It was summer break after their first year of college. Jack, Maddie, and Vlad thought they'd go spend a week somewhere. Rent a hotel, go hiking. See the sights. But they left the planning to Jack.
That was a mistake.
"I thought we were going to rent a hotel for a week. Not a campsite!" Vlad said grumpily, gesturing to the wooded area around them. A bug flew past his ear and Vlad twitched away from it.
"C'mon, Vladdie! It'll be fun! We'll go fishing and hiking. We can watch the stars at night and have fires. I even brought seven bags of marshmallows!" Jack said excitedly, holding three of them up.
"But I didn't even bring a sleeping bag or anything." Vlad groaned slouching down.
"Gotcha covered!" Maddie said as she shoved a sleeping bag into Vlad's chest. "Besides, Jack has enough body heat that he'll probably keep the tent warm enough by himself."
"Jack Fenton's the name, walking furnace is my game!"
Vlad rolled his eyes.
Together the three of them set up the tent. It was getting dark out so they put together a fire and cooked some canned beans and told ghost stories until the sun went down and the stars were twinkling.
Soon Maddie yawned and Vlad followed suit. They put out the fire and gathered their food and supplies up before heading inside the tent. They lay down, Jack in the middle, and tucked in for the night.
Just as Vlad was almost asleep, he could feel Jack roll over behind him and suddenly giant arms were wrapped around him.
"Jack!" Vlad whispered, ears turning red as he tried to pry Jack's arms from around his middle. "Jack go away! Maddie's over there!"
Jack mumbled some incoherent gibberish before quieting back down.
Vlad groaned and gave up his futile attempt to remove Jack's arms. He was warm at least.
Soon Vlad finally fell asleep.
QQQQQQQQQQQ
The next morning, Vlad was gently shook awake.
"Vladdie? C'mon, get up. Maddie's already out making breakfast." Jack said as he rubbed his eyes.
Vlad stretched as he yawned and they clambered out of the tent, greeted with the smell of eggs and bacon.
"You guys were so cute this morning!" Maddie said as she placed her share of the bacon on her plate.
"What?" Jack asked yawning.
Maddie turned to the bag beside her and pulled out a polaroid photo. She held it out for them to see.
It was a picture of Jack and Vlad, his arms still wrapped around the other.
Vlad felt his ears turn red and he glared at the photo.
"Maddie!" He hissed.
"What? I thought it was adorable. You really gotta watch out though. If Jack doesn't have his teddy bear he'll trap you all night long."
"Did he pack his teddy bear?"
They both looked at Jack who was blushing sheepishly.
"Uh.. No?"
Vlad groaned and Maddie giggled. He pointed a finger at her.
"No more pictures."
She pouted. "Why?"
"Because you'll just tease us with them!"
"I'll tease you anyways!"
They were interrupted as Jack wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. "Guys, let's eat!"
Vlad gawked at him. "Don't you care?"
Jack shrugged, taking his arm from Maddie's shoulders to rub his neck. "No, not really. That photo will just be a representation of my love for you, V-man." He made obnoxious kissy noises in Vlad's face.
"Okay! Okay! Can we eat now?"
As they ate, Vlad felt a certain feeling grow in his chest. It was when they finished their meal and they were preparing to go hiking that he realized what is was.
Oh no.
