-Devin-

He had decided to put off his confession for one more night and just have fun with Avery instead. After sex and a hot shower, he pulled his clothes on and flopped down on the bed.

Avery, however, had other ideas. He stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed. "I'd rather be alone tonight," he said.

He smirked, knowing that Avery had tried this in the past and failed. "Are you kicking me out?"

Avery avoided his eyes.

"Come on, I won't bother you. I won't say anything. You can read or do whatever you want and I'll just go to sleep."

"I'm not feeling good," Avery replied. "I want some space."

He sat up, concerned. This was different, and he didn't want to tease Avery or push him if he actually wasn't feeling well. Now that he thought about it, Avery had seemed quieter than usual during sex.

"Do you need me to get you anything?"

"No."

He got up and walked over to Avery, gently putting a hand on his back. "Lay down. I can give you a massage."

Avery obeyed, but he didn't move over when Devin sat on the edge of the bed.

"I don't need a massage. I probably just need to get some sleep."

He stroked Avery's hair, softly brushing it away from his forehead. "I'm sorry you're not feeling good."

Avery closed his eyes. "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're sure I can't stay?" He wanted to make sure Avery would be okay. He wanted to stay and comfort him, not go back to his too-quiet cabin alone.

"No, just go," Avery replied, not opening his eyes. "There's no need for you to stay. You got what you wanted."

He felt surprisingly hurt at that statement. Sex wasn't all he wanted. He wanted Avery. He wanted to sleep next to him and hold him all night. That was becoming more important to him than sex, and that's something he never thought he would say. Disappointed, he stood up.

"Okay, I hope you feel better. Goodnight." 

He leaned down and kissed Avery's forehead before walking away.

-Avery-

A tear leaked from his closed eyes and ran down his cheek. He felt absolutely terrible about pushing Devin away, and it took everything in him not to run after Devin and tell him to come back. He felt even worse that he had lied about not feeling well. Devin had seemed concerned, and he had been so sweet. It made it difficult for him to cut things off with Devin when Devin was being cuddly or caring. In those moments Devin seemed like he could be a good boyfriend.

He rolled over and tried to push that thought from his mind. This was Devin, the guy who had purposely never had a boyfriend. The guy who didn't want a boyfriend or to sleep with the same guy more than a couple times. The guy who kicked his sex partners out immediately after and never let anyone stay. Devin had made it clear what he wanted and didn't want. It didn't do Avery any good to wish things could be different or to pretend that they were.

It also wasn't doing him any good to keep putting off ending things with Devin. A couple days had passed since Devin had brought him the ice cream, but he hadn't managed to slow things down between them. He knew that the longer he delayed the inevitable, the more it was going to hurt when he finally ripped the Band-Aid off.

He spent the next day hiding out in his cabin for a few hours before slipping off to the shed to work on his project until dinner. He was trying to keep his mind off what he had to do tonight. Last night he had succeeded in sending Devin back to his own cabin after they had sex, but tonight he was going to end that too. No more sex. He figured it would be better to cut things off now, while Devin was still around and he could slowly say goodbye to him. Quitting cold turkey when Devin left and never looked back would be worse. As much as it would hurt, he had to be strong and put an end to it. 

He reminded himself that Devin wasn't the boyfriend type. He didn't do relationships, and there would be nothing he could say to change Devin's mind. Devin wouldn't want to keep in touch and hang out after he left the camp, and besides, even if he did, it wouldn't change things. And it didn't even matter that Devin didn't want a boyfriend, because Devin would never feel the way for him that he felt for Devin. Devin didn't like him, and he just had to accept that.

-Devin-

I like you. I really like you. No, I like you. Without the 'really' was better. Anything else was probably coming on too strong. No matter how he did it, it was time to tell Avery how he felt. He cared about him, and he couldn't imagine not being around him in the future. He didn't care that this was breaking all his rules, or that he had told Avery that he didn't do boyfriends. People were allowed to change their minds, right? Avery had certainly had a hand in changing his. He never saw it coming, but now that he was here, he couldn't imagine anything else.

He was nervous, which also wasn't like him. He paced the room for a few more minutes before deciding he should get it over with. He wanted to make the most of his last few weeks with Avery. After that, they'd figure it out. 

He left his cabin and walked over to Avery's, his heart beating fast in his chest. He'd never been vulnerable before or let anyone in the way he was about to let Avery in. The only thing that made him feel less scared was knowing that Avery would be the first one to see this side of him. Avery would be kind and patient and wouldn't judge him. He knew he could trust Avery.

Avery opened the door almost as soon as he knocked. "I was about to come find you."

"Good timing then. There's something I want to tell you."

"Okay. I need to talk to you too. Do you want to go first?"

"No, you can go first." Anything to put this off and maybe make his confession easier. He shut the door and faced Avery.

Avery crossed his arms over his chest, a serious expression on his face. "We have to stop hooking up."

Devin's lips parted in surprise. Avery didn't want to have sex anymore?

"Uh, why?" he asked.

"Because this isn't working. We shouldn't be doing it in the first place, and then when it causes trouble, like you stealing a truck to get ice cream for me, it's even more wrong. You don't have that much time left here anyway."

He was completely thrown off, and everything he had rehearsed in his head disappeared. He didn't know what to say. 

"Can I at least still stay with you at night?" he blurted, trying to wrap his head around the way this conversation was going.

"No," Avery said firmly. "We can't do any of it anymore, especially because you'll try to wear me down about sex if you're already in my bed. We need to just be coworkers going forward."

His heart sank. Avery wanted to cut things off completely? This was the last thing he had ever expected. Avery had seemed so into him this whole time, and he thought Avery would be happy to hear that he was reconsidering his 'no relationships' stance.

"I think you should hear what I came to talk to you about."

"No," Avery reiterated, shaking his head. "You're not going to talk me into anything. You should go back to your cabin."

"But there's something I need to tell you. Can you at least hear me out?"

Avery sighed. "No, Devin. Please just drop it. This whole thing between us was a mistake."

A mistake. That's what Avery thought he was? He'd never felt so connected to another person and being with Avery was the most real thing he'd ever experienced. Their time together meant so much to him, but to Avery, it was just a mistake?

He stepped backwards, blinking in the harsh overhead light. He was surprised by how much this hurt. He felt like he was floating, like he was outside of his own body, but his chest felt heavy.

"Okay, I'll go then," he said quietly, turning and heading for the door. 

What hurt even more was that Avery didn't say a word to stop him.

-Avery-

As soon as Devin left, he felt awful. He'd known that he would need to be firm with him and leave no room for interpretation, but saying that the two of them being together was a mistake was harsh. Even though he knew Devin wouldn't take it personally, it still didn't feel good to say. He'd expected Devin to say something snarky back to him, but instead, Devin seemed to have given up. He hadn't even put up a fight. It had almost been too easy, and he was wary about what that meant. But a small part of him was also worried that he'd hurt Devin. The guy didn't seem bothered by much, but he had sworn that Devin seemed upset when he'd left.

He shook his head. It was probably just his imagination. Maybe it was him projecting his own feelings onto Devin. He was certainly upset about it. He knew it had to be done to hopefully spare him further pain down the road, but it wasn't helping right now. He wanted Devin here. He wanted to ride him slowly and look into his pretty hazel eyes, and then he wanted Devin to wrap his arms around him while they were in the shower together. The worst part was how cold and lonely his bed was going to be tonight without Devin.

He knew he was doing the right thing, but he wished it didn't hurt so much. He'd never regret his time with Devin, or regret Devin coming into his life, but he was already regretting how he'd handled things. Maybe he should have been honest with Devin and told him how he felt about him. It wouldn't have spared his own feelings though, because he was sure Devin would have just laughed and reminded him that he didn't do boyfriends. Devin may have even been weirded out and cut things off himself, sparing Avery from having to do it. 

The way he'd handled it seemed to have upset Devin, even though that was probably only because Devin wasn't going to be getting laid anymore while he was here. He worried that after a few days, Devin was going to try to wheedle his way back into his bed or start behaving badly as retaliation.

He knew he should give Devin more credit than that, because he had been better lately. But he couldn't think about Devin being better, because then that would lead him down a road of wondering if Devin could be boyfriend material someday. He was already heartbroken enough. Knowing he couldn't delay the inevitable, he laid down and turned the light off, tears staining his cheeks and pillow as he tried to fall asleep.