The Bet

Day 17, Part 4

"Hello?" Craig smiled at hearing Tweek's voice, man he's got it bad.

"Hey, I was wondering if we could talk, you know, about everything." There was silence on the other side that made Craig doubt that this was the right choice.

Then, "yeah, okay, I-I'd like that."

Craig's heart swelled with excitement, the chance of going back to being friends, or even more, excited Craig. Although, he didn't even know where to begin. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but Tweek beat him to it. "Not over the phone though, and not tonight."

Craig nodded his head even though Tweek couldn't see, "I understand."

"Do you want to come over anyway?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it today?"

Craig could hear Tweek hum in though before responding, "I don't, but that doesn't mean we can't hang out like friends usually do. Just no serious topics."

"You've got a deal." With that Craig hung up and started to leave the party. Several people tried to come up and talk to them but Craig just brushed them off, they didn't know him nor did they care to try to.

Eventually, Craig was stood outside of Tweek's door for the second time today. He knocked, and this time it was his dad that answered. "Hello Craig, what are you doing here?"

Craig peeked behind him hoping to see Tweek, but when he didn't, he looked back to his dad, "I wanted to see Tweek."

Tweek's dad looked at him with what seemed like pity, "I think it's too late for friends."

Craig felt embarrassed. He honestly had no idea what time it is, "yes sir, I'm sorry, I'll see you tomorrow then."

Tweek's dad looked at him and smiled fondly, "after all these years I think it's only fair that you call me Richard."

Craig smiled, "okay Richard." As he walked away, he couldn't help how pleased he was knowing he had his potential boyfriend's dad's approval.

After that Craig quickly texted Tweek letting him know that he tried his hardest to see him. Craig couldn't stop the grin the appeared on his face when Tweek responded with a line of emojis that Craig honestly couldn't decipher, but he figured it didn't matter too much.

Craig didn't know where he was planning to go until he was suddenly at his own house. He was hesitant to answer since he hasn't been back since his dad told him not to.

No, this is my house too, Craig thought. So with his new found determination he opened the door and rushed in.

The first thing he noticed was how much of a wreck the house was in. There were empty beer cans scattered everywhere and broken glass that came from who knows where.

Craig felt like lead as he made his way to his parents' room. He had no idea where either his mom or dad was, and while he didn't care much about his dad, he needed to make sure his mom was safe.

He gently opened the door and peeked inside to see his mom curled on top of the bed without a blanket. He felt a strange mixture of relief and sadness at the same time seeing his mom like that. On the one hand, she was alive and safe, but on the other, she had severe bruising on her arms and face, and she looked so frail and helpless.

He decided that for now, he should just leave her alone to rest while his dad wasn't home. He took one last look at his mom before closing the door.

With that, he went to his room. He didn't even realize how tired he was until his head hit the pillow. For once in his life, he felt optimistic. Then he fell asleep.