The Evermore Dissociate(Creek)

0065

"Does it hurt if I do this?" Tweek asked, jabbing his finger into Craig's neck.

"Ouch, Jesus Christ, Tweek! It would hurt anyone."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do it that hard."

From upstairs, Craig could hear the other guys having fun. He frowned at Tweek and slapped his fingers away from his neck, before going to stand over by the door. He hadn't necessarily wanted to come tonight. The only reason he had, was because Tweek had asked him before having his accident, but after listening some more to what his friends downstairs were doing, Craig desperately wanted to join them. Perhaps it was to escape his current conversation with Tweek. He wasn't particularly feeling in the mood to have a heart to heart over his neglectful dad, and knowing Tweek, it would be all he'd want to talk about.

"Will you come downstairs?" He questioned the blonde as his hand rested on the door handle. "Or am I going to have to drag you out?"

Still not wanting to go down and socialise just yet, Tweek decided the best course of action was to stall for as long as possible, at least until he could think of a better plan. He folded his arms, with his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Craig. "I'm staying."

Craig removed his hand from the handle, shifting on his feet. "I swear to god, I'll drag you out."

But Tweek was unwavering, standing his ground against all odds. When Craig moved forward, taunting him with the knowledge that he was in fact going to follow through with his threat, a small smile rippled across Tweek's face as he backed up.

Noticing the childish act, Craig paused with a look of slight annoyance, but then continued to advance until Tweek had nowhere left to go. Tweek looked up to him like a child ready to play, rather than acting his own age. He bit his lips together to stop himself from laughing, but when Craig reached out and took ahold of his wrist, it all just came out at once.

He'd managed to pull his wrist free, and was about to escape until Craig dragged him backwards by the back of his shirt. The next thing he knew, he was being picked up in the least graceful way possible. Craig had his arms uncomfortably wrapped around Tweek's stomach, yanking him from the ground while Tweek kicked his legs out in every direction. Without thinking, he threw his head back, hitting Craig in the face and earning his release. He felt bad the second he turned to see Craig wiping a trail of blood from underneath his nose.

"Oh Jesus! I'm sorry."

"You made me bleed!"

"I didn't mean to!" Tweek defended. "You were manhandling me."

The steady dripping tap filled the void of silence as Craig moved to look in the mirror, grumbling to himself once he saw the mess that had been created. He looked over to Tweek who was innocently watching him, more specifically, watching his nose, and suddenly any irritation towards the blonde went away.

"Can you pass me some tissue?"

For a moment, Tweek just nodded his head, not actually moving to fetch the tissue, but after Craig raised an eyebrow, he clicked on and rushed to snap some off. "Now you're in extra pain." Tweek quietly said as he handed it over.

"What?" Craig's voice sounded extra nasally as he held the tissue to his nose.

"Your neck, and now your nose."

That uncomfortable feeling came back at the mention of his neck. He looked at himself in the mirror, pretending not to have heard his friend. For a second he thought the topic was going to pass again, but it was inevitable for the truth to come out at some point, so when Tweek asked one last time what had happened, Craig sighed.

"If I tell you, I don't want you to respond or even mention it ever again, okay?" Tweek nodded obediently, and so Craig finally told him the truth. "It was my dad, he's sort of a dick."

Completely going against everything Craig had literally just said seconds ago, Tweek responded. At first, he'd just assumed there'd been a fight at school, but knowing it wasn't, made his stomach knot, and looking at Craig only made it worse. "Why would he do that?"

"I told you to leave it, Tweek."

"How am I supposed to just leave it?" Tweek asked, feeling completely baffled by the idea.

"Because, it's non of your business, okay? It's over with now anyway, it's not going to happen again."

"You're my friend, it's automatically my business."

"Can we just back to the others now?" Craig defeatedly breathed.

As Tweek stared at Craig, who was focusing on the floor, he came to the realisation his impression of Craig had been wrong this entire time. He wasn't an asshole because he wanted to be, but because after years of unspeakable injuries from someone who was supposed to protect him, being an asshole was a defence mechanism. As a child, he couldn't defend himself against his fathers wrath, so he'd overcompensated outside of his household, and over time it became apart of his personality.

Tweek stared at Craig who raised an impatient eyebrow, but momentarily all he saw was the guy who tossed snowballs at him in the middle of the street. The more he thought about the mischievous grin he'd worn that day, and the breathless laughter that filled the chilled air, similar memories flooded in bits and pieces through Tweek's mind.

He zoned out as he listened to Craig's laughter, a sound that rather than coming from the unamused boy in front of him, came from within his head.The memory was fuzzy, but he remembered Craig laughing to himself as he skidded across the frozen-over pond, and every now and then he'd glance over his shoulder to Tweek who anxiously watched from the safety of the dock.

He remembered calling Craig back over in fear of the ice cracking, leading to him falling in, and unexpectedly, he listened, clumsily sliding his way towards his friend with a goofy grin across his face. That's where the memory ended, and Tweek would've gave anything to remember the rest.

"Tweek?" Craig mumbled out of concern.

After hearing his voice again, suddenly, Tweek was desperate to know and remember more, so if that meant forcing Craig to become his personal story teller, then so be it. Instead of replying, and what came as a surprise to everyone present, Tweek hugged Craig. It was awkward, with Craig tensing up and Tweek feeling like a little weirdo, but the need to show some kind of affection towards him was overwhelming, so Tweek closed his eyes and focused on the laughing boy distantly in his mind.