A door swings open fast as Kenny is shoved rather roughly into a small room, landing onto his hands and knees. He looks up as it slams behind him, noticing a familiar figure sitting curled up in one of the room's far corners. He can't help but feel some sense of relief upon seeing the familiar figure's face again. Although he couldn't say the other felt the same, as it seemed that he was still on edge with him around.

He shifts to sit into a more comfortable position, expecting there to be another long period of silence between them. However he is surprised when any building silence is broken by a quiet voice.

"Where did they take you...?"

His eyes widen from hearing the other speak after so long. Even more so that he is the one starting the conversation.

"Um... some kind of, experimental operation room or something," Kenny replies.

"Experimental operation room?"

"Yeah," Kenny tries to recall all that had happened, "they lead me down a bunch of hallways until we got to these double doors and..." he trails off.

"And what?"

Kenny debates if he should really tell Craig or not what had happened. Wondering if it was really a good idea or not to install more fear on to him.

"...They took me through them and forced me to lie down on this metal table," Kenny continues on, deciding that it might be best if Craig just knows. Besides, hiding it won't do any good in the long run anyways he figures. "They kept me in place using these metal clamps that were attached to it. They also stuck a needle in to my arm and then..." Kenny shudders from both recalling what had happened next and the cool drops of water that were dripping off his hair and being soaked up into his damping shirt. "Cut me open."

"They... what?" Craig says quietly, his head rising away from his knees now.

"They cut me open," Kenny repeats,"while I was still awake and fully aware of everything that was going on around me."

"But-why?" Craig asks.

"I don't know... they wouldn't answer anything I asked and acted as if I was less than human to them."

Another silence falls.

"Where did they cut you?" Craig asks hesitantly.

Kenny looks over at him for a moment before looking down to his shirt. He sits up onto his knees and lifts up the bottom of his shirt a bit, while also sliding the waistband of his pants down a little to reveal the small stitched wound that now rests just below his navel.

"Oh..." Craig's grip on himself tightening at the sight.

"I think I'm going to try and rest for a bit, so everything stops spinning," Kenny says trying to keep steady as he moves the clothing back into place. Wincing slightly as the waistband of his pants presses back down onto his wound again.

Craig doesn't say anymore as Kenny slowly lies down onto the floor. Tired and weary, Kenny soon finds himself drifting off when he shuts his eyes.

When Kenny comes to some time later, he sees that Craig is asleep with his back facing towards him now. The room was also dimmer, as it seemed to be evening. As he goes to sit up, he winces from the dull pain that rests in the lower half of his abdomen. The memories of what the cause of it is replay in his mind and he shudders at them.

His thoughts don't dwell on them long though as a loud bang is suddenly heard when the door to the small room slams open. He sees there are two men in white uniforms again and tenses immediately, wondering if they were there to take him away again. One of them enters the room and Kenny thinks they are coming for him again. But he soon realizes that it's not him the man is walking towards, it's Craig.

Craig was only now just waking up from his sleep because of the loud bang, sitting up rubbing his eyes and unaware of the man that was approaching him.

"Time to go subject 123," the man says standing over him now.

Craig looks up at the man, still not fully woken up. The man reaches down and grabs his arm and his eyes widen now realizing what is going. He tries to pull his arm back to break free of the man's grasp, but the man's grip won't loosen, instead it only grows tighter around his arm. Kenny soon finds himself getting onto his feet in order to try and help him. Not wanting him to experience the same torture that he himself had to endure. But as he starts towards the other boy, Craig stops struggling. Now noticing him out of the corner of his eye.

"Fine," Craig says flatly.

Kenny halts in place, as if in disbelief at what he just heard. Craig stands up and Kenny searches him, looking for any clues as to why he would willingly want to go with them. But he doesn't find any. And with that, Craig leaves with the two men. Another loud bang echos, signaling the door shutting behind them. Kenny's gaze falls downwards to the floor, a swirl of thoughts run through his mind trying to find the answer as to why. Why would Craig just go with them like that knowing the danger that may lie ahead for him? He clenches his hands into fists out of frustration.

Does he hate me that much? He thinks to himself.

The door to the small room bangs open again later on, when it's well in to the night. Kenny looks up from where he's sitting and sees a small figure get shoved into the room before the door slams shut again. He doesn't need proper lighting to know that it's Craig. He can tell.

"Ugh..." the other boy let's out a tired sounding sigh.

Kenny sits up straight, "Hey- are you-"

"I'm fine," Craig cuts off.

"But-"

"I said I'm fine," he repeats and sits down, holding a hand to his neck.

Kenny looks at him, "Why did you decide to go with them all of the sudden?"

"...Just leave me alone."

Kenny continues watching him, waiting for any signs that may show up in the other. But nothing shows and all the other does is avoid looking at him. Kenny could only wonder why, because he knew that trying to talk to him wouldn't work. All Craig would do is ignore any of his attempts at it. A younger image of Craig flashes through his mind, one that didn't feel like from so long ago. But it still was, maybe back six or seven years ago now, when they were a bit younger and it was the first real time that the two of them had ever really talked to one another. Things back then, weren't like how they were now between them. No.

They used to be friends...

Thwack

The sensation of something very hard and cold mixed with the after sting of a burning-tingling feeling spreads across a very young boy's face. A round object made of rubber falls from it, making a dull thud as it bounces a couple of times on the pavement below.

"Ow..." the young boy says as he holds his now stinging nose.

"Whoa- Kenny are you okay?" The young boy's friend, Stan, asks.

"What the- where'd that come from?!" another one, Eric, exclaims.

Kenny looks down at the object that hit his face, a basketball, and picks it up.

"Hey! Were you the one who threw that!?" Eric yells and Kenny looks up to see who he's yelling at. He spots a lone boy who stands on the basketball court. "I know it was you Craig!"

The lone boy, Craig, doesn't say anything however, he just stands there silently.

"You know, you should say sorry for that. It hit Kenny right in the face," the third boy of their group of friends, Kyle, tells him.

Craig's gaze falls downwards as they all look at him.

"OI! We're talking to you Craig!" Eric yells at him.

Kenny stares at Craig curiously, then begins walking over to him. He stops when he's standing directly in front of him and holds out the ball. Craig looks up at him.

"Here," Kenny smiles at him.

Craig looks down at the ball and hesitantly reaches for it.

"Sorry..." he apologizes quietly.

Kenny just keeps smiling at him, "It's okay."

"Come on Kenny let's go," Stan calls.

"Yeah, let's go somewhere else, where less weirdos around!" Eric exclaims, to which Kyle elbows him. "Ow- what didja do that for?! I'm only telling the truth! He's always alone and never talks to anyone!"

"Stop it Eric," Kenny says now looking at him.

"But he's so weeeeeeeird!" Eric whines.

Kenny looks back at Craig, who's attention is intently staring at the ball grasped in his hands.

"Eric come on, stop it," Kyle sighs.

"No, he's weird!" Eric shouts, "Weird, weird, weird!"

As Eric continues to taunt, Kenny notices Craig's grip on the ball tightening more at it.

"He's super wei-"

Before Eric can finish his sentence, a loud Thwack is heard again. Everyone looks over at him shocked as an orange basketball falls from his face and onto the ground.

"Shut up!" Craig yells.

When Kenny looks at Craig again, he sees anger on his face but also sadness, like he's trying everything he can in order to not cry. Eric is still somewhat stunned by what just happened to him. But, when he reaches up a hand to his nose and the sharp stinging sensation of pain spreads throughout his face, his eyes begin to tear up.

"Waaaaaaaah!" Eric begins to cry, "Y-You hit me i-in the face! You freak!" he turns and starts running for the doors of the orphanage, "I'm telling on you!"

Craig's hands clench into fists and his shoulders tense. But only for a moment before he turns to walk away in another direction.

"Whatever," he mutters, leaving the basketball behind on the ground.

Stan and Kyle turn and talk to one another in quiet murmurs, as Kenny just watches him leave.

Later on that day, when the moon is high up in the night sky. Kenny lies wide awake and restless in his bed. He had been staring at the ceiling in his room for a good while now, but doesn't feel any more tired because of it. He glances over at the other occupant who he shares the room with, Stan, and sees that he seems to be fast asleep. Kenny let's out a quiet sigh and sits up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He stands between the narrow three feet of space between the two beds in the room, then walks quietly to the door. He tries his best to open the door as carefully as he can, so as not to disturb the other's sleep. But it ends up creaking despite his best efforts.

"Kenny?" a tired voice mumbles. Kenny stops and turns around to see Stan lazily prop up onto his elbows and look at him. "Where are you going?" he asks rubbing at his eyes.

"I can't sleep..." Kenny replies, "so I was gonna go and take a walk around to help."

"You're gonna get in trouble," Stan yawns.

"I'll be careful," Kenny smiles.

Stan shakes his head a bit and sighs lying back down into bed. Kenny leaves and shuts the door behind him quietly. He walks down the halls until he gets to a part of the orphanage he hasn't been to before, at least not that he can recall anyways. He looks around it as he walks down this unknown new area. It was a long hall with what he guesses are bedroom doors running along one side of the wall and big windows running along the other side. There was also a door at the end. He wonders vaguely if any of the other orphans sleep in any of the rooms here. When he gets closer to the end of the long hall, he hears something. It sounds like soft sobs of some sort. He sees the door at the end of the hall is slightly opened. Curiously he walks towards it and grabs the knob, pushing it open slowly. It creaks a bit and the sobs stop.

"W-Who's there?!" a voice demands.

When Kenny opens the door all the way, he sees that there, sitting on a bed, is Craig.

"Craig?" Kenny asks, "Are you... crying?"

Craig quickly turns his head away, "N-No!"

"Yes you are," Kenny says blatantly.

"Go away," Craig sniffs.

Kenny looks at him for a couple of seconds, unsure of what to do, then takes a few steps into the room,"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"If something is making you sad, you should talk about it. Cause I heard that will help make you feel lots better than keeping it all in," Kenny says reaching the side of Craig's bed. Craig doesn't respond and Kenny leans over the side of his bed, using his arms as leverage and examines him. "Are you crying because of what happened today? With the basketball?"

Craig looks at him for a second then slowly brings his knees up to his chest, "No..." he says quietly.

"Are you sure?"

Craig looks away and pulls his knees closer to himself, covering a bit of his face, "...Yes."

Kenny leans towards him, and stares intently, "Hmmmmm..."

"W-What?!" Craig looks back at him, unable to avoid him anymore.

"You're," Kenny squints his eyes at him, "lying!"

Craig's eyes widen, "N-No I'm not!"

"Yes you are, I can tell." Kenny says blankly.

"Wha- how?" Craig says confused.

"I just can," Kenny smiles.

A moment of silence falls, "...Why won't you just leave me alone?" Craig asks quietly, his gaze looking away from Kenny once again.

"Because..." Kenny starts, "you were crying and seem really sad right now and... you don't really look like you really wanna be all alone," Craig looks back at Kenny as if somewhat surprised. "So will you tell me why you're so sad?" Kenny asks, crossing his arms and leaning over to rest on the side of the bed.

"I can't..." Craig trails off.

"Why not?"

"Because, how do I know you won't go and tell them afterwords?"

Kenny looks at him puzzled, thinking about what he means by that. After a few seconds it clicks.

"Oh! Do you mean, Kyle, Stan and Eric?" he asks just to make sure.

Craig nods, "Yeah, how do I know you won't go off and tell them afterwards and then make fun of me some more?"

"More?" Kenny looks at him confused, "I didn't ever make fun of you."

"Your friend did, he kept on calling me weird and then..." Craig hugs his knees tightly to himself, "he called me a freak."

"Oh, Eric? Don't listen to him," Kenny tells him, "he's like that to everyone. Only reason he's with us is because no one else wants to be," he laughs, "and don't worry, I won't tell them anything if you tell me what's making you sad. I promise."

"...Really?" Craig asks unsure.

"Mhmm," Kenny nods, "you can trust me," he smiles.

Craig's gaze falls from Kenny's, and there's another brief silence again before he speaks up.

"It bothered me."

"What did?" Kenny asks.

"Being called a freak. It bothered me. A lot," Craig adds, "people are always looking at me strange or are avoiding me. They think I'm cursed or something because I'm the only one who has a room in this part of the orphanage. They think it's haunted here and that I was put here because I'm some sort of freak or something," he finishes explaining.

"Wha- that's dumb! Did you try telling them it's not true?"

Craig nods, "I tried talking to others but, I get a bit nervous when I talk to people sometimes, and they just end up giving me a strange look like they want to avoid me or something," he leans his head down onto his knees, "maybe... I really am a freak."

With that, Kenny is up and on his feet fast, "No!" he leans on his hands towards Craig. "You're not a freak!"

"But... nobody wants to be my friend."

"I will!" Kenny proclaims.

Craig looks up at him, "If you do that though, people will avoid you too..."

"So?" Kenny questions, "Let them."

Craig stares at the other for a good while before looking away again, "...No," he mumbles quietly. Kenny gives him a questioning look, "I don't want you to get the same looks from being around me," he adds on.

"But it's okay though, I don't mind," Kenny says, but Craig just shakes his head at him.

Kenny just looks at him confused, wondering why he won't let him be his friend. He really didn't care if people looked at him weird, so why then. He observes the other boy, his knees are up to his chest and his face is buried in them. Kenny wonders briefly if he's nervous about it, or even afraid to have a new friend. But still, a part of him did genuinely want to be his friend. Nobody should ever feel like their all alone. And he didn't think that Craig was mean or anything either. He crosses his arms and titles his head slightly as he contemplates on what to do. An idea suddenly forms and he uncrosses his arms quickly.

"I've got it!" Kenny says excitedly, "I'll just come and see you at nighttime like this!"

Craig looks at him confused, "Huh?"

"If we can't hangout during the daytime, because it will worry you, I'll just come and see you at nighttime like I am now!" Kenny explains.

"But, won't you get in trouble for that?"

Kenny smiles, "Not if they don't catch me."

"But-"

"No," Kenny cuts him off, "I've made up my mind. I'm going to come and see you every night. I'm going to be your friend," he says confidentially. Craig isn't quite sure on how to respond to him. So Kenny changes the subject to something else, as he takes a seat on the side of his bed. "So did you end up getting in to trouble?"

"What?" Craig asks confused by the sudden topic change.

"When you hit Eric in the face with the basketball," Kenny adds.

"Oh, uh... yeah."

"What happened?" Kenny asks curiously.

"I got scolded and was told to do some cleaning chores," Craig replies.

"Did you tell on Eric for what he called you?"

"No..."

"Wha- why not?!"

"I don't know..."

"Well that's not fair, he got away with it," Kenny frowns, "if he does it again, you should tell on him, okay?"

"...Okay," Craig says quietly.

"Good," Kenny smiles, "besides, if he had to do chores, it would probably be good for that rollie pollie to exercise a bit," he says flatly.

A small laugh escapes from Craig at that, and Kenny sees him smiling a bit. But as soon as Craig sees Kenny looking at him he stops.

"You should do that more," Kenny says.

"Do what more?" Craig asks a bit hesitantly.

"Smile. It's nice," Kenny answers.

"Oh..." Craig murmurs softly before yawning.

"You tired?"

"A bit."

"I guess I should go so you can get some sleep then," Kenny says getting up off the bed.

As he goes to walk away, Craig quickly grabs his hand, stopping him. Kenny looks back surprised.

"Wait, um, can you... uh, never mind..." he trails off and let's go of Kenny.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Craig mumbles.

Kenny wonders what's the matter and why he would stop him from leaving like that. He thought the other boy was tired and wanted to be left alone to sleep. Then it hits him, alone... Craig was alone in this whole area of the building. There was nobody else here, nothing but stories of it being haunted by ghosts anyways.

"Do you want me to stay here with you till you fall asleep?" Kenny asks.

Craig eyes widen, "Uh- um... if it's okay with you," he replies quietly.

Kenny nods his head, "Sure it is!" he walks back over to the bed, "Can you move over a bit?" and Craig silently does, shifting over so there's enough space for Kenny to lie down next to him. "I'll be right here next to you. So you can rest easily tonight," Kenny smiles and pulls the covers over himself.

"Thanks," Craig murmurs.

"No problem," Kenny grins, "Goodnight."

Craig looks up at him, "Goodnight..."

Soon after they both drift off in to sleep.


A/N EDIT: Just a quick side note here, the way Kenny and Craig's subject names are read in the story are: One twenty-two (122) and One twenty-three (123). Thought I'd add this in if anyone was curious on how to read them as.