Cartman and I … were definitely not in there for only five hours, like I was before. More like a fucking month. Well, it wasn't a month, it was a week, but it sure as hell felt that way. I don't know how Cartman was doing in his little freaking padded cell, but for me it was absolute hell. Those goddamn white squares kept reminding me where I was, so I couldn't even try to forget what happened. After an estimate of about three days, I heard footsteps outside. My hopes immediately went up. I was really hoping it was someone that had come to get me out.

Sure enough, just as he was beginning to open the door, Craig was stopped by a nurse. I heard them start arguing. They argued for quite a while. Their words were muffled, so I couldn't understand them, but I knew they were definitely arguing about me. I'm pretty sure I heard my name mentioned like a million times. They eventually left, making my hopeful mood immediately disappear, and replaced with a depressed one.

The floor of my cell was padded too, so at least it was soft and comfortable. What a nice feature. The next day, I heard Cartman yelling at some nurse that was giving him breakfast. He said something like to let me and him out. The nurse must've notified the doctors… or whoever's in charge of this hell hole, because when I was finally let out after the seven days were up. When I walked out, Cartman was still inside his cell, yelling at me to let him out too. I decided to be a good friend, and asked the nurse if she could let him out, but she said the only reason I was let out was because apparently Craig was still being questioned about the escape by the police, after an entire week, and he said he would only talk if I was there with him. The nurse also said that he'd spent the last seven nights at the hospital, and that his father hadn't even had a chance to talk to him yet.

So now I'm walking into a room, where there's a cop sitting at a desk and Craig sitting on a couch, trying to be as far away from him as possible, looking really, really annoyed. He sees me after a few seconds and looks slightly relieved, but still not happy. Better than nothing.

"So this is Tweek?" The cop stares at me like I'm an alien, grimacing. I don't give a shit, I'm used to it, but, judging by his face, Craig thinks otherwise. I swear he's so close to slapping the cop that I almost grab his shoulders to stop him. Craig actually does almost do it. He stands up and takes a step towards the cop, but then he hesitates and steps down. I have no idea why he just hesitated. He probably just didn't want to be in even more trouble.

The nurse nods at the cop, confirming I'm indeed the Tweek Tweak. The cops should definitely all know about me by now, after my attempted suicide and that letter that the nice lady sent, saying I had a knife. Maybe that's why the cop's so uncomfortable with me.

"Ok, Craig. He's here. Now tell me how you almost escaped with Tweek. You haven't even told me how you got here." Craig totally ignores the cop and flips him off, while using his other hand to gesture for me to sit down next to him. I awkwardly sit down, pretty much afraid that the cop's gonna be pissed at me now. Sure as hell looks like it.

"… Just tell me Craig." Craig looks at me, unsure if he should or not.

"Do you think it's alright to tell him?"

"… Might as well. They'll find out somehow anyway, so we might as well tell them now." Craig nods dejectedly and looks at the cop. I look at the corner, wanting to leave the room so badly.

"Fine, I'll answer any of your goddamn questions. But I have one condition though."

"And what is that?"

"… Tweek, is not gonna be punished at all." I stiffen, take my eyes from the corner, and look at Craig like he's insane too.

"No. He's broken a ridiculous number of rules, and can't go unpunished for something as serious as an escape attempt."

"… Keep in mind, he'd just attempted suicide earlier that day and was seriously depressed and shocked from the experience. And also, it was my idea in the first place, and he was totally reluctant to do it."

"… I'll have to ask the staff here. It isn't my decision how much he's punished."

"You have to promise me. I don't care if you don't have the authority. You have to."

"… Craig, I'll do everything I can-

"Bull. You have to promise. I don't care what you say, you have to." I know Craig's only causing more trouble for himself, and I'm really worried that he's arguing with a freaking cop. That's just someone you don't argue with. I don't want me to be the reason he's arrested or something. I put my hand on his shoulder and smile reassuringly.

"It's fine, Craig. I'll take whatever punishment. It's my fault for going along with the escape anyway. Stop trying to get me out of it."

"No. This is absolute bullshit, Tweek. Look you fucking cop, we heard everything these two front desk ladies said. One of them said they were filing a report to you guys; claiming Tweek had a knife when he attempted suicide, and was gonna try and harm the other patients with it. That's absolute crap. He used round tipped scissors. I know that, Tweek knows that, the patients know that, the nurses know that, hell, even you must know that! So stop trying to sue Tweek for absolute bullshit!"

"…You know about that?"

"Yeah, we both know about it!"

"Look, don't tell anyone about it, alright? Most of the doctors don't know, including your father."

"You bet your ass I'll tell them. I'll tell all the patients too. I doubt you'd want a riot on your hands, making more injuries, money troubles, and work for you." Wow. I didn't know Craig's the blackmailing type.

"…You're bluffing."

"Try me." Craig says in a voice that's similar to mine when I asked Cartman for the round tipped scissors. Really dark.

"…" The cop glares as he slyly reaches for the phone on the desk and dials a number, keeping his eyes on the two of us.

"…Yeah, it's me. Look, Craig, you know the kid I'm questioning? Yeah, well, while he was escaping with that Tweek kid, they heard one of the staff mentioning the report to sue Tweek. They know about the accusing of Tweek having a knife. All about it. Craig's threatening to tell the doctors and the patients, unless we don't punish Tweek at all for the almost-escape."

"…"

"Alright. Craig wants me to promise him."

"…"

"Ok then, thank you. I'll make sure to ask him all the questions. Bye." The cop sighs and hangs up the phone.

"Alright, Craig Tucker. They've said they'll not punish Tweek at all for what he did. I promise you."

"… Fine. I'll tell you everything you want to know, but I swear to God, if Tweek, who'll tell me if anything happens, is punished in any way, I'll make sure my dad knows about all of this."

"… Alright. Ok, tell me how you got out of school."

"… At recess, my dad called me on my cell and told me Tweek'd attempted suicide…"

"How did he know it was recess for you?"

"He's a psychologist. I think he's smart enough to know when his son's at recess. Anyway, my dad told me Tweek'd attempted suicide. I was really worried, 'cause Tweek's my friend, so I asked if I could come see him, but my dad said no. I wasn't gonna take that, so I decided I was gonna come here on my own." I feel slightly happy that Craig cares enough to come all this way by himself. Not to mention sneak out of school.

"How did you get out of school?"

"I knew my mom would come find me before I'd even make it out the town, so not to arouse suspicion from the teachers, I told my friends Clyde and Token to tell them I'd gone home 'cause I felt sick. I sneaked out and made sure no one saw me except my friends, who were watching me to make sure I got out alright. I ran to the edge of town and hitch-hiked." The policeman drops his pen, that he's using for writing details. I stiffen and look at Craig as well.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS?" Craig shrugs, making me face palm in disbelief. That's so dangerous.

"It worked. Some guy stopped his truck and was willing to take me to the institution. He was probably a pedo that just wanted a boy sitting next to him, by the creepy look on his face, but I didn't give a crap. He was gonna take me, so why care?" The cop and I stare at Craig for being so risky. I hate to say it, but what an idiot.

"…What time was this?"

"About midday."

"So you arrived at about 5.00pm. Why didn't you sneak in then?"

"I wanted to wait until it was late, so that most of the staff would've left already. I think I waited for about six hours."

"Where did you hide?"

"In some bushes at the front of the hospital, near the main entrance door."

"For six hours? In the cold?"

"What can I say? I'm desperate to sneak in. At about 7.30pm, I got another call from my dad."

"Did he know you'd left the town yet?"

"No, my mom hadn't called him."

"How did she not know you were gone?"

"I asked my friends to cover for me. I don't know what they said to her, but it sure as hell worked."

"What did your dad call about?" I flinch, because I already know the answer. I'm seriously sick of being reminded of it.

"… He gave me the news of Tweek and I officially being brothers by adoption."

"Right …" To cop notices our gloomy faces, but he decides not to question it. Thank God. I wouldn't have known what to say.

"So then what happened?"

"At about 10.30pm, I decided it was late enough to sneak in…"

"Did you have any sort of plan?" Craig almost laughs.

"No. Course not." He says pretty bluntly. I face palm again.

"…So what did you do?"

"I walked in, just like normal. I told the ladies that my dad had wanted me to come and speak with him, so they let me go to the elevator on my own, since they know me well enough to trust me. What a mistake that was."

"… So all this time … your father was here."

"Duh. I don't know exactly where he was though, at the time. Probably sleeping."

"What did you do after the elevator arrived?"

"I went and got the keys for all the cells."

"How?"

"They're kept on a hook in the staff room. I went and got 'em."

"…Weren't there doctors in there? On a late shift?"

"Luckily not. They were probably all in the bathroom or something." I blink at Craig. God, that was so lucky. I didn't realise how many risks he took just to get to my freaking cell.

"So you just sneaked in and grabbed them?"

"Yeah. It wasn't easy, but I did it."

"Wasn't there a security camera in there?"

"Yeah, I saw it in the corner."

"How did you avoid it?"

"I went to the fuse box, which was thankfully close by, and cut the power off the fourth floor for a few seconds. No one noticed, thankfully. Tweek didn't notice because it was pitch black in the cell room anyway." I nod in understanding. I didn't ever think for a second that the power went out, since it was so dark already.

"Didn't the people who were watching the security cameras on the fourth floor notice the power went out in the room they were watching?"

"I have no idea why they didn't notice. I guess they were all crappy workers so that they didn't even notice. It was only for about thirty seconds anyway." The cop glares, shaking his head mockingly.

"Alright then … how did you find your way in the dark?"

"I felt my way. I did it really quickly, so as soon as I got out, I switched the power back on."

"…Ok then. So then you went to the cell room and unlocked Tweek's cell, right?"

"Yeah."

"What happened next?"

"I'll, uh, need Tweek's help with this…" Craig looks at me. I sigh and nod. Great, now I'm gonna have to talk too. I hate cops, so I really don't wanna do this.

"Alright. So how did the nurse outside not notice you two?"

"We were really quiet. Same with went I went in. She didn't even wake up at all."

"…She was asleep?"

"Yeah, she always is…" I say. The cop stares at me for a second, then looks at Craig.

"Remind me to get her fired later." Craig nods, looking slightly happy that at least one nurse is gonna be fired.

"Okay, what next?"

"We went to the elevator. I pushed Tweek out of the way of the door, so in case there was someone in there, they wouldn't see him."

"… They would've seen you though …"

"Yeah, but I could've said my dad had left and forgot me here or something." The cop stares at Craig with a 'are you kidding me' expression. I don't blame him. I had the same look when Craig told me.

"… Okay then. So you went in the elevator…"

"Yeah. When we got down to the bottom, I pulled Tweek down to the floor so that in case anyone heard the elevator, they wouldn't see us."

"… That was smart."

"Yeah … then we crawled in front of the main desk. It's a good thing we did, because one of the ladies saw the elevator close."

"Is that when you heard them talking about Tweek?"

"Yeah. They talked for about ten minutes. When they were done, I noticed the door was only about 10ft away. Tweek suggested we made a run for it, but I said no. I considered it for a second though."

"Why didn't you go for it?"

"Because, even if we were really fast and silent, I knew they would see us, and call the security, who would get us in less than a few minutes."

"So what did you do?"

"… I had the idea to distract the staff." I say finally. The cop actually nods admiringly.

"That's very clever. How did you do it?"

"… I saw the separate room with all the guys looking at the security cameras and saw the one on the ceiling in the lobby, which wasn't in our range, thank God. I had the idea that if we cause some commotion in another room, then all the camera guys would be distracted, and that the ladies would also run over to see what was going on, plus the security would be distracted too."

"Where was the distraction?"

"In the cell room. There's a security camera in there, but it's not night vision. I needed the lights to go on, so that the guys could see what was going on in the room."

"How did you get the lights on?"

"I knew there were vibration detectors on the glass walls of our cells, and that they sense it when someone bangs on the wall, and when that happens, the siren goes off and the lights go on."

"… How did you get someone to do that?"

"I knew Eric Cartman would be willing to do it for us. I used Craig's phone and asked him to do it. He hadn't even noticed I was gone yet. I had to hang up, because the ladies were hearing me. Just as a lady was about to see us, the siren went off, and all the camera guys were freaking out, making all the front desk ladies get curious and go over to see what was going on. The security were busy with Cartman. Craig heard one of the guys yell that they'd got Cartman, so he said that's our cue, since the security was distracted. We started running, and we would've made it, but I … sort of … saw some coffee." I smile nervously and see Craig glare at me, making my smile disappear and making me waver.

"I'm… sorta… addicted to it… so I started running over to get it … and got in the range of the security camera. One of the camera guys saw… and viola … we were caught." The cop writes down the last details and nods.

"Thank you very much, you two. Craig, you're allowed to go home now. Your father will come get you any minute. Tweek, according to what the doctors said, you're to be handcuffed everywhere you go, so I'll do it." The cop stands up and makes a move to handcuff me.

"WAIT! YOU PROMISED THAT TWEEK WOULDN'T BE PUNISHED FOR THIS AT ALL!" Craig stands up and pushes the cop away roughly, in defence of me.

"He won't be punished for this, but the handcuffing is still punishment for when he fought Eric Cartman last week. He won't receive any other form of punishment." Craig frowns at the cop, but steps aside nonetheless. The cop smiles and handcuffs me behind my back leisurely, like he does it everyday. Just as the cop finishes doing it, Mr Tucker ... 'Dad' ... walks in. He looks really mad when he sees me, but when he looks at Craig, my God, I've never seen a glare that strong. Craig doesn't back down. He glares back just as much. Man, if I'd ever done that to my father… Jeez, I don't wanna think about my dad. He's dead after all…

"I'm so sorry for my sons' troubles." My eyes widen when he says sons' instead of son's.

"No worries. They explained in great detail, so now we can enhance security around here, so that it doesn't happen again."

"WHAT?" Craig and I both shriek. We'd done all that talking just so they could find the blind spots for security cameras and all that. I just betrayed all the patients that have been planning to escape for years. What a dick I am. What an accidental dick I am.

"I'm sure it will help a lot."

"It will. Your boys are free to go. I can't thank you enough for all this information, you two." The cop smiles gratefully at us, which makes me briefly forget how mad 'Dad' is.

"Alright then. Come with me, both of you." Uh oh. Lecture time. Mr Tucker… 'Dad' takes us out of the room. When we're in the hallway, he immediately slaps us both up the back of the head.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL, DAD!" Craig shouts furiously, while I just rub the back of my head, staying silent. I really don't like Mr Tucker… 'Dad'… when he's mad, so I don't want more trouble. In the four years I've known him, I've only seen him mad about three times.

"What the hell were you two thinking? I just about crapped my pants when I heard the siren go off (hehe, I was right. He was scared by the siren), and then saw Tweek being dragged to a padded cell!" Craig turns to me, surprised.

"You've been in a padded cell for the past week? I thought you were only in there for a few days!" I nod nervously, not taking my eyes off of … Dad. Craig bites his lip and turns back to ... our dad.

"What the fuck! Why'd you let him stay in there that long?"

"At least he's out now! I didn't have the authority. I'm not the one in charge here, Craig! And I heard you went there after three days and tried to unlock it yourself." Craig shuts his mouth and looks away. Mr Tucker turns from him to me.

"And you! What am I gonna do with you, Tweek? You've been causing so much trouble recently! I'm working really hard to get you out of here, so behave!" I nod obediently, like some little kid that's just been caught stealing or something.

"Hey dad … they promised me that they wouldn't punish Tweek at all …"

"Yeah, I heard. I'll make sure they don't. You're going home. Go on to the lobby, your mom's waiting for you. She's not in the best of moods right now, so you'd best be careful." You can tell a lot about a woman by the way her husband describes her. 'Dad' just described her, in my opinion, as a bitch. And that's my 'Mom'. Yay...

"Mom's here?"

"Yep, she's waiting, so go." 'Dad' gently pushes Craig. Craig flips him off and walks towards the elevator, leaving me and 'Dad' alone.

"…Why did you do it, Tweek?" I'm instantly reminded of when 'Dad' said the exact same thing when he wanted to know why I'd attempted suicide.

"… It wasn't my idea, honestly. But I went along with it anyway. Craig just came to my cell so suddenly and said we needed to get out of here. I just agreed."

"… Why did he want to get you out of here so badly?"

"…"

"Well?"

"… Nei … Neither of us wanted to be brothers …" 'Dad's' face softens.

"… Oh … well, nothing can be done about it, Tweek. Your uncle was just not appropriate to take care of you, let alone his own kids."

"I liked him though. He was really nice to me when I was little."

"You'll be able to see him once a week, remember?" I nod miserably. Not about the fact that I won't see my uncle often, but the fact that I once again remembered my father's ... dead.

"…"

"…"

"What's wrong?" I ask, snapping out of my saddened state, curious to know why 'Dad' isn't saying anything, which he doesn't usually do.

"I'm just confused. I understand why you don't want to be his brother… because you like him romantically, but I wonder… what's his reason?" I start to wonder too. We have about twenty seconds of silence, which is interrupted when 'Dad' gasps slightly, barely audibly, and covers his mouth in shock.

"What is it?" 'Dad' quickly recovers from whatever he just thought, still covering his mouth.

"It's alright… I was just thinking… could it be he… he l…"

"What?" 'Dad' hesitates, then smiles and shakes his head, obviously wanting me to forget what he said.

"It's nothing. I just thought of something crazy…"

"What…?"

"… I ... I thought … that Craig might like you … romantically for a second…" Before I can react properly, I hear a skid behind me. I turn around and see no one there. Weird.

"Yeah … like ... like that would ever happen …" I laugh bitterly, staring the ground in a trance. It must've been for a while, because 'Dad' has to shake me to stop me from doing it.

"Are you alright?" I look around confusingly for a second, briefly forgetting where I am, then forcefully plaster a happy smile on my face.

"I'm fine. Jest a little distracted." I try to make myself seem happy, since I don't want my new adoptive father to know about my dark side. The side ... that convinced me to try and kill myself.

"Okay. Now listen, your being given the ultimate freedom. I'm going to give you keys to your cell and you can walk in and out of it whenever you want between 9.00am and 9.00pm." My mouth drops open. I'm so surprised that I can't even speak. That's the most freedom I've ever had in my life. Being able to walk wherever you want? That's insanely kind!

"You'll have to be handcuffed wherever you go, of course." Like I give a shit. I'll be able to walk around! Who cares if my hands are locked in metal circles?

"That's fine! Just gimme the keys!" I attempt to make a grab for the keys, but then I remember I'm handcuffed.

"I'm trusting you to use these, Tweek. If you break any rules using these, then I'll confiscate them. You understand?" I nod quickly, just dying to get them.

"You're allowed to go anywhere except into other kid's cells."

"You mean I can go outside?"

"You can. But if you go any more than 30ft away from the perimeter of the hospital, the security will be alerted and you'll be taken in immediately, so be careful to stay close."

"How would you know if I went over my limit of space?"

"This." 'Dad' quickly grabs my shirt and clips something onto it. Once he lets go of me, I grab it and try to pull it off.

"It's no use, Tweek. You can't pull it off without entering the secret code." I look closely at the thing clipped onto me. It looks like a little mini-calculator, with buttons on to type in numbers, for the code, I guess.

"What is this thing?"

"It's a tracking device. Doctors like me are gonna take turns watching this thing on you. We'll alert security if you go over your limit of space." Damn it.

"Tweek, you have to promise me you'll use this thing appropriately. No rule breaking, alright? And if the other patients get jealous and want to know why you've got this freedom, tell them I insisted since you're my new son, okay?" I nod grimly, really not wanting to be reminded of my adoption again.

"I promise I'll use this properly."

"Good kid. I've gotta go have a session with one of the other boys, so I'll see you later for yours. I haven't had one with you in a while." 'Dad' hands me the keys, gives me a small wave and starts running to his office, to get some paper work, I guess. He's late. So he'd chosen to give me my keys and talk with me, over his own job. I'm not sure how to feel. The old me would've said 'Who gives a shit? I still hate him either way.' But these days, I just don't hate him that much. I wonder when that changed. Bradley's gonna hate me even more now, for trusting people from the outside so much.

I sigh, missing Craig already, and start to make my way to the cell room, ready to boast to Bradley (who's still being an ass) how I've got so much freedom now.

Even though I've been through absolute shit recently, I think my life's getting better every day, even if only by the tiniest fraction.