After arriving to the camp grounds, Jacob parked the van and let the others get out. Each one of them brought out his equipment and went to set up his tent. Jacob shortly joined them afterwards and started gathering wood to build a fire, with Desmond helping him after he was done setting up his own tent. After they placed the logs in the pit, Desmond went to borrow Altaïr's lighter to ignite the fire.

"I got this," Jacob stopped him, bringing a lighter out of his pocket.

Desmond raised his eyebrows at him. "Didn't know you smoked."

"Eh. Been trying to cut down." He lit up one of the logs, and the others soon caught on fire.

"And how's that coming along?"

"I went from one pack a day to two and a half," Jacob looked up at Desmond and smiled, earning a snort from the latter.

They went and called out the others, and so the group of friends gathered around the fire and stared at it silently, embracing their solitude.

"Does anyone want a beer?" Jacob asked, interrupting the others meditation. Their heads shot up towards him and they all gave words of approval.

"Well then, you're gonna have to get up and get it yourself." Jacob said before walking towards the cooler and grabbing a cold one, earning curses from a couple.

Desmond, Connor and Ezio followed him and did the same.

Altaïr took out a cigarette and lit it. Arno was sitting next to him, staring at him as he blew out consecutive rings of smoke.

Altaïr shortly noticed him. "What?"

"Mind if I have one of those?" Arno asked him.

Altaïr wordlessly handed him his cigarette pack along with the lighter. Arno took out a cigarette before lighting it and returning the pack to Altaïr.

Jacob, Desmond and Connor came back and sat down.

"So, chain-smokers, what have you been up to?" Jacob asked.

Arno stopped inhaling at his question and rested the cigarette between his fingers. Altaïr eyed Jacob as he puffed out another blow.

"Chain-smokers? A bit hypocritical from you, Jacob. Don't you think?"

Ezio chuckled at him, "couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"Yeah, well. He's not wrong," Jacob shrugged, "but not even his snarky comments can bring me down today."

"You seem awfully cheery," Arno commented.

"He's still boasting about his party last night," Connor said, "apparently, people loved it."

"Hell yeah, they did." Jacob proudly confirmed.

"Must be nice to be King again." Ezio said.

"How did you fuck it up this time?" Altaïr asked.

Jacob felt a direct hit on his ego,"What?"

"It wouldn't be a Jacob Frye party if something didn't break, at least."

Ezio eyed Altaïr, then turned to Jacob. "No offense, fratello, but he does have a point." he said, causing the others to chuckle.

Jacob gave him a displeased look before looking at his feet, "I may or may not have broken the window," he muttered, his words barely audible, before he took a chug of beer.

"What was that?" Altair teased.

"I said I may or may not have broken the window," he yelled, almost choking on his drink, causing Altair to smirk.

"Interesting," he commented.

"Why are you always acting like that Altaïr?"

"Like what?"

"Like an asshole."

Altaïr chuckled, "I can't help it, it's too funny."

"Oh, so my life's a joke to you?"

"Well, kind of, yes."

Jacob scoffed, "Fuck you, man."

Connor intervened, "guys, seriously, how about you smell the fresh air instead of bickering with each other? It's what we came here to do after all."

Jacob eyed Altaïr, "truce?"

Altaïr eyed him back, "yeah, man."

They both laughed afterwards and continued what they were doing.

*

"Did you bring your guitar, Ezio?" Arno asked.

"What do you think?" Ezio replied, getting up and going to get his guitar from the van.

He returned and sat back down on the log, before positioning his guitar on his lap and tuning it. Afterwards, he started strumming the chords, jamming some mellow tunes and setting the mood for his friends. There was the fire, the silence and the sole sound of the guitar tunes; everyone couldn't ask for a better ambience.

Desmond even brought out a bag of marshmallows and started passing it around. Everyone grabbed a handful and put two or three marshmallows on their sticks before taking turns in roasting them by the fire.

Arno examined the bag when it was his turn. "Are they gluten free by any chance?" he asked genuinely, but the others all glared at him, almost mocking him. "What? I'm allergic," he continued, but they all ignored him.

Everyone was having a good time, even Altaïr. However, his skeptical nature sensed footsteps approaching the camp, and he immediately shushed Ezio.

"We're not the only ones here," he said, "someone's coming."

Desmond gasped, "are we finally gonna discover Bigfoot?!" His sarcasm clearly seeped through his words.

"No, you idiot. I'm serious."

"Altaïr, these are camping grounds. Other people come here too," Connor said, before taking a bit from his marshmallow.

Before Altaïr had the time to think of a smart response, his attention diverted to the source of the sound he's been hearing. The footsteps came to a stop, and there was now a person right in front of them. It was a young woman, clearly in her early-to-mid twenties. She looked lost.

"Excuse me," she said, "my car broke down in the middle of the road, and I don't know what to do to fix it. Do any of you by any chance know their way with vehicles?"

Altaïr lowered his guard down. Moments beforehand, he was ready to fight whatever threat he was about to face, no matter how big or small, and he refused to listen to anyone who would contradict him, but now he felt embarrassed.

Jacob boldly came up to her, "I'll help you," he said in a smoky voice as he smiled at her, clearly coming on to her.

The rest of the crew clearly weren't surprised, especially Ezio. He must admit, Jacob sometimes outdid him when it came to charming people. He had unbelievable, fairly odd and somehow unmatched charisma. It wasn't just the sweet words, it was his his aura.

Surprisingly, the young woman didn't get affected by his charms. She started thanking her good fortune that she found someone to help her, before she guided Jacob out of the woods and to the main road where her car was parked. She drove a white Mini Cooper that seemed frankly too tacky for Jacob. But hey, he wasn't judging.

"So what's the problem here?" He asked her.

"The car wouldn't start, no matter how many times I turned the key in the ignition," her answer clearly showed she had no knowledge about motors.

He went in the car and, despite knowing it will be useless, turned the key in the ignition, trying to see the problem for himself. He was right, it was pretty useless, but at least the problem's been diagnosed, and easy to fix. Hopefully.

"Your engine is dead," he told the young woman, "you probably need a new battery."

"And how do I get one of those?" She asked obnoxiously, but Jacob didn't really take it personally, she was clearly.

"Unfortunately, there are no car shops nearby. You can call a tow truck and get the car picked up."

The young woman brought up her cell phone from her pocket. She sighed as she began to curse her luck again, "great, my phone's dead too."

Jacob instantly grabbed his phone, "here, I'll call one for you."

"Appreciate it."

As he went to dial the selected number, he groaned as he noticed that his cell phone picked up no signal.

"Great, no signal."

The young woman's expressions made her seem like she was going to have a breakdown, and yet she calmly answered, "what do I do then?"

Jacob wanted to offer her to stay with them for the night, and figure all of this out tomorrow, but she knew she'd have trouble saying yes to him, since he was a stranger after all. However, she did look a little bit familiar…

He cleared his throat, "You know, my friends and I are spending the night out here. You're welcome to join us if you want," he offered, "you'll take the van and we'll sleep in the tents if it makes you feel safe. Tomorrow, you can go back to the city with us and we'll get a truck to pick up your car."

The young woman had a stern look in her eyes, one that obviously says that she didn't trust him. But she realized she had no other choice.

"Alright," she agreed, "but I'm sleeping in my car."

Jacob shrugged, "fair enough. I'm Jacob, by the way."

"Gem."

"A pleasure," he gave her his signature smirk, trying again to see if maybe she would fall for his charms. And he failed, again.

She went past him back into the woods, where the rest of the boys were gathered, and Jacob followed her. He wasn't sure if her attitude made her annoying or, on the other hand, attractive. Maybe a little bit of both.

"Fellas, this is Gem," he introduced, "her car's battery is dead and she has to wait till tomorrow to get it fixed. Until then, she is staying here, with us."

"Sure, it's nice to have good company," Ezio said, flashing his bigger smile, and Gem rolled her eyes.

"If any of you try anything stupid, you're dead."

Ooh, she's feisty.

Altaïr was impressed with her confidence. It made her slightly intimidating, which automatically made her appealing to the eye, at least to him.

She exchanged looks with everyone who was sitting, until she fixated her eyes on Altaïr, who was staring at her with a dark piercing gaze. Feeling flustered, Gem immediately looked away.

Jacob went and got her a log to sit on. She thanked him before she sat down, barely taking up one quarter of the log.

"May I?" Jacob pointed out to the vacant space next to Gem, implying he wanted to sit next to her.

Gem merely shrugged and said, "sure."