Bunkd Lou Ravi Sunflowers in September

Climb a Tree

Ravi had spent the last five minutes searching the path that led from the Great Lawn to the forest. He carried a flashlight even though everything was pretty well lit because of the clear night sky and the lamp posts placed around the camp. He heard a hooting sound and lifted the light to a tree to see shadows against the leaves.

"Sometimes I wish we'd never built this palace..." he heard a voice singing in the trees.

"Lou?" He called out as he followed the sound.

"...but real love is never a waste of time."

He lifted his flashlight to see Lou tucked against the branches above him in a large tree. She was frowning up at the sky with her head resting against the trunk of the tree.

He put one hand on his hip during his rant while keeping the light pointed toward Lou. "Lou! You're ten minutes late for the clean-up committee. And you know that if you don't show up, then I'll be the one to do all of the work because Emma and Xander are absolutely no help!"

Lou exhaled loudly and then continued to sing. "And I know we'll both move on..."

"Lou!"

"Dang it, Ravi! Can't you see I'm busy sulking," Lou huffed. She leaned away slightly from the tree to give him an annoyed look. "Just make the rest of the cleaning crew help you."

Ravi dropped his shoulders and argued back, "You know they won't listen to me. The only time anyone does any work is after you start yelling country idioms at them."

Lou rested her head against the tree trunk again. She gazed up at the stars in hopes that their beauty would change her mood. But she still hurt. She said, "Sorry, Ravi. I just...I can't." She sniffled as the memory of that morning resurfaced.

Ravi took a step toward the tree as he watched her stare up at the sky. He couldn't see her perfectly, but even at this distance she looked pretty. He shook his head and reminded himself not to think those types of thoughts about his friend.

He asked in a less frustrated tone, "Why are you up there?"

"Zuri overheard Marcus ask Cindy to be his date to the party across the lake tomorrow," Lou replied.

Ravi knew that Marcus, the counselor from Badger cabin, had been hanging out with Lou a lot lately. He had figured that it would only be a matter of time before the two of them started dating. Ravi liked Marcus. So even though he wasn't looking forward to being a fifth wheel whenever they hung out with Emma and Xander, he was happy for his friend.

"Doesn't it seem a bit premature to be singing love ballads off-key in a tree when we can't even be sure that Zuri heard correctly?" Ravi asked as crossed his arms. It was a little chilly outside and he wished he had brought a jacket.

"No," Lou said, shaking her head sadly. "You know Zuri. She went right up to him and asked. He told her and Cindy that he liked Cindy and wanted to go to the party together. Zuri came back to the cabin after breakfast and told me everything. Then she and Tiffany went to give him the 'cab driver salute' while Emma ran after them to tell them not to."

Ravi bunched his eyebrows together and looked down at the grass. "Shesh, no one tells me anything." He looked back up to the tree. "I suppose that's why I haven't seen you all day. And why so many campers were holding up their middle fingers and giggling today."

"Yeah, I don't think Emma got to my woodchucks in time. And you know how they draw attention to themselves. My guess is a lot of campers learned how to 'flip the bird' today." She sighed heavily. "Something to deal with tomorrow. Tonight, I sulk in this tree."

"But I need your help!" Ravi whined. "Jorge and Zuri started a s'more fight at the campfire and there's such a mess to clean up."

Lou glared down at him. "I'm hurting, Ravi! I don't give a flying hoot about the cleaning committee right now."

Ravi frowned. He looked up at her with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry, Lou. You're right. I didn't mean to be insensitive."

He lowered his gaze to the tree's trunk. He nodded to himself and then moved forward to try and climb the tree. He would get a hold of the bark but then his foot would slip each time he tried to climb. After a few failed attempts, he sighed loudly and turned around. He sat down and leaned his back against the base of the tree.

Lou had watched Ravi try to climb the tree. At first, she was confused, but then she was amused by his struggle. She had been climbing trees all her life, so it had taken her a little of nothing to get up into its branches.

"You city folk," she said with a small smile.

"Excuse me for never having any interest in tree climbing. The last time I had to climb a tree, Tiffany and Xander had to help me because we all thought a ravenous demon beast was trying to kill us," Ravi said from the bottom of the tree.

"Running from the Kikiwaka when we should've been running from the bad camp food," Lou said with a light chuckle. For a moment, she forgot about her heartbreak but then the hurt crept right back in. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep any more tears from coming out.

"Yep," Ravi nodded as he placed the flashlight down beside him. "So, sorry, but unfortunately I can't climb up and join you. But I'll be right here at ground level."

Lou blinked her watery eyes open and sniffed. "To hide from the cleaning committee?"

"No," Ravi replied honestly. He rested his head against the trunk of the tree and watched a firefly blinking in the distance. "I'll be here to be with you."

There was a quiet moment that passed before Ravi heard the movement of leaves and twigs. He looked up in time to see Lou make the last of her climb down. She dusted herself off and then sat down close beside him in the grass.

Now that he could see Lou more clearly, his heart ached at the sight of her reddened nose and watery eyes. He was so used to seeing her happy or annoyed or slightly crazed, that it felt wrong to see her so upset.

"I'll take you to the party across the lake," he offered.

"You said yesterday you didn't want to go," she said, tilting her head slightly.

"I'll go with you," he said with a soft smile.

"Do you want to sing sad songs off-key with me," she sniffled. "I really don't want to bring down Emma and Xander so close to their anniversary...that's why they don't know I'm hiding."

"Sure," he replied.

Lou shifted away from him slightly and then leaned over to rest her head against his shoulder. Ravi felt his heart beat a little faster. She normally rested on one of the girls' shoulders, never his. He wished Marcus hadn't hurt Lou's feelings, but sitting this close to her under the stars was way better than picking up soggy graham crackers and gunky marshmallow fluff.

"I'm an awful singer, so be prepared to have your heart mended by the sounds of nails on chalkboard," Ravi joked.

"Oh gosh," she chuckled and some of the sadness that had been present in her voice earlier was already going away.

End note: This oneshot was based off the prompt climb a tree from the September OTP Prompt Challenge posted by lavendarotpprompts.tumblr. Thank you for sharing prompts, person from the internet.