Chapter Text
They did it.
“Holy shit… is it over..?” Kaitlyn slowly lowered her weapon after trapping the werewolf in the freezer with the help of Dylan and his… lack of one hand.
They could hear sirens in the distance, help finally arriving after so many hours of torture.
“Fuck… holy shit…” Dylan breathed out, lowering himself down into a crouch as he took a moment to collect his thoughts. “This… is the last time I’m ever signing up for work at a summer camp. I swear, I need to go back to studying quantum physics.”
That got a laugh out of her, which lightened Dylan’s mood just a little bit. At least he still had a funny bone in his body.
“C’mon… let’s go explain ourselves.” Kaitlyn sighed, setting aside her weapon on a nearby table to head out the lodge, prompting Dylan to slowly stand once more. As he forces himself to walk, his eyes steal a glance at the clock just above the door.
5:59 A.M.
“Damn, wasted the whole night running around… and all I have to show for it is having one less limb to deal with.” He let out a small tsk, shaking his head at the floor before heading out of the lodge himself.
Pushing open the door, his eyes squint as the early morning sun shines brightly upon him.
6:00 A.M.
Dylan’s body gave a jolt of surprise, forcing him to abruptly stand from the bed he was lying in. “Fuck!” He inhales sharply, eyes darting around as he takes in his familiar surroundings, including a very confused looking Australian to his right.
“Uhhh, Dylan? You good, man?”
“Yeah I’m fine, totally fine, definitely doing fine.” Dylan reassured quickly, forcing his body to settle as he let out another exhale. “I had the shittiest dream ever…” He mumbled, looking down to his right arm that still held a phantom pain. Oh, thank fuck. No more being Mr. Stub…
Despite the weak reassurance, Nick didn’t look all that convinced. If anything, he somehow looked even more confused than before. “Uhhh… how long was your dream exactly? Because you were just talking to me a couple seconds ago…”
“Huh…?” Now it was Dylan’s turn to be confused, his right eyebrow raising just a little and his head tilting to the side. “Really? Huh… weird, dreams are usually short, right?” He mumbled to himself, his mind spinning a little as his thoughts became chaotic. How long was his dream? Or was it some kind of hallucination?
“Ooh, was it one of those dreams that makes you think you’re falling? I hate those.” The Aussie snickered, sitting up from his own bed as he started to toss some things into his bag.
“Y-Yeah.. a falling kind of dream… that’s definitely it…” Dylan lied quickly, rubbing the back of his neck with a weak smile. He wasn’t about to talk about how he just dreamed up a night full of running away from some werewolves.
“Soooo…. Did you get his number yet?” Nick asked, a light attempt to start up small talk as he tries to shove his clothes into a very small luggage bag, and failing.
“His… number? Whose number?” Dylan was thrown off guard by the sudden question, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he took a moment to process it.
“Whose number would I-“
Oh.
Ohhhhh.
“Uhhh… I’m guessing the only guy who you’ve been blabbering on about since he started opening up to you?” Nick gave a small scoff, shaking his head. “Who knows if you’ll ever see Ryan again after today, y’know? Gotta shoot your shot now or… I dunno.” His shoulders raised to shrug.
Dylan’s face dusted with pink, his expression becoming just a tad defensive. “Hey, I’m not that obvious … a-am I?”
He’ll admit, it is rather embarrassing to know that he was that predictable. It’s not like he was head over heels for Ryan or anything, he just… happened to have a small (read: large) crush on him.
Nick shot him a look that says otherwise, which is then followed up by someone knocking on their cabin door. Dylan nearly jumped out of his skin, still on edge from his dream. He shakes off the feeling quickly and reaches over to slowly open the door just a tiny crack, enough to poke his head out as he’s graced with the sight of Jacob, luggage tucked underneath one arm.
Déjà vu, am I right?
“Hi.” Way to play it simple, Dylan.
Jacob looked… tired. Probably the most tired Dylan had ever seen him in comparison to any prior year that he had been going to Hackett’s Quarry. “Hey.” He gave a small wave, shifting from one foot to the other. “Are you guys gonna help with the bags or what?”
His question breaks Dylan’s awkward staring streak, and he quickly goes to blink. The words fall from his mouth almost automatically as he begins to slowly close the door. “Oh, um... y'know I was actually just working on fixing... uh, the door. It's... It's broken.”
Yeah… that got a raised eyebrow from Jacob. He let out a soft sigh, rolling his eyes a little before tilting his head to the side. “Fuck, man. With this again?? ”
… Again?
Dylan blinks once more, the déjà-vu only growing stronger. This… wasn’t a dream, is it? This all... happened already. Right..? Unless he somehow gained weird ass psychic powers in a matter of minutes…
“I’m…”
He didn’t have a response to Jacob’s annoyed statement, and it took him a moment to collect himself. “Y’know what- yeah, yeah I’ll help with the bags.”
Jacob’s expression almost softened a little. Huh… “Oh… seriously? No excuse or anything?” He stared at the other man blankly for a moment, as if he really hadn’t expected that response out of him.
But of course, that look came and went. “Good.” He lightly punched Dylan in the shoulder, the action followed by a quick step back. It seemed that he had quickly returned to his usual cheery and energetic self.
“Well, c’mon, don’t just stand there like an ass.” He gave a small scoff as he lightly kicked his foot against the door. “There’s more luggage to bring to the van, y’know..”
“Yeah yeah, I know…” Dylan slowly closed the door, a small exhale leaving his lips in the process. He shook his head to himself, trying to clear his thoughts as he pushed back any intrusive ones. It was no use worrying about weird time-fuckery. Maybe it was a dream after all, and this is a false memory. Or maybe he was becoming psychic, and he would use the power for evil.
… is cheating the lottery considered evil? Fuck it, no time to think about that now.
He’s snapped out of his thoughts once more as Nick hauled his bag over one shoulder, letting out a small huff. “Can’t believe you actually wanna help out. Kinda thought you’d go the ‘bullshit excuse’ route.”
“Hey, I’ll have you know, I actually have morals.” He retorted as he followed Nick out of the cabin, grabbing his own bag beforehand. “Even I can’t be that rude all the time, y’know?”
“Wow! Huge step up for you.” Nick laughed, earning himself another eye roll as he heads over to the lodge. “Hey, I’ll be right back. I gotta go wait for Mr. H to give us back our cell phones.” He did a quick little head gesture to the larger building ahead of them.
“Right, right…” Dylan waved him off, watching the other man go. Now on his own, his thoughts were once again in a state of chaos. Everything had been going relatively similar to his dream up until this point, so what were the chances that it was an actual time-traveling dream?
… yeah, he’s probably just going insane, huh?
His mind was once more interrupted by the sound of someone else calling out to him, the sound of his name being called out causing him to look up. He quickly spotted Emma, who was heading towards him with a pep in her step.
“Dylan! Hey, can you do me a favor?”
Okay, this was new….
“Sure, sure… whaddya need?” He was a little taken back, but tried to act like everything was normal. Which, clearly, it wasn’t.
She slowed to a stop as she reached him, placing her arms on her hips with a small huff. “I was supposed to meet up with Abi at her cabin a few minutes ago, but my damn phone’s in the lodge. Can you do me a huge solid and go get it for me?” She lightly tapped a finger into the palm of his hand.
He took a few seconds to stare blankly at her, still not completely used to her using him as a personal-assistant of sorts. “Uhhh… I mean- I guess I can…? Where’s Abi’s cabin again? I kinda forgot.” He lied through his teeth.
He took a few seconds to stare blankly at her, still not completely used to her using him as a personal-assistant of sorts. “Uhhh… I mean- I guess I can…?” He should probably be in the lodge by now anyway…
“Great!” Her face lit up, a sweet smile coming onto her lips. “It’s on one of the tables, you should see it when you go up the stairs. Thanks so much, you’re a doll.” She started to turn away, but quickly spun back around. “Oh, and if you do run into Abi, send her my way!”
He didn’t bother saying ‘no problem’ before she quickly headed off, leaving him standing by the lodge. A small sigh left his lips as he shook his head, and he started walking over to the lodge…
For the second time in a row. (Allegedly)
He’s at least a bit late this time. Because if he remembers correctly, Nick should’ve gotten the phones back by now and—
… oh.
Oh no.
His head turns to stare up at the balcony instinctively, and he’s then graced with the sight of Nick holding Jacob’s phone in the air like Baby Simba. “Hey, Jacob!”
The jock turns his attention away from his conversation with Kaitlyn for a moment, eyes widening.
“Oh, hey! Gimme.” Nick threw the phone towards Jacob with a little smirk, who barely managed to catch it in time. “Oh! Oh man, good save.” The Aussie cheered, quickly heading back down the stairs as Jacob did a little victory dance.
“Freak.” Kaitlyn mumbled.
As he watched them banter, Dylan’s thoughts slowly returned to a chaotic state. In his ‘dream’, he was up on that balcony with Nick, taunting Jacob together. But the thing is, Jacob never caught his phone in time… and it ended up shattering onto the ground.
… so how the hell did he manage to catch it this time??
Did him not making it to the balcony on time cause that to happen instead?
He didn’t realize that he was staring at them until Jacob started to turn, the jock’s eyes locking with his. That cheerful smile faded ever so slightly, and in came that same look of confusion as before.
“… what, got somethin’’ ya wanna say?” Nick asked in a teasing tone, nudging the taller male with his elbow.
Jacob only tore his gaze away from Dylan to look at Nick for a moment, before looking back at the man downstairs for a little bit longer. He seemed… slightly unsure about something. “Uhhh… no. No I’m… I’m fine. Just…” He slowly shrugged his shoulders, looking away. “Nothing. Just a bit bummed about this being our last day together.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it.” Nick lightly patted his shoulder, giving him a warm smile. “Hey, we’ll still be in touch, yeah? It’s not like we’re gonna never see each other again. We got phones, dumbass!”
“Mmm, y’know that’s not exactly what I meant, moron.” Jacob rolled his eyes, a small scoff leaving his lips as he lightly punched the other man’s shoulder back. Though that frown remained on his face.
“Oh, what, you gonna miss me? You’ll miss my handsome face and wonderful personality?” Nick flashed a big grin as he gave a soft scoff, dramatically placing a hand to his heart.
That prompted a laugh out of Jacob, a lighthearted and yet soft sound as a small smirk came to his lips. “Oh don’t be so full of yourself, you’re not the one with the handsome face.”
He quickly shoved Nick’s hand away, still snickering a little at his egotistical antics before glancing back over to steal a glance from Dylan. “The nerve of this guy, am I right?”
“Hey, there’s no one more gorgeous than me-“ Nick’s response was quickly cut off by a hand lightly flicking the back of his head. He jumped with a small yelp, the words dying on his lips as he quickly spun around and shot a playful glare at the one who did it. “Kaitlyn!”
“Shut up and give me my phone already.” she held her hand out, which then prompted him to reach into his back pocket to hand the cellphone to its rightful owner. “Here you are, meanie…”
“Oh thank God, I mean I get the whole 'no technology' thing, but take me back, world!” Kaitlyn pumped a fist into the air before she starts looking through her socials.
“You would've thought Mr. H could have like charged up our phones like a little bit.” Jacob grumbled under his breath.
“Nothing's ever your fault, is it?” Kaitlyn shot back with a long sigh.
The jock let out a dramatic scoff, his hands raising up. “Well excuse me! I’m an innocent little bean. Nothing bad ever happens on my watch!”
Kaitlyn slowly raised an eyebrow, giving him a long look of doubt before glancing over to Nick. “You believe that?”
“Not for a second.” came the Aussie’s quick response.
His shoulders slumped as the two of them doubted him, his expression becoming comically offended. “Betrayed by my so called ‘best friends’!” He dramatically placed a hand over his heart, slowly bringing over his other hand to hold his weight as he ‘reeled back’ with a scoff. “Oh, you wound me.”
….Okay, this was also new. Jacob is a lot less… pissy about things. That’s good..? Maybe? Dylan didn’t really know. He could barely stand still without dissociating right now.
Dylan felt his entire soul sink into the bottom of his gut the second Jacob tried turning on the van with very little success. And by very little, he means none.
“What's the problem?” Chris frowned, hands on hips as his expression grew considerably more concerned as the seconds ticked by.
“The van won’t start.” Came the simple and obvious response as Jacob leaned back a bit, giving an awkward shrug.
“Yeah, I can see that.” Chris mumbled almost bitterly.
“Alright lemme try.” Ryan spoke up, taking a small step forward before being stopped by Jacob. “What? Dude, I'm telling you, alright, it's busted!”
“Well maybe you're doing it wrong-“
“No, I swear to-“
“Alright, alright, enough you two.” Chris stepped in before things could escalate.
Jacob huffed, a scowl on his face, but didn’t try to interrupt him any further.
“So you're telling me that the van, which has been in prime condition this entire summer, just so conveniently gives out on it's last day of use?” Chris questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow once more.
Dylan watched them from behind, biting at his bottom lip. He knew the van wasn’t going to work, because it didn’t work last time. So why would it work now? He felt nauseous more than anything. Nausea and dread.
Chris tries to start the van again, but all the vehicle does is sputter from its engine like a dying horse. “Dammit! I thought I told you kids to check everything!”
“We did! It- It should be working..” Kaitlyn stammered out nervously.
“Yeah, well... coulda and shoulda doesn't mean it is, does it? Dammit!” Chris then angrily slams the hood down with force, causing even Dylan to flinch despite him knowing how he’d react.
Jacob took a few steps back, as if trying to remove himself from the conflict entirely. He had a look of unease plastered all over his face, similar to Dylan.
“S-So what, do we just stay here for another night..?” Kaitlyn suggested, and Chris immediately whipped his head to face her. “NO. No. Hold on. Let me think.”
Chris stood there for a few moments in thought, running a hand down his face in the process, taking a deep breath to calm down. “Okay. Dammit. You're right. You're right, yeah. Yeah, you're right.”
“What??” Ryan starts to frown, looking weirdly betrayed as Mr. H headed over to his own car. “C’mon, I need to talk to you.” The boy raises a brow at him, yet follows him over anyway.
Jacob just stares after the two with a blank look, and Dylan could almost see the gears in his head turning.
Emma let out a huff, her arms crossing. “Ugh, this sucks.” Nick nodded in agreement, but didn’t chime in any further.
Kaitlyn was silently gnawing on her thumbnail, her nerves getting the better of her as she shot a concerned look in Ryan and Chris’s direction.
They all flinch and turn their heads after Jacob goes and claps his hands loudly together. “Alright, alright, alright, Hacketteers! Party planning committee. Let's do this! Um, okay. First things first, Nick and Abi... you go get some firewood. Uh... Emma and….” His voice died out a little, which immediately grabbed Dylan’s attention.
Emma looked over to him as well after hearing the pause. “Huh? What, you can’t remember my name already?” She asked with a scoff, but that didn’t seem to cause any kind of reaction from the jock. He was still staring blankly in their direction with a stoic expression, and Dylan felt his brain short circuiting.
Why did he pause when saying her name? What was happening? If memory serves him well, which it always does, he should be assigning himself and Emma to go to the store for supplies…
So why isn’t he saying it??
Emma was now staring with a confused expression, slowly stepping forward. “Are you okay, dude-“
Jacob quickly snapped himself back to reality, shaking his head. “I’m fine! I’m fine, I’m good. I’m fine…”
“You don't look fine…?” Nick commented with a raised eyebrow, stepping over to him.
“Shut up I look perfect.” The jock insisted, his tone having a bit of an edge to it as he went ahead and put his hands together once more. “As I was saying… Emma will figure out how to charge the phones or something…”
“What, am I supposed to use my woman powers to magically fix it or something?” Emma huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave Jacob an unamused expression.
He let out a soft sigh, running a hand over his face to keep himself calm. “Look, just… try whatever you can, figure it out or something. Um…” His eyes darted around the group again, like he’s contemplating his choice. “Dylan and I will check out the store for supplies.”
Wait WHAT.
Hold up.
That’s a new one.
Because PARDON??
Dylan immediately felt a rush of panic course through his veins, almost taking an involuntary step back. Okay, now this… this is new territory. He and Jacob had never been paired up together in his ‘dream’, so what the hell was gonna happen this “second time around”?
“Sounds good to me.” Nick shrugged, and it didn’t take long for everyone else to get on board with the plan.
Aside from Dylan of course, who’s still in the middle of internally panicking.
“Alright then, great! Awesome!” Jacob gave a small clap of his hands again, his smile being a little more forced this time around. He definitely seemed a little out of it, but at this point who in the hell cares, right?
Kaitlyn was the first to head off, and Nick was right behind her. Emma gave a small scoff and shook her head. “Good luck with those two together…” She muttered before also heading off, leaving Dylan alone with Jacob.
The two of them didn’t say anything for a few moments…
They made brief eye contact for just a moment, which made Dylan’s heart rate spike, before looking away almost immediately. This felt so surreal to him for some reason. It felt like he was watching a scene from a movie that he’s seen for the 15th time already, but this time there was a brand new extra scene tacked in for the thrill of it.
“So… um….” Dylan finally broke the silence, his eyes darting in every which direction to keep himself from giving out.
“… is this a bonding moment or something?”
“Yeah… I think this is my version of a bonding moment.” Jacob half-jokingly replied with a small nod, shoving his clenched fists into the pockets of his jeans.
He silently stood there for a moment, his eyes flickering to glance at Dylan before being averted again. “We should… probably, uh, get going?”
“R-Right! Yeah, right, that is… good plan..” Another nervous chuckle left Dylan’s lips as he gave a small nod in agreement, taking a tentative step forward.
Dear god, what the hell is happening?