Chapter Text
Craig didn’t go to school the next day, feigning illness. He had spent the entire day in his bed, laying on his side, staring at the now vacant space on his right wrist. It looked so ugly now without a name written there, Craig thought.
His entire mind and body were blank, just like his empty wrist. There were no emotions there at all–he felt absolutely nothing. Months ago he would have been happy, would have felt at peace knowing that he was the only one existing in his body. But right now, things just felt cold, empty, and dark.
Craig’s stomach had been aching all night. He said nothing to his family when he had come home from school the day before, and he continued to remain silent now. There was no point in explaining what had happened to him. There was no point in anything anymore.
No matter how awful he felt, deep down Craig knew he had made the right decision. Tweek was free to roam the world now without a stupid soulmate like Craig holding him back. He was sure that Tweek would be hurting at first, but after a few months he would surely forget all about Craig.
The thought made Craig miserable. But that was what he had wanted when he had broken the bond between himself and Tweek.
When Craig rolled over, he wished he hadn’t. On his bedside table lay his phone, which had been blowing up since yesterday. Craig didn’t care. He didn’t answer any of the messages he received nor did he pick up any phone calls. The whole thing just seemed so pointless. The entire world outside of himself felt dead.
However, next to the phone lay a pair of gently used headphones, the sight of them causing the veins in Craig’s heart to burn and pull terribly. He had left them there days ago, finding that there really was no need for them as much anymore, not when he had Tweek. Had Tweek.
Craig let out a shaky breath, feeling exhausted. He hadn’t been able to sleep in days, not that it mattered. Craig didn’t care if he never slept again, didn’t care if he died right there in his bed from starvation.
The headphones were taunting him now, so Craig slowly reached over to pick them up. He toyed with them for a moment, brushing over the foam pads where his ears went. They were soft and smooth, and although on any other day just the sight of the headphones would have been enough to keep him happy, they did absolutely nothing for him.
He knew he shouldn’t have, but Craig couldn’t help it when he gently raised them over his head, placing them over his ears. They should have felt familiar and comfortable, but right now they felt like they were far away, like he was far away. Carefully, he made a grab at his phone, plugging in the cord of the headphones and swiping away at the messages he had littering the screen, instead looking for the music app on his phone.
Craig hesitated for a moment, breathing heavy before he pressed down on the screen and playing the song. Maybe it had just been to torture himself, but Craig had chosen something slower, more classical. The first few notes were like knives sharpening themselves on the edges of his heart, cutting along the veins and forcing them open, as though trying to get him to bleed out.
He closed his eyes, begging the music to take him far, far away. He pleaded with it, as though the song could hear him, begged the universe to let him drift off and away into somewhere else, anywhere else but here.
But Craig remained at his bed. His feelings lay just as motionless as him, wilted inside. Without Tweek’s waves, Craig’s sandy heat was nothing more than a hot desert. Without Tweek, Craig’s insides were boiling hot, too hot to touch, like placing a hand over an open flame. It was a terrible feeling, he realized, to only feel himself and no one else.
The song continued on, but Craig did not. He could still feel every part of his back and legs touching his bed, his head stuck to his pillow as it had been all day. The tune did nothing to help guide him away from his bedroom, keeping him locked up. No matter how hard he concentrated, the music did nothing to stir up his emotions in his gut.
No matter how hard he prayed, no one was going to answer Craig’s prayers. The music just sounded like background noise, an irritable distraction to Craig. It would not be carrying him away anymore, would no longer let him reach a peaceful oblivion. Without Tweek, there was not even a point of trying to get away from where he was now. When he had broken the bond with Tweek, Craig had also broken his bond with music forever.
But that was the price he had agreed to pay for Tweek. He had known the consequences before he had signed up for them, knew that he was going to hear music just the same as everyone else did, now. And even though it hurt, Craig wouldn’t have taken that back for anything. He would choose Tweek over music all over again if he could.
How was he meant to face him at school now? How was Craig meant to face anyone at all, ever again? Seeing Tweek would only serve to hurt them both further. He could not stand the thought of having to see Tweek anymore, knowing that it would hurt him too badly and too powerfully. Craig would not be able to function normally if he saw the other boy–he didn’t know if he would ever be able to function normally ever again.
He suddenly didn’t care if never going to school again meant he didn’t graduate. What was the point of graduating when he had nobody to enjoy it with, nobody to share his future with?
Craig tore the useless headphones away from his scalp, yanking them out of his phone and throwing them against the opposite wall hard, with a frustrated yell. He only felt moderately bad when Stripe jumped from shock at the loud noise.
Throwing his head in his hands, Craig closed his eyes. Life just seemed to have no meaning now, not like it had had meaning before he turned eighteen. How was he meant to just live his life now? How was he supposed to carry on knowing that he was now destined to be alone for the rest of his life? The thought scared him. He didn’t want to be alone, didn’t ever want to have to experience loneliness again–
And Craig didn’t have to, not at that moment at least. A furious pounding at his bedroom door suddenly scared him and Stripe shittless, skin forming goosebumps as his heart jumped and he sat straight up in his bed. The bedroom door slammed open, and there stood his three best friends.
“Craig!” Tolkien shouted furiously, Jimmy and Clyde red in the face right behind him. “What the fuck did you do?!”
Craig said nothing, staring at them all with a stunned expression. His eyes flickered between all three of them, his heart beating fast. It seemed like it hadn’t done that in days, but the mere sight of his best friends had caused it to start beating again. It seemed that it still worked after all.
Still, Craig did not speak. He looked them all over once, twice. And then, he began to cry loudly.
He threw his head into his hands, shaking as he sobbed harshly. It took the other by surprise immediately, all of the anger vanishing from them in an instant. Tolkien turned around to share a glance with the other two, who were now frowning heavily, eyes full of worry. They all turned back to Craig before slowly stepping inside, shutting the door behind them.
They sat in silence for a moment, all of them simply listening to Craig sob for a while. He was having trouble breathing, eyes wiping furiously at his gushing tears as he inhaled shaky breath after shaky breath. Tolkien was the first to move, coming closer to where Craig was sitting up in his bed. Carefully, he sat down on the edge of the bed beside his friend, hand coming up to rest over his back tentatively.
Craig threw himself at the other boy, clutching at his purple shirt and cramming his face into Tolkien’s shoulder. His friend embraced him at once, wrapping his arms around Craig and holding him gently.
From behind him, Jimmy and Clyde slowly came forward, too. They each sat down on either side of Tolkien, Jimmy propping his crutches against the side of the bed and scooting himself back a little. When they were all comfortable, both Jimmy and Clyde began to gently rub and pat at Craig’s back, doing their best to soothe him without words.
No one said anything for a long time. Desperate cries continued to wrack through Craig’s body, his shoulders shaking like crazy. Even though his friends were with him now and that did help him to feel better, Craig had never felt more alone in his entire life. Having to deal with only one set of feelings resting against his heart was the absolute worst feeling he had ever felt in his life, almost worse than when he had made Tweek cry.
He had felt so lost and empty without Tweek there beside him. The younger boy would never again soothe his ache with his own feelings, would never again be able to calm Craig down no matter how desperately he had wished for it.
Craig felt as though hours must have passed by. Tolkien never loosened his hold on him, and the soothing hands at his back never pulled away. He didn’t care how vulnerable he appeared to his friends; right now, he needed them bad.
Taking a few shaky deep breaths, Craig willed himself to calm down. He needed to face reality, needed to talk to his friends about what had happened, because he thought it might help him. But he couldn’t do that if there were tears and snot all over his face.
A few spare tears fell onto Tolkien’s shirt, but Craig had regained control of his breathing. He stayed there for a few more minutes, listening to nothing but four pairs of breath inhaling and exhaling as they all sat there together in silence.
Without pulling away, Craig mumbled into Tolkien’s shoulder, “you have my snot and tears all over your shirt now.”
Tolkien teased quietly, “yeah, this is, like, a ninety dollar shirt, too, so… you owe me.” But Craig didn’t laugh. He pulled away slightly, not enough so that Tolkien’s arms would slip away but enough that the three of them could now see his red, blotchy, tear-stained face.
He looked down at his lap, sniffling hard and using his hands to wipe away at his eyes. The other three continued to stay silent, waiting for Craig to speak first.
Craig wanted to tell them what had happened, wanted to talk about how he was feeling and how badly he was hurting inside, but something else seemed to be more important to him at that moment.
“Is he upset?” he questioned softly, eyes still pinned to the hands in his lap.
“Well, yeah, dude,” Clyde scoffed softly, “of course he’s upset.”
Craig felt his heart give an unhappy lurch, the beating of his heart pulsing slower at the answer. He knew that Tweek would be hurting for right now, but that didn’t make it any less painful to hear.
“Why’d you do it, man?” Jimmy asked softly, not being able to help himself. Craig let out a long sigh, rubbing at his eyes once more.
“It was for the best,” he answered. “That’s all.”
The other three exchanged a look. Craig felt his lip wobbling again, begging himself not to cry in front of his friends again.
“I like him so much,” Craig confessed softly, even though they all knew, because he had never said it out loud. “I really fucking love him.”
Tolkien let out a sharp exhale. “Then how could you do this, Craig? I mean, you had to have known that he felt the same–”
“He didn’t,” Craig admitted. He had been thinking it for quite some time but was having trouble saying it, because it hurt too much, because it would be too final and Craig didn’t want to admit that it was the truth. “Not the way I felt for him, at least. Not the way I feel for him now.”
“Are you dumb?” Clyde said stupidly, “How could you think he didn’t like you?”
“He did like me,” Craig corrected, “but he didn’t love me. He doesn’t love me.” The words cut into him like a sharp blade. “That’s another reason why it was so easy to do it. Because he would get over me faster than I would get over him.” He felt another tear fall down his cheek. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to get over him.”
The other three slapped a palm over their own faces in unison. It startled Craig, causing him to jump out of his skin.
“Craig, you have got to be the dumbest mother fucker alive,” Clyde said incredulously, wiping over his own face, exhausted.
“I-I second that,” Jimmy scoffed, shaking his head. Craig felt a pang of anger slipping over himself.
“What’re you guys talking about?” he asked stupidly, and his friends rolled his eyes.
“Must I spell it out for you?” Tolkien snapped, eyebrows furrowing, “he’s in love with you, Craig. God, you’re so fucking dense…”
“What are you talking about?” Craig repeated angrily, “Tweek’s not in love with me.”
Jimmy, Clyde, and Tolkien shared a single dumbfounded look. It was as though Craig didn’t exist in his own bedroom. “He’s not!”
“Uh, yeah he is,” Jimmy snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Craig, please tell me you’re really not this stupid, I’m begging you,” Tolkien whined dramatically, placing his fingers over the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Craig suddenly grew angry, jumping up from his bed for the first time all day to throw his hands up in the air, exasperated.
“Okay, who cares?” he growled at his three friends, “so what? So what if he loves me, too? It’s not like it matters!” Craig lowered his hands after running one of them through his hair, knocking his hat onto the floor. A little softer, he said, “Tweek’s going away for college. He’s leaving this town and never coming back. I didn’t want our stupid bond to hold him back, okay? So I let him go.”
The other three sat in a stunned silence for a moment, their heads snapping to look at one another, communicating silently. Craig hated it when they did that, wishing they would just tell him outright what they were thinking.
When they had finished, they turned back to look at him. Tolkien was the one that decided to speak.
“Craig…” he started, “go talk to him. Now.”
“No,” Craig spat, turning away from them, “I’m not doing that. I’m not ever doing that.”
“Dude… listen to Tolkien,” Clyde spoke slowly, “just trust us–”
“I don’t want to talk to him!” Craig shouted, not caring if his parents downstairs heard, “I don’t want to! I-I can’t! I can’t, alright?” He came back over to plop down on the bed beside them. “I’m afraid that if I see him again… I’ll be too tempted to tell him to stay.”
His three best friends looked at him sadly, eyeing him quietly. Jimmy lifted his hand again to beat against his back in a calming way, which was much appreciated because Craig’s emotions were currently on the fritz.
“...He told us about how you convinced him to go to prom,” Tolkien said softly, speaking incredibly slow, “he was so happy that you wanted him to go.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Craig interrupted, but Tolkien ignored him.
“I mean, you should have seen his face. He was telling us how he initially didn’t want to go, because your stupid project was due the next week. But then he was talking about that time you both hung out and how you said that you wanted him to go. He seemed pretty touched that you wanted him to have a fun night out.” He paused then, sighing. “God, Tweek’s gonna kill me for telling you all this.”
“I don’t need to hear it,” Craig said, silently begging him to stop, because Tolkien’s words were only further piercing his soul, “I’ve made up my mind–”
“He was going to ask you to prom,” Tolkien confessed, his eyes never leaving Craig’s. “He was all over us for like, hours that night debating the best way to go about asking you.”
Craig felt as though he had been shot. He briefly thought back to the day after he had given Tweek the headband, when he had worn it to school. He had been about to ask Craig something before they were interrupted by the jerk who had called him a nasty name. Craig’s heart shattered inside of him for the hundredth time that day–that was the same day he had sworn to himself that he would never call Tweek a mean name in his life. Clearly, he had broken that vow.
“But that clearly didn’t work out,” Tolkien sighed, leaning back, “so then I tried to encourage him to ask you to dance, instead. And I tried to tell your stupid ass that it would make him really happy if you asked him–”
“I tried!” Craig argued, “I tried to ask him–”
“Oh, I know,” Tolkien explained, “and then Clyde here had to go and fuck up everything–”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Clyde cried, face deformed and looking as though he was ready to start wailing at any second. “I was depressed! Bebe had just rejected me, and, I don’t know, Tweek was just sitting there–”
“Anyway,” Tolkien cut him off, rolling his eyes, “then we went to Clyde’s party and Tweek told us all about your little makeout session in my car, which, by the way, you totally owe me money for detailing now–”
“Oh, god, he told you guys?!” Craig said in horror, his emotions internally screaming at the idea that Tweek had told them about such an intimate moment between them.
“W-Wouldn’t shut up about it, actually,” Jimmy added, “trust me, we didn’t want to hear about it.”
“Man, he was totally flipping shit,” Clyde told him, resting his arms behind his head, “he was so sure that you two were gonna start dating or something. He was really happy.”
“He said that…?” Craig asked, and he was truly shocked. Tweek had alluded to the idea that he wanted to be in a relationship with him, but he never would have guessed that he had been so excited about it that he actually went and spilled all their secrets with his other three friends.
“He did,” Tolkien confirmed. “And he’s been absolutely crushed for two days now, and rightfully so.”
“He was slobbering all over Tolkien like you were,” Jimmy confided, and then he snorted. “Honestly, it was a little funny–”
Clyde started fake crying, throwing the back of his hand over the back of his own forehead, as he mocked a high-pitched tone, very much like he had done to Craig the day before, clearly imitating Tweek. His other hand went to clutch at his own chest.
“’What am I ever going to do’?” Clyde squeaked, giving his best impression of Tweek, “‘Craig hates me, but I love him so much! How could he do this’?”
“He said that?!” Craig screamed, sitting up straight, his back straight as an arrow, absolutely baffled.
“Dude, Tweek’s gonna be so pissed we told him all this,” Jimmy snickered, grinning at the other two. They started chuckling to themselves.
Had Tweek really said that he loved Craig? The blue-eyed teen was having a hard time believing such a thing. How could he love Craig? The other boy had nothing to offer him, and now that he had broken their bond and the two of them couldn’t feel music together anymore, Craig really had nothing to offer.
His heart beating fast, Craig slowly calmed back down, eyes drooping sadly. “It doesn’t matter,” he declared softly, “it doesn’t matter that he feels the same. I can’t let him stay here. I can’t let a relationship between us hold him back.”
The other three groaned again.
“He’s hopeless,” Clyde determined, clicking his tongue and shaking his head in disgust.
“Craig,” Tolkien started slowly, as though Craig was a child who didn’t understand English, “have you considered, just maybe, the possibility of going with Tweek.”
Craig’s eyes snapped to Tolkien’s. Go with him? No, truthfully, Craig had never considered that. Why would such a thought ever cross his mind? Craig belonged here, in South Park, doomed to a certain future of working a nine-to-five desk job while balding by the time he turned thirty. How could he ever consider going with Tweek out of the state?
“He’s processing it…” Clyde muttered, the three of them eyeing one another yet again, “wait for it…”
After battling through so many decisions, Craig had truly never even thought about the possibility of leaving the town. It had just seemed so set in stone, like he was meant to be there, like he had no other choice but to be stuck in South Park for the rest of his life. He had grown up here, made friends, and found the true meaning of love in this stupid little town.
But what was there for him, aside from his friends? Tolkien, Jimmy, and Clyde would surely be off to find their own futures when high school ended, so what else did that leave? What else did the dingy little rat town have to offer, if his three best friends might not even be around, too? Tweek was leaving, so what was keeping him from leaving?
The realization had hit him like a train going a thousand miles per hour, his heart racing. Craig felt a hand clutch itself longing over his chest, aching to free the beating heart inside that lay there. His mind had begun to race, his eyes widening, his gut swimming with every emotion in the book. Earlier that morning, he had been so sure that he would never be able to feel again, but here he was, feeling everything at once, because how, how had he not seen it sooner?
Just like Tweek had no reason for staying, Craig had no reason not to leave. There was nothing for him here, nothing if Tweek wasn’t going to be a part of his life.
Craig jumped up from the bed suddenly, startling his friends.
“I’m going to find Tweek,” he said confidently, picking his hat up off the floor and preparing himself to sprint all the way to the blond’s house if he had to.
“There it is,” Clyde said with a knowing smile, folding his arms. Tolkien was quick to jump up from the bed and yank Craig back.
“Hold up, dude,” he said, pausing Craig in his tracks, “you smell like ass. Go take a shower first.”
Craig was taking absolutely no chances. After a shower, he quickly pulled on a fresh set of clothes, yanking on his shoes and slapping his hat over his hair. He was ready to run out the door when Tolkien stopped him again, shoving into the passenger seat of his car.
“It’ll be faster if I drive you, idiot,” Tolkien said, and he was quick to start the car and speed off toward Tweek’s house.
Craig felt very much like he was in a movie or a book or something, like he was the protagonist off to mend things with his love interest. And he supposed he was, in a way, about to go and do just that.
With his heart beating fast, Craig wondered if Tweek would even forgive him for the horrible things he had done. He had hurt him badly, and Craig knew that, breaking his trust and, more importantly, breaking their bond. His heart ached to know what Tweek was feeling, desperate to know if the other boy was okay or what he had been up to the past two days.
Tolkien hadn’t even stopped the car before Craig was throwing himself out of the moving car. He thanked his friends briefly, slamming the car door shut and running up to Tweek’s front door. His friends had rolled down the window and wished him luck before they sped off, leaving Craig alone.
Craig took a few deep breaths before ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door, his adrenaline pumping. He felt like his veins were going to pop and that his pulse was going to explode with the sheer speed at which it was moving. He felt clammy all of a sudden, nervous. He had absolutely no plan and no idea what he was going to say, but he supposed it didn’t matter. He just needed to see the blond’s face.
Tweek’s mother opened the door, and when she saw it was Craig at the door, she immediately screwed her face up in rage and attempted to slam the door. Craig placed his foot in the way of the frame, keeping it open.
“Wait, please!” he begged, “I know you’re upset with me, I know, but please, I need to see your son.”
“No,” Tweek’s mother growled, face furious, “go away.”
“Please,” Craig begged, a little softer now, “please, I need to talk to him. Just once, and if Tweek never wants to see me again then I swear, I swear I’ll never come back here again. I promise.”
His mother eyed Craig cautiously for several moments, squinting at him. He had never felt so hated by another human being in all of his life. He stared at her, eyes pleading, his emotions spasming fiercely inside at the fear that he may never be able to see Tweek again.
Slowly, Tweek’s mother opened the door and stepped to the side, making room for Craig to enter. Craig let out a sigh of relief and quickly stumbled into the house before she could change her mind. It was strange to think that just two days ago he had been in this very same room, taking prom pictures with all of his friends. He still had a soulmate then.
He turned around to look at her for a moment, watching as Tweek’s mom stood with her arms crossed, eyeing him suspiciously. Craig gulped, taking a deep breath.
“He’s not in his room… right?” he asked softly, cautiously. She studied him for another second before nodding slowly. He gave her a small smile which she clearly did not return, and turned to the door that he knew led down to Tweek’s basement.
Craig closed his eyes first, willing himself to calm down before he faced him. Even if Tweek hated him now and never wanted to see him again, at least, right now, he might have the chance to apologize to him. At least, if Tweek hated him now, Craig would be able to see him just one last time in a place with very familiar surroundings.
Slowly, Craig opened the door.
Unexpectedly, Tweek wasn’t playing the piano. That puzzled Craig a little–he had been so certain that the other boy would be playing his heart out, the music a way to ease the pain of his broken heart. But it was almost completely silent in the basement below. Almost.
As he shut the door behind himself quietly and started making his way down the steps, Craig heard Tweek crying. The sound broke his heart, causing him to bring a hand up to his chest where there was an aching heart underneath. Quietly, he continued down the steps, making his way all the way to the bottom before he finally looked up at Tweek.
His back was facing Craig, sitting on the piano bench that he and Craig had shared so many times before. He wasn’t sitting in the dead center as he should, rather, he was sitting on the left side of the bench now, a place that had been designated for him.
Craig took another deep breath as he watched Tweek wipe away tears and suck in deep portions of air every now and then. It took him several moments to regain the feeling in his legs before he slowly started walking forward, quiet as a mouse, not wanting to disturb the blond.
When his knees were almost touching the bench, Tweek finally noticed he was there. His chin snapped up to look at who was behind him, pale eyes wide and shocked, looking bloodshot. There was red puffiness under his eyes, tears staining his cheeks and his face red. It burned Craig to see the other so upset.
Tweek’s expression turned into one of anger, snapping his head away from Craig. The taller boy had been expecting the response. He carefully made his way around the bench, knees bending slowly to sit next to the shorter boy. Tweek didn’t respond except to turn even further away from Craig, knees twisting so that Craig couldn’t see his face at all.
Craig let out a small breath, words caught in his throat. He was hoping that as soon as he saw the other boy his voice would fill in the gaps for him, saying exactly what he was feeling. But the experience was so new to him now, knowing that before, he never had to actually tell Tweek how he was feeling; the other had always been able to feel him.
This greatly disadvantaged Craig, because now he was at a loss for words. Where should he even begin? How did he start? There were so many things he wanted to tell Tweek but couldn’t. No amount of words seemed to be enough, none of them seemingly like the right words to say. But Tweek was sitting there at least, not running away from him, giving him time to think.
Craig’s eyes wandered to the piano in front of them. He gulped. Would it be okay to do such a thing, or would it only make things worse between them? Craig supposed it couldn’t hurt to try–after all, neither of them could possibly hurt any worse than they already were hurting now.
Lifting his long fingers to the piano keys, Craig placed his pointer and middle finger over the keys Tweek had directed him to so many weeks ago. His eyes snapped to the younger boy for a moment before he pressed them down softly, creating a twinkling sound all throughout the air. He did this a couple times, playing the same two keys over and over before stopping.
There was absolutely no reaction from Tweek. It was almost like he hadn’t even heard Craig at all, instead opting to pretend Craig didn’t exist.
But Craig hadn’t given up just yet. Starting at the very top of the piano, he played the highest key first, then slowly moved his two front fingers down every single key from them, closer and closer to Tweek. It wasn’t like he actually knew how to play, so he hoped that this would be enough, hoped that his message would come across to Tweek this way, instead.
His fingers continued to move down the piano, his hand now halfway between them. Tweek still wasn’t moving. Craig’s fingers had begun to reach the lower half of notes. He scooted closer to the blond to reach them, reaching over him now, trying his best to continue on until the very last note on Tweek’s end had been played–
And then Tweek slapped his hand away furiously, turning slightly so that Craig could see a little more of his profile. His face was stunted with nothing but pure rage, cheeks red. Craig swallowed hard, choosing to stare at the small bit of Tweek’s face that he could see now.
Other than shooing him away, Tweek offered no other sort of acknowledgement that Craig was sitting next to him. His hands were in his lap, fingers beginning to pick at his skin, head downturned so he could stare at them. Craig let out a small sigh, feeling defeated, dropping his head, too.
Craig was certain that if they still had their bond, that would have been enough to get Tweek to talk to him. Feeling the music between them once again would have surely restored the aching in their hearts. But there was no bond now, no universe to mend things for them–Craig would have to do that on his own.
When he raised his head again, Craig’s eyes widened slightly. Resting next to Tweek’s sheet music was a familiar pale headband. Craig had expected him to throw the item away by now in his hatred for Craig, but he hadn’t.
Confidently, Craig reached forward and picked it up.
He studied it for a moment. It still looked brand new, but some aspects of it clearly made it known that it had been gently used. The fabric was getting a little fuzzy now from having constantly been placed over Tweek’s hair, losing a bit of its original smoothness. But the same pretty color was still very much intact.
Craig turned a little to face Tweek again, eyes softening. Without even thinking about it, Craig was reaching around him, using one of his hands to get Tweek to look at him a little more. Tweek turned to face him a little, clearly ready to tell Craig off, when he saw the headband in his hand. His eyes widened, jaw slackening.
The taller of the two carefully used his fingers to brush back some of Tweek’s hair that had settled in front of his face before gently placing the headband over Tweek’s head.
Craig held his hands there, cupping Tweek’s face in both of his hands well after the headband had been settled over his head. The blond’s cheeks were turning even more red, and Craig didn’t need to feel his emotions to know that he was blushing from pure embarrassment from the fact that the taller boy was close to him. It made Craig’s chest swell up a little with selfish pride.
His hands carefully slipped away from Tweek’s face, his eyes never leaving the other boy’s. Tweek was staring at him cautiously, eyes a little wet still from when he had been crying. Craig ran his hands down over the sides of Tweek’s neck, over his shoulders, creeping slowly over his arms until he was grasping Tweek’s hands in his own.
Very delicately, Craig moved Tweek’s small hands over to the piano keys, only letting him go when Tweek’s hands were settled over the keys.
Tweek looked at him warily, eyes full of sadness. Craig knew why he was receiving such a look. But he didn’t care at that moment if neither of them felt anything–he still wanted to hear the wonderful composition that was Tweek.
Sucking in a breath, Tweek turned away from him and began to play. It was beautiful at once. Craig felt his own sole emotions starting to dance inside of himself, confused, slightly, that he was the only one present. Craig closed his eyes, listening to the sweet melody that Tweek was creating. The sound was so amazing and soft and sweet and Tweek that Craig knew that it would never matter again whether or not he could feel the other boy’s emotions.
This was enough for him now. Hearing Tweek play the piano was all he was ever going to need again in his life.
Tweek was moving rapidly over the keys still when Craig opened his eyes. The blond looked so at peace when he was playing, and their distracting emotions together had previously kept Craig from enjoying the blond’s beauty. He looked so calm there, like he was at home in front of the piano, like he was at peace.
When Tweek finished the song, he immediately turned to look at Craig, who was already staring back at him. They sat there for a moment, eyes never leaving the other’s gaze, before Craig could stand their separation no longer. He learned forward, lifting his arms and pulling Tweek into a tight embrace. The other boy seemed to melt into him immediately, burying his face in Craig’s neck and wrapping his arms tightly around him.
They stayed there for a long time, neither one of them willing to let the other go. Craig was inhaling the pleasant scent of Tweek that was buried beneath mountains of coffee. It was intoxicating him, filling his lungs and heart with nothing but Tweek.
After a few more heartfelt minutes, Craig turned his head a little to rest his lips against Tweek’s ear, whispering quietly and apologetically,
“I’m sorry I called you that. Tweek, I’m so sorry.”
“I know,” Tweek answered softly, from where he was pressed into the other’s neck. The encounter reminded him vaguely of a time when they had sat on that very same bench, Tweek apologizing softly for having humiliated Craig so many years ago. It had seemed so pointless now that Tweek felt the need to even apologize in the first place.
Craig sucked in another breathful of Tweek, pulling away enough so that he could cup Tweek’s face in his left hand.
“I love you,” Craig confessed at long last, and it was like every single gate inside of him had opened when he said it, like he had just released a stampede inside of himself, heart opening up and blood rushing up to his face. He had been dying to say it for so long now that he couldn’t stand it anymore.
Tweek let out an exasperated breath of air, eyes never leaving the dark blue ones that were staring down at him now. He felt his bottom lip begin to tremble hopefully, eyes scanning Craig’s for any sign of regret or deception. When he found none, a tear ran down Tweek’s face.
“I love you, too, Craig,” he said softly, and then a hand was sliding up Craig’s chest to grip at the collar of his shirt, yanking it down slightly to connect their lips together again. Craig exhaled through his nose immediately, grip tightening around Tweek’s face and the back of his head. Their mouths danced together for a few moments longer, head turning to deepen the–sober–kiss between them.
When they pulled away, they were both smiling brightly, cheeks equally the same shade of red. Tweek flattened his hand against his chest briefly, eyes studying Craig’s face.
“I really am sorry,” Craig said gently, “for everything.” Tweek knew that he was referring to the broken bond between them. “And especially for calling you such an awful thing.”
Tweek cocked a brow, smirking. He bit his lip tentatively, challenging himself before he said,
“Yeah, you better be sorry, piss boy.”
The pair of them erupted into laughter at that, hearts swelling to a max. Inside, their emotions were building happily, Craig’s heated flames swirling around like a tornado of emotion, a tugging sensation yanking on the veins of his heart.
A second later, Craig felt a familiar cooling, crashing wave nearly extinguishing the heat within his gut. He felt happy, so happy, in fact, that it was as if his feelings were doubled.
Both of them stopped their laughter at once, gasping, their smiles dropping. Craig let go of Tweek only to yank down the sleeve of his shirt, eyes scanning hopefully over what should have been a blank canvas on his right wrist.
Tweek’s name had reappeared on his wrist. With a shout, Tweek pulled down the sleeve of his own shirt, staring at the ugly black font that now held Craig’s name once again.
The two of them looked back at one another, smiles forming wide over their faces once again and hearts equally hammering in their chests. They embraced quickly, laughing incredulously as they hugged each other close. Craig had never even thought it possible to restore a bond that had been broken between soulmates, not that it mattered. Craig decided to believe that it was possible because just maybe, the universe really had been rooting for them all along.
They pulled away again a little, Tweek resting his hands on Craig’s shoulders as the other boy hugged around his middle. A thought popped into Craig’s head and he was quick to tell Tweek before he could forget.
“I want to come with you,” Craig breathed, watching as Tweek’s jaw dropped in awe. “I mean, I definitely can’t get into the same school as you, but maybe there’s a community college or somewhere nearby I can go to. Or I’ll just get a job down there or something, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I’ll go wherever you go, Tweek.”
Tweek’s eyes began to swim with tears once again, but Craig knew that they were tears of happiness. Tweek smiled softly at him, saying nothing. Instead, he leaned in a final time to rest his lips against Craig’s, kissing him sweetly. This time, Tweek didn’t taste like alcohol–he tasted like the same sweet smell of his hair, or the saltiness of his scent.
It was something that Craig could very much get used to.
After they pulled away again, Craig began to eye the piano once more. Tweek, understanding immediately, turned toward the piano, cracked his knuckles sharply, and rested his fingers against the keys once more and started up another tune.
As the pair enjoyed the familiar swirling of their feelings mixing together once more, their hearts beating as one and their peaceful paradise awaiting them, Craig knew that there was no longer a need to drift away into another reality of their creation anymore.
With Tweek by his side, how could the reality that they knew now be so bad?