Craig
If Craig had expected them to get sleep after what had happened, he was wrong.
I shouldn't have brought him here, he thought fiercely, feeling sick to his stomach. I should have taken him to Token's house or his own house. Why did I have to be so stubborn about bringing him over? Why did I want him over in the first place? Hell, I could have taken him to Clyde's house, his house is just down the street from Cartman's house. But no, he'd brought him here and paid the price in full.
At least Tweek wasn't crying anymore. Craig wasn't sure if he could handle that anymore, not tonight, not ever. He hated the sight of those sparkling eyes filling with tears, no matter how justified they'd been. It was his fault, after all, that Tweek had been crying, his fault for bringing the blond to his house when he knew what could happen.
Monsters? Heh, he wished. No, the reality was always so much more terrifying.
But how was he to have known that tonight would just happen to be one of those nights his father returned from the bar and some ungodly hour, drunk and pissed and mean? How was he supposed to know that his mother would get into a fight with him instead of just letting him work off his own frustrations? How was he supposed to know that tonight wouldn't be one of those blessedly peaceful nights were his family could almost pass off as normal?
So now Tweek still had his arms wrapped around Craig's chest and the boy kept shivering and trembling, even though there was no way he was cold. Craig knew what it was though, knew why he was scared and agreed with him wholeheartedly.
Usually, when something like that happened, Craig didn't get so scared. Maybe inside he was terrified, but he was better than someone his age should be at shoving all that fear and worry down into the back of his brain and putting on a bored face. He wasn't supposed to care anymore, this had been his entire life, but with Tweek there, Craig had been deathly afraid. Because he didn't know what would happen if his parents found Tweek and he didn't want the boy to know what really went on inside his house.
When they fought, generally Craig would just close his eyes and pretend he was asleep, pretend he couldn't hear them. After every fight, they would always come into his room, as if to make sure he was asleep and to yell at him if he wasn't. To scream that it wasn't any of his business what they were fighting about and sometimes worse, but Craig found that he could avoid the whole thing if he just hid under the covers and pretended to be asleep.
Sure, they'd come and yank the covers back before leaving, but at least they wouldn't scream at him.
But with Tweek there, he'd forced himself to bear the full brunt of it, just so they wouldn't find out that the fragile blond was there too. His mom had been livid that he was awake, but when was she not upset with him. He'd seen the bruise on her chest, probably from his dad, but he'd know that it didn't much matter because she'd likely given as good as she'd got. And even though he'd frozen up in terror, he'd kept Tweek safe, so it was all okay.
And if Tweek went the rest of his life thinking that there were monsters in Craig's house, then that was fine. As long as he didn't know the truth, everything would be okay. Because he knew what would happen if his parents found out he'd told someone and he'd rather avoid that at all costs.
At least they hadn't hit him tonight.
But he was still left with the problem that it was four in the morning and Tweek was still wide awake, as was he. I need to get out of here, if they find Tweek in the morning, it'll be just as bad as if they'd found him last night, probably worse. Moving, shifting his body so Tweek would know he was still awake, Craig softly said, "We should probably leave."
Tweek started and let out a squeak that was muffled by Craig's tee-shirt. Popping up from under the covers, the boy twitched and asked, "W-why? Oh Jesus, are the monsters gonna come back!?" It was clear that while he had relaxed a little bit, he was far from calm. Craig didn't blame him. He wished he could have spared Tweek that whole ordeal, but at least the boy didn't know the truth.
"They might," he admitted, going with the lie because the lie was so much easier than the truth. Shifting upright, pulling Tweek with him, Craig looked over the boy, at the mess that he'd become. His eyes were still swollen, those dark circles under his eyes doing nothing to make it better. There was so much fear still in that gaze, it made Craig's chest swell with guilt. Why is this my life? Because life wasn't fair, it never had been and it never would be. "So we should leave before they do."
"Augh!" the blond boy yelped. Tweek's eyes kept darting to the walls and the door, as though he expected the monsters he'd imagined up to pop up at any second. "W-we should get your parents!" Tweek insisted, grabbing Craig's hand and shaking his arm about. "So they know that the monsters are-"
Shit. Lunging forward, Craig seized Tweek by the shoulders and hissed with as much vehemence as he could manage, "You can't tell anyone about the monsters!" Tweek's eyes widened in fear and Craig felt something in him wither and die. You're wrong Token, I can scare him. But he supposed it didn't matter because if he scared Tweek into listening to him just this once then it would all be fine.
"Why not?" Tweek asked pathetically, twitching in Craig's grip. His teeth kept knocking together and there were tears welling up in his eyes once again. Feeling horrible for even thinking for a moment that scaring the boy was a good thing, Craig sighed and pulled Tweek forward until they're foreheads bumped together.
"Because if you tell my parents, the monsters will kill me. They would be upset that someone else might have seen them." Tweek let out a soft sound of fear, so Craig moved one of his hands to the boy's hair, struggling to calm him down to the best of his ability. Under his hand, Tweek's breathing started to steady. Trying to think of anything else he needed to make clear about the situation, Craig quickly added, "And we can't talk about them, otherwise they'll come for me."
"What?!" Gripping his hair with his hands, Tweek pulled hard, no doubt trying to release some of the pressure building up in his head. Craig wished he could stop the boy, but he was already doing everything he knew to calm him down and the subject matter wasn't exactly going to get better. "Jesus, you haven't told anyone? W-what about –ghn- T-Token or Clyde?"
Keeping his eyes fixed on Tweek's as steady as he could keep them, Craig admitted, "Clyde knows about the monsters, but Token doesn't. He just thinks he does." When Tweek's eyes widened and he started to speak, Craig hurried to repeat, "But you can't talk about them Tweek, you have to keep quiet."
"Wh-what if they know I was here?" Tweek asked in a hushed voice, sounding fearful. Craig didn't blame him. He wished he had a perfect solution to the problem, he wished he had a solution period, but he didn't, so he just tried his best to sound reassuring.
"I'll handle them," He told Tweek, setting his jaw and staring at the boy as calmly as he usually did. "I won't let them hurt you." I mean it, fuck, I mean it. I won't let them take Tweek away from me.
Maybe Tweek could read his mind, maybe it was something else, but almost at once, Tweek demanded, "What about you?" as if this was more important than his own safety. He stuck his bottom lip out and clenched his jaw together, probably in an attempt to look brave. It might have worked if he could stop twitching. He's trying to be tough for me, isn't he?
Dragging his fingers through Tweek's hair, in as much an attempt to calm himself down as to calm the blond, Craig cleared his throat softly to get past the lump that had formed there and said, "I'll live." He wasn't sure if he sounded confident, but Tweek's shoulders relaxed slightly, so Craig assumed he'd done a good enough job on the whole thing.
He was about to move back so he could start getting dressed when Tweek spoke again, true bravery shining through the attempted mask he'd put on. "If they hurt you," he said, his tone tentative, even as he moved his hands out of his hair and clenched them in his lap. "Then come over!" As Craig straightened, Tweek leaned forward and insistently said, "You can hide with me on my bed and all of my monsters will scare them away. I've got way more than you do."
Something in Craig's chest broke at those words. For a long moment, he just sat there in silence, unsure how he was supposed to even begin to answer what Tweek had just said, but finally, he forced his throat to work. "Okay," he promised, his tone flat even as something inside him clenched painfully. "If they hurt me, I'll come to you."
Nodding, Tweek took a shuddering breath and said, "Where are we –ngh- gonna go then?" Taking a moment to register what Tweek had asked, Craig finally shook himself from his daze by blinking once before sliding off of his bed and softly getting to his feet. We could go to Token's house, but that's a long way for walking somewhere in the middle of the night. He knew that the black boy wouldn't mind, but he wasn't sure if that was the best idea, considering, so he settled on the only other option.
"Clyde's house," Craig answered firmly, remembering that they were going to be fighting the elves tomorrow and grabbing his Thief costume. Might as well change into it now, the chances I'm getting sleep anywhere is next to none. Grabbing his backpack, Craig shoved Tweek's costume, pan and all, into the bag before stuffing in a change of clothes for himself and zipping it closed.
"W-why not my house?" Tweek asked nervously, stumbling over the words. Looking over at the twitching boy, Craig considered the option. Shifting on the bed, the blond continued, "I mean, i-it's closer and –grr- I-I know where the spare key is and I just thought that maybe if you wanted to we could- could-"
"We'll go to your house," Craig agreed, cutting off Tweek's nervous ramblings. Looking relieved, Tweek nodded quickly, his wild hair fanning out around his face at the motion. Deciding that the matter was over, Craig quickly turned and stripped out of his PJs and dressed up in his Thief paraphernalia. Securing his knives on his belt and checking to make sure the butter knife he'd originally fought Tweek with was still safe, Craig tied his cloak on and looked over at Tweek, who still hadn't moved.
"Do you want to change?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Tweek opened his mouth before snapping it shut and shaking his head. Grabbing Tweek's boots, Craig handed them to the blond before shouldering his backpack, allowing his cloak to cover it. When Tweek kept looking at him, Craig realized how stupid he was being. He's going to freeze in that, what am I thinking?
Grabbing the blue coat he wore everywhere, Craig walked over to Tweek and wrapped the thing around the boy, helping him into it. Looking up at Craig with a twitch, Tweek asked softly, almost as if he wasn't sure if he should, "How long have the monsters been here Craig?"
Drawing in a sharp breath, Craig managed to push out, in an even tone, "Ever since I was born."
Nodding, Tweek watched as Craig went ahead and helped put the boy's shoes on as well. Quietly, Tweek admitted, "That's okay, my monsters have been around since I was born too." Looking up at the boy, Craig was struck by the fact that of all the people he'd met, of all the people who knew or suspected his parents weren't as normal as they pretended to be, Tweek was the first who had ever looked at him without pity in his eyes. There was only a deep solidarity there because the blond lived with monsters just like he did.
They might not have had the same shape, but they were monsters just the same.
The moment his shoes were on, Tweek got to his feet and looked around the room. "How are we going t-to leave?" he asked, looking towards the door apprehensively. Craig didn't blame him in the slightest; he didn't want to leave through the downstairs either. The chances that his father was down there were high, and he didn't want to get caught in his lie, so he walked over to his usual means of escape.
Throwing open the window, shivering slightly in the breeze that blew through, Craig said, "You can climb down through here." The drainpipe plus the convenient hooks that had been stuck into the siding for one reason or another made it the perfect escape route. Glancing back towards Tweek, Craig accepted that this was going to be a bit harder than he'd originally assumed.
"N-no way man!" Tweek squeaked softly, shaking his head. "Oh God, I'll fall and crack my skull open and the mutant rats will eat me andIdon'twanttodieJESUS!" Putting out his hands insistently, needing Tweek to stay quiet, Craig took the several steps back to the blond and pulled him over to the window gently.
"It's fine, I'll go down first," Craig told him evenly, fixing the boy with a calm expression. Now that they were leaving, he found that he was able to calm down again. As soon as they were out of the house, his parents couldn't touch either of them. Watching him nervously, Tweek swallowed hard and looked out the window.
"It's so far down!" Tweek moaned, pulling on his hair as he looked between the ground and Craig's unchanged face.
"I'll catch you if you fall," Craig said, even though he knew there was a greater chance of Tweek flattening than of him actually catching the boy. But he didn't let those thought show on his face, and Tweek gradually seemed to calm down.
"Okay," he finally agreed, even though he shivered as he said it. Confident that Tweek was going to make it, Craig swung himself out of his window, making sure to get his feet secure on the drainpipe before moving his hands. Slowly, aware that Tweek was watching what he was doing so he copy him, Craig made his way to the ground. The moment his feet hit the ground, Tweek leaned his head out and hissed, "Jesus man, you make it look so easy!"
"It is," Craig reassured the boy, beckoning him down. "Come on, you'll be fine. I told you I'd teach you to climb, right?"
"Ngh- y-yeah," Tweek mumbled. Without any further arguments, the boy clambered out of the window, nowhere near as gracefully as Craig, but not that badly for his first time. "Oh god, I'm gonna fall!" he squeaked, clinging to the sill in terror.
"You need to close the window before you come down," Craig told him calmly, moving closer just in case the boy fell after all. Reaching up, Tweek managed to yank the window down without falling. "Okay, now just come down." Slowly, Tweek inched his way down the drainpipe, taking much longer than Craig had, but also not falling. He looked almost funny, drowning in Craig's jacket and baggy sleep pants, scrambling down the side of a building like an overgrown blond spider.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Tweek sagged against the wall and caught his breath, which was coming in short pants as if he'd just run a marathon. Easily wrapping his arm around the blonde's shoulders, Craig pulled the boy away from the side of his house and into the backyard. Tweek just tangled his fingers in Craig's cloak and asked, "Did I do alright?"
"You did great," Craig said sincerely, his voice firm. Satisfied with this, Tweek relaxed against Craig and allowed himself to be led through the break in Craig's fence and into the median between Craig's side of the block and Tweek's side of the block. Looking for the dark house that was set in front of the darkness of the morning, which was harder to do than he'd originally thought it was going to be, Craig just started forward.
As he walked, Tweek by his side, Craig wondered if this was going to be the rest of his life, hiding and running from his problems. It was easier and much less painful. When he got older, Craig assumed that he'd be able to stand up for himself and his parents would be easier to deal with, but he wasn't sure. What happened when you got older? Did things get better, or did they just get worse?
Well, as long as I have Tweek around, things can't get that bad.
Suddenly pulling Craig over, Tweek started towards the only house that had lights on inside it. Squinting at it, Craig supposed that it was dark brown, even though all the houses kind of looked the same in this light. Thankfully, Tweek knew his own home better, so Craig was confident they were going the right way.
Following Tweek through the fence, Craig let go of the boy's shoulder so he could hurry ahead. Pulling up a garden statuette that was in the shape of a coffee cup, Tweek produced a key and said, "Come on, l-let's get inside." Lengthening his strides to his normal pace instead of the slower one he adopted when walking with Tweek, Craig easily caught up and waited behind the boy as he unlocked the back door of his house.
The first thing that he was aware of was the ever-present smell of coffee as he stepped inside after Tweek. The second thing was the sounds of eating coming from the other room. Freezing, Craig looked to the dining room, expecting, presumably, Tweek's parents to come and see what the noise was, but no such thing happened. Quickly, Craig glanced at Tweek, hoping for some explanation, but the boy wasn't even paying attention. Reaching for the silver thermos that was by the sink, Tweek walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup, sweetening it to his tastes.
When he turned back around, Craig noticed the dullness of the boy's eyes but didn't question him. "Come on, let's go upstairs," Tweek insisted, twitching slightly as he spoke. Taking a sip of his coffee, the boy led Craig through the dining room. Tweek's parents were at the table, already dressed and entirely chipper looking.
Craig didn't quite know what to make of Tweek's parents. There was something off about them though, he was sure of it. It showed when Richard Tweak looked up and smiled pleasantly as if it wasn't four in the morning and Tweek hadn't just shown up out of the blue with Craig in tow. "Hello son," he said brightly, smiling absently. "How was your day at school?"
Ignoring the way that Craig's mouth fell open in dumbfounded shock, Tweek easily said, "Ngh- It was f-fine, Dad." What the heck, do they even know what time of day it is?
"That's great, son," the man said, before taking another bite of eggs. Craig looked between Tweek and the boy's dad, unable to believe his eyes. What am I witnessing?
"Ooh, Craig, how is your mother?" Tweek's mom asked, her eyes twinkling as she stared at the two boys, almost like she was a doll and not a human. Realizing that he'd been spoken too and that he should probably answer, Craig said the first thing that came to his mind.
"She's great." The woman didn't seem to care that Craig didn't sound at all convinced of his own words, she just smiled more widely and hummed under her breath. Glancing at Tweek, Craig tried to ask the boy with his eyes if they could leave, but Tweek wasn't looking at him.
"It's so wonderful that you two are getting along," Tweek's dad said, taking a sip of his coffee and smiling at the two of them. "I'm glad you're making friends son, you're in second grade, after all, that's when I made my first friend." Craig's eyes got, if possible, even wider. Is this what Tweek's parents are always like?
"Don't you have to open the coffee shop in an hour?" Tweek asked, his dulled eyes shifting from his mom to his dad to the table, to the wall. His fingers were clenched around his thermos to the point of his knuckles going white, but Craig wasn't sure if now was the time to try and calm the blond down.
Smiling serenely at the question, Richard Tweek said, "Ah yes. We must open bright and early every day. Bright, like the glow of the sunrise over the mountains. Bright, like the light reflecting off of the surface of a perfect cup of coffee. Bright, like-"
"ACK! I g-get it!" Tweek burst out, trembling. "I'm going up to my room."
"Okay sweetie, make sure to eat something," Tweek's mother called. Ignoring her, Tweek grabbed Craig's sleeve and pulled him up the stairs after him, his eyes fixed straight ahead all the while. Attempting to figure out what he'd just witnessed, Craig kept glancing behind him as if that was going to make things any more normal.
What is wrong with them? "Hey… Tweek-" Craig started uncertainly, unsure how to even begin to broach the subject. How were you supposed to ask your friend if their parents were bat-shit insane, after all? It wasn't a particularly easy thing to do. Nevertheless, the Noirette attempted, "Are your parents…"
Looking up at the boy, Tweek said softly, "Don't worry about it, they're –ghn- fine. They're always like this." With that, he opened his bedroom door and walked inside, leaving Craig standing in the hallway.
Shaking his head, Craig walked after the boy. After all, who was he to judge people on their parents?
