Craig had never been one for after-school activities. When the final bell rang, he preferred to quickly make his way home and enjoy the solitude of his own bedroom. He could spends hours browsing websites about space, watch reruns of Red Racer, or attempt to finish up some homework only to ultimately push it off until the following morning. When his selective group of friends would try and convince him to join one of their fruity little clubs, Craig would just roll his eyes.
That changed though, when he began his relationship with Stan. He knew going into it Stan was the poster boy of someone with true school spirit. He was the star quarterback after all, and had finally brought victory to the Cows after years of losing.
To show he cared, Craig would wait after school while Stan attended practice. The first few weeks were like torture for him. How people could stand staying at the school longer than an average school day baffled him. However, he told himself to endure for the sake of his relationship. He had already lost one due to his stubborn selfishness. Thankfully, Stan was happy to show his appreciation.
He slowly found ways to entertain himself while Stan was busy. He would linger around the backlot, trying to bum a cigarette from the goths. That changed though, after Stan threatened to just light his ass on fire if he ever caught him with a cancer stick again. After that, he took to roaming the empty halls and peering into classrooms where clubs were meeting. He remembered once stumbling into the Orthodontics Dreamers club and realizing the school didn't really care about the clubs that were formed, as long as people were getting together.
One day during his explorations, he stumbled inside the drama department. Seeing how overly extravagant and unbelievably peppy the whole lot was, Craig hurriedly took off. He had rounded the corner and ran head first into his ex-boyfriend, Tweek. It had been a moment of uncomfortable pleasantries. He learned Tweak was working on the lighting and sound crew for the play. He had requested a day off from football practice because the fall show was coming up.
Somehow Craig found himself back at the drama club the following day. He became well acquainted with each department. There was the lighting and sound, publicity, set, make-up, and many others. One year and three months later, he was now the chairman of the lighting and sound department.
Joining the club had given him two things. He had something to do that he actually enjoyed while he waited for Stan and soon it became Stan waiting for him. He also finally got closure and became friends once again with Tweek.
Stan had been sour when he discovered his boyfriend was spending hours of his free time with his ex-boyfriend. Craig explained being around his old flame helped solidify his feelings for Stan. Tweek was nice enough but he wasn't who Craig loved. If Tweek ever asked to rekindle their relationship, Craig knew without a doubt he could, and would, say no. Tweek never did and likely because he was dating some college dude.
Today Craig, Tweek, Jimmy, and Heidi were sorting through color gels and selecting ones for different scenes. Mr. Mackey had announced last week the fall play was going to be Romeo + Juliet. Craig had groaned audibly at that.
Mackey hadn't cast the actors yet, but that didn't stop him from badgering Craig into promising him he'd have at least one scene lit properly.
"I like to see what my potential actors will look like during the actual play, m'kay." Mr. Mackey had explained.
Craig was currently leaning over a sketch of the scene, the famous balcony scene, with gels stacked beside him.
"Pass me one of those blue gels," Craig said pointing to an arrangement of colored gels where Tweek was sitting. "The dark one…yeah."
"Wh-what are you th-th-thinking for this?" Jimmy asked, peering down at the sketch and the gels in Craig's hand.
"Probably something red," Tweek said, scanning the gels for a blood red. "It's the big romantic scene after all."
Craig shook his head. "No, I'm thinking blues, frosted and maybe a pink."
"Why those colors?" Heidi asked. "Wouldn't the red help with the passion of the scene?"
"No, the scene is less about passion and more innocent love like a crush. The only reason there is so much passion behind it is because of their families' feud. If we just look at the balcony scene, all it is is two people, younger than us, confessing their crushes," Craig hastily explained. "We can use blue to help establish it's night. The frost and the set lights to help give it a soft glow. That'll help with the whole innocence of the scene and then a pink gel. That one will help with the romantic part. It won't feel overdone like a red could."
"Y-yo-you're the expert," Jimmy said.
"Do we know what set plans on creating for this scene? We might want to run the design by them," Heidi suggested.
"I talked with Mr. Alder yesterday," Tweek said. "It sounds like they plan on—
But what exactly the set department was planning, they didn't find out. A disgruntled noise turned their attention to Stan sulking his way over with Cartman close behind.
"Something the matter?" Craig asked, not bothering to sound concerned. He knew the answer already just by the scowl. "Have a bad day at practice?"
"No," Stan snapped, folding his arms.
"It's a little early. How come it ended so soon? Something happen?" Tweek asked, looking from Stan's upset glare to Cartman's relaxed smile.
"It was cancelled. They still haven't properly fixed the field from last game," Cartman responded, shifting his eyes over to Stan for a moment. "What are you fags doing here?"
"Be nice," Heidi warned, punching his forearm gently. He rolled his eyes, but leaned forward to her a quick kiss on the lips.
"How you managed to get the second best looking girl at this school, I'll never know," Stan grimaced.
"Excuse me," Heidi said, drawing herself to full height and placing her hands on her hips. "Second best?"
"I'm contractually obligated to call Bebe the best looking girl. Part of my best friend duties," he said and Heidi chuckled, leaning back against Cartman.
"I as-as-assume the b-b-best looking guy would be," Jimmy began, turning to Craig.
"Kenny," Stan answered and Craig flipped him off.
"You're a little ray of sunshine today," Craig said to Stan. "Care to tell me what happened?"
For a moment, Stan stood there, glaring back at his boyfriend while he gnawed at the inside of cheek. He looked over to see Heidi and Cartman whispering in each other's ear, giggling and then to Tweek and Jimmy watching him as well. He knew he could stand there forever, upset and angry, and Craig would just wait. He would wait and then tell Stan he was being stupid. Craig had an annoy habit of finding easy solutions to problems Stan saw catastrophic.
"Fine," he spat, dramatically throwing his hands over his head. A small burst slipped through, expelling a flame that landed right on Tweek's sleeve. The blonde yelled in shock and frantically began trying to extinguish the fire.
"I went to see Mackey and according to him, my transcript might not be good enough to get into the schools I want to. I have good enough grades and I'm the fucking quarterback," Stan ranted. "But no, apparently that's not enough. I should have done student council or taken AP classes like you and Kyle."
Craig placed a hand on Stan's shoulder giving him a quick squeeze before pulling him for hug. "Do you want to hear my advice?" Craig asked, looking over the top of Stan's head to see Jimmy had finally managed to help put Tweek out.
"Yes," Stan bitterly admitted into Craig's shirt.
He pressed two fingers under Stan's chin, tilting his head up. He pressed his lips to Stan, happy to feel the other man relax slightly against him. He ignored the noise of disgust from Cartman and Heidi's cooing. He pulled away and was pleased to see Stan smiling at him.
"You just have to find another club to join," Craig said. "That's all."
"How can I join a club and still attend football practice," he said "Besides all the clubs here are little…"
"Gay," Cartman finished, earning himself a flick on the ear from Heidi.
"You could join drama club," Heidi offered. "Tweek's able to do both."
Stan turned to Tweek as he automatically flinched expecting another burst of fire towards his way. "That's true," Stan muttered. "But I'm sorry, I can't take days off from practice like Tweek does."
"Why not try out for the play," Craig countered.
"It won't interfere with practice. Mackey always makes sure rehearsal takes place when practice isn't happening," Tweek added. "I think it's because he wants one of the football players to try out and draw in a crowd."
"Yeah...alright," Stan said, as the idea began to slowly settle right with him. "I think I'll try out for Our Town."
"Romeo + Juliet," Craig corrected, but Stan shook his head.
"I'm more in the mood for Die Hard tonight," he said, giving Craig a quick kiss on the cheek. Craig sighed, wrapping his arm around Stan and placing him against his hip. He was going to have to work extra hard to get Stan ready for tryouts next week. However, Craig thought smiling down at him, that meant a lot of favors from Stan.
A/N: Stan's in mood.