It's sort of scary when you've just finished taking a shower and are right in the middle of getting Goddamn dressed when some brunette dude pops out of fucking nowhere and hugs you around the shoulders like you're the best buddies in the world, when you've never even met him. Not officially, anyway.
"How's my best buddy doing?" He grins and ruffles my hair. Ok, was not ready for that. I'm like a person with boundary issues. I wanna yell at him 'FORCE FIELD! FORCE FIELD!' while backing away frantically.
"Y-You're… Clyde." I remark, carefully trying to shake him off of me without him noticing. I don't really wanna offend him. He freezes and looks at me for a split second, and then absolutely flips out.
"OH MY GOD! HE KNOWS MY FUCKING NAME!" He finally lets go of me and gets to the ground. It seriously takes me approximately seven seconds to realise he's bowing to me. What am I, a king?
No. No, I don't think so.
"Um, you can… get up now." I say awkwardly. I've never thought, even once in my life, that anyone would ever bow to me. Clyde nods and stands up again. He smirks when he sees that I'm still shirtless. I flush and frown at the wall. I don't like to feel vulnerable. Well, then again, who does?
"So how do you know my name? I didn't expect you to get who I was. I actually failed in scaring you. Clyde Donovan does not ever fail in scaring people."
"Craig told me about you."
"Ha, typical Craig Tucker! So I bet you're shocked that he's not talking, right?" I glare slightly more at the wall and nod. I seriously don't want to be reminded of that. Though I love to talk about Craig, the thought of him purposely not talking to me makes me want to jump off this building right now. Clyde watches me in interest for a few seconds, then suddenly grabs my hand and starts pulling me into the hallway.
"W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Clyde doesn't answer me. He looks around for staff, and once he sees there aren't any, runs in the direction of the centre of the hospital, heaving me along with him by the arm. My still wet hair drips on the tiled floor as we run (Well, Clyde does. I'm like a gift package). I hope a nurse slips on that later. I look behind me to see if we've been spotted by some doctor. Wow, we haven't. As I turn my head back around, both Clyde and I are met with a hand in the 'STOP RIGHT THERE!' motion. Clyde yelps loudly and falls back, resulting in me falling back too. We both go CRASHING to the floor. Which is, by the way, tiled. I grit my teeth angrily and shove him off me. I look upwards and see Kenny standing over us, arms folded, smirking, you name it. Anything cool, he's doing it. Making us look like dumbasses.
I hold my open hand out.
"Are you gonna stand there like Satan, or are you gonna help me up like a person?" Kenny's smirk disappears. I clearly just ruined his fun moment, and I'm glad. He needs to be annoyed once in a while. He purses his lips angrily, takes my hand, and pulls me off the floor. He never stops keeping eye contact with me.
"Don't push it." Kenny says, looking extremely annoyed. Man, he has a really short temper.
"Ahem."
Oops, I've forgotten about Clyde. I turn around to see if he's actually still there. Sure enough, he is. I immediately let my kind side take over me. I'm a softie, so live with it.
"I'm sorry. Here." I hold my hand out. Clyde hesitates, like I'm freaking delicate or something. I smile a bit and hold my hand out more. Clyde finally gets over his little 'fear' and lets me help him up. I turn to Kenny, who's been watching the whole time, with an expression of surprise. What, does Kenny think it's not possible for me to be kind or something? I let go of Clyde and frown at him.
"What is it?" I ask him. Kenny realises what he looks like, shakes his head, and gives a reassuring smile.
"Nothing, man."
"…Where are you guys taking me?" I ask, looking back and forth between them.
"The meeting, dummy!" Kenny slaps me on the back, making me cough. However, I quickly take his answer in.
Oh yeah… the meeting. Totally forgot about that.
Kenny speaks again.
"Look, I needed to stop you for something-
"Why else would you halt us so suddenly, resulting in us both tumbling to the floor? Which is by the way, tiled! It's really hard!" Kenny's eyebrow twitches.
"You gonna let me finish or what? I don't have to fucking be here! I can be home fighting with my dad, but I chose not to!"
"…"
"Good doggy. Now look, I needed to stop you for a pretty vital reason."
"And what's that?"
"The tracking device on your shirt. The security will notice you're out of that room. Luckily, I know the code." God. I mean come on! This dude's meant to be smart. I'm telling you, if he's smart, then the others must be like brain damaged or something.
"Kenny… in case you haven't noticed, which you probably haven't… I'm not wearing my shirt." Kenny's eyes widen and he looks at my bare chest.
"Well, son of a bitch. You aren't." He says, looking quite taken aback. I feel like banging my head on the wall. Clyde starts waving his hand dramatically.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! So you're saying you stopped Tweek and I and made us fall to the ground, and wasted all this time, for that reason?" Kenny smiles sheepishly, giving him the answer.
Fuck it. I will bang my head on the wall.
I walk to the side of the hall, lay my hands against the… whatever walls are made of, and bang my head on it as hard as I can. I hear Clyde go 'Holy crap!' Haha… he'll have to get used to how fucked up I can be.
In a… I swear to God a split second; Kenny comes over to me and grabs my shoulder to prevent me from damaging my forehead any further. When I fix my eyes on him, I realise he looks extremely, extremely, irritated. He says something, but my ears somehow don't process it.
"W-What?"
"I said; don't ever do something like that again. Even if you're joking."
"Why… does it matter so much?" I ask, feeling slightly nervous. Kenny stares me out for a few seconds, and then suddenly smiles.
"We wouldn't want Craig to murder us for letting you get injured, now would we?" Whoa. Split personality much? He's like one of those people who are sweet on the outside, but cold on the inside… uh, what are they called? Uh…
…
Oh yeah! Yandere… Kenny's a yandere. Poor soul.
"O~kay~… Now let's hurry and go! Everyone's probably getting impatient." Clyde says randomly.
"Go wher-
Kenny and Clyde interrupt my sentence by grabbing both my hands and pulling me along with them, much like Clyde was doing earlier. We pass Mr Tucker's office. The door's open, so I catch a glimpse of him sleeping at the desk inside. It makes me smile.
My smile fades when I see where we're heading. We stop outside a door that's exactly at the centre of the hospital. It says 'STAFF ONLY' on it. There's a black kid holding it open. If I'm not mistaken, he's Token. When he hears us coming, and sees me, his face is exactly the same as Cyde's was. Like he's seen God or something. Kenny and Clyde force me through the door and start pushing me up the first flight of stairs. Token closes the door and quickly follows, darting next to us in an instant, no doubt to get a better look at me. All four of us start to get tired after three flights of stairs. Well, Kenny doesn't. He looks back at us.
"Come on! Only one more to go! Everyone's waiting! Let's go!" Kenny gives me a pat on the shoulder for encouragement. I instantly feel energised and start sprinting up the steps, beating even Kenny. What the hell did he do to me? I look back to see if the three are still there, turn back around; and slam right into a door. Face first. You'd think I'd learn, what with that experience with Mr Tucker and that damn car window. The slamming force makes me fall back. Clyde and Token catch me, while Kenny walks around us and towards the door. He knocks three times, waits a little, then twice more. Some secret knock or something. I barely hear a muffled voice say to him 'Name?'
"Kenneth McCormick." Kenny says, using his full name. The person on the other side says 'Password?'. Kenny turns to us with a look of annoyed helplessness. Judging by the look, he's forgotten the password. You'd think with his gift and all…
"Uh… aw come on, man. You know my voice."
"No can do. I have strict orders-
"I'M THE ONE WHO GAVE YOU THE ORDERS, RETARD!"
"But-
"Jason, I swear to God…"
"Okay, okay! Jesus…" The door opens, showing a pretty normal looking brunette dude looking pissed. Kenny gives him a 'You dare fuck with me?' look and walks past him, motioning for me to follow. I nod, feeling confused, and step up to him.
… Now I see what Kenny meant by 'You could say that' when I asked the location of the meeting place.
The hospital roof. Yup. The hospital roof.
There's all the kids in the photo of the class I saw here, and many more. They're probably kids from other classes. There're even some girls. Not Milly, thank God.
I realise I have no shirt and blush. All the girls realise too and scream in delight. What, am I actually good looking or something? The boys who don't know me don't even notice. They're probably too mesmerised by the fact that I'm actually here. The boys who do know me though, like Stan and Kyle, drop their jaws open. Naturally.
… This is embarrassing.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! FUNNIEST! THING! EVER!" Kenny laughs next to me, pointing to the left of us. I look to where he's looking. Oh Jeez.
Craig's on the ground, trembling. He's staring at me, and there's a lot of blood running down his hand, which is covering his nose.
Why…Ohhhh…
Man… I dunno whether to be happy or embarrassed about this.
"HAHAHA! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! CRAIG FUCKING TUCKER BLUSHED SO MUCH HE GOT A NOSEBLEED! NEVER THOUGHT I'D LIVE TO SEE THAT! HEHEHE!" Kenny… dude… no need to rub it in. I feel a hand on my shoulder. It's… Cartman?
"It seems Clyde was in such a rush…" He shoots Clyde a venomous look. "… That he pulled Tweek out of his room before he'd finished changing. Would anyone be kind enough to lend their jacket?"
Literally everyone starts unzipping/unbuttoning their jackets, and yelling stuff like 'ME, ME!' Everyone except Craig and Kenny. Even Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. Before long, a fight ensues, with almost like a ball of people fighting, like in cartoons. Even the girls are doing it. Kenny's trying to calm all of them down. And failing. I notice every few seconds, Craig inches about 1ft closer to me. I hate to say this, but for being such a dull, boring person, Craig sucks at being sly. Eventually, he stops next to me. I notice he doesn't have his jacket on.
He doesn't say anything, obviously, but I can tell he wants to. I want to ask what… but I don't know how to say it. It'd seem mean if I went 'What do you want to say?' but I don't wanna sound corny or something by going like 'Did you want to tell me something?' Man, life can be hard.
I finally gather up all my courage and glance at him. I quickly snap my head back when I realise he's been frowning at me the whole time, like he's freaking expecting something. After a few more seconds, I glance at him again. Crap, he's still watching me.
I close my eyes and face him, smiling kindly.
"Hey Craig." I say, just like old times. I open my eyes and catch him stiffen. He looks surprised. Maybe he thought I was trying to ignore him.
…
I know! I'll hold his hand. That always made me feel better when I was little. My Mom did it all the time.
I reach out and swiftly grab his hand, like it's completely normal. I hear him inhale. I smile at him again.
"Hey~ You should start talking again. It would make me very happy." He stares at me with shocked eyes, like he was waiting for something totally different. Craig then suddenly pulls his hand away and runs off. I sigh. Maybe he got too nervous or something. Though, that sounds pretty Craig-like.
I avert my eyes to in front of me. God, everyone's still fighting over the jacket thing. This is just stupid.
I hear frantic footsteps approaching me, and, before I know it, Craig's beside me.
"GAH!" I step away from him in fear. He seriously surprised me.
… He's got his jacket in one of his hands, and he's holding it out to me. I stare at it for a second, and then point at myself. He doesn't really give me an answer, and just looks at the night sky. But I can be smart. He wants me to have his jacket.
I smile nervously, take it from him, and put it on. I don't bother to button it. It's a little big, but I don't give a fuck. I wearing Craig's jacket. It's like one of my dreams of dreams. It's actually not surprising the jacket is a little roomy. Craig's technically almost a year older than me. And he's a little taller too. He glances at me for a second. When he does, his eyes widen and he covers his nose.
Yep… he just ran away.
Again.
So by now everyone's seen that I have a jacket on already, and reluctantly stopped fighting. Kenny's gone off to God knows where. Seriously. God knows where. He comes back with Craig a few seconds later. Craig's holding his forehead. He must feel woozy from the bigass loss of blood. Well it's happened twice. And Craig looks like he bleeds a shitload.
Cartman clears his throat, making everyone turn. He somehow has a TV (Lord knows where it came from), and a video tape.
"WE'VE ALL COME HERE TO FREE TWEEK AND OFFICIALLY SEE THE PROOF! I HAVE A VIDEO TAPE THAT PROVES HIS INNOCENCE! MY FRIENDS, CRAIG AND HIS FRIENDS, AND I FOUND IT IN HIS DAD'S HOUSE! IT TURNS OUT WHEN TWEEK'S MOM DIED, THERE WERE LOTS OF CAMERAS AROUND THE HOUSE FOR SECURITY! WE HAPPENED TO FIND SOME TAPES THAT SHOWED HIS MOM'S DEATH FROM MANY ANGLES! I EDITED IT LIKE A MOVIE TO SHOW IT TO EVERYONE! NOW LET'S FUCKING WATCH IT!"
I freeze from the thought of watching my mother die. It's just not right. Scary in fact. I bite my bottom lip so hard that blood starts dripping on the ground. Is it just me or is there a lot of blood tonight? God. Craig sees the red colour on the floor and twitches. I whimper when I see his panicked expression, though it's barely there. Kenny hears me and turns around, looking bored. He sees the red liquid slowly flowing from my mouth and sighs. He steps forward and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Tweek, it's alright. You don't have to watch it. In fact, now would be a great time. You and Craig can finally go have se-
"Shut up, Kenny." Kyle claps him on the head. Kenny pouts.
"Come on, they're old enough if I'm old enough-
"IN WHAT WAY ARE YOU OLD ENOU-
Kyle gets interrupted by the door to the roof slamming open. Ruby stumbles out, huffing. Kyle, Kenny, Craig and I stare at her, too surprised to do anything. No one else notices. She sees us immediately and tries to quickly walk over. God, she's still so sick. She probably knew where we would be standing, though, so at least she knows where she's going.
"THEY'RE COMING! SECURITY! THEY SAW TWEEK'S NOT THERE ANYMORE!" She yells so loud and frantically that all the kids hear. They all instantly start freaking out, yelling at each other and looking not sure what to do. I see Cartman quickly throw Butters the tape and push the TV of the building.
… A little extreme, but ok…
I feel someone grab my hand and pull me aside, behind the little building with the door. Some people follow us. I quickly realise from the warm feeling of the hand that it's Kenny walking me. He sits me down on the tiled ground and quickly starts buttoning up Craig's jacket. I flush at the contact. Hey, I'm not used to it. I see Token, Craig, Clyde, Kyle, and Stan watching us. Kenny turns around and holds his hand out. Kyle quickly grabs Craig's shoulders while Stan pulls his hat off and tosses it at Kenny.
…Ok, I think it's my turn to get a nosebleed. Craig looks so hot with his hat off. Though he sure looks annoyed that I'm seeing him like that.
"Ok Romeo. Time to go." Kenny says. He gives the hat to Token, stands up, grips Craig's arm, and yanks him away. Craig gives me a somewhat worried look as he's dragged away. I smile nervously at him, just before he turns away. The security won't get me. My friends aren't dumb enough to let that happen, right?
Right?
"They're almost here." Ruby suddenly says. Everyone immediately springs into action. Token quickly sets Craig's hat on my head and sits down next to me, along with Clyde. Stan puts a finger to his lips and hurries away with Kyle. Ruby without warning comes and sits on my lap.
"Wh-Wha-
"Shhh, be quiet. Just keep your head down and pretend to be asleep. You're meant to be Craig." I nod after a few seconds of eye contact with Clyde and hug Ruby close to me. I might as well pretend she's my real sister for a few minutes. It'll do me some good.
About half a second later, I hear many security running of out the door behind us. They all yell 'WHA…!' when they see all the kids. Kids that aren't even from this hospital.
"Why are all of you here?" I hear one of the men yell.
"Didn't you hear? We were here for a field trip and the teacher left us behind." I resist the urge to hit my head against the wall (again) behind me until my head drips blood. Good fucking cover, Cartman. Now we're all screwed 'cause of you.
"…Why would the teacher leave you behind?" Oh. My. God. Is this dumbass security dude actually buying this?
"Oh, he hates us." I hear all the other kids say 'yeah' in agreement. Even Clyde and Token seem to nod next to me. The guards must've been really surprised. One finally speaks.
"Well… have you seen a blond patient running around anywhere? He's about your age. He needs to be in his room, and he's not. We have strict orders to find him. It seems he's run away somewhere."
"No, none of us have seen any patients."
"Are there any other people here apart from all of you? If you lie, and we find someone else here, you'll all be severely punished." Cartman takes a while to answer.
"… Behind there." Clyde, Token and I stiffen. Ruby stays relaxed, even when running footsteps of security stop right in front of us. I hang my head down, hopefully looking asleep.
"Have you seen the Tweek kid anywhere? He's blond, and about your ag-
"Yeah, yeah, we heard you. Be quiet, they're sleeping." Clyde must've motioned to Ruby and I. I stare at Ruby's hair, waiting for the security to leave. They don't until they've asked a few questions, like why 'Craig' is wearing white pants instead of black, and why he's even here in the first place. But yeah, they eventually leave, mumbling about having to go look out in the snow. I smile at that. I hate them just as much as the nurses. It'll teach them a little lesson for slamming me to the ground and daring to touch Craig during the escape attempt.
Token shakily stands up and brushes himself off. It's snowing heavily, not to mention night time, so we'd all better get out of here or we'll get sick. Especially Ruby. Cartman and Stan come running to see if I'm alright. They pull me up and dust me off, as well as Ruby.
"You ok?"
"I've been better." Stan smiles and leads me back to the rest of the kids. They all look annoyed, probably because they weren't able to see the tape.
A familiar looking blond kid walks up to me, smiling kindly. He's very cute looking, sort of like a doll. He's definitely British, judging by his clothes.
He holds something out to me.
"Here. You dropped this." Yup. British.
I take what he's holding. Son of a bitch. It's the photo of Craig that I stole from Mr Tucker ages ago. That's right. I still have it.
"… Uh, thank you very much." I smile at him awkwardly, not sure what to say. It's such an embarrassing picture to lose. Cartman puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Tweek, you don't have to worry about being nice to Pip. French people don't deserve respect. He's dumb." The kid looks down hopelessly, as if there's nothing he can do. Bullshit.
"Cartman, that's a retarded mistake. He's obviously British." Everyone's, and I mean everyone's jaws drop open.
"R… Really?" Kyle asks, rubbing the back of his head in wonder. Come on… he's meant to be the intelligent one in the group.
"Yeah. Can't you tell from his accent?"
"It sounds French." Stan says, looking at me wierdly.
"It's British." I say firmly.
…
"Well, if you say so, then you're right." Butters says eventually. I look around and see everyone murmuring to each other in agreement. I finally rest my eyes on Pip. He looks… really,really taken aback.
"Um, Thank y-
"TWEAK TUCKER! RUBY TUCKER! YOU TWO ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"
Oh, fuck.
I turn around and smile anxiously. I see right away Mr Tucker stomping over to us, looking extremely angry. As he gets near us, he points at Ruby and I.
"YOU TWO ARE DEAD! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR BOTH OF YOU FOR ALMOST HALF AN HOUR! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE? AND WHERE'S CRAIG? WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"
"I-I don't know! He went off somewhere with Kenny!" I say frantically, not wanting him to get any madder. Ruby doesn't seem fazed at all. Perhaps she's used to her parents being mad at her.
"AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE ALL THESE KIDS DOING HERE? THEY'RE MEANT TO BE AT HOME, SLEEPING!"
"Uh… late birthday party…?"
"That's right, get in." Mr Tucker says as he shoves Cartman into a cab, which Kyle and Stan are already in. Cartman gives him a huge killer glare as Mr Tucker slams the door.
I watch the car drive away into the dark night. The same thing's happened with everyone else. Mr Tucker called like nine cabs and made sure every kid got in one. The only kids remaining here right now (that aren't patients) are Ruby, Craig, and probably Kenny. I haven't seen Kenny at all, and neither has Mr Tucker, so he's most likely still in the hospital somewhere, knowing him. Kenny always has something up his sleeve.
Mr Tucker suddenly puts his hands on my shoulders and starts guiding me into the lobby. Thank God I'm holding Ruby, or he might've forgotten about her. I stop moving when we pass through the doors, making Mr Tucker have to push me if he wanted me to budge.
"What? Move, Tweek. You belong upstairs." I shake my head and turn around.
"Why so urgent? God, you're spazzing. You're acting like me when my anxiety kicks in!"
"Are you an idiot, Tweek?" I open my mouth in shock.
"What?"
"You're wearing Craig's jacket. And hat."
"So?"
"The hat was obviously to disguise you, but if you're wearing his jacket… he must've given it to you."
"As a matter a fact, he did." I say childishly.
"Then that means you didn't have a jacket."
"Uh… yeah?"
"So you went out into the cold, snowing weather shirtless?"
"M-Maybe?"
"You dumbass! You caught a cold almost the moment you stepped out there! You're sick!"
"Do I look sick?" Mr Tucker narrows his eyes and suddenly grabs my collar and forces me over to the front desk where all those smart looking ladies work. They all look up and smile when they see me, but then suddenly stop when they sees Mr Tucker's face. Mr Tucker asks one lady something. I don't catch it.
"Over there. She points to a far wall about 7ft away." Mr Tucker makes me walk to it and stand in front of something. A mirror.
"Now do you see? You're sick." Now I see what he means by 'sick'. I'm like Ruby. My face is red, I look restless, and I can barely stand straight. In fact, now I can barely see straight.
"There, you understand. Come on. You're gonna stay in bed for a long time." I frown irritably and reluctantly follow Mr Tucker to the elevator, trying not to drop Ruby, as well as not fall on the floor.
"You two are to stay here and sleep. And don't complain about having to share the bed. We don't want the sickness spreading around, so you might as well stay together." Mr Tucker has shoved us into a room for doctors and made us both get into bed. He even went and fetched a shirt for me, though I'm still keeping Craig's jacket with me.
"But Ruby has to go home! Ruby misses mommy!"
"Get used to it. You're sick. That goes for you too, Tweek. Don't expect to be leaving here anytime soon."
"Yes, sir." I say while staring at the ceiling in a daze. Tonight has totally worn me out, not to mention I'm weak from this damn cold. And the sad but true fact that I have no idea where Craig is doesn't help either. When Mr Tucker finds him… he's fucked. That's all I know.
Mr Tucker huffs and slams the door on his way out.
"Don't worry, Tweek." I open my eyes properly and look next to myself.
"Huh?"
"Craig's fine. He'll see you tomorrow."
"You sure?"
"Yes." Man. Dark Ruby really creeps me out, but I might as well make use of her. I need these kinds of chats now and then. Kenny's too annoying to be even considered for talking with me in this fashion.
"Will he start talking soon?"
"He will."
"Really?"
"Mmm."
"Why will he start talking again? Is there a reason he will?"
"You'll convince him. You always do."
"But why?"
"Because he'll do anything for you."
"I doubt that. I'm sure he does things for other people. He's not heartless."
"Not really. He only concentrates on your happiness."
"But why? I haven't done anything to deserve it…" Ruby suddenly sits up and laughs like a maniac. I remain lying down and watch her, feeling like nothing but an idiot. She must have her reasons to laugh that much. Eventually, I get worried at the laughing and grab her collar, pulling her back down. That laughing can't be good for her chest, especially in her condition. She does stop laughing after a minute, but still chuckles every few seconds.
"Mmmhmmmhmmmmhhmhm." She chuckles for the hundredth time. Ok, I'm at my breaking point.
"What's so funny?" Ruby immediately shuts up at my voice. She looks over with a strange mixed expression of surprise and uninterestedness. She looks like she actually wasn't expecting it. For once.
"Interesting." She remarks, obviously meaning my voice that's (in a way) identical to hers. "I've never been able to see this side of you."
"Answer the question." She frowns. Doesn't look like she wants to answer.
"Because you both are so stupid." Whoa, I didn't see that coming.
"How?"
"You both insist on making trouble for each other. First, you aren't able to accept that Craig and you are from different environments, and then he can't accept that he loves you, and can't sleep because of it, and you go and get shot, making more trouble, and then you both be ridiculously ignorant and claim you don't like each other at a perfect moment together. And now Craig won't talk and you're being oblivious. It's too funny, Tweek Tweak."
What? It's my fault Craig's having sleeping problems?
"… Is what you said all true?"
"It is."
"… But I truly haven't done anything to make him care about my happiness so much." Ruby looks at me like she could snap me in half right here and now.
"ARE YOU A FOOL?" The volume of her voice shocks me so much that I jump and fall out of the bed. I look up from the floor and see Ruby standing over me, glowering fiercely.
"How am I being foolish if I don't understand something?" I yell at her, suddenly feeling miserable and lonely. She looks at me for another split second, and then, out of nowhere, bursts out crying. I watch her. I'm not sure why. I either can't be bothered to see what's wrong, or just don't know what to do. She wipes her dripping eyes with her hands and looks directly at me.
"You feel it too, right? You feel sad and all alone and don't know what to do." She sniffles and looks at me helplessly. She smiles slightly when she sees how surprised I am at her sudden break down, and continues talking. "I don't know what to do, even with this gift. I'm not like Kenny. I'm not smart enough to help you. I've let both you and Craig down. I'm a failure." I look at her impassively. I don't know whether to cry or laugh. Crying would be good to get rid of frustrations, but laughing would feel good too. So many options… so many options in life it seems…
"I'm done." Ruby says out of nowhere. "I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of helping Craig and you with this."
"...Why?"
"Because it's too difficult. I shouldn't even be doing it in the first place. Kenny shouldn't either."
"Why shouldn't you help us?"
"… It's your duty to do these things by yourself. You're a human being." I gape at Ruby wide-eyed. She's right. Craig and I are both equally pathetic… if Ruby has been trying to help us the whole time and this is only how far we've come. It makes me want to rethink my fucking life.
"You're right. You're right…" I say to Ruby, watching the wall in bewilderment. She smiles at my normal voice. After a few seconds, she frowns again and steps towards me. She leans over towards me. "And to answer your question, 'But why? I haven't done anything to deserve it…'" She whispers in my ear. "The answer is simple." She hastily pulls away and tilts her head innocently.
"Craig cares about your happiness more than his own, because he loves you dearly."
She says it like such a simple sentence. But words like that… are words that make me thankful I didn't end up killing myself with safety scissors that time. They make me thankful to be alive, and able to know someone as perfect as Craig.
As soon as I hear her say them, I start desperately crying. Because of all the times I could've told Craig about how I felt, and because of how much I've unknowingly hurt Craig to heights I don't want to imagine.
Ruby's right.
I've been unspeakably foolish.
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