Dirt Lifter | Craig of the Creek High School AU

Let's pull out the nail with the back of the hammer

(Those Are You Got Some Nice Shoulders pt 2 on AO3)

The air was electric. Not because of the blinking lights, the synthetic noise, the other people spinning around their own partners, occupied with their own orbits and attractions.

It was because of one special person in particular who could power the entire planet with one goddamn smile.

It wasn't perfect. Nothing ever was, and Jason had stopped trying to be a long time ago. He'd hated it when Craig touched his shoulders, too heavy a reminder of things he was trying to ignore. He was stepping onto his own feet, and twice tripped over other people's. He bumped into Craig multiple times, possibly on purpose, needy for some kind of contact. He had dripped some of his pre-game drink onto his suit jacket before he got here and he hadn't washed out the stain. The song playing was dumb and poppy, one of the ones that was on the radio seemingly every time he turned it on. They had stopped holding hands when they first got into the middle of the crowd. He was still sorting through all the mixed signals.

He wanted to enjoy himself, though, and nothing was going to stop him. He could ignore the uncertainty at the back of his mind if it meant he kept on the dance floor and in the moment. And the moment turned into moments, each more enthralling than the last. The best part was that Craig looked so happy through it all, and whether that was because of movement, or the electricity, or that this was his favorite song, or physical activity producing dopamine, or Jason himself (and he hoped with every bone in his body it was the latter), he leeched as much joy from that smile as he could.

Safety was superficially his first priority, both for himself and others. He had tried to stay conservative, keep a cool head, wait for confirmation, keep himself under control. But he was sick of waiting, and he threw that safety to the music so he could play pretend that this was something special. The static shocks when they bumped into each other, the no-longer-awkward, now enthusiastic dancing, the breathless gasps of awe, the head rush of movement, the smiles, the gazes, the unrelenting thirst for more, more, more. He drank it in as another vice, and the moments burned the back of his throat, convincing him that this could be something. He would take anything right now, even if he wasn't sure it was real.

And right now?

This was everything.

Everything ended, as it always did. A slower song came on, and he followed Craig into retreat at the side of the gym.

Memory time-dilation made it feel like hours and a split second all at once. The moments kept repeating in his mind, and they left him punch-drunk happy. The head rush from dancing followed him to the wall, and he knew he would not be able to act normal about anything for the next few minutes, so he quickly excused himself to go chat to Vanessa. Talk would calm him down.

"Yeah, I've barely seen her all night. Gonna see how she is," he stammered out to Craig, before he ran off, praying that he wasn't too suspicious.

"Oh, okay," he heard him say. "I'll go find Kelsey..."

Kelsey was on the dance floor with her girl, and if they were anything like Jason, they wouldn't want to leave.

He didn't want to leave, either, but he knew better than to stay.

Vanessa was chatting with her date, Aiden. She asked him out after Jason told her he was going with Craig. Aiden said yes.

Jason was glad that one of them was having luck with relationships.

Vanessa skipped the formalities when she saw him coming. "I still cannot believe you wore a suit to this."