The Evermore Dissociate(Creek) - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Craig had been walking down the empty streets for about an hour now, his thoughts verbally dictated into talking himself out of what he had in mind - though, after the display in the school hallway with Clyde and Tweek last week, he knew he couldn't stand idly by any longer. More than enough time had passed with the group being torn, divided into solo companionship since now, not only was Craig and Tweek not talking, but also, Clyde had been added into the mix, despite his profound attempts at apologising to the blonde. That left Token, the unintentional adhesive, holding tightly to the wires that held his friends together without success, and so after a week of failed attempts at reconciliation, he too went his own way, choosing to stay out of the drama to focus on his school work.
It was all just a tragic disaster, an unspoken bond between four teenagers since elementary school was now on the line, and even though Craig couldn't physically express his frustration towards the situation, it bothered him more than he'd care to admit. He wondered whether this whole ordeal was driving Clyde insane, being that he was almost like a proud father when it came to boasting about his tight friendship circle, never failing to rub it in whenever Kyle's dysfunctional friends were around.
The walk to Tweek's house from his own wasn't a lengthy one. The only reason it had taken Craig over an hour, was because every time he neared the terminus, his feet took him in an entirely different direction, giving himself more time to contemplate his decision some more. Not that an hour of walking through a downfall of rain was helping him. Both his shoes and socks were utterly drenched. His cold feet rubbing uncomfortably inside his shoes that squelched with every step he took. His hoodie and jeans clung to his skin irritatingly, while he wiped mother natures storm of pee from his face uselessly with his sleeve, occasionally tugging his saggy hat further down.
He recognised this street once again, it was Tweek's, and though Craig had passed it four times already, he decided to just go for it this time, stalking down the road with speed in hopes that would deter him from wussing out any longer. His eyes roamed the white picket fence he was passing, listening to the sounds of rain as it made impact. Before he knew it, he'd subconsciously made his way up the front porch with his knuckles extended, ready to knock on the door. He glared down at his hand for it's eagerness as he followed through with the act, knocking three times then stepping back to look at flickering streetlight beside the Tweak's letter box.
The door creaked open behind him with a faint gasp, which no doubt came from Tweek as he stared wide eyed at Craig. Not hearing the muttered cursing under the noirette's breath as he turned around, hands tucked in the pockets of his hoodie, while he wore an annoyingly deadpanned expression.
"C-Craig?" Tweek stammered, shifting uncomfortably as he opened the door a little wider, his eyebrows knitting together with confusion as he watched his friend avoiding all eye contact. Inside, Craig had been toying with an explanation for his sudden arrival, wanting to say something along the lines of, 'I'm here to sort shit out, but I'm still mad at you' - though none of it sounded right, so rather than making a fool of himself, he opted for staying silent, refraining from rolling his eyes as the blonde became a rambling mess. Instead he nudged his way past Tweek, their shoulders knocking against each others a little harsher than he intended, as he stepped into the warmth and dryness of the house.
Tweek stared incredulously, rubbing his shoulder as he grumbled to himself, watching as the noirette made his way into the other room. He hesitantly followed, unsure of what was happening as a million different reasons raced through his mind. Maybe Craig was here to finally stuff him inside a body bag where he'd then drag him into Starks Pond. The thought made Tweek shiver as he tugged on the sleeve of his knitted jumper for support, awkwardly standing in the door way as Craig lounged on the couch, flicking through the channels with disinterest as he made a point of ignoring Tweek.
The blonde swallowed thickly, wringing his hands as he manoeuvred across the room to sit down, placing himself at the far end of the couch, as far from Craig as possible in fear of getting punched in the throat. His eyes nervously flickered to the body beside him, checking for any signs of aggression, but with Craig it was hard to tell. He was basically a living statue, taking up half of the couch with his arms lazily spread out beside him, remote clutched tightly in the hand closest to Tweek.
The silence was traumatic, so much that all Tweek wanted was for this nightmare to be over. He'd accepted the predicament between their group, and even though it sucked, it had became the new norm. So for Craig to randomly swing by all casual like, it was more than a little distressing, more so with him not talking, or in anyway explaining what the hell was going on. All Tweek could do is this moment was except fate, to play with his fingers and see where this was going.
He'd tried once again to speak to Craig, shortly after the stoic of the two settled for watching a Rugrats repeat, yet as expected, Tweek was ignored, not even receiving a blink from his guest as he continued his intense stare. Half an hour passed with silence, uncomfortable enough to spike Tweek's anxiety back to his old days of twitching, and all that time wondering whether Craig had lost his mind. Thankfully Tweek's mom had finished work, her arrival saving her son from his uneasiness as she came through the door with her keys hooked on her pointer finger. Tweek shot up from the couch to follow her into the kitchen, with Craig watching him stumble out of the room with little grace.
Moments passed as Craig waited for the return of his friend, though it seemed that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. He dragged himself from the couch, fearing Tweek had ran out of the back door to avoid the confrontation he'd likely sensed was coming, yet his fears were brushed aside when he stepped into the kitchen to see Tweek sitting down with his head resting on the table, whilst his mom raiding through the cupboards behind him.
Tweek's mom turned around as though she'd sensed Craig's presence, delighted to see him over again as she smiled. "Oh, hi Craig, are you staying for dinner? I'm making my special steaks." Tweek's head shot up at his mothers words, his wide eyes glancing over to Craig with his mouth slightly parted.
Craig squinted back at the blonde, knowing full well he was hoping Craig would say no, but oh how the Gods were not on his side today. He redirected his stare to the woman, forcing himself to look somewhat friendly, though it wasn't really working. He could see Tweek staring at him from the corner of his eye. "If you don't mind."
"Not at all, you know you're always welcome here." She called over her shoulder, returning to raid the cupboards for whatever it was she required. To add to Tweek's horror, Craig made his way across the kitchen to pull out a seat beside his friend, his lips slyly tugging at the corners in a mocking manor, before looking away again.
Tweek couldn't help but gawp, stilled in place as he watched between his mom and Craig, questioning the reality of the situation. Yet a glance beneath the table at Craig's rapid shoe tapping, displayed he was just a nervous as Tweek, the reasoning being unclear.
Tweek's mom was oblivious to the tension in the room, or maybe she'd just chosen to ignore it as she slaved over the cooker, with her back turned to the two teenagers who stared off into space. Craig rested his chin in the palm of his hand, whereas Tweek slouched down in his seat, his arms folded as he looked off to his side.
You'd think things couldn't get any worse for Tweek than it already was, but as dinner was served, his mother ushered the two of them out of their seats to help set the table. Before any protesting could be made, she placed Tweek's food opposite Craig's, which ended up with them continuously making eye contact across the table.
All three of them looked up from their plates when Richard entered the room, wearing a calm smile that suited his evermore demeanour. A sight that would give anybody the creeps. He pulled out his chair, neatly sitting down as he played with his cutlery, while he looked to their guest. "Craig, good to see you again."
Craig slightly nodded, though it came out as more of a jerk of the head since he was trying way too hard to mask how much the man unsettled him. It was that look in his eyes that betrayed his stillness, like he wasn't completely in control of his body, almost as though he'd been hijacked by some higher power that refused to relinquish it's hold on him. Whatever, maybe Craig was reading too much into it. His eyes flickered across to Tweek, watching as his concentration was on the meat he was trying to cut up into unnecessary tiny pieces. He was assumably trying to block out everyone else in the room, to forget they were there so he could hold his fork without spilling his food all over the table.
"Wasn't sure we were going to see you again," Richard added, taking a slow bite of his food. "Something happen between you two?" He pointed his fork back and forth between the two teens.
Tweek looked up, subtly shaking his head, while furrowing his brows at Craig. Clearly he hadn't spilt the beans. "No," Craig answered flatly. "With graduation coming up, nobody really has time to hang out."
"Ah, yes, graduation. How're your grades?"
"They're good." He lied, idly moving the vegetables to one side of his plate.
"Same can't be said for Tweek over here," Richard glanced sternly to his son who ignored him entirely. "His grades are slipping."
It wasn't at all in Tweek's character to allow his grade to slip. Sure he hadn't been the best student to start with, but he'd always managed to maintain a good grade. It was mainly an outcome of his anxiety, a positive side affect was his fear of becoming a lowlife. So for him to suddenly stop caring about his grades was, to say the least, out of the ordinary. Craig hadn't had time to question him on the matter, since Richard and Tweek's mom engaged into a more pleasant conversation, leaving the two friends to eat in silence, occasionally scowling at one another.
As Tweek played with his food, seemingly in a world of his own, Craig took the time to take in the blondes appearance. He looked worse than he had the last time Craig had seen him only a week ago, like a sleep deprived zombie who hadn't eaten in days. That was putting it nicely. The dark circles under Tweek's eyes wasn't an unusual thing, but the blood shot-puffiness from endless nights awake, as though he'd just sat in bed staring off into the dark until morning came, and it was time for school, that was new. It was almost painful to see. He looked weak, like he hadn't seen the sun in days, and the way his hand mindlessly shook as he held onto his fork made Craig frown.
Was this his fault?
Doubtfully, he hadn't looked this far gone when they'd first fallen out, though having Clyde sent into battle on top of the struggles of school coming to an end, as well as college waving at him over the horizon, had to be taking a toll on him. Not that it hadn't always, but Craig wasn't dumb. He knew Tweek needed his friends to function properly, and that's why he was here, to fix this mess, or at least, to make some progress.
Before he knew it, Tweek's mom was collecting everyone's plates, taking them over to the sink, while Richard headed out of the room, his footsteps loud enough for Craig to know he was heading upstairs. The noirette drummed his fingers against the table, exhaling dramatically as he looked across to Tweek, who was pretending to inspect his mangled nails with such interest, you'd assume a gang of piglets were growing under them.
It was only when Craig stood from his place at the table so suddenly that Tweek looked up, finally acknowledging his presence as he turned to head out of the room, with seconds passing before Tweek stood up to follow. This was it, finally he was going to leave Tweek in peace. That's all he'd wanted the second things had become awkward, which in retrospect was the second he'd opened the door to see Craig standing in the rain. Though to his demise, we've already established this wasn't Tweek's day for luxuries such as good luck. His eyes followed Craig, watching him make a turn for the stairs, racing up them with this newly found speed, missing every two steps. After a moment of contemplating his existence, Tweek sighed, releasing his frustration as he followed after Craig, slowly marching up step by step, hearing his bedroom door swing open and hit against the wall from a careless Craig.
Surely he couldn't have walked that slowly coming up. It was either that, or Craig had rushed about to set up Tweek's Xbox, switching it on and somehow making it to the loading screen, all before Tweek had stepped a foot in his bedroom. As expected, it was a mess, endless disposable coffee cups laying around, scattered across the floor and his desk, despite there being a perfectly in tact trash-can by the door. The most shameful obstacle being the Harbucks cups from the days he was too impatient to wait for his families coffee shop to open, and in his desperate need for his fix, he resorted to fraternising with the enemy.
His bed was by far the worst condition Craig had seen it in for a long time. Now, not only was there dirty laundry scattered across the floor, but also his bed, along with a bowl of cereal that looked to have been there for at least two days. Craig seemed unfazed though, having cleared himself a place to sit amongst the destruction, with his eyes trained on the television braced on Tweek's bedroom wall. The controller was tightly clutched in his hands as he waited for rainbow six siege to load, ignoring his teammate complaining about Kapkan been taken.
For the billionth time today, Tweek found himself unsure of what to do. His eyes stayed trained on Craig's figure as he stood by the door, chewing on his lip as though that would help him somehow. But of course, after realising how awkward he looked, he moved, taking calculated steps further into his room, sitting on his bed on the far side away from Craig. He pulled his legs up to his chest as he pulled the covers up, revelling in the warmth they had to offer, all the while watching Craig play. His team were defending the hostage, setting out traps, while the other team were on the drones.
To say how long he'd been watching Craig play, was uncertain, but as the night went on with neither of them speaking to each other, only the sounds of the game ringing through-out the room, Tweek's eyes became heavy, sleep taking over him as he tried his hardest to stay awake for as long as possible. It must've been half eleven when he finally drifted off, snuggled into the blankets with his back to Craig, who had forgotten about the existence of time completely, still too engrossed by the game to realise how late it was.
It was weird, for Tweek to sleep so early, though technically it wasn't early, but for a guy who passed out around four in the morning due to insomnia, it was early. Yet having someone present while he nested in bed, never failed to comfort him. The fact it was Craig was just a bonus. He always slept better knowing Craig was near, something that hadn't happened for a while now.
So, as Craig huffed in annoyance as the game ended with their teams failure, he turned in his place to look at Tweek, frowning when he realised he was asleep. He exited the session before turning the Xbox off, along with the television, mindfully keeping an eye on the sleeping blonde in fear of waking him up.
His hands fumbled within the pockets of his hoodie, pulling out his phone to check the time, subconsciously disappointed that he hadn't received a single text from his parents checking he was okay or where he was. Talk about bad parenting. He slipped his phone away again as he crawled off the bed, looking out of the window at the pouring rain that hit against the glass, leaving raindrops to race to the bottom, where they pooled together as one.
Turning back to his sleeping friend, he slipped off his shoes, watching the evened rise and fall coming from the lump under the blankets as he breathed peacefully. Craig absentmindedly climbed onto the end of the bed. The same place he'd sat to play on the Xbox, only this time, he wrapped himself up in the covers, tugging it slightly from Tweek as he settled down, resting his head at the bottom of the mattress. His eyes bored into the darkness of the room as he challenged his thoughts, allowing that annoying voice in his head to express it's concerns.
But spending more time with Tweek was going to fix things, after all, avoiding him had only made things worse. So as Craig tiredly blinked at the nothingness that surrounded him, he exhaled, wishing he hadn't allowed his mind to be unguarded, because within the first two minutes of listening to his inner monologue, he realised that wasn't the case, and that it was going to take a lot more than silent hangouts for them to overcome this thing that had divided them in the first place.