Craig McMorris Imagines

What My Parents Say

“Why are you doing this?” Craig asks me from the drivers seat.  The car is dimly lit so I can just barely make out the look on his face.

“They’re right, Craig.  It’s just not going to work.”  I tell him again.  I hate myself for even saying these words. They’re the words my parents have been saying for months.  My parents think that dating a snowboarder is reckless.  Craig is always gone and I’m always waiting on him and my parents can’t stand that. 

“Do you mean that?  Or are you just saying what you’re parents want you to say?”  Craig asks.  I cringe. 

“You’re leaving again, Craig!  You have no idea when you’re coming back, but you expect me to be here whenever you get back!  That’s not fair!  Your career choice is too unstable!  I thought I could handle it, but I can’t!”  I shout. Now I’m the one getting upset.  I don’t want to breakup with Craig.  I really like him, but maybe this relationship isn’t worth the hassle.  It also doesn’t help that my parents have been pushing for this breakup since it started five months ago.  Craig knows about my parents’ disapproval and it hurts him.

“So this is it?  We’re done?”  Craig says quietly.  His nose sniffles like he’s about to cry. 

“Yeah.  I guess this is it.”  I tell him as I try to keep it together.  I get out of Craig’s car before I breakdown. I watch the headlights fade away as he leaves my driveway.  A part of me wishes he’d turn around and come right back.

“Are you alright, sweetie?”  My mother asks me.  She puts her hand on my back as an attempt to comfort me.

“No.  I’m not.”  I say coolly.  I wipe the tears from cheeks and look at her.  I want her to see how upset I am. “We broke up.  Are you happy now?”

“Of course I’m not happy, y/n.  You’re father and I just think it’s best for you to date somebody who’s life isn’t as…unpredictable.”  My mother says gently.  “I think breaking up with Craig is probably the healthiest thing for you to do.”

“Oh shut up.”  I mumble under my breath. 

Four weeks later I’m on vacation with my family.  We’re staying at some fancy ski resort.  Being at places like this always remind me of Craig, but I push that thought out of my head. I can’t keep thinking about him.

“I’m gonna go explore the lodge.”  I say as soon as I drop my bags on the hotel room floor. Mostly I just need to get away from parents. It was a long trip here.

“But we just got here.”  My dad says.

“I know.  I’ll catch with you guys later.”  I say quickly as I flee out the door.

This ski resort is huge.  I get lost almost instantly, but I don’t mind.  There are also people everywhere.  It’s like ridiculously busy.  There must be some sort of competition or something going on this weekend.

I turn down some random hallway and standing in front of me is a boy I know well.  I see Craig standing just five feet away.  His back is turned to me, but I know it’s him.  I turn around as fast as possible so that he won’t see me.

“Y/n?” Craig calls out.  Dammit.

“Craig?”  I reply as turn to face him.  He has on his typical big toothy grin.

“What are you doing here?”  Craig asks as he hugs me.  The hug isn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.  It was kind of nice actually.

“I’m on vacation for the weekend with my parents.”  I tell him. “What about you?”

“I’ve got a big contest today actually.  I’ve got finals in a couple hours.”  Craig says. 

“Oh right.  Well good luck!”  I say as I try to end the conversation.  Craig is being nothing but polite, but talking to him is hard for me.  I’m still trying to get over him. 

“Thanks!”   He says as I begin to walk away.  “Wait!”

“What?”  I ask.

“Would maybe wanna go on a walk with me? And talk?”  Craig asks shyly.  My gut tells me to say no, but at the same time I want to hear what he has to say.

“Yeah.  Sure.”  I reply.  He smiles again.  We start roaming the halls of this massive resort. I must admit that I love having the company. “So how have you been?”

“I’ve been alright.  Been snowboarding a lot. What about you?” Craig says as we walk.  He stands close to me, but not in a weird way.

“I’ve been alright too.”  I say.

“I haven’t been alright actually.”  Craig tells me.  He stops walking.  “I’ve missed you so much.  We were so good together and we were so happy.  I just don’t get what went wrong.”

“Craig, stop.”  I say, but he continues.

“I know your parents didn’t like me and my schedule sucks, but we made it work.  We always made it work.  I always called when I said I would.  You were always my number one priority.   I thought you were happy.  I just don’t get it.”  Craig rants. 

“I was happy.”  I say quietly. 

“Then be with me.”  Craig says as he reaches for my hand.  I pull it away.

“Nothing’s changed, Craig.  My parents still feel the same.  I can’t change the way they feel.  I wish I could, but it is what it is.”  I explain. I want to punch myself for saying this to him.  I sound like such an asshole.

“Okay.”  Craig finally says.  He stares at me for moment as I fight back my tears.  He bites his lip and then walks away.  Why did this have to happen?

I start wondering the resort again.  I try clearing my mind of all things Craig, but it’s proving impossible.  All I can think about is the good times we had together.  Like how he would never miss an opportunity to hold my hand.  Or when we drove five hours north just to go to the zoo.  Or that time he surprised me on my birthday after swearing he wouldn’t be able to make it.  Craig was so good to me and I threw him away because my parents said so.  I’m so pathetic.  I don’t want to lose him again.  I need to fix this. 

I start running through the halls of the resort searching for him.  I can’t find him at all.

“Excuse me, sir!?”  I ask some random guy in the lobby of the lodge.

“Yes?”  He answers.

“Do you know when the snowboarding completion starts?”  I ask breathlessly. 

“I think it’s just about to end.”  The man says as he points towards the slopes.  I guess I hadn’t realized how long I’ve been walking for. 

“Thank you!”  I yell as I start sprinting towards the competition.  I shove my way through the crowd of fans at the bottom of the slope.   I somehow make my way to the fence that separates the crowd from the athletes.

“CRAIG MCMORRIS JUST THREW A WINNING RUN!”  The announcer shouts over the loud speaker.  The crowd begins to roar.  I see Craig standing at the bottom of the course with his snowboard in hand.  He has on that giant smile again.

“CRAIG!  CRAIG!”  I yell hopelessly.  There’s no way he can hear me over the crowd.   “CRAIG!”

He can’t hear me. Ugh.  This is so frustrating.  I need to talk to him.  I decide in that moment to do something risky.  I look around to see if anybody is watching me and then hop the fence.  As soon as I get over the fence, I run to Craig.

“HEY! YOU CAN’T BE OVER HERE!”  Somebody shouts at me, but I don’t care.  Craig turns to see what all the commotion is about and sees me coming towards him.  He drops his snowboard and pulls me into a hug.  I kiss him before saying a word.  I can hear the crowd awing in the background.

“I don’t care.  I don’t care what my parents think.  I just want to be with you.”  I tell Craig.

“Really?”  He asks as he holds me tightly against him.

“Really.  We can make this work.”  I say. Craig just smiles and goes back to kissing me.