Buried (a Creek fic)

12. Shame

The wooden bench that overlooked Stark's Pond was where Craig was sitting the next morning. The time on his phone confirmed that school was already starting and the many texts he was getting from Clyde asking where he was kept pouring in, but he ignored them. He hadn't skipped a full day of school in awhile, but he was thankful for it. Any excuse to get away from his classmates was appreciated.

Tweek was a little late, but he didn't mind that much. Being alone was peaceful, despite the vastly chilled air that wrapped itself around him. He liked Stark's Pond, for it was a nice place to clear his mind. The only downside was that Stan and Wendy usually met up there and needless to say, neither of them were happy to see him, especially Wendy.

Craig picked up one of the rocks he had collected when he first got there and chucked it into the pond. Ice was frozen over the majority of the surface, but the rock skidded into one of the holes in the ice and splashed into the water with a plunk!

"H-Having f-fun?"

Craig jumped, dropping the next rock that he planned to throw into the snow beneath him. He whirled around and what he saw sent a grin to form on his face. Tweek was behind him and in his hand was a rope that was wrapped around his wrist, the other end loosely tied around Stripe's neck, who was trotting alongside of him.

"Stripe!" Craig exclaimed, lunging off the bench and wrapping his arms around the dog, who happily wagged his tail in response. Craig, who was crouching in the snow and embracing his pet, looked up at Tweek. "What made you bring him?"

Tweek plopped down on the bench, next to where Craig had been sitting. He tied the rope to the bench's leg and smiled at the two of them. "I th-thought you - you'd like to see h-him."

Craig continued to grin and he planted a kiss on Stripe's head, before joining Tweek on the bench. Stripe flopped down into the snow in front of the two, fondly looking up at them. Craig patted him on the head and said to Tweek, "Thank you."

"N-No problem," Tweek replied, face turning a light shade of red. "S-Sorry that I was - ngh - late. Stripe wouldn't c-come n-near me at first, b-but after I g-gave him some food, he w-was fine. I j-just hope he - he's warmed up to me."

Just then, Stripe leapt up onto Tweek's lap and licked his face. In shock, Tweek fell backwards off of the bench with Stripe tumbling off with him. The boy screeched, "GAH! HE'S ATTACKING ME!"

"Tweek, he just wants to lick you," Craig asseverated.

"O-Oh," Tweek murmured, sheepishly gawping at the dog that was clambering off of him in bewilderment.

Craig doubled over in amusement, arms holding his stomach as he hysterically laughed. This seemed to reassure Stripe that everything was fine because the dog started wagging his tail again. He scuttled over to Craig, who was gasping for air.

"Shush," faltered Tweek, turning a darker shade of red. "I-It's not that funny."

Craig stood up and offered the embarrassed blonde a hand. Tweek appreciatively grasped it and let Craig hoist him up. Once to his feet, he sat back down on the bench and Craig sat next to him, brushing snow off of the other boy's back.

"I've never met anyone that's always so on edge like you are," Craig acknowledged.

"Y-Yeah, mo-most people aren't. I w-wish I wasn't l-like this," Tweek admitted, looking down at his gloved hands that were shakily clasped together in his lap. "It sucks."

"Shouldn't your parents do something about it?" he asked. "Like maybe, I don't know, take you to a doctor or something."

"N-Nah," Tweek declined, shaking his head. "I d-don't think that would h-help any-anything. And anyway, I-I d-don't want to make things m-more difficult than necessary."