Work Text:
“20 hours?” Tweek exclaimed, eyes wide at Tolkien.
“We’ll take breaks! Here, you guys, don’t you want to do something? Every summer we just sit around and do nothing! This will be fun,” Tolkien defended.
“Well, to be frank, I would rather d-d-die than be in a car with you guys for 20 how-hours,” Jimmy chimed, skeptically eyeing the Yosemite brochure Tolkien had handed everyone.
“I’m with Jimmy on this one,” Craig added, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, the other arm snaked around Tweek’s waist.
“Seriously? We just graduated and you guys just want to do nothing?” Tolkien exasperatedly gasped.
Jimmy, Tweek and Craig all shared a look, revealing they all had planned on doing exactly that.
“Well I for one think that’s a great idea,” Clyde slung his arm over Tolkiens shoulder and pulled him close, “I mean, imagine the adventure!”
“We wouldn’t be driving for 20 hours straight, we could stop along the way and see all the sights,” Tolkien shrugged Clyde’s arm off, “don’t be losers you guys. We hardly get out of this town, don’t you want to see some new sights?”
Clyde smiled at them all, and a collective sigh was heaved among the reluctant group.
—
“Why does Jimmy get the front?” Clyde whined, “I called shotgun!”
“Because I don’t want to sit with the hoh-homos,” Jimmy quipped, twisting to smirk at the backseat.
Clyde kicked Jimmy’s seat in response, mumbling under his breath that he wasn’t even gay.
“Watch the upholstery,” Tolkien warned, glaring at Clyde through the rear view mirror.
Craig, who was sitting in the middle seat, rolled his eyes.
He was uncomfortably sandwiched between Tweek and Clyde, legs bent awkwardly in order to sit in the small seat. The plan was, at this point, for Tolkien to drive 4 hours, take a break, Craig drive 4 hours, an overnight break and repeat.
Tolkiens parents volunteered to cover most of the expenses, which no one protested. They were taking Tolkien’s family’s mini-van, one of the family’s many vehicles.
“Why didn’t we put up the third row,” Craig complained, shifting in his seat in a desperate attempt to find some semblance of comfort.
“Needed room for the luggage, sorry dude,” Tolkien informed, flashing Craig a look through the mirror.
“You can, ngh, sleep on my shoulder babe,” Tweek offered, turning away from the window to address Craig.
“Ugh!” Clyde cried out, dragging his hands down his face.
Craig flipped him off while snuggling into his boyfriends shoulder. They were barely out of town but already the drive was having a negative effect on him. Whether it was the constant vibration of the car or his friends antics, Craig had a dull pain in his head and stomach that made its presence undeniable in Craig’s perception. He sighed with content as Tweek’s hands shakily massaged his scalp. Tweek’s hands were perpetually cold, providing a welcome relief.
Before he knew it, he had drifted off.
—
“Are we there yet?” Craig awoke to the sound of Clyde’s whine.
He blinked a couple times before straightening up. A stabbing pain ached in his neck as a result of his abnormal sleeping position. He stretched the best he could given the cramped space and gave a wide yawn.
“GPS says more hour,” Tolkien sounded exhausted, and Craig had no doubt that they had gone through this routine numerous times throughout the drive.
Craig’s head was heavy with drowsiness, mouth dry in the way it always gets after a nap. Tweek was still asleep, his head rested against the window pane. Craig smiled softly at the sight.
He then closed his eyes and leaned his head against the seat back. Being the middle seat, it didn’t have a headrest which caused his neck to bend back awkwardly. It felt awkward and made it difficult to swallow.
“Hey guys, how- how’s this one,” Jimmy started, looking up from the book he was writing in, “I know a g-gay guy who sou- sounds like an owl.”
“Who?” Clyde asked, typically a fan of Jimmy’s jokes.
Tolkien erupted with laughter, Craig smirked, then let a chuckle out. The abrupt movement sent a chill wave of nausea through his body.
Craig straightened up, eyes widening.
“What? Hey why are you laughing? I don’t get it?” Clyde complained, leaning forward as far as the seatbelt would allow.
Jimmy snickered, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. The noise failed to reach Craig, as his internal conflict took over his entire consciousness. The nausea didn’t leave his stomach despite the chill having passed. He felt dizzy with the intensity of the feeling.
“You alright babe?” Tweek yawned, slowly waking up.
Craig cleared his throat, shifting around in his seat. The movement served to only worsen his nausea. He became distinctly aware of the silence that had settled in the vehicle. He squirmed under the attention.
“You’re looking a little green around the guh-gi-gills Craig,” Jimmy added, looking up and down Craig.
Craig kept his mouth shut against the fear of getting sick. He looked sternly at his hands folded in his lap, hoping against hope that this feeling would pass. He really wish he hadn’t let Clyde coerce him into agreeing with this. Usually car rides didn’t affect him at all, though usually he didn’t go any further than city limits. And also, he wasn’t stuck in the middle seat.
“Ngh! Are you sick?” Tweek guessed, pressing himself against the car door.
Craig couldn’t blame him, Tweek had always been skittish around illness. Clyde also pressed himself against his respective door. Craig would have been grateful for the extra space if it hadn’t been under such an unsavory situation.
“Do I need to pull over?” Tolkien’s eyes widened in the mirror, looking at Craig’s reflection.
Craig wondered how he looked. Judging by the heat, he felt radiating off his body, he was likely sweating. Maybe paled. Tolkien’s worry was probably stemming from his fear of the car getting spoiled.
Craig hesitantly nodded in response to Tolkiens question, keeping his eyes glued down. He hugged his midsection and hunched forward a little, hoping the pressure would relieve him of the fervent feeling.
“Aw weak, don’t puke on me,” Clyde groaned, pressing his cheek against the car door.
Craig would have rolled his eyes, but decided against it due to the pain occurring behind his eyes. Tweek looked as though he was in the middle of a dilemma, desperately wanting to comfort his boyfriend but restricted by his overwhelming fear. Craig felt bad. It wasn’t like he could control how he was feeling, but he hated seeing Tweek so panicked. It pained him moreso having to restrain himself from providing a comforting touch, knowing that proximity was precisely what Tweek was trying to avoid at this point.
He silently thanked God when he felt the car slow to a stop, crunching atop of the pebbles littering the side of the road.
Tweek was the first to jump out of the car, sandwiching himself between the road and the side of the car. Craig imagined him with his hands over his ears as well. The guilt he felt made him gag. Hastily, he brought a hand up to cover his mouth. He couldn’t follow Tweek out in this state.
Clyde took longer to get out, his hands comically frantic and unable to unbuckle himself nor open the door.
Craig probably would’ve jeered at his fruitlessness if he weren’t in such a predicament. His mouth was flooding with a metallic tasting saliva, throat tight and jaw clenched as he desperately tried to delay the inevitable. He gagged again, feeling something hot shoot up from his stomach.
Within the moment, Clyde was out of the car, standing a few feet away. Craig slid over quickly, only able to get his head out of the car before vomiting onto the grass. Tolkien reached back from his seat to pat Craig on the back.
Craig groaned, his headache ten times worse, before his stomach clenched once more with a retch. His vision swam with disorientation as his head protested the odd angle of his body. But his stomach refused to give him to reprise needed to adjust his position.
“Want some water?” Tolkien offered, hand still rubbing Craig’s back. The latter was immensely grateful for the grounding touch.
Though, the prospect of putting something in his stomach sent him once more over the edge. He threw up another wave out of the door. To avoid the sight of it, Craig squeezed his eyes shut and brought one of his hands up to rub his eyes. His other elbow, which was holding him up, quavered under his weight with exertion. The lack of motion in the car slowly came into realization for his body. He felt his nausea slowly ebb away, realizing the situation was no longer dire. Craig took a deep breath, straightening his body to sit normally and still massaging his head.
“Water would be nice,” he grumbled, voice shot from getting sick.
Tolkien reached for a bag at Jimmys feet, rummaging before procuring a bottle of water. He opened it before passing it back to Craig, who grasped it with shaking hands.
Keeping his eyes closed, Craig used the first mouthful to swish it around his mouth, opening one eye to spit out the gross water on the ground in an attempt to rid his mouth of the unsavory flavor. He repeated the process once more to freshen up his mouth. There was still remnants of the acidic flavor, but it was heavily toned down. Once his mouth was as fresh as could be he started sipping the water. It felt cool going down, soothing his insides. Heaving a sigh of relief, he capped the bottle and moved back to the middle seat.
“Thanks. Sorry,” he addressed Tolkien.
“Don’t worry about it,” he assured, passing a stick of gum to Craig, “think you’ll be alright for the rest of the drive? We have less than an hour til we switch off.”
Craig thought it over for a moment, chewing on the gum and taking note of the way his head no longer throbbed with pain and the hardly present pain in his stomach, “yea I’ll be fine.”
He leaned back against the seat before suddenly remembering Tweek. Fueled with concern, Craig opened the door to his left, pulling his body out and quickly spotting Tweek curled up against the car wheel. Craig quickly stretched his body, being sure all his joints were awake, before crouching down in front of Tweek. He placed his hands on top of where Tweek used his to cover his ears. Tweek jumped at the touch, looking at Craig with wide eyes.
He tensed up, and Craig could tell he felt uncomfortable.
“It’s alright, it’s over now,” Craig assured, moving one of his hands to cup Tweek’s cheek, “are you ready to get back in the car?”
Tweek hesitantly nodded, letting Craig guide him up and into the car. Craig still took the middle seat. He kept his hand on Tweek’s shoulder, rubbing it idly. Clyde stood outside with his arms crossed, several feet away from the puddle of Craig’s sick. Tolkien rolled his eyes before pulling forward a couple yards. Satisfied with the distance from the grossness, Clyde reclaimed his seat in the car. Tolkien merged back onto the road, turning the music back on. Craig yawned and Tweek guided his boyfriends head back onto his shoulder. As Craig was slipping out of consciousness, worn from the exertion of getting sick, he heard Clyde once more ask
“Are we there yet?”