A/N: So, this was the chapter that wasn't supposed to happen. I rewrote it several times and the best part is, you're looking at what was originally just the first five hundred words of the chapter. But, you know, sometimes you've got to hit your head against the brick wall till it starts to make sense.

Enjoy!

Tweek

The sun set early in South Park. Most places, it took longer to get dark, but in the basin formed by the foot of the mountains, Sunset was around four in the afternoon. Everything would start to get dark and businesses would start turning on their lights Sometimes, the sky wouldn't start to turn colors until after it had set behind the mountains. Only then would the sky light up in a dazzling myriad of hues.

Earlier, the sky had been saturated with color, like if you wrung out the clouds you'd squeeze from them streams of red and gold. Tweek didn't usually watch the sunset, his window faced away from it and even if he had been able to see it, the sky wasn't something he generally found interest in. That being said, right now, as he walked next to Craig in the dark, Tweek wished the sunset was later so he could see it here where he had a clear view instead of from Cartman's backyard where he had to try to see around the castle to watch it.

Currently, Craig and he were on their way to Token's house after having grabbed the Noirette's backpack from Tweek's house. Keeping a tight hold on Craig's hand, Tweek kept glancing up at the sky, waiting for the stars to appear. It was too light out for them to appear, but it was too dark for Tweek's liking, so he just waited for it to get dark enough for Craig to talk about Outer Space and stumbled along after the boy in the meantime.

Clyde and Token had just gone straight to the black boy's house, so it was just Craig and him. Tweek wasn't sure if he liked it better this way or not, after all, Clyde and Token were good friends, but he did like the quiet and he liked walking next to Craig without having to pay attention to what other people were saying. It was a lot more peaceful this way, and the Noirette seemed content so Tweek saw no reason not to be himself.

They hadn't stopped at Craig's house at all before heading for Tweek's. The blond got the feeling that Craig was avoiding his house, but he didn't blame him. After hearing the boy's monsters, he didn't want to go anywhere near there at night again either. Though, if Craig usually had to deal with them then Tweek wasn't sure why he'd avoid them now.

But maybe that was why Craig spent so much time with Token and Clyde even though he seemed like he didn't need human contact to function, unlike some people. Because he was hiding. Tweek wished he could banish the thoughts from his head, but his brain had a terrible habit of holding onto things for far too long. Craig probably hasn't even thought about it since this morning.

There was a sound from behind them and Tweek twitched hard, squeezing Craig's hand in favor of screaming. Stoically, Craig glanced down at Tweek before tightening his grip around the blonde's small hand in return. It's okay, his monsters can't follow us here. If they do, I'll protect Craig this time! Tweek knew it was ridiculous, but with his bow still strapped to his back, and Craig next to him, the boy felt confident he could do something.

Of course, there was still the chance that Craig would get in trouble for being out. He hadn't called his parents or contacted them yet and Tweek doubted he would. On one hand, he could understand parents not caring about where their children were because his parents never cared, but at the same time, he didn't think Craig's parents were the same.

"You sure it's okay for you to be out?" Tweek asked, still nervous about the matter. His voice sounded weird to his own ears and he cringed at it, shivering at the way the silence rushed back in to fill the void. Craig took a moment to answer, simply walking on as if he hadn't heard Tweek at all for a few minutes. Then he blinked and glanced down in Tweek's general direction.

Eyes fixed somewhere in the blonde's hair, Craig said, "They won't mind." For a moment, Tweek thought the boy would ruffle his hair, but then Craig went back to watching where they were going and the idea was dismissed. Tweek wondered if he'd heard bitterness in Craig's voice when he'd spoken, because that would have been the tone he would have used if he said similar, but the blond hadn't heard anything.

Looking forward himself, Tweek glanced at the street before turning his eyes skyward. The stars were only just starting to come out, each little twinkling light battling the remaining light in the sky and the lights of the cities below. He tried to identify the constellations that Craig often pointed out to him, but he wasn't good enough to know them all yet. Listening to the soft scuff of Craig's sneakers against the pavement, Tweek felt the silence begin to be oppressive once more.

Changing the subject abruptly as a thought flitted through his mind, Tweek asked, "Why did Princess Kenny and Cartman want us in charge of the forest defense?" He wasn't sure why the question had occurred to him to ask, but the moment it had slipped off his tongue, he realized that he'd been thinking about it for a while.

"I mean, I'm not as high a level as you! Besides, w-what if I fail and they lose the territory they already have? Oh Jesus! WHAT IF THE ELVES CAPTURE ME?!" At the thought, Tweek all but screamed. In his panic, the grip he'd had on his thermos loosened and the container of coffee fell from his hands. Quickly, Craig's hand shot out to catch the thing, but he missed. It clanged noisily as it hit the pavement and started to roll away. Letting go of Tweek's hand, Craig caught the runaway coffee container while Tweek watched and shivered.

Once he'd gotten a hand on the container, Craig straightened and walked back over to Tweek. "You're going to be fine, I don't think they allow prisoners in this game." Unscrewing the freshly filled thermos, Craig handed the container back to Tweek. Taking it from the taller boy's hands, the blond sucked down the coffee inside, letting his frozen limbs relax as he did so. While he drank, Craig's hand naturally gravitated towards his hair.

"I-it's still a lot of pressure man!" Tweek squeaked, closing his thermos before turning back to Craig and starting back down the sidewalk that would take them to Token's house. As he walked next to Craig, Tweek couldn't help but notice how many steps he had to take to cover the distance just one of the Noirette's strides took him. "I'm not as strong as you!"

"No, you're stronger," Craig told Tweek firmly, his hands stuffed into his pockets now that he was no longer holding Tweek's hand. Stronger!? OH GOD, NO I'M NOT! As if he could sense Tweek's desire to protest, Craig turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "Dude, your character is built to be stronger than mine. That's just how this is."

"B-but you're stronger in real life," Tweek insisted, trembling lightly as he hurried to keep up with Craig. "I'm way weaker. Plus; I can't even climb trees! What good will I be in a –gnh- f-forest battle?!" What if I fall out of a tree and break my neck?! Oh god, what if Craig tries to save me and he dies instead? I don't want Craig to die! "IT'S TERRIFYING AUGH!"

"Maybe you can just fall on people then." His voice was so flat, it took Tweek a moment to realize that Craig wasn't being serious and was actually joking. Once he got it though, he couldn't stop himself from convulsing in high-pitched giggles. The idea of falling on someone was actually pretty funny, especially considering how ridiculous he usually looked anyway. Glancing up at Craig again, Tweek found that the boy was smiling slightly.

"No man," Tweek finally managed to say, once he'd gotten his breath back. "I want to be scary! I don't want to just –grr- fall on people, that's lame!" Smiling fading from Craig's face, just to be replaced by his usual deadpan, the Noirette shrugged.

"I don't know, I'd be scared if a barbarian fell out of the sky on me." He sounded so serious, but Tweek was pretty sure he was just making fun of him. Shoving into Craig in annoyance, Tweek whined pathetically, making the Noirette roll his eyes but pat his head regardless. "It's okay, climbing trees isn't that hard," Craig reassured Tweek, who wasn't sure if he could believe that, but was willing to admit that if Craig said it wasn't then it probably wouldn't be.

"Jesus, I don't know man, w-what if I fall and break my neck?" Tweek mumbled, looking down at his feet before glancing at the sky once more to see if he could spot any more stars. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair or something like Timmy." Biting his lip, Tweek felt shame creep up his face. It sounded like such a stupid worry when he said it out loud like this.

But then he felt Craig's hand slip into his once more and the blonde's body temperature returned to normal. "You won't fall," Craig assured Tweek, his tone soft and even. "If you do, I'll catch you." Remembering how Craig had apparently carried him home the night before, Tweek didn't doubt that the boy would be able to. Feeling somewhat better, Tweek squeezed Craig's hand and slowed down his steps as Craig did a better job of matching his pace.

As they walked, Tweek's mind wandered once more. His parents were probably still at the shop, seeing as it was too early for his dad to decide to call it a night. They were always open way too late on weekends and Fridays. Tweek didn't really care enough to say anything about it, but when they'd stopped by his house, he hadn't been able to keep himself from noticing how empty the house had felt.

At least he'd had Craig there to make the silence more bearable. Even though the boy was quiet, Tweek felt that he filled the spaces in between the words very well. Like just his breathing alone could fill the empty dead space. Sometimes he wondered what it was like, being the white space between words, but Craig seemed to be doing pretty well, so Tweek assumed it wasn't all that bad.

Sometimes, when he thought too hard, Tweek realized just how much Craig still confused him. He didn't know why the boy acted like he did, so different from everyone else. Tweek couldn't wrap his head around what went on inside the Noirette's head, even things as simple as why the boy never took off his hat eluded him. But even then, Tweek felt like he understood Craig. At some fundamental level, he knew.

That being said, when his mind flitted back to the fact that Craig hadn't told his parents where he'd be going, Tweek felt panicked. He hadn't told his parents, but that was because they wouldn't have understood what he was saying to them. The idea that Craig hadn't bothered just made Tweek feel antsy, even when he shouldn't. Vibrating, even as he walked, Tweek hummed under his breath and looked up at Craig. The boy looked so peaceful how does he look so peaceful when he's wandering off to Token's house like this?

"Y-You're not gonna get in trouble at all?" Tweek blurted out, even though there was no context to his question. I sound stupid, I always sound stupid. "I mean with your parents. W-when they find out and stuff…" Trailing off as Craig slowly turned his eyes on him, Tweek scuffed his feet some more and wished he could melt into the pavement while at the same time he struggled not to ask more.

"They don't care, it's not like they'd look for me," Craig told Tweek, his eyes moving away from the twitching boy. Squeezing Craig's hand, Tweek tried to shake some of the ideas out of his head that kept bouncing around. The way Craig said it, Tweek wondered if he'd gone bad places, just to see if his parents would find him. Jesus! Craig would never do something like that!

But there was so much hanging off of that statement so Tweek frantically tried to condense everything he wanted to say into a few words. "Do they ever care when you just go places?" he finally asked, his body trembling. Suddenly, Tweek wondered if he should be asking the question at all, but he wanted to know so he didn't say that out loud or apologize for asking. He did, however, tell himself that he wasn't going to ask anything else.

For a long moment the silence stretched on, then the Noirette finally opened his mouth. "No," Craig answered in that characteristic straight and to-the-point way of his. His voice was flat, Tweek couldn't tell if that no was a bad one or a good one. Some kids would have been happy to have parents who let them do whatever, but others saw it differently, Tweek included. He saw it as neglectful. Considering how he'd been brought up though, he was probably biased.

Watching the look in Craig's eyes darken slightly, Tweek twitched and frowned. Maybe Craig doesn't know if it's bad or good either. I wonder if his parents are like mine after all? No, my parents are insane, no one is like them. Except for me. But they wouldn't remember I was alive if I didn't sit at the table and eat with them almost every night.

As the thoughts beat at his brain incessantly, Tweek felt the need to add, "My parents d-don't care either!" Instantly he felt stupid for speaking, like he'd said the worst possible thing as loudly as could be, but Craig didn't react, he just kept walking. Biting his lip hard to keep anything else from slipping out, Tweek twitched and shivered as he stared at his feet. Why did I have to open my mouth? Craig's going to get sick of me eventually.

If he wasn't already sick of him. No, Craig likes me being around, that's why he talks to me. He's my friend!

"How long have they been like that?"

Tweek hadn't been expecting the question and he let out a yelp at it. Tripping and almost face-planting, the blond stumbled upright with Craig's help before staring at the boy with wide eyes. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to say in response to a question like that. Oh god, why is he asking about them? Is he wondering if I'm like them!? What if he finds out how crazy they are and he doesn't want to hang out around me anymore because of it?!

"Your parents, I mean," Craig clarified, as if Tweek needed clarification. OH JESUS, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS QUESTION! IS THERE A WRONG ANSWER? IS THERE A RIGHT ANSWER? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL HIM ANYTHING!? How was Tweek supposed to explain that his parents couldn't remember his birthday and chose a random day every year for it to be? How was he supposed to tell Craig what it was like to live with robots? As the blonde's face shifted from panicked to downright terrified, Craig blinked. There was a shine of guilt in those blue eyes before the taller child sighed softly. Looking away from Tweek, Craig gently said, "If you don't want to answer-"

"GAH!" Tweek suddenly burst, twitching hard. "N-no! It's fine! I just- um…" Biting his lip again, the blond looked at his feet and mumbled, "Yeah, they've always been like that." He waited for Craig to judge him, to judge his parents. To rant and rave about how Tweek was in a bad situation or about how it was child abuse to forget a kid like that. Hell, Tweek just waited for him to do anything that anyone else would have done in response to what the blond had just told him.

But he didn't, Craig just let out a breath and said, "I get it. I think my parents like it better when I'm not around." Tweek's breath caught at those words and he could feel Craig's hand tighten around his once more. He kept waiting for an explanation, but when one didn't come, he accepted that it probably wouldn't. How can someone live like that, thinking that no one wants them? He wanted to ask questions, but one look at Craig's face told him that wasn't the right thing to do.

So instead he huddled closer to Craig and softly said, "Mine wouldn't even n-notice the difference." He wasn't sure what he was trying to communicate to the boy with that, but he was pretty sure that the Noirette understood, because Craig put a hand in his hair and let it rest there for a moment. Taking comfort from that gesture, just like he always did, Tweek glanced once more at the sky and stared at the shimmering stars that had finally come out to play.

As they reached Token's gate, Tweek's mind wandered once more as he watched Craig type in the code. Shivering, he stepped back as the smaller side gate swung in, admitting them inside. Looking at all the trees around them, Tweek found himself thinking once more about the upcoming battle. "Craig, I really can't climb trees," he told the boy, needing to get the point across. "I'm going to do horribly on Monday and Cartman'll kick me out of the game."

There was a rustle of cloth and Tweek found Craig's cape settling over his shoulders as the tall boy beneath it drew him in tight to his side. "I'll teach you tomorrow," Craig told Tweek, his eyes distant as he stared down the path they were walking up. "We can go to the forest together and you can climb the trees there until you get it down perfectly."

Feeling a wash of relief crash over him, Tweek nibbled on his lip twitchily for a moment before putting his head down saying, in the vague direction of his feet, "Okay. If that'll make me better."

"Of course it will," the Noirette said, voice as flat as ever. "That's how everyone learns. By doing it until they know how." It made sense, and Tweek found himself grinning like a fool even though there was nothing remotely funny about it. Feeling like he needed to get out some of that energy, Tweek pulled out from under Craig's cloak and ran along the path for a bit, staring up at the sky the whole time.

Spinning around in a slow circle, Tweek pointed up and said, "That's the Eagle, right?" If he tilted his head, he could see the body, and even the wings coming off of it. He wasn't sure how people way back when constellations had been invented had found the pictures in the sky, but he supposed it was good they had done it, because he would never have seen them otherwise. Looking at Craig, Tweek found the boy staring not at the sky, but at him.

"Yeah, that's Aquilla," he confirmed, nodding slowly.

Looking back up at the sky, Tweek asked, "Don't you ever feel small when you look at the sky, Craig? L-like you're nothing but a bit of dust on the universe that it could flick away at any moment?" Twitching, Tweek commented, "I sometimes feel like that. We're s-so small all the way down –ghn- h-here, I bet the universe wouldn't notice if we all just vanished."

He wasn't sure why he'd said that, but the moment he did, Tweek found himself adding, "I think the universe would notice even less than not at all if I vanished." Letting his arms fall to his sides, Tweek heaved in a breath and let it out in a surprised whoosh as Craig eclipsed his vision. The boy's hat had been knocked askew, letting his dark, oil-black hair fall in his face. His head glowed, silhouetted by the millions of stars above him, and Tweek thought Craig looked otherworldly.

"Hey Tweek," Craig started, his voice steady and certain even though his eyes spoke volumes of a language that Tweek didn't speak. "I'd notice if you vanished." That was all he said, nothing else, just a few simple words that meant everything. Then he did something Tweek had never seen him do before. He took off his hat and put it on Tweek's head instead.

And then he walked away, leaving Tweek standing there twitching, unsure what he was supposed to say.

As Tweek hurried to catch up, the stars kept glittering above them like a blanket of light that stretched on forever. When he looked up at them once more before following Craig inside of Token's house, Tweek thought that they were even more beautiful than the sunset ever would be.