am I supposed to do? Act like it doesn't bother me that half the camp thinks the two of you are snuggling up in the storage shed on your afternoons off?" Pierre's mouth opened and then closed again. Before he could say anything in his defense, Chuck went on, "Or that you've never tried to stop them from thinking that the half-naked girl who's been trying to bang you all summer is getting anywhere? You didn't even think it was at all important to tell me! I'm - I'm upset about it right now."
Silence. Pierre had no idea why Chuck had decided to say all of this tonight, especially when all Pierre had wanted for the evening was to see Chuck for a few minutes. This wasn't at all how he'd thought their encounter might have gone. Chuck was clearly waiting for a response now, and Pierre had no idea what he could say to him. Chuck didn't really think he would have done anything with Angela, did he?
"Nothing was happening," he stated finally. Although Chuck didn't say anything, and his facial expression barely changed, his eyes were somehow growing darker. "I never said anything because there wasn't anything to say. It was all harmless."
"Harmless to you." Pierre's face fell. Had he really been wrong in just brushing off Angela without even mentioning her to Chuck? He'd never really thought that much about it before. Chuck shrugged. "I guess I don't have anything to say to you either right now."
And with that, Chuck turned and left. Pierre stood and watched him walk for a moment, but he knew better than to follow this time; Chuck's last statement had said it all: They wouldn't talk about this anymore tonight. Before Chuck got to rounding the corner of their old bunk, Pierre turned around and headed for his.
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Characters: Band centric [Simple Plan]
Rating: R
Category: AU, Comedy, Drama
Warning: Language, Slash
Pairing: Pierre/Chuck
Summary:
oh baby can't you see there ain't no place I'd rather be
Disclaimer: I don't own them. And if I knew them personally, I probably wouldn't write this.
-
Here We Go Again Chapter Nine
Chuck walked across the basketball court toward a set of bleachers where Chelsea was sat at the very top. The entire gymnasium echoed with the sound of four groups of Sixteens campers playing dodgeball as he walked along and avoided getting hit by any stray tosses. The bleachers lined the walls of the gym, and they were pushed in for the time being; only the top rows were usable and they could only be reached if you were to climb up the rest like a ladder.
"You know, I could help you if you asked," Chelsea commented distractedly as she watched over the war scene before her. "No one needs that wound of yours opening up again."
"Shut up," Chuck muttered with a laugh as he pulled himself up and sat next to her. The two of them smirked knowingly at the gauze pad that was taped over his shoulder; just a few days prior was the annual camp scavenger hunt. "I still can't believe he threw me into the bin." Chuck groaned and rolled his eyes, though he was grinning all the same. "He was waiting at our bin when my group got back; fine. There was no reason for him to pick me up and dump me inside."
"Well, it's tradition!"
"But he wasn't even playing - and I wasn't wearing anything that was on the list this year!"
"Aside from the part where you got hurt, you're being a baby about it," Chelsea rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter if it helped your team or not, he wanted to keep up with the tradition. It's not like he was trying to cut your arm on the bin."
Shaking his head, he looked down at the patch on his arm and gave a shrug. "Yeah, I guess it's not so bad; could have been worse. The only reason it's still covered is because they re-wrapped it while I was at the infirmary this morning."
Chelsea laughed again and leaned back against the wall. "Yeah, well, you don't want to make those girls mad. How does Pierre like that you can't swim while wearing that thing? He must be hating it."
There was a silence between the two then, despite the exciting game happening on the court in front of them. When it dragged just a moment too long, Chelsea arched a brow and looked over to see Chuck sitting and watching the game with a weak interest. She suspected he was thinking about more than just dodgeball.
"What's up?" She prodded and gave his knee a light slap.
He shrugged, "Nothing. I haven't been up to swim lately, actually."
A nod, "I figured."
"How come you figured that?"
"I had swimming with Angie this morning," Chelsea confessed. "She said she's been up at the pool the last few nights."
Chuck heaved a sigh and dropped his head back against the wall. "How long have you known that she goes up to the pool at night?"
"A while. Why? Didn't you know?"
He lifted a hand and rubbed his face. "I found out a while ago. She came up while I was already at the pool."
Chelsea began to chuckle, "Please tell me she walked in on the two of you making out."
"Ugh, no," he gave an exasperated sigh. "She was like ten seconds too soon and ruined the whole moment."
"There was a moment?"
"Oh, yeah, there was a moment. And then she came up out of nowhere and the next thing I know, they're racing each other across the pool."
Chelsea laughed and shook her head. "Aw, I'm sorry she ruined your alone time. She did lose her race, though, right? She's always saying that she never beats Pierre."
"Yeah," Chuck confirmed and settled back into his lax position. "She tells you about going up to the pool, then? Like, all the time?"
It was impossible to help feeling for him right then. "Yeah, she does," Chelsea nodded. "And you can stop sulking right now," she pushed him by the arm-but lower than where his bandage was and he hissed anyway-and was pleased when he looked over at her. "Nothing besides racing and swimming has gone on up there."
He gave her an unimpressed look. The two stared at one another before he sighed. "I know. I'm just being dumb. It's just... it's weird that she actually hits on him. I shouldn't care, though; you do it all the time."
"Well, when I hit on Sebastien, I mean I don't really think I expect him to take the bait. It's more like it's just for fun. He's my friend; he gets it." The both of them had a brief moment of concern when one of the boys below was struck particularly hard by a dodgeball to the face, but when he simply grabbed it and threw it back across the line, they settled back. "Besides," she added when all the crisis was gone, "if Sebastien ever seriously tried to hit on me back, I'd kill him."
At hearing this, Chuck snapped his head in her direction and let out a laugh. "You'd kill him? Really? I didn't think that would be your first reaction."
"He's got a boyfriend, whom I happen to think is a very nice person. I might want to bang him, but I'm not going to help him be an asshole."
There was no arguing with her logic there. Chuck nodded and folded his arms across his chest as he observed the game. The sides were set up so that it was his and Lauren's groups versus Chelsea and Patrick's, and so far, it looked like Chelsea's side was thinning out more than his. "Well, since you know her better than I do, do you think Angela has morals as strong as yours?"
Chelsea shook her head and looked over at her friend. "You can trust Pierre, Chuck."
He turned his head to give her a very stern look. "I do trust Pierre. Completely. What I asked, was if you trusted Angela."
She exhaled slowly and crossed her arms. "No, I don't think I'd trust her."
Late at night and time to sleep, but there would be none of that, not yet, anyway. The last two hours had been spent hanging around in Sebastien and Patrick's bunk, talking with their campers, and eating Oreos. Whatever problems had been going on in the beginning of the summer within their bunk, they had been smoothed over by now, what with the season half over. With enough loosening up and paling around with their campers, spending nights allowing them to stay up and mingle a bit later than usual, the boys of Cabin 2 had all settled down into one big family. Chuck admired the way it had all resolved.
After having bid them goodbye, Chuck was left with a choice: Go back to his bunk, or go visit Pierre. The two hadn't spent any real quality time together since two days ago when Pierre had popped in on the campers and counselors eating dinner, and even that had been fairly short-lived. Chuck's decision was easy. He bypassed his cabin and headed across the lawn; he could see that the overhead lights at the pool were turned on. Before he got near the pool, however, the lights were turned off, and he saw Pierre coming out of the gate with Angela behind him. Chuck slowed his pace as he watched Pierre and Angela talk, and then Angela walked off before Pierre was through locking the gate. When he finally turned and began heading back to his own cabin, Chuck moved his own feet and followed.
Pierre kept his head down and used his towel to dry out the water from his ear. Stupid him, he forgot his iPod tonight, and now, here he was, walking back to his bunk on his own-and early at that! He usually stayed up at the pool at least another half hour. But tonight just wasn't a night he felt like swimming; Angela had seen him on his way up to the pool and joined him right away. Fond as he was of her company, he had been hoping that maybe Chuck would come and join him tonight. He gave it a half hour, but once it seemed like Chuck wasn't coming, Pierre had told Angela that he was simply not in the mood to race tonight, and they'd set to turn in.
Suddenly, there was the distinct cracking sound of a stick, and Pierre knew that he hadn't stepped on anything. He stopped his trek and turned around, and a large smile splayed across his face as he saw Chuck approaching him. "Hey," he said and waited for Chuck to catch up. The two linked hands and kissed briefly, "Just the person I wanted to see tonight."
"Oh, yeah?" Chuck laughed.
"Yeah," Pierre nodded and gave Chuck's hands, still held in his own, a light squeeze. "Hey, I was just headed back to my bunk. Come on, since you missed the swimming tonight." He tugged his boyfriend forward a step.
"Aw, I was missed at the pool?" His question earned a laugh from Pierre. "I didn't think I was."
Arching an eyebrow, Pierre stopped pulling Chuck back toward the Games Crew bunks. "What do you mean?"
Chuck shrugged, "Was Angie up at the pool with you?"
"Yeah," Pierre shrugged. He could sense where this conversation was headed, but he couldn't really figure why. It was probably best to just go with things, though; Chuck had a pointed edge to his voice. "What's wrong with that?" Angie had been up to swim with him plenty of times before...
There was an obvious switch in Chuck's mood, not only could Pierre see it on his face, but he could practically feel the air thickening. "Is there something wrong?" Chuck rolled his eyes and Pierre thought he would drop his hands, but their fingers remained linked. "What do you think is wrong with that, Pierre? She likes you!"
He was barely able to handle this accusation. "What? You think I'm - " Pierre squeezed Chuck's fingers tighter and tried to pull his boyfriend closer, but Chuck's feet didn't budge. Fine, if Chuck could be stubborn about this, then Pierre could, too. "Oh, come on, you know nothing is going on there. We're just swimming."
"And why do you think she's following you up to the pool every night?" The question was rhetorical, that much was obvious. "Why do I waste valuable hours of sleep just to sit up there and watch you do laps, Pierre? She wants in your pants!"
"Well, it's not like she's getting in!" Pierre defended.
Chuck could think of no response. He blinked a few times, and Pierre licked his lips in anticipation of the next lashing. He was more worried by the second at where this was headed - for the life of him, he couldn't even think of where it was coming from. Finally, with a sigh, Chuck let go of Pierre's hands and turned around.
Pierre stood for a few moments and watched him walk away, paralyzed with shock. When it all sank in, when he realized what was happening, he hopped into a jog, headed after his boyfriend. "Hey, wait!" He called ahead and grabbed Chuck's arm when he finally caught up with him. Chuck didn't turn-he barely slowed down-he only stopped when Pierre rounded in front of him and stood in his way. There was a very distinct look of irritation on his face. "Are we in a fight?" Pierre asked, slightly out of breath from his run. Chuck's expression didn't change. "You're going to just leave us in the middle of a fight? You can't do that now!"
"What am I supposed to do? Act like it doesn't bother me that half the camp thinks the two of you are snuggling up in the storage shed on your afternoons off?" Pierre's mouth opened and then closed again. Before he could say anything in his defense, Chuck went on, "Or that you've never tried to stop them from thinking that the half-naked girl who's been trying to bang you all summer is getting anywhere? You didn't even think it was at all important to tell me! I'm - I'm upset about it right now."
Silence. Pierre had no idea why Chuck had decided to say all of this tonight, especially when all Pierre had wanted for the evening was to see Chuck for a few minutes. This wasn't at all how he'd thought their encounter might have gone. Chuck was clearly waiting for a response now, and Pierre had no idea what he could say to him. Chuck didn't really think he would have done anything with Angela, did he?
"Nothing was happening," he stated finally. Although Chuck didn't say anything, and his facial expression barely changed, his eyes were somehow growing darker. "I never said anything because there wasn't anything to say. It was all harmless."
"Harmless to you." Pierre's face fell. Had he really been wrong in just brushing off Angela without even mentioning her to Chuck? He'd never really thought that much about it before. Chuck shrugged. "I guess I don't have anything to say to you either right now."
And with that, Chuck turned and left. Pierre stood and watched him walk for a moment, but he knew better than to follow this time; Chuck's last statement had said it all: They wouldn't talk about this anymore tonight. Before Chuck got to rounding the corner of their old bunk, Pierre turned around and headed for his.
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