(A/N: November 4th, 2018: Well, It's been about 10 months and I'm sorry to keep everyone waiting. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to return to this story. Like holy fuck, so much has changed since I last wrote a chapter of this story. In the past almost year, I have graduated from college and am now working as a room service prep cook in a casino where I live. It was very difficult to get my degree, and mentally exhausting. Now though, I am no longer stressed and I'm actually starting to be happy again. I've been able to take a lot of time to myself, and lately I've been getting into South Park again. I've played The Stick of Truth, and am currently playing The Fractured But Whole as well as Phone Destroyer. I had completely forgotten about this story for a while, and I found it and reread it. What the actual fuck is wrong with me? How could I have hurt my gay babies like this? Now that I have more time since I only really have to focus on my job and my relationship, I plan on finishing this story. I'm not sure how long it'll take, but I also plan on writing a second story that involves my version of the new kid. I'm not going to set myself to a schedule because of life. Anyways, thank you all for being so patient with me. I appreciate all of the love I've gotten on this story, and I'm glad to be back.)

Chapter 11: What the Actual Fuck is Happening?
Craig's POV

When I first regained consciousness, all I could feel was a fire burning deep within my shoulder. Where am I? What happened? I could hear the faint sound of Terrance and Phillip in the background, was I at home? It took me a little bit to remember the incident. My dad, how the fuck could my dad do that to me? Who in their right mind shoots their only son? The fire wasn't just burning in my shoulder, it was burning in my stomach. It felt very different though, this was not the fire of physical pain, but emotional. I opened my eyes to see my mother and my sister sitting next to me. We were in what looked like a hospital room, it definitely wasn't home.

"Hey he's awake!" Tricia shouted, jumping out of her seat to hug me.

"Ow." I went to go flip her off but my arm was in a sling, and she was holding my other arm down.

"Craig sweetie, we're glad you're okay! Let me go get your father, he went down to the cafeteria for a minute." Mom said as she stood up. Hearing her talk about my dad sent a chill down my spine. Should I even tell my family what happened? Would they believe me? Would they be distraught? Would I immediately tear my family apart if I said anything?

"Can I talk to Dad alone? We have a lot we need to talk about."

"Yes of course, let me go grab him." My mother left the room.

"Craig what happened?" Tricia asked. "Dad said it was a rouge bullet that hit you, and they couldn't find who did it."

"A rouge bullet? I don't really remember, I just remember feeling the pain in my arm and falling over." I lied to her. She was a daddy's girl, I know she would be hurt if I told her the truth. "That's why I need to talk to dad, to figure everything out."

She responded the way any Tucker would, with her middle finger. I returned the gesture with my now free right hand. After that, we were both silent until Dad came walking into the room.

"Tricia, Mom wants you down in the cafe with her. She said she'll buy you lunch." The door shut gently behind her, and I was left face to face with the person who betrayed me.

"So…. Are we even going to talk about what the fuck happened?"

"What is there to talk about, Craig? You were involved in a hunting accident."
"Sure, an accident. And I'm suppose to just go along with you in telling lies?"

"You don't want to upset your mom and sis, do you? They are already pretty shaken by the whole situation, and I wouldn't want to hurt them any more."
"YOU FUCKING SHOT ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" I took a deep breath in. "I don't want you near me, and right now I don't want you near my family!"

"This is MY family, I created this family from the ground up! I'm the only person who can't be replaced."
"All this just because I'm gay, huh? You're going to exile your only son."

"You are NOT gay, you are confused. No boy of mine is going to be a raging fag! Not while you're living in my house!"

"I'll move out!"

"Where will you get the money, son? Your mom and I wouldn't give you any."

"I have a job Dad."

"Not anymore you don't, I told Jim and Ned about your dirty little secret. They don't want a faggot working in their store either." I didn't know what to say at this point. He had no right to do this to me, to shoot me, to get me fired, to demonize me. All I could do was flip him off, trying not to show how distraight I was. He just smirked back at me. "Everything is going to be okay son, I'm doing all of this for your own good."

"You're currently destroying the little bit of my life that I have!"

"I'm sorry about the job, but you're going to end up an outcast if you keep going the route you're going. I'm teaching you a lesson, boy!"

"The only thing you're teaching me is how to be a shitty parent." I looked into his eyes, and saw the hurt in them. I hope he could see the rage in mine. "I hope you're happy with yourself. You shot your only son for a very stupid reason."

"I hope you'll be able to see that I'm not your enemy." With that final statement he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Now, I was alone. I felt my eyes watering, something that hasn't happened in a very long time. I let the tears fall down my face, grabbing a box of tissues from the table next to my bed. How could he not see what he was doing? How could one man be so stubborn? Then again, I am also that stubborn. I quickly dried my face and threw away the tissues when I heard the door open again. I didn't want to show weakness, especially if it was my father again. To my surprise, Clyde came sprinting through the door and collapsed onto me.

"Oh thank God you're okay, buddy!" He said, already crying and attempting to give me a hug around my injury.

"Dude, please get off me." I watched as Jimmy and Token followed behind him. Is Tweek with them? No, where is he? Did he not hear about what happened? Or did he not care? "Is Tweek with you guys?"

"No, we have to talk to you." Token said rather somberly. Oh fuck, did something happen to Tweek as well? No, who would want to hurt that precious little cinnamon bun? Jesus Christ, I can't believe I just thought that.

"Is he okay?"

"C-Clyde and I found him p-p-passed out on the sidewalk last night. L-L-Looks like he had the s-shit beaten out of him." Jimmy started.

"Yeah man, we brought him home and his parents were awake thankfully. He's currently still in bed recovering. His Mom and Dad asked if we knew what happened, but we didn't." Clyde added.

"We went to go check on him before coming over here, you both were out of school today so I got the homework for both of you. He said he didn't know who did it, all he knew was he was jumped last night." Token added, pulling a wad of papers out of his backpack. "He told us about how you asked him out, and that the people who jumped him said they didn't want him around you anymore. He didn't know how they knew, he said you guys hasn't told anyone."

"The poor boy is scared shirtless, and honestly so am I!" Clyde hugged me again, and I was in too much shock to do anything to stop him. Underneath the sheets of my bed, my hands had become rather tight fists. The first person I told was my Dad, then he told Jimbo and Ned. They could have told anyone, or it could have been them who did it. The whole town could have known by now, and those people who hate homosexuality could be out to hurt both of us. What have I done? I put this poor boy in danger, and I couldn't even be there to save him because I've been hurt by someone who's supposed to protect me.

"Guys, I don't want to go home with my family." I revealed.

"Why not?" Clyde asked.

"I'm scared." All three of them looked at me slightly surprised, considering the mixture of how my personality normally is and the situation I am currently in. I didn't want to say anything about my Dad just yet. Not while he was still in the same building as me. "Can I stay with one of you guys for a couple days?"

"Stay with me Craig." Token volunteered. "You know my house has the room for you."

"No, he should stay somewhere where no one would expect him." A new voice entered the room, I looked over surprised to see Damien walking in. Clyde's first reaction was to run over and hug him in the typical Clyde fashion. This caused Damien to freeze, unsure how to proceed. Had he never received a hug before? Clyde eventually let go after realizing Damien had no fucking idea what just happened. "Anyways, I think you and Tweek should both stay with me. I live in the woods, and I do have two empty bedrooms. Or you can share one, whatever works best for you two. You can hide out until this wave of anger blows through."

"And why do you want to do this?" I questioned. Last time he did something quote on quote nice for me, it was because he had an alternative motive.

"Because you're my friend, dipshit." He sneered. "I've grown rather fond of you, Tweek, and this whole group. You guys have actually been decent to me. I wouldn't recommend going to school for a few days either, high school drama doesn't last forever but you shouldn't be caught in the fire while injured." Did Damien look...upset? He seemed like he genuinely cared, which is something I didn't expect.

"I want that, but I'm not sure my parents would let me do that." I hadn't even thought about that until right now. There is no way my dad is going to approve of me going into hiding, he's going to want me to accept my "punishment."

"Why?" Clyde asked.

I took a deep breath, sighed, and said "Because my dad was the one who shot me."

"WHAT?" was basically everyone's reaction. Damien was the only one who didn't look surprised, he was the first to look angry.

"We have to tell the police, dude!" Clyde practically ran out the door before Damien grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back in.

"No no no!" I yelled at him. "I'm not doing that, I can't do that!"
"Why the fuck not? No one hurts my best friend like that!" Clyde was never one for being able to control his emotions, but only the ones in our friend group knew that. At school, he was able to keep his cool all day but then he would come over to one of us after school and bawl his eyes out.

"Because I'm not tearing my family apart! If I tell the police they're going to take Tricia and I away, put my dad in prison, and leave my mother all by herself. Tricia and I are going to be separated, and I may never see any of them again! I can't do that to them Clyde, even though I hate my dad now I still love them! I have to protect them, even if it means not being in their lives for a little while."

"But what if he goes after one of them?" Token interjected, worried.

"The only reason he shot me is because I came out to him as gay, I don't believe he's going to hurt either one of them. He's never been abusive before, he just hates fags like me."

"Go home with them for now, then tonight I'll help sneak you out of your house." Damien directed, then started to head towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Token asked.

"I'm going to talk to Tweek about the plan." He said without even looking back at any of us.

"I'm going to!" Clyde ran to his side, and Jimmy and Token followed suit. I was alone yet again to sort out all of the emotions I was currently feeling. All I wanted to do was punch a wall, cry, and hug Tweek. Unfortunately I had a strong feeling about who attacked Tweek last night and if I was right, I'm going to rip their motherfucking head off.