Broken Windows

Prologue

"I-I missed y-you…" Tweek muttered against Craig's jacket nervously.

Saying words like 'I want to hold your hand' or 'I don't want to be alone' still left his tongue stiff after mustering the courage to say them. He was never really a person with the gut to say them and it would usually leave him in a stuttering mess.

Craig didn't respond and instead let the blanket of silence wrap around them, keeping them warm.

He wouldn't admit it, but there was a little of flicker of warmth whenever Tweek chooses to snuggle closer to him or say endearing words.

All they could hear were the even breathing of each other, snuggled against each other in Tweek's heated room. The days were just about to get chilly, like the air that hits your face when you open the fridge, yet the warm temperature outside of the fridge balances it out.

It was dark outside, maybe around 9pm, but the storm outside thickly blocked out the stars and moon.

Craig loves the stars, the moon, the place above the atmosphere. Though the pelting rain and frequent claps of thunder meant that the night sky tonight would be completely obscured, but right now he didn't really care that he wouldn't get a clear view.

The only thing that has his unwavering attention was the person lying right next to him, warm and unintentionally twitching, radiating familiarity. The droning rain and thunder in the background seemed to be completely ignored by his mind, as all he could really concentrate on was Tweek, who to him was the embodiment of the stars and space which he secretly adored.

Looking at Tweek was like looking at a trillion stars, and it made his heart radiate a warm tenderness to the rest of his body.

However, Craig doesn't associate 'adoring' the vast expansion of the space above as a form of affection; just something that made him care - which was already rare in its own sense.

Tweek was unintentionally twitching, always minutely trembling no matter where he was. He'll be taking an order from a customer at his coffee shop, or was reaching out for Craig's warm hands, but some part of him would always be unruly defiant. A shrill scream, a violent shiver, an unstoppable twitch would always manage to slip out.

But Craig's used to it. He didn't mind.

Tweek flinched into Craig as a loud boom broke through. "GAH!" He pressed his face into Craig's chest. He inhaled sharply and stiffened, but the familiar yet oddly comforting smell of Craig calmed him down.

There was a mix of mild yet unintrusive shampoo, a hint of citrus, sweet pea and just 'Craig'. It was hard to describe, but the existence of Craig in any form calmed him. It was comforting.

After a couple moments being held in Craig's arms, Tweek loosened his tight grip on Craig's blue jacket. He listened to Craig's slow and even breathing for a while longer, trying to match his breathing to the rhythm the other before he unwound himself.

"Y-You can s-stay over if y-you nngh w-want…" He offered. "I-I m-mean you d-don't n-need to-" He didn't want to be alone, without Craig.

Now, even in high school, he was still an easily frightened soul. He would be panicking shitless in the not-so-empty darkness, unable to sleep because of the ravaging thunderstorm and his damaged, weak mind if Craig wasn't there to radiate comfort and support.

He was afraid of himself, at what his mind could do to him, at what his mind could bring to life. The hallucinations have been getting worse lately, but he didn't dare utter a word about it. There's currently a sickening tension brewing between Craig and the fat bastard (as he would refer him to) Eric Cartman, but he's pretty sure that wasn't what's causing his hallucinations.

His parents were also out for the night: his dad running the coffee shop for the all-nighters that need their shot of caffeine and his mum went to a lady's baking sleepover or something.

Even thinking about being the only person in the house was terrifying - even more so if he wasn't actually the only thing in his house...

"I don't think I'll be heading back in that weather," Craig replied shortly after, in a monotonous voice. But that was just his excuse of simply wanting to hold his stars in his arms for a bit longer.

Tweek knew Craig would travel through any weather if he wanted to, through hail, hurricane or blizzard, but didn't really come to notice the fact he was the reason why Craig wasn't as keen to get home rather than the frightening weather.

Craig's parents actually told him to not be out too late and return home by 10pm. Seriously, he was in high school already and certainly capable of handling himself. 10pm was a much too early curfew for him to abide by.

They're both in year 7, just coming out of year 6, but simply being in high school meant that they're old enough to manage themselves.

"Y-You sure?" Tweek asked, not meaning to make it sound anxious. He felt Craig nod.

"You super s-sure? I-I can always walk you back-" then a thought made itself known in his mind. "-GAH didn't your d-dad say you gotta be back by 10? Oh god w-what if h-he comes k-knocking down our d-door and-" Tweek didn't even realise how twitchy he was until another shrill 'GAH!' escaped him.

"No he wouldn't Tweek." Craig stopped Tweek's outburst right there. "Take a deep breath. It's going to be ok." However, there was a deep scowl marring his features when his dad popped up in their conversation.

Tweek sucked in a jerky breath and exhaled heavily before his shaking subsided. Though it was actually Craig's somewhat nasally and low unwavering voice was what really calmed him down.

Craig rolled to the side to get his phone from the night stand, briskly typing a text to his dad that'll he'll be staying over at Tweek's. Right after he sent it, he shut it down so that he wouldn't need to read the reply. He's made up his mind that he'll be sleeping here for the night anyway.

He didn't want to go back anyway. Home was basically hell. His dad was becoming a bigger hypocritical tyrant and his mum follows along, trying to stay on his dad's 'good' side.

Without warning, Tweek screamed out loud in full force, startling Craig completely upright, eyes wide.

Craig dropped the phone onto the nightstand and turned around and saw a gobsmacked Tweek pressing himself against the wooden headboard, feet bunching the blanket underneath towards one end as he frantically tried to push himself backwards.

"Tweek!-"

"GAHHH!-ACK-AHHHH!" Tweek continued trying to get as far away from whatever made him scream this insanely. "Oh god-jesus christ it's not real it'snotreal it'snotthere- GAH! Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod- ACK! It'snotrealit'snotrealnotrealnotrealnotrealnotreal-" He jerked and started pulling his hair again, muttering under his breath, collapsing into himself, imploding with fear and anxiety.

When Craig turned away for his phone, Tweek was staring at the edge of his bed when that thing appeared. Tweek saw a wavering outline of something that was darker than his walls, something humanoid but twisted.

The image was so clear. Too clear almost - too clear to be hallucinations, to be his imagination. Black tar oozed from the thing as it reached out with fingers that bent in ways that weren't anatomically possible, tar-like substance dripping down and stringing. He was gripped by fear as he heard its joints pop as it reached out.

It was a woman, oddly enough. He could make out the curves, the smaller frame and long, light-coloured, dishevelled hair. If it was wearing any clothes, he couldn't tell. Everything was soiled beyond recognition, even the thing's skin.

That was when Tweek decided to look up at the things face.

It was marred, rotten and disfigured, muscle tissue cut open to reveal the harrowingly sickly yellow bones underneath. The mouth gaped open to missing and chipped teeth and a sickening darkness. That was enough. He didn't want to see anymore. He's had enough - of his mind showing things to him in such a real way.

Blond strands of hair fell from Tweek's head as he continued tugging and desperately muttering to himself that what he saw wasn't real- not at all. His throat constricted painfully and his heart sped up, worsening his anxiety. His eyes were blown wide as he continued tugging at his hair, pulling them out.

"-Tweek!" Craig was shocked to the core and confused at what might have caused this outburst. "Tweek- it's ok-" a heart-wrenching whimper from the violently shaking boy broke him off. Talking wasn't going to work.

A louder than usual clap of thunder pierced through the relatively constant rain, causing Tweek to jump out of his skin and scream.

Craig hasn't been through an anxiety attack this sudden before. Tweek has been jumpier than usual, but definitely not showing signs of breaking like this.

"She's here-AGK-togetme-ohgodohgodohgod-no! She's not real-not realnotrealnotreal-"

A hand suddenly began tugging at his arm gently, and for a moment he thought it was that mangled thing tugging him along with her down to the pits of hell and immediately started thrashing, flailing, screaming.

"Craig!" He screamed out in utter fear, begging for the stronger of the two to come rescue him from himself. "C-Craig!-uu-GAH!"

Tweek's flailing only worsened as the tug on his arm became more urgent. A few tears brimmed his wide eyes which were now pressed shut as his shaking got worse. "ACK...Craig!-"

Craig finally managed to get Tweek to realise that it was him trying to tug his hands away from his hair by rubbing his back - something Craig has always done when an anxiety attack struck.

"Yes Tweek, it's me." He answered to Tweek's cries. "...it's ok...I'm here. Please let go of your hair." He eased Tweek's thin fingers loose and held his cold hands in his warm, encasing ones, holding them without flinching even if they twitched.

"C-Craig?" Tweek reached out with jolted movements and latched onto Craig instantly as soon as he realised that Craig was there, and not the figure. The moment Craig encased him over with his body he felt safe from everything in the world, warm, protected. "S-Shit...o-oh god…" He groaned in rugged huffs into Craig's familiar jacket.

He felt Craig's arms tighten around him in a solicitous way, not rubbing his back or anything, but just letting himself wrap around the person he held in his arms. He didn't dare look up, scared that he was going to see that horrid figure extending its disfigured limb towards him.

"It's ok, I'm here. Everything will be fine." Craig whispered.

Craig nuzzled Tweek's wild hair before looking up, indistinguishably staring at the end of the bed without batting an eyelid. An inconspicuous expression dawned upon his face. He glared hard at the other side of the bed, not taking his eyes away.

Turning his attention back to Tweek, he tugged the blanket from underneath them and flung it across the both of them the best he could whilst still holding onto Tweek's shivering figure.

"Shh, come on. I'm here." Craig reassured again, whispering into Tweek's hair. "Nothing in the world can harm you now." Tweek whimpered weakly into his chest, feeling just a bit more protected from the horrors that laced his life.

The storm continued, doing damages to the trees and waterways. It gently lulled the two into a slumber, drawing on the warmth they each shared and used it as their own comforts. But the warmth they believe to be the shield to their nightmares is nothing but fake sources of consolation they spun from the beliefs they held in each other. The reassuring promises they make by staying by each other sides until the end of the world are nothing more than mere words after all.

The next day, Craig was already gone before Tweek awoke. There were no signs of him ever holding Tweek in his arms last night, or comforting him at the sight of a terrible horror. All that was left was the faint, lingering smell of him on Tweek's blanket.

From that day onwards, Craig stopped appearing altogether. It was if he simply disappeared into thin air. There was nothing at all. Even when Tweek visited the Tucker household, Craig was still missing. It was nothing more than a haze afterwards. He briefly remembers a search, then lots of crying, then a newspaper headline pronouncing that Craig Tucker was presumed dead.

And then that's when Tweek started seeing them again. The ghosts of mangled corpses, the tar flooding his room and the bodies littering his floor, they all came endlessly.

Tweek would've given up then and there after a week of dealing with them. It would be easy; overdosing on his prescription medicine or hanging himself. But what stopped him was the boy who stood outside his window one night, oozing out dark tar from his mouth and eyes with skin lacerated violently beyond recognition. Bones stuck out in weird angles and the skin on his neck was deep dry with sticky blood.

But against all odds, Tweek saw something beyond that. It was him, him with his ripped and ragged blue jacket, his soiled noir hair, his familiar physique, despite the contorted limbs and rotting torso. It was him.

It was Craig Tucker, the missing 7th grader, haunting him from his window.

Ahh I hoped you enjoyed. Thanks to Bubblepop32 for Beta'ring this! Please check out Bubblepop's works as well :)

-LulonaeS