“But no other fanny pack would look this good doing it,” Ransom grins, leaning down to kiss the grimace on Chowder’s face.
“Remind me why I put up with this,” Chowder sighs, but he takes Ransom’s hand and squeezes it, so Ransom knows he’s joking.
“Because I take you to cool amusement parks and hold your hand on the scary rides, of course,” Ransom chirps back.
“Excuse me?” Chowder laughs, “I recall someone nearly breaking my fingers on the Jurassic Park ride because the dinosaurs were too scary.”
“Hmmm,” Ransom hums, “Not me, must’ve been your other boyfriend.”
“Right, right, of course,” Chowder nods, “My other boyfriend, who doesn’t pair salmon shorts with a blue tank-top and pineapple fanny pack, because he values my sanity.”
“Sounds like a really boring guy,” Ransom comments, tugging on Chowder’s hand to lead him towards the Hulk ride. “C’mon, this one looks sick.”
“I dunno, babe, that one looks scary,” Chowder says, sticking his lip out in a faux-pout, “Are you going to hold my hand?”
Ransom laughs, bright and loud and unashamed, as he squeezes Chowder’s hand and says, “Always, C.”
Oh my god, please tell me more about Chowder/Ransom????
“Okay, let’s just go through the flashcards one more time and then - ”
“Justin,” Chowder huffs, “I have told you one million times, you don’t need flashcards of my family.”
“But I always forget if it’s your mom or your grandma that’s in the knitting club!” Ransom whines.
“It’s both, and neither of them care if you remember. You don’t have to memorize things about my family to get them to like you, babe,” Chowder says gently, turning into his neighborhood. He feels the same lightness in his chest that he always gets when he’s almost home, and it’s even better having Rans here, too.
“I just want to make a good impression,” Ransom says, reaching over to grab Chowder’s hand. Chowder intertwines their fingers and gives Ransom’s hand a quick squeeze just as he turns onto his street.
“Oh fuck,” he says under his breath when he sees the cars. He hopes Ransom didn’t hear him, but apparently he’s not that lucky.
“What? What?” Ransom asks, clearly seconds away from panic.
“It’s nothing - it’s fine!” Chowder rushes to reassure him. “It’s just - um - my extended family is here.”
“I DON’T HAVE FLASHCARDS ON EXTENDED FAMILY, CHRISTOPHER!”
Chowder has spent the last thirty minutes telling all of his aunts that he is nineteen and not anywhere near ready to get married or have kids, but he thinks now he might need to remind himself of that. Ransom is currently functioning as a human jungle-gym for three of his younger cousins, and he looks like he’s actually loving it. Chowder hears his laugh ring through the backyard every few minutes, and every time he looks over to catch Ransom’s eye, he’s smiling right back.
“He’s going to be a doctor, you know,” his mom gushed to everyone when Chowder introduced Ransom.
“He’s captain of the hockey team and he has a 4.0 GPA,” his dad bragged.
“He’s a nice boy who treats Christopher very well,” his grandma added.
Ransom had ducked his head at all the compliments, but Chowder caught the pleased smile on his face.
Chowder gets wrapped up in conversation with his uncle and loses track of Ransom, but soon enough Ransom finds him, walking over with Chowder’s cousin’s baby in his arms.
“Babe! Look!” Ransom whisper-shouts. “She was crying and no one could get her to sleep, until I took her,” he beams.
“Future pediatrician for the win,” Chowder laughs. He grabs his phone to snap a picture of Ransom and the baby and post it to his Snapchat story with that exact caption.
“So do you think I did alright? Does the fam approve?” Ransom asks.
“Rans, the family wants to throw us a wedding right now,” Chowder grins.
“Yeah? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?” Rans questions, eyebrows raised.
“Yes, Justin, my family all secretly hates you and wants to break us up. Them showering you with affection and letting you hold Minnie is just a tactic to distract you,” Chowder rolls his eyes.
“Don’t even joke about that!” Rans exclaims, but there’s still a wide smile plastered on his face.
“You’re an idiot,” Chowder laughs, leaning over to kiss Ransom’s cheek and then Minnie’s forehead. “Okay, now you need to give Minnie back to her parents because I am having serious baby feels and I am nineteen, goddamnit.”
