A/N: Cry my lovelies.
Read it
and
c r y
Enjoy.
Craig
Why the fuck did I do that?
Standing there in front of the altar, allowing Kenny to push and pull at his clothing until the boy was satisfied with how he looked, Craig glanced down at Tweek, who was clinging to his sleeve, his eyes darting around nervously. His hair was fluffier than usual, and his eyes were still shadowed, but he was still Tweek, still the same boy Craig had known for several months now.
So what the hell had possessed him to call the boy cute?
Craig had a very small section in his mind for things he found cute. In fact, up until that moment in time, it could be said that there was only one thing that he thought of as cute and that thing was Stripe. Both Stripe #1 and Stripe #2 were adorable, and Craig, who wasn't much for giving a shit about anything, had eventually just accepted that he would always find the creatures cute. But that was it, he didn't think other things were adorable. Other animals were okay, but certainly not adorable, and people were kind of just annoying, so Craig had never used the word cute to describe anything.
But then Tweek had shown up.
To be honest, even after months of knowing the boy, Craig still didn't have a good way to categorize him. Because if he was being entirely upfront about the situation, he had to admit that Tweek still didn't quite fit into the same category as Clyde and Token. Tweek was his friend, but Tweek was also different. Though Craig would have never said it aloud for fear of worrying Tweek, he didn't think of the boy the same as he did other people.
Tweek was special. Craig didn't tell his friends everything but he'd tell Tweek anything. Well, maybe not everything but he told the boy far more than he was even all that comfortable with. Being around Tweek made him want to admit things and talk about matters that he usually kept as close to his heart as possible. The blond had gone from an entity he sort of noticed every now and then, to the spot of color in an otherwise gray life, to his whole world. And it hadn't even been a conscious thing, but it had definitely happened.
That being said, he'd never thought of Tweek as adorable before. Because Tweek was another boy, but mostly because why would he ever think a person was cute? People could look cool and he assumed that someday girls would be attractive, but people weren't adorable. That was a term he'd sort of just tied to guinea pigs and nothing else. Humans were too annoying to be cute.
But Tweek wasn't just any human and he wasn't even just another one of Craig's friends. Tweek was Tweek and damnit, that made things so much more confusing and Craig hated being confused.
Then he'd started texting Bebe. At first, he'd looked at it like it was a chore, but to be honest, the girl was more than willing to talk about whatever Craig wanted to. She was unreasonably good at asking questions he wanted to answer. Most of them centered around Tweek, and several of the conversations had taken weirder turns, but it had never been anything Craig hadn't already been thinking, so it didn't feel that weird. The only thing that Craig had ever furrowed his brows at was Bebe's habit of calling Tweek things like adorable or cute or precious.
And he'd only ever furrowed his brows about it after the fact because he almost always agreed with her. He hadn't ever really thought it out, just furrowed his brows because why had he just agreed to something like that, but it had been true so had it even mattered? He'd just been texting with Bebe, his soon to be girlfriend (a fact he still wasn't comfortable with), it wasn't like she was going to say anything. And so fucking what if he agreed with Bebe when she called Tweek adorable? That was his fucking business.
It was one thing to think something like that, and it was another thing to say it out loud. It was another thing to fully think through what it meant and realize that he had probably made a terrible mistake. Except Kenny had been talking his ear off and Craig had been looking for Tweek and then the boy had shown up and his eyes had been wide and he'd been looking at the Noirette in wonder and that expression was pretty fucking adorable. So when Kenny had asked if Tweek was adorable, Craig had agreed, which is what he always did.
So why was he having such an issue with it? Why had Tweek redder than the setting sun and started flipping out? Why did things have to be so fucking complicated?
Okay, yeah, sure, he thought Tweek was adorable. It was very much true, though Craig had only just realized that's what he thought. All those times that Tweek had tried to reach something from the top shelf and had been too short to do so or when he held Stripe and his eyes got really wide and he talked to the creature in a soft voice, or whenever he looked at Craig with those big shining eyes, he'd been fucking cute and now Craig felt confused because Stripe was cute. People weren't supposed to be cute.
But Tweek was the exception and he'd agreed with Bebe that the boy was cute and he'd agreed with Kenny and now he just needed to agree with himself.
He felt mildly like something really big was shifting, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what.
"-but as long as neither of you does anything to embarrass yourselves, you'll be fine," Kenny finished, his voice only just now registering in Craig's mind. Blinking blankly at the boy, Craig earned himself a tired sigh. "Tweeky, be a dear and explain to Fucker what I just said."
"JESUS I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION!" Tweek shrieked, yanking on Craig's sleeve as he trembled beside the taller boy. Sparing a second to glare at Kenny, who only became more of a shit the more princess-y he got, Craig used his free hand to ruffle Tweek's hair. He missed his usual gloves, the winter chill slowly turning the tips of his fingers blue without them, but he liked that he could feel the blonde's feather-soft hair slip past hand.
"Don't worry about paying attention to him," Craig commented to Tweek, as though Kenny wasn't there at all. "He's full of shit." As Kenny let out a squawk of indignation and Tweek screamed something about not saying things like that oHGOD! Craig simply let the thoughts that had been swirling about in his head settle. He'd ask Bebe about it later, if it was normal to think that Tweek was adorable, kind of like Stripe but in a different way. Right now, he had more to worry about.
Puffing out a lady-like breath, Kenny crossed his crinoline covered arms and pulled a pout that was accentuated by his lipstick covered lips. "For you information Feldspar, this is very important. You are about to get married!" At the words, Tweek jerked horribly, which as usual made Craig's stomach drop just that much more. He still didn't like that he was going to have to date Bebe, though he'd mostly come to terms with it anyway. But Tweek, for all his insistence that he was perfectly happy with Craig and Bebe getting together, seemed to only get more upset about it. Craig wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, other than try and be there for the boy. But even that wasn't working very well.
After all, hadn't it been just earlier that day that Tweek had decided to find Bebe instead of staying with Craig? Squashing the stupid bitter feeling that rose up at that thought, Craig flipped Kenny off and flatly said, "Go bother someone else, Lady McCormick. There's a wedding, I just need to stand here. Fuck off."
"Language!" Kenny exclaimed as if he was offended. Clapping a gloved hand over his mouth, the Princess continued, "I hope you don't kiss Bebe with that mouth!" Frowning at that, the very idea making him feel mildly disgusted, Craig just continued to flip Kenny off while pulling the shrieking Tweek against his side. He didn't blame the blond in the slightest, who actually wanted to kiss girls? Just look at Stan, he threw up every time he tried to kiss his girlfriend. Craig was pretty sure that he didn't want that to happen to him thank-you-very-much.
"I'm not kissing anyone," Craig ground out, the furrow between his brows deepening. "Go. Away." Clucking his tongue, Kenny shook his head but still walked off, heading instead for Wendy and Cartman, who were in the middle of fighting about something, the colors of the flowers, if Craig wasn't mistaken. Satisfied that Kenny was gone, Craig turned back to Tweek, who was staring up at him in fear.
"Ignore him," Craig told the twitching boy, for what felt like the millionth time that day. It's like he's hell-bent on ruining my life. When Tweek just shivered and kept watching him with worried eyes, Craig's usual flat expression softened into a less stony version of itself. "What's up dude?" he asked at last, searching Tweek's face for the answer to his own question.
"Y-you wouldn't actually… You know…" Shuffling his feet, Tweek gripped the handle of his pan, the only weapon he'd been allowed to keep for the ceremony, and shook, almost like he couldn't quite get the words out. Craig wanted to prod, but he knew from experience Tweek did better when he wasn't pushed into something. True to form, a second later Tweek was shoving his hand in his freshly brushed hair and all but screeched, "JESUS MAN –RRR- ARE YOU ACTUALLY GONNA KISS BEBE!?"
Feeling something in him twist at how distressed the matter seemed to make Tweek, Craig let go of Tweek's hand in favor of wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders. Ignoring the curious eyes of the girls who passed them, Craig calmly told Tweek, "It's okay dude, I'm not going to kiss her. I don't want to."
"B-but what if you do want to?" Tweek whimpered, shivering as he said it. "Oh god, do you –ghn- do you even know what kind of- of diseases you could get from kissing someone!? And it's a girl! Grrr- Jesus, what if they're poison!"
"Guys kiss girls all the time," Craig pointed out, not that he was planning on kissing anyone anytime soon. He didn't exactly see the appeal any more than Tweek, but he at least knew it wouldn't kill him. Momentarily, he tried to picture Tweek in the future, unwilling to date anyone because he still thought he'd get killed if he did, and it made him frown slightly. "Come on Tweek, they aren't poison."
"JESUS YOU –NGH- D-DO WANT TO KISS HER!" Tweek's shriek was muffled by Craig's tunic, which the boy was currently burying his face in. Sighing shortly, Craig ruffled the boy's hair with his free hand, trying to calm him down.
"No, I already told you, I don't."
"Not right now," Tweek mumbled, the words almost being lost to Craig. But he still heard them, and it made his stomach do weird things, especially when Tweek shivered hard and continued, in a suddenly stilted voice, "N-not that there's anything –rrr- wrong with that! B-because you'll be dating, and that's t-totally normal so of course you'd kiss her…"
Why does he sound like he's trying to convince himself? Unsure what he was supposed to do, Craig opened his mouth only to be startled when the sound of Ryan's voice appeared at his elbow. "Princess Kenny is going crazy, I swear." Turning to the boy, Craig found that Ryan had also been forced to comb his hair. Somehow, this made Craig snort because he could just picture Kenny hitting all of Craig's 'groomsmen' with his fan until they complied.
"When hasn't he been crazy?" Craig asked, keeping his arm around Tweek's shoulders, hoping that it would calm the boy down somewhat. "You ready to stand through an hour of this bullshit?"
"Oh come on, don't tell me it's going to be a fucking hour!" Running a hand through his dirty blond hair, Jack pulled at the collar of his tunic and complained, "I mean, the Valkyries aren't that bad but if I have to listen to the Grand Wizard and Wendy argue anymore, I'm going to hurt something."
"Don't," Daniel advised, tugging on one of his stray brown curls before tucking it back with its brethren. "We're not nearly armed enough to take down all of the Valkyries."
"Oh god!" Tweek spluttered at that, shaking hard and gripping his frying pan tightly. "W-we can't do that! That would ruin all of this! I don't want to fight, I just w-want it to be –ghn- over with!"
"Hear hear!" Ryan agreed, straightening his sword in irritation. "If I have to do this for much longer, I honestly will hurt someone." Moving around Craig and Tweek so he could elbow in between Jack and Daniel, the boy said, "But look on the bright side, it could have been one of us."
"Oh god, don't even say it!" Jack exclaimed, putting a dramatic hand to his forehead as if the very idea was too much for him. "Chained to a girl like a dog on a leash? Craig, honestly dude, I don't envy you at all. I am so sorry." Craig rolled his eyes, though he agreed with the other two warriors wholeheartedly. Glancing down at Tweek, the Noirette was surprised to see that he'd stopped twitching so badly. Oddly enough, the boys' conversation seemed to be making the blond feel better.
"It's okay Craig, we'll mourn for you," Ryan confided, grinning from ear to ear when Craig flipped them all off. "Well Tweek, it looks like it's up to us to carry on Craig's memory, now that he's going to be domesticated. It won't be the same without our Thief, but we'll make do, right?"
Shivering, Tweek looked up at Ryan and tipped his chin up. "Yeah, w-we will!"
Speaking as the voice of reason, as he so often seemed to have to, Daniel commented, "He'll still be around. But I'm sure Princess Kenny will have a list a mile long about all the things he needs to do to maintain peace between the Valkyries and the Humans." Glancing behind the other two boys at Tweek, the boy said, "It won't be that bad."
"Still fucking blows man," Jack said, shaking his head as if he was dissatisfied with the situation. Giving a theatrically big sigh, he put his head up and said, "But! Life goes on. When do you think this damn thing is going to start, I'm bored."
As if summoned by these words, Kenny suddenly clapped his hands and stood at the front of the aisle, looking about as if waiting for all the gathered children to be quiet. Once he had everyone's attention, the boy cleared his throat and announced, "People of Zaron, Humans and Valkyries alike. We are gathered here today to witness a historic moment. The wedding of a Human and a Valkyrie, as a sign of unbreakable peace between our two factions."
Turning to the front, so he could look directly at Craig, Kenny smirked and continued, "Today, we will witness the bringing together of Feldspar of the Humans, and Bebe of the Valkyries with Token to officiate the moment." As he said it, Token stepped out from behind the altar, straightening his traditional reverend collar as he did so. "I hope that this will mark the beginning of a prosperous friendship between our two sides."
Fluttering his fingers, Kenny danced off to the side happily, while the others dutifully clapped. Cartman huffed and leaned on his elbow, an action Wendy mimicked in her own irritated way. Ignoring them both, Craig stared at Token, who shrugged and raised an eyebrow as if to say what can you do? At his side, Craig could feel Tweek twitch horribly, but the boy didn't make a sound.
Before anything else could happen, there came the sound of a flute being played, its tune bright and clear and unmistakably a wedding procession. It was kind of weird not hearing it on a piano, but Craig decided that he liked it just about as much as he would have if it had been played traditionally. As it played, everyone got quiet. Straightening, Craig set his face in its usual deadpan and watched as a little brunette dressed in armor that he registered as Kenny's sister Karen, danced down the aisle, throwing flower petals as she went. It was an unconventional choice, but Craig supposed that it worked well enough.
Beside her stood Butters, the rings Bebe and Craig were apparently using held on a little pillow that the Noirette was ninety percent certain had been stolen from Token's house. He looked very proud of himself, like this was definitely an important job and he didn't want to screw it up. Well, Craig wasn't going to disagree with him. It was probably better than nothing. The moment he'd reached the front of the procession, Butters handed the rings to Craig, who slipped them into the pocket of his trousers.
As Karen skipped off to the side and Butters joined the boys, the Valkyries Craig could only assume were Bebe's bride's maids walked down the aisle. They all looked so sedate and calm, dressed in flowery breastplates and long dresses that sort of all matched. Girls are so weird… Watching as Annie, Millie, Red, and Heidi all lined up on the girl's side of the ceremony, Craig caught Red's disapproving look and remembered that he still had his arm around Tweek's shoulders. Reluctantly, glaring at the girl as he did so, he removed his arm, letting it slip back to his side. Tweek started shaking harder the moment he did, which made him grit his teeth and attempt to focus his attention elsewhere.
Twisting his head towards the aisle, Craig blinked at the sight of the girl who he was supposed to marry. Bebe had a veil pulled over her face and a long white dress on that was covered in flowers. Her eyes met his and for a second, Craig could have sworn her expression said, I'm sorry before it cleared and she smiled perfectly as if this was exactly what she wanted.
Beside her, Clyde stood with his arm out so she could grab it. Craig instantly felt some amount of guilt creep up into the back of his mind. His friend looked miserable, even though he was trying to put a brave face on it. Despite his expression, Craig couldn't help but reflect how good Bebe and Clyde looked together. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought they looked like a couple. I'm going to kill Kenny for this, that fucker knows he's making us miserable.
Pushing down those thoughts, Craig lifted his chin and watched as Bebe was walked down the aisle by Clyde as though it were nothing. There was such purpose in the way the girl walked; Craig wished he could face this whole thing with the same level of duty. As it was, he could fucking feel Tweek trembling beside him and it made his insides do uncomfortable things.
As Bebe let go of Clyde's arm so she could walk up and stand next to the other girls, Craig watched Clyde walk back to his seat, rubbing at his eyes as he did so. It made Craig feel like shit, but there wasn't anything he could do about that, so he just stepped forward and faced Bebe with all the certainty he really didn't have.
Clearing his throat, looking between Bebe and Craig as he did so, Token said in a calm voice, "We gather here, in my front yard, to unite this human and this Valkyrie in marriage. The decision of our two factions to marry then was not entered into lightly and was, in fact, the result of a very serious peace talk in City Wok. Today, they publicly declare their private devotion to keep those gathered here from ripping out each other's throats." There was not an ounce of irony in the black boy's voice, which was quite possibly the scariest or most impressive thing Craig had ever seen.
Eyes looking out towards Cartman and Wendy, who were both glaring at him, Token continued, in a very clear and very pointed voice, "The essence of this commitment is the acceptance of each faction in entirety. As allies, companions, and friends, however unbelievable that might seem." There was the sound of Kenny clearing his throat, to which Token huffed and amended, "It is also about the acceptance that Bebe and Feldspar have for each other as boyfriend and girlfriend."
Tweek squeaked at that, making Craig stiffen. He was suddenly struck by the desperate urge to turn around and pat the boy's head to assure him everything was going to be okay, but one look at Token reminded him that this wasn't a good idea. Taking deep breaths, struggling to ignore the way Tweek's breath was growing uneven with panic, Craig kept his eyes fixed on Bebe, who was actively trying to calm him with her eyes. This is bullshit, it's all bullshit.
Drawing in another breath, Token continued, "A good and balanced alliance is one in which neither party is overpowered, nor absorbed by the other. It is one in which neither faction tries to snipe off the other's injured warriors, or sends bigoted remarks through the carrier ravens because of said sniping. The alliance should be one where both give their help and peace freely and without strings attached."
Looking at Craig, his eyes suddenly taking on that glint that said he was trying to figure something out, Token said, "Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes, and dreams." At those words, Craig was suddenly struck by the thought of Tweek. The only person he felt fully comfortable sharing his most wild thoughts and wishes with. This is bullshit, this is such bullshit. I can't believe I'm sitting through this. "It takes a special effort to grow together, survive the shitty parts, and be loving and unselfish through it all."
Craig was pretty sure he wanted to scream.
Tweek sounded like he just might.
Looking away from Craig at long last, Token said, "Do you both pledge to not screw this alliance up any more than the rest of your factions are always going to? Do you promise to respect and at least pretend to act like you like each other for the sake of peace? Do you promise to support and encourage each other, fight together, through winter and probably into spring, through your leaders' stupidity and the attacks of the Elves?"
"Yep," Craig said, popping the 'p'.
Quirking her mouth up in a small smile, Bebe said, in a much more traditional manner, "I do."
Looking behind Craig, presumably at Tweek, who was shaking hard enough that Craig could hear it, Token frowned before continuing, "Do you pledge to share your ability to coexist with each other and the other assorted benefits of your union with those around you, especially the more obstinate of the parties, so that they may learn from your excellent example of not murdering each other? Do you pledge to be models from which others may copy and carry on this idea of being decent Humans and Valkyries?"
"Sure," Craig agreed, shrugging.
"I do," Bebe said, giggling softly as she did so.
Letting out a sigh, Token said, "May these cheap mood rings we found at the dollar store be blessed symbols of this alliance. As often as either of you remember to actually wear the things, may you not only be reminded of Princess Kenny's terrible taste in jewelry, but also of the vows that you have made and the fact that the future of both the Humans and the Valkyries relies on the strength of your commitment to this game."
Turning to Craig, Token waited for just long enough that the feeling that something was horribly wrong grew in the Noirette's stomach, before saying, "Repeat after me, Feldspar. I, Feldspar, promise to love and support you Bebe, and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, humor, and passion." Tweek's whimper made Token pause and Craig grind his teeth together. Pressing his mouth into a tight line, Token finished, "With this ring, I thee wed."
Huffing, hating himself just a little more than he had before, Craig reluctantly took Bebe's slim hand, thinking as he did so that Tweek's hand fit in his much better. What the fuck? Taking a deep breath, rolling the words around in his mouth, Craig sucked in his cheeks before saying, "I, Feldspar of the Human faction, promise to-" Don't you fucking make me Token, don't you make me. But the glare on the boy's face was clear, so Craig quickly pushed out in his flat voice, "Promise to love and support you Bebe, and live each day with…" Fuck, what was it? "Uh, a little less assholishness and a little more… humor? Understanding?"
There was the sound of, probably, Kenny facepalming. Tweek just let out a distressed sound that wrenched at Craig's insides cruelly. Shoving it back down where it belonged, Craig fumbled the rings out of his pocket and struggled to put the ring onto Bebe's ring-finger before saying, "With this mood ring, I thee wed." Pushing the other ring into Bebe's hand, Craig tilted his head up and struggled to keep his face flat, even though he knew everything was showing through his eyes.
Sighing, clearly disappointed with Craig's attempt, Token turned to Bebe, who lifted her own chin and watched him coolly through her veil. "Bebe, please repeat after me. I, Bebe, promise to love and support you Feldspar, and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, humor, and passion. With this ring, I thee wed."
Looking to him, Bebe picked up Craig's hand and held it, a certain understanding in her eyes that made Craig feel just that much shittier. Why is this happening? Why are we doing this to ourselves? Very clearly, Bebe said, "I, Bebe, promise to love and support you Feldspar, and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, humor, and grace." She gave a slight smirk as Token huffed, annoyed that his instructions were being ignored. "With this ring, I thee wed."
Sliding the ring onto Craig's pinky finger, because it wouldn't fit on his ring finger, Bebe kept ahold of his hand. Though he might have imagined it, he was pretty sure the girl's eyes flicked over to where Clyde was sitting before a look of guilt crossed her face. But then it was gone, and Craig wasn't sure it had existed at all.
Holding his head high, Token said, "Go now in peace and don't let Elves kill either of you, sharing the most precious gifts you have- the gifts of your sanity and otherwise normal lives, now turned into pawns for the greater game of Zaron. May your days may be long on this earth, but hopefully not long in this town." Pulling in a deep breath, as if he was having to push himself to say it, Token announced, "I now pronounce you, boyfriend and girlfriend, Human and Valkyrie."
A pause, one that held so much tension you couldn't have cut it with a knife, then, "Husband and Wife."
"AUGH, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!"
Before anyone could do anything, before anyone had even registered what was happening, Tweek suddenly ran off the stage, his hands buried in his hair and his green eyes panicked and wild. Even as Craig pulled his hands away from Bebe's and started to step after the boy, Tweek turned around and yelled, "Rrr- JESUS I HOPE YOU TWO ARE H-HAPPY!" before turning around and tearing out of the clearing, dust and flower petals flying up in his wake.
Suddenly shooting to his feet as well, Clyde grabbed Craig's usual brown cloak and muttered something about wishing the two of them well before fast walking in the direction that Tweek had gone, only breaking out into a run of his own once he'd reached the tree line.
Instantly, Craig started to go after them, only to have Token say, "Feldspar, we're not done yet, get back here." Spinning around, Craig glared at his friend, who gave him a cold look right back, one that clearly said you brought this on yourself. But that was wrong, Craig had just done what he'd been told to do. He'd never had a choice, this wasn't his fucking fault.
So he flipped Token off and growled, "No."
"Feldspar," Kenny's high voice said, warning in the boy's tone. "Do your duty. Don't make this worse than it needs to be. Tweek is with Clyde, he'll be fine."
"Fuck you, I'm going to find him," Craig growled, glaring at the Princess.
"No, you're going to finish this."
"I'm not finishing jack shit!"
"This is our future on the line," Kenny insisted, his eyes narrowing like he was daring Craig to defy him further.
At once, Craig spat right back, "Fuck your future!"
"Feldspar, I'm warning you-"
Suddenly, Bebe's voice cut through both of them. Throwing her veil back, the girl announced, "As Feldspar's wife, I say let him go. The wedding is done. We're married. Now let him go, for the sake of the future peace of our two factions." Glancing back at her, Craig shot the girl a vaguely thankful look.
Clicking his tongue, Kenny muttered. "Fine. The reception is in Token's basement, apparently. Long live the people of Zaron, I suppose."
Without waiting another second, Craig ran in the direction he'd seen Tweek and Clyde vanish off to. Hardly paying attention to his surroundings, entirely consumed with finding the blond, Craig cursed under his breath as he ran, hating himself a little more every step he took. Why did I do this, why did I fucking agree to this? Why is Tweek so upset, I don't get it. I don't fucking understand any of it and it's pissing me off! Gritting his teeth, Craig forced those thoughts down, allowing only thoughts of finding Tweek to get through his mental filters.
Hating savagely how big Token's yard was while wishing at the same time that there was snow on the ground so he could at least see where the boy had gone, Craig ran around the corner of Token's house only to almost blast right past the very people he was looking for. Stopping just short of the place Tweek and Clyde were sitting covered by the eves of Token's house, Craig found himself just standing there, unable to make himself take the next few steps towards where they were sitting. Just fucking talk to him. But he couldn't, he could only stare.
Tweek had Craig's cloak wrapped around his shoulders like he was trying to hide from the world. In front of him were Token's dogs, who were all whimpering and circling him, allowing him to pet them while nudging at him worriedly, no doubt sensing his upset. Clyde was just sitting there, a dead look in his eyes as he softly attempted to comfort the blond. "It's going to be okay Tweek, I promise."
"Ghn- B-but I'm such a monster," Tweek whimpered, rubbing behind one of the dogs' ear while he shivered there like he wanted to melt into the ground. "Jesus Clyde, I sh-should be happy or something! Bebe's so nice, and Craig's… Perfect. And they c-couldn't even do anything about it b-but I think I'm dying or something, b-because every time I think about it I feel like throwing up."
Craig desperately wanted to go to Tweek, but the boy's words held him back as icy fingers of guilt locked around his heart. So he isn't happy about it. Fuck, I fucking knew it. He should have seen this, he should have stopped it. Kenny was right, this was his fucking fault. He was the reason Tweek was upset and now he couldn't even do anything about it.
His stomach only sunk more when Clyde gave a broken sounding laugh as he said, "You're no monster Teacup, it's okay. I don't like it either." Reaching forward, he ruffled Tweek's hair, which clearly didn't make the blond feel any better. "But it's happened, so there's nothing much we can do about it."
"I know," Tweek said softly, sounding defeated. "And n-now Craig's gonna forget about us, and he'll forget about me and –ngh- god, m-maybe he's supposed to, because he's got a girlfriend now, b-but-" He shook hard enough that Craig could see the way the boy's limbs contorted. Pressing his back against the tree that he'd been standing behind so he wouldn't have to see Tweek anymore, Craig just listened as he continued, "Oh Jesus, I'm s-so selfish! I c-can't believe I did that. He's gonna hate me. He'll never want to speak to me again."
"He doesn't hate you," Clyde attempted to reassure Tweek.
"HE SHOULD!" Tweek yelled, and Craig could feel things in his chest breaking and cruelly tearing up his insides. Helplessly he rubbed at his chest, trying to make the feeling go away. "I'm –rrr- f-fucked up and disgusting and selfish and I- I don't want him to date Bebe, b-but he's dating her and I can't do anything about it and I don't even know what I'm supposed to do!"
"We just need to be his friends," Clyde said softly. "And we need to support him, and understand him, and be strong, because he doesn't know what he's doing so he'll need all the help he can get."
Unexpectedly, Tweek let out an oddly wet sounding laugh. "Heh, th-that's what Bebe said to me."
"Yeah," Clyde said, giving a sad laugh of his own. "She's really smart, isn't she? I guess that's why I like her so much."
Gritting his teeth together, Craig pushed himself away from the tree and just started walking away, unable to do anything else. Even as numbness spread through his body, leaving him feeling disconnected, like his legs were answering to something other than his brain, Craig walked back towards the wedding. Most everyone had gone inside, likely drawn by the prospect of free food. Only a few people remained, one of them Bebe.
Looking to her, Craig pushed himself towards her, catching her eyes. There was so much understanding in the girl's deep brown eyes, Craig didn't even have to say a word. He just let her walk towards him and look up at him calmly, as she read everything he was thinking through his eyes alone. He was glad he didn't have to speak, he wouldn't have trusted himself to do so.
At long last, Bebe said, "Someday Craig, this stupid game will be over. I promise you, it won't last forever."
Nodding once, Craig cleared his throat and said, "Yeah."
And he hoped to god that it was true.
