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Craig walked into the kitchen of his boyfriends, Tweeks, house. His mother and father were both in the kitchen. His father was standing at the counter, making coffee as usual. His mother was sitting at the table, reading a magazine.
Neither of them seemed to notice Craig when he walked in. He had gotten used to just walking into Tweek’s house after years of being together.
His father finished the coffee on the table and pulled out a small baggie of some suspicious looking white power, and poured some into the coffee. He stirred it up with a spoon, and gave a small smile to himself.
“Is that for Tweek?” Craig finally spoke up.
Both parents jumped up at the sudden voice. Tweek’s father hurriedly put the bag of the powder back into his pocket.
“Oh, Craig. It’s nice to see you.” Tweek’s father gave a smile.
“It's nice to see you too.” Craig said in return, still deadpan as always.
“Yes, this is for Tweek. Would you mind taking it up to him?”
“What did you put in it?”
Tweek’s father stood stunned for a minute, as if he was thinking of an excuse. He took a glance at Tweek’s mother, who just looked shocked.
“It’s.. medicine.” Tweek’s father said. “Listen, Craig, Tweek has ADD..”
“I know that.” Craig interrupted.
“Well, considering Tweek’s tics, he finds it difficult to take his medicine for it, so we crush it up and put it in his coffee.” Tweek's father fiddled with his hands.
It was obvious that the man was lying, but Craig decided not to push it further.
“I'm going to go see Tweek.” Craig walked past to go to the stairs.
“Here, bring him his coffee.” Tweek’s father gave Craig the cup of coffee. He could feel the heat radiating from the cup.
He gave Tweek’s dad an obviously fake smile and walked upstairs.
He’d never particularly liked Tweek’s dad. He always gave Tweek way too much coffee, and he was always threatening to send him away, or sell him. Tweek, being the person he is, always freaks out about what his father says. He’s had multiple panic attacks just because of his father “jokingly” telling him he’s going to sell him into slavery.
He reached Tweek’s bedroom, gave it a quiet knock, and opened the door. Tweek was sitting on his bed with a fidget spinner in his hand, watching whatever was on the TV. Probably the news.
“Oh, Craig, you got my coffee!” Tweek hopped up and grabbed the coffee out of Craig’s hands.
“Tweek, do you take medicine for your ADD?”
“No, I can't handle taking medicine. Plus, I never actually got diagnosed, so I can't even get any medicine for it.” He let out a random sound at the end.
“Then what was your dad putting in your coffee?” Craig asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Your dad put some kind of white powder into your coffee.”
Tweek looked down at the coffee in his shaking hands.
“Oh god! Do you think he was trying to poison me??” Tweek started shaking more. “Why would he do that??”
“Calm down, honey. Now that I think about it, I've seen him do it before. Maybe it’s some kind of vitamin powder to help your body?” Craig put a hand on his shoulder.
“Mmm.. you’re probably right.” He took another sip of the coffee. “Thanks, Craig.”
“No problem.”
They smiled at each other.
—----------------
Craig once again just waltzed his way into Tweek’s house without thinking about it, and once again, he was met with Tweek’s parents in the kitchen.
This time, the two parents were sitting at the table, conversing about something quietly. Whatever conversation they were having, it seemed to be a very serious one. Craig wondered if he should just walk up to Tweek’s room instead of bothering them. He bit his tongue and decided it would be better to just ask.
“Excuse me?” Craig said.
They both turned around to look at Craig. They both had a very serious look on their faces when they turned, but that serious look very soon turned back into something warm and welcoming.
“Oh, hello, Craig.” Tweek’s mother gave him a warm smile.”
“Evening, Craig. Are you here to see Tweek?” His father asked him.
“Yes, I am. Is he in his room?” Craig asked.
“No, actually. He’s in the room behind the counter in the store. The employees only room.” Tweek’s mom said.
Tweek’s dad sent her a harsh glare, and she shrugged in return.
Craig turned around and walked off to the store section of the house. He walked to the counter and went into the employees only room.
Tweek was standing in the middle, with an apron on, sipping a cup of coffee.
The room was dark, and almost looked like a science lab. There were barrels and bags scattered all over. What could Tweek be doing here? The coffee in his hands was steaming, and Tweek seemed to be shaking a lot more than he normally did.
“What is this room, Tweek?” Craig said as he looked at his surroundings.
Tweek jumped and spilled the coffee he was holding onto his hand. He let out a scream and shook his hand off rapidly.
“Sorry for scaring you, dear.” Craig walked over to him.
“It-It’s okay. This is where my parents make their coffee. I'm supposed to be taste testing them.” He twitched his head.
“What’re the bags filled with?”
“Coffee, I'm assuming..” Tweek said.
Craig walked over to one of the bags and examined it. He pulled out his pocket knife that he had started to carry while walking over to Tweek’s, and took a small slice out of the bag.
The contents spilled out a bit. White powder littered the floor.
“Is that sugar?” Tweek asked.
Craig scooped it up with his finger and put it in his mouth. He immediately spit it back out when he tasted it.
The taste was bitter. Horribly bitter. It tasted like chemicals. Whatever that was, it wasn't sugar. And whatever it was, Tweek should not be intaking it.
Now that he thought about it, he had seen this stuff in a show his mom was watching. It was some criminal bullcrap, and the criminal got busted for selling meth, which looked almost exactly like what spilled out of the bag. The chemical taste suddenly made sense.
“Tweek.” Craig turned around and walked over to him.
“Yes, Craig?” Tweek paid his full attention to Craig.
All of the random spasms, anxiety, and schizophrenia finally made sense. Everything about Tweek made sense now. The way he was constantly shaking, the way his shirt was never buttoned right, his frail hair and fingernails, his small frame. It all made sense. His parents were giving him meth.
“How long have your parents been giving you coffee?” Craig put a hand on his shoulder.
“Uhh.. since I was about six. Why?” Tweek twitched.
“Your coffee is laced with meth.”
Tweek stood there for a moment, no shaking, not twitching, not saying one word. Craig wasn't even sure if he was breathing at this point.
“It all makes sense now, Tweek. Your anxiety.. your.. Everything. I mean, I’m not entirely positive, but it really does seem like it. You should get an investigator to look at it, though.” Craig said.
“Leave.” Tweek said sternly.
“What?”
“I wanna deal with this myself, Craig. I don't want you here for this.”
Craig gave a sympathetic look, but nodded. He turned around and walked out of the employees only room.
He could only hope things were gonna go alright.
—---------
It had been a couple months since Craig told Tweek about the meth. Tweek hadn't shown up to school in a while, but he messaged him. Everyone at school paid no mind to the fact Tweek was gone. There was a comment or two for the first couple of days, but nobody bothered after that. Tweek had a streak of not going to school for a while, usually due to anxiety, so it wasn’t that weird when Tweek didn’t show up.
Tweek’s parents got sent to jail, and Tweek got put into foster care. Luckily, someone from South Park offered to take him in. The lady who took him in was kind. Craig had met her, and she seemed like the type of person to not put meth into Tweek’s coffee.
Tweek got sent to rehab so he could get over what happened to him. He had sent Craig a letter with pink glitter all over it. The paper was ripped in some parts, but Craig guessed it was from the tics.
When Tweek got out, Craig went to visit him before he was ready to come back to school.
He looked so much better than he did before.
His hair, still messy, was more tame than it usually was. He was wearing his typical button up, but he actually had buttoned it up correctly. His eyebags decreased a bit, and he seemed to have put on some weight.
Craig couldn't be more proud of how far his boyfriend had come.