craig cody and his childhood best friend / never-ending situationship
(this is 4 u my wonderful melly love u girl @scrmqwn)
Craig Cody isnât the smartest man in the world, but when heâs with her, his best friend since the second grade, he seems to get a whole lot dumber â they collectively seem to get a lot dumber. And theyâre together a lot.
They probably havenât gone three days without seeing each other since the first time she came over. Her mom brought some new guy to the house and told her to go play outside; Craig had been running from his brothers after pulling some stupid stunt and found her laying in the grass, plucking at strands.
Confused, he called her name in between pants while he stomped up her yard.
âOh, hey, Craig.â Sheâd looked over, watching him plop down in the grass next to her. âWhatâre you doinâ here?â
âI live that way,â He pointed down the street, like that explained why he was in her yard. âWhatcha doin?â He asked, moving his hand back and forth in the grass while she flipped over to lay on her tummy.
âMy mom told me to come play outside, but nobody wanted to play with me.â The other parents on the street were aware enough of her motherâs habits to not want anything to do with the small family.
âOh. Thatâs stupid.â
She nodded in agreement against the arms folded under her head.
âYou can always come play with me.â Craig shrugged.
âYeah!â He grinned, and the hair he wouldnât let his mother cut even then moved along with his nodding head. âCâmon, we can go swimming and my mom got popsicles.â
They clambered up from the grass together, running off to Craigâs house full of giggles. That had been halfway through third grade, around two decades ago.
Sheâs basically part of the family now, Smurf always makes sure thereâs enough dinner for her. The older woman loves her dearly, unlike the rest of the relationships she has with her sonsâŚwomanly counterparts. She just worries about those two, sometimes, with the conversations sheâs overheard throughout the years. It was worse in their teen years.
âHow does that even work?â Sheâd heard Craig ask as she passed by his room with a basket full of clean laundry. Smurf paused, looking in the small crack left between the door and its frame to find the two starfished out across his bed with confusion written all over their faces. Closed doors wasnât much of a thing in the Cody house, privacy wasnât ever a concern.
âWhat do you mean, dude, like, the fishes?â
âYeah, why donât they all freeze and die when stuff gets all icy? How do fishes still exist?â
They go quiet, and Smurf watches the girl try to think up an answer with wide eyes and furrowed brows. After a minute, she shakes her head.
âYour guess is as good as mine.â
They burst out giggling, and Smurf has to close her eyes and walk away to stop the sigh that wants to leave her mouth. Fishes â fucking fish magic. Dumbasses.
J meets her the first day he spends at Smurfs. While the boys jump around the pool sheâs laying in a lounge chair with a football in her hands.
âGo!â She shouts to Craig from where he stands on the diving board.
âGimme a minute-â He pleads, taking in gulps of air.
With a groan, he starts to run off the diving board. Clearly not fast enough for her, because she pelts him in the stomach with the football.
He drops into the water with a moan while she cackles, resurfacing to throw the ball back at her.
âIâm sorry, Iâm sorry,â She tries while watching him climb from the pool with a gleam of trouble in his eyes. The giggles in between sorries doesnât make it seem very true.
âYeah, you better be,â He grins when she stumbles from the lounge chair and starts running around the pool.
âNo, no, no,â She dashes around Deran, when suddenly Smurf storms into the backyard with a boy by her side.
âMy cupcakes are ruined!â
Unaware of his surroundings (as usual), Craig manages to grab ahold of her from behind, pulling her into his chest and off the ground.
âYou remember your uncles, J, donât you?â Smurf asks the young boy. It stops Craig from hauling her back into the pool. They pay no attention to the rest of the conversation while he letâs her back down and he stuffs her under his arm. Smurf says her name, so she throws J a wave and a grin as she wraps her arm around Craigs waist. âThis is CraigsâŚgood friend.â
Before they can stop themselves, sheâs wrestling for the football in his hand. Heâs too strong though, like every other time they do this, and soon sheâs hauled back up into the air and heâs making a running jump into the pool.
âSorry,â Baz tells only the new boy, because everybody else is used to them. âThey donât know how to behave.â