The Woods (A South Park Craig x Reader Fan-fiction)

Epilogue

So the camping trip didn't go to plan. While all the other kids went kayaking and hiking and numerous other fun camping trip activities, you were stuck in a hospital bed. Once you were finally released, along with your friends, and taken back home on the fixed up bus, you all had a month's worth of detention for sneaking off and getting put in danger like that. You were lucky Mr Parker didn't lose his job but he was not letting you off easily; day after day, you stayed behind at school an hour longer than necessary and sat in unbearable boredom with your classmates up until summer.

It wasn't all that bad however; Bebe decided to celebrate the fact you all got back safe by throwing a party. Of course drunken teenagers are the epitome of safety, but she can supposedly justify why it's necessary. On the bright side, this gave sober you more of a chance to get to know Craig, who also didn't amuse himself with alcohol either, and as it happens, he's a much nicer guy than he lets on.

So now you sit at home in your room, it's around 8pm and you're wearing simple grey jeans and a plaid shirt while waiting for him to come and pick you up. You're not sure where he's going to take you; only that it involves promised pizza and you're starving.

You've learned a lot about Craig after the camping trip: most importantly, he doesn't like to go over the top with dates, he keeps it simple with uncomplicated gestures, something that is underrated and remarkably refreshing.

You hear a knock at the door and find him standing outside impatiently tapping his fingers, ironic, considering he has barely been waiting. You smile to yourself in amusement and you notice his eyebrow quirk: the only expression he chooses to show for the moment.

"Ready to go?" He asks ignoring the mild lift of your cheeks as he tries to avoid your eyes. You can't help but laugh at his shyness and give him a gentle nod, pinching his little finger in the loop of yours. This is a gesture you seem far too comfortable with despite all his protest.

"Hell yeah!" Your voice is awkwardly enthusiastic and your smile turns sheepish in embarrassment. You hope that wasn't as loud as it sounded but the left side of his jaw tilts up crookedly and you can't help but nervously laugh in response. The moment seems to lack some measure of confidence but isn't awkward as one would expect; the lack of sound and clumsy exchange of expression seem to suppress any tension.

Not long after, he leads the way to his car: a slightly bent up blue pickup truck. The journey has a comfortable silence to it, although your eyes never cease gazing at his road concentration. You want to appreciate every moment where he's doing something remotely usual as you try and merge your past daydreams of him with the reality. Who knew he could drive like a slightly better than average teenager?

You're still not used to him actually talking to you, which is to be expected. You can't remember how long you've had a crush on him and then you forget to actually speak since he's addressed you just now.

"What?"

"Are you asleep or something?" He tries a passive aggressive response but his face holds too much evidence of an awkward smile.

"Sorry, I was just..." You trail off.

"Don't worry about it; we're here,"

"Huh?" You turn to look outside. The car's stopped on the side of the road with no obvious building in sight. You're both on the edge of town and even farmer Bill's nowhere to be seen. You give Craig a confused look and he leads the way out of his car. He walks a few steps then stops like he's forgotten something. Without turning around, he holds out his hand and you shuffle over to take it. He looks straight ahead but his pink tinted cheeks say enough about how he's feeling. "So, where are we going again?"

He stops again and uses his other hand to pull his blue chullo hat off his head leaving fluffy, black hat hair. You stifle a laugh at this but are soon buried in the blue fabric that smells like pine trees, clean clothing and boy, which is secretly really comforting, but your eyesight is completely deactivated and you realize this must be his way of trying to surprise you.

Something about trusting him completely is kinda invigorating and worrying at the same time yet you let him lead your hand. Granted, you trip multiple times and it isn't the most graceful turn of events.

"Here," He pulls off the hat and you shake out your messy (h/c) hat-hair.

Once your eyes open, you relax at the familiarity around you. It's only a fence not far from Stark's pond but you can see quite a hefty view of the whole town. The sun gently beams down and reminds you of the lack of snow as it's late summer yet it slowly sinks behind the mountains and leaves streams of coral and burgundy along the sky. Craig has already climbed over to perch on said fence, facing the sun, and he gives you a shy glance with his hand held out. This time he looks you directly in the eye and you see him properly for the first time. He grins boyishly and you smile at how adorable his crooked teeth look.

The short journey has told you three things you didn't know before: One, that Craig hides a lot about himself from most people, Two, that your last statement was incredibly cliché and Three-

You are interrupted by his hands which pull you up to sit on the fence beside him and support you there to avoid clumsy falls. His hands venture up to your face and he holds you there. You can feel your cheeks burn with how unusual the feeling is. It's then, without warning, that his face is no longer inches away but colliding with yours; his lips are gently brushing against yours and you can count all the freckles on his cheeks. His eyes are shut and you notice how long his eyelashes are (which normally you'd envy but on this occasion you are far too preoccupied).

He pulls away slowly and looks at you again for a few moments, his eyes darting between yours like he's trying to memorize what each individual eyelash looks like. You smile at the gesture, and upon seeing your smile, he does the same. The evening continues to be sweet and simple and miles better than anything you had in mind. You know you'll never forget that adorable toothy grin but you're still wondering where the promised pizza is.