The Evermore Dissociate(Creek) - Chapter 64: Chapter 64

This mornings incident stuck with Craig throughout the day. It was impaled in the back of his mind when he'd walked the damp streets for a couple of hours, even during his time at Clyde's house. He was stalling, knowing he'd have to go home at some point, though for now, he wasn't ready to face his mom and sister. After assaulting his dad, Craig hadn't stuck around. His anger was something that had always got the better of him, and knowing he'd inherited that specific aspect from his dad only made it worse.
He was fed up. His high from slamming his dad's face into the car had faded, and now all he could think about was all of the things he'd wished he'd said to Thomas. He wanted to call him every name under the sun, and curse him to an eternity of hell, but somewhere hidden deeply in the back of his mind, he knew his dad was just another victim to alcohol abuse.
It was mid afternoon, gradually becoming darker outside, with the season hiding the scattered stars behind a layer of mist. Neither Craig, nor Clyde were the type to attend a gathering at the set time, but considering they had nothing better to do, they decided to take a slow walk over to Jimmy's. Slow wasn't their preferred pace to walk, but seeing as though Clyde was still limping along with crutches, slow was their only choice.
"Are you even supposed to be walking on that?" Craig casually asked.
"It's fine. It's mainly healed, just hurts sometimes." Clyde replied distantly, watching the street ahead. "You're not worried about me, are you?" He snickered.
"Not even slightly."
"It's alright, I won't tell anyone." Clyde smiled to himself. "How was your trip down memory lane with Tweek?"
"Shit." Craig mumbled as he wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "You haven't heard from him, have you? He hasn't replied to any of my messages." He passively sniffed.
"No, I wouldn't know what to say to him. He still wasn't speaking to me before."
"Still?"
"Still." Clyde huffed. "I blame you."
"What for?"
"The entire situation would've been simpler on everyone if you liked him back."
"So our love lives rely on things being easier for you?" Craig glanced over to his friend who lightly shrugged.
"It'd be convenient." He uttered. "He's at Jimmy's place now."
"I thought you hadn't spoken to him?"
"I haven't. Jimmy told me."
The clouds parted as rain began to gently fall from the sky, disrupting their conversation, and the moment a single drop landed on Clyde's uncovered head, he cursed beneath his breath. They were still some way from arriving at their destination, and getting soaked was not on either of their to do lists. Clyde was too busy undoing his jacket to use as a shield for his hair, that he hadn't noticed Craig frowning at him as he stood under the canopy that lead to Mrs Bearen's flower stall. The winds blew rain into Clyde's squinted eyes, and he shivered from his exposed arms.
He felt as though the Gods were punishing him, even more so as a car slowed down beside him, splashing sludge his way, but then the weirdest thing happened, and the car reversed until it was in front of him. Mucky tire tracks were left in the fresh, thin coat of snow, with the rumbling engine and grey puffs of smoke coming from the exhaust pipe drawing in all of Clyde's attention. That was until the slightly tinted window squeaked down, and on the other side was Eric obnoxiously chewing on some gum.
"You gaylords need a ride?"
For a shortest moment, Clyde heisted. How ever much he hated getting his recently groomed hair wet, he wasn't sure leaping head first into a rusty car with Eric was the most rational decision. Then again, he'd spent a while making sure his hair stuck in the right place. "This isn't a trick, is it?"
Within the dryness of the car, Eric pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Christ, you're so stupid." He whispered under his breath. "No, Clyde. This isn't a trick."
"You're not going to start driving off as soon as I get too close to the car?"
"Do you want a ride, or not?"
"Yes."
"Call you little girlfriend over then, or I'll leave him behind."
Looking over his shoulder, Clyde was just about to call out to Craig, but paused once he'd seen his friend already on his way over with a certain finger extended towards the driver. The pair of them climbed into the backseats, uttering a quiet 'thanks," though neither of them particularly wanted to sit close to Eric, despite his generous offer to help them out.
With the pair of them shivering uncontrollably in the back, Eric glanced at them through the mirror. "What am I, your fucking chauffeur?"
"Since when did you have a car?" Clyde wondered aloud, completely ignoring Eric's previous question.
"Since last week." Eric replied, returning his gaze to the road as he drove in the direction of Jimmy's house. "You better not leave wet ass marks on my seats either."
Clyde slightly lifted himself up, swiping a hand under his butt to subtly check, while Craig grimaced at the dirty seatbelt he'd bucked over himself. They were silently grateful the moment the heater was put on, blowing warm air throughout the car. The warmth made Clyde relax during the ride to Jimmy's, so much that when Eric ordered him out of the car, he considered putting up a fight. His resistant hadn't lasted long though, with Eric opening the door closest to Clyde and letting out all of the heat, and so he obediently complied, clumsily climbing out with his crutches clanging against the seats. He was oblivious to the glare sent his way by Eric, either that or he was straight out ignoring him as he headed for the front door.
The noise that came from within the house was like non Clyde had heard in a while. He could hear people getting along and laughing, he heard them joking about. It was a noise he hadn't heard for a few weeks, with the stress of school and the upcoming terror of college, he rarely heard anything remotely similar to laughter anymore.
He was stressed himself, with the anniversary of his mother's death six years ago coming up. So far, he'd done a good job of acting as though it no longer affected him the way it had when he were younger, but no amount of time could pass before he no long hurt in her absence. He could barely remember what it felt like to have her around, and he guessed that's what gets to him the most.
Upon entering the next room over, the three of them quietly stood by the door as they watched their friends competing against one another on guitar hero, a game non of them had played, or even thought about in years. People were scattered all over the room, with Jimmy sitting on a brown, leather recliner. Token and Stan were currently standing in front of the television with their plastic guitars, strumming away, while Kyle and Stoley were playing snap on the couch.
"Nice stabilisers, C-C-Clyde." Jimmy greeted as soon as he'd seen the trio.
Looking down at the crutches keeping him balanced, Clyde lazily smiled. He knew they were going to be with him for a while, at-least a couple more weeks, but having someone else in his friendship circle who also used them was exciting. He imagined the races he and Jimmy could have during their lunch break, or how many times they'd get away with tripping their classmates up. He had no had time to reply, since Eric knocked him to the side as he made his way over to sit down.
"Jackass." Craig called to his retreating form while Clyde scowled to himself as he regained his balance.
"Hey, who else is coming?" Kyle asked, lifting up his head to glance over, while he shuffled the cards in his hands. "Surely it not just us lot."
"Thomas and David are supposed to be coming over later."
"Oh, not those guys." Eric huffed, folding his arms. "This place is going to be a total sausage fest."
"Where's Tweek?" Craig interrupted.
"He went to the toilet a while ago." Stan replied, still focused on the screen as more points were added to his score. "Think he might be taking a shit."
Leaving the room and the current conversation behind, Craig went in search for Tweek. He headed up the creaky stairs, glancing into Jimmy's room as he passed before standing outside the bathroom and knocking on the door. "Tweek?"
"J-just a minute." Came the rushed, muffle reply. There was shuffling coming from inside, with the light seeping underneath the door, but still, it remained closed.
"What're you doing?"
"I'm just- I'm..." Tweek paced back and forth, pulling on his hair as he watched the door. He'd locked himself in here twenty minutes ago to escape the others and their loud voices. He knew coming here would have been too much for him, and he only had himself to blame. Recognising Craig's voice instantly made Tweek relax a little, feeling as though he wasn't as alone as he once thought he was, but only slightly. He watched the door with an intensity of purpose, and after taking in a shaky breath, he quickly unlocked the door.
When the door opened to Craig just standing there with his hands tucked into his pockets, both of them just stared at the other for the shortest moment. "Are you okay?"
"Mmh, no." Tweek said, before dragging Craig into the safety of the bathroom by his sleeve. He locked the door behind them with speed, while Craig stared wide-eyed. "I'm freaking out! There's too many people, and I don't know how I'm supposed to act around any of them."
"Just be yourself."
"I can't be myself!" Tweek huffed. "If I be myself, I think I'd just be sat in a corner rocking back and forth!"
"That's a little dramatic." Craig drawled.
"It isn't! Why do I feel so anxious all of the time?"
"It's okay, I'm here now."
"Ngh, that doesn't help." Tweek stressed. He hadn't missed the look of slight offence Craig had shared, though it was quickly replaced by a more passive one. The bathroom was too small for the both of them, but outside felt entirely too big for Tweek in this moment, and so they stood closely together, with the dripping tap as background noise.
"How about, you stay for half an hour, and I'll go with you."
Tweek glanced over to Craig, who'd already been carefully watching him from where he was sitting on the edging of the bath tub. He hadn't properly looked at Craig until now, but as he did, he noticed the faint red mark around his neck. "What's that?" He asked with a frown on his face as he pointed to Craig's neck.
Until now, Craig hadn't even considered the possibility of there being evidence of his scuff earlier, but with Tweek observing him like a wounded animal, he brought his hand to cover where he guessed the mark would be. "Nothing."
"It's not nothing." Tweek persisted. Without even thinking about his actions, he tried to pry Craig's hand away, and though Craig was a little shocked at the sudden straightforwardness, he still managed to keep his hand in place. "Why won't you let me see it?"
"Because, there's nothing to see."
A slight battle took place as Tweek tried to get a look, continuously tugging at Craig's hand, and if Craig hadn't been feeling so defensive towards the touchy subject, he would've likely found this moment amusing. It was when Tweek pinched his arm so suddenly, that Craig broke his shield with a quiet yelp. The mark was in plain sight, and all Craig could do was silently stare while Tweek poked a finger at it. There was no pain, at-least non that Craig could feel right now, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing.
"What happened?" Tweek asked quietly, briefly meeting Craig's eye, before returning to inspect the red patch.
"I don't know, I must've slept weirdly on it."
His explanation wasn't fooling the blonde, and by the incredulous look he received, Craig knew he was going to have to think of something better than that. He took in a deep breath through his nose as he looked towards the ceiling and around the room, wiping his hands on his jeans. Talking about his dad was something reserved only for his conversations with Clyde, and even then it was rare. The only reason Clyde knew was because one day, back when they were fourteen, Craig's drunken father had come charging into the room. He was ashamed, feeling as though his fathers condition was partly his fault, though that was far from the truth.
He wasn't sure he ever wanted Tweek to know anything about it, but he remembered the moment Tweek asked him how he was supposed to trust Craig, and thinking about it, he knew trust was a two way street. If Tweek was to trust him, then he had to trust Tweek.