The Evermore Dissociate(Creek) - Chapter 97: Chapter 97

Many months had passed by. Time spent adjusting to adult life. It was mid afternoon when Kenny tiredly filled the shelves at work. He'd been working an eleven hour shift, and was desperate for another break. At least he wasn't alone. Both he and Cartman worked together now, which wasn't as insufferable as you may think. Having the brute around, had actually brought the two of them closer together after high school. Before, Kenny only tolerated Cartman because he had to, but now, it wasn't so bad. Leaving high school had matured Cartman, more than any point in his life had. Sure, he was still a bit of a jerk at times, but that was just apart of his personality.
With an exhausted yawn, Kenny headed into the warehouse to collect more of the products they had in stock, which also needed to be brought out. Seeing how much work he still had left to do, made him feel like banging his head against the nearest wall in anguish. Escape wasn't so easy, though. Their supervisor, Leon, soon came strolling into the same room as Kenny, clip board in hand as he scowled sideways at his coworker.
"Finish up with those soon, McCormick. You still need to unload the crates."
"Working on it." Kenny mumbled, before turning his back to Leon. Behind him, he could hear the impatient tapping of a pen against a clip board, until moments later, a set of footsteps headed out of the room. A near silence ran throughout the area, with the only sound being that of the machines across the room. It was cold inside the factory, which made Kenny only hate this place even more.
Around half an hour later, Cartman emerged from seemingly nowhere, with a crate filled with more items. When he walked over to where Kenny was working, a deflated sigh fell past his plump lips in defeat. Turning to face him, Kenny smirked once he saw how the struggle of a days hard work was taking a toll on Cartman. He'd only been working here for a few weeks, however, he'd lasted longer than anyone had expected him to. Still, Kenny didn't see how Cartman could have the audacity to complain. He was doing part time, considering he attended college nearby, whereas Kenny worked full time, whilst doing the occasional job for Jimbo.
"I feel dead inside." Cartman said as he began stacking the shelves, along side Kenny. "My hands are sore, and my back is killing me."
"Tell me about it." Kenny idly replied. "My feet haven't felt right in months."
"How does Simon get away with doing nothing all day? He just sits on his ass, playing on his phone all day."
"He's been here longer than both of us."
"Whatever." Cartman grumbled. "I've been eating his sandwiches for the past week."
"That's you?" Kenny scowled sideways. "He's been blaming me."
"Yeah, I know. That may be my fault."
"You told him it was me. Didn't you?"
Innocently shrugging his shoulders, Cartman finished up with the lower shelf, and moved on to the next. Since high school ended, neither of them had heard much from Stan or Kyle. Though it bothered Kenny, for Cartman, he didn't all that mind. They'd only ever annoyed him, and now, he had no time for them. These days, Cartman had other priorities. The most important being his unhealthy relationship with Heidi.
Moments had passed with neither of them speaking. Just a time being filled with working themselves into boredom, until Cartman stopped and scratched his forehead in thought. "Hey, Kenny?"
"Yeah?"
"What age would you propose to someone?"
"I don't-"" Kenny blinked in a stupor. "Hold on. You're not thinking of proposing to Heidi, are you?"
"No..." Cartman scoffed. "But if I were... out of curiosity, when should I do it?"
"My advice would be never."
"....We'll see."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kenny tiredly shook his head. "Do you even like her?"
"Sometime." Cartman confesses, shrugging his shoulders as though it didn't matter all that much if he did. "What kind of person actually likes the person they're dating, though?"
Kenny decided to leave the strange conversation there. He wasn't sure if Cartman was actually being serious, but he didn't all that care. Out of the corner of his eye, Kenny spotted their manager making his way over, looking unimpressed, as usual. Beside him, Cartman was still rambling on, unaware of the new presence, swiftly coming up along side him.
"You're not paid to stand around, gossiping all day." Leon snaps, interrupting Cartman. "Get back to work, whilst either of you still have a job."
Fighting off the urge to argue back, Cartman knowingly made eye contact with Kenny, before he went back to working. The manager stuck around for a few seconds, until he became tired enough of the pair of them, and decided to wander off, once again. Without removing his attention from the task at hand, Cartman muttered beneath his breath, "asshole."
Amused, Kenny grinned to himself. Having Cartman working along side him was mostly a good thing. He made Kenny laugh, in a place where laughter came to die. Without him here, maybe the pressure would've overwhelmed Kenny, but thankfully enough, it hadn't so far. It was odd to consider Cartman as his closest friend, but when Kenny thought about the friends he'd lost contact with over the past few months, he was strangely glad to still have Cartman's witty humour around.
Life after high school wasn't as bad as Kenny had initially thought it to be. Sure, it had its ups and downs. There's days where it all seems too much for him to handle, but each day, when he returns home to the shared apartment he rents, he's reminded of all the success he's had during the past year. He works hard to earn his money. He works hard in life, and maybe one day, that'll start to show. Though his leg still hadn't fully recovered from almost a year ago, he'd healed more than the doctors had thought possible, and in time, there'd be a day nothing was physically wrong with him.
Finally, life was on Kenny's side. He's a lot happier, now that he'd broken free from the cycle his parents had created. He pays more attention to the birds in the trees, rather than the shoes on his feet. He'll regularly smile, and despite his life being filled with stress, the smile he wears is genuine. Life for Kenny meant independence. It meant finding who he was as a person, and perhaps one day, he'll escape South Park, once and for all.
—
With his head down low, Tweek sits cross legged on his bed, as he revises the book in his hand. The dorm room is badly lit by a small lamp across the room, only making the headache between Tweek's temples, worse. For the past three hours, he'd been sitting in the same position, trying to finish this specific book, so that he could rest a little before tomorrow. His legs are cramped, and they'll surely be filled with pins and needles when he eventually dares to move. He can already feel the numbness in his right foot, but chooses to ignore it, at least for now.
Distractions were the last thing Tweek needed, but when the door opens, and his roommate, Ryan, quickly enters with a suspicious looking lump under his jacket, Tweek's attention drifts away from his studies. "What's that?" He asks with a raised eyebrow, whilst Ryan kicks the door closed with his foot.
The lump began to move around in Ryan's hand, but rather than fessing up, he tried to play it off. "This? It's my jacket."
"I mean under the jacket."
After a moment of staring blankly at Tweek, Ryan sighs as he makes his way over to his own bed. "Okay, you have to promise you won't say anything."
"Okay..." Before Ryan could even place the moving jacket down, a small, furry head poked out in excitement. Tweek stared at the puppy in confusion, watching as it's head tilted to look around. "Why is there a dog in our room?"
"It's my families dog from back at home. So, I decided to bring her here for the weekend."
"Please tell me your parents know you've took the dog?"
"Yes..." Ryan lied, glancing down to where the puppy chewed on one of Tweek's shoes. "Obviously they know."
"How're you going to get away with having a dog on campus? You'll need to walk it at some point."
"I haven't thought of everything, just yet." Ryan confessed as he dragged his jacket out from underneath the puppy. As he puts it on, he walked across the room to take his phone off charge, before stuffing it into his pocket. "Anyway, I'm heading out. Everyone's hanging out a few doors down. Want to come?"
"No..." Tweek frowned, gesturing to the book resting on his lap. "Wait, so you're leaving the dog here, with me?"
"Yeah, you don't mind. Right?" Ryan replied, though he wasn't waiting around for an answer as he headed for the door. "See you later. There's some beef jerky under my pillow. Don't touch it."
Parting his lips to speak, Tweek's eyebrows creased as he watched the door close. Stopping beside his bed, the puppy made a little noise as he looked up at Tweek. The two made eye contact, in a way that Tweek hoped would tell the puppy to behave, before its paws patted against the floor, and it went to chew on something else. Sighing, Tweek picked up his book, trying to focused once again, but it was no use. He glanced to his phone, and when he thought of Craig, he sadly smiled.
Only last week, Craig had traveled six hours just to hang out with Tweek for the weekend, but two days weren't enough time. When it came to him leaving, it was like a knife being shoved into Tweek's chest, a knife he still couldn't remove. After scrolling through his contacts, his eyes stared at Craig's name for a moment, and the goofy picture beside it. Tweek was always afraid of calling Craig first, incase he was being annoying, but sometimes, not calling him was worse.
Just like today. A heavy feeling settled within his stomach. He missed Craig, so much, and so, his finger hesitantly pressed down to video chat. The hum that repeatedly rang, made Tweek stir uncomfortably, and when he stretched out his legs, he instantly regretted it. A dull ache ran up along his legs, and to his dismay, Craig answered, forcing Tweek to mask his facial expressions from the pain he felt.
"Tweek." Craig's rough voice croaked through the phone. The sight that met Tweek's eye, wasn't the most pleasant to see. Clearly Craig was unwell, if the two pieces of rolled up tissue hanging out of his nose, was any indication. His hair was sticking up in every direction, and it looked as though he was wrapped up in bed.
"Ew." Tweek grimaced, not being able to remove his eyes from the tissue. "What happened to you?"
"I'm a little sick."
"I can see that." Tweek says, frowning off to the side when the puppy jumped onto his bed, crawling onto his lap. "How're you feeling?"
"Sick." Craig deadpanned. "When did you get a dog?"
"It's not mine. My roommate snuck it in."
A small smile formed on Tweek's face when Craig proceeded to attempt to talk to the puppy in a weird voice. Rather than it sounding playful, with him being sick, his voice sounded too rough, and ended up scaring the puppy away. A look of disappointment settled across Craig's features, but then shortly after, he was back to focusing on Tweek. "Dumb dog."
"Don't be mean." Tweek scolded his boyfriend, watching in disgust as Craig plucked the tissue from his nose. "Did you really have to do that on camera?"
"What? Don't you think it's sexy?"
"No, it's gross."
"You're gross." Craig retorts, sniffing loudly enough for Tweek to hear everything inside of his nose.
"Yeah, okay." Tweek grins, despite his nose being curled. "I'm the gross one here."
"I'm glad we can agree."
It was weird to be staring through a screen, at a person filled with germs and snot, yet to still want to be laying right beside them. Tweek would give anything to be able to reach through the screen, to touch Craig. Not being able to, just makes the situation suck even more. Whilst Tweek was deep in thought, Craig was silently watching him, not saying a word, only observing. It was when Tweek realised the lack of conversation between them, that he noticed the watchful eyes on him. "What?"
"I miss you." Craig quietly confessed.
Blushing, Tweek looks away, hoping that Craig couldn't see the shade of red in his cheeks. "I miss you, too." He whispers. It makes Craig lazily smile to himself as he runs his fingers through his hair.
Ruining the moment between them, another voice sounds through the speaker, coming from Craig's end. It was his roommate, complaining about all of the used tissues left scattered across the room. Craig only grumbled beneath his breath in annoyance, huffing to himself as he stared at Tweek. From the look in his eye, Tweek knows what he's about to say next. Their conversation was coming to an end, which saddened Tweek deeply.
"I'll call you again once I'm feeling better." Craig says in a way that clearly shows he doesn't want to leave just yet. But now that his confrontational roommate is back, he has to go. He hates seeing the look of disappointment on Tweek's face, so he does the only thing he knows would cheer him up right now. Bringing the phone closer to his face, Craig makes little kissy noises through the speaker, making Tweek slightly smile. "Love youuuuu." He says in an immature voice.
"Shut up." Tweek laughs. Lately, Craig says that a lot, and though it makes Tweek feel weird inside, he kind of likes it. He likes that Craig was the one to say it first, considering the hell Tweek went through during last year. Even though Tweek was yet to return the confession, it never deterred Craig from saying it.
"I'm not leaving this time, until you say it back."
"Then you'll have to stay."
As a way of intimidation, Craig squints his eyes as he stares into the screen, staring deeply into what feels like Tweek's soul, waiting for him to say it back. Only, Tweek was immune to it now, and so he copies Craig, looking into the blue of his eyes that searched for affection. Tweek could go on all night, but Craig was unwell, proven by the coughing fit that soon took place. Patiently waiting for it to pass, Tweek cringed as he watched the screen wobble around in his hand, but then it stopped, and Craig returned with a serious expression. "Say it back." He ordered sternly, his voice croaky and tired.
Shyly, Tweek chews on the end of his sleeve. His throat feels tight, and his stomach is swarming with butterflies. He knows Craig is watching him, waiting for him, but for now, he can wait. A whole mess of thoughts collide within Tweek's mind, then suddenly, almost nervously, he meets Craig's eyes. It's like a puzzle piece finally being completed, with every part being fitted into place. For the longest time, Tweek had strong feelings for Craig, and everyday they spend together or apart, those feeling only grow stronger.
The lamp across the room flickers gently, momentarily casting shadows across Tweek's face. On the small screen of Tweek's phone, Craig is there, waiting for those words to be said back to him. He could wait forever, even if he was sick. He'd be sick on screen, just to prove to Tweek how long he could stay. Romantic, isn't it?
But he didn't have to wait much longer. The sleeve Tweek chewed on was damp and crinkled. The room the blonde sat in, wasn't well lit. The puppy's paws playfully dug into a dirty pile of clothes. Then, in a redeeming moment of confession, the greens of Tweek's eyes shook, and his voice, so shy and quiet, made the hairs on Craig's arms stand up when he mumbled, "I love you."