Paranoia

I think Tweek and Craig might be my favorite background characters. So here's a story about them.

I have no idea how I thought of this.

Chapter 1 – All the Voices

Stan stared over at where Tweek was sitting by himself, a little concerned. Normally Tweek would sit with others like Token, Craig, and Clyde at lunch, but today he was sitting by himself, and he seemed a bit more… twitchy than usual. Stan leaned over and tried to look at Tweek a little closer. Was he… talking to himself?

As Stan stared, he suddenly became aware of someone poking him in the shoulder. Blinking, he turned and saw Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman giving him annoyed stares.

"What?" Stan asked.

"Dude, we're trying to have a conversation with you!" Kyle informed him, with a bit of irritation in his voice.

"Sorry," Stan muttered, casting a glance back at Tweek, "It's just that Tweek has been acting really odd lately. I mean, odder than usual. I'm really concerned."

"I've been concerned about Tweek since the first day I met him," Cartman muttered, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Why do you care about what Tweek does all of a sudden?" Kyle wondered.

"Well we were friends with him," Stan reminded them, "Remember? Two years ago, when we were ten and were trying to find someone to replace Kenny?"

Kenny stopped eating and stared at them. "Wait, you guys tried to replace me?"

"Oh yeah, I do remember that," Kyle said, ignoring Kenny's question, "But I don't see why it has to be our problem. That's what Craig is for." He looked around and only now noticed that Tweek was sitting alone and that Craig was nowhere in the cafeteria.

"Where is Craig?" Kyle wondered.

"Dude, he got suspended for blowing up the chemistry lab, remember?" Stan replied, "He won't be back until sometime next week."

Kyle was about to respond when sudden screaming interrupted him.

"OH YEAH? WELL WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT, YOU ASS-FACED WHORE?!" Tweek was shouting at seemingly no one. Stan stared at him with concern while everyone else stared at him with shock and confusion. Eventually Stan sighed.

"I'm going to go talk to him," he decided, "See what's wrong."

"Good luck with that," Cartman muttered.

"No, you guys are coming with me," Stan said.

"No, we're not," Kenny countered.

Stan sighed again and stood up to walk over to Tweek's table. He was glad when Kyle stood up with him as well. He really didn't want to talk to Tweek alone. Especially while he was in a state like this.

As Stan and Kyle approached his table, something seemed to alert Tweek to their presence and he turned to look at them and jumped slightly. His left eye twitched. "What do you guys want?" he asked.

"May we sit down?" Stan wondered. After a brief moment of hesitation, and his eyes darting madly around the room, Tweek nodded and Stan and Kyle sat down across from him. Stan noticed that Tweek's eyes seemed to be darting all around himself, as if he was searching for something that wasn't there.

"Um, are you ok?" Kyle asked, trying not to bring up his outburst.

"Oh, I'm fine. How are you guys?" Tweek replied pleasantly. Stan and Kyle looked at each other for a brief moment before turning back to Tweek.

"Er, what's been going on with you lately?" Stan asked as casually as he could.

"Well, Ginger has been bugging me lately, and Draco won't stop nagging me about this certain thing that-"

"I'm sorry," Stan interrupted before Tweek could go off on a tangent, "Who are Ginger and Draco?"

Tweek rolled his eyes. "The two people sitting right next to you?" he said, matter-of-factily. Again, Stan and Kyle looked at each other. Did Tweek really think there were people sitting next to them? They were the only three at the table.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Kyle wondered.

Tweek didn't answer right away, and instead stared silently down at the table, his eyes wide and unblinking. He then looked up at the two and leaned across to whisper to them.

"There's something wrong with me," he said quietly, "They're everywhere. They follow me, but no one believes me anymore. I-I can't -GNNK!- think straight!"

Stan frowned slightly. How long had this been going on? Had Tweek always been this crazy and he'd just never noticed before?

"Have you talked to your parents or Craig about any of this?" he wondered. If something was wrong with Tweek, surely his parents would do something, right?

Tweek's eyes widened as he started scratching his fingernails on the table. "My parents?!" he repeated, "No! Nonononono! They're in on it! They see what's happening and they don't care! They don't care!"

Stan tried not to look at Kyle. He knew his friend would be staring at him with a "let's just bail on this nut job" expression on his face. But something about Tweek's pathetic posture and the way he seemed to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown made Stan feel for the poor kid. He felt like, without Craig to calm him down, Tweek would probably kill himself.

"What exactly are you talking about, Tweek?" Stan wondered.

Tweek closed his eyes and began to tremble gently. Stan and Kyle stared at him, concerned. Was he ok?

"About two years ago, I started seeing strange things," Tweek explained, his eyes still closed, "I don't know what's real and what's not anymore. People would speak to me, but they're not really there." He opened his eyes. "Am I crazy?" he asked, earnestly.

Before Kyle could say "yes," Stan spoke first. "Have you told Craig about any of this?" he wondered. He recalled that it had been about two years since the town decided that Craig and Tweek were gay. Even if Stan didn't really know whether or not they were actually gay, he knew the two spent a lot of time together and had become very close. Had Tweek been having problems the whole time?

"Craig…" Tweek repeated softly, "HNNH! I don't want to bother him with my problems. He has a lot going on."

Stan wasn't so sure of that, but he didn't get to question Tweek further as the bell suddenly wrung, signaling the end of lunch. Tweek stood up, taking his tray of barely touched food, threw all of it (including the tray) away, then quickly shuffled out of the cafeteria, leaving Stan and Kyle staring after him. What just happened?

So, what do you think so far? Love it? Hate it? Want to destroy me? Please leave a review! Constructive criticism is always welcome! Also for those of you wondering, don't worry! Craig will appear in the next chapter. Also, I'll try to make the chapters longer. Ok, see you next chapter!