Chapter Text
Tweek Tweak twitched as he raised the mug of steaming coffee to his lips. He was sitting at a corner table in Tweek Bros. Coffee, long legs stretched out, people-watching while he took a quick and much-needed break. Drawn by her laugh, his gaze fell—not for the first time—on the girl serving behind the counter. She was new. Lizzie, she’d said her name was. Tweek wasn’t sure he believed her. She’d hesitated when she’d given it. She’d gotten flustered when he’d shook her hand. She glanced at him too often.
Tweek had told his dad his suspicions that she was a spy for the new rival coffee shop down the road, and Mr Tweak had roared with laughter. “Tweek,” he had taken his son by the shoulders, “she just fancies you.”
Tweek twitched again and tilted his head, shamelessly staring at her. Whatever his dad thought, Tweek knew the truth. She didn’t fancy him—nobody ever fancied him. She was a spy, pure and simple, and Tweek would be keeping an eye on her. There was no way he was letting her get her hands on their special recipe.
Lizzie raised her eyes, meeting his and a blush spread across her face. She looked down again quickly.
“G-gah! T-that’s right,” he said under his breath. “I’m on to you.”
Tweek drained the dregs of his coffee and returned to the cash register with a determined stride. He stood directly in front of the teenage girl, looking down at her with his arms crossed. She tensed.
“You can go n-now,” he said to Lizzie. The girl looked up, shocked at his bluntness.
“Go?” she repeated. “But I’ve still got an hour left.”
“It’s a… It’s a Friday evening, right? Surely you want to get out for the night? Spend time with your boyfriend?”
Lizzie’s bemused smile shifted into one more genuine. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” she said. She sounded far too happy about it. Tweek narrowed his eyes, shivering slightly. Lizzie watched him for a moment and then sighed, exasperated. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”
“I-I’m plenty good!” he argued. “I know just what you—nngh—are.”
“Oh?” Lizzie looked genuinely surprised. Tweek smiled triumphantly. She’d thought she could pull the wool over his eyes, but he’d shown her! He wasn’t some idiot she could manipulate. He wouldn’t let her bring Tweek Bros. down.
“You’ll never get our secret recipe!”
“Your secret…? Tweek, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t play innocent,” he said. He placed his hands on her shoulders and started guiding her none too gently out from behind the counter. He was almost a head taller than her, making her easy to manoeuvre. “M-my parents put me in charge while they’re away, and I don’t want you here.”
“You’re being ridiculous!” Lizzie tried to pull away from him. “Your parents warned me about your ‘ticks’ and whatnot, but this is a whole other level!” She didn’t look friendly anymore. Now she just looked downright pissed.
“I want you to—nngh,” he twitched violently, “l-leave.”
“Oh, I’m leaving,” she snapped. “I’ll be having words with your father when he returns.” With that, Lizzie stormed out of the shop, leaving the door wide open. Tweek glanced nervously over his shoulder, aware that a couple of customers inside had just witnessed the entire exchange. He looked at them, twitching, until they looked away, and then he strode across the shop to shut the door.
His gaze fell on the snowy street, turning right to see the Bijou cinema as Lizzie stormed past it. He frowned. There, leaning against the cinema wall… it couldn’t be! He looked away, blinking furiously and rubbing at his eyes until they were sore. He looked back. There was nobody there.
For a moment, though, Tweek thought he had seen Craig Tucker, his elementary school boyfriend who had vanished one night without so much as a trace.
He watched the cinema for a long minute, twitching. “Gahh!” he exclaimed finally, tugging at his hair in frustration. “N-now you’re seeing ghosts. It’s too much pressure!”
He went back inside.
Clyde Donovan turned up just as Tweek was about to lock up.
“Gahh!” Tweek jumped, brandishing the coffee mug he was holding as Clyde let himself in.
“Relax, Tweek. It’s just me.” Holding his hands up in surrender, Clyde stepped closer. “Lizzie told me what happened.”
“Y-you’re working with her?!” Tweek didn’t lower his coffee mug.
“What? No! I gave her my number a couple of days ago, but she said she wasn’t interested.” He gave Tweek a pointed look and sighed as he realised his friend didn’t know his meaning. “Look, man. She likes you. Well, liked, I guess. Now she’s just freaked out.”
“She’s a—nngh!—spy! She’s spying on us! She wants our secret recipe!”
“What, meth?”
“Ggahh!” Tweek started shaking his head frantically, pulling at his hair. Clyde moved cautiously, keeping his hands in front of him like he was approaching a wounded animal. Once near enough, he gently wrested the coffee mug from Tweek’s grip and placed it on the counter. His hands found Tweek’s shoulders, and his brown eyes looked Tweek square in the face.
“Tweek, you need to calm down, okay?”
“I am calm!” Tweek shot back.
“Clearly. Look, man, you’re just freaking out because your parents are away, and so you’re in charge. It’s too much pressure, right?” He smirked a little. “I can promise you, Lizzie isn’t a spy, and no other coffee shop wants to put goddamn meth in their coffees, okay? Jesus, we need to wean you off that stuff.”
Tweek just twitched.
“Look, once you’ve closed up, come to Token’s with me. His place is looking pretty damn cool now. You’ve not seen it yet, right? We can get some pizza and beer.”
Tweek hesitated. He wasn’t sure he was in the best place mentally to be socialising right now. Then again, his friends had seen worse. Jesus Christ, they’d had to deal with the long months after Craig had left when he’d been a complete and utter mess. It may have been years ago now, but if they could stick by him through that, then they could stick by him through anything.
“O-okay, man,” he said. “Let me just lock up.”
After the coffee shop was locked and Tweek had checked the door four times to be sure, they headed to Token Black’s new apartment in the centre of town. Having rich parents, Token was one of the first in the group of friends to leave home, not counting Stan and Kyle, who lived in college dorm rooms outside of South Park during term time.
The air was crisp and cold, encouraging them to walk fast. As they passed the post office, Tweek did a double take and returned to the shop window.
“What is it?” Clyde asked, rejoining his friend.
“I t-thought I saw—” Tweek trailed off and shook his head frantically. For a moment, in his peripheral vision, he thought he’d seen a blue jacket and chullo hat in the queue. A second glance showed that it was just his imagination. He wondered why Craig Tucker was on his mind today. He hadn’t thought about his ex-boyfriend for at least two years now, yet today he had ‘seen’ him twice. It wasn’t fair. Craig had walked out on him and screwed up Tweek for a long time. He’d finally gotten over it and moved on, but now the damn selfish bastard was back and messing with him all over again and it. Just. Wasn’t. Fair!
“Thought you saw what?” Clyde asked, although he had already lost interest and was watching a group of girls across the road, rubbing his cold hands together as he smiled at them. They noticed and giggled amongst themselves.
“Nothing.” Tweek sighed. Craig Tucker was long gone from South Park, and he wasn’t coming back. Especially not for Tweek, the boy he’d dated for a while when he was ten. “J-Jesus Christ, Clyde, stop flirting and let’s g-go. Gah! It’s freezing!”
“Hey, you’re the one who stopped,” Clyde said, pouting. He didn’t take his eyes off the girls as they resumed walking. He was completely oblivious to Tweek’s twitching and muttering, so used to the erratic behaviour that he had no problem tuning it out.
They arrived at Token’s, and Tweek did his best to calm down and enjoy his evening. He couldn’t stop his busy mind, though. It shouted at him, screaming jumbled thoughts about spies, liars, and Craig Tucker.
When Tweek left Token’s a couple of hours later, he was twitching more than ever, glancing over his shoulder every other minute for fear of being followed. The bright moon was working towards being round, lighting his way but playing havoc with the shadows, casting hungry, spindly monsters that reached out for him. They wanted to eat him, steal him away like they had Craig. The shadows wanted him gone. Tweek upped his pace, almost running.
He had just gotten home and was twisting his keys in the lock when he heard a dog howl. It was too much. Screaming loudly, Tweek threw himself inside and slammed the door, locking it and sliding the chain across with shaking hands for added security. He stood, alone, arms wrapped around himself, staring at the locked door for a few minutes. When nothing happened, he heaved a sigh and went to the kitchen.
Jesus Christ, he needed a cup of coffee.