The Call [Creek]

Chapter Thirteen - Exonerate

The porch light expanded across the dark lawn while crickets chirped softly. The car door slammed as Mrs Tweak pulled into the driveway and climbed out.

Wrapped in tightly in a blanket, Tweek worked out his math homework in a composition notebook. The front door burst open and his mother let the keys clank loudly on an end-table.

A glower fell across her countenance as she lifted her head to face her son. 'Where have you been?! You m-' her voice hitched as she observed the boy's contused visage. 'What happened to your face?'

The blond bit the inside of his cheek. 'GAH- I-I-' He timorously tugged at his shirt. 'I kind of got beat up,' he whispered.

Mrs Tweak's grimace melted away as she moved to sit beside her son on the sofa. She gingerly raised a hand to hold Tweek's head up while she scrutinised his battered face.

'Oh, hon, you look terrible,' her brows knitted together with concern. The older woman regarded the aberration at the bridge of his nose. 'We'll need to take you to see a doctor to help with that.' she murmured softly.

Tweek peered away and frowned dejectedly. 'What even happened? Why didn't you call me?' his mother demanded soberly. The younger boy furrowed his brows. 'I don't know,' he prevaricated. 'I just ran into some guy and he sort of beat me up.'

Mrs Tweak ran her thumb across a bruise under his left eye. ''Sort of' is an understatement, dear. Are you alright, though?' she inquired.

Clenching the blanket in his hand, the teenager gave a timid nod. 'Ack-- Yeah, Craig came by and helped me.' he mumbled.

The older woman tucked a strand of brunette hair behind her ear. 'He seems like a nice boy,'
Tweek blinked and gave another nod of his head. 'He is,' the blond murmured.

'He was looking for you earlier,' his mother imparted. The younger boy lifted his head. 'Oh,'

Mrs Tweak lightly patted her son's forearm. 'It's good to know that you have friends that care about you.' she murmured, grinning softly.

After a beat of silence, his mother reached to grasp his hands. 'I'm sorry if it feels like I've been distant with you lately. This whole divorce thing, on top of having to run the coffee shop, has been really stressful.' she whispered softly. 'No matter what, don't forget how much I love you, son. You can always talk to me.' Mrs Tweak wrapped her arms around him and pulled her son into a delicate embrace.

Tweek trembled under his mother's touch and leaned his countenance into her brunette locks. 'It's okay. Thanks,' he whispered.
Mrs Tweak pulled away and gently rested her hands on his shoulders. 'Now, it's almost ten o'clock on a school night. Go and try to get some rest, hon.' she adjured.

'Ngh-- Okay,' he mumbled, clambering off of the couch. Taking a couple of timorous steps towards the stairs, Tweek veered around to face his mother again. 'Gah-- Hey, Mom?' he called quietly.

The older woman lifted her head. 'Hm?'
The blond tugged apprehensively at his shirt. 'AGH--Can I ask you a bit of a weird question?' he hesitantly inquired.

Placing her hands on her lap, the brunette woman nodded. 'Of course you can,'
Shifting his feet, the younger boy dug his nails into his palm. 'How do you- er- know if you're in love?' he whispered, biting trepidatiously into his lip.

Mrs Tweak raised a brow. 'Well, I suppose you'd be asking a question like that.' she replied candidly as she reached for a book on the coffee table.

Tweek watched his mother exasperatedly. 'ACK-- What? What's that- gh- supposed to mean?!' he uttered desperately. Mrs Tweak smirked and chuckled softly. 'Go to bed,' she ordered.

With a disgruntled huff of defeat, the younger boy veered around and made his way up the stairs. He opened his door and sat gingerly on the foot of his bed.

The bed creaked softly as Tweek leaned back into it and rested his hands on his stomach. His eyelids drooped as he stared phlegmatically at the ceiling.
Oh God, this is too much pressure! He squinted his eyes. I can't be in love. What if I do something wrong and he just leaves me?! I don't want to be alone anymore, he thought with a sombre frown.

Tweek let out a startled yelp as his phone buzzed from his pocket. He slipped the mobile device out and peered at the screen.

1 unread message from Craig Tucker.

Oh dear God, it's already happening! I did something wrong and he's already tired of me. Good going, dude!

The blond timidly opened his messages and scanned Craig's text.

From: Craig Tucker
To: Tweek Tweak
Are you still doing okay

Tweek's eyes twitched and he knitted his brows together.
Oh, He thought, squinting at the message for a heartbeat as his vision focused. His fingers moved hastily across the keyboard as he typed.

From: Tweek Tweak
To: Craig Tucker
Yes, I'n feeling better. Thabjs again for staying with ne.

Another buzz came from his phone.

From: Craig Tucker
To: Tweek Tweak
Of course, sleep tight, Tweek. If you even do that lmao

Scoffing softly, the blond cast his mobile device to his end table. He rolled over on his side and tucked his hands under his cheek.

Staring placidly at the wall, Tweek pondered to himself. Oh my God, I'm going to screw something up. Something will go wrong with this great thing I've got going and it'll be my fault. He paused for a heartbeat. Craig isn't like that though, he told himself firmly.

Oh, man, I really like him a lot, don't I? He contemplated. Raising a quivering hand, Tweek clasped his sandy-coloured hair. 'GAH! This is too much pressure!' he muttered, clenching his eyes tightly shut.

A/N: In case you hadn't noticed, I am changing up how I portray Tweek's dialogue. I had written him to talk in a similar fashion to Jimmy, but it was an error on my part. Canonically, he doesn't really even stutter that much. I will try and revamp his dialogue in the other chapters whenever I have the opportunity. I understand that the false-portrayal can be irritating to some readers, so hopefully, this improves it!