Chapter Text
summer in alabama meant oppressive heat, but today was actually surprisingly pleasant, so tim and jay decided to take advantage of it and go on a date. luckily, they also had a break from filming with alex, so they packed up tim’s car and headed out of the city for a picnic.
the drive out of the city was nice, windows down and music turned up. jay gazed over at tim while he drove, twining their hands together over the center console.
"when was the last time we were able to go on a date?" jay asked tim.
"god, not in forever," tim said, "but i'm glad we're getting the chance to now."
"where are you taking me for our picnic?" jay asked curiously.
"it's a surprise," tim replied, "i promise you'll like it though."
jay flashed a smile over at him, humming along quietly to the radio.
the drive went by quickly, and soon enough they were pulling into the lot of a small wooded park.
"a park?" jay questioned, "why didn't we just go to rosswood? it's a lot closer."
"rosswood isn't romantic," tim stated simply, grabbing their basket & blanket from the back of the car. "this place is nice! now c'mon, let's go."
tim took jay's hand once again, and they made their way into the woods. after 15 minutes, jay was readying to complain about how far they had to walk, but he was quickly shut up by the sight in front of them when they made their way through the trees. it was a small waterfront clearing, surrounded by willow trees filtering soft light over the grass.
"oh my god, tim..." jay said quietly, taking in the scenery, "it's beautiful."
"i know, and that's why i wanted to bring you here." tim smiled, pulling jay closer by his waist to press a kiss to his cheek. "let's spread out the blanket."
soon, they were settled in the shade of one of the trees, happily munching away at the sandwiches they packed. a nice breeze helped keeping them cool from the sun.
“this is great,” jay sighed, turning to look at tim.
tim smiled, laying back on the blanket. “it sure is, i love spending time with you like this.”
jay nodded, scooting over to lay next to tim. “it’s so nice out, i wanna take a nap.”
“you always want to nap when we’re together,” tim snorted, “what am i that boring?”
“no!” jay exclaimed, cuddling up to tim’s side, “you’re just...snuggly, it’s comforting.”
“i know, lovebug. i’m just teasin,’ c’mere.” tim hugged him close, brushing his hair off of his forehead. and with that, they drifted off to rest in the summer sun.
their nap was short-lived, however, as they were woken up by loud quacking. jay sat up, rubbing his eyes, only to be met with a family of ducks attempting to infiltrate their picnic basket.
“tim, tim, wake up!” jay shook the man awake. “look!”
“hm?” tim sat up groggily, yawning a bit, “oh, ducks!”
jay seemed to be buzzing with excitement. “i wanna feed them! let’s give them some of the sandwich bread!”
“jay, that’s not good for them,” tim informed, making jay slump down slightly with a pout.
“if only we had something like...” tim rummaged around in the picnic basket, producing a small tupperware and pulling off the lid with a flourish. “peas! they’re safe for ducks to eat.”
jay perked up again, surprised. “how’d you know that?”
he passed the tupperware over to jay, who immediately grabbed a handful to offer the ducks. “i may or may not have come here before to feed the ducks...”
“tim!” jay exclaimed, “that’s adorable, oh my god!”
tim blushed slightly, grabbing his own handful for the ducks to eat. both of the men fed them handfuls of peas until they had none left, jay laughing at how they tickled his palms.
the ducks eventually waddled away, leaving tim & jay sitting together in the shade. they spent another half hour chatting and picking at the food they packed before deciding to wrap up for the day, and made their way back to tim’s car.
once they were settled, tim tugged lightly at jay’s shirt, pulling him into a soft kiss over the center console. “today was great, i really loved hanging out with you like this.”
jay smiled, pressing another gentle kiss to tim’s lips. “i did too, i hope we can do this more soon.”
nodding, tim started the car and pulled out of the lot.
with their hands entwined over the console, tim and jay drove back to their house, ready to have a cozy night in with one another.