James walked along the pathway slowly as he held tightly onto his bags. "James! Hey you made it" he smiled at the sight of Otis "like I'd miss camping!". He handed his bags to Remi smiling at the man before he walked towards Otis.

"How've you been man? I feel like we haven't talked in ages, and I'm trying to be here more". Otis smiled "you don't have to worry, I know you're busy with Ruby, I'm glad you're finally happy with someone".

James pushed his hands into his pocket "I know it's like a rather risky thing to say, but I think Ruby's the one. I could see myself being with her forever".

Otis put another bag into the back "I think you deserve to be happy, and I can tell when you're with her. That you're truly happy. I hope you can have that for a very long time James".

Remi pushed the front door shut for a moment "so, uh where's your other mate?" Otis looked around "uh, he should be here. You know, on time is...". Remi chuckled "late" James laughed "Americas made you smarter Remi, it's a sight for sure".

Eric smiled brightly as he walked up the pathway with his bags tightly in his hands. "Hey!" James waved "hey E-Man, loving the outfit, it's giving true camping energy and I love that".

"Sorry, packing disaster" he put his bags into the back of the car and James paused at the sight of Ruby's car driving up the driveway. He frowned deeply as he walked towards her car quickly.

"What's going on? Has something happened?" Before Ruby could speak Andrew pushed open the door and climbed out of the back seat. "We're going camping!" the little boy pushed his hat over his head as Ruby sighed deeply "he kept insisting we tag along. Says we need to be one with nature. Whatever that means".

James laughed "so you mean, you've come all this way to camp with us? I mean are you sure Ruby.... We're gonna be in a forest". Andrew ran past James as he neared Otis and Eric the little boy smirking.

"I'm going camping with you guys! I even brought my own sleeping bag". James smiled as Ruby looked at him "he missed you, I don't think he wanted to be alone for the night, so... I'm going camping I guess".

James smirked "don't worry, I promise I'll make sure you don't get hurt or anything. Besides if anything goes wrong, we can always just leave". He pulled open the passenger seat and turned "oi! I'm driving with Ruby, we'll meet you at the sight, come along Andrew, we can't be late".

The little boy giggled as he ran quickly towards the car and climbed in. James waved at Otis and Eric before they all drove off down the road.

James tapped his fingers along his pants as he looked outside the window. "Have you ever been camping before dad? Mum took me once, when she was actually being a mother for once".

He chuckled "I've gone a few times with Eric and Otis, we're always looking for a grand adventure, besides you can't count putting a tent in the backyard as camping". Andrew rolled his eyes "mum made a fire and we had marshmallows, it counts".

James turned in his seat "oh yeah, were there any wild animals about? Cause quite frankly, it should be a rather scary experience when camping".

Andrew looked outside the window for a second "was I meant to fight off a bear or something? Where are we going anyways? This is all forest".

James looked down at the map on the dashboard "I attempted to read the map, and failed. So now we're just following behind Remi and using Ruby's phone".

—

     "So, according to the happy campers guidebook, we need to find a spot near a source of water". James walked alongside the others as he looked around at the forest. He had forgotten how creepy these places were. Otis flipped the page of the book but was stopped by it being pushed shut.

"No, Otis my man, you've gotta put that book away" James chuckled as he pushed down his hat. He looked at the sky seeing the darkness of it, it was likely gonna rain which meant there was no way he was hiking.

"You know, we've got all the information we need, right here" Remi tapped his head as he smiled proudly, James huffed "I guess it's true then, America has made you smarter than Remi".

The man laughed "suppose it has" they kept walking along the clearing and James held tightly onto his bags. Remi stopped walking as he looked around the area "well, this looks like an all right place to camp".

James let out a soft breath as he set his bags down onto a grassy patch. He turned at the sight of Remi drinking and huffed in annoyance.

"I think we should get our first hike in right now" James turned as Ruby handed him her bags "is that really smart Remi? Wouldn't it make sense to settle first then hike, we've just got here"

Otis smiled "see dad, James gets it, we should set up the tents first and then we can hike after". Remi shook his head "no, I think it's time we try to access our inner wild man. Are you with me?".

James laughed "I'm good, me and Ruby will stay back and set up our tent, there's no way I'm hiking, I know Andrew will though, best you keep an eye on him Otis, I trust you a lot more than Remi".

Andrew smiled sadly "aww, you mean you're not going hiking with us dad? It'll be fun". James patted Andrew's head "tell you what, we'll catch up with you. Just gonna set up the tents". Andrew nodded before he ran after the others who were starting to walk.

The air grew quiet after that, James felt the lingering eyes of Ruby on his back as he grabbed the tent from the bag. It was massive and he knew setting it up would take ages, of course he knew Ruby didn't wanna hike. She'd rather set up this tent if anything.

"So, now that we're alone. By chance are you gonna tell me why you're acting so distant from me?" he looked at her, her eyes twitching slightly in annoyance.

"Let's just focus on setting up the tent first, I'll tell you after" he nodded, as he started to open the tent "Remi brought pop up tents, but for our sake I brought a proper one. It'll be big enough for us and Andrew".

—

    James sighed deeply "where on earth are they, it's gonna rain" he looked away from the sky as he zipped the tent shut. He hummed when Ruby rested her hand along his neck "you worry too much, they'll find their way back, hopefully they'll be smart and we can leave, this isn't very enjoyable".

"What do you enjoy then?" he gripped her waist as she sighed. "Are you upset with me Rubes? Is that why you're distant with me? do..." he winced for a moment. "Do you not wanna be with me anymore?".

She shook her head quickly "I wanna be with you" he groaned when she dug her fingernails into his shoulders. "It's just family stuff, but I promise you, I still wanna be with you, I still love you".

He smiled softly as he kissed her, the moment slipped away at the sudden sound of thunder.  He unzipped the tent and looked outside "well that doesn't sound good, you think they'll make it back in time?".

He moved back when the rain began to pour down harshly "I knew we should've just stayed back at home, this is gonna be a disaster". He chuckled as he looked at Ruby "don't worry, I'll make sure your hair doesn't get wet, I'm sure they're close anyways".

He went to zip the tent closed but stopped at the sight of Andrew running towards him. "Dad! Please tell me we can leave, camping isn't fun at all" James smiled as he climbed out of the tent. "Well knowing Remi he'll want to stay behind, he doesn't believe in getting hotels or going home when we camp".

Andrew looked at Ruby as she shrugged "you mean we're actually going to camp here all night!". James laughed as he watched Andrew look around in panic "no we're not, because I'm not Remi so that means we're leaving. I'm sure they'll understand anyways, besides we can camp another day. Preferably on one where it's not going to rain for hours".

Andrew let out a breath of relief "thank goodness, I was gonna start crying if you said no, would've worked wonders". James patted Andrew's head "why don't you help Ruby find the car, I'll pack the tent and meet you both at the car".

Andrew smiled as he started to run past Ruby "oi! Stick with Ruby the entire time! And no detours!". James's shock his head slightly as he patted Ruby's shoulder "I won't be long, promise".

"There's a hotel down the road, I'll call and book us a room for tonight, we're not getting anywhere in this weather disaster". James nodded as he started to pull the tent apart "you're amazing Ruby, I swear without you I'd fall apart half the time".

She smiled "I know, so you best not go anywhere" she walked off after Andrew and James smiled. Maybe for once in his life things could actually be good.

—
authors notes:
And once again thank you past self for having literally this whole ass chapter prewritten. All I had to do was had a few more paragraphs and I was done, thank goodness because I'm tired, it's about to be 7AM and I didn't wanna half ass this chapter, but since it was prewritten it wasn't shitty!!!! So yayyyyy! Anyways I'm gonna sleep now, enjoy!