Accepting ✔️

Chapter Eight: I Can't Tell You

Word Count: 945
Trigger warning: Mention of Self-harm, mention of bullying, f-slur

Tweek's POV
He sat there for my entire break, watching customers come and go. Talking with me when I didn't have customers. By six, the coffee craze had calmed down, and there were only two other people in the shop.

Craig and a boy with black and red hair. I barely caught that his name started with a 'P' but that could've been anything, Peter, Patrick, Pinocchio...

~~~~

"Hey," he squints at my name tag, "Tweek? Like the shop? That's a cute name"

I blushed and mumbled, "I guess."

"Really, it is! Anyways, I want a large black coffee."

I looked down at my feet, "That'll be $5.25."

He hands me a 10, "Keep the change, cutie."

My face turns bright red as I look up at him and then at Craig. Craig didn't seem too bothered by it, not that I suppose he would be. "Th- Thank you." I smile and hand him his coffee as he sits down across the cafe from Craig.

Craig's POV
He hands him a 10 dollar bill, "Keep the change, cutie."

I didn't know that Pete was like that. Maybe he was just teasing him.

~~~~

Tweek's POV
Wait... he never told me his name? I look back down at the ten-dollar bill he gave me. Oh.

Call me cutie, 508-507-2209, Pete.

I smiled down at the green paper and blushed. Maybe I will call him. It's not like Craig and I will get anywhere at this speed.

•••

After my shift, I closed up shop. Craig stayed behind to help me clean up, but Pete left. I shoved the $10 in my pocket.

He kept glancing around as people walked past the shop, "Are you looking for something?"

He quickly looked back at me, "Oh, I Uh, No, but listen, Tweek. We need to talk." He put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground.

I already knew what this was about, "So, your friend did tell you, huh?"

"Y-yeah." He was becoming tenser. I didn't want him to be uncomfortable; it wasn't his problem after all.

"Listen, I know everything you could possibly say, 'Your skin is beautiful, why would you make it ugly?', 'Life will get better..'" I started. I knew all of the generic things. Not that anyone had told me them, but let's just say that my last school really wasn't the best at accepting people who were different. "I know it all, Crai-"

Suddenly, I felt really warm and stopped talking. Why? Two strong arms wrapped around me, "Cr- Craig?" I was taken aback by his sudden emotion.

"Tweek," he pulled my sleeve up, clearly in shock at seeing more than he expected, "Why? Why did you do this to yourself?"

I shook my head. "Please, Tweek, you need to tell me. I just want to help you." He sniffled.

"Woah. Craig Tucker, the stone-cold, monotonous dick, is crying over my arms?" I silently chuckled.

"Yes." And that was all he said. Not more, not less. I expected him to tell me to be quiet and then go back to his emotionless face, but he didn't.

He wrapped his arms back around me and I felt all the warmth from his hoodie hit my chest. I smiled at the thought of him crying over me. Except, it wasn't a thought. It was what was happening at this very moment. Maybe that's a little psychotic.

I hugged him back and buried my face into his chest.

That hug felt like no other hug I'd ever had. It wasn't like how people describe it in books. It wasn't like two puzzle pieces or something. It was almost like I felt protected. I felt safe and comfortable. I really don't know how to explain it.

He pulled away and I immediately missed his warmth, but the hug was over and I didn't want to pressure him into staying with me. I'm just a stupid twitchy fag. I don't get why he's being so nice to me.

"Now, I need you to tell me why you do this to yourself."

I shook my head again and looked back down at the scars, new and old. I couldn't tell him that the real reason why I cut myself was that I couldn't make myself straight. Sure, there was all the bullying, but it wasn't about my twitching at that point, it was only about my inability to be heterosexual.

"Tweek, this is serious. I need you to tell me what's wrong and how I can help."

"Craig, I- I I can't tell you."

Craig's POV
"Craig, I- I I can't tell you."

I opened my mouth to object, but his eyes were pleading with me. I didn't want him to feel pressured by telling me what was wrong. It might make it worse.

I nodded my head, understanding that he didn't want to tell me, "It's okay. I get it, I mean, I don't, but I understand that it's personal."

"Thank you, Craig." I smile at the use of my name.

"But," I said making his face drop, "You have to promise not to do it anymore."

"Craig, I-I"

"Please." I pleaded with him.

"Why do you care?"

I go silent. That's a good question. Why do I care? I look down at the ground. "Tweek, I would care if I didn't even know you. No one deserves to feel this way. No person deserves to live their life in sadness. You don't deserve to have a feeling that your skin is this wasteful. That's why I care. Because you are worth more than a blade." His eyes pooled with tears. "I'm checking your arm, every day." I saw his face fall again. He looked down at his feet.

"O-okay," he choked out.

I smiled and hugged him again. Every time I hugged him, he would instantly stop twitching. It was like magic.

The door opened, and we both fell backward.

"How?" A female voice rang in my ears as I rubbed the back of my head. I hit my head on the ground pretty hard.

A/N. Not the longest chapter, but I tried. I might write around this time tomorrow, too. I only wrote this late today because I had already written a bit in the morning. Whoops! Leave a vote? I would really appreciate it! Have a wonderful day and don't do anything really stupid.
~Beru <3