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Craig had been bouncing on the balls of his feet at the bus stop while waiting with Clyde and Bebe for the bus. Hands in his pockets and looking calm, but inside being a nervous pile of mush. It was another day for most people, but for the couples in South Park it was Valentine's Day. It was sickeningly pink and red, soft with teddy bears and hearts and tiny chocolates, and Craig did not like the holiday at all. In fact, he went out of his way to defy the holiday by gagging at his parents being lovey dovey, pulling his sister's pigtails, and refusing to hand out any cards at school.
Well, he still did the first two, but he had one card tucked into his backpack this year.
The holiday and all the saccharine sweetness was still disgusting and pointless, but Craig felt like he had to make a little effort, if only because he thought it would make Tweek smile.
His bus stop was one after Tweek's, so as the bus pulled up and he waited to get on, he checked for his honey's fluffy hair, but couldn't see it from where he was standing. He was excited to get on and sit next to him, but his smile fell when Tweek wasn't on the bus at all, there were other blondes, but Tweek's hair, face and smile stood out in a crowded room wherever he was.
"Hey Stan, did you see Tweek today?"
Stan hummed thoughtfully for a second, then shrugged and shook his head.
"Nope, guess I didn't."
"Did you get something for Tweek, Craig?" Wendy flutters her eyelashes up at him, and he continues looking deadpan.
"That's none of your business." He was a private guy, everyone knew that, and yet they always had questions about his relationship. It pissed him off sometimes. Wendy smiled knowingly, and Bebe popped her head up from the seat behind.
"He totally did." The girls giggled at each other and Craig, still frowning, dragged his feet to the back of the bus where all the other valentine-less losers sat, and slumped himself down next to Eric Cartman, who gave him a knowing smirk.
Cartman knew, because of course he did, but he wanted something in exchange for the highly sought information. Craig already figured that Tweek was probably sick, mentally or physically, but on the off chance that it wasn't that, and Cartman had something to do with it, he had to know straight away. Just in case he'd locked him in a bomb shelter or something.
Cartman demanded he hand over the chocolate he'd been planning on sharing with Tweek, but he could easily buy another couple of bars with his allowance and fight Cartman another day for his honour, so with a begrudging sigh he allowed him to snatch the chocolate from his hands.
"Tweek's home sick, our moms are friends, and they're all sick with something. Probably because they're hippies who don't believe in science."
That was only partially true, but he didn't bother correcting him, because he had to wait through an entire day of watching other people be cuddly while he waited out the clock. He wanted so badly to just walk out of school and visit Tweek immediately, but Mackey had been on his ass for a week after last time, and his parents weren't happy about it either, so he had to suffer through the school day like everyone else.
At lunch he sat between Clyde and Butters and socked both of them in the arms when Clyde called him a single pringle and Butters presented a finished, glittery card he'd drawn up for his crush. In the gym he made sure to be taken out first in dodgeball so he could sit on the bleachers and text Tweek on his phone, but Tweek's replies were few, vague, and hard to decipher, providing Craig with no comfort that he might be better, or at least less sick by the end of the day. He even skipped showering and changing in the changing room so he could run out immediately when the bell rang.
Mrs. Tweak greeted him at the front door in a fluffy, coffee-brown dressing gown and matching slippers, with a croaky, mucus-y voice.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but Tweek's sick and contagious, We all are." She tilted her head to the side, behind the door, and coughed into one hand, the other holding her chest. She looked really tired, with bloodshot eyes as she clung to the door frame to steady herself. Craig had never seen her like this, and he felt incredibly guilty for having the nerve to visit and disturb her. She'd always been nice to him, though a little spacey, and suddenly he wasn't so determined to spend the day with Tweek, so he handed over his card and left with his hands in his pocket. When the front door shut and he made his way back to the pavement he looked back at the house with a frown and caught a flash of movement at the top bedroom window, where Tweek was waving. Craig lifted his hand into a sad little wave back, and then Tweek pressed both of his hands against the window and made a heart with his fingers. Craig's cheeks flushed pink, and he pulled his chullo down over his eyes and scampered off back home.
At home, now no longer worried that something terrible had happened to Tweek, he could finally calm down, shower, and change his clothes to something less sweaty and more comfortable. He then fed Stripe a little more than usual, took all the money from his piggy bank, and left again, barely explaining where he was going to his mom as he ran through the door and slammed it shut, feet pulling him towards the Whole Foods that he was sure had disappeared at one point, but had then popped back up again out of nowhere. He picked up a bunch of things from the store, sandwiches, soda, chocolate and candy, all things that both of them like, and he even reads the ingredients so their allergies and diets won't ruin the moment.
Luckily Tweek's bedroom faces the front, so he doesn't have to climb the fence to get into the backyard, instead he has to climb up the drainpipe and shimmy along the ledge to climb through. Tweek doesn't have a lock on his window, so all Craig has to do is push on it lightly and it opens up into the room for him to climb through. He slips and falls down onto his knees with a thud and a groan, then shakily gets up, one hand clutching the strap of his bag, the other holding onto the window ledge for support.
"Craig?" Tweek croaks out, staring in disbelief from the bed, where it looked like he'd been all day, judging by the amount of empty cups and food wrappers around.
"Yep." Craig confirms, hopping up on his carpet burned knee and coming to stand by the bed and begin emptying the plastic bag.
"I got you some stuff, a sprite, hersheys, sour gummies, and a CLT. That's a BLT with a C instead of a B. C as in cheese, not chi-"
"Yeah, I guessed that. Thanks, Craig." Tweek leaned over and wrapped one arm around him to shut him up, and both of them turned a sweet shade of pink. Craig often wondered when they'd stop blushing every time they hugged. He cleared his throat, sat down near Tweek's feet on the bed, and shook the bag upside down to get the last few things out. Tweek looked delighted by the haul.
"Thanks." He grinned, going straight for the sandwich first as he salivated and his stomach rumbled.
"I made you a card." He nodded towards his desk, surprisingly free of styrofoam coffee cups, and dug into his food while Craig went to pick up the card.
The card was pink, glittery, messy, and absolutely, perfectly Tweek. The front was a big, red glitter heart that was still a little gluey and wet, with the words 'I love you' in swooping black cursive; while the inside was a drawing of Stripe in a spaceship and a sweet little thank you from his boyfriend.
'Thank you for being the best boyfriend.' It made him feel a little flustered, and also a little bad that the only card he'd gotten Tweek was a generic store-bought one. He handed his card over, and Tweek beamed and laughed at the 'Happy Valentine's Gay' on the front, punctuated with a little rainbow. Craig was still a little surprised the small, private owned card shop even stocked gay cards, but he was also very thankful.
"What'd you get?"
"Hersheys."
Craig elbowed him roughly.
"What sickness, idiot?" Tweek laughed and snapped off a block of chocolate to feed it to Craig.
"Mono."
"So how'd you get mono?" He asked, sitting down on the bed this time by Tweek's side, so they were bumping shoulders.
"We drink out of the shop mugs."
"Ew." He grimaced.
"Yeah, dad had to close and warn everyone, he's really embarrassed."
"Your throat looks gross." Tweek stuck out his tongue and showed off his bright red tonsils, proving Craig's point that the little blond's throat did, in fact, look really gross.
"It's super gross. Thanks for coming, even though I'm gross."
"I didn't say you were gross, even though you are."
"Well, you're the best boyfriend in the whole galaxy." Tweek mumbled, leaning his head onto Craig's shoulder.
"Maybe." Craig shrugged half heartedly, turning away so Tweek wouldn't see his suddenly red hot cheeks. Tweek then tapped on his shoulder so he could turn back, and he did.
Tweek leaned forward, lips puckered, and Craig's heart began to race as he realised what was happening.
Craig had always considered the first kiss to be pointless, he didn't care how people got it as long as they actually got it, or they'd be hanged on the flagpole by their underwear and subject to mockery by all the cooler kids who had definitely kissed a girl already... and him, who hadn't ever kissed a girl, but made up a believable first kiss story involving him and his ex girlfriend Allison Taft, who broke up with him after less than a month because he wouldn't kiss her. He hadn't cared back then, even slyly dodged any attempted kiss from her, but now he wasn't moving away, or making a disgusted face at the idea of kissing someone... because Tweek wasn't a girl, and Craig liked boys. It kind of hit him for a second that he really was gay, as though he'd not noticed already, or forgotten that fact.
He puckered his lips, squeezed his eyes shut tight, and leaned in until their lips finally met. It was... mushy, and wet, and it made his lips tremble a little as the kiss continued, tightly closed mouths and hands finding each other to interlock. They're not moving their lips, but he can't find the courage to push any further into this new interaction.
In fact, as much as he's growing to really like said interaction, he realises that he's been holding his breath since they started, and so he has to pull away and gasp for air. Tweek lets out a few little raspy puffs that turn into a small coughing fit, and he has to gulp down a third of his soda to steady himself.
"Um." Craig squeaks out, cheeks burning red. He tries to finish his sentence, maybe even ask for another kiss, but instead his mouth just opens and closes like a fish coming up to the pond top to eat stale bread.
"We kissed!" Tweek squeals, covering his mouth with both hands to muffle himself. Craig nods dumbly.
"Could we maybe... do it again?" He asks, and then looks surprised, as if he didn't realise he'd asked it out loud. Tweek leans forward again, this time his hands grab at the tassels on Craig's hat and pull him in via those, and as their lips meet again Craig knows he's in deep, and he doesn't even care. He'd shout it from the rooftops, or put up posters saying it, if Tweek asked.
Thank god Tweek would never ask him to do that.
Tweek's lips, he notices after many little pecks all punctuated with a smacking noise, though chapped, aren't very rough. There's a single cut on one side that Craig can feel, but other than that Tweek's lips are surprisingly soft and gentle, even though he spends most of his time biting them. They don't taste of anything, because he uses plain lipbalm and then immediately licks it off out of habit, and his kisses aren't like rose petals, like he always thought they would be according to his mom's books, but it's all nice in its own special way. Craig can't stop smiling, and neither can Tweek.
Tweek's back the following Tuesday, keeping his spasms to a minimum and happier than he'd ever been as he sidled up to Clyde, Token and Jimmy. Craig wasn't with them, but sometimes he overslept or just skipped classes and days altogether, something Tweek had tried to curb.
"Hey, there's our favourite spaz!" Clyde grinned, winding one arm around Tweek's shoulders before Tweek could dodge him. Being friends with Clyde meant sometimes you had to put up with his affection.
"We heard a fun rumour!" He grinned, sharing a smug, knowing look between himself, Token and Jimmy. Jimmy in particular looked fit to burst with giggles. Tweek wasn't particularly into rumours and gossip like Craig was, but he supposed if it was good enough he could tell Craig himself later.
"Huh- hey- hey Tweek! Is your favourite band Kiss?" Jimmy asked, giving him a sly nudge.
"Uh, no. It's Babymetal."
"Did Craig get you Hershey Kisses for V-day?" Clyde asked.
"No, he got me a cookies and cream bar."
"Did you and Crai-"
"Forget it, guys. He's not getting it." Token put his arm around his other shoulder and led him away before the brunet duo could ask Tweek another strange question that he didn't understand.
"Also, Craig is out sick today."
Tweek sat sandwiched between Jimmy and Kevin at lunch and switched between listening to Token and Stan discuss music, watching Kevin play another new freemium MMO on his phone, and avoiding eye contact with Kenny and Cartman, who looked very smugly back at them when his flickering gaze accidentally caught theirs. His hands fidgeted with a pen that he spun between his fingers.
Tweek paused for a second, looked to his left, and asked.
"Hey, Jimmy. Got any guinea pig puns?"
Jimmy grinned.
"I'm su- su- sup- suuu- so glad you asked!" Tweek smiled back, and pulled his pencil case and some card from his bag.
When Craig opened the card he was thankful there was no glitter, Tricia's 'die soon' protest card had practically exploded and he was still sitting in the aftermath despite his mom giving him the handheld vacuum.
'Everything is guinea be okay!' with another big red glitter heart, this time being held by a guinea pig who looked exactly like Stripe.
"Wow. That's terrible." Craig sniffed, he didn't smile, but his eyebrows raised the slightest amount and Tweek called that a win.
"Jimmy helped."
"I can tell by how unfunny it is." Tweek lightly socked him in the shoulder, but couldn't stop laughing at the cruel joke.
"Do you know what the other name for mono is?" Laura came in, balancing a laundry basket on her hip with one hand while her free one ruffled through each boys' hair.
"Mono-nucleus?" Craig asked, trying to remember the full word he'd overheard the doctor say.
"Nope." She bent over and leaned her head close to both of their ears.
"The kissing disease." She tittered at the way both of their faces flushed a bright rosy red, and left the room with a knowing smile, leaving the door open for her husband's peace of mind.
"Huh, I guess that's what the guys were laughing at." Tweek surmised, hands on his burning cheeks.
"I'm never going back to school." Craig groaned, hiding himself in a ball under his alien sheets.