𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴-𝘙𝘶𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘴

thirteen

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.