Frailty (Tweek x Craig)

7

Spending the night at Kenny's wasn't much better than sleeping out in the cold. It at least had a roof, but that was the only thing that didn't make Tweek want to tear his hair out all over again.

Between the constant yelling, cigarette smoke, and filth, Tweek was losing his shit. He didn't understand how Kenny seemed so stable, when the environment he came from was incredibly chaotic. Somehow, he took it in stride, shrugging off most of it like he accepted reality a long time ago.

It was one of the many other reasons Tweek wanted to be like Kenny - he could decide how he dealt with things.

Tweek made sure he'd get there. It would get easier too, since he managed to sleep again. Even through Kenny's parents having a screaming match, he got the best sleep he'd had in years.

He woke up with a fucking smile. Funny how that felt more insane than the voices that whispered to him. People accepted harmful things as normality, and he was no exception.

"You ready?" Kenny finally calmed his sister down enough to guide her to the bus stop, walking hand-in-hand with her as he met Tweek at the front door. He didn't sleep much the night before, Tweek could see it in his eyes.

Since he didn't bring anything with him except his backpack, Tweek nodded shyly. He hated invading people's space. Kenny didn't seem bothered by his appearance, he just couldn't seem to stop thinking that everyone hated him. Lingering paranoia.. it was always there.

Tweek almost left Kenny behind. Lost in his mind, he walked past the middle school, leaving Kenny to sprint to catch up with him after he dropped Karen off. Things were starting to play in a loop again. Rewatching the memories of his conversations with Craig the night before made him twitch with uncertainty.

There were still too many problems.

Cartman had the rest of the student body wrapped around his fingers, brainwashed to believe any piece of evidence he manipulated. What could Tweek do against something like that?

"Hey," Kenny interrupted Tweek's thoughts with a serious frown. "Not tryin' to sound like a dick, but why'd you have to spend the night?"

After seeing how his parents were, Tweek could tell what he was getting at. He didn't get to explain everything from the day before. Reliving the events caused him to start shaking again; between his arguments with Craig, and his parents not giving a shit, Tweek buzzed with anxiety.

The only thing he left out was his experience with the shadow. He didn't think Kenny would understand.

But, the middle McCormick kid seemed to know when people were hiding things: "Uh huh, what else happened?"

Rubbing the scabs, from the scratches and punctures, on his arms, Tweek avoided his eyes. How the hell does he know?! "Wha-What do you mean?"

They had been friends for just over a week now, Kenny thought that was enough time to drop their masks. For the first time that morning, he placed a toothpick in his mouth: "Tweekers, I've seen your notebook, dude. 'M not judgin', ya know? But, did you win?"

AHHH! Can he read my fucking mind?! "Um.."

"Dude, remember when I told you we all have demons?" Tweek nodded with a slight twitch. "Did you face yours?"

In front of Butters' house now, Kenny shifted from foot to foot as he waited for him to answer. As understanding and supportive as Butters was, he didn't want to force Tweek to open up to more than one person. Tweek didn't know where to start though, he only flicked his eyes to everything else around them.

It was a good question. There were no guarantees that anyone else would understand, too. "Yeah.." He paused to eye the house, relieved when Butters hadn't stepped out yet. "I-I, uh, think I get it now? Like-Like, I have to choose whether I want to give it power, or not.. Does that make sense?"