A/N: Guys...

The first part is done.

Holy shit.

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did.

Twek

"How tall is this fucking mountain?" Craig muttered as he once again slipped down the rocks that Tweek had already scaled. Staring down at the Noirette's messy hair, Tweek contemplated stretching a hand down once more before deciding against it. What if I lose my balance and fall on top of him? That would be horrible!

"I d-don't know," Tweek squeaked, wiggling his butt in the air as he leaned over the edge and twitched. "It's n-not that much further!"

"Good," muttered Craig, finally getting his foot in a better cleft and hoisting himself up towards Tweek. Suddenly nose to nose with the taller boy, Tweek let out an involuntary sound of surprise as Craig said, with raised brows, "Because if I have to fucking climb any more of this shit, we're going to just go back to the field and stay there."

Giggling, Tweek scrambled back so Craig could join him. With a mildly overdramatic huff, the boy sprawled out on the ground and plopped his head in Tweek's lap where he closed his eyes and kept that mildly irritated look on his face. As he picked out the bits of twig and forest litter that had gotten into Craig's hair, Tweek thought back to the flowers, and the grin on the Noirette's face. To be honest, he wouldn't mind going back to that field, it had been pretty, and Craig had made it beautiful. If he had to pick a place on this mountain to go, he'd choose that field in a heartbeat.

It felt better now that they were no longer lost. Even though they still hadn't found their friends, Tweek didn't feel quite so alone and scared. Because they knew exactly where they were going, and Craig made even the most shadowy forests feel safe. I wonder if Craig thinks so too. He'd made it sound like he did, so Tweek was inclined to believe that he made the boy feel safe and happy as well.

You know, at least when he wasn't drowning.

"S-so are you just gonna take a -ngh- nap or something?" Tweek asked, poking Craig's nose.

Wrinkling his face ever so slightly, Craig's face smoothed out and he said, "Ye p," popping his 'p' as he did so. That made Tweek let out another laugh. He wasn't sure where the boy had picked up that little habit, but he loved it. He loved most things about Craig.

"What about seeing th-the top?" Tweek asked, reaching up so he could pull Craig's chullo down more firmly over his wild hair. Squinting against the sun, Tweek craned his neck in an attempt to see how close they were to that magical summit that would signal the end of their climb. "I thought we were gonna go all the w-way up."

Craig puffed out a breath through his nose and muttered, "We'll get to it eventually." That sounded okay, so Tweek let the matter rest, just running his fingers through Craig's hair. It wasn't as soft as Stripe's fur, but it was silky, and he enjoyed it, even more so because he didn't see it often. Considering they lived in a place where it was cold more of the year than it was warm, it made sense that everyone wore hats, but Tweek privately thought that Craig should take his hat off more.

Humming under Tweek's hands, Craig said, "Why do you pull your hair?"

Tweek blinked and jerked slightly, unsure where the question had come from. Oh jesus, why does he want to know? Wait, why do I pull my hair? I NEVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT BEFORE OH GOD! "I DON'T KNOW!" Tweek yelped, his hands going, as always, to his hair. Realizing what he was doing, Tweek yanked them back with a screech and dug his fingers into the loose, rocky dirt beside him. It wasn't anywhere near as helpful. "Ngh- I n-never even thought ab o u t i t~!" he whimpered, flinching and twitching as some of the rocks cut into his palms.

Cracking open one deep, impossibly blue eye, Craig reached a hand up and tugged at the stray locks of Tweek's blond hair. That, plus the pain in his palms, brought Tweek back to reality. Shivering still, the boy focused on Craig's face and took deep breaths that were more shaky gulps than anything and listened as the boy's voice flowed over his ears. "It's okay," he told him in that calm, even tone. "I was just thinking about it because you playing with my hair feels nice."

Without his consent, Tweek's face grew uncomfortably hot. Slapping a palm over his face, the blond let out a scream as the scent of blood filled his nose. Oh god, why does this always happen? Kenny said it was normal BUT THIS ISN'T NORMAL!

Craig's hand caught Tweek's wrist and he pulled the boy's fingers away from his red face slowly. With his other hand, the Noirette fumbled in the side pocket of the pack for the water bottle and dribbled a little on his finger so he could wipe the blood off of the blond's face. Submitting the boy's ministrations, Tweek just twitched in embarrassed silence as he wondered if these weird chemical reactions would ever stop. As he worked, Craig flatly asked, "Do you like it when I play with your hair?"

Face only growing hotter, Tweek let out a strangled sound and caught Craig's gaze. Eyes widening ever so slightly, the Noirette turned slightly red himself and quickly reapplied himself to cleaning Tweek's cheeks of blood. "Sorry, that sounded weird," he mumbled, shaking his head slightly. "Forget I said anything." Straightening, Craig got to his feet and frowned at Tweek's scratched up hands before pulling the blond along behind him. "Come on, let's get to the top of this mountain."

Putting the matter out of his mind for the time being, even though Tweek was hardly going to forget Craig's question, the boy stumbled after his friend. It was funny, even though Craig was faster than Tweek, the smaller boy was much better at climbing, and it was coming in handy when scaling the rocks. Breaking away from Craig, Tweek latched onto the next tumble of rocks and started heading upwards. He supposed there was probably a better path, but neither of them were inclined to go looking for one.

Hand over hand the blond climbed, his fingers digging into each available nook and cranny easily. Even the fresh scrapes on his hands didn't stop him. Attacking each new bolder with a single-minded ferocity, the boy poured all of his excess energy into pulling himself higher. This particular patch of rocks was longer than the others, and Tweek realized a moment later that he wasn't able to see anything above it. Just some small bushes and open blue sky.

Excitedly, the boy called, "W-we're almost there!" All but leaping the last few feet, Tweek crashed onto the final plateau and rolled, catching onto some of the flatter rocks around him so he didn't roll off. Stumbling to his feet, Tweek slowly spun in a circle as he looked out over the wide expanse of open air. Below, he could see the fields of the Air Force Academy, the spires of the chapple slicing through the air, even though they looked like toothpicks. Breathlessly, the boy wandered forward, careful to keep the edge in view so he didn't fall off or something horrible like that.

"Wow…" Turning quickly, Tweek found Craig slowly walking forward, his eyes scanning the view slowly, like he was trying to take it all in. Twitching excitedly and pulling Craig's chullo over his head, the blond looked out at the scene once more, just letting himself be entranced by the beauty. "That's… kind of cool," Craig admitted, his expression softening.

"It is!" Tweek agreed, wiggling before darting forward. Going right out to the edge, till his shoes almost scraped empty air, the blond felt the initial fear of falling start to drain away as the open sky and breeze leached it from him. Spreading his arms out wide, feeling the wind threaten to steal Craig's hat from him, Tweek closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You look like you're going to fly away," Craig commented, his steady, familiar pace coming up behind Tweek. Without opening his eyes, the boy leaned his face into the open air and hummed. His twitches worked their way through him, but Tweek hardly paid attention. Instead, he just tried to catch ahold of the feeling that was rocketing around inside of him. It was something like the feeling he got around Craig, freeing, joyful, wondrous… But he couldn't quite pin it down.

"Do you th-think I could?" Tweek asked softly, the words escaping him without his permission. Craig's response was to snort, which made the blond feel a little sheepish. God, of course I can't fly, I'm a human, why would I be able to fly. People can't just sprout wings. Wait, can they? No no, of course not, that was stupid. "Sorry, w-weird questi-"

"You might," Craig cut in, his footsteps settling right behind the blond. Surprised, Tweek tipped his head back and stared up at Craig, who was watching him calmly. Eyes traveling over the blond's face, the Noirette finally asked, "Do you want to?"

"Yes!" Tweek exclaimed at once, before his brain caught up with him and it filled him with other emotions. "Well… Actually, n-no." Looking back at the view, reaching his fingers out to their fullest potential as if he might catch the current, Tweek continued, "Rrr- It'd be nice, leaving the earth and stuff. B-because things are so horrible sometimes here, but I don't think you'd be able t-to fly."

"Why not?" Craig asked, the furrowing of his brows evident in the slight change of his vocal inflections. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, Tweek twitched slightly and tried to order his thoughts properly.

"Y-you're too solid," he finally said, his eyes drifting as he stared at the clouds without seeing. Cause he's not crazy. But it was more than that, because Craig was an angel and most angels flew, right? So Tweek intrepidly continued, "You used to be able to fly, b-but you can't right now. And all of your -ghn- gears are heavy, so that makes it ever harder."

Letting his arms fall, the blond's eyes trained on the ground as he thought about the matter more. Even though he hardly knew what he was supposed to say, the words just kept coming to his tongue so he let them flow. "I'm not as heavy, and -rrr- I'm so fucked up and I never know what's r-real, so it's easier for me to fly. But you know too much! And it makes it hard to get off the ground." Realizing that he wasn't making much sense, Tweek should his head and let out a sound of frustration.

"Jesus, I s-sound crazy, but I think that you will be able to fly again someday." Firmly, more sure of himself now, Tweek said, "You're gonna go to space, and then you'll reallybe flying." But for now, reality is really heavy and you can't go anywhere. "It's okay," he told Craig softly, his voice fading out again. "I won't f-fly away until you can come with me."

"Tweek-" Craig started, his voice strange and contorted, like it got sometimes. Spinning around sharply, the blond stared up at the Noirette and caught the inky blue of his eyes and the galaxy of inexpressible emotions that swirled within them. As his own chest swelled and his heartbeat echoed in his ears, Tweek took a step closer to Craig. He's not crazy like me, but sometimes, that's a burden just as much as my problems are. But that's okay, right?

Softly, his twitching almost entirely gone, Tweek told Craig, "When you touch my hair or- Or pat my head and whenever you touch me, you keep me from flying away forever. You keep me from getting lost Craig. You ground me."

Mouth pressing into a line, Craig seized Tweek in a hug that the blond instantly returned. His heart was so loud, but Craig's heart was louder, thrumming in Tweek's ears like the beat of drums, and it made the blond's insides do weird things again. Fiercely, his voice so fraught with emotion that it seemed to almost choke him, Craig murmured, "Tweek, I-"

Maybe if Tweek had been a little older and a little wiser, he would have known what Craig almost said. But as it was, he waited with bated breath for the boy to finish his sentence.

Clearing his throat, Craig muttered, "I really fucking care about you. A lot."

Tightening his fingers in the back of Craig's hoodie, Tweek whispered back, "I care about you too," each word carrying as much emotion as he could possibly put there. The three words that he might have said slunk back into the shadows of his brain, but for a second, Tweek felt them so completely that it made him wonder if he was dying.

Then the moment was over and Craig pulled back. "I'm glad you're here dude," he said, taking his hat back so he could ruffle Tweek's hair fondly. Leaning into those warm, steadying fingers, Tweek hummed.

"I know." And that was all he needed to say.

For a second, they just stood there, comfortable, but then Craig shifted back and looked around. Remembering why they were there in the first place, Tweek let out a sound and quickly hurried back from the edge of the mountain. Flatly, obviously, Craig observed, "They're not here."

"S-so they went down the mountain?" Tweek asked, darting around until he found what looked like a well-worn path.

Joining him, Craig reached for the blond's hand and peered downwards. "Yeah, I guess they did." Glancing up and catching Craig's raised brow, Tweek wiggled as the boy asked, "So, you ready to get off of this fucking thing?"

"Yes," Tweek answered at once. Casting one last look at the edge and the afternoon sun, the blond announced, "I w-want coffee."

"Then let's get you coffee," Craig said, a slight smile capturing his lips. Loving the sound of that, Tweek eagerly followed the Noirette as he started down the path. It had been way too long since he'd had fresh coffee, and he would have killed to get his hands on a pot of it right now, but the thought of it at the bottom of the incline was enough to motivate him forward.

Unlike climbing up, climbing down was easier if significantly more terrifying. There was always this feel of falling and slipping, and Tweek had no problem with keeping a hand tightly clenched around the edge of Craig's hoodie whenever possible. As they stumbled down the rocks, separating so they could each hop down, Tweek wondered if their friends were at the bottom or still looking. Oh well, either way, they'd find someone who could help them, and then they'd be okay. Even though Tweek didn't have any real attachment to his house, he missed his bed, and he missed having food.

As they hit the field of flowers, both of them took their time in wandering through the patch. Tweek wished they could spend longer there, but already the light was fading and the blond didn't want to end up wandering through the forest in the dark. Thankfully, Craig found what appeared to be a correct path and lead Tweek down once more, eventually ending up back under the trees once more.

They didn't talk as much as they had on the way up, but Tweek enjoyed the silence just as much as he loved conversation. Craig, as ever, was good at silence, filling it with his presence comfortably. If Tweek let his attention drift, he could almost hear the whirring of gears that was Craig's mind, and possibly the rustling of wings that he could imagine belonged to the Noirette. Once the thought was there, it lodged in his head, and he liked it, so he didn't try to push it out.

While they walked, Tweek's mind jumped over everything that had happened over the past months. It felt like several lifetimes since that day when Craig had first talked to him, pointed out the bruise on his cheek and asked him who hurt him. Every moment of his otherwise terrifying world had become something to look forward to. Even the pain that he'd struggled through didn't seem like such a bad thing. If it wasn't for Craig, he would never have learned anything, he never would have improved. He was a little better now, and he was so thankful for that, it almost hurt.

If he could go back, Tweek wondered if he would have done something different, but he sort of knew that he wouldn't have. Life, he'd learned, was as inevitable as it was scary. You never knew what was going to happen next, and you couldn't change a thing. But that was alright really, because to be honest, Tweek was starting to think that what was going to happen wasn't always going to be pain. Yeah, there'd be pain on the way, but just like the beautiful view at the top of a mountain, it was worth it.

Besides, he had Craig with him. As he'd come to learn, that meant a whole lot. No, he didn't have to rely on the Noirette for everything, though sometimes it was easier, but when he needed the boy, Craig was there. Tweek wasn't sure that he was really good for much when it came to helping Craig, but he tried when he could, and he knew the boy's eyes cleared when he stared at the blond. Besides, they were only ten, there was no way they'd be able to solve all their problems right now.

And that was okay. Because they'd eventually figure things out. Despite living in South Park, where things were always confusing and terrifying and horrible, Craig was Tweek's little pocket of good. All the new friends that he'd made through the Noirette, it had recolored Tweek's corner of the world to be something pretty to look at. Someday, maybe things would all become better. Maybe his parents would remember him, and the Underpants Gnomes would stop haunting him and the monsters would leave him alone. But if they didn't, he'd still have Craig.

That was what mattered.

The sun continued to set, throwing them into shadow, but Tweek kept ahold of Craig's hand and followed the path. At times, he was terrified that he was going to go sliding down the mountain, but by the same token, he figured that at least he'd get to the bottom that way. They were going to get out of this alive, the well worn footpath they were following proved that to Tweek better than anything. At the bottom, they'd find that little ranger station that they'd stopped in for a few seconds before ascending, and then everything would be okay.

There were no signs of their friends, but Tweek didn't concern himself with that. They'd all be fine, all he needed to worry about was not falling over and pulling Craig with him. The Noirette caught him the few times he almost went over, and Tweek wiggled in embarrassment before straightening once more and continuing. All things considered, they'd faced scarier, this was just a forest, and they were just surrounded by some trees. Whatever else was out there was kept at bay by Craig's presence. Tweek's shining star in the dark.

He wondered if Craig really understood how true that statement was, but the blond was too content with the silence to break it. Someday he'd tell the boy. They had forever it seemed, and Tweek liked that because he didn't have to panic about getting it all out now. There was still time and they still had to grow up. In this little town in Colorado where Tweek had thought that his life was going to be one eternal stretch of misery that never changed, time had started moving again. His future wasn't dismal, because Craig would be in it.

Content in that knowledged, Tweek let his mind drift elsewhere.

The stars were coming out by the time they finally reached the base of the mountain. Just as Tweek and Craig had assumed, the path turned into a paved affair that led to the little ranger's cabin. At the sight of it, Tweek let out an audible sound of relief and Craig paused so he could pull the blond into a side hug.

Smushed against Craig's side, Tweek listened to the boy's voice rumble as he said, "We made it."

"Of course w-we did," Tweek answered, smiling in grateful exhaustion. It had been ages since he'd been this tired, but all this drama and fear really wiped him out. Leaning into the taller boy's side, Tweek's lungs depressed as Craig's fingers carded through his hair lightly, sucking all of the remaining stress from his body.

Everything was going to be okay.

"Well," Craig started at last. "Let's get inside dude."

Allowing Craig to pull him along, Tweek shivered as the door opened and hit them with a blast of air conditioning and artificial light. Squinting against it, Tweek held up a twitching hand and let out a strangled cry of surprise as he saw who was sitting on one of the chairs in the small area.

"TOKEN!" Tweek yelped. Bursting forward, the blond stumbled into the black boy, who stood so he could catch Tweek. Hugging him, mostly because he was glad to see one of his friends in one piece, Tweek let out a cry of, "Ohmygod you're not d-dead!"

"Hey Toke," Craig greeted, much more sedate than Tweek. To the blond's trained ears however, the relief and happiness at seeing his friend was evident. Slinging the bag off of his back, the Noirette said, "It's been a while."

"It's good to see you two." As Craig pulled Tweek off of him, Token raised his eyebrows and commented, "I told them you'd end up here."

"Only up or down," Craig muttered, pulling Tweek over to the seats. Considering the fact that there were only two and one of them was Token's, Craig solved this problem by planting Tweek half in his lap, half squished into the chair as well. "I mean, we figured it out eventually."

"I'm glad," Token said, before looking over at the desk at the ranger who was watching them. "You can contact the others. This is them, Tweek and Craig are fine."

At those words, setting it in stone the fact that they'd made it out alive, Tweek just sort of melted against Craig and fell into the sensation of the boy's fingers digging themselves into his hair. "So what's been going on?" Craig asked passively as he dragged the snarls out of Tweek's mane.

"Well, after the two of you got lost, we climbed to the top of the mountain to see if you'd show up, but when that didn't work, Mr. Stevens suggested we just camp out. Because naturally, he'd brought enough to camp with." Token's voice sort of faded in and out, but Tweek struggled to keep his eyes open regardless. "After that, we came down here at the crack of dawn and everyone but me went up to look for you two with another couple of rangers."

"Well, we're here now." Nodding along with the Noirette's words, Tweek curled his fingers in Craig's hoodie and fitted his head more snugly against the boy's collarbone. Almost at once, his eyes closed and he started to drift off once more.

"Obviously."

Coming out of his state of half-sleep when Craig poked him, Tweek glanced up at the boy and found him watching him calmly. "You good?"

"Y-yeah," Tweek mumbled, before settling back down. Letting out a long breath, he mumbled, "C-can we just not do anything crazy until next year?"

Craig snorted. "Yeah dude. I'm tired of crazy stuff too."

Content, Tweek fell asleep.

A/N: It's done.

Well...

Yes, this is over, but no, the story is not done. If you guys so desire, I'll put the next part in a separate story and make it the sequel, or I'll just continue it here. Regardless, I'm going to be getting the whole printed copy thing off the ground as we speak. I'm working with the artists and editing the whole story with the help of DankChicken, my beautiful editor, but it's in progress.

For now, I'm going to focus my energy on getting this all shipshape. There's going to be one more chapter after this that's going to mostly just be acknowledgements and such~ So you should read that too ;)

Thank you guys so much for sticking with me through this. I love every single one of you so fucking much.

Oh god, I'm gonna cry.

Um um um WORDS

*vanishes in a puff of smoke*

TO BE CONTINUED~~