Chapter Text
When Craig entered Tweak Bro’s Coffeehouse for his daily visit, he found his sunshine face down on the counter barely moving. Craig was instantly concerned. Though he had been concerned before, when Tweek hadn’t answered any of his last couple of texts when Tweek was usually so quick to answer.
He slowly walked up to Tweek, making noises along the way to alert the other of his arrival with no avail. But the combination of the bell nor his loud scuffings against the hard floor was enough to rouse the other.
“Honey? Babe?” Craig called softly, now in front of the counter and his boyfriend, who still hadn’t moved a single centimeter. It didn’t look like he was breathing either. Craig's worry continued raising. “Mi sol? Love of my life? …Tweek? You’re scaring me here. What’s wrong?”
Still no answer.
Not even Tweek’s more intimate nicknames were enough to rouse the blond from his slouch.
Fearing the worst, Craig reached out to try and shake Tweek awake.
Craig barely brushed Tweek’s shoulder when the blond suddenly shot up with a scream.
“GAH! I WASN’T ASLEEP!”
“Fucking- Tweek you scared the hell out of me!” Craig shouted, pressing a hand against his racing chest. “I thought you were dead or something! ...Then again, you look like you have one foot out of the grave already.”
“NGH! A-And what does that mean?!”
“Babe, I love you, but you look like a zombie that just crawled out of their grave.”
And that was saying it nicely. His poor, overworked boyfriend really did look like a zombie. Not only was he as pale as milk, but there were bags underneath his bags under those bags. It made his blue eyes pop, if they held any energy in them. And though his hair was a mess as always, it looked more frazzled than usual, along with his buttoned up, though hidden underneaht his apron. Tweek looked like he hadn’t had a wink of sleep since he was born.
“Tweek? When was the last time you slept? Or taken a nap? At least 3-hours of rest?”
“Nngh…” Tweek’s brows scrunched together in thought. He thought long and hard, his exhausted mind working overtime to find that answer. “Um… I guess… A couple days ago..?”
Craig raised a brow in disbelief.
“Are you sure?”
“I-I don’t know, man! Why do you want to know?” Tweek asked grumpily.
“Because I’m worried about you!” Craig exclaimed, his voice raised enough to make Tweek pause. “Baby, I’m worried about you landing yourself in the hospital these days. If not by heart attack, caffeine overdose, then by sleep exhaustion.”
“I’m… I’m sorry.” Tweek whispered, looking down at his trembling, bandaged hands with watery eyes. “I don’t… I’ve just been having trouble sleeping and… I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” With a cry, Tweek reached up to tug at his blond hair.
“Hey, hey! Stop Tweek!” Grabbing his hands before Tweek could rip off a chunk of his hair again, Craig caught Tweek’s teary eyes. “It’s okay Tweek. You just need some sleep and you’ll feel a lot better. No problem."
“But- How?” Tweek whimpered, His body felt so heavy and his mind sluggish, it was taking all his energy just to talk to Craig. He was so tired- But he didn’t want to sleep either! “I really don’t know what’s wrong with me Craig! I just… Even when I’m laying down, I just can’t go to sleep! I don’t- I don’t know what to do… What do I do, Craig?”
Craig’s heart broke at the helpless tone in Tweek’s voice. Reaching over to rub Tweek’s back, Craig remembered the reason why he was here in the first place.
“My parents and I are going to the beach this weekend, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to come. But I think you should come, Tweek. It’d be good for you.”
“The-The beach?”
Instantly Tweek thought of hundreds of reasons why he couldn’t go.
First and foremost, his parents. They wouldn’t just let him leave off of work for the weekend, even if it was with Craig and his family. Afterall, the business was prioritized above all with no exceptions.
Except when it came to his parent’s own downtime, then it was Tweek’s duty to prioritize the business above all with no exceptions.
The thought of watching this stupid cafe another day more, dealing with another Karen or some fucking idiot getting the wrong order that was clearly not theirs-!
Tweek needed a break.
He really needed a break before he exploded.
“Ngh- Craig. I would love to go to the beach with you and your family… I-If you’d have me!”
Craig looked momentarily surprised, as he had been ready to strongarm his boyfriend to agree to come. Then his face broke out into a smile, and that was enough to energize Tweek for the rest of his shift before he was invited to sleep over at Craig’s house. Knowing full well that Tweek slept better in the Tucker Household than he did anywhere else.
And it was the best damn sleep Tweek ever had in days.