The campers had spent the darkening hours of the day playing night games in the woods. Arthur had to admit, it was a lot of fun. Most of the games involved being quiet and sneaking up on people, and Arthur was pretty good at that. He was constantly the one causing various teenage boys to shriek in terror and run for their lives.

He wasn't actually getting to as many of the boys as he could, though, for he always tried to seek out Alfred specifically. Not necessarily because he was Arthur's…particular friend, but more because he screamed like a little girl whenever he was ambushed. It was the funniest thing Arthur had ever seen.

At the moment they were playing some sort of game where a couple of insane, inbred, cannibal hillbillies were hiding out in the forest and weren't allowed to move. The campers had to sneak into the forest and find the hillbillies – preferably without being seen – and as soon as you saw a hillbilly you had to shout out and let all the other campers know. At the sound of the shout, the hillbillies were allowed to move and try to capture the campers, whilst the campers had to run for their lives back to the campfire.

And at the moment, Arthur wasn't up to be a hillbilly. He was just a vulnerable camper.

He crept through the forest, much more nervous than he would like to admit. He couldn't see a hillbilly, but maybe a hillbilly could see him! It was so easy to fall into the sinister atmosphere of the game. And the setting was eerie just in itself. The uneven, sloping land of the mountainside made navigation difficult at the best of times, let alone in the indigo blanket of the night. And there were rocky outcrops jutting up everywhere just waiting to trip him and add more cuts and bruises to the ones he had received today.

Suddenly, there was a shout from somewhere to his right of "FUCK! GET OUT OF HERE!" And that was the cue to turn tail and race for camp.

But before he even had time to gather his wits and turn around, someone had leaped out of the bushes to his left, clapped a hand over his mouth and held him tight with the other arm so he couldn't escape.

Arthur's heart was beating fast, caught up in the paranoia of the game. And when he realised it was Alfred, smiling mischievously down at him in the dark, his heart just seemed to speed up even more. They were so close. And Alfred had his hands all over him!

And suddenly, Alfred had lowered his hand from Arthur's mouth and replaced it with his lips.

They were kissing! In the middle of a game of inbred cannibal hillbillies with their friends crashing and screaming through the forest all around them!

But Arthur only realised these minor details afterwards, because at the moment he was much too occupied enjoying this kiss.

Alfred pulled away and raised a finger to his lips to signal for Arthur to keep silent, then grabbed his hand and led him quickly deeper into the forest.

"Where are we going? Shouldn't we stay close to camp to catch the others?"

"We're taking a break from the game. Wanna show you something," whispered Alfred.

They were going as fast as they could, and Arthur didn't know why. It was like they were running away from something. Although, if they were, they weren't doing a very good job, because they were making a ridiculous amount of noise: crashing through the dried leaves and grass and twigs underfoot. And it was so dark they only narrowly avoided crashing into every tree that stood in their way. Really, it would be a miracle if they came out of this without a bloody nose apiece.

The sounds of the other campers chasing and escaping each other had faded, and Alfred finally slowed down into a quick-paced march. Arthur could barely see where he was going, and felt slightly stupid clutching Alfred's hand and letting the other boy lead him along through the dark forest as if he were a child. But the American seemed to know where he was going. Or at least, he was marching very purposefully now.

"Where are we going?" he ventured to ask – hoping that the aura of purpose around his friend was founded in something other than his ego.

"It's just up ahead somewhere. Wait a sec."

Arthur allowed Alfred to lead the way. He finally realised that they had been going uphill this entire time, and was surprised that he wasn't more exhausted from all the running.

"Nearly there," panted Alfred. The climb became steeper and they really had to work on trudging up the slope through the bracken – still not letting go of each other's hand.

The trees began to thin and suddenly there was nothing. Not just no trees, but nothing at all.

They were standing on the edge of a cliff, which plummeted down into the ocean of trees below. The forest stretched out across the little round valley, the shadows of the mountain range encircling it in safety.

It was much too dark to be able to enjoy the majestic mountain scenery, so Alfred and Arthur found themselves looking up at the sky. With no civilisation for miles, the stars were startlingly bright and clear – and abundant. Arthur was sure he had never seen so many. He could even make out the blur of the milky way, something he had never managed to glimpse in England. There were too many towns, too many people there. England didn't have places like this: an empty space so, so far from the rest of the world. It was like a little paradise of night sky and glittering stars.

Arthur felt as full and peaceful as the night sky.

Alfred broke the comfortable silence. "We've got some time, 'cause the others'll be playing that game for a while and won't notice we're missing."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you'd planned this."

"I totally did!" He could hear the beam in Alfred's voice, and almost feel it in their clasped hands. "I wanted to find somewhere we could watch the sunset. But we're on the wrong side of the mountains."

Arthur smiled at the innocent sentiment behind his friend's little forced adventure. "Alfred Jones. I didn't know you were such a romantic."

"Yeah! I love all that stuff!" Alfred grinned, squeezing Arthur's hand to prove his point.

They talked without looking at each other, heads bent back as they stared up at the sparkling white points in the dark blue dome of the sky. "You must be a hit with the ladies. I bet you have tons of girlfriends."

"Arthur," Alfred said, and the gently tone of reproach was evident in his voice. Arthur glanced at him quickly and saw that he looked offended. "I want to be here with you. I'm glad I'm here with you. I don't wish you were a girl to make it even better. And I'm not the kind of guy who goes out with loads of people at once. When I like someone, that's it for me!"

"I know! I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

Arthur berated himself for accidentally letting slip some of the awkward insecurity he felt about this little relationship. He wouldn't ask, because it was so pathetic and clingy to have to say it out loud, but he really wanted to know: why do you like me?

"It's okay. I just didn't want you to think I was a player or anything." They both gave a light chuckle at such a silly notion. "Have you…um…have you ever had a crush on a boy before?"

Oh, God, Arthur didn't want to have this conversation.

Couldn't they just have this? Couldn't they just enjoy their little secluded world of stargazing and campfires and night games and hiking, where they could be happy and ignorant and naïve and not to have to worry about anything? Reality could catch up with them afterwards, but they had the rare opportunity to cut themselves off from the world and its consequences for a whole two weeks still. Did they have to think about this so hard?

"Because I haven't," Alfred continued, when Arthur didn't reply. The fact that he thought it necessary to mention that just made Arthur's heart ache. It was painfully obvious. Arthur worried what Alfred would think in the future when he looked back at this July and wondered what the hell had come over him when that British boy came to camp that one year.

"I assumed so," said Arthur, trying to smile. "I…I have. Um, had a crush on a guy before." The last part was almost whispered. Thank God they were still having this conversation while staring up at the sky, though Arthur barely even noticed the stars anymore he was so caught up in his thoughts.

He felt like Alfred would look down on him for what he had just admitted. Alfred was making such a sacrifice for Arthur – having to give up the easiness of being straight just for him, even though it was only for a few short weeks. Alfred was treating him like he was special – the only boy he'd ever liked. But now Alfred would think he was just another crush for Arthur. Just anybody else.

"But I've never told anyone!" Arthur said. Goddamn it, he didn't want to have to explain himself. He wanted Alfred to know he was special to him, too – but having to explain himself to make Alfred feel better just seemed so pathetic and needy. Alfred would think he was making it all up. "And I tried to ignore it. I've had girlfriends, too – I like girls – so I thought I could just, you know…get on with it. But…" He didn't want to have to say this – not after just two short days of 'being together' or whatever they were doing. But he wanted to make sure Alfred knew he was an exception for Arthur, just as Arthur was an exception to him. "But I like you more than…anyone."

Arthur felt like the lowest of the low. Oh, Alfred was going to think he was so pathetic, being so obsessed with him just after two days.

"Me, too!"

Arthur whipped his head back to earth and stared over at the American. Alfred was staring right back at him, looking more surprised than elated, but not necessarily looking uncomfortable with Arthur's confession. "You…you don't have to say that. I know it's stupid."

"What? No, I mean it, Artie! I like you more than I've ever liked anyone, too!" Arthur hadn't noticed when they let go of each other's hands during that awkward conversation, but now Alfred grabbed him again, by both hands, so they could face each other. "I'm so glad you said that because I wanted to, so bad, but I thought you'd laugh at me!"

"So you made me say it first?" Arthur cried out in a rage.

"I didn't make you say it, you just said it. And…thank you for saying it. It makes me so happy. And now I know I'm not stupid for feeling the same way." Alfred's expression still showed signs of disbelief, but the excitement was starting to take over. His smile was so warm, and honest and delighted right now; Arthur thought that you could put his face amongst the twinkling stars overhead and it wouldn't have looked out of place.

"Don't look so mad, Iggy." The comment shook Arthur from his thoughts, as did the warm hand sliding over his cold cheek.

"What?" he managed to get out without his tell-tale stammer.

"You look pissed off."

"I just don't like talking about that stuff. And I had to admit something so embarrassing!"

"It's not embarrassing, 'cause I feel the same! And you were really brave saying it!"

"But…" Alfred was so close now, and Arthur lost heart in his wild, worried thoughts when he realised what they were about to do.

"I like you and you like me. That's all we need to worry about, right?"

Arthur nodded, smiling, and met Alfred halfway for a kiss much deeper than any they had shared so far.

This was a secluded world where the stars were brighter, the days were warmer, and the only thing they had to worry about was the fact that they liked each other. It was a world Arthur wanted to stay in forever.

A/N: Conffession: I hate fluff. I much prefer a bucketload of UST with my fanfics. And yet I find myself writing this... I apologise for being a hypocrite...

Another confession: I don't think seventeen year old boys are this sweet and innocent. The fics of teen!USUK where they are horny and rebellious are much more realistic, in my opinion. But I am not even going to attempt to write smut, so I couldn't make them the kind of seventeen year olds I think they would actually be.