Craig barely slept that night, but that wasn't too out of the ordinary. What was unusual about it were his thoughts. They were usually chaotic, revolving around something that he grudgingly held onto from the past or they were about a secret he had gained from someone, but now they only surrounded Tweek. Though, Tweek was mostly what had been on his mind lately.
People weren't nice in South Park. They were mostly all rednecks, who ignored the needy and selfishly did whatever they want, whether that be drugs or other ridiculous crimes. They lied through their teeth, stabbed each other in the back, and had affairs whenever they felt like it. They were all ignorant, fake, and gluttonous, but seemingly oblivious to it. Except for that blonde spaz with his crooked smile and his twitchy eyes, coffee stains all over his clothes and uneven buttons trailing up the front of his shirts.
It made Craig wonder why Tweek was so alone. Sure, he might've been friends with Butters and Jimmy (and now Craig), but why hadn't more people realized how genuine this guy was? They probably only saw him for his twitchy quirks and nothing else. Though, this town did have a habit of chewing up kind hearts and tastelessly spitting them back out.
Craig rolled over onto his back and, through the faint street light streaming in through his bedroom window, he was able to make out the vivid outline of Clyde laying next to his bed on the floor. The sound of continuous low snoring came from the sleeping boy, who was securely wrapped in one of Craig's blankets.
His letterman jacket and blue jeans were located next to his head in a lumpy pile from when he had taken them off before he slept, leaving him in a loose fitting t-shirt and boxers. Craig had tried to pretend that he hadn't watched Clyde undress, but of course, Clyde turned around and noticed immediately. He had made a cocky remark about Craig being impressed with his body, but they both knew that he was just checking for bruises.
He felt a hatred burning in the pit of his stomach. He hated Clyde for fighting with his dad, but he equally hated Clyde's dad for fighting with his son. He hated seeing bruises and cuts on Clyde's body whenever he took off his jacket. He hated having the weight of knowing all of what he knew about Clyde on his shoulders, but he hated knowing what he did to him more.
He rolled over on his side and stared down at the sleeping boy.
"If you ever find out what I did, which I hope you never do," Craig whispered to him, "I wonder if you'll ever forgive me."
No response came, unless the stream of snores from his open mouth counted. He didn't need a reply, though, because he was already well-aware of the answer.
***
"Clyde."
"Mmm..."
"Clyde, dude, get up."
"Mmph..."
"Clyde, we need to get to school."
"Mmm..."
"I swear to God," Craig grumbled, hand tightening on the strap of his bag, "if you don't get up now, I'm going to drag you down the stairs."
Clyde cracked open one eye and glared up at him. He muttered, "Try me, Tucker."
Craig raised an eyebrow, as the tired boy closed his eyes once again and returned to his attempt at going back to sleep. He shuffled down to where Clyde's feet were resting underneath the blanket and in one swift motion, he threw off the blanket and grabbed onto Clyde's ankles. He flipped him onto his back and yanked as hard as he could, hoisting his legs into the air and beginning to drag him towards his open bedroom door.
"Okay, fine - I'll get up!" Clyde yelled, flailing his legs to get out of Craig's grasp. "Jesus Christ, Tucker..."
Craig reluctantly dropped his ankles and let his legs fall to the ground with a bang! Clyde staggered to his feet, a line of incoherent swears escaping from his mouth. He picked up his clothes from the night before and trudged past Craig.
When he heard the upstairs bathroom slam closed, Craig chuckled to himself before exiting his bedroom and thundering down the stairs. He had already showered and dressed himself, so he plopped down on his living room couch, waiting for the other boy to get ready. He figured his parents had already left for work, considering their cars were gone and the kitchen was empty.
Craig pulled out his phone to see that he had three unread text messages.
The first one was from none other than Kenny, which read: Stop ignoring me, Tucker.
"Watch me," he muttered to himself.
The next was from Token, which simply asked: is Clyde with you?
Yeah, Craig wrote back. I have no idea how you let him spend the night so often. His snoring is still ringing in my ears.
The next text message he received sent a smile to form on his face.
Tweek: good morning!
Craig: Morning. Sorry about Clyde yesterday - I didn't know he'd be coming over
Tweek: no worries. my parents found out I skipped. definitely not happy about it.
Craig: Damn. Sorry about that
Tweek: not your fault. I willingly skipped. see you at school.
The sound of footsteps slowly clambering down the stairs caused Craig to glance up from his phone. Clyde, still looking half-asleep with circles present under his eyes, was dressed in his wrinkled clothes from the day before and his chocolate hair was unkempt.
"God, do we have to go?" he whined, zipping up his letterman jacket.
"Unfortunately, yes," Craig answered, tucking his phone in his pocket and rising to his feet. "I'm not skipping two days in a row."
Especially when the only good part of school is seeing Tweek, was the part he left out.
***
Loud chattering and laughter filled their ears, as they strode in through the entrance of the high school. The first thing Craig noticed was Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny near the front door and as soon as he realized this, Kenny's eyes were glued to his. Craig held the gaze, hardening his stare on him with each passing moment, until he and Clyde were passed them and Kenny's blank, freckled face was out of his line of sight.
"What's been up with him lately?" asked Clyde, noticing the way Kenny's eyes followed Craig's as they continued down the hallway.
"Hell, if I know." The lie hissed through his teeth with ease.
"You know what's weird?" he stated. "He asked me about you yesterday when you were gone."
"What?" Craig was baffled. "You're just telling me this now?"
"I forgot," he answered sheepishly. "And I didn't think it was that big of a deal, since you're not friends with him anymore."
"Of course it's a big - "
Clyde cut him off with a wave of his hand, which was directed at Token, who was leaning against Craig's locker. "Hey, man."
"Hey, guys," greeted Token. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Not my fault Clyde wouldn't get his ass out of bed," Craig muttered under his breath.
"Hey, I was tired!" Clyde said defensively.
"You were asleep all night long," retorted Craig, "and you were snoring the entire time, too."
Token chortled. "You get used to it after awhile."
He rolled his eyes. "There's no way I'm going to get used to it. Next time, Clyde's sleeping at your place. Okay, Token?"
"Alright, deal," the boy agreed.
As usual, Clyde and Token began rambling on about something that Craig didn't care about, so he tuned out. He scanned the hallway to see the regular familiar faces of the students, but none of them interested him. That was until he settled on Tweek, who was taking a swig out of a cup of coffee alone with his back to him a couple feet away.
Craig interrupted their conversation with a short, "I'll be right back," and he left before receiving a response from either of them.
He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and made his way to Tweek. He could see his body visibly shaking and he anxiously raised his hand every so often to sip the coffee cup that he held. When he reached him, he gave a small, "Hey, Tweek."
Tweek jumped and spun around, dropping the cup from his hands and right before it hit the ground, Craig fell to his knees and caught it just in time. A chuckle escaped from his lips, as he stood back up and handed it to him.
"Jeez, spaz. It's just me," Craig asserted.
"S-Sorry. You - er - just c-caught m-me off guard," conceded Tweek, a pinkness tinting his cheeks.
"I can see that," he said. "Anyway, I just wanted to say hi before classes start and also, sorry again that you got in trouble for skipping."
"It - it's ok-kay," Tweek acknowledged, gripping onto the cup. "It's my f-first t-time skipping, s-so they l-let me off with a warning a-and did-didn't ground me."
"That's - " Craig was cut off by the bell ringing throughout the halls. He groaned and watched as people began pushing passed each other to get to their classes on time. He turned back to Tweek. "I'll see you later, I guess."
As he was turning away, he felt Tweek grab onto his sleeve and twirl him back around. He asked, "Um, I-I was wo-wondering if may-maybe you wanted to sit with me, Butters, and Jimmy at lunch?"
Craig blinked, surprised by the question. Against what must've been his better judgement, he agreed to it.
"Gr-Great," beamed Tweek. "S-See you later."
The two parted ways and as Craig was heading back to his locker, he felt someone bump into his side hard and mutter, "Watch it, faggot."
Eric Cartman strode passed him, not breathing another word under his breath.
Craig stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes at Cartman's large back, and calling after him, "You want to say that again, fatass?"
Cartman shot a glare at him over his shoulder, to which Craig responded by raising his middle finger prominently and continuing on his way. He noticed people's eyes following him as he went, though he tried his best to ignore them.
***
Craig slammed his locker and mentally prepared himself for Clyde's shitstorm that was going to occur when he sat with Tweek and his friends at lunch. He wished he didn't care what Clyde thought and he didn't, for the most part, but there would always be a part of him that cared what people thought.
"Craig?" he turned around to see Token standing behind him.
"Hey, man. What's up?" he asked.
Token glanced around nervously at the empty hallway around them. It was a few minutes after the lunch bell had rang and everyone else was already in the cafeteria. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
He felt his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Uh, yeah. Everything okay?"
"Look, I just need to say that..." Token exhaled, disregarding his question. "Wendy and I both agreed that we're backing out of the deal we made with you."
Craig blinked and scoffed, "You're not serious, right?"
"I am," he stated.
"Token." He said pointedly and he could feel anger coursing through his veins.
"I know you're pissed, but Wendy and I talked and we both agreed that - "
"I. Don't. Care," Craig spat, stepping closer to him and jabbing a finger into his chest. "You made a deal with me and you can't back out until it's finished."
"Craig - " Token started seriously.
"Shut up," he interrupted. "You're not backing out. Tell that fucking cowardly bitch that she can't back out on a deal with me, alright?"
"You know what we did - or at least what we agreed to - isn't right!" exclaimed Token. "We all know that Clyde is hurting because of it and Wendy and I - "
"Um, h-hey, Cr-Craig." The two whirled around to see Tweek timidly standing behind Token, hands fidgeting together slightly. "H-Hi, Tok-Token."
Craig backed up, retracting his hand away from Token and shoving it into his pocket. He fought himself to not yell at Tweek for interrupting them. Trying to keep a calm composure, he relaxed and said, "Hey, Tweek."
"Sor - ngh - Sorry f-for interrupting," he apologized, neck jerking into an unintentional tilt. "I j-just wanted t-to see where you w-were, s-since we were go-going to m-meet up for - for lunch."
"Right, yeah," he nodded. "I was about to head into the cafeteria. Token - " he shot daggers at him, " - just wanted to tell me something, but we can talk about that later. Right, Token?"
Token's jaw clenched and without a word, he stormed away from Craig. The two watched as he stomped off and disappeared into the cafeteria.
"Wh-What was th-that about?" Tweek asked, appearing worried.
"Nothing," he replied immediately. "Don't worry about it."
Tweek opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and closed it once again. The two entered the cafeteria side-by-side and, after locating the table that Tweek's friends were at, the two took a seat next to each other at the table. The table consisted of Jimmy Valmer, Timmy Burch, and Butters Stotch, who sat together on one side and Tweek and Craig sat down together on the other.
"H-Hey, g-guys," Tweek greeted with a small, lopsided smile. "I ask-asked Cr-Craig t-to join us today."
"Hey, Cr-Cr-Craig," Jimmy stuttered.
Craig nodded at him and Timmy, who were sat side-by-side. "Hey, Jimmy. Hey, Timmy."
"Timmy!" the boy in the wheelchair cried out, grinning widely.
Craig scanned the blonde boy that sat directly in front of him. Butters was staring down at his lunch tray, fighting the urge to look up at him. His usual cheerful demeanor had diminished at the announcement that Craig would be joining them. Craig cleared his throat and addressed, "Butters."
"Oh... hi there, Craig," he said reluctantly, without looking up.
The others seemed oblivious to this and they went back to talking like normal, while Craig studied the four around him. He fixed his eyes on Jimmy, who was chatting with Tweek about something he wasn't paying attention to. He could see the boy shakily picking up his food and his face gleamed with a light coat of sweat. He figured it was from pill withdrawals, remembering when he found out that Jimmy had gotten hooked on prescription pills. He had even witnessed several pill bottles falling out of his locker, as Jimmy hastily shoved them back in like nothing had happened.
He glanced back over at Butters, who was quietly listening in on their conversation. Craig wondered if he would dare try to warn Tweek about him again, risking Craig spilling his secret. Though, he had admitted to Tweek that he wanted to change and blackmailing Butters wasn't something a "changed" person would do...
"Craig." Tweek's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he blinked, turning away from Butters and focusing on Tweek.
"Yeah?" he said blankly.
"D-Did you h-hear what J-Jimmy said?" the blonde asked him.
"Uh, no." Craig turned his attention to Jimmy. "Sorry, man. What were you saying?"
"W-Well, I was just telling Tw-Tweek that I need some feedba-ba-back on my new comedy routine," Jimmy answered. "W-Would you guys like to c-come over and help me o-o-out with it?'
"Yeah, sure," he agreed.
Tweek beamed at him and his eyes shifted over to Butters, who was timorously looking back at him. He couldn't help himself; he felt smug as he saw the uneasiness he had caused him that swam in the boy's eyes. It was like a part of him didn't care about changing in that moment, because that meant letting go of the thrill he got when he realized that he had control over someone from knowing their secrets.
"Do you want to come with us, Butters?" Craig blurted, eyebrows raising in an almost taunting manner, as if he was saying I dare you to.
"Gee, I don't know if I - " he started, his thumbs twiddling together out of anxiety.
"Aw, come o-o-on, Butters," Jimmy encouraged.
He hesitated before sighing, "Oh, well, alright then."
"Timmy!" Timmy exclaimed, jovial as always.
Tweek flashed Craig a smile and he couldn't help but return one, feeling his stomach turning over as he did so.
***
Hey, guys! Here's a slightly longer chapter than normal. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, criticism is appreciated and thank you so much for your continuous support!