Author's Note: This is my first ever Craig of the Creek story so please don't get on my case too much if I don't get the characters' personalities exactly right.
I don't own Craig of the Creek, the series belongs to Cartoon Network, yada, yada, yada, you all know the drill. Moving on.
Also this is 'T' Rated just to be safe.
Side note, everyone in this story are either in their early teens, like 13 to 16 range or are just now entering adulthood like 17-18 to 23.
With all of that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy.
It was a clear day at the Creek as Craig let out a sigh of annoyance as he waited for all the kids of the Creek to gather at the Trading Tree for an important announcement as he sat on a log alongside his friends JP and Kelsey that he told the Tree's manager Kit to help him with, withholding the reason why he's calling it.
Speaking of Kelsey and JP, they've noticed that Craig was acting rather depressed for the past 3 hours today even before the meeting was called, anytime that they would ask what was wrong with him, he would put on a fake smile and say that he was fine and change the subject that wasn't on him. But Kelsey and JP knew Craig well enough to know that he wasn't. At one point, Kelsey got so fed up that she wanted to pin Craig to the ground and forced him to tell them what was up with him but JP and Jessica (who was also there for the day looking equally depressed) pointed out that if they tried to force it out of him, he would just refuse to tell them. Kelsey also tried to interrogate Jessica even before that, but she refused to say jack squat, wanting Craig to be the one to do it as she wished to support her brother when he delivers the big news.
It took 30 minutes for everyone to arrive.
Some of his fellow Creek Councilors were also in attendance such as the animal and nature loving Wildernessa and her massive pet Cheese Sticks, the militaristic Paintball Brothers Mike and Benny, the classy and prim and proper Tea Timers like George, Jane and Eliza, the speedy bike racing 10 Speeds, Handlebarb, Cannonball, Warpspeed, and Todd, the stealthy and Japanese obsessed Ninja Kids such as Yustice, Zatch and Prynda, the sewer dwelling Sewer Queen, Forest Scouts which included Boris, Jason and Tony, Kit herself as she represented the Trading Tree, the junk representative Junk Lord, the scientific Wren and the candy loving Bobby.
This also included some other Creek Kids who weren't councilmen like the Horse Girls consisting of Mackenzie, Marie, Maney and Melissa, the Secret Kid, the kids that went to the Daycare having grown out of it, the kid from 3030 Deltron, the Cardboard City Manager, Carter Brown, the positive oozing and bubble wand using Sparkle Cadet, the Honeysuckle Rangers Shawn and Raj, the saxophone playing Timekeeper, the former king Xavier, some former subjects of his like his former second in command Maya, the bookworm Stacks who hangs out at the library, the two Green Ponchos Omar and Michelle among many others.
Even the Elders of the Creek like Mark, Barry and David came to the meeting and even the Witches of the Creek Tabitha and Courtney, (who are in a relationship just so you know) showed up, apparently having nothing better to do.
Eventually, all the Creek Kids have assembled at the Trading Tree, eager yet curious to hear the one who's helped them through thick and thin has to say.
"This is going to be quite hard to them all." Craig thought to himself as he felt some sweat drip down his face due to the large crowd of kids that have gathered at the location.
"So Craig," JP began, breaking the black kid out of his thoughts. "Why did you call this meeting?"
"Yeah, buddy. Something up?" Kelsey said as she laid a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"You could say that." Craig said, rather sadly.
JP and Kelsey looked at each other in concern.
With everyone in the Creek now here, Craig got off the log he was sitting on and limped over to the cooler that Kit usually uses as a desk and wobbled his on top of it cause his feet fell asleep and he was trying to get the blood flow back into them.
Noticing that he was going to fall, JP, Jessica, Kelsey and Kit quickly sprang into action.
"Whoa, Craig!" Kit said as she quickly jumped onto the cooler and wrapped her arms around him.
JP, noticing that Kit was struggling to both hold their friend as well as maintain her balance on the cooler, quickly wrapped his arms around both of them without getting onto the counter. "We got you, buddy." He said, maintaining his hold on both of them.
Jessica began to massage to his left leg as Kelsey did the same to his right leg.
Craig smiled at his friends' tenderness to his needs. "Thanks guys."
"No problem Craig." Jessica said. "Now, are you ready?"
Nodding, he let out a sigh and turned to the massive crowd in front of him.
"Hello, e-everybody." He began nervously, something that JP and Kit noticed. "I'm sure you all are w-wondering why I called this m-meeting."
"Why yes we are." Eliza said rather impatiently. "So if you're done being a nervous wreck up there, I suggest you get on with it! I have a tea party to prepare later."
"Back off, lady!" Jessica shouted in her brother's defense. "He tell you at his own pace, so keep your trap shut!"
The prim and proper tea timer let out a gasp of shock at Craig sister's rudeness. "Who are you to talk to me that way, you little brat?!" She then began to march straight up to the little preteen.
"Just someone telling someone else to can it." Jessica said, stopping her massage. "I suggest you please do it."
She jumped off the cooler and began to march up to the princess of proper jerks, ready to give her a piece of her mind and ignoring JP and Kit's requests for her to stop as this wasn't going to help.
Noticing a fight was seconds away from breaking out, Omar shot an arrow between the two girls, causing the area to go silent.
"Okay, both of you calm down." The current Green Poncho said calmly as he walked up to the two girls who were still frozen in fear of being at the receiving end of the archer's precise accuracy. "Now, listen up all of you. I understand you all are confused and wondering why we've been rallied here today. I am too but, doing stupid things like demanding the person in question to just get to the point just because you're impatient..." He said, glaring at Eliza who just stared at the ground in embarrassment. "Or being ready and willing to start a pointless fight for an admittedly honorable reason..." He said, gently glaring at Jessica with what assumed to be disappointment as she couldn't tell due to the hoodie covering his eyes, but given his tone, she assumed that it was. "Is not going to help anyone. That's not the Creek way."
Jessica and Eliza couldn't help but agreed with Omar on what he was saying. Now wasn't the time to be at each other's throats, especially since before Craig had something rather important to say.
After a few moments of silence, Omar continued. "I mean Jessica, what would your parents say if they knew what you were about to do? What would Craig say?"
Jessica's eyes widened in shock as she didn't even consider that.
"T-They'd be angry with me!" She squeaked out in fear.
"Yes they would." The hooded Omar said before turning to the leader of the Tea Timers. "And Eliza, this is quite unbecoming of you, ready to pound a young child just for standing up for her brother, you should be ashamed of yourself."
Eliza took a moment to realize that Poncho boy was right. No matter how much she didn't want to admit it.
Letting out a sigh, the Tea Timer leader said. "I'm sorry, Jessica."
"I'm sorry too!" Jessica cried, briefly looking at Eliza.
With that out of the way, the two girls went back to where they were before.
With that fight now averted, Craig let out a sigh of relief as he felt the confidence within him rise up as he continued.
"Thanks Omar," He said with a saddened smile on his face. "Sorry that little distribution everyone, you know how those two can be at times." He then cleared his throat in order to get himself back on topic. "Yesterday, Jessica and I received some rather..." He felt begin to choke on the rest of his speech, no matter how much he tried his damnedest not to. "H-heartbreaking n-news a...and..." He stopped briefly to try and wipe the tears from his eyes as well as also blow his nose but he quickly that different have any tissue with him.
"Here Craig." JP said, offering his sleeve as a makeshift piece of tissue. "Use my sleeve."
"T-Thanks JP." Craig said, appreciative of his kind friend's offer. "You guys can let me go now."
Letting go of the distressed boy, Craig took the time to wipe away the tears and blow his nose (much to everyone's disgust) before continuing.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore, we're moving." He muttered, only Kit, JP, Kelsey and Jessica heard him as barring Jessica, their eyes widened in shock.
"What?" Bobby asked, not hearing what the Stump's leader had muttered.
"Yeah, could you please repeat that?" the Sewer Queen kindly requested.
Noticing that brother was struggling Jessica stepped up once again for her brother as she shouted at the top of her lungs. "WE'RE MOVING, OKAY?!"
With that declaration now out, the Creek fell silent as everyone was shocked to hear the news.
"Moving?!" was everyone's only response to the news.
"But how?" Wren asked in shock. "What scientific anomaly is causing this turn of events?"
"I think the better question is why?" Melissa asked as she was also shocked.
Instead of responding, Craig felt the tears well up in his eyes again as jumped off the cooler and began to run deep into the woods.
"Craig!" JP shouted in concern for black skinned boy. "Where are you going?!"
"Craig, wait!" Kelsey said in concern for her friend as well.
"Big brother, come back!" Jessica said, concern for her brother as tears began to well up in her eyes as well.
But Craig ignored the pleas of his friends and his sister as he ran as fast as he could into the Creek as he felt the nonstop tears of sadness stream out of his eyes. He didn't have a destination in his head at the moment, all he wanted was to be left alone with no one in his corner to be there to pity or comfort him.
In his head, what was the point, he was going to leave them all anyway no matter what he did.
With Craig gone, the Creek kids turned to Jessica who were demanding an explanation from her.
All except for Wildernessa, who silently told Cheese Sticks to go after her crush, with the animal helper riding on top of him...
Using her large dog's unique scent of smell, the animal rights activist finding the moving boy was rather easy. Took almost the whole day as she found him curled up into a ball, crying at the edge of a cliff, it was sunset by then.
Craig appeared to not heard the approaching footsteps coming up behind him as he must have to caught up in his depression to notice whoever was approaching him as the sound of his crying was drowning out the world around him.
Seeing the boy she likes... no loves in this state was concerning to watch. But as much as she wants to help her former rival, the problem is that she doesn't know exactly how to. I mean, what should she say? "Craig, I know you're depressed but I love you?"
Another sniffle from the black boy broke Wildernessa out of her thoughts, so remembering what she was here to do, she spoke.
"Craig?" she stated softly.
Hearing her all of a sudden, caused Craig to let out a yelp as he turned around to face the duo.
"Wi-Wildernessa?" Craig stammered. "What are you doing here?"
As much as the animal lover wanted to be her usual snarky self when confronted by these... weird feelings she has when it came to personal situations like this, she knew now wasn't the best time for that. If she wasn't going to help Craig, she needed to be honest without being a snarky, savage, pain in the neck about it.
Giving out a sigh, she began. "Looking for you, you had us all worried when you ran off like that."
"So-Sorry." The teen apologized weakly.
The teenage girl got off her mount and walked over to her crush, sitting down next to him. For the next few minutes, the only sound that was heard was the soon-to-be-moving boy's sobbing.
Upon hearing her crush's sobs for a few more seconds caused Wildernessa to act... by pulling him into a gentle although a little tight hug.
Craig, though surprised at the hug that the usually jerky, abrasive lover of animals was giving him, he just fell straight into it as he wrapped his arms around her back as he continued to cry and sob for a few seconds longer.
After he managed to stop crying and only let out a few whimpers, the girl who found him spoke again. "Listen Craig, I know I'm not the best when comes to... being my true self when it comes to expressing my emotions but..." She stopped briefly to compile her thoughts into what she was going to say next as she has to be careful when someone is emotionally distressed like this before speaking again. "I just want you to know that if you want to talk, which I know that you probably don't want to do right now, I'll stay right here with you when you're ready. I'll stay here all night if I have to."
Craig, despite his current situation and much to both of their surprise, the soon to be departing teen actually chucked a bit. "O-Okay, that sounds... really nice actually." He felt himself blushing as he said that, he wasn't used to Wildernessa being this... honest with him. Usually whenever the two interacted it was more of the wild girl more or less being a jerk to him, so seeing her like this was rather alien to him.
The two sat in silence for a few more moments before Wildernessa broke the ice. "So? You're... really moving?"
As much as Craig really didn't want to answer that question, he decided to answer her since she was being honest, now it was his turn.
"Yeah. I really don't want to though." Craig answered, almost dreading every word he was saying.
"Any reason why?" She asked, almost dreading the answer.
Craig went silent for a bit before he let out a sigh of tranquil anger at his current situation before he then spoke. "My mom got this new job offer in the next town over, it's her dream job. But..."
"But what?" Wildernessa asked, trying not to sound too harsh.
"But she said she'll only take the job if we all agree to go with her." Craig responded. "Bernard already agreed to it, Dad too, much to my disappointment but then again who could say no to that woman?" He lightly joked trying to lighten the mood. "All that's left is me and Jessica and you saw how we were during the whole attempted speech thing earlier."
"Why don't you just tell her No?" the abrasive girl asked.
"I want to but this is her dream job, it's a conundrum!" Craig said, lifting his arms up in exaggeration. "I want Mom to have her dream job but I don't want to leave the friends I made here. Jessica feels the same way!" He then buried his face into his hands as he muttered. "I don't know what to do." He then stood up with a saddened look on his face. "Guess I should tell her that I wanted to move."
After he said that, several danger alarms went off in his friend's mind. She couldn't let him go.
She wasn't going to let him just give up and leave.
Before Craig could take a single step, he found himself immediately embraced from behind by the animal themed young woman rather tightly.
"No!" Wildernessa shouted. "I won't let you! You can't just give up, Craig!"
"Let me go." Craig demanded as he tried to get out of Wildernessa's hold, only for her to tighten up a bit more in response.
"No, you can't just move away from the Creek!" She responded.
"I don't have a choice!" He said.
"Yes you do!" She said pointed out.
"Why do you care so much anyway?!" He asked in disbelief.
"Because... um..." Wilderness began, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, despite really, REALLY wanting to.
Craig noticed that his friend's hesitation has caused her to loosen her grip on him, which gave him the opportunity to break free of her grip that she had on him.
"Because of what?" Craig said, rather annoyed that one of his friends was preventing him from leaving.
"I don't want..." Wildernessa tried once more but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Craig gave out a sigh when stopped herself again. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, then I'm going home. Goodbye Wildernessa. Hopefully, we can still be friends wherever I end up."
Hearing that caused everything to slow down from the wild girl's perspective. Friend, that single word cause her eyes to widen in shock as she saw Craig began to walk away. If she didn't say what she wanted to say now, she was going to remain his friend from now until the end of time.
She brought back to reality when she heard Cheese Sticks growl at Craig.
"Please move, Cheese Sticks." Craig said, just wanting to leave already.
Craig tried to move around the big animal but every time he did so, Cheese Sticks would continue to block his path.
Unbeknownst to the black teen, Cheese Sticks was silently sending signals to his owner, telling through the actions to HURRY THE HECK UP AND TELL HIM ALREADY!
"Wait!" The woman called out, gaining Craig's attention once more. "Before you go, there's something that I really want to tell you!"
"What is it?" Craig said in a tired tone.
"I... I..." Wildernessa began as she blushed up a storm. "I don't want to lose you, cause..."
"Still can't say what you want to say?" Craig said in a rather disappointed tone as he crossed his arms.
Taking a deep breath, she shouted. "Cause you're the only one who has wanted to be friends with me, but that's not all!" She then grabbed a hold of his shoulders as she stared into his eyes. "I LOVE YOU, CRAIG WILLIAMS!" She finally managed to get out.
Upon hearing Wildernessa's true feelings finally come out caused the two teens to go silent as Wildernessa looked away.
"You... love me?" Craig asked, to which he saw her nod, confirming it. "Wow, I had no idea."
"Yeah, well why did you think I was being specifically harsh with you." Wildernessa stated shyly. "I know we didn't get along at first, but the more I saw you and got to know you more, it made me realize just how great of a person you are, flaws and all."
"Wow, I often thought that you were just a jerk that only cared about animals." Craig stated with a small smile on his face. "Who'd thought it was because you..." Craig blushed a bit as he stared down as he continued. "actually liked me."
"Yeah." Vanessa said as she stared down at the ground in a bit of sadness. "If you don't like me back, I'll understand."
Instinctively, he grabbed her by the shoulders, causing her to look into his eyes.
"It's not like that!" Craig said, rather emotionally. "I kinda thought that you'd loved me for a while. And... I kinda feel the same way."
"Really?!" She asked in surprise.
"Really." He answered with certainty.
As the two teens stared into each other's eyes, nothing but love, they leaned in.
The sun began to set in the background as the two kissed, lost into their own little world.
Their 'true love's' type of kiss last for two minutes before the two broke apart.
"I'll miss you, Craig." Wildernessa said as tears pricked into her eyes.
"I'll miss you too, Vanessa." Craig said, shocking the girl by using her real name. "But we can always video chat."
Nodding, the two began to walk back to the Creek, unsure of what the future will tell for their newly formed relationship. But as long as they had love in their hearts, they will always be together. No matter the distance or who they meet.
The End!