Old Ties & Goodbyes

by HuntressWithin

A/N: After CREEK officially became canon, I wanted to incorporate the old friendship that Craig and Ross had as childhood friends, but has slowly dissipated over time. What are they thinking? How do they feel? Also, I firmly believe old friendships that break apart are much harder to deal with than romantic relationships.

Old Ties and Goodbyes

Age Time: Highschoolers (17/18), There is underage drinking.

Genre: Coming-of-Age, OCXCanon (Platonic)

Themes: Reconnection, Old Ties

A/N: After CREEK officially became canon, I wanted to incorporate the old friendship that Craig and Ross had as childhood friends, but has slowly dissipated over time. What are they thinking? How do they feel? This is going to be a challenge since Craig himself is a very apathetic character while Ross is bold and over-exaggerating. Also, I firmly believe old friendships that break apart are much harder to deal with than romantic relationships.

((This is also a different POV to the fanfic of the "McKern" (OCxCanon) ship of my friend, who owns her OC Josephine Kern! She was the reason why I started writing this fanfiction in the first place lol, love you!))

—

INTERIOR - South Park School Corridors, Midday

*DING!*

Tonight 10PM! Drinks provided but you may BYOB. Text me if you need my address. SEE YOU BITCHES THERE! 3

The first thing she sees, as her face is illuminated by the distractingly bright screen. It's not the first party that Ross has ever been invited to by Bebe, but definitely the biggest one yet that she has hosted. Word on the street is that everyone in school will be there, even those snarky Goth Kids who she thinks will mope around the whole time. But that's the price anyone can pay for being Bebe Stevens: the pretty, stylish, and trendy blonde of South Park Secondary School. In a quiet little mountain town like South Park, everyone grows up together…especially the ones that go to school at a young age. Years have passed and everyone in this small little town practically knows each other even more now—and yet, for a girl like Ross, getting to know everyone is basically playing life on easy mode for her.

Being social has never been a problem for Ross. As a matter of fact, it's her most annoying trait as a child. Ross loves to give people many chances, her naïveté and gullible innocence have been the key to opening everyone up in her world. Years past and more and more of South Park started to slowly understand and accept her natural self. Or, maybe you can say, they…tolerated, at most. At one point in her childhood, Ross only really hung out with boys due to her androgynous appearance growing up, and being mistaken for a boy. Once the students eventually learned about her true gender identity, girls like Wendy and Bebe slowly approached her. It wasn't that Ross never liked hanging with the girls, she just never knew how to act like one traditionally! Ross does her own thing no matter what, the solo kid that'll say hi here and there. But now, anyone — possibly any social group of friends, will hang around with her included.

She sighs while reading the phone, staring back at her. Eventually she hides herself a smirk to regain her calm.

I can do this. Piece of cake, right?

Quickly enough, Ross pulls her handbag that was once laying on the floor, and up to her shoulders, walking through the hallways of South Park Secondary. Beyond the hallways are the noises and blurs of students passing by. Some laugh, some yell, some even blurring out obscenities at one another. After all, they say it's just a quiet little mountain town, right? There was absolutely no filter with these kids, every insult you can imagine was thrown across the hallways left and right.

The earthy-brown, curly haired girl with her rusted and damaged green drawstring jacket, put together with washed out grey-blue loose jeans and black beanie, passes by confidently with a smile on her face. She greets casually as she goes by:

"Sup Dudes!"

"Oh, hey Ross~"

"Oh— hey R-r-r-Ross, see ya tuh-t-tonight?"

"TIMMAH!"

"You bet, Jimmy! See ya there too, Timmy!"

"Hey Nichole!"

"Long time no see, babe!"

Eventually the natural light of the Sun finally peaks in, as Ross takes her first few steps out of the dimlitted school hallways and onward to the barren town streets. Hormonal, teenage kids are passing by her like a swarm of flies, feeling the excitement of not only finishing school, but knowing what's coming for tonight. The sun hits Ross' face eventually, causing her to look up at the sky with her right arm covering her eyes with some shade. She breathes in and out to take in the fresh, cold air and sees the sidewalk clearing up from all the kids leaving to go home. Ross steps onto the sidewalk at her own time with a grin on her face, exerting what appears to be confidence? While she takes her time pacing home down the sidewalk, intrusive thoughts start to slowly run through her mind. Her smile eventually disappears. Her eyebrows, furrowing in confusion, showing hesitance, and even a bit of fear as her eyes glue onto the view of her shoes walking in motion on the sidewalk. Her feet now pacing the same beat as her adrenaline rushed heart—

"Yo ROSS!"

Immediately she snaps her head up forward, looking straight ahead. Familiar faces are seen from afar, two boys precisely. One dark skinned boy with a studious, high branded purple turtleneck and a pair of fancy black corduroy pants as dark as a pitch black sky, pairing it with nicely clean, expensive shoes, smiling at Ross. He has a short, clean-cut updo that shapes his head perfectly. The second boy, standing right by his side, is casually flailing his arm around with a greeting that reads, "Hey, you see us?!" It lacks grace, but still a welcoming presence nonetheless. The fair skinned, shaggy chocolate-haired boy wears South Park's school varsity jacket, over his red button-up sweater paired with navy blue washed out jeans. His entire style seems to be a little more on the casual side in comparison to the fancier-looking boy right next to him.

The smile that once faded on Ross's face immediately reappears. She sprints towards them both like a happy obedient puppy.

"Hey Clyde! Heya Tolkien!"

"Dude", Tolkien jumps in. "When was the last time we hung out? You barely come over to my place these days."

"Okay, first of all, you live in the middle of a farm, that's fucking far. And besides, it's not like you don't EVER see me!"

Clyde snickers. "No dude, be fucking serious. You wander around so damn much on your own we keep thinking you finally got abducted, for fucks sake."

She rolls her eyes and sighs, with a conniving smirk on her face. They're not completely off the bat, Ross spends her time a lot doing things on her own and trespassing, sometimes she gets herself in incredibly messy situations with Kenny or Marjorine, involving in alter egos, accomplice work, or even when it's trouble tied down to her family business, Flores Del Mar. So to be fair, Ross can't get completely upset at them both, because Clyde was right…to an extent.

"Well, you'll see me again, losers!" She shoots silly-looking air guns at both Clyde and Tolkien. "I'll be at Bebe's birthday party tonight, and it's gonna be so fucking sick! The party of the decade!"

Suddenly, an awkward tension rises up in the air once she says that. Tolkien and Clyde share a quick look at one another. "Well, Ross…" Tolkien steps forward vocally, being the icebreaker. "Bebe, she's pretty much cool with everyone. But you know, if everyone knows her, then…" He stops for a second to wait on her response, but alas, nothing. Just a blank, confused stare. Sometimes Tolkien wishes that his friend could read the room a little better, but unfortunately her absent-mindedness prevents that from happening. He rubs the back of his neck with his right arm, awkwardly. "Don't you think you'll see a certain—"

"Hey hey, listen!" Ross immediately interrupts the studious and grounded nature of Tolkien, him always being the voice of reason. "I know I'm gonna see Craig. Don't be such a weirdo about it!" she crosses her arms sassily. "He's probably gonna be with Tweek all night." Hearing her say that out loud has her eyes loosening its focus on the boys. Distance is all she sees now.

Clyde groans to himself. "Uh, yeah. Of course he is, dude." He says with a tone that seems to be tired of her bullshit. "And it sounds like you have a problem with it."

"Hey! Don't make me sound like the bad guy!" She turns her head to Clyde, who's too busy spacing out with a cheerless, annoyed facial expression and no eye contact given. He doesn't even bother looking at her in the eye. "I don't mind those two being together. I'm just waiting for the right time to hang with Craig again." Ross walks forward to a barren tree by the sidewalk and leans against the bark, putting her hands in her sage green jacket within a relaxed stance. She eventually looks away, having her curls motion with her in a flip.

Clyde rolls his eyes. While giving her an eyebrow raise, he says out loud: "Tsk, tsk tsk. Here's your problem man, you always say you'll find the 'right time' to hang with Craig, but when is the right time? You say it, then you drop your things on the spot and run away. Then you're doing some dumb stupid shit getting yourself into trouble and soon enough we think you've definitely been caught and kidnapped! It's like you're scared of confronting him, dude."

"Yeah Ross, you hung out with us all the time before. Heck, you don't even act like that with me and Clyde when we invite Bebe and Nichole to hang out. Why can't you accept that some people like to prioritize their relationships more? It almost comes across as jealousy." Tolkien can be such a smartass, even when he means well.

Her eyes stay locked on towards the distance, pondering on what they've just scolded at her for. She knows they're right, which gets on her nerves just a bit. To her, life wasn't always being around bigger friend groups that she would visit here and there for a limited amount of time. Truth is, Ross had a hard time at first adjusting to the rest of the kids at South Park. She was always the one to make the first move, to socialize and be friendly, after all that's what she was taught at a young age. But the problem was, nobody could keep up with her personality. She was always too bold, too nosy, too aggressively platonic, or just overall too much. Kids would call her Carpet Muncher, especially Cartman, but she had no idea what it meant until maybe just a few years ago. But, alas, one of her first ever friends just so happened to be the complete opposite of crazy and annoying. And surprisingly, in his most apathetic way ever, he gave her a chance. It's a bit surprising knowing that he's always called girls ugly, dumb, stupid, and even stinky. But with Ross, she just knows how to jab right back at him, and to an extent, it's pretty entertaining and even impresses him on how sporadic she can be. Eventually, this one boy introduced her to the rest of his friend group, including Clyde and Tolkien. And then that's that, the rest is history. Ross finally had friends that got her, all because of this one boy that was once her best friend.

After a moment of long pondering, she finally gives in. "Guys, you know me. I don't mean to be such a lame asswipe, things are just…different, right? And maybe I'm not too ready for this whole different thing yet." Her voice softens in tone, which is a rarity to hear. Both Tolkien and Clyde share a look, and back at her. Once they look back, her footsteps have already begun.

As he sees Ross already starting to walk away, Tolkien slightly opens his mouth and prepares himself in advance while slowly following behind her just a few feet away. He knows that whatever he will ask will not be comfortable for her to hear.

"Ross…are you afraid of something?"

"I'll see you at the party, guys!" She says out loud in her usual bold tone again, not looking back. Tolkien stops walking, and slowly sees her run away.

"You better be there! I got the booze! And YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME PICK UP CHICKS!" Says the boy with his messy brown hair and boastful attitude.

The polished boy sighs and shakes his head, with a small hidden chuckle. "Dude, she needs a girlfriend already."

—

INTERIOR - Delmar Residence, Ross' Room, Evening

Dim lighting from glow-in-the-dark star foam, night lights, and a computer screen lit on. Messy shirts all over the bed from trying on, and off, and on, and off, yet none of them felt right. Ross sits to herself in silence, pondering on what to do, what to even say.

What the hell, man? This isn't me.

She abruptly gets up and lets out a long, hard sigh. One more confirmation before leaving, and she's good. Ross walks forward to the mirror, checking to see if her fit is just right for her. A magenta crop tee with low rise black jeans, showing off her visible boxer lining right above. Right on top of her outfit as an overlay piece is a short sleeve, green blazer to give off a casual, night out look. And of course, whatever big black boots she has in her closet. Something stylish, yet something that's her.

*Ding!*

She pulls out her phone from her pocket once again.

Marjorine: "Heya girl! Wanna meet up with me, Kyle and Jo for a ride tonight? Unfortunately Eric is here too, but it wouldn't hurt to ask! 3"

Sounds of a clicking keyboard start to echo.

"Hey bitch! Nah, I'll be going there my way. But I'll definitely see ya there!"

Her tone and her facial expressions are in juxtaposition, nowhere near in relation to one another. Quickly enough, she furrows her brows and makes a smirk, faking her confidence by just a tiny bit. Windy breeze travels through her room as she opens the windows wide open.

BOOM!

Her feet meet the ground, hand in hand. The sound of her impact lasted for only around a second, Ross is used to being as careless as she could ever be. No height ever scared her before. South Park at night is cold, brittle, and yet soothing, just how she likes it. Footsteps of her heavy-weighted boots meet with concrete, creating thuds as she walks. She ponders to herself as she puts her head up high to look at the stars. She likes the view, but wonders in thought if there's anyone she could share that view with. A smile curls upon her face, only to be shaken with anxiety.

I'm all alone.

—

EXTERIOR - Stevens Residency, Bebe's Front Yard, Evening

Just in time, it seems like the party's just getting started. Ross has always been a people lover, she loves company, hanging out, spending quality time, even if the person is not necessarily the best, because she knows she can just jab them back if they deserve it. Her hands are relaxing in her jean pockets, looking from afar with a faint smile. On the corner of her eye, she notices once again, familiar people passing by. Slowly enough, she realizes that person is just Cartman getting himself ready to walk in. Ross kind of dreaded seeing him for a bit, but laughed it off. Seeing Cartman meant that even friendlier faces have arrived. Ross looks around curiously, hoping to see the two girls she really loved. And then, she did. All she had to do was walk up and approach right behind her.

A boy and his curly red fro was the first to stand out in her eyes. "Hey Ross."

"Kyle!" Ross greets happily, grabbing his hand with force and pulling him into a hug. Was it a little aggressive? Maybe. But how else will she express her admiration to her friends? Kyle reciprocated, with a little restraint in his movement. If anyone is Ross's friend, nobody is ever ready for her strength. Two girls behind Kyle stand behind him shyly. One with long, black hair down her back with a beautiful thin, velvet blue dress. The other with cute blonde curls and a frilly dress suited for her. Ross grins in excitement seeing the two.

"Marj! Bunny! Damn, you guys look hot as fuck!"

The sound of snickering from Kyle follows in the air, and the two girls blush from her "compliment."

"Aw, you really think so?" Marjorine giggles.

"That's to be expected from you, Marj. You always look good." Ross laughed. "What are you guys doing back here? Party's over there."

"Well, why are you here then?" Kyle asked Ross.

I don't feel ready, dude!

She quickly plays along with Kyle and gestures behind her. "I felt the ground shake when fatass entered the house, so I figured you guys weren't too far away," She laughs, quickly coming up with a joke that makes her feel proud about herself. And she did, because Kyle and Marj definitely chuckled. Suddenly, she grabbed Marjorine and Jo's hands. "Come on, don't be shy!"

Ross starts to walk faster towards the entrance of Bebe's house, leaving Kyle a little behind them, taking his time as he walks. Apparently, it was the hottest high school party of the year in their town, and everyone at their school will be there. Practically anyone Ross has even said a simple hi to. Ross has done smaller parties before, even just friends hanging out together, but Keggers was a whole new world. It felt both exciting, yet worrisome. Ross looks back at Marjorine, who seems to be having the time of her life with this experience. Jo, however, seems a little lost, as if she's on a different planet completely.

As they approach the party, Ross decides to let go of them both. "Alrighty you hot bitches, who's ready to have fun?!"

Marjorine lets out an excited yelp. "Gee, I can't wait to hang out with our friends, Ross! Should we get drinks?"

Before Ross could respond, a distracted Jo catches her attention.

"You alright, Bunny?"

"Hm?" The raven haired girl with loosely cut bangs looks up with a pensive face. "Oh, yes. I'm doing fine. Why do you ask?"

Ross and Marjorine share a face together. While doing so, Marjorine gives a concerned face, but eventually lightly shrugs at Ross while giving a smile; one that says Let's leave her be. Ross looks back at Jo and chuckles. "You're always at my throat, dude. And you're real quiet tonight. I just wanna see you be the bunny I know!"

Jo shuts her eyes for a second and sighs deeply. She opens them back up and looks at Ross. "Parties are just not my scene, let alone Keggers. And besides, let's just say that I'm not the most…prepared to bump into people tonight. I don't know."

Ross laughs with relief. "Honestly, same here. I needed to hear that." She smiles brightly at Jo. "At least we're on the same page, right?!"

"Sure, Ross." Jo says in the most straightforward way possible. "I'll figure shit out and just walk around with Kyle."

Ross nods and winks at Jo, grabbing Marjorine's hand excitedly. They both enter through the doors, already lost in the haze of so many high schoolers around them.

"Are you gonna dance?!" Marjorine yells to Ross through the loud, electronic music playing in the back.

"Bitch, I was born ready!" Ross laughs and grabs Marjorine's hands once more, leaning her in to dance to the music. Both of the girls are having the time of their lives, laughing, dancing, not caring about who sees them. It was a perfect scenario for Ross, just to be carefree with no repercussions. At least she had Marjorine to spend time with. After all, those two had their fair share of memories together, and Marj was probably one of the few people that liked Ross being herself. Memories flash in her eyes and she laughs to herself while dancing with Marj, and even Marjorine joins along with her, not really knowing what the context of Ross laughing was all about.

Eventually, she sees two familiar faces by the corner of her eye. Clyde and Tolkien happen to be together with none other than Bebe Stevens herself, the host of the party. Clyde, being the booze provider of the party with his fake ID, and Bebe being the birthday girl herself, are already long gone together in the wasted train of alcohol consumption. Tolkien seems to be in caution mode, making sure both of the active alcoholics were standing and behaving okay. Throughout all the chaos happening around them, Tolkien sees Ross at one point from afar and waves gently. As he waves to her, Clyde and Bebe look in the same direction in unison, and Marjorine stops to see what was going on with a smile on her face. The two alcoholics run up to Ross and Marjorine in excitement, while Bebe hugs Marjorine with much affection intended.

"AYyeEEee, it's myYy WingmMAaaNnn! I see you finally getting some BITCHES!" Clyde boasts excitedly seeing Ross, and winks at Marjorine as she giggles back in return. He can barely hold a sentence together, hence why Tolkien is simply bodyguarding him.

"Oh my gosh, it's RoOSSs!" Bebe runs towards Ross loosely with an abrupt hug. "Thank youUUuu for comMingGg toniiigGGhht!" She turns to her side seeing Marjorine. "And tHe cUuUteStt giRL is here aT the PaRTy toO!"

"Hehe, aw shucks Bebe. That's all you!" Marjorine blushes to Bebe complimenting her, and twirls her golden hair in her fingers.

"AlrightyYy, wingMANn. Gonna helP me piCk uP Some GiRLs or wHat? You seeM liKe you're aLreaDy doing a gOod job yOuRSeLf." Clyde puts a hand on Ross' shoulder and jokingly shakes her, laughing to himself on his comment.

Damn, how much did they drink? Ross laughs to herself at her own intrusive thoughts. She was ready to respond back, it's her nature to be friendly, but unfortunately, Clyde, Tolkien and Bebe shouldn't have moved. At the very end of the room is a couch with so many people communicating with one another, overcrowding the seating area.

"Y-you alright, girlie?" Marjorine asks with concern. She noticed Ross' change in emotion quite immediately. Before she could even speak back, her eyes quickly followed a silhouette of a person that seemed very familiar to her. If those three hadn't moved, Ross wouldn't have seen the couch to begin with. But now she does, and a chill went back down her spine.

—

INTERIOR - Stevens Residency, Living Room, Evening

Many years have passed and Tweek and Craig are still going strong in their relationship. Tweek, a poor little anxious kiddo with strong, heavy dark circles under his eyes and the same old ruffling hair that he always had. Nothing much has changed with him, but this time, his button-down shirt that is always disheveled and misplaced, seems to be properly buttoned from top to bottom, possibly all thanks to his "sweet" boyfriend getting him ready for the party. And then, of course, we have the infamous monotoned, straightforward boy in all of South Park sitting next to Tweek on the couch, with his puffy black hair hiding underneath his signature blue chullo hat. He pairs his hat with a sweater in the same tone of blue, with washed out skinny black jeans that sculpts out his figure casually, making him appear taller. Craig has been that one kid who everyone knows oozes cool; he's always been a popular guy, even if it's not his choice to be. No matter how much everybody respected him in school, he never gave a single care in the world.

That would've been the case many years ago, where he vigorously flipped people off left and right to whoever he found annoying. Nowadays, this same boy is a bit more patient, and even smiles more here and there. But, again, he's now a boyfriend, and that's what boyfriends do—take care of their partner when they need them most, and better them as their own individual person. Matter of fact, they are both great for each other, while one calms the nerves of the other, the other learns to be more accepting and patient; Craig does appear a bit more bright and cheerful these days. and that's all thanks to Tweek.

In the middle of all the chaos surrounding these two, Craig seems to be grounded, as usual. Him and Tweek are doing what they always do: talk with admiration, learn from each other a bit better, laugh here and there (but maybe Tweek is doing more of the laughing.) These two, especially Craig, used to hang out with Clyde, Tolkien, and a few other boys from their friend group as well. One kid that Craig definitely was around for the most part (or, maybe was forced to against his will) was none other than Ross. These two kids were very different in personalities, but at the end of the day, they hung out and did things together knowing that they'd get along with common interests. Who else would Craig play with in pretending to be Spaceman if the other boys would just make fun of him and his silly costume? Not Ross. Maybe it's a good thing that she's his one friend who isn't a boy, because at least from there, she can just play along and entertain him in ways he appreciated.

Eventually, life goes on and people do their own separate things. After Tweek and Craig started to date, their priorities have been mainly towards each other, which meant less frequent hangouts. And if Craig is no longer around, you can thank Tweek for that as well.

Hmm.

She doesn't even bother to put in effort now while talking to Clyde, Tolkien, Marjorine and Bebe. All she can see in front of her now is the boy who was once her best friend. Now, he's just the boy sitting on the couch, talking to his boyfriend, and not paying mind to anything around him. His eyes are locked onto his long time lover and only him. Tolkien quickly picks up Ross's vision dozing off into the distance, and looks into the same direction. His eyes slightly widen, not in fear, but with alertness.

"Dude, whatever you have in mind, just don't pay it mind at all." Token says with assurance, scolding Ross like he's her mother. Tolkien turns back to face her. "He's busy anyways, just leave it be."

"PFFT!" Clyde starts to jump in the conversation, with his reek of alcohol surrounding him. "Ross, whythe hhELL are you SO SCARED to talk to him? Just fucking DO IT ALREADYyy. you act like HIS fucking girlfriEenNd more than TWEEK sometimes, MAN!" Clyde digests his frustration and impatience by chugging down another can of beer. They say drunk words are how you really feel, and Clyde has definitely been over Ross' behavior for a long, long time. "And yoU're HOGGING all thE giRLs tO YOuRsELf!"

Token tries to interfere: "I don't think that's a wise idea—"

"No." Once again, Ross interrupts Tolkien from being the voice of reason all, the damn, time. "Clyde's right. I need to stop being a pussy and have fun! And I'm not his girlfriend, Clyde! So shut up!"

"But Ross, this isn't the right ti—"

Nobody can ever stop her and tell her what to do. So, in result, she immediately sprints towards the couch.

"WOOHOO, GO ROSS!" Bebe cheers on, giggling in with her intoxicated laughs. The three slowly watch the curly haired girl walk away, as her figure becomes smaller and smaller in their view. "Guys, I have NO idea what the hell is going on. But YOU GO GIRLL!~"

Marjorine looks at Ross sprinting away with her eyebrows raised up by her forehead. "Oh, jeez…"

Tolkien scolds both Bebe and Clyde while Ross sprints away with determination. The closer she got to the living room couch, the more blocked out Tolkien's voice became from the distance, only with loud and abrasive electronic party music drowning him out. Each step meant adrenaline pumping through her body more and more from anxiety and determination. Nothing was planned for her in her head, heck, she didn't even plan to talk to Craig in the beginning. Quickly enough, her sprinting became bothersome to the rest of the people at the party, all she could see was Craig and nobody else around her that she's shoving. Maybe her determination was too determined. Eventually enough, she reached her destination. All she could think to say was one little word:

—

"Hey."

The nonchalant, raven haired boy who was once laughing softly with his boyfriend, now shows an expression of slight annoyance. Craig hates getting any attention that is not asked by him personally. But honestly, it makes sense. Craig is fairly handsome for his age, even when the girls say "too bad" after coming out as gay, cause if he wasn't, he'd be pretty popular with girls in his school. But again, that's not really Craig. Anytime he's brought upon someone else's business other than his, he immediately sees it as a bothersome problem. Any shenanigans that the four boys or anyone else in South Park gets Craig involved, is no other than a negative connotation in his eyes. Even though annoyance is shown in his face, his eyes have yet to meet Ross. And eventually, it does.

Their eyes are finally in sync with each other, after so long. His expression turns into a sudden realization, not in shock, but in a way of relief. He quickly responds to the determined, curious girl:

"Uh…hey?"

The sound of that nasally voice rang in her head with familiarity. Man, has she not heard that voice in a long time. The sound of someone who she used to see everyday, who was once her best friend. All she did was stare back. She needed a minute to process how to feel, and what to say…It was quite silent at first, especially with Tweek just freaking out in spasms seeing Ross. She quickly gets back on her feet with where she was:

"Hey Craaiggg! Heya Tweeekk! Long time no see, right fellas?"

"AGHHTT!" Tweek's anxiety is always on a high, but his spasms weren't necessarily present…until Ross of course showed up. "DUDE! I-it's been so long! D-did ya need something?! Was there something y-you wanted to tell us?!" He twitches and ticks his eyes on and off.

Ross laughs to herself. Oh, how she misses seeing Tweek. She loved that little rascal because of how easily reactive he gets. "No way, Jose! I just wanted to see my favorite buds and say hi. Is that a bad thing?"

"Kind of."

Craig immediately interrupts her with a no-bullshit tone. Him saying this wasn't to be mean or harsh, but to him it was being honest. With the timing, it was kind of weird.

This tone from Craig affected Ross in a way. She's aware of his straightforward attitude, but she didn't think he would cut her off so quickly. "...Oh. H-haha!" She brushes it off, as best as she could. "But what better way to see you and say hi than a party like Bebe's? Come on guys, we should have some fun!" While saying this, Ross pushes Craig to their right side of the sofa, having him shove Tweek with their little space. She jumps onto the leftover space of the couch and falls flat on the seat, aggressively. Tweek and Craig make a grunt in unison from the impact of Ross's thrust, and look at each other while shoved up uncomfortably. Tweek has a face of worry and concern with his eyes twitching and shutting individually, while Craig has a face of an eyebrow raised and of course: annoyance.

Craig looks at Ross, who is smiling brightly at both of the boys. "Dude, what the fuck are you doing."

"Making time and memories with you guys, duh?! So how've ya been?"

Craig rolls his eyes. "Ross, why now. You're always annoying but right now, you're being really annoying."

Ross laughs. "Haha, good one! That's the Craig I know!" She continues to chuckle, the type of chuckle where it conceals her true feelings. She raises her arms and legs up high to stretch, and lays her legs down on both Tweek and Craig after exhaling. She forms a relaxing stance with her hands behind her head while grinning to herself..and at the boys.

Ross' abrupt attitude and long legs on top of Tweek's lap starts to freak him out. "nnnNNNNGGAAAHHhhhgGHH!"

"I wasn't joking. And dude, can you cut it out? You're scaring Tweek. Just look at him." He tries to push Ross' legs off of his lap.

"N-no! I'm not scared! SHE'S NOT SCARING ME! It's j-just a-a little…nnnNNGGHH P-PRESSURING!" Tweek spazzes start to be a little out of control, having him tug his nicely buttoned up shirt to be a mess once again.

"Hey, Tweek! Calm down, honey. Look, you're starting to wrinkle your shirt again." Craig points out Tweek's shirt in front of him, all the buttons are now forcefully pulled out of their nooses. "Don't worry, I'll do it again." He leans forward closer to Tweek, and gently starts buttoning his shirt back in order. Tweek gazes at a focused Craig, being the boyfriend he usually is. They both share a look, and smile softly at one another, while Tweek blushes in content.

Both of the boys share a soft laugh.

Ross' eyes soften at the sight of Tweek and Craig being happy, and a smile on her face fades slowly. Quickly enough, her eyebrows furrow as she thought of another idea in her head. Another chaotic idea, once again.

"Hey!" She puts her feet down on the floor quickly causing a slammed noise. Tweek's eyes travel from Craig to her as he shuffles in his anxiety, while Craig, not making eye contact, closes his eyes as he sighs. "I know what won't scare Tweek, come on guys we should doooo something!"

"AAAHH! W-WHAT?!" Tweek's not asking, but saying in shock.

Craig sighs once again, preparing himself. "Yeah, Ross. What–ARGH!"

Craig is immediately cut off when Ross grabs both his and Tweek's arm with both of her hands. She forcefully pulls them around with her, gripping them tight. A grip so strong as if she never wanted to let go. At some point, Ross pulls them to a corner of Bebe's house with a table prepped with a beer pong game, surrounded with familiar faces like Marjorine, and other students from their school. A boy with short, brown hair holding onto crutches and what appears to be his best friend, a ginger-haired boy sitting on a wheelchair, with a big grin on his face. The brown-haired boy turns around and sees Ross aggressively disrupt their game.

"Jimmy, mind if I borrow this table for a sec?"

"Uh…" A confused Jimmy looked back at the ginger haired boy, Timmy Burch, and back at Ross with Craig and Tweek abductedly standing behind her with her hands gripping them both tightly. At this point, Craig looks fussed up with all the attention put upon him, and to have his boyfriend worrying hopelessly right next to him. Jimmy looks back at Timmy and Marjorine and nods, reading the room.

"Uh, s-s-sure. See you at s-s-sch-school, guys."

"…Timmah."

Jimmy starts to walk away with Timmy following behind him, strolling with his wheelchair, and passing by the three. Marjorine gets ready to leave as well to follow the two, but Ross quickly steps in and stops her.

"Nah, Marj. I need a teammate to join me. Play with us!"

"Uh..y-you sure about that, girlie?" Marj twirls her hair in one finger to herself with a face that reads uncertainty.

"Yeah! Just watch me, guys. Girls vs Boys. Lemme show you what it's all about." She smirks to herself and grabs a soaked ball out of one of the red cups filled with beer. Marjorine helps her out by re-assembling the table again and pouring beer onto the new cups, restarting a whole new game. Ross grossly rubs the ball on her pants to dry it off, and carefully sees where to aim. With that smirk still on her face, she closes one eye to perfect her aim, and tosses the ball around the central area of the organized cups, landing on a perfect centered throw.

"Oh, fuck yeah! Sick shot am I right, guys?!" Ross boasts to herself and forms a confident stance. Marj giggles at the sight of the dark-brown haired girl being silly.

"Ross…" Craig starts to speak up. "Why now. Seriously."

"Now you gotta drink up, boys. So who's gonna do it?" She darts her eyes back and forth at Tweek and Craig while pointing with her right finger, swaying it back and forth at the both of them. Craig is slightly disappointed, because what he was asking was a genuinely serious question.

"NNAGHH! Oh JESUS!" Tweek's spazzing starts to get a bit out of control. "I-I DON'T KNOW IF I WANNA DRINK BEER, MAN!"

"Dude. You never drink beer." Craig lays a palm on Tweek's fluffy blonde hair to calm him down. "Can you stop with the bullshit, Ross? Tweek doesn't drink beer, and I don't wanna play this stupid game."

Ross clenches her fists to herself. She tries to keep it together and holds her grin tight. "W-well, then I'll just drink all the beer then!" Immediately, she grabs the cup with the landed ball and tosses the ball away and chugs the beer down as fast as she could. She crushes the red cup in her hand with much force while exhaling from drinking, and tosses it to the side. "See?! Not so bad, just hand all the beer to me, I can handle my liquor!"

"B-but…" Marjorine starts to back away from Ross to give her space, and from feeling a bit of uncertainty. She can tell something was off with her. "That's not the point of the game, honey…"

"Oh, come on Marj! Who cares about that?! Come on Craig, it's your turn now. Throw a ball!"

"No, dude! I'm not playing." Craig starts to speak with a volume higher than his usual nasally, monotone voice. "Tweek was nice enough to play with you, I'm not doing it!"

She widens her eyes just slightly, taken aback from Craig's sudden change in tone. "Why not?! I never see you anymore, come on!"

"Yeah, and whose fault was that? I didn't suddenly disappear and run away like you did."

"O-oh no…" Marj starts to conceal her chest with both arms up.

"C-Craig, it's okay! We don't have to fight about it—ARGH!"

"No Tweek, she was your friend too."

"Yeah, you're right. You both were!" That smile on Ross' face is now long gone. She visibly appears to be upset and a little heartbroken from the facts, but all she could think about in the moment was chugging down another red cup of beer and crushing it, tossing it to the same side as the previous crushed cup. "I'm just trying to hang with you guys again!" Her eyes were glued to the floor.

"We never left, we were always around. You're the one who left!" Craig is starting to get a bit cranky and upset, but he continues to keep his eyes in contact with Ross. He meant every word he said to her.

"That's not true!" Ross turns her head to meet Craig's eyes, her hair dramatically swishing around. Both of their eyebrows are now furrowed at one another, the air felt tense surrounding the four. She chugged another cup of beer and crushed it once again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Suddenly, the room started to feel a little loose for her.

"What's not true, the fact that you cared too much about me and Tweek dating so you ran away? The fact that you don't hang out with us anymore and never put in the effort?"

"Shut up! I don't care about that!"

"No, you fucking shut up!"

Heads in the party are starting to turn around, hearing the commotion. A few of those heads being Tolkien, Clyde, and Bebe.

"O-OH MAN! GUYS, PLEASE—NNGHH, JUST, STOP, FIGHTING!"

"Tweek, dude! Why aren't you saying anything? Ross was our friend, she didn't ditch only me, you know!"

"Yeah Craig, b-but I NEVER HATED HER FOR IT!"

"I didn't mean to avoid you guys!" Ross interferes. Both Tweek and Craig turn their heads at her in unison. "Just…things are really different! They're not what they used to be!"

"Ross, dude, when the fuck are you gonna grow up. We're not kids anymore, we all have our own lives! Why the hell do you think I'm gonna keep doing your crazy, chaotic plans! You know I hate that kind of shit! You stopped talking to me, you're at fault. You're not my fucking girlfriend!"

"I know I'm not, Craig! So shut up!"

"No! Then why do you care?! Why do you act like one?! You know what your problem is—it's YOU!"

"J-JESUS, CRAIG! DON'T SAY THAT!"

"It's you. You're the problem, Ross. You're fucking weird. Why are you so fucking WEIRD!"

Marjorine gasps at Craig's response. Loud, electronic music was still playing at the party, but the air was so tense that all it could be was complete silence.

"…"

"U-uh…" Marjorine tries to chime in. "R-Ross..? Girlie..?"

At first, the curly-haired girl had no response. All Marjorine could see was the back of her head and hair, and her face still looking directly at Craig. Even Craig himself seemed a little confused at Ross. She slowly turns her head around to look back at Marjorine. Tears were running down her face. There was no smile to be seen.

Marjorine sighs in worry. "Oh, jeez…"

Tweek himself seemed more shocked than anxious. The room was too awkward now at this point for anybody to even say anything remotely okay. He looked at Craig with open eyes, only to meet with a facial expression reading as confusion, and even slight concern from Craig.

"Uh…hey, dude, I…"

Ross doesn't look at Craig, all she does is put her eyes down to the floor. Without a second thought, she dashes in between Tweek and Craig and storms out of the beer pong corner with a red face and puffy eyes. She did a pretty good job keeping her crying noises in, because knowing Ross, she'd never want anyone to see her as anything but happy.

Craig sighs again to himself. He knew he fucked up pretty bad this time.

—

"Dude, what the hell happened?" Soon enough, Tolkien, Clyde and Bebe approach the distressed Tweek, Craig and Marjorine. Tolkien decided to speak up, since he cared enough to at least check up on his two friends.

"Aw, Craig, wHat did yOu Do tHis time, bREak aNoTHer lOveR's hEArt?" Bebe, being up high with her buzz, started to tease Craig. "I didN'T tHinK mY PaRty woULd be THIS fun for yOu!"

"No, Bebe. I'm not. And don't make me look like the bad guy! I already know that feeling." He glared at the fuzzy-haired boy who awkwardly laughed.

"H-hey, you got me into acting! AHAHA!"

Craig sighs and looks away. "Thanks Tweek, but I'm not in the mood to laugh."

"Listen man, we can go talk to her. Don't worry about it." Tolkien gives a soft pat on the back to Craig, trying to ease him up.

"yEah MAN, what the HELL did yOu evEn saY to HEr? we saW it aaaAALLL hAPpen!" Clyde laughs to himself and with a bottle in his hand. Bebe laughs along with him, seems like those two are the only ones on the same wavelength together.

Tolkien sighs at the stupidity of the comments. "Clyde, be quiet. You're not helping." He gives a glance to Marjorine, who was quietly hiding in the corner. "You alright?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so…" Marjorine plays with the frills on her dress. "I-I just never seen Ross so upset before! Ah, I don't know…" She fiddles with her fingers together.

Tolkien gives Marjorine a pensive expression, and looks at Craig. "Hey, doesn't matter what you said. If you want, I can go check up on her, so you don't have to worry about this mess. You probably don't really care about this happening anyway, right?"

Craig shuts his eyes for a second to breathe.

"I'll go talk."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tolkien raises an eyebrow at the raven-haired boy.

"I'll go talk. Just stop making this a bigger deal than it really is." Craig gently shoves Tolkien away from him.

"Are you sure about that? I dunno man, it seems like you kind of fucked up." Tolkien shrugs at the boy.

"Yeah, and that's why I said I'll go talk. Just drop it, all of you." Craig gives them all a very neutral expression with his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He passes through them and calmly walks away while flipping them off.

The five of them stand together, all watching Craig walk away. They share looks with one another, some of worry, some confusion, some even snickering from being entertained (but that's mostly Clyde and Bebe.) Tolkien rolls his eyes and puts his fingertips onto his forehead.

"Why the hell do those two have to be so damn stubborn?"

–

EXTERIOR - Stevens Residency, Balcony, Evening

Craig's guess was right. He knew Ross would be somewhere with fresh, crisp air. He opened the door to Bebe's large balcony with a view of all the stars visibly out at night. And there she was, out by the edge, looking at the stars. Her hair gently blew in the wind, in peace with the silence of it all.

Craig starts to walk forward calmly with his hands in his jacket pockets. Soon enough, he reached the balcony and stood next to Ross, who appeared to have dried her tears away. He leaned over with his back against the edge, but her face was still locked with the night sky.

It was silent in the town of South Park. The only sound that could be heard was stuffy EDM playing inside Bebe's house, and trees shaking their leaves to the wind. Eventually, Craig decided to speak up to break the tension:

"Hey. So…umm…Listen–"

"You're right."

Craig jolted his head at Ross. "Huh?"

"Before you correct yourself, you don't have to. You're right, about all of that…but you're mostly right about me. I know I'm weird."

"...Oh. Right."

"I don't need an apology for that. I think I needed to hear it actually." She turns her head to look at Craig, their eyes meeting once again.

"Haha. Dude, do you hear yourself? I've never heard you talk like this before. You're starting to scare me." He chuckles to himself and nudges her shoulder. "Hellooo, you in there Ross?"

He laughs and glances at her, but no response is given back. Only a melancholic stare. His chuckling faded away when he realized something: He's never seen Ross like this before. For the first time, she's showing her vulnerability to someone. For the first time ever with another person, she's serious. And it's with the person she could probably trust the most.

Craig stopped chuckling at one point and cleared his throat. He knew she was upset, so he had to fix things. What was there to say? How to even begin?

"Uh…listen, dude. You are weird. I always expected that from you. But…it's not exactly a bad thing. You got on my nerves a lot, but you were never a bad person. And as much as I hated you for dragging me into your schemes, it was kind of fun. I guess…that trait of yours is always what made you cool to me."

Ross raises her eyebrows. "Me? Cool? Coming from you?"

Craig snickers a bit. "If I never thought that way, why would I always hang out with you?"

They both share a small laugh together. Ross starts to relax her posture a bit more, opening up and being herself again. She releases a loud sigh with her hands grappling onto the edge of the balcony.

"So many things are changing and passing me by, and all I see are my friends moving on with their lives. New people, new personalities…and here I am, heh. Just being silly old me, as always I guess."

"But…dude." Craig begins to follow up with her sentences. "You're Ross. I thought you'd be good without anybody in your life. You seem like you can take care of yourself, as crazy as you can get."

"Yeah, and you messed that up for me. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel so alone. I always knew you were tired of my shit, but you allowed me to be myself. You dealt with me, and kept me around, so…thanks for that, douche." She scoffs and slightly punches his arm.

Craig started to laugh a bit more to himself, and Ross smiled at the sight of him enjoying the moment. The air in the room started to clear up, the tension and stress all started to break down their walls with one another. This energy felt familiar for the both of them, like they were 10 years old again.

"Hey, remember the time you walked in on me playing Spaceman with Stripe? And instead of telling everyone at school, you joined in with me and dressed up as an alien?"

Ross started to burst into laughter, and with utmost joy. "Duh! You looked silly as hell, but that's when I found out you liked space just as much as I do."

"Yeah, because you followed me home and investigated me, you fucking weirdo."

"Haha! And what about that time I convinced you to walk out of Raisins with me without paying the bill? And you totally joined in?"

"Yeah. I have no idea why the fuck I followed your lead. That weird Maury bodyguard was chasing after us."

"You didn't even like the food! Let alone the super hot girls that were giving us quite a show."

"Dude, I didn't even think they were that hot. But of course you did."

"Yeah, cause you don't even like girls."

"And you do. You're a carpet muncher after all."

"I can't believe I didn't know the meaning of that! You and the rest of the stupid guys were right all along."

They both laughed at their own pace with one another. Craig laughed with a bit of calmness to him, and Ross laughed uncontrollably holding her gut. Bringing all of these memories back healed them both in a way, making them remember the good things that they shared together. At some point, the laughter faded away into the wind. Craig inhaled slowly, and exhaled. He looked at Ross once more.

"Dude, why did you avoid me? I'm not trying to be fucking weird about it, but ever since me and Tweek became an item, you totally avoided me like you were an ex girlfriend. And that shit's weird cause you remind me of my sister. Tricia always had a liking towards you."

"I-I know. It's really shitty." Ross turned her head towards Craig, sharing a glance with one another. Maybe it's time for her to finally admit her fears. "Clyde and Tolkien kept telling me to just talk to you again, like nothing ever happened. But, I dunno. I couldn't bring myself to do it." She turns her head back to the sight of the trees and the road.

"Craig…I'm scared of being alone. It might be hard to believe, and I tried being alone, but…I don't think I can live a life without my best friends being in the picture. It felt easy when it was just the six of us, but all of that only happened in my life because you were the one that got me to have friends in the first place. I never cared about you and Tweek being a thing, I think you guys are pretty good for each other. I see how you treat him and it's pretty fucking cute, but it was just…really hard to have two of my best friends not be in that picture with me. Especially you. I bothered the shit out of you everyday because it felt the easiest with you, but…"

"…But what."

"...But you moved on. And I fear that you're better off without me. Time passed and it made me think how, maybe you didn't really need me to be happy. And…I kept running. I thought, maybe all I'm meant to do is my own thing. Maybe it's best this way. I may be silly, but I knew you were always annoyed with me. At least you got a break from my bullshit, right?"

Craig stares at her for quite a bit, thinking to himself. His eyebrows furrowed together, being slightly offended by what she said.

"Nah, I take that back. You were an asshole once, Ross."

"Wait, what? What the fuck do you mean?"

"...You were an asshole when you stopped being my friend."

Her body skips a beat from the honesty of Craig's sentence. She continues to look at him with emotions running through her head. A smile slowly curved on the corners of her mouth as she let out a laugh. Soon enough, she grabs Craig by the neck with her right arm and takes his blue hat off, messing with his black hair.

"OW, DUDE!"

"Well, only if you say so! You're asking for it, asshole! If you wanna be my friend, this comes with the experience!" She continues to laugh aggressively while messing with his hair even more.

"Alright, alright, FINE!" He pushes her away and fixes his raven hair while putting his hat back on. "Jesus dude, your strength never left."

"Heh. We should get back, your silly little boyfriend is probably worried about you."

"Yeah, no thanks to you, crying out here like a little baby." He chuckles as they walk back to the entrance together.

"Hey, whose fault is that now?!"

"At least I have a boyfriend. We need to get you a girl already, dude."

"Like you would know how to pull chicks."

They both continue their silly little banters together as Ross wraps her arm aggressively around Craig's neck again; he lets out a grunt as his reaction. She pulls him with force as a sign of close friendship and playfulness, but quickly asks:

"Hey, you don't mind me annoying you like this, right? You're just easy to fuck with."

He rolls his eyes and smirks at her while giving her the finger.

"I'll let it slide this once. It's what friends do."