Craig was already heading out of the high school, right as the last bell sounded through the afternoon air. As he followed the path to the stairs at the back of the school with his bag over his shoulder, he thought about Tweek and wondered again what he had in store. Rounding the corner with the stairs coming into view, he saw Tweek already there. The boy was sitting in the same spot he was in when Craig had found him the day before, but this time, he looked more relaxed.
He remembered the conversation they had yesterday, before the fight with Cartman. He recalled how panicked Tweek was, more than he usually was. He had been trembling all over and he couldn't keep his hands from fidgeting. Now, he sat almost calmly and after noticing Craig walking towards him, he stood up and waved.
Craig gave him a nod, a tiny hint of a smile forming on his lips. "Hey, Tweek."
"H-Hi, Craig," Tweek chirped.
Craig pulled out the note that Tweek had given him and gestured it towards him. "So, you said that you have something to give me?"
Tweek nodded. "Y-Yeah, but I d-don't have it with m-me now. We n-need to go to the sh-shop, if that's okay."
"Yeah, that's fine," Craig replied.
The two began ambling in the direction of Tweak Bros and Craig could feel that he was somewhat anxious. The thought of students spotting them and mistaking them for friends didn't settle with him well, especially if Clyde and Token saw them. That would cause a lot of questions he didn't want to answer.
"S-Sorry again for ru-running off this morning," Tweek acknowledged bashfully.
"No worries," Craig assured him. "Clyde was kind of being a dick, anyways."
A squeak came from Tweek at the sound of Clyde's name. He shuddered slightly before saying, "It's okay. I - I get it."
"He's not usually like that," Craig explained. "He just... I don't know. He's kind of afraid to be seen with you, I guess. He believes that Cartman might think he agrees with me, you know, helping you yesterday and he doesn't want to get involved."
"Wh-why?" Tweek asked, something changing in his voice. "He d-doesn't l-like that you s-s-saved me?"
"I guess," Craig mumbled, realizing how bad it sounded.
Tweek was tensely quiet for a moment, but then he shook off his mood change and chuckled. "Th-that's kind of funny that he-he's scared t-to be seen with me."
"How so?"
"Because mo-most people are usually j-just embarrassed to be s-seen with me."
"I'm sure that's not true," Craig denied, though the doubt showed in his voice.
"I-It is," replied Tweek, "b-but at least I have J-Jimmy and Butters."
Butters. The mention of his name sent a suspicious twinge inside of him. He wondered if Tweek was going to say anything about Butters warning him to stay away from Craig. Though, it wouldn't have mattered if he did. Clearly, Tweek wasn't taking the warning seriously anyway.
"Not to sound rude or anything, but are they the only friends you have?" Craig asked in curiosity.
Tweek's cheeks tinted pink and his head shot down towards the ground, like he was ashamed. When he spoke, his voice was visibly shaky, "Yeah, I guess. P-People don't usually l-like t-to talk to me."
Now he understood why Tweek wanted to be Craig's friend so badly; he had been nice to him, unlike everyone else. Fuck, he had even gotten him out of a really bad situation. Tweek wasn't used to random acts of kindness from people (though Craig wasn't used to giving them either). No wonder he took this as a sign to be Craig's friend. He was blinded from the real version of Craig and now he only saw the side of him that was... kind.
Kind? No, that was too unlike him. He wasn't kind. Not at all. He was cold, he was manipulative, apathetic, cynical, surly, an almost Machiavellian person. He was a liar, a user, and he didn't care who he stepped on to bring himself up.
"Craig?" Tweek's voice sliced through his thoughts, making him realize he had been quiet for too long.
"Sorry," Craig muttered sheepishly, shaking his head like he was shaking off the thoughts. "I sometimes get too into my thoughts."
"Y-Yeah, I can tell," Tweek commented. "Don't w-worry, though. I get it."
Craig let out a low sigh. "It gets to be too much. I sometimes wish I could switch my brain off for a day. I wish I could not overthink all the time."
"Y-You wish y-you could sh-shut your brain off?" Tweek cried incredulously. "Tr-Try twit-twitching like a freak all the time!"
"Then stop drinking all that damn coffee!" Craig joked with a chortle.
"N-No way, m-man."
Tweak Bros. came into view and Craig's heart thumped a little faster in his chest. The shop was open and, unlike yesterday, Tweek's parents were there behind the counter. Along with them were a few customers that sat, sipping coffee and eating pastries. When they entered, Craig watched as Mr. Tweak counted out change to a customer and as Mrs. Tweak greeted arriving customers.
Craig wasn't fond of parents. Mainly because they either thought of him as a bad influence, or they wrote him off as one of their child's friends, which he didn't like.
"Would you l-like some c-coffee?" Tweek asked. "It's on th-the house."
"Sure," Craig answered. "Black with three sugars please."
"Okay, I'll b-be r-right b-back," Tweek told him, gesturing him over to a table near the front doors. "Wait here."
Craig nodded, trying to avoid eye contact with Tweek's parents as much as possible. He plopped down at the two-chaired table and hung his bag on the back of his chair. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and immediately read a text that he dreaded.
Slut: Still waiting for an answer.
His jaw clenched tautly as his fingers typed his haughty reply, The more you ask, the longer you wait.
Craig dropped his phone onto the table, annoyed. He glanced outside the window, wondering where Stripe was. Hopefully he was safe. Maybe Craig would buy a pastry for him. He was probably hungry.
Bzz... Bzz...
He unlocked his phone reluctantly and rolled his eyes.
Slut: god, babe, you drive me crazy
Craig: Fuck off McCormick
"Disgusting little fuck..." he uttered under his breath.
As he stuffed his phone back into his pocket with an agitated sigh, Tweek came strolling out of the backroom of the shop, carrying a circular container that balanced a coffee cup in his hands. With a raised eyebrow, Craig sat back and watched him curiously as he came closer to the table he was at.
Tweek slid into the seat across from him, timidly setting the container and the coffee in front of him. He stared down at his lap, fiddling with his thumbs nervously.
"Thanks for the coffee," thanked Craig, taking a swig of it. After setting it back on the table, he then cautiously pointed to the container. "What's with that?"
"I - GAH - wanted to g-give you s-something as a th-thank you..." Tweek replied, still not meeting his eyes.
Craig, agoged, guided the container towards him. Slowly, he lifted the lid off of it.
"It's - er - not anything s-special, b-but..." Tweek's anxious voice trailed off.
A sharp laugh escaped from Craig's mouth as he peered into the container. "Cupcakes."
"Y-Yeah," the blonde replied, hesitantly meeting Craig's gaze.
"In exchange for me risking my ass to save you from a psychotic, sadistic, fat piece of shit, you... made me cupcakes?" Craig raised his eyebrows at the shaking boy, voice mixed with surprise and amusement.
"GAH! Jesus, I'm - I'm sorry I-I didn't r-realize how r-ridiculous it was un-until you said it out loud. I'm - I'm so sorry, Craig. Pl-lease don't be mad! I -"
"Tweek," Craig cut him off.
"P-Please don't be mad! I just - "
"Tweek," he repeated, louder and firm this time.
"Wh-What?"
"Thank you," Craig said, a sincere smile present on his face.
"Oh, you're... n-not mad?" Tweek sighed with relief. "Good. Well, you're w-welcome."
"I didn't know you like to bake," he spoke in astonishment. Craig stared down at the eight or so cupcakes that inhabited the container. The vanilla cupcakes were wrapped in decorative, pastel liners and topped off with white frosting and colorful sprinkles. He gingerly picked one up, his fingers now painted with the sticky frosting. He unwrapped it and eagerly bit into it.
Tweek watched him apprehensively and as Craig chewed it, he asked quietly, "How... how is it?"
"Sweet," Craig said, barely audible, through a mouthful of food.
Tweek laughed. "Gl-Glad you like it."
"This is so good," Craig remarked, gulping down the rest of it.
"Y-Yeah, I-I like making cupcakes," admitted Tweek, face tinting rose. "M-My dad l-lets me m-make the pastries we sell here."
Craig turned his gaze over towards the pastries displayed behind the counter. He eyed the muffins, scones, and the cookies with interest. Then he turned back to Tweek, while grabbing another cupcake greedily. "That's cool. I guess there's a lot we don't know about each other."
"I guess so," Tweek agreed. He glanced at Craig and then started giggling like a maniac.
"What?" Craig asked.
Tweek turned, ripping a napkin from the tabletop napkin dispenser and handing it over to him. "You have fr-frosting on your nose."
He felt his face grow hot, as he wiped a gloop of sticky frosting off his nose and onto the napkin. He crumbled the napkin up, set it on the table, and sipped his coffee. As he witnessed Tweek still giggling faintly, he mumbled with a grin, "Stop it."
As Tweek was having his giggle fit, Craig felt something vibrate in his pocket and he groaned. Pulling out his phone, he saw that he had a text from his dad, asking when he would be home. Ignoring the message, he put his phone away and continued eating the cupcake.
"Wh-Who was that?" Tweek asked, his usual anxiety seeming to overcome him once more.
"No one important," replied Craig without a second thought.
"Was it... Cl-Clyde?" He started fidgeting tensely with his hands again.
"No, but," Craig's eyebrows knitted together as a frown formed on his lips, "what's up with you and Clyde? Did something happen between you guys?"
Tweek's neck jerked to the side and his twitching grew worse. "N-No."
"You sure?" he drawled, not buying it for a second.
Tweek sucked in a shaky breath of air, running his hands through his wild blonde hair. "Can... Can I t-tell you something?"
Taken somewhat aback, Craig straightened up and took the last bite of the second cupcake. Was Tweek about to tell him something personal? Trying his best to not seem to eager, he replied with, "Yeah, what's up?"
Tweek looked around, bewildered, as if he was afraid of someone overhearing them. Craig followed his gaze to see that only two other tables were occupied with customers, who were both out of earshot.
Tweek leaned forward, gripping onto the buttons on his shirt like they'd keep him sane. He spoke in a low voice, "O-Okay. I've... I've been n-noticing things about Cl-Clyde for awhile n-now. Wh-When I was i-in the locker room one d-day, I noticed he had r-really dark br-bruises on his bo-body and as far as I kn-knew, he wasn't fighting at sch-school, so I a-assumed that he got them from home. So..."
"Go on," Craig urged him, taking in every word.
He ran his hands through his hair and continued, "So, I... I t-told the counselor."
Craig's eyes widened. "Mr. Ellerby? You told him?"
As Tweek nodded, the gears began switching in Craig's mind. Ellerby? Tweek was the one that was telling Ellerby that Clyde needed help? This is why Clyde had been complaining the day before about having to see the counselor? It was because of Tweek
"Please," Tweek begged, "don't tell Cl-Clyde. He'll - he'll kill me."
Craig tried to keep his voice even, pretending like this wasn't exactly what he had been wanting from Tweek: a secret. He assured him, "He wouldn't do that, but yeah, he'd probably be mad."
"Promise you w-won't tell?"
Craig smirked, holding his coffee cup up to his lips. "Cross my heart."
***
Wow. I have almost 10 chapters written for this. Huh. That's cool. Anyways, I hope you guys had a nice Valentine's day. If you enjoyed this chapter, give it a vote and a comment. I know it's really annoying when author's ask for that, but it lets me know that this story is continuing to get support, which means a lot.
Also, thanks to the people that've put this in their reading lists. That's so cool!
Thanks for reading,
devvyon