Henri already felt tired by the halfway mark but other than that the journey went on smoothly. Even Louis started to relax and brighten up by the time they were almost at their assigned campsite.

They settled in surprisingly quick although there were new members to the group. Louis set his tent right next to Henri like he always did and Valentin pitched his on the other side of Henri’s tent, forcing Audie and Jacques to have theirs side by side.

Audie trailed after him with a pitiful expression but Valentin wasn’t having it. The tents were pitched in two rows, four in front and six behind. The clearing this time was a distinct circle so this was necessary. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Audie reluctantly went off to pitch his own tent, shooting daggers at Jacques the entire time. He might have put his foot in his mouth because he had been the one to suggest a truce so that this very situation wouldn’t be happening.

But he unfortunately suffered a selective memory loss about what happened in the secret passageway. If he admitted to remembering the truce, then he had to remember everything else and that wasn’t happening.

He might have also been more abrasive towards Jacques since then but that clearly wasn’t the reason why, the other Alpha just reached a new height of annoying.

"Need hel-" Jacques started to offer, already done pitching his tent in record time.

"Shut up." Audie cut him off, grumbling under his breath about annoying military trained Alphas who were too good at everything.

"Things are going a little too smoothly, don’t you think?" Louis leaned over to whisper to Henri who was crouched in front of the campfire as usual, fiddling with the licking orange flames.

Henri turned to him in amusement, "Isn’t that what you wanted?"

Louis watched Dio, Alois, Valentin, Audie and Jacques compete on who could climb one of the trees next to the campsite the fastest, Cecil cheering them on from the edge of the seating area.

He narrowed his eyes at the sight, flicking his gaze over to Alexander and Claude who were silently sitting side by side and seemed to be entertained by the tree climbing competition.

It was already dark and most of the day had been spent like this, just them frolicking around the campsite, there were no even mentions of hunting or weapons! It put Louis on edge.

"Perhaps." He grumbled, still looking unconvinced. He was certain that the next day would be a wreck, seeing as they didn’t do much on the first day.

They didn’t even spend their entire day at the lake like they usually did, content to find silly things to do around the campsite.

Henri had spent most of his day inside his tent, curled up inside his sleeping bag. He could confidently say that he had already recovered and that he wasn’t looking forward to bathtime the next day.

It was the only part of camping that he could never adapt to.

Alexander and Claude kept their distance from him, well as far as they could stay away when they shared such a small space. Henri was tempted to believe that they stayed away because Louis was always looming around him like a mother hawk but it was more likely that Claude was the one keeping Alexander in check.

The loud sound of a branch snapping brought the attention of everyone around to the tree climbing contest, making Louis shoot to his feet when someone slammed into the ground next.

"Alright! Enough roughhousing!" He called out, worry tainting his voice. "Come around the campfire where it is brighter!"

Surprisingly, they all filed over obediently, all of them struggling to keep a straight face.

"Who fell?" Louis asked sternly.

All five shared quick looks but no one was willing to confess.

Louis looked on helplessly, "It’s fine really but I’ve got to check you for injuries."

This started off the chain of laughter, loud knee-slapping, rolling around kind of laughter.

It was even harder to tell who had fallen now seeing as everyone was caught up in the wave of hilarity. Louis looked around for help but Henri wasn’t paying any attention, Alexander and Claude only shrugged while Cecil was also trying to keep it together, snickering into his palm.

Louis decided to give up on them, as long as they were all alive, his work there was done.

The next morning, he would find out that what he had heard hitting the ground wasn’t a person but the top half of a young slender tree. How had they even managed that??

They all went off to the lake to clean up early the next morning, Henri the only person left behind at the campsite.

Louis went off to get him after they all returned, having to drag Henri out of his sleeping bag. Not because the Omega wouldn’t wake up but because he didn’t want to have to take his bath at the lakeside.

"It’s cold, Louis." Henri grumbled to his friend who was stoically standing with his back to him.

Louis voice was understanding, "Want me to heat some water up for you?"

Henri immediately scrapped the offer, the last thing he wanted was for Alexander to think he couldn’t handle a bit of cold water. Besides he had done it for two camping trips now, the third time wouldn’t be so hard, right?

Well, he thought wrong. It felt like the lake had just thawed, that was how icy the water was. He survived it somehow, hiding away in his sleeping bag till the sun came up.

After breakfast, they all filed back to lake, ready to make the most of the body of water.

Louis had been expecting Henri to sit out the trip to the lake and was surprised when he stepped out of his tent to find him already dressed and ready to go.

He had noticed that Henri seemed on the quiet side - well, anyone would say that Henri didn’t talk much but Louis could pick up on his demeanor and could immediately tell that he wasn’t his usual self.

Also, he had never heard Henri complain of the temperature of the water before, even when he took evening showers... was he maybe coming down with a fever?