Buried (a Creek fic)

9. Sweet

Craig was already heading out of the high school, right as the last bell sounded through the afternoon air. As he followed the path to the stairs at the back of the school with his bag over his shoulder, he thought about Tweek and wondered again what he had in store. Rounding the corner with the stairs coming into view, he saw Tweek already there. The boy was sitting in the same spot he was in when Craig had found him the day before, but this time, he looked more relaxed.

He remembered the conversation they had yesterday, before the fight with Cartman. He recalled how panicked Tweek was, more than he usually was. He had been trembling all over and he couldn't keep his hands from fidgeting. Now, he sat almost calmly and after noticing Craig walking towards him, he stood up and waved.

Craig gave him a nod, a tiny hint of a smile forming on his lips. "Hey, Tweek."

"H-Hi, Craig," Tweek chirped.

Craig pulled out the note that Tweek had given him and gestured it towards him. "So, you said that you have something to give me?"

Tweek nodded. "Y-Yeah, but I d-don't have it with m-me now. We n-need to go to the sh-shop, if that's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine," Craig replied.

The two began ambling in the direction of Tweak Bros and Craig could feel that he was somewhat anxious. The thought of students spotting them and mistaking them for friends didn't settle with him well, especially if Clyde and Token saw them. That would cause a lot of questions he didn't want to answer.

"S-Sorry again for ru-running off this morning," Tweek acknowledged bashfully.

"No worries," Craig assured him. "Clyde was kind of being a dick, anyways."

A squeak came from Tweek at the sound of Clyde's name. He shuddered slightly before saying, "It's okay. I - I get it."

"He's not usually like that," Craig explained. "He just... I don't know. He's kind of afraid to be seen with you, I guess. He believes that Cartman might think he agrees with me, you know, helping you yesterday and he doesn't want to get involved."

"Wh-why?" Tweek asked, something changing in his voice. "He d-doesn't l-like that you s-s-saved me?"

"I guess," Craig mumbled, realizing how bad it sounded.

Tweek was tensely quiet for a moment, but then he shook off his mood change and chuckled. "Th-that's kind of funny that he-he's scared t-to be seen with me."

"How so?"

"Because mo-most people are usually j-just embarrassed to be s-seen with me."

"I'm sure that's not true," Craig denied, though the doubt showed in his voice.

"I-It is," replied Tweek, "b-but at least I have J-Jimmy and Butters."

Butters. The mention of his name sent a suspicious twinge inside of him. He wondered if Tweek was going to say anything about Butters warning him to stay away from Craig. Though, it wouldn't have mattered if he did. Clearly, Tweek wasn't taking the warning seriously anyway.

"Not to sound rude or anything, but are they the only friends you have?" Craig asked in curiosity.

Tweek's cheeks tinted pink and his head shot down towards the ground, like he was ashamed. When he spoke, his voice was visibly shaky, "Yeah, I guess. P-People don't usually l-like t-to talk to me."

Now he understood why Tweek wanted to be Craig's friend so badly; he had been nice to him, unlike everyone else. Fuck, he had even gotten him out of a really bad situation. Tweek wasn't used to random acts of kindness from people (though Craig wasn't used to giving them either). No wonder he took this as a sign to be Craig's friend. He was blinded from the real version of Craig and now he only saw the side of him that was... kind.