They say that stress manifests itself in many ways. As crazy as many anxiety symptoms may sound, Tweek could vouch for almost all of them. Ever since he was young he could not help but succumb to the feverish onsets of unnecessary worry; panic attacks, shortness of breath, migraines, insomnia. Weird shit like that.
Tweek also knew that stress manifests itself tenfold in the wake of paranoia and delusion.
He watched silently as Craig peeled the tinfoil from the top of his creation, positioning the knife to cut a slice, "I didn't know what you would want to eat, so I made a cake." Craig kept his eyes down, focused on his work.
Tweek fidgeted in his seat at the table. Craig Tucker never made anything for anyone. Ever. That means he meant business, the dark haired teen had gone through the trouble to prepare this food and come all the way here on a Sunday night. The blonde's chest knotted with guilt as Craig sat down beside him, cakes slices and forks in hand. He knew that Craig would end up leaving disappointed, and felt solely responsible for the newest problem he had bestowed upon himself.
The stress vomiting had started a couple months ago, his body had slowly but surely began to reject almost all forms of food consumed. Tweek figured as well as stress it was partly brought on by all the coffee he drank, that stuff is hard on the body when taken in obscene amounts. To be honest, his stomach was probably about ready to completely corrode itself by now. But that was one of the few things Tweek did not worry about, such as the entirely untouched piece of cake sitting in front of him.
"W-will you get mad at me if I can't eat all of it? Oh God, please don't be angry-"
Craig, who had already tried a bite and deemed his cooking edible, leaned over to kiss his cheek, "Relax. Just do your best."
"But what if-"
"Who else is going to feed you if your parents don't get back till the middle of the week? Besides, I'd really like to see you eat something for once. Please."
Tweek sighed and picked up his fork, there was no use having a staring contest with it for the next five minutes. He twitched as he took a small bite, slowly chewing and swallowing. One down. Glancing over at Craig, a wave of relief washed over him as the larger teen smiled down at him despite his listless mechanical motions. Another bite, two down. Maybe he could hold it down this time, that would surely make Craig happy. Craig had been worried about Tweek and his problems from day one, and although he never said anything, Tweek could see the tension and concern it wrought upon him as well. As far as he was concerned, Craig didn't deserve to be put through all of this. Sure, he was an asshole to most people, but with Tweek he was as calm and gentle as no one would ever have imagined him to be. Tweek could barely handle himself, why should Craig have to deal with all his crazy shit too?
Despite the upsetting thoughts running through his head, Tweek forced himself to swallow a couple more mouthfuls. Three, four. Beside him, Craig had begun to start some conversation, but Tweek was not listening. He mumbled in response, nervously twisting the edge of his shirt under the table. Oh God, this wasn't going to work, he wouldn't be able to make Craig happy. All he ever did was mess things up, it mystified him why Craig even bothered to stick around anymore. He was so useless, and time-consuming, and stupid. Had his best friend and lover not been there for him over the years, he surely would have done away with himself by now…
Then the worst of his worries happened.
He wasted no time as his stomach hitched, leaving the table in a flurry and making his way to the bathroom. What was about to happen had become routine for him, he would leave the lights off as he wretched and gagged, flush, and brush his teeth. His stomach hitched again and slammed up, and Tweek obeyed. It would all be over soon, and he could get on with his life. As he turned on the faucet, he could hear Craig outside the door cursing under his breath. He must have followed him; Tweek frowned at himself in the mirror and tried his hardest to hold back tears as he brushed his tongue.
"Are you okay?" Craig's voice was muffled from the other side of the door. In the darkness, Tweek listened intently with his hand on the doorknob.
"Yeah."
An awkward silence. "It's getting late, do you want to take anything to…y'know, sleep?"
"Y-yeah. I have so...some Ambien in the kitchen."
"Will you feel better tomorrow?"
Tweek paused, trying to make himself sound convincing. "…Yeah."
Who was he kidding? Everything was wrong with him, and no amount of encouragement or help could ever make him right. He was schizophrenic, insomniatic, depressed, too paranoid, too thin. Most days he could barely muster enough energy to even get out of bed, just twitch and stare at the ceiling for a good half hour before assuming the government was looking for him to make him pay in blood for missing school. Other than that, the only reason he got up, left his house, lived, was Craig. The world was a terrifying place to Tweek, and he would much rather be dead than constantly worry over the pressures of life to the point of lunacy every day. Daily life, simple tasks, the pressure of making something of ones self. These things were all just one great big terrifying map closing in on him, and he was hopelessly and irreversibly lost in the middle of its chaos. He detested how Craig gave him everything to live for. And Craig knew it, too.
Upon opening the door, he was enveloped in Craig's arms. He stood there for God knows how long, face buried into Craig's jacket, taking in the familiar scent of cigarette smoke.
"Want me to spend the night with you?"
"Hmm?" Tweek rested his chin on his shoulder, looking up into his dark eyes. "S-sorry…"
The taller of the two bent his head to catch his lips in a soft kiss, clasping his arms around his slight waist. "It's no problem. We can stop by my house before school tomorrow so I can change. You know my parents don't care if I'm here."
"…Right."
Craig was far too stubborn to let their relationship be strained, and no matter how much Tweek hated that, he would always be thankful for it.
The small blonde felt a slight shudder from the body pressed against him. He buried his head in his chest as a quiet, solitary tear dripped into his head. If Craig wanted to take the time to help Tweek map out the direction of his sanity, he had most certainly thought through personal cost. The responsibility alone was a taxing one.
I'm thinking of adding another chapter to this, but I'm not entirely sure. I have little idea as to where this story is going. o__o
Poor Tweek, he deosn't think anyone else deserves putting up with his problems.
Reveiws, yeah? They are greatly appreciated. Any constructive criticism is even more appreciated.
:3