Cecil had been so excited. He had found a mountain just outside of Night Vale, successfully proving to himself that they were real. Carlos, seeing Cecil's excitement, suggested that they hike up it, which actually made Cecil even more excited. The only non-exciting part was having to walk back down the mountain with someone who couldn't walk.

"Come on, Carlos!" Cecil squealed the morning of their hike. Carlos was standing at the counter, loading water bottles and granola bars and such into one backpack. In the other backpack was bug spray (even though Carlos wasn't even sure if there would be any), sunscreen, and extra socks.

"Okay, Cecil," Carlos said lifting the backpacks from the counter, but being momentarily stunned when Cecil grabbed both of them from his hands and bolted out the door of their apartment. Carlos chuckled and ran after him.

Not weighed down by a couple of backpacks, Carlos easily caught up to his boyfriend and grabbed him around the waist, all the while laughing. Cecil was slightly more indignant.

"Carlos!" he exclaimed. "Come on, let's get to the car, so that we can get to the mountain. Don't you want to see the mountain?!"

Carlos laughed and said, "Cecil, I've seen tons of mountains, but of course I want to get there!"

"Then let me go and then let's go!"

Carlos obliged and Cecil turned to face him, placing a chaste kiss on Carlos's nose before sprinting to the car. Carlos blushed and giggled as he followed Cecil in running to the car. Cecil all but threw the backpacks into the backseat and jumped into the driver's seat. Carlos ran a little faster to get into the passenger's seat out of fear that Cecil may accidentally drive away without him in all his excitement.

Once they got to the mountain, Cecil parked near an opening of trees at the base where it looked like a trail began through the semi-dense forest. Carlos grabbed the backpacks and handed one to Cecil as they started walking towards the trail.

"Okay, Cecil," Carlos said. "We'll have to be careful because we don't know what the terrain or animal life is like up there."

"Yeah, I know, Carlos," Cecil huffed. "Let's go now!"

"Alright, alright," Carlos finally gave in. "Let's go then!"

Cecil all but squealed and pulled Carlos along by the hand. Carlos had to jog to keep up.

The hike was wonderfully beautiful and relaxing. Cecil pointed out almost everything while Carlos mostly stayed quiet, just watching him with all of his uncontained excitement. And Carlos not once told Cecil to be quiet for just a second, even though he had already seen a birch tree before. And a squirrel. And poison ivy. Carlos quickly pulled Cecil away from that one before he could feel its smooth, velvety leaves.

Overall, it was a very nice day out. Carlos was exceptionally glad that he and Cecil got off work to do this. They had both been feeling stressed lately and the hike definitely helped.

About halfway through the walk up the mountain, Carlos heard Cecil squeak. It was almost like a gasp and a yell cut together, both of which are not really good signs. Carlos looked around frantically to find his boyfriend, but he wasn't in sight. Worried, Carlos called out Cecil's name.

Thankfully, Carlos heard Cecil call back. Less thankfully, Cecil also said that he was going to need help.

"Cecil, where are you?" Carlos still couldn't see him as he began walking towards the sound of Cecil's lovely voice.

"I'm down here," Cecil said. "It's like a ditch or trench or something. But I'm down here."

Carlos almost fell into the ditch, too. Luckily, he caught himself and peered down at Cecil, who was leaning against the wall of dirt next to him. Carlos noticed that he wasn't putting any weight on one of his feet.

I'll worry about that after I get him back up here, Carlos thought as he leaned over the side of the ditch, extending his arms so he could pull Cecil up. Good thing this ditch is only like eight feet deep, Carlos told himself.

Cecil grabbed Carlos's hands, who then pulled him up onto flat ground again. Carlos carefully sat Cecil down in the dirt and then sat down next to him. Cecil wrapped his arms around Carlos's shoulders.

"Oh, thank you, sweet Carlos!" Cecil said a little dramatically.

"You're welcome, Cecil," Carlos responded as he hugged Cecil back. Once they pulled away, Carlos turned to look at Cecil's leg. "Is your ankle alright?"

Cecil also turned his head to look at the appendage that he just now noticed was throbbing. "No, it hurts."

Carefully, Carlos took off Cecil's sneaker and his sock, placing his foot into Carlos's lap to examine it. Cecil winced and Carlos empathized with him. He had frequently twisted his ankle when he was little in his soccer league. Carlos reminded himself to be especially careful.

"Okay, Cecil," Carlos said after a second. "Let's stand you up. Be careful, though."

Carlos helped him up and as soon as Cecil tried to stand on his hurt ankle, he gasped and almost fell over. Carlos caught his arm before he did and let Cecil lean on him.

"Well, it looks like it's not broken, but it's definitely sprained," Carlos gave the unwanted diagnosis. Cecil looked devastated.

"But we—we're only like halfway there!" Cecil exclaimed indignantly. "We can't turn back now."

"I'm sorry, Ceec." And he was. Carlos was looking forwards to their hike almost as much as Carlos was. "But I can't carry you all the way to the top and then all the way back down again."

Cecil pouted and tried to put a little weight on his ankle again, but just to the same effect as before.

"Careful!" Carlos told him hurriedly before he pushed himself too far. Cecil looked at Carlos and sighed.

"Alright," he conceded. "Let's go back."

Carlos could see just how dejected Cecil was about having to leave their hike early, so Carlos thought quick on his feet. He gave Cecil a chaste kiss and then offered, "How about we come back? When you're feeling better, of course. We can finish the hike then."

Cecil's face brightened and then he nodded his head in agreement. Carlos smiled and helped Cecil lean on his shoulder, supporting his back as he tried to hop down the trail. The ground was too leafy to do so safely so the pair stopped to think for a second.

"I'll have to carry you, then," Carlos said, looking to Cecil for consent. The man in question nodded, so Carlos leaned down to wrap arm around the backs of Cecil's legs and then lifted him off of the ground. Cecil held onto Carlos's neck and kept his body close to Carlos's as to not throw him off his balance and fall.

The walk down wasn't much longer than the hike up. Even though Carlos was walking at a slower pace to better accommodate Cecil, they weren't stopping every few steps to look at every new plant, tree, or animal this time. They made good time back to the car and Carlos set Cecil down next to it so he could lean on the door.

"Keys?" Carlos asked.

"Oh, yeah," Cecil said absentmindedly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out their car keys. Carlos opened the door and helped Cecil slide into the passenger's seat. Then, Carlos got into the driver's seat and they left the mountain outside of Night Vale, hoping that it wouldn't disappear or change locations so that Carlos could bring Cecil back to finish their wonderful hike. Hopefully without injury next time.

Imagine your OTP going hiking and Person A twists their ankle halfway through, so Person B has to carry them, bridal style, all the way back.