…And then this idiot named Clyde comes out of nowhere and grabs me, pulling me out of the room shirtless. And he finds out I know his name, right? And then he bows to me like I'm some kind of freaking god!" I pause with my rambling, realising how I've gotten a bit off track with relaying the events I've been through to my mom. "Ah, sorry. I got a bit off topic. But really, I've had a lot of stuff happen to me recently, and it's been so sudden. I don't care though… I know Craig cares a lot about me."

"I sure do," I jump and spin around, frightened. Craig smirks at how much he shocked me, and steps forward, praying for my mom. "Continue," He tells me, still in the middle of it. I realize I was gazing at him a bit too long, and listen to his suggestion of resuming my conversation.

"…And yeah, you've seen for yourself now, mom," I smile excitedly, "Oh, and do you like your flowers? Hope so. I got them from a lady that works at the institute. But apparently she also works part time at the flower shop. She's really nice. Those flowers are a very special present from her, she said." Craig looks at me, puzzled.

"A lady from the institution?" He asks warily. Oblivious to his suspicions, I nod.

"Yeah, that nice receptionist lady."

Craig glances around with caution, before asking, "Did she… did she recognise you?" I shrug.

"Well yeah, but-

"Tweek! If she tells-

"Don't worry, I'm sure she won't. She sort of helped us anyway. She gave us directions in the air vents, so that means she's on our side, right?" Craig sighs.

"Adults don't take these kinds of sides, Tweek. You do realise we all broke the law by helping you escape, right?" I hesitate, never actually having thought of it from such a perspective, "…But whatever. As long as you trust her." I smile at him again, before turning back to mom's grave.

"I think Craig wants to spend some time with me now," Craig cringes in humiliation, shuffling his feet, "It was really nice talking to you, mom. Bye, I love you."

Craig brings me back to the café and asks if I'm a little hungrier now. I'm not, and he probably knows that, but he forces a smile and says he'll buy me something. He tries walking me to a booth, but I decide not to burden him for once and tell him to go to the cashier and order something. I sigh as I take a seat, unable to believe I was free, sitting in a café with no supervision. A year ago, it would've been too bizarre to ever consider for myself.

Just how the hell did this all happen? I think for a few seconds, deciding what's different.

The occurred changes, I've concluded, are as follows: Craig happened. Friends happened. And my want for independence happened.

"Whatcha thinking so hard about?" Craig asks curiously, flicking me on the head as he sets a muffin down in front of me, "Didn't even notice me coming." I laugh stupidly at myself as Craig slowly slides in the seat across from me, an eyebrow raised.

"Just stuff." I replied to his question, searching for anything in a cup, "No drinks?" Craig murmurs something about them calling his name when the drinks are ready, "Oh really? C-Cool system."

"Are you nervous, Tweek? You really seem uncomfortable."

"No, I'm fine – I-I'm just not used to things like this. It sort of feels… it's not, but… feels like, uh–

"Like what?" I can see Craig growing impatient, fiddling with his receipt.

"Like this is a d…date?" Craig immediately avoids eye contact, flushed in embarrassment. He quickly gets up when a woman at the counter calls out his name, eager to escape, if just for a few seconds. A steaming cup of sweet-smelling stuff is set in front of me, seeming similar to coffee, "What is this?" I ask leaning forward and eyeing it closely.

"It's just hot chocolate, Tweek," He sees my puzzled expression, "Kiddy coffee, I guess." As I'm making Craig look up the ingredients on his phone, I see something shocking out of the corner of my eyes. Pip is sitting at a table with a family. I gasp and begin to shake, "Tweek, why are you staring at those people? Hey," He makes me look at him, "What's wrong?" I catch another glimpse of the child, and no longer see Pip's face on him. I was imagining it.

"I'm being paranoid," I assure him, checking the kid's face once more to make sure, "I'm fine, really." An awkward silence forms, with Craig already finishing his hot chocolate and mine barely touched, "I thought you were hungry too, Craig."

His excuse comes like lightning, "I lost my appetite." I frown, snatching his wallet, "Hey!" I look inside and see no money. My muffin is unfortunately already eaten.

"If you didn't have enough money, you should have told me, and we could've shared!" I scold him, feeling guilty.

"I'm sorry, Tweek." He apologises simply and sensibly.

"…I can take some pills now."

"I really don't think it's a good idea." He tells me, unsure. I bang on the table adamantly, though it doesn't even make him blink, "…Fine." Craig watches carefully as I tear the little box open and squeeze out two small cold pills. My fingers shakily take one and chuck it in my mouth. Before I can even reach for my drink, the taste is already too much, and my body automatically spits it into a napkin, "Swallow all your saliva, Tweek. And put it on the back of your tongue." I follow his instructions for the second pill and immediately grab my drinking, taking a large sip. The pill surprisingly goes down. The same process is repeated with a new third pill Craig pulled out for me, with no incident.

I can't believe it.

I blink in shock.

I willingly took pills. Without someone holding me down.

"What are you kids doing?" We turn surprised eyes to an officer standing in the booth on the adjacent side to ours, peeking over the glass, "Are you addicted to pills? No one's taking drugs on my watch!" Before I can understand what he's implying, Craig has grabbed my sleeve and is pulling me out of the café. I vaguely hear the officer yelling after us, and catch sight of him as we turn a street corner. Craig surprisingly leads us between two buildings, and we sprint up a snowy hill at the back. At the top, I see the officer going in the wrong direction.

"God, officer Barbrady is such a friggin' dumbass." Craig remarks, flipping the distant officer the bird, "Getting it in his head that kids are taking medication to get high. Let's go." He turns around and immediately slips, tumbling down the other side of the hill.

"Craig!" As I chase down after him, I notice three girls our age that are passing by stopping to help him. I pause momentarily, not having much experience around girls. But I almost immediately overcome my stupid little fear and stumble down to ground level, nearly tripping in some of the deep snow.

"Craig, are you alright? Talk, dammit!" A black haired girl commands, shaking him back and forth by the shoulders. He is unable to respond because he's so dizzy. The girls all notice me standing and eyeing them like a stunned mullet.

"Oh my God," The girl drops Craig, and he flops to the ground, groaning, "Oh, my, God! Wow, it's that Tweek kid! It's Tweek!" The three of them rush towards me.

"He's so cute!"

"Daw, look at him!"

They all coo at me, and I can feel myself shrinking further and further into myself the closer they get. "Stop it, guys." Craig tells them, staggering towards us. I recognise one of the girls from the picture Cartman shows me on his phone. She has a pink beret, "Maybe you should introduce yourselves like normal people." The one I recognise, the black haired one, ignores his words.

"That's so cool, Craig. He's soooooo pretty. You've hit the jackpot, you!" She squeals excitedly, shaking her balled hands in front of her chest, "I ship you two!" The other two girls instantly react, joining her.

"O-M-G, yes! I do too!"

"Me too!"

"Craig and Tweek… their ship name shall be… CREEK!" Miss Beret announces, making something official. As they excitedly begin to chatter like crazed parrots, Craig whispers to me.

"These girls are Wendy, Heidi, and Red. And yes, they're nuts, so let's get out of here. I think I know where Clyde and Token are right now." He takes my hand and begins to drag me away, but the girls follow us like a cult.

"Girls, look, they're holding hands!"

"Oh, it's so cute, I can't deal with it…" Craig sighs, irritated, but I try to be more social and turn my head to them.

"Nice to meet you all." They all respond with the same words as me and begin actually introducing themselves properly.

"Don't communicate with the wild, Tweek. They'll eat you." Craig warns.

"Bebe! Bebe!" Wendy yells as we arrive at a frozen lake, densely populated by elementary students, ice skating or chatting on the sidelines. She catches the attention of a frizzy haired blond girl, who turns around at the sound of her name. Wendy snatches me from Craig puts her arm around me, pointing at my face, "Look who's here! Look at him!" Bebe's face lights up, and she runs over as quickly as possible, even in her skates.

"Whoa! You're Tweek?" She sticks her hand out, and I hesitantly shake it, "Nice to meet you, I'm Bebe Stevens. I'm sorry, I couldn't make it to that thing at the institute." She apologizes, "But you're really cute!"

"I know, isn't he? We're calling it Creek." As they start swooning together and more girls gather to see what the fuss is about, Craig leads me away.

"Would you like to skate, Tweek?"

"But I don't have any sk–

"Just tell me."

"Well, yeah, b–

"Can anyone lend Tweek some skates?" Craig shouts, catching the attention of nearly everyone. Many people, even ones already on the ice, begin volunteering. I catch sight of Stan and Kyle on the other side of the lake, raising their hands and yelling, and also Cartman and Butters on the ice, doing the same thing. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around, surprisingly to find Kenny, who seems to have just arrived. Without a word, he hands me his skates and runs off towards a young girl about six or seven, who is flinging some snow around. I soon realise she must be his sister, since their eyes and faces are the same. I glance at his skates in my arms, unsure, "Go on, Tweek," Craig reassures me, "Use them."

"But you don't have any, Craig." Craig shrugs, pretending to not care.

"Oh, I'm good. It's not like I feel like skating anyway. I'll stay here and socialise. Go on Tweek. Lots of people on the rink will want to talk to you." I begin fumbling with my fingers, embarrassed.

"But you see, Craig, I don't… know how to skate." Craig facepalms at himself.

"Oh, right, of course. God, I'm so stupid." I start to feel guilty. Shit I'm troubling Craig. He doesn't need this.

"Actually," I drop down and remove my shoes, beginning to put the skates on, which are only a little big, "It's ok, Craig. I can get someone to hold onto. Hey, Butters!" I luckily see him and Cartman stepping off the ice. There is no way in hell Craig could ever be jealous of Butters. He comes over, smiling, "Could you help me? I… don't know how to skate." Butters nods straight away.

"Oh, sure! Come on," He grabs my arm, and while I wave bye to Craig, I slip and nearly fall as we go onto the ice. Craig stands up and begins to come over, "It's ok, Craig! I won't let him fall!" Butters says sweetly, pulling me towards the middle of the rink. I'm so scared of falling that my legs are shaking, "Don't be scared, Tweek. It doesn't hurt when you fall." I stare as Red swoops behind him, grabbing his collar and pulling him away. I shriek and nearly lose balance, but Wendy and Bebe magically appear either side of me, linking my arms with theirs.

"How's it going, Tweek?" Wendy asks adoringly, looking at me as if I'm a puppy. They begin pulling me around with them as they leisurely skate around.

"Did you guys just kidnap my friend?" I ask, glancing around and am surprised to see Butters laughing with Red.

"Butters doesn't mind. He used to like Red when we were little, and all of us girls think he's nice." Bebe states, turning us left. My eyes search around, and I eventually spot Kenny playing in the snow with his sister. He catches sight of Butters with Red and stares.

"But what about Kenny?" I ask.

"Huh?" Both of the girls gape at me in confusion, "Kenny? What's he got to do with anything?" Wendy smiles slyly, "Ooh, is there something you know that we don't?" Their eyes seem to shine, and I suddenly see the evil power girls seem to thrive on: gossip, or more, secrets. They're crazy – and I know crazy.

"No. I meant," I risk a split second to think, "Don't you guys think Kenny's nice?" Wendy and Bebe exchange glances, apathetic.

"Sure, I guess. He sort of quiet." Wendy answers me first, avoiding skating into a large dent. I raise an eyebrow; he is?

"Yeah, he is," Bebe agrees, as if reading my mind, "Oh, but I guess he's a gentleman, too. And isn't afraid to do things girls like. Remember, Wendy, he joined Home Ec. In third grade when all the other boys took shop class?"

"Oh yeah! That was so cool of him." They begin eyeing Kenny in what I would call a 'female trance'. The same thing would probably happen with One Direction – I may have been in a hospital for half of my life, but it's not like I've been living under a rock, "But Tweek, we're really wondering about you and Craig."

"Wh…What about me and Craig?" I prepare for the interrogation that's coming.

"Do you know why he was expelled?" I shake my head, "Well, you see, he started hitting a kid that was belittling him for being interested in a psychopath. He started going on about you being a killer. Cartman joined in beating him up, and even pulled a knife on the kid. Thank goodness the teachers came."

"Oh…" So now I know what happened. That was stupid of Craig. He made some really bad choices. But I guess what's done is done.

"And you do know our friend Milly dumped him because he was too interested in you, right?" I nod, "And you obviously worship him. But the question is, are you two canon?" I gawk at Bebe, not understanding the language of females. Wendy translates:

"She means, are you two dating?"

"Oh, uh, well, I don't know."

"Did he say he likes you?" I flush, not used to talking about such a subject with other people.

"Yes… yes, we both like each other." The two girls squeal loudly, making other people on the ice stare, "And yes, we have kissed, but it was an accident. Look, I'm tired. Could you guys let me go now?" Wendy and Bebe gasp and frantically lead to the edge of the lake, allowing me to step off, "Thank you. Bye now!" I flee as soon as they turn their backs, convinced that girls are a force not to be messed with. I stop when I reach the small pit in the snow Kenny and his sister have created.

"Kenny, why aren't you joining in with everyone? I haven't even heard you talk today." I ask, curious. He shrugs, kicking some snow absent mindedly.

"I don't know. I guess I'm not the best with large crowds. More the quiet, introverted type. My sister's all the company I need." I nod in understanding, though I have no idea what 'introverted' means. He flinches when I pat him on the shoulder.

"I think I understand. You're just shy!" I exclaim, pulling his hood down.

"SHY!? Who're you calling shy?" He immediately protests, glancing around to see if anyone heard me. His sister laughs, plopping a bunch of snow on his head.

"Kenny's shy, Kenny's shy!" She teases him, giggling gleefully. She turns to me, smiling.

I realise this would be the cue to introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Tweek. What's your name?"

"I'm Karen, and Kenny's my big brother. Yay!"

"Yay…" I hear Craig's voice sarcastically join in with her, "Come on, Tweek," He turns me around, "Put your shoes on." I nod obediently and sit next to Kenny in the snow, untying his skates. I notice Karen has run off onto the frozen lake in mere seconds, and is skating with Butters. I express my gratitude for the skates.

"Thanks, Kenny." He nods in acknowledgement, silently watching Butters skating with his sister, "You want to go and skate with them, don't you?" Kenny snickers, locking eyes with me.

"Yep, I do. But unfortunately for me, I'm a coward."

"I'm a coward too, Kenny," I inform him, "But there's no use in brooding about it. That's what I thought this morning, when Craig said he needed to bring me with him for an errand. So I did it, and I'm still having a pretty good time. Maybe you should try it." Kenny ignores me, "Come on, do this with me. We can get braver together, alright? Little by little. Might as well try, right?" Kenny stares at me, and then Butters, and then me, before going red.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll try that."

"Well, let's see what Tweek wants, then! Tweek, you'd rather McDonald's than Taco Bell, right?" Clyde asks for my opinion, his eyes shining adamantly. I shrug.

"I don't know. I haven't had either in a while."

"Oh, come on, McDonald's is–

"Clyde, shut up." Token snaps, humiliated, "You're being so loud." This is my first time in a mall, and I gotta say, it's overwhelming. And all for dinner? It's like running to Europe to get a hot dog. Craig stops, the phone in his pocket buzzing. He gestures for us to go on discussing and turns away.

"Have you even had McDonald's, Token?"

"Hey, just because my family's rich doesn't mean I've never had take-out."

"What does a Big Mac have then?"

"A what?" Craig turns back around, pale-faced, "Whoa, what's wrong?" Craig leans his head on my shoulder, shocked.

"What is it?" I ask, patting his back, "Craig?" He mutters something into my shoulder, but I don't hear, "What'd you say?"

"Ruby's… been rushed to hospital. Critical condition, they said." A rush of alarm surges through me, and I begin breathing heavily. I didn't know Ruby was so weak. She always acts so strong and fierce, but she's so young, only a few years past the infant stage. Has she even started kindergarten?

"Why?"

"She was having trouble breathing. They think she's suffering from severe pneumonia." I cover my mouth, astounded. If this is sudden for me, then for Craig it must be… "They're staying with her overnight. They'll be back probably late tomorrow."

"God, is there something we can do? Are you going with them?" Clyde asks, not sure how to handle to situation.

"No…" We all watch Craig as he attempts a smile, "I say we get pizza. It's easiest to share. And Tweek once told me he likes pizza, didn't you, Tweek?"

"Yeah." I grin at Craig timidly. Clyde sighs loudly, momentarily forgetting about Ruby.

"Pizza? Really?"

"If you're gonna be such a baby about it, I'll pay for everything." Token offers, shooting Craig a knowing look, "No problem."

"Hell no! Just 'cause you said that, I'll pay for it all. C'mon, I want you to see me pull the money outta that wallet," Clyde tries to pull Token off towards the pizza joint, but Craig grabs his jacket, staring behind us, "What?"

"Get Tweek the hell out of here," He suddenly instructs, shoving me towards Clyde, "Go, right now, go!" Out of the corner of my eye, I see a group of policemen showing a photo, which I would assume to be mine, asking various people if they've seen me. Clyde and I high tail out of the food court, and soon, out of the mall altogether.

"Come on, Tweek, we'd better get back to Craig's house. People will start recognising you." Clyde grabs my arm and prevents me from being hit by a car in the giant parking lot. Many families and couples stare as we hurry past, some saying my name. It's become apparent to me that most of the town knows my name and face. And it scares the living shit out of me. Clyde stops us abruptly as we near the end of a street, "Shyte," He curses to himself, leading me down a different road, "Police cars are everywhere."

"Let's go in there." I point to large building.

"Good idea," Clyde surprisingly leads me around the building instead, and as we reach a football field, I realize it's a school, "Tweek, wait up! Not so fast…" He stops beside me, exhausted, "Pahaha! What d'ya know? The track team try-outs are today." He comments, sitting on the grass and huffing.

"Is this your school?" I ask, panting as well.

"No, it's South Park Junior High. I'll be coming here in a couple of years."

"Kid," I spin around, my heart pounding as the coach comes marching towards me. Oh God, he's come to take me away. Clyde leaps up and tries to stand in front of me, but the man firmly moves him out of the way, "Hey kid, you're as fast as lightning," He points behind his shoulder, "I'm in charge of the try-outs for the track team. You should have a go. What I'd give to have you competing for our school…" He obviously doesn't know who I am, thank effing God.

"Um, sir, I'm only ten. Still in fifth grade. I'm not gonna attend this school next year." I tell him, anxiously looking at Clyde.

"No, come on kid, please, you were like Forrest Gump just now! Please," He puts his hand on my shoulder and forces me towards the track, standing me in a line of slightly older kids waiting to race.

"Forrest who?" I question him as the whistle is about to be blown. As it blows, the other boys seem to disappear.

"GO, KID, GO!" The coach yells, beckoning for me to run after them. A smart person would storm away, grab Clyde, and get the hell out of here. But I've never been the sharpest knife in the drawer. I dash after them, catching up about halfway around the truck. I see Clyde watching open-mouthed, and mouth 'I don't know' to him. In the end, I come second, after a tall kid who has enough muscles to jump onto the moon if he wants to.

"Your time, kid," The coach exclaims, showing me his stopwatch. He brings it away from my face so quickly, due to his excitement, that I'm unable to read it, "For a boy your height and age, man! Join in a few years, please. I'd be honoured to have you." If it wasn't for my fear, I would be beaming with pride right now. But the exasperated Clyde reminds me that I can't go to this school.

"Come on, Sam," He takes hold of me, using a faux name, "We've already missed our curfew."

"…Seriously? That seriously happened?" Craig asks as Token his getting plates for the pizza, "Tweek you try to escape from police and end up getting accepted into a track team? For a middle school?" He hides his face in his hands, and I slump foolishly.

"Crazy, isn't it?" Clyde mutters, still annoyed. We both turn surprised eyes on Craig when he bursts out laughing, "It's not funny, Craig! He could have been caught."

"Of course it's funny! Oh my God, Tweek, you're amazing. How does that even happen? HAHAHA!" I sigh in relief since Craig isn't angry, and laugh along with him, "It's these things that make me think you're so cool."

"Who's Forrest Gump, anyway?" I wonder to myself, making Craig laugh even harder.

We hear a hard pounding on the door, and freeze. "Police, open up!" Craig calmly opens a cabinet, emptying four pots out and putting them on the stove and in the sink. They all shove me in, as if having planned it, and shut the door. I cover my mouth and try to breathe quietly, listening to Craig as he opens the front door.

"What?"

"We have reason to believe you are hiding Tweek Tweak, and a search warrant. Step aside." I listen to their footsteps and they spread out around the house, opening closet doors and such. I'm lucky that I'm small. They would think to search kitchen cabinets.

"I was friends with that dude," Craig tells them eventually, "But I'm not hiding him. I really have no idea where he is. My friends and I are just having a small pizza party."

"And where are your parents?"

"My sister needed to be rushed to hospital. They're staying with her overnight."

"…Alright, there's nothing suspicious here. But you two kids should probably get home. We'll drive you. The streets aren't safe with a patient like that loose. You see him Craig, you call us, ok?"

"Yeah." After the sound of the front door, I hear Craig's fast footsteps, and he opens the cabinet door, "You good? Bastards took Clyde and Token."

"I'm fine."

"Great. You must be hungry." Craig takes a few pieces of pizza and puts them on a plate for him and I, "What do you wanna drink?"

"Whatever you're having." I answer him politely, "I don't care." He lazily takes two cokes out of the fridge and sets them on the counter, in a daze, "Craig?" He turns towards me and steps over quickly, halting only an inch away from me. Craig then suddenly grabs my shoulders tightly and pecks me slowly on the lips, and then on the cheek, and then on the forehead.

"I love you." He breathes out, pulling away, "Tweek, I'll never forget how you said my name was boring. I'll never forget how much you used to stutter and shake. And I'll never forget you saying 'Don't feel guilty! It was my fault we failed! I'm really sorry!' after our failed escape attempt. That was a really defining moment. I'm glad you said it."

"…I am too." Craig squeezes my hand and goes back to the cans of coke, bringing them towards the living room. I follow with the plates of pizza. After we sit down I fumble with my drink, taking forever to open it.

"Shit." Craig says, scowling at the TV.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I glance up at the screen, seeing Pip's name and face displayed, and him being dragged out of the institute by police. That façade didn't last long. "Yeah, shit."