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If you had told Craig when he was nine that he'd one day be spending his afternoon studying with Jason the Junior Forest Scout, he'd have asked if you'd ever even met Jason. There was no way the two of them would ever be friends at all, let alone close enough to actually study together.
But, here they are. They'd been going to the same private school since Craig had moved to Herkleton, they'd gotten closer since Jason spent the night at Craig's house, hanging out more at school turning into Jason spending the night at Craig's house more and even spending some days at the Creek together.
Even the rest of Craig's family had gotten closer to Jason. Whenever he came over to Craig's house, Jessica always wanted to spend time with him, Nicole always doted over him and asked him questions his Stepmom never did, Duane played Power Punchers with him a couple of times, even Bernard would sometimes offer unsolicited advice (which Craig knew was his way of showing he cared).
Which leads us to today, and the two of them studying together in Craig's room. They both had papers due next week in separate classes and they thought studying their material together would help them stay on track.
Or, that's what Jason thought. Craig actually wanted to make sure Jason was doing things besides getting ready for the paper, since he had a tendency to spend way too much time on homework and burn himself out.
And they'd already been working a good chunk of the afternoon. Craig decided it was time for a break.
"Jason," Craig quietly called out.
"Hold on," Jason blocked, "I'm in the middle of the Federalist Papers."
"C'mon," Craig encouraged, closing his book, "We've been at this for a while. Let's take a break."
"I don't need to take a break," Jason countered, "I'm fine."
"You've been reading that book for two hours straight," Craig argued, "Are you even able to remember what you're reading anymore?"
"Yes I do," Jason argued back, "They were just talking about...federalism and...America."
Craig just gave a look that he usually gave when he was proven right. Jason wasn't a fan of that look.
"Fine," Jason relented, closing his book too, "But once we get back to work, you don't get to check your phone again until dinner."
"Alright, alright," Craig agreed, "Maybe you staying the night so much is a bad idea, you're just turning into my brother."
A few years ago, Jason would've thought Craig actually didn't want him sleeping over as much. Thankfully, he now knows Craig just likes to tease him.
So, the two of them just laid down and sprawled out on Craig's bed, taking a moment to decompress before thinking of something to talk about.
"So," Jason asked, "How are things going with you and Vanessa?"
"You mean Mi Pájaro Bailarín," Craig asked.
Jason wondered how long Craig and Vanessa were going to stick with those nicknames they gave each other when they first started dating.
"But, yeah, things are going great," Craig answered, "We just saw that new werewolf movie and now she's totally obsessed with it. She's already talking about us dressing as the characters for Halloween."
"Oh yeah," Jason remembered, "Tony was saying he wanted to see that. So, it was good?"
"Yeah," Craig answered, "It was more about the characters and the message than actually being scary, but I hate scary movies, so that works for me."
"Ooh," Jason blurted out, "You know what you should do? You should get a costume of the werewolf guy now, dress like him, and whisk Vanessa away on some date that's kind of like her favorite part of the movie."
That was something odd Craig noticed about Jason. Whenever they talked about Vanessa, Jason would share these ideas he had for romantic gestures, both small and grand. He always treated them like ideas he had that he said he didn't want to see go to waste.
"I mean, maybe," Craig thought out loud, "It probably would've meant more if the idea actually came from me, though."
"I just think you should try it," Jason concluded, "The idea just came to me and it seemed really romantic in my head."
Thinking about this made Craig realize Jason has never actually gone out with someone. He's never even shown interest in anyone else, as far as Craig could tell.
Was there just nobody Jason really thought of that way? Was there someone he was interested in, but he just thought they weren't interested? Was he just scared of possibly being rejected?
If that was the reason, Craig figured there was something he could do to try and help with that.
"You know," Craig pointed out, "If there's anyone you like at school or at the Creek, you can always talk to me and I could help you tell them or ask them out or whatever you wanna do."
"Oh," Jason stuttered, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, "That's fine, Craig. You don't have to worry about that."
"Are you sure," Craig questioned, "I don't mind, and I promise I won't tell..."
"I said it's fine, Craig," Jason snapped back, "Now just drop it, OK?"
At this point, Craig was really starting to wonder what was going on with Jason.
In the past, Craig found that there were two ways Jason would talk to him about things: either he'd open up when he felt safe or he'd burst like a powder keg after Craig poked and prodded him enough.
And Craig found he couldn't help poking when he thought Jason, or any of his friends, was keeping something from him because his mind usually went to scenarios Craig normally wouldn't find logical.
"Is it Vanessa," Craig asked.
"What," Jason questioned.
"Is she the one you like," Craig asked again, "That's why you don't want to tell me?"
"No," Jason rejected, "Craig, you're being ridiculous."
"I wouldn't be mad," Craig reassured, "I know you wouldn't try anything with her."
"Could you please just drop it already," Jason begged.
"Is it not Vanessa," Craig continued, "Is it Maney?"
"Craig," Jason attempted to reason, "I don't like Vanessa or any of the other girls like that. Just trust me."
"Well, how am I supposed to believe you," Craig questioned, "You won't even tell me why you don't-"
"Because I'm gay," Jason blurted out.
Oh.
That wasn't an answer Craig had anticipated.
And it was clearly something Jason wasn't ready to reveal yet.
"There," Jason growled, "You know my secret now! Is that what you wanted to hear?"
At this point, knowing the real reason Jason never showed interest in anyone just made Craig feel terrible. He knew coming out of the closet was a big deal. And he'd just robbed that from Jason by prodding into something that wasn't his business.
"I'm sorry," Craig apologized, "I didn't mean to push so hard and make you admit something you weren't ready to."
"No, it's fine," Jason brushed off, having calmed down, "Honestly, that had been building up inside for a while, and it was bound to burst out at some point. I'm just glad it happened with you."
"Jason, you know nobody at the Creek is going to judge you for being gay, right," Craig reassured, "Everybody's accepted Kelsey, Stacks, Raj, Shawn..."
"It's not them I'm worried about," Jason countered, "I can never tell my parents or anyone else in my family. Our relationship is already...shaky, but they'd never accept me if they knew this."
"That's not right," Craig lamented, "No kid should feel like they can't be accepted just for being themselves."
"And nobody else at school can find out," Jason continued, "If a teacher finds out, they might tell my parents. Promise you won't tell anyone at school."
"I promise," Craig vowed, "Nobody else has to know if you don't want them to."
"I mean," Jason thought out loud, "It really doesn't matter if anyone at the Creek finds out. Like I said, they're not the ones I'm worried about."
Craig really was starting to run out of things he could say to make things better, so he just opened his arms to offer Jason a hug, which was accepted.
"You know you can always come here anytime you need to," Craig reassured, "And if you ever don't feel safe at home, you should probably tell someone."
"OK," Jason off handedly agreed.
"No, seriously," Craig insisted, "Please tell someone if you don't feel safe. I don't want to find out something happened to you because you thought asking for help would make you a bother."
Jason was a bit shocked by how serious Craig was being about this.
"OK," Jason reassured, "I promise."
"Alright," Craig accepted, releasing Jason from the hug.
The two then began darting their eyes at different things in the room, both unsure how exactly to move on from what was just discussed.
"You can always come out to my parents if you want to," Craig offered.
"That feels a little silly," Jason countered, "Coming out to someone else's parents."
"Maybe," Craig thought out loud, "But I promise they'll still be supportive."
Jason found he couldn't really argue with that point. He knew Nicole and Duane well enough to subconsciously know that, if he did actually come out to them, they'd be supportive, encouraging, tell him this changed nothing and they still cared about him.
Things he wished he could hear from his own parents.
"You want to get back to work now," Craig asked.
Jason recognized Craig was trying to take his mind off of everything they'd just talked about, but he found coming out to Craig had actually been rather draining.
"You know," Jason admitted, "Maybe we've gotten enough done for today. Besides, I think Jessica wanted me to watch Wild Kratts with her so I could point out stuff they don't mention."
Jessica knew Jason liked shows about animals, so she would usually get him to watch them with her under the guise of teaching her stuff so he could watch something he liked.
(Jessica never even tried to feign that kind of interest in Slide the Ferret, but that's neither here nor there.)
"We should probably head down then," Craig pointed out, "Before she gets too sucked into whatever financial show she's watching."
As they headed downstairs, Jason reflected on just how much had changed since he first slept over at Craig's house. It really almost felt like he had a family that loved him.
Craig's always told him he has a safe haven here, a place he can just be himself and nobody will get mad at him for it.
And he thinks he's finally ready to accept that