Chapter Text
Today may be our best chance to get out to the spot before the clouds take over…I will have to plan better for the next time we come out.
Craig had time to think as he continued to drive towards Woodland Park. Every so often, he would dart his eyes over towards the passenger seat, taking a little peak at the source of snoring.
So annoying…But fuck, does he look like an angel. Especially when he’s not freaking out.
He smiled thinking to himself, daydreaming a little about the weekend he was going to have with his little angel. He would finally be able to show Tweek his favorite spot that he’s ever been to, to see the stars: Florissant Fossil Beds. Specifically, the Hornbek Homestead lot is where they will be going to stargaze. The last time he went was during a field trip in high school, which was a couple of years ago. They were sophomores at Colorado State University now; Craig aiming for his master’s in biological sciences, and Tweek’s bachelor's in business administration and management. They were on summer break recently, and they were celebrating their near eleven year anniversary together. They had started a tradition around their sixteenth birthdays that near their anniversary, they would each pick a destination to travel to. This destination had to be a place to separate themselves from their realities; it had to be a vacation purely to escape what was happening around them. Craig had come up with this to help with Tweek’s increasing anxiety, and recovery from methamphetamine.
He had noticed that during the recovery process, nearly every day after school for three weeks, he would come over to Craig’s house after school. He would, as gently as possible, with inevitable twitches, lie down his backpack, crawl into Craig’s bed, curl up under his blankets, and fall asleep until the next day. Craig would always lie down with him until he fell asleep, then would work on his homework, play with his guinea pigs, and look through his telescope. He would occasionally sneak over to give Tweek little hugs and forehead kisses, secretly making sure that he was still alive. It worried him heavily at first, considering Tweek used to get, at best , three or four hours of sleep a night. When Craig did some research into methamphetamine withdrawal, he realized that hypersomnia was just one of the symptoms. It also explained Tweek’s poor mood, and increased anxiety, but he would always give Tweek little letters and texts to encourage him throughout the day.
“You’re doing such a great job, babe.”
“I love you, honey. You will get through this.”
“I believe in you, babe.”
“Stripe is so proud of you, too, honey.”
“Only a couple more hours and we will be in my bed, babe.”
After that recovery time had passed, Craig made sure to let Tweek know how strong of a person he was to have gotten through it. It also allowed Tweek to be in a less panicked state, and Tweek would always thank Craig for his encouragement and support as well. He would usually thank him through little scribbles of art, writing songs for him, and baking him sweets. Alongside constant kisses and hugs. His twitching never went away, but he grew considerably less anxious and tended to not crash out so heavily over things he couldn’t control. He continued to drink coffee, but Craig would make sure it was not his parents’ coffee, and instead a stronger, generic brand with no tampering. They chopped it up to a win that the lesser, more understandable addiction could stay in place.
This led to Tweek and Craig celebrating his recovery by traveling out to Rocky Mountain National Park and doing two programs they picked out together. Tweek picked the Bird Sit & Stroll, and Craig picked the RockyLAB. This led to their little tradition of going out each summer near their anniversary to do two things they each got to pick out together. It kept them in good spirits, gave them a chance to spend even more time with one another, and even taught them to handle their finances more responsibly if they wanted money to save and spend on the trip. They would turn off their phones as well, opting to not rely on anything but each other.
Craig continued to drive at the speed limit, being careful to not wake Tweek up as he was taking a nap. They had been on the road for a couple of hours, and were close to reaching their hotel in Woodland Park. They would check into their room, change into their warmer clothing, and head back out to go up to the lot. They had already packed up a bag filled with their stargazing gear: a blanket to lie on, two binoculars, water and coffee, and snacks. Craig wanted to try and stay on schedule to get a clear view of the Milky Way tonight, and he thought that Tweek may find it as beautiful as he did.
He wanted it to be perfect. He had bigger plans in mind for tonight.
Every couple of minutes, during the drive, he reached into his pocket and fidgeted with a small box he had safely secured within. He had also packed a special, secret bag that he hid in the tire compartment of his car. Within that box sat a moss agate ring with a unique leafy center, surrounded by diamonds. Within the bag was a silver leaf orchard, a box of special espresso chocolates, and a specialized star chart of the day they started dating. He planned on getting another star chart made for tonight, if Tweek said yes to him.
Another thing he did in secret, when Tweek was in class and Craig had time alone in their apartment, was to practice how his proposal would go.
“Tweek, babe, I love you more than you understand . I want this to be more than-“ He’d roll his eyes, even flipping himself off every time he felt that it wasn’t perfect. It took him a couple of sessions, but he finally came up with the gist of what he would say when it came time. Tonight was the night. Nothing was going to change it.
Without even noticing, Craig hit a pothole near the right side of the car. His ears were pierced with a somewhat loud scream, Tweek twitching heavily as he was startled awake.
“Tweek! Tweek—Honey, inner peace. I’m right here, we’re on the drive to the hotel. Everything is okay.” Craig knew by now how to approach this, gently placing his hand on Tweek’s knee and slowing down the car just enough to put him at ease. Tweek’s hyperventilating turned to deep breaths as Craig lifted his hand to give Tweek his thermos filled with coffee.
“O-Oh—GAH! C-Craig, thank y-you…” Tweek gently took the lid off of the thermos, taking a deep drink of the coffee while looking over at Craig and forming a slight smile.
“You’re welcome, babe. How did you sleep, honey?” Craig asked, keeping his eyes on the road but smiling in return.
“AH! I-It was ok-kay. L-Lots of tr-trains! The w-whistles, man…B-But I-I got to s-see the way-AH! They w-work! I-I don’t k-know if it’s right though.” He mumbled, twitched, and spoke coherently while talking sips of coffee. It was just the waking up phase; Tweek would be able to speak without twitching as much when he became more awake and alert.
“I wouldn’t be able to say for certain if that is right. Were you researching trains recently, babe?” Craig responded.
“I-In the c-changing economics c-course…B-Before the s-semester was over, we had to r-review the his—AH! History!” Tweek replied, shaking slightly as he continued to try and calm his nerves.
“It’s been a minute since then, though. Have you been researching them outside of your classes?” Craig asked, turning the heat up slightly to warm Tweek up a little more.
“W-What is this? A t-test?! Craig—AH! M-Maybe! I c-can’t remember…” Tweek snapped a little.
“It’s fine, babe. I was just curious. I like hearing about what interests you.” Craig responded, warranting a slight blush from Tweek in return.
“W-What woke m-me up, man?” Tweek mumbled, still taking small sips.
“A pothole, sweetheart. I wasn’t paying close attention and didn’t see it. I’m sorry.” Craig said apologetically, a GPS alert following his response.
“Turn right onto W Midland Avenue.” Which caused Tweek to squeak once more.
“GAH! She’s s-so unexpected…”
“I’m sorry about that too, honey. We’re almost to the hotel though, just a couple hundred feet. I can see the sign up there.” Craig pointed towards the Wyndham Inn billboard, and Tweek looked up before nodding.
“N-Ngh, w-what if the reservation d-didn’t go through? W-What if we have t-to camp?! GAH! I d-didn’t prepare to camp!” Tweek began to raise his voice, before Craig placed his hand back on his knee, shushing him.
“Babe, I reserved our room through the direct inn website, and triple checked it. I then checked it again four more times, and showed you our receipt all four times. I even called the inn to make sure that our reservation went through, twice, and it did. We are okay, don’t worry.” Craig responded in a slow and compassionate manner. It was almost like he memorized what he would say when Tweek would panic about having to camp, because it happened nearly every time. He wasn’t just saying it though; he really did thoroughly check for Tweek.
“O-Okay, Craig.” Tweek mumbled, slumping down slightly and accepting his boyfriend’s response. Craig turned the GPS navigation off on the car’s screen, taking the turn into the inn’s parking lot.
“Come on, baby, let’s get our stuff up to our room.” Craig said, looking over at Tweek as he turned the car engine off. His SUV had a keyless ignition, so he didn’t even have to worry about turning it on with a key, but that never stopped Tweek from freaking out when he would forget that it didn’t need a key.
Nonetheless, Tweek looked up at Craig over his thermos, smiling once more and blushing. Craig called Tweek babe all of the time, but Tweek absolutely melted when Craig pushed it a little further and called him baby . It wasn’t unintentional—either—Craig loved to see Tweek’s bashfulness.
“O-Okay.” Tweek responded, putting the lid back onto his thermos and opening up the side door to the car, stepping down and out of it. Tweek didn’t have a huge growth spurt, so he was significantly shorter than Craig, at about 5 '4. Craig did have a growth spurt, so he practically towered over Tweek, at about 6 '2. They both loved it that way, however.
Craig made sure his keys were in his pocket as he followed Tweek’s movements, stepping out of the car and shutting the door. They both walked to the back of the car, Craig pressing the button to have the trunk open. They grabbed both of their suitcases, and while Tweek was staring up at the inn, Craig peeked slightly under the compartment lid to make sure that the bag was still there. Even he second guessed himself at times, but thankfully, it was still there and safe.
“W-We didn’t get a room high up, d-did we?” Tweek asked, beginning to slow down on his dialect twitching.
“No, honey, I made sure to find us a room near the bottom. We can take the steps if you want to.” Craig said as he put the compartment safely down, once again pressing the button to shut the trunk.
“G-Good.” Tweek said before turning towards Craig, lending his hand out. Craig already knew what this meant; Tweek wanted the keys. Craig dug them out of his pocket, placing them gingerly into Tweek’s palm. Tweek systematically, while paying close attention to the car’s lights, pressed the lock button on the key five times. He then walked to each car door, twitching slightly as he made sure each door was securely locked, including the trunk. They wouldn’t be upstairs for very long, but Craig knew this made Tweek feel safer. Tweek handed the keys back to Craig, who shoved them back into his pocket and pulled out the handle to his suitcase. Tweek did the same, placing his thermos on top of his suitcase, looking back up at Craig.
Craig extended his hand towards Tweek, and Tweek happily accepted it. As they walked inside the inn, Tweek continued to look at his surroundings. Craig made his way up to the front counter, and Tweek stood beside him as he began having a conversation with the receptionist.
“Hello guys! How can I help you today?” She said with a smile on her face.
“Hi, uh, we booked a room for two nights under the name Tucker. First name Craig.” Craig responded, fishing out his wallet as he said so and preparing to take out his ID and debit card.
“Tucker…Tucker…” She mumbled as she began to look for the reservation. Tweek turned to look towards the lounging area, noticing a little coffee stand with creamers and a small container filled with cookies. Probably a breakfast area… He thought to himself, looking above at the walls to notice framed photographs of different hot spots around Colorado. His eyes drifted almost immediately to the picture of the Andromeda Galaxy , causing him to twitch his head a little to the left and squeak.
“Okay Mr. Tucker, I will need a photo ID and a debit card to place the temporary hold on.” The receptionist said, and Tweek turned back around to watch Craig hand over his ID and debit card to her.
“C-Craig, t-there’s a picture of the A-Androm-meda Galaxy on the w-wall. Did you s-see?” He mumbled to him, causing Craig to turn his head to look at the picture as well.
“Oh, how cool!” Craig perked up, smiling before looking down at Tweek, “I hope we’ll get to see that and the Milky Way tonight.”
“If the conditions are right, you should be able to. I went out to the fossil reserve not too long ago, and we stayed during their sky gazing program. It’s very beautiful in person.” The receptionist chimed in, causing Tweek and Craig to look up, while Tweek widened his smile.
“That’s a-awesome, GAH!” He replied, causing the receptionist to jump a tiny bit, but she did not look up and continued to type in Craig’s card information, “C-Craig has been w-wanting to take me up h-here—AH! For y-years. H-He’s been secretly hoping to s-see the Triang-gulem Galaxy, t-too.”
“Oh, that’s a tough one! Do you guys have a telescope?” She asked, looking back up and handing Craig back his debit card, then placing his ID in the photo copier beside the receptionist desk.
“No, but we have binoculars. It may be a long shot, but it’s worth a try. I want to show him the different constellations besides the Big and Little Dippers.” Craig responded, taking back his debit card.
“Keep an eye out for Summer Triangle ! That one is my favorite.” The receptionist responded as she pulled the photo copy of his ID back out, now handing it back to Craig.
“H-He told me about that one t-too! W-We will let you k-know—GAH! I-If we see it!” Tweek responded happily, each twitch causing the receptionist to jump a little herself. She shot Craig a slightly concerned look, but Craig subtly shook his head, aiming to portray a sense of ease.
“I appreciate it! Now Mr. Tucker, it seems everything went through just fine, and you’re all set. Breakfast is from seven o’clock to eight o’clock, and check-out time is eleven o’clock. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask the front desk. Here are your room keys,” She said as she placed two key cards in a paper sleeve card, writing the room number with a Sharpie on the inside of the card and something else, “The little code under your room number is the WiFi password. Please enjoy your stay!” She handed the cards over to Craig, who nodded and smiled as he took them. She also gave Craig the slightest wink, alluding to something he had planned for Tweek when they reached their room.
“Thank you.” He said, looking down at Tweek once more and motioning his head to the right to start walking towards the staircase. They grabbed hold of both of their suitcases, going hand in hand once more. They began walking down the hallway, and Tweek gently broke free of Craig’s hand, “W-What room are we in?”
“I think it’s room three-eleven.” Craig responded as he slipped the card open between his fingers, nodding to confirm his statement.
“If you w-want, we can t-take the elevator. A-At least while we have luggage.” Tweek began to speak a little more moderately. His speech impediments ramped up when he was excited, or speaking to strangers. When it was just Craig and him, it began to calm itself.
“Are you sure, honey? I don’t mind carrying both our bags if it makes you feel better.” Craig responded, looking at Tweek as he nervously fidgeted with his fingers.
“N-No! T-That’s too much stress on y-you. I-I will be f-fine for two trips.” Tweek responded, looking up to meet Craig’s gaze. Tweek was terrified of elevators, because he once saw this prank that involved the floor of an elevator being replaced with a screen that cracked and broke apart. This led to people in the elevator believing that they were standing on the little bit of ledge that kept them from falling to the bottom of the shaft. It led Tweek down a rabbit hole of elevator complications, causing him to panic every time he had to get into one. Eric Cartman had showed him the video of the prank, which led to Craig smacking the back of his fat head, “Don’t show him shit like that again, you fucking asshole.”
“‘Ey! Don’t fucking hit me, you goddamn son of a bitch! He’s a grown fucking man, Craig. He can handle some funny pranks.” Cartman responded, rubbing the back of his head with a scowl on his face.
“You knew what you were doing, you fucking prick. Do that shit again, I will knock your teeth in. Or I’ll get Wendy to do it again.” Craig said, squinting his eyes and returning the scowl. Cartman huffed, complaining for a while about how he let her fuck him up that bad, but Craig didn’t care. Cartman didn’t fuck with Tweek again for a long time.
“Okay, babe. Just remember your elevator routine.” Craig responded, smiling at him.
“R-Right.” Tweek said, and he proceeded to squeeze his eyes shut. Craig gently grabbed back ahold of his hand, lacing their fingers together as he walked him to the elevator. He pressed the arrow pointing up, looking up at the screen above the elevator to watch as it descended to the first floor. As the door opened, it was thankfully unoccupied. He guided himself and Tweek inside, continuing to hold Tweek’s hand all the way through. Craig let go of his suitcase handle, pressing the button to floor three and the two arrows that pointed inward to shut the door. Once they were inside the elevator, Tweek squeezed a hold of Craig’s hand until his knuckles were white. He tilted his head to the side to cover one of his ears with his shoulder, then covered his other with the hand he was previously holding on to his suitcase handle with. He kept his eyes, ears, and hand tightly squeezed shut to the best of his ability as they made their way up to floor three, letting out a small sigh of relief as he felt the elevator shift back to a pause under his feet. He uncovered his ears as the door opened, waving his hand a little down to his side to find his suitcase handle once more. He didn’t open his eyes until Craig guided him out of the elevator, also loosening the grip on his hand.
“Good job, honey. I’m really proud of you.” Craig said, continuing to smile at Tweek. Tweek looked up at Craig, smiling in return and twitching slightly. He always felt so touched that he was the only one to see Craig’s true smile most of the time. Especially when he would laugh, he got to see his teeth, and a goofy grin he would get. It made him squeak nearly every time he was able to see it. There was squeaking in distress, and then squeaking in glee for Tweek. Now, most people, including their friends, couldn’t tell the difference. But guess who did? Craig noticed that Tweek’s squeak in distress was more drawn out, with a slightly lower tone. His squeak in glee was more short, and more high pitched.
“T-Thank you, babe.” Tweek responded, before they began to make their way over to their room. Craig let go of his suitcase handle and Tweek’s hand, reaching in to pull the key card out and swipe it through the card reader to let them inside. Upon entering, they looked around the room while Craig took hold of both their suitcases and placed them on the bench that extended from the dresser in front of the bed. On the bed’s nightstand was a vase of specially arranged flowers, with sunflowers, green hydrangeas, and emerald tassels. Tweek noticed this almost immediately, letting out a gleeful squeak as he approached them and sat down on their bed to look more closely at them. Craig pretended not to pay close attention, but he side eyed the examination. He was happy the receptionist didn’t bring this up while they were checking in, and instead provided a simple hint to reassure him that they did provide the accommodation.
Tweek gently and shakily took hold of the little note card that was attached to a stick, sticking out of the front of the vase. On it read, “To my sweetheart, Tweek Tweak.”
“Aww, C-Craig! They are so pretty—GAH! C-Can I keep them?” Tweek asked, his face now a deep red as he looked up to Craig for confirmation.
Craig nodded, “Of course you can, baby. You can dry them out and add them to your flower collection.”
“T-Thank you! I-I love you!” He smiled back as he stood up, jumping up a little to reach up and wrap his arms around Craig’s neck, bringing him into an embrace. Craig happily returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around Tweek’s lower back and squeezing.
“I love you.” Craig mumbled back, dissolving a little into the moment. Tweek moved his hands down to cup hold of Craig’s cheeks, bringing him down into a kiss.
When they had first kissed, it was about a year into their relationship. It was not romantic in the slightest. It was more of an attempt to see how it would go, and not an actual attempt to express emotion. When they squeezed their eyes shut, and brought their lips together, they almost immediately pulled apart from one another and wiped their mouths. They proceeded to spit off to the side a little, immediately grossed out by the interaction. They were ten years old, after all, so it was all but too possible that they wouldn’t enjoy it. Especially since they believed at first they weren’t actually gay, and that they continued their relationship purely for South Park’s sake.
It wasn’t until they were about fourteen, in their eighth grade year, that they went out on a date to the movies. Craig had been thinking about how their first kiss had gone, and wanted to try again. He had talked to Tweek a little bit about it, but Tweek continued to be nervous about it. Before they reached the double doors leading outside the theater, Craig gently grabbed ahold of Tweek’s arm and pulled him off to the side out of eyeshot from other passerby’s leaving.
“T-Tweek.” Craig mumbled, finding it hard to look him in the eye as his face grew incredibly red.
“Y-Yeah, Craig?” Tweek said innocently, looking up at Craig.
“I—uh—I wanted to do something.” Craig responded, rubbing the back of his head that was covered with his chullo beanie.
“GAH! What?” Tweek said, slightly panicked.
“U-Um…” Craig mumbled, looking down and seeing that Tweek had also grown red. He’s so cute, he just keeps getting cuter, FUCK. Okay, Craig, just see how he reacts. You got this, buddy. He thought to himself as he decided to make his move, gently cupping Tweek’s cheeks in his hands. He leaned down, slowly to make sure that Tweek didn’t have any objections to the move he was making. Tweek realized what was happening, his eyes widening a little, but he didn’t pull away from Craig. Craig awkwardly pressed his lips to Tweek, squeezing his eyes shut once more. They didn’t move, just pressed their lips together, and Tweek closed his eyes as well as he leaned into it.
As they separated, they looked at each other as Craig began to lean back up, and they were both more red in the face than they had ever seen each other before.
“S-So, yeah.” Craig mumbled, looking away once more from Tweek. Tweek twitched slightly, letting out a gleeful squeak.
“That was nice.” Tweek smiled bashfully, placing his hand up to his mouth in a slight fist, nervously beginning to bite at his nails. Craig noticed almost immediately that Tweek didn’t stutter once while saying that. It was almost as if he found his center in an instant upon entering the kiss.
“Y-Yeah. It was. Better than I remembered it being.” Craig responded, smiling.
Ever since then, kissing has become a way to calm Tweek down in some instances. It slowed up until high school, where they became more comfortable with being affectionate with each other. Each kiss was special to both of them, even if it was frequent. They truly grew to enjoy each other in ways many thought may have been impossible.