ok hi so before u start reading- cw for slight mental abuse. if ur uncomfy w that, pls click off :) and i wrote craig's mom like this since we barely see much of his parents, the only thing we rlly see of them is some homophobia.

!! ALL THE KIDS ARE AGED UP !! theyre around 13 to 14.

for context, craig was the gifted kid in elementary and he never learned how to truly study so now he's struggling a bit; if u didnt read the desc, i wrote this at 5 am mostly as a vent so sorry its pretty shitty ;w; anyway enjoy :D

"Mom, I'm back from school!"

"Welcome back, how was your day?" Craig's mom asked, walking into the entry hall, drying off her hands with a towel. "Any new tests or quizzes?"

Craig sighed. "Yeah. Math test today. I... I got a 70." He grimaced, preparing for his mother's response.

As expected, she looked incredibly disappointed. "I thought you studied! You said you were working on practice problems all night!"

Craig hesitated. "I was, there were questions I didn't understand-"

"You could've asked me for help!" his mom interrupted. "I work my ass off day and night to pay for rent and food! The least you could do is not be useless for once in your life and do your goddamn work instead of playing with your stupid little friends!"

Craig tried to take a step back, to get away from her, but his mother grabbed his arm and pulled him back again. "If I even hear a word coming from your mouth that isn't asking for help before you're done reviewing, there will be no more computer, phone, or friends until you get a decent grade for once in your stupid life."

She let go, but in doing so scratched his arm. Craig winced in pain but didn't say anything, knowing something worse would happen if he did.

He quickly climbed upstairs and into his room, feeling tears burning at the back of his eyes.

Craig desperately wiped at his eyes with his sleeve to rid himself of the stupid tears, but they just kept coming. He knew he had to study, there was no use to take even a five minute break- but as more and more tears started to form, Craig gave in.

He plopped down on his bed, listening for footsteps of any kind before burying his head in his hands and letting himself cry. He hadn't done this in a while, he hadn't given into his emotions so easily until now. But there was something tugging on his heart, like a weight, with more things being added to its heaviness by the day.

Suddenly, Craig heard a ding! coming from his phone in his pocket. He took it out and opened his text messages to see:

Tweek <3

today at 3:48 p.m.
Tweek <3: hhey! wasna meet me at the oark in likek 20 minss? idkkd im kindsa borred AAAAHHH SSSORYRY IF I INTERROPTED SONETHING!!!!!

Craig couldn't help but smile a bit at his boyfriend's clumsy typing. He quickly typed back without hesitation:

today at 3:49 p.m.
Me: yeah sure, see you there love :)

Wait. Fuck. How was he supposed to get out of the house?? Craig was supposed to be studying, not meeting up with his boyfriend after school.

But then, an idea hit him. Craig threw on his favorite NASA jacket and sprinted down the stairs.

As he opened the door, his mother shouted from the kitchen: "Craig, what the hell are you doing?! I said-"

"I need to meet up with Tweek for my science project, we're paired together, remember?" That was partially true. Only he and Tweek had already finished the project.

His mom sighed exasperatedly, but made no objections, thankfully.

"Make sure you're only doing the science project, nothing else, if you know what I mean," she said, stepping out of the kitchen and winking.

Craig rolled his eyes, flipped her off, and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Mood swing much?

Once he got outside, it started raining. Great, he thought. Just what I needed. Craig slipped the hood of his jacket over his short black hair and kept walking toward the community park. Or rather, the playground with a huge basketball court. Whatever.

When he got to his usual bench across from the bathrooms, Tweek was already there. He was sitting on the bench, twitching as always. But he was getting completely soaked, as the blonde boy had no hood or jacket.

Craig walked over to him. "Hey."

"GAH!" Tweek jumped up, then saw Craig and promptly started happy stimming. "C-Craig!! I m-missed you!"

Craig smiled and hugged Tweek, but pulled away shortly after. "Honey, you're getting completely wet. Here, take my jacket." He took off his NASA jacket and handed it to Tweek.

"Ngh- no!! I can't take it! T-that's too much pressure! AHH!"

Craig gently slipped the jacket on Tweek before he could protest anymore. He smiled and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

Tweek blushed and took Craig's hand, sitting them both down on the bench.

In their moment of silence, Craig heard a noise, sort of like footsteps.

Holy shit. Was that his mom? Had she followed him? Oh shit oh shit oh shit she's here...

Craig grabbed Tweek's arm and stood them up again. "W-we need to go to your house. Please."

"U-um okay... but w-why?"

Craig ignored him and speedwalked to Tweek's house, dragging him behind.

When they got there, Craig slammed the door and sprinted up to Tweek's room, his breathing ragged.

Craig let go of his hand and ran over to the window, closing the curtains. He then collapsed to the floor, rocking back and forth. "She's here, oh shit, she knows, she knows..."

"ARGH! W-who's here?!" Tweek opened the curtains shakily and looked outside. "T-there's- ngh- no one here, Craig."

"Yes there is, my mom, I heard... she knows we're not..." Craig stopped rocking and broke down sobbing, resting his head on his knees.

"Craig, what do you mean?" Tweek stopped twitching and rested his hand on Craig's shoulder.

Craig raised his head and bit his lip to keep from sobbing any more. "M-my mom... she threatened me, said I had to study and if she h-heard me say anything that wasn't related to school before I got a d-decent grade she would take away my e-electronics and friends... I-I told her that I was going to your house for our science project, s-she doesn't know we finished it and I'mscaredshe'sfollowingmeeventhoughIknowthat'snotpossiblebutIheardherfootstepsandI'mscared!" he broke down again, hugging Tweek and gripping onto him as hard as he could.

Tweek let him cry into his shoulder, and hugged him back. "Craig, I-I'm so sorry... I d-didn't- ngh- know your mom was like that."

Craig looked up at him and sniffled. "N-no, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be the one comforting you, n-not having a panic attack..." he laughed a bit.

"Craig." Tweek firmly put his hands on Craig's shoulders and made him sit up. "It's okay. You're allowed to be upset, you're allowed to be scared. You're allowed to have feelings. It's okay if you're not always your scary, monotone self. It's okay to not be okay. But it's never okay to hide being upset or scared or stressed. P-please, talk to me. I promise to listen just like you've learned to listen to me over the years." He smiled, and hugged Craig once more.

Craig pulled away after a couple minutes. "T-thank you, Tweek. I really don't know what I would do without you."

"Of course. I love you, Craig."

"I love you, too."