It was honestly a surprise that neither of them noticed it, it was so bright and if they listened intently, they could hear the distinct crackle of so many fireworks going off at once.

Valentin’s eyes brightened, "The Academy must have been alerted, I have to go back!" He said in a rush, dashing off in a random direction.

"Valentin! Wait!" Errol tried to stop him.

Nael caught his boyfriend’s waist, "You’re going the wrong way, idiot," He called to his friend, "The lake is in the other direction."

To Errol, he pulled him into his arms and spoke in a kinder voice. "They’ll be fine, I think it’s best we stay here for now."

Errol looked like he would like to protest turning his head to catch a final glimpse of his younger brother going the right way to the lake. Nael was right though, they had no idea what they were getting into, and if the Academy was already there, there was no need to get involved as well.

Valentin ran straight to the lake, not slowing down even when Alexander rose to his feet and turned around.

Alexander had to jump out of the way when it was evident that his roommate intended to bodyslam him into the water.

Valentin clearly hadn’t thought his plan through though because he was unaware of how close Alexander had been sitting to the lake, and he was also going too fast to slow down which meant that he was about to plunge headfirst into the dark lake.

Alexander caught his wrist with ease and pulled him back, "I take it you have also seen the lights in the sky." He said far too calmly for someone who was nearly ambushed.

Valentin bared his teeth at him and snatched his hand away, "I’ll get you back for that."

Alexander only looked amused, "That’s concerning."

"Shut it, where’s the way back?" He demanded.

Alexander glanced up, "I’m pretty sure that we can just use that fancy light work as a beacon, it’s too dark to figure out the way back anyway."

"Fine," He grumbled, marching forward.

"Valentin? You’re going the wrong way." Alexander pointed out.

Valentin halted abruptly and it wasn’t because he was going the wrong way although that was a major part of it, it was because Alexander said his name. It was so odd for him to do that, he couldn’t remember a time the Alpha said his name.

"There’s no wrong way." He countered.

"Not when you’re going in the opposite direction from the lights," Alexander said stiffly but it was evident that he was trying to hold his laughter in.

"It’s easy to get lost in the dark okay! Why don’t you lead seeing as you’re so good at directions?" He tried to say calmly but it just came off like a challenge, Alexander must think that he was always confrontational.

"Sure," His roommate easily agreed, offering his hand. "Take my hand so you don’t get lost."

Valentin tried to see the genuineness in Alexander’s words, he really tried but all he could hear was the amusement dancing on the edges of his words. He smacked the Alpha’s hand away, "I’m not blind, I can see you just fine." He grumbled.

Alexander just shrugged and took the lead, disappearing into the woods and leaving Valentin to quickly hurry after him.

-*-

Audie had curled up against the cave wall, turning to the side to avoid Jacques as the sun rapidly set around them, sending the dim cave into total darkness. He was starting to get cramped staying in the small space but at least in here, they didn’t need to be on guard all of the time.

He sighed inaudibly, the coolness of the rock was nice when it was in the afternoon but now that the sun had gone down, it was a nuisance. His thoughts were dispersed when he felt a layer of clothing cover him, making him sit up so fast.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, glaring in the general direction that he figured Jacques would be in.

"You looked cold." He answered quietly.

Audie fell silent, not knowing how to respond to a situation like this. "Put your shirt back on, idiot, you’ll catch a chill." He scolded but his voice lacked its bite, Jacques kept throwing him off.

He cursed under his breath about confusing, stupid Alphas before curling up again. Maybe he could nap for a bit, that was sure to make the time pass faster.

He was alerted again when he heard rustling like Jacques was leaving the cave. "Where are you going?"

"I saw something outside," Was all he said, his voice getting distant.

Audie sprang in his direction without any go-ahead from his brain, intending to pull Jacques back. "We’re being chased, why would you randomly go to check something you saw?? Did the cave air switch off your brain?" He whispered in a rush, getting to the mouth of the cave and realizing that he got there too late and Jacques was already gone.

"Jac?" He called out hesitantly, the shrubs hiding the entrance to the cave made it hard for him to see and he could no longer hear the other’s movements.

An unfamiliar panic settled in Audie’s middle as he scrambled out of the cave when he got no response from the other Alpha. "Jacques!" He called even louder, stumbling out of the tall shrubs to smack into someone.

"Jac?" He called in disbelief which quickly morphed into irritation, "Why didn’t you answer me?"

Jacques held his waist to steady him, hazel-green eyes intense. He wanted to answer that he rather liked when Audie was worried for him but that would only bring him pain so he swallowed back that response and pointed at the sky instead. "I got distracted."

Audie glanced up in the direction he was pointing to, so surprised by the sight that he didn’t even realize that Jacques still had a hand on his waist and that they were still in each other’s personal space. "Is that what I think it is?" He asked with excitement in his voice.

Jacques very reluctantly stepped away, crossing his arms to keep them occupied. "Yeah, it should be the Academy."

Audie noticed that Jacques had gone quiet again, it was almost like he had a rain cloud over his head whenever he wasn’t harassing him. "That means it’s safe to head back, let’s get going, I need to know that Vale’s okay." He said shortly, already walking in the direction of the lights.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the fireworks had been fired right at their campsite so they just needed to find their way back.