A/N: Sorry again for the wait. For some reason this is just the story that I like to forget exists, pft. I'm taking on way too many projects at once and some are kind of falling to the wayside T-T
Oh well, here's some Craig and Tweek for ya. Enjoy~
Craig's hands were shoved into his pockets as he stomped down the sidewalk towards the Tweak residence. His fist ached from knocking Kenny's jaw, the flesh red from the impact, but he couldn't care less as he felt the denim of his jeans rubbing it nearly raw. This was bullshit. McCormick was fucking going to die for what he fucking did. Craig hated that. He hated being betrayed. He hated that Clyde let it slip to Stan what he told him, he hated that Kenny had completely gone against his own trust. Craig was a simple guy with simple rules in his life: Don't fuck around behind his back and listen to him when he actually spoke.
He thought that maybe he'd found that in Kenny. Shame he was mistaken, he was a hell of a good lay when it came down to it.
He groaned, taking his hands out and ripping his cobalt hat off, scratching harshly through his hair. He had no idea what to even begin to say to Tweek. The over-caffeinated kid was probably holed up in his room downing his fifth cappuccino as Craig walked. He was never one for taking shock news very well, and Lord knew that Craig wanting in his pants was nothing short of a jolt through their group.
He looked up as he approached Tweek's house, finding Token's Mercedes parked on the curb and he sighed, blowing his bangs out of his face. Great. He could safely bet that Clyde was in there, too. Just what he needed, another fucking audience. Token and Clyde knew well about his affection for the blonde, they had for months. But they were true bros to the core, knowing that Craig would make his move when he was damn well prepared. This whole 'on the fly' deal had never been the black-haired boy's style. It wasn't so much methodical as it was just not wanting to deal with overwhelming emotion in a situation. Emotional connection had never quite been his strong suit.
He sauntered up the stairs of the Tweak's porch and sighed again, ringing the doorbell. It opened to show Mr. Tweak in his coffee shop apron. "Hey, Craig," he nodded, stepping aside and letting the boy step into the living room. "Everything all right? Tweek seemed a bit unnerved. I made him a few cups of coffee but it just doesn't seem to be calming him down."
Craig couldn't help but roll his eyes. It's a damn good thing the Tweaks didn't run a drug ring, who the hell knows what they could have possibly addicted their son to in lieu of caffeine. "Some stuff went down, Mr. Tweak," he said tiredly. "He upstairs?"
He shook his head, "Basement. Him and Token and Clyde are hanging out by the espresso machine."
"Thanks," he nodded curtly, making a beeline for the basement door. His eyes flickered to a family picture taken not a year before and couldn't help but feel a twinge of a smirk at Tweek's hyper eye-twitch sealed forever in the moment. Maybe that's why he felt the way he did, Tweek was always a ball of endless energy and sometimes he needed that in his life. It was one of the reasons he and McCormick had hooked up in the first place, the kid never seemed to dwindle down too much and it made for a nice catalyst against Craig's overwhelming exhaustion towards everything.
He slowly opened the basement door, shutting it quietly behind him and creeping down the carpeted steps.
"Tweek, you know that he's not gonna attack you, Dude," Token's voice came from the direction of the couch.
"But what if he does!" Tweek breathed frantically. "Jesus I just ran out and what the hell do I do if he wants to hit me like he did Kenny?!" Craig winced. He didn't know that any of them were witness to that. He sat on the steps and breathed quietly, stroking his thumb over his hat.
Clyde sighed, "You know Craig would never hit you. Look, he's just an idiot, okay?" Craig frowned at the word. "He didn't know how to tell you himself and Kenny just got mad and blurted it out."
"Well what the hell was he doing with Kenny anyway?!"
"They'd been hooking up for awhile," Token said plainly. "From what I can tell, Craig wanted you, Ken wanted Kyle, neither of them could have what they wanted so they just kinda...happened."
As if that weren't the understatement of the century. Craig rolled his eyes, placing his head gently against the wall of the stairwell. He didn't know that Token and Clyde knew about him and Ken at all. He'd tried to sweep it under the radar as best he could but apparently he wasn't quite as secretive as he'd thought.
"But I don't want to be a slut!" Tweek exclaimed. "I don't want to be with someone just because they want to-"
"Dude," Clyde interrupted. "Craig wouldn't hurry you into anything like that and you know it. He told us he wants an actual relationship with you, you know he wouldn't just use you as a fuck-buddy."
A part of Craig sighed in relief. At least they knew his intentions. Tweek could not handle just being somebody's piece of ass, and Craig never wanted that. Hell, he'd be willing to abstain altogether if it meant he could spend more time with the kid. Given he'd never willingly say that to anyone, but he knew himself and Tweek well enough to know that it was a possibility between the two of them.
The clear sound of Tweek hurriedly gulping down his coffee filled the air for a moment before he finally came up for a breath. "Well why didn't Craig just tell me?! I mean, Jesus, he's over here all the time!"
Clyde laughed a bit, "Yeah, you know Craig, dude. He doesn't know how to fuckin' emote."
'I'm about to emote my fist in your face, Donavon,' Craig thought angrily.
"But...but...GAH!" Tweek flinched and Craig could hear him hit the couch. His shoulders dropped. He really was causing the kid a hell of a time, much worse than his usual episodes. "Craig tells me stuff," he insisted. "Like, secret stuff that he'd never tell anyone else!"
"Oh?" Token asked. "Like what?"
Craig's breath hitched, his mind flooding with memories of telling Tweek how he still visited Stripe's grave out in Starks. How he got so angry at his sister one day that he literally ran away from home. How the reason he could never get rid of his old hat was because it was the last thing his grandpa bought him before he died. He'd told Tweek so fucking much about his life that no other living being had the slightest clue about.
"I-I'm not telling you that," Tweek said softly, his jaw obviously jittering. "He trusted me...I can't do that to him."
Craig's heart beat strongly in his chest with relief and a hint of adoration of the little blonde. Tweek always was much more reliable than the other blonde in his life.
Token sighed, "Look. Craig is a good guy. You know that."
"I know," he answered quietly.
Clyde asked, "How do you feel about the whole thing, though?"
"I...I..." fingernails rapped against his coffee cup. Craig knew that motion. He was nervous, he was thinking, he was plotting his escape route. "I don't want us to end up like Stan and Kyle," he finally sniveled out.
Craig couldn't help but grow furious at those words. That little redheaded fucker was always going to cause him a fucking problem, wasn't he? He couldn't help himself as he leapt onto his feet and trounced down the stairs, the three of them turning back in shock as he made it to the floor.
"GAH! CRAIG!" Tweek screeched his body pivoting on the couch and clinging his coffee cup to himself in a blind panic.
"We would not end up like those two fucktards," he said curtly. "I'm not an oblivious dickhead like Marsh and you're not a weeping little Sally like Broflovski." He made sure not to close in on the boy, staying back towards the stairs knowing full and well that he could send him into a nearly claustrophobic fit should he approach him too quickly. "Tweek, we're not like them."
"Dude, fucking Jesus Christ you almost gave us a goddamn heart attack," Clyde blinked.
"Sorry," he muttered, shoving his hat back on his head and slamming his hands down into his pockets.
"How long have you been there?" Token raised his brow.
He sighed irritably and stared at the ground, "Since Tweek was afraid I'd come and punch him or some shit." He looked up to see Tweek shying behind his coffee cup, his hazel eyes lined with fright that he'd stand up and make that promise. "Tweek," he said as softly as he could manage in his enraged mood. "I would never ever hit you, Dude. You know that."
He just nodded a little, gulping down the last of his coffee and slowly standing up, never breaking from Craig's stare as he shakily poured himself another mug full. "W-why were you spying on us?" he asked softly.
"I didn't mean to," he bit his lip and kicked his shoe against the deep red carpet. "I didn't know what to say...and I didn't know how you were feeling. If you said you hated me or something, I don't know, I probably would have just left," he shrugged. "I didn't mean to," he repeated.
A moment passed between the four of them and Craig's stomach seemed to sink into his legs. They didn't have awkward moments like this. They literally played video games and called each other names. They didn't have 'deep talks' or whatever the fuck kind of shit McCormick so loved to reminisce about with Cartman, Stan, and Kyle. The four in the basement talked, sure, but never to the extent where it felt like it was necessary. This was just too uncomfortable for simple Craig's tastes.
"Do...do you want us to leave?" Token finally broke the silence.
"NO!" Tweek screeched and the three of them looked up at him in shock.
Craig blinked. "Tweek, are you afraid of me?"
Tweek shook his head a bit and gulped down more of his drink, wincing at the heat. Craig sighed, slowly heading over to the freezer and grabbing two ice cubes out, very slowly making his way over towards the blonde. He stood an arm's length away and held the cubes out in his palm. "Here, you don't need to burn your tongue like you did last time," he said softly. Tweek gulped, taking the cubes from Craig and dropping them into his cup, small splashes of the drink marring his mis-buttoned olive shirt. He took another tentative sip and looked back at the boy beside of him. He narrowed his eyes slightly at Craig's expression. It was one he'd almost never seen on him. It looked...pitiable. Like he was stuck and had nowhere to turn towards.
It frightened him a bit.
"I'm...I'm not afraid of you," he shook his head. "I'm afraid of what'll happen after this."
Craig shrugged and stuck his hands back in his pockets, trying to dry off his palm in the confines of his jeans. "Whatever you want to happen, that's what," he said plainly. "Look, Tweek, I'm not here to force you into anything. I'm not going to be a fucking faggot and drop to my knees and hand you roses, I'm not going to beg you to be with me or any of that shit."
Tweek nodded slowly at his words as Clyde and Token leaned back against their respective seats and watched the show unfolding in front of them.
Craig sighed and continued, "I'm also not going to hold it against you if you say no. I'm not going to be like fucking Ken and follow you around like a lost dog because I want to be with you. Everything would be completely up to you. I'm not here to freak you out more than you need. You saying no would change absolutely nothing between us," he promised.
A part of Craig felt like it was dying inside, he'd never talked for this long without someone interrupting him or just not feeling the need to continue. But something inside him was driving him to keep himself going, something about the whole situation just screamed to the boy that everything had to be said, lest Tweek completely misunderstand the situation as he had a tendency to do.
Tweek cleared his throat, sniffing the espresso-laced bitterness in his hands. He dropped his stare down into the cup. "If...If I were to say no, WHICH I'M NOT SAYING I AM!" he panicked.
"Calm down, calm down," Token said softly, using his hands and guiding him through his breathing as the three of them had learned to do when he flew off the handle. Tweek watched him for a bit, following his motions with shaky breaths as Craig nearly lost himself in the cliffhanger he'd been presented with.
"Would you and me not be friends anymore?" he finally squeaked out, looking at Craig with a wince.
Craig couldn't help but smirk at him a bit and shake his head. "Dude. That's a dumb question and you know it. We've been friends for way too long for me to just fucking abandon you for some friggin' hypothetical 'what if' bullshit."
"But will we be like Kenny and Kyle?" he bit his lip. "I...I don't want that. I don't want to be Kyle."
Craig scoffed, "Trust me, you will never be Broflovski. You're smarter than that dumb Jewish piece of shit any day."
Clyde raised his brow, "Kyle's the smartest guy in sch-"
"Not education-wise you dumbass," Craig rolled his eyes. "The idiot can't tell heads or tails where he stands with either of his shitty friends. But I can tell you, Tweek, that we're not going to be like the two of them. Besides, I ain't gonna talk to McCormick again for a long time less I finish what I started," he frowned.
Tweek's tongue passed over his lips and he flitted his eyes between the three of them. "I like Kenny. And I like Kyle. I think they're good people," he said quietly. "They've always been nice to me," he winced a bit, expecting Craig to explode at him for going against his words. He loosened when he saw the boy just looking at him, waiting for him to continue. "I mean...you can't blame Kenny for being like he is," he shrugged. "And right now...I DO feel like Kyle," he took another sip of his coffee.
"How so, Tweek?" Token asked, leaning forward and clasping his hands between his legs.
"Because he's been having a super hard time with the two of them, ya know?" he shrugged briskly. "But he cares a lot about both of them and doesn't want anyone hurt. I dunno...I think he's a good guy," he repeated softly, looking up at Craig.
Craig took a heavy breath and nodded at the ground, "Yeah. Yeah I guess so." The words sounded enough like a rejection to him. The feeling of anguish swelling in his stomach made him nauseated. He just wanted to run up the stairs and never look back. But he knew he couldn't. He fucking knew that he was going to end up like Kenny. Pining for what he couldn't have and driving people nuts with his constant bitching about it.
"But..." Tweek continued and Craig shot his head back up. "I-I don't know," he shrugged, looking towards Craig's feet. "Maybe we can...try?" he winced. "You just have to promise it won't be like them. Y-you have to promise that...that if I agree to this, we won't hate each other. We won't fight like them. We'll still be friends. No matter what happens," he added nervously.
Clyde and Token both jerked back in shock, looking at each other with dropped mouths and wide eyes. That was not what they expected their panicky little friend to say.
Craig stared at him and felt the nausea flitter away from him completely, unable to contain himself from a rare, gentle smile. He walked over, slowly and purposefully showing Tweek every movement he made as he gently wrapped his arm around his shoulders. The blonde gulped and stared up into his grey eyes, worrying that he said the wrong thing, his mind racing in panic before Craig's soft voice quelled nearly every fear, just as it had so many times in the past. "I promise."
A/N: Short chapter I know pft. Trying to alleviate some of the drama up in here before we start it back up next chapter.
I love Creek. I really do. I can totally see Craig being that constant balance that Tweek needs to chill him the fuck out. I can also see their group learning how to handle Tweek's various reactions of his over-stimulated self and guiding him down from his freaking out. Idk. I love their group. I need to do a story about the four of them sometime pft.
Thanks for R&Ring!
