The Evermore Dissociate(Creek) - Chapter 71: Chapter 71

They say a parent is the most important person in a child's life. It's the person a child depends on for protection, love, and for guidance. A parental figure is supposed to be their child's biggest advocate, their biggest supporter, but sometimes they're not. Sometimes the parent in a child's life is the cause to their suffering. Sometimes, there's no love or care, there's no bond or unwavering loyalty. And sometimes, a parent is their child's worst nightmare.
Thomas was once Craig's nightmare,
but as the younger Tucker sits in silence, watching as Tweek fumbles around to withdraw his phone from his pocket as it vibrates continuously, he realises his father has no control over his life anymore. He no longer has to worry about having his friends over in fear of Thomas showing up, but most importantly, he longer has to worry about his expected disapproval.
It was like a weight was lifted from his shoulders, one that had been dragging him down for years and years. He continued to watch as Tweek declined the call from his mom with a bitter look on his face, clearly he hadn't warmed up to her yet.
"I can't unlock this damn thing." Tweek huffed in annoyance as he tossed his phone down beside him.
The pair of them were still sitting opposite one another on Craig's carpet, and as more time passed, the more uncomfortable it was becoming.
"One, three, nine, nine."
Sceptically raising an eyebrow, Tweek asked, "How do you know that?"
"Everyone knows it." Craig shrugged. "You whisper it under your breath when you type it in."
Tweek's lips parted to speak, but he hadn't known how to respond, so instead, he picked up his phone and successfully unlocked it. A sense of victory filled his veins as a huge smile took place on his face. He laughed with relief, and once he looked back over to Craig, who was carefully watching him, Tweek's smile transformed into a small, shy one.
"Thanks." He for some reason whispered. Craig didn't reply, but Tweek didn't care, he was too busy checking out the contents on his phone. The first thing he went to, was his messages. He didn't have too many, but to him, he saw no relevance in that. The first message he saw was from his mom asking where he was, and whether he was safe. He ignored her.
Then there was Craig's name, and when he opened up their chat, he found himself quickly reading through old conversations. It was once he'd checked out Clyde's messages when he stopped. There was endless, desperate apologies that had been sent, but what made Tweek feel the most uneasy, was how they eventually stopped.
He didn't remember Clyde, but he still felt bad for ignoring the guy. After looking up again, and noticing that Craig was still watching him, Tweek frowned as he locked his phone. "Stop staring at me, it's creepy."
"I wasn't staring at you."
"You were."
"Sorry." Craig mumbled. He stood up from the floor with a stretch, before falling backwards onto his bed. He was tired, but he wasn't ready for Tweek to leave just yet. "You can sleep here tonight, if you want." He says whilst extending his long leg to wipe his sock covered foot across Tweek's arm.
Swatting it away with a look of disgust, Tweek copied Craig by getting up. He hovered by the side of the bed as he watched Craig lift up his head to glance back over. "Um- I'm not sure..."
"It's getting late, and it's raining outside."
"I don't have my toothbrush, though."
"We have a few of those tiny travel ones spare from Ruby's trip." Craig yawned into his hand.
"It still has the cover on though, right?" Tweek pulled at his sleeve anxiously. He had a slight problem with germs. "What if someone else has used it?"
Taking in a deep breath, Craig bit his tongue as he got up and disappeared out of the room, only to return moments later, tossing a toothbrush at his friend. "It's covered, see. Nobody's used it."
Tweek had only just caught the object, and as he peeked down to the hand sandwiching the toothbrush against his chest, he began to play with the plastic cover.
"So are you staying, or do I have to walk you home?"
"I'm capable of walking home by myself." Tweek huffed. "But I'll stay."
Moments passed with Craig repeatedly telling Tweek he didn't have to sleep on the floor, and once the unsettled blonde finally accepted it, the both of them laid quietly in Craig's bed with enough space in between them to fit another person.
They both stared up at the ceiling, though neither of them could see a thing through the darkness of the room. It was quiet, but the rain pattering against the small window brought a small amount of ease to them.
"Craig?" Tweek whispered nervously, and when he received a hum in acknowledgement, he continued. "Do you think things would've been different if you hadn't wrote that letter?"
"Probably not."
"Why's that?"
"My dad."
"What if he wasn't a problem, do you think they'd be different then?"
After adjusting himself in the covers, Craig thought about it for a moment. He couldn't imagine things been different between them, and to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted them to be. He doesn't know if he and Tweek would've been happier in their made up alter universe, but what he did know, was that in their own messed up way, they'd gone through so much together, that he wouldn't trade it for all the good things in the world.
"I don't know." He confessed. "I really don't know."
"I imagine you'd have been clingy." Tweek says. "And maybe less of a dick."
"Shut up." Craig muttered as he kicked Tweek from under the sheets, and when Tweek kicked him back, it became a back and forth cycle, each kick harsher than the last. The entire time, Tweek was playfully laughing, reminding Craig of when they were kids.
"You'd have been a pocket holder." Tweek says between his teary laugh.
Immediately Craig stopped kicking, and instead leaned over with the covers clutched in his hands as he held them over Tweek's head, pretending to suffocate him. Not to say he didn't actually want to right now. The more Tweek immaturely laughed, the more Craig wanted to shut him up, and when Tweek shuffled his head around to peek his squinted eyes out of the covers, Craig stopped trying to suffocate his friend.
He was leaning over Tweek, close enough that neither of them dared to speak. A tingly feeling of happiness filled Tweek's body from his laughter that had now died down, and as he silently stared back at Craig, he wanted nothing more than to kiss him.
He thought for just a moment that it was actually going to happen, because Craig wasn't moving away, and though it was dark and Tweek could barely see him, he was almost certain Craig was thinking about it too. But then he moved away and returned to his own side of the bed, leaving Tweek to swallow the lump in his throat as he pulled to covers up against his chin.
Neither of them spoke again after that, and as Tweek stared up at the ceiling once more, Craig laid on his side, facing away from his friend as his mind went into overdrive.