(A/N: February 10th, 2018): Hey everyone. I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to upload. Things have been really rough for me lately, and I haven't had the strength to write or really to do anything. I'm falling behind in my studies, and I really need to focus on that right now. There's been so much stress and heartache in my body lately, I haven't truly felt happy in a while. I keep feeling betrayed by someone who I love the most, and like everyone is abandoning me. I'll update in the future when I can but I can't promise that it'll be often. Everything is painful right now in my life, and I can't really write about strong emotions when I haven't felt any in weeks. Thank you all for reading, it makes me smile seeing all the comments and kudos. Thank you to everyone for understanding, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Ten: Humans can be worse than Demons

Tweek's POV

It seemed like a normal Saturday at the coffee shop. I had been there since 6 am, opening for my mother since she wasn't feeling well. The doctors think she has the flu, which is unusual around this time of year because it's October and Flu season is normally in February. Either way, she couldn't really get out of bed the past couple days and I volunteered to take a double today for her. I made her some blueberry muffins yesterday with Craig assisting me. Even though he knew nothing about cooking or baking, he tried his best and looked adorable doing it. He wore one of my novelty aprons that said "Kiss the Chef" and was completely covered in flour at the end of the day.

I did bake most of the pastries that we offered at the shop, which wasn't too many. It was mostly cookies, scones, and muffins. We normally just sell coffee, but lately, Dad has wanted to expand slowly into the food area of the coffee business. Since I like to bake and I'm in home economics now, I'm "the manager" of the pastries. It doesn't give me a raise or shit, just a new title. I mind, but I wouldn't tell my parents that or else they would be disappointed in me.

The shop was a little bit busy for most of the morning, but it wasn't anything my dad and I couldn't handle. By the time noon rolled around we started to slow down quite a bit, and Dad asked me to head into the back to start making some more pastries for tonight's guests. I was in the back covered in flour when I heard the door open. Standing in the doorway was Clyde, with tears running down his face.

"C-Clyde? What are you doing here? Why are you crying?"

"Your Dad let me come back here, I told him I really needed to talk to you." He looked around the small back room for a second. "I didn't expect this to be what it looked like back here. It's awfully cluttered. Anyways, that's not important. We need to talk." It was cluttered back here, the room was half the size due to all the boxes of paper goods and ingredients. I was working on a tiny fold out table, trying to make sure it didn't fall over as I mixed cookie batter by hand.

"What's wrong?" My heart started to race. What could be wrong? Did someone hurt Clyde or anyone in the group? Could something have happened to Craig? The room was silent for a minute until Clyde started to sniffle again. Clyde shut the door and walked over to me, and basically collapsed into my arms.

"Craig's in the hospital… There was an accident this morning while he was hunting with his dad." My heart stopped, and the room went completely silent. Now I had my arms wrapped around Clyde, gripping onto him for dear life. I didn't want to ask this question, but I felt it weakly bounce off of my lips.

"Is he dead?" I wasn't even sure if Clyde heard me because I could barely hear myself.

"No, thank god! He wasn't a killing shot, he was only shot in the left shoulder. It went right through him though. His Dad told me they couldn't find who did it, but it seemed to be an accident. Hunting season, you know? Everyone's shooting. Craig passed out from the pain, and hasn't woken up yet though." He mumbled into my shoulder.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" I jumped out of Clyde's grasp and held onto his shoulders, shaking him lightly. "We need to go see him! I need to make sure he's okay! I'll take off the rest of the day of work, this is an emergency!"

"Woah Woah Tweek! Slow down I can barely understand you! You're going a million miles an hour!"
"I can't slow down knowing Craig is in the hospital! He needs us, Clyde, we need to get going!" I grabbed Clyde's hand and almost dragged him out the door before he stopped me.

"His Dad said he's not allowed to have visitors besides immediate family. I thought I could be considered family, but apparently not." He sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "That boy is my brother." I pulled him into a hug.

"I know Clyde, I know." I guess it's a good thing I wasn't able to see Craig yet. If I saw him now weak and injured in the hospital, I would have broken down. I would cry, scream, try to find who shot him and kill them. I know it was an accident, or so they think. If this was intentional, I would rip someone's head off. Why would anyone want to hurt Craig though? He seems pretty liked in the community of South Park. Right now, I needed to focus on calming down Clyde. I felt like I had to be the strong on currently since Craig wasn't here. "How about I make us both a coffee, and we'll both sit down for a little bit. I'll take my break, and we can both calm down a bit." I walked with him onto the coffee shop floor with my hand on the center of his back. I would put my arm around his shoulder if I could reach it. "I'll make the coffee and you can find a both. What would you like?"

"Something really sweet. I'm not the biggest coffee drinker."

"Want a cookie as well?" He nodded and I sent him off on his was as I walked over to the counter. My dad was standing there cleaning the espresso machine. "Dad, I'm going to take my break. My friend Clyde is really upset and I'm going to sit with him."

"Alright son, is everything okay?"

"Craig was in an accident earlier today. He's in the hospital."

"That's your friend who's been over every day this past week, right?"

"Yeah, that's Craig."

"I'm really sorry about that son. He seems to have become your best friend lately, which I appreciate of him. We'll have to send a gift basket or flowers from your mother and I. Will this stop you from working tonight?"

"No, he's not allowed to have visitors currently. I might try to see him tomorrow afternoon after my shift."

"Alright Son, go comfort your friend."

"I'm going to buy him a coffee and a cookie if that's okay."

"I will be taking it out of your paycheck."

"Okay, Dad." I ended the conversation and started with Clyde's coffee. I filled the cup with four pumps of white chocolate and two pumps of simple syrup sugar. I didn't put in as much coffee as I normally would with a customer, and added extra whole milk. I topped his drink with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and toffee bits. I made myself my specialty caramel butterscotch macchiato, grabbed a chocolate chip cookie, and walked over to where I could see a head of brunette hair sticking up over the booth.

Clyde was a taller boy, but not as tall as Craig. I'd say he's almost six feet. His brunette hair was moussed up and parted to the side, giving it full volume. When he had a football game though, he just slicked it all back so it would fit in his helmet. He was wearing a red football varsity jacket with the number 21 on the front pocket and sprawled over the back with his last name Donovan above it. I don't understand how I became friends with the school's quarterback, or why he's come to me crying instead of someone like Token.

"Where are Token and Jimmy today?" I questioned, trying to start up a conversation.

"Token went to key west for the weekend with his parents, and Jimmy is in Denver for a stand-up comedy show. I called both of them on my way here to let them know." He slowly took a sip of his coffee. "Fuck, that's good!"

"And is Bebe around today? I thought you'd want her to be comforting you instead of me."

"Bebe and I aren't together anymore, Tweek. I caught her giving a player of the other team a blowjob after the game Thursday night. We lost, and she said only winners get rewards. I just told her she was a fucking whore. I was pissed and extremely upset."

"Shit dude, what a whore." I didn't have anything against Bebe personally, I always thought she was a sweet girl. I couldn't imagine her doing something like that, but I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.

"Yeah, it's okay. I'd rather you comfort me when it involves this amazing coffee! I think you've converted me, dude!"

"Thanks." I giggled, clutching my own coffee.

"I just wish everything didn't happen at once, first losing Bebe and now Craig's in the hospital."

"Life just likes to fuck everyone like that, but soon the wave will fall and everything will be calm again."

"Dude, did you just become your dad?"

"Fuck you, Clyde." We both laughed and drank our coffees. Clyde took a bite of his cookie and lit up.

"Did you make this?"

"I normally do, yeah."

"Who knew you could bake?!"

"Craig knows, he helped me make blueberry muffins for my mom who's sick."

"You've been spending a lot of time with Craig lately, has something been happening between you two?"

"Uh….no we've just become good friends."

"Well, I'm glad!" He flashed a grin at me. "Craig certainly needs more friends, and a friend of Craig's is a friend of mine! Even though I would be friends with you anyways, you're very awesome."

"Thanks."

"You know who's actually been talking to me more and helping me out?"

"Who?"

"Damien Thorn. I thought it was weird at first that he started talking to me but he's actually a really nice guy."

"Yeah, be careful with him. His niceness can become harmful."

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Go for it."

"Well, Damien was trying really hard to get Craig and me to date."

"Like...he shipped you?"

"I guess," I couldn't imagine a real life relationship being shipped, but I remember learning what shipping is from Tumblr freshman year of high school. "Anyways, he used some of his demon powers to try to convince us to be together. It was really weird."

"Wait, are you two….you know?" I didn't say anything for a minute, and a grin spread across his face. "I fucking knew it!"

"Shut up!" I glanced around the room, making sure no one was watching our little booth. "What do you mean you knew?"

"I knew Craig was gay! I've known that since before this summer!"

"You heard about what happened this summer?"

"Yeah, only Craig, Token, me, and you know though."

"Jesus Christ."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!" He smiled and pretended to zip his lips up and throw away the key. Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but give him a light sock in the arm. We both ended up giggling like little school girls.

"Thanks Clyde, that means a lot. How about tomorrow we go see Craig together when I get out of work at 2?"

"That sounds great bro," He chugged the rest of his coffee, and put a fist out towards me. I stared at him for a second before I realized what I was supposed to do. I fist bumped him back, glaring at him for not savoring the drink that I made especially for him. "I'm going to head out and let you get back to work. I'm planning on hanging out with Damien tonight. I'll see you tomorrow alright?"

"Sounds great, see you." I watched him from the booth as he walked out of the shop until he was out of sight. I didn't want to tell him, or tell anyone but that's alright. He seemed as though he was someone to trust, but I'm wondering what he's doing hanging out with Damien so much now. What if….no that's silly.

I spent the rest of the day surrounded by the rich aroma of coffee and baked cookies, even after my father left and I was left to shut down the shop myself. I was used to closing down by myself, and honestly, I found it a little bit peaceful walking home alone. It clears my head of everything that's cluttered in it when I'm alone. I locked the front door to the shop, throwing the keys in my backpack and starting to walk through the pure white sparkles falling gently from the sky. I exhaled, and my breath transformed into a crisp cloud in the air. Many people hated the cold in this world, but it was something that made me smile. Especially before all the dirt and footprints ruined the snow, my heart would skip a beat at a fresh snow.

As I walked through the snow, I kept staring up at the sky. It was absolutely magnificent, but I have always been someone who has been fascinated by the weather. When it rained hard and the winds blow everything away, all I want to do is run for miles and jump. When it snows, I was to dance and twirl as if I was a ballerina. Before I could realize it, I felt something whack me in the back of the head hard enough to cause me to fall face first into the snow.

I started to regain consciousness as I felt two pairs of hands grabbing my arms and pulling me onto my knees. That knock in the head was strong enough to cause the ground to continue spinning even minutes after getting hit. For a minute I couldn't remember where I was until I looked around and realized I was still outside. My head felt as though someone was drilling into it, causing me to not be able to look up. I saw three pairs of feet in front of me, and I shut my eyes to keep the area from spinning.

"What should we do to the little faggot now?" The voice was familiar, but with the injury, I couldn't piece the name or face with the voice. It was a higher pitch voice, but still manly. What did he call me?

"I have a good idea." Another voice stated as I felt a swift kick to my stomach. Coughing, my body started to go limp again but I was still being held up. What did I do to deserve this? My thoughts were fuzzy, not being able to keep one in my head. I tried to look up and noticed a sharp knife pressed up against my throat. Tears started to form in my eyes when I was face to face in a man with a black ski mask on. All I could see were brown eyes and an aggressive mouth.

"W-why?" I was able to choke out.

"Why? Because you're a little twink! Why the fuck do you think it's okay to be a fag? We heard about you trying to get into Craig Tucker's pants, why would you try to torture that poor boy by forcing him to be your boyfriend?"

"I…..I…." I couldn't think straight. "I didn't force anything….he asked me out."

"Lies!" Another sharp pain ran through my body from the impact to my stomach. The masked man was using me as a human punching bag, and I wasn't strong enough to escape. "He was straight before and after your forced relationship! Now all of a sudden he's gay with you again, it has to be forced!" Two more punches, one nailing me right in the jaw. Pain surged through my head yet again. "If you continue to trap him like this, you're a dead fag. Consider this a warning." My arms were released and I sunk to the ground like a rag doll. From my stomach to my head, I couldn't move. My face started to go numb from the cold of the snow, which at least made it felt better. What if I died here? I shut my eyes as I heard the footsteps run away.

Hours seemed to fly by and I couldn't feel anything in my body. Consciousness started to fade in and out, but I could hear a voice in what sounded like a long tunnel. "T-T-T-Tweek!" Whose voice was that? I tried to concentrate on the sound. "H-His nose is b-b-bleeding."

"He looks like he's been here for a while, common we need to get him home!" Another familiar voice I couldn't recognize. My eyes felt as though they were cemented shut, and that voice was the last thing I remember before I finally passed out.