Dirt Lifter | Craig of the Creek High School AU

Pawprints

Craig stood outside the familiar large house on Bombycilla Street. He'd always thought it had been big, but looking up at it now, it seemed even more oversized for the suburbs it was in. It didn't stick out much; other than its size and who lived in it, there wasn't anything special about it. It was just another perfect white home with a two-car garage and dead-from-winter flower bushes under its front windows.

Well, that wasn't quite right. It was a house, to be sure, but it didn't feel homey. It barely felt lived in, both from what he could see now and from what he remembered of its inside.

He could tell why Jason hated the place.

Craig checked his phone again, reading through his old messages.

C: Hey are you awake?
J: no.
J: whats up
C: Can't sleep
J: wanna call?
C: No
C: I'm going on a walk. You want to come?
J: yea alright
C: I'll be there in 10
J: okok
J: should i bring anything
C: No

He sent another message.

C: I'm here

A minute later, he heard something stirring behind the house. Another minute, and the person he was waiting for walked through the side gate.

Craig waved. "Hey."

"Hey," Jason repeated back.

"Why'd you come from around the back?"

"My room is in the back. I went out the window."

That gave Craig pause. "You jumped from the second floor?"

He shrugged. "It's not a far drop. And all the dogs would start barking if I went out the front door. Just got a bit dirty." Proving his point, he wiped his pants off with his hands.

Craig's heart dropped slightly at the confirmation. He could have really hurt himself jumping from that high. He knew Jason didn't care, but Craig had to say something about it, to show that he cared. He couldn't be too preachy about it, though, or else he'd tick Jason off, and then he'd go back inside and Craig would be walking alone.

He came up with "Using the front door to sneak out is easiest for me."

"Oh, sneaking out, are you?" Craig could hear him smirk as Jason leaned towards him, about 3 inches from his face. "I didn't realize you were such a rebel."

The closeness caught him off guard. He retaliated after a moment with "I didn't realize you were such a dork."

Jason laughed. "Fine, I'm a dork." The teasing left his voice, and the warmth of his smile remained.

The road was illuminated by the light of the streetlamps, a quaint and quiet scene for the two to walk through. No other people or moving cars were out. It was a weeknight, after all.

Ugh, it was a weeknight. They had school tomorrow, and they were both out at 12:30 at night for no good reason. Craig had more important things he could be doing instead of sneaking around with Jason. And it was sneaking around; he didn't tell anyone he left, or even leave a note. He specifically didn't go on a midnight drive because the car would make too much noise if he started it up. He wasn't breaking any laws or rules besides curfew, but he still felt guilty. What if someone noticed he was gone? What happened when he got home and his parents were sick to their stomachs because their kid snuck off in the middle of the night? He really should have thought this through, before waltzing out his front door without a thought in his head except for what he wanted to do and who he wanted to do it with.