Craig stuffed all his clothes -clean and dirty- along with his laptop and the paperback book he'd been reading into his suitcase and they were on the road twenty minutes later after saying hurried goodbyes to their host. Craig cited a 'family emergency' as the reason for his sudden departure.
"Do you know which airport we're going to?" Dave asked after they'd been driving about twenty minutes on the dark road. It was the first time either of them had spoken since they'd left.
"Not yet," Craig replied, staring at his phone in the dim light coming from the dashboard and pondering sending a text to Tweek. "He's flying from Athens if it matters. I figure you can just take me to the closest, and if it's the wrong one I'll just take a bus or something."
"That would be LaGuardia; but JFK is where most international flights come in. Either way, it's a four or five hour drive. At least we should get there before morning rush hour."
"I appreciate the ride," Craig said, deciding not to text Tweek in case he was sleeping and putting his phone away. "I'll chip in for gas."
"Don't worry about it," Dave replied. "I'm just glad your...fiance is all right. I'm just going to head home afterward anyway, and this isn't really that far out of my way."
They drove in silence after that. Just after 3:30, Tweek settled the question of where they were going by texting Craig with his flight information. He'd be arriving at JFK at 4:25PM on January 2nd. Craig realized he would have over 30 hours to kill at the airport waiting for Tweek to arrive.
"It's JFK," Craig said, texting Tweek back (can't wait to see you). He didn't mention that he'd be waiting for over a day for fear Dave might want to keep him company. Tweek's reply came a minute late, a smile emoji, and Craig smiled and put his phone away.
The sun was just rising when they arrived at Kennedy Airport. Craig wandered around the airport for a few hours, alternately people-watching and reading a copy of The New York Times he bought in a coffee shop. The Poseidon tragedy took up most of the front page; a phrase that seared itself into Craig's brain was 'tremendous loss of life'. With only 18 survivors and 1,722 passengers and crew lost, Craig marveled at the tremendous odds that Tweek (along with all of their friends) had been among the few who had made it out.
He finally rode a shuttle to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel and checked into a room for two nights, reasoning that the last thing Tweek would want to do after at least a twelve-hour flight from Athens would be to drive another five hours back to New Hampshire in a rental car. After he closed the door and looked around the well-furnished room, he spotted something against the wall and muttered "Aw, shit..."
There was a well-stocked minibar between the window and the desk.
One drink, Craig thought. Just to take the edge off. Another part of his mind, one that he didn't even know was there until a few hours ago, replied: Nope. You're not going to screw this up, the way you've been screwing things up for the past eighteen months. He knew what would happen if he had just 'one drink': He would drink half the minibar and possibly sleep through Tweek's arrival tomorrow afternoon, perhaps even ending up in the emergency room for alcohol poisoning after being found by a hotel maid.
He fixed himself a glass of ginger ale, carried a box of Wheat Thins over to the bed, laid down and turned on the TV. CNN was still showing coverage of the disaster in the Mediterranean, the talking heads still using the buzzwords 'tremendous loss of life'. Every ten minutes or so they showed the short list of survivors of the Poseidon tragedy, and Craig drifted off to sleep looking at Tweek's name being shown to the world.
When he awoke, morning sunlight was streaming through the window blinds. He showered, shaved, and thirty minutes later closed the hotel room door with the 'Do Not Disturb' sign hanging from the knob, and rode the shuttle back to the airport. After breakfast he resumed his relentless prowling of the airport.
He finally couldn't wait any longer and made his way to the gate where Tweek's plane would be arriving in four hours. He settled into one of the uncomfortable airport chairs and read the newspaper. Eventually a half dozen more people arrived in a single noisy group, all of them at least twice Craig's age, who gathered around the ticket counter and grilled the hapless agent for a minute, before settling together at the other side of the room. Craig looked back at his paper, trying to ignore their incessant chatter.
Someone else arrived a short time later, a teenaged boy who bore a striking resemblance to Clyde Donovan when he was about thirteen. He began pacing nervously next to the ticket desk, alternately looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows and around the airport. Craig looked around the gate as well; the old people were still talking amongst themselves. None of them appeared to be under 60 years of age. The oldest one, a woman in a wheelchair, could have been 80 for all Craig could tell. He looked away, back at the boy who met his eyes at the same time and stopped pacing.
He walked over to Craig; in a past life, Craig might have been annoyed by the intrusion, but now he welcomed the chance to talk to someone else who might have had a friend or loved one on board the Poseidon.
The kid stopped two steps away from Craig's chair. "Did...do you know someone who was on the Poseidon too?" he asked. Craig lowered his newspaper, not sure for a moment how to answer that, or how he should refer to Tweek.
"Yeah. My...best friend was on board," he finally decided. "Along with six more of my friends. They all made it out."
"My best friend was on board too," the boy replied. "He was with his family; they all got out too." He shifted his weight nervously from one leg to the other, obviously wanting someone to talk to.
"Why don't you sit down?" Craig said, glancing at his watch. "We've got over three hours to go before they get here."
The kid sat in the chair beside Craig. "I was really scared when I started watching the news," he said. "I thought I'd never see him again. But then, after they cut the hole in the bottom of the ship? Robin was the first one to come out! I found out he was okay, even before they said so on TV!"
Lucky you, Craig thought and said: "Was he the kid with the bandage on his hand?"
"Uh huh," the boy replied, and Craig marveled again at how much he looked like Clyde had when he was about the same age. "I got to talk to him yesterday; he said he broke two of his fingers, but there was a lady doctor who set them and splinted them for him."
"If it was a lady doctor from my group, then I know her. That was probably Dr. Wendy Testaburger who first-aided your friend. She's real good; your friend is going to be fine." Except for the psychological problems he might have from everything he went through, Craig's mind added. "CNN cut away after the first couple people came out, and I couldn't tell if my friend...friends made it out or not."
"I saw that!" the kid replied indignantly. "Fucking CNN...making people wait like that." He visibly gulped, perhaps afraid that he had just cursed around an adult. "So you had to wait until they showed the list of survivors?"
"Well, no actually," Craig said, absurdly enjoying this conversation. "I got a phone call a few minutes before that from one of my friends in Colorado who'd gotten a call from them."
His new friend nodded. "I'm glad your friends are okay." He reached out and Craig was glad to shake his hand. "I'm Pete McCafferty."
"Craig Tucker," Craig replied and they settled back and began talking. Pete spoke animatedly about his friend, Robin Shelby, about the classes they had together and how they spent as much time together outside of school as possible. An hour passed before Craig knew it, and he eventually looked down at his watch and sighed.
"We've got over two hours before they get here," Craig said. "And I'm getting kind of hungry. Do you want to go get something to eat?"
Pete looked down at the floor doubtfully. "I...don't really have any money with me..."
Craig nodded and stood up. "That's okay...I'll buy." Pete looked up at him doubtfully, and
Craig added, "Come on, kid...it's just a hamburger."
They walked to one of the many airport restaurants, and after Pete balked at the menu prices and Craig told him to relax and order whatever he wanted, Pete did and they settled into a meal of cheeseburgers, fries, and large sodas. Pete opened him to him while they ate, telling Craig about how he had just moved to Robin's neighborhood a year ago and they'd become best friends practically the first day they met. By the time they finished their lunch, Craig realized that Pete's feelings for Robin went way past best-friendship. Pete was in love with Robin (or at least had a major crush on him), and was every bit as relieved that he had survived the disaster as Craig was that Tweek had.
By the time they made their way back to the gate where the Poseidon survivors were due to arrive soon, it felt as though they'd been friends for years. Once 4:00 finally came and went, neither of them could sit still anymore and they both walked to the floor to ceiling windows to scan the horizon.
"There it is!" Pete finally said excitedly, pointing out the window at the jumbo jet approaching on the horizon. Some of the other people waiting at the gate with them began standing up. Craig watched as the jet landed, its tires squealing and engines whining as they reversed, sounds they barely heard through the thick glass. The huge plane made a painfully slow turn back toward the airport from the far end of the runway.
The wait for the plane to taxi to the gate was almost as agonizing as watching the Poseidon rescuers cut through the bottom of the ship had been. Finally the doors next to the ticket counter were opened and three airport employees hurried into the jetway. A minute later the first passenger appeared, and Craig instantly recognized the boy as Robin Shelby by his bandaged hand. He'd heard dozens of stories about him from his new friend in the past few hours, enough that he almost felt as though he knew him.
Pete surged to his feet and took two hurried steps toward him before stopping and turning around again. "Hey, Craig," he said, for the first time since they met appearing almost bashful. "Um, thanks for buying me lunch. I'd be really hungry by now if you hadn't done that."
Craig stood up and they shook hands. "No problem, Pete. It's nice to have met you." Behind Pete, what Craig thought was probably Robin's sister and parents emerged next, followed by an elderly couple; the woman was in a wheelchair being pushed by one of the airport employees. Her husband was walking as close to her as he could and holding her hand, and Kyle was one step behind him talking to him. Craig smiled and gave Pete's hand a final squeeze before letting go. "Take care of your friend."
Pete nodded. "I will." He gave Craig a final nod and turned to walk away. "Robin!" he called across the room, and several heads turned.
"Pete!" the boy with the bandaged hand called back and broke away from the group he was with. Craig watched, fascinated, as the two hurried to each other, stopped when they were a step apart, and finally hugged.
Several more people Craig didn't know appeared behind Kyle, among them a woman with vividly blond hair next to an angry-looking man who was obviously her husband by the way they were clinging to each other. Next was a woman holding the arm of someone who looked like Kyle might in about forty years. Stan appeared next, followed immediately by (and Craig felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of him) Tweek, along with Butters and Kenny, who were speaking animatedly to each other. Wendy and Cartman were last; Cartman was also being pushed in a wheelchair and the top half of his head was wrapped in a white bandage.
Craig wanted to rush over the way Pete had, but he held back; he had the feeling he didn't belong there, and that he would be intruding on something he wasn't a part of.
Craig watched as first Butters and then Kenny met his eyes and their faces darkened. Tweek spotted him last and he smiled. Craig felt as though the whole world had suddenly gotten brighter.
Pete turned to give him one last wave before joining Robin's family as they left. The remaining survivors all stopped just inside the doorway, and Craig watched as Tweek made his way among the people Craig didn't know, shaking hands and kneeling next to the elderly woman in the wheelchair. They talked for a long time, and then Tweek leaned forward to kiss her cheek. He stood up again and shook her husband's hand before rejoining Kenny and Butters, who were still eyeing him warily.
Somewhere in the distance, a loudspeaker announced an incoming flight from Frankfurt Germany was delayed. Butters was speaking to Tweek vehemently about something, and Craig watched as Tweek finally shook his head, patted Butters' arm and walked off, straight toward Craig, who realized a moment later that it was time to step forward and meet him halfway.
"Jesus Christ, dude," Craig said once they were together, taking in Tweek's tired and disheveled appearance and the clothes he was wearing that obviously weren't his. He stepped forward and hugged him. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Craig," Tweek replied, clinging to Craig desperately. "It...it's good to be here."
Craig clung on to him for a moment, and looked over his shoulder at the rest of their friends. Wendy had joined them, and all of them were giving him varying degrees of the evil eye.
"They don't think you should stay here with me, do they?" Craig asked into Tweek's ear, still too overwhelmed with gratitude to let go of him yet.
"Nope," Tweek replied at once. "They have a flight to Denver to catch in an hour and wanted me to go with them. But I told them I'd be fine and not to worry about it...and I can get two tickets from the airline for us to fly home anytime I want."
Craig hadn't even considered how they were going to get home yet. He finally took a step back, and they began walking toward the airport terminal and outside. Craig was struggling for something to say next and finally went with the first thing that came to mind, knowing how idiotic it sounded.
"You know, when you left you had something like five suitcases with you."
Tweek suddenly stopped, and Craig stopped as well a step later. He looked back at Tweek who was eying him incredulously. Craig realized he was one step away from completely losing his shit laughing.
"I...I didn't exactly get to bring my luggage with me when I was escaping from the capsized sinking ship, Craig." Tweek said and gave in to the laughter he'd been holding back. "You know my black tux? I was wearing that the whole time." He shook his head. "It didn't fare too well." He gestured down at himself and the ill-fitting clothes he was wearing. "This is what the cruise company gave me to wear until I can buy some more clothes, a bunch of stuff from a lost and found bin."
Craig shook his head, still not believing his good fortune to be having this conversation.
"Tweek...you're like, really calm, after everything you've been through."
"I haven't slept in over 36 hours," Tweek replied. He grinned. "I guess I'm just too tired to be a spaz right now."
Craig stared at him for a moment and burst out laughing. He tried to stop because of how inappropriate it seemed and couldn't. "God damnit..." he sputtered, shaking his head. "I should not be laughing at that...but it is so fucking good to see you again."
Tweek stepped forward and hugged him again, and Craig melted into the embrace gratefully. "It's going to be okay, Craig," he said, and Craig felt the world around him settle a little more into place. Everything was going to be okay, now that Tweek was with him again.
"I should be telling you that, not the other way around," Craig replied. Tweek didn't respond, so Craig continued, "Hey...I've got us a hotel room, if you want. It's just a fifteen minute shuttle ride away."
Tweek finally took a step back and looked at him gratefully. "I would love to go there, Craig."
They rode the shuttle to the hotel, and once they were inside the room, Tweek eyed the minibar critically. "Did they restock this while you were gone?"
"I haven't touched a drop of that," Craig insisted. "In fact, I haven't had a drink since a few hours before I heard about what happened to your ship."
Tweek nodded, looking around the hotel room. "Craig...I'm going to take a shower. Do you have a pair of sweat pants and a shirt I can borrow?"
"Sure. I, ah...I'm not sure if they're clean-"
"I don't care. At least I know it was you who was wearing them."
Craig nodded and dug through his dufflebag, handing Tweek the cleanest shirt and sweat pants he could find. Tweek disappeared into the bathroom, and Craig sat down on the bed to wait. Tweek came out fifteen minutes later, his hair wet, wearing the clothes he'd borrowed.
"Spoon with me?" Tweek asked quietly, and Craig nodded.
"Of course." They laid down on top of the bedcovers together and Craig wrapped his arm around Tweek and pulled his back against him.
"This feels really good," Tweek whispered. Craig was about to reply when he realized that Tweek had already started to snore. Craig looked at him in wonder; they'd slept together hundreds of times, and this was only the third or fourth time he'd seen Tweek fall asleep that quickly. It usually happened after a manic episode had kept him from sleeping for a couple days.
After an hour, Craig grew restless and carefully extricated himself from the bed. He walked over to the desk, found a piece of hotel stationery and wrote a short note (gone shopping, be back by 7) and quietly left the room. There was a taxi parked just outside the lobby and Craig opened the back door and asked the driver: "Is there a Walmart nearby?"
"There's one about six miles away."
Craig climbed into the backseat. "Take me there."
After he paid the driver for the ride, he climbed out and said: "If you want another fare, come back in an hour and you can drive me back to the hotel."
"I'll see you then."
He wandered around the huge superstore and bought Tweek a pair of jeans, packages of tee-shirts, underwear, socks, and a new pair of boots. It was easy since they wore the same size clothes except for shoes, and he knew Tweek's size. He was ten minutes early when he finally walked outside again, but the taxi was already there waiting for him and they rode in silence back to the hotel.
Craig opened their hotel room door as quietly as possible and looked inside. Tweek didn't look as though he had moved, and Craig smiled appreciatively. He set the bags down next to the door and clicked the deadbolt as quietly as he could. When he turned around, Tweek was sitting up in the bed looking at him.
"Gah!-Jesus Christ, Tweek!"
Tweek laughed. "I didn't mean to startle you Craig." He looked at the bags leaning against the wall. "What did you get?"
Instead of answering, Craig asked: "How long have you been awake?"
"Well, just a few seconds...this time. I heard you leave though...and read your note." He nodded toward the bags and asked again, "What did you buy?"
Craig picked the bags up and set them on the bed and they dumped their contents onto the blanket between them. Craig watched as Tweek looked through them, obviously delighted. "Clean socks, that someone else hasn't worn...this is the second best thing I've seen since I got back to the states."
"I figured I could use a clean pair too," Craig said, smiling at Tweek's choice of words. "It doesn't hurt that we both wear the same sizes."
"Craig?" He looked up. "The doctor in Greece...the one who checked us over before we came home? He told me I should find someone to talk to about what happened. I know he meant a shrink, but I've already talked to enough of them in my life; I'd rather talk to you about what happened, if that's okay?"
Craig nodded and reached down to take one of Tweek's hands. "Tweek...I want you to tell me everything." Craig lay back against the pillows and pulled Tweek to his chest. "It was really bad, wasn't it?"
Tweek sighed contentedly. "Craig...it's been kind of bad for awhile now; like the last couple years?" Craig stiffened and said nothing. Tweek picked up on it. "We're going to be okay Craig. But I didn't think things could get any worse than the way they were at home...but what happened on that ship made me realize things could be a lot worse." He sighed again, sadly this time. "I'm sorry for bringing that up..."
"It's all right; trust me, I get it. Tell me what happened...we'll talk about us afterward."
Tweek nodded and began speaking, slowly at first but it wasn't long before the words were pouring from him. Craig caressed his shoulders while Tweek spoke. He began with how his group had made the decision to leave the dining room fifteen minutes before midnight (and twenty minutes before the tidal wave capsized their ship) to go celebrate the New Year together in the hall outside their cabins, a decision that probably saving their lives.
"A two-story restaurant that went the full width of the ship?" Craig interrupted, imagining what being inside a room like that when it suddenly turned upside down would have been like. He remembered seeing a picture of it in the cruise line brochure Kenny had given them weeks ago. "Yeah, I'd say it was a good thing you guys left when you did."
"It's weird though, because everyone else besides us who survived was in that dining room when the ship capsized. It...it was bad enough when the hallway we were in turned upside down. I can't imagine what being in there must have been like."
Craig pulled him closer to kiss his neck and said, "keep going."
Tweek nodded and continued, finally finishing with how they'd made their way through the capsized ship to the engine room, finding Robin (who'd been seperated from his group) along the way and reuniting with them again once they'd reached the engine room, where they were finally rescued. Craig was fascinated by the part about Robin but remained silent. Eventually Tweek began telling him about the more mundane parts of the cruise, like his encounter with Mr. Martin while he was jogging, how walking untold miles around the ship had been the best medicine for his anxiety he'd ever found, and his furtive game of 'Missile Command' with Robin Shelby.
"That was one of the best parts of the whole cruise!" Tweek said, kneading Craig's chest with his fingertips. He told Craig how he and Robin had become friends, and Robin's subsequent coming out to Stan just a few hours before the ship capsized and how he was in love with his best friend, Craig finally started laughing.
"Was he the kid who got out of the ship first with a bandage on his hand?"
Tweek's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. What, did you see him on the news or something?" When Craig kept laughing, Tweek went on: "Craig...What's so funny about that? He really loves his friend! It'd be a shame if he got his heart broken if they don't get together."
"Was his friend's name Pete McCafferty?" Craig asked, and Tweek nodded. "I met Pete at the airport; we had lunch together." Craig told him about the time he'd spent with Pete. Tweek was laughing as well by the time Craig finished his story. "He didn't come right out and say it, but he didn't have to. You can tell, if those two would ever just get together and talk to each other, they'll be fine." He smiled. "And who knows? Maybe this whole experience will give them a push in the right direction. You know...like it did me."
Tweek smiled. "That was really nice, Craig." He raised his head so they were looking at each other. "Did you rehearse that?"
Craig chuckled. "Nope. I thought of it just now. I really mean it, though." Tweek...are you going to be okay? I mean...it's kind of soon to ask, and I know I've been a piece of shit lately, but...I want to fix whatever's hurting you now."
Tweek closed his eyes. "I want to fix whatever's hurting you too, Craig. It...it's all I've ever really wanted to do." Tweek hugged him. "We're going to be okay, Craig. I will...and we will, too. You're going to keep your promise to stop drinking...or at least do it in moderation, okay?"
"I don't think there is any moderation with me," Craig admitted, his face against Tweek's neck. "It's either all or nothing. So, for me, it's going to be nothing from now on."
Tweek nodded, and they lay silently for a minute.
"There was this really nice steward on the ship...Mr. Acres," Tweek finally said, reaching into Craig's shirt to run his fingers through his chest hair. "He was British; he used to bring us drinks every day when I got done with my morning walk, and spent his morning breaks with us. And there was a newlywed couple a few cabins down from us who I got to know. They were hoping she would get pregnant on the cruise, a...and we were going to stay in touch after we got home." He sighed. "None of them made it. I lost a lot of new friends on that ship."
"Tweek...is there anything I can do to help? Right now, I mean?"
Tweek raised his head and they looked into each other's eyes. "Yeah... there is something you can do: I want you to make love to me." His expression was intense. "I mean, like you really mean it."
Craig's eyes widened; he actually felt his pupils expand.
"...okay..."
Tweek laughed at Craig's expression. "And after that, I want to sleep some more. And then tomorrow? Um...I don't really want to go to New Hampshire."
"Neither do I," Craig replied immediately.
"I...I have a lifetime's worth of airline vouchers for me and one other person that the cruise company gave me." He laid his head back down, seeking the spot where he could hear Craig's heartbeat. "I got up after you went shopping and looked on your computer. There's a flight leaving tomorrow morning at 8:15 for Denver." Craig nodded, knowing where he was going with this. "In fact I'm just one mouse click away from booking us two tickets. Let's spend the night here," Tweek continued, giving Craig a long look "And then let's go home, okay?"
"All right."
Tweek nodded, sat up, and put his feet on the floor. "Come with me Craig." He stood, looking at Craig expectantly, who stood up as well. Tweek took his hand and led him across the room to the desk where Craig's laptop was open. Craig looked at the United Airlines site and saw that Tweek indeed was one mouse click away from buying two tickets to Denver.
Tweek guided Craig's hand to the mouse, and together they moved the cursor to the bright green buy now button.
"Left click, Craig," Tweek said, and Craig did.
"All set." Tweek nodded and wrapped his arms around Craig, who pressed his lips against Tweeks ear so he could whisper into it.
"Let's go to bed."
THE END