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High school is, as expected, boring and tiresome. Craig has been attending for 3 years now. Same old same old, wake up at 7, get to school by half 8 and leave at 3. He likes the routine, it's soothing to his brain to know exactly what's going to happen each day. Doesn't mean it isn't boring as hell.
Craig leans back against the lockers, staring blankly into the mess of teenagers as they go about their lives trying to get to their classes. So many people in the high school hallway, yet his eyes easily seek out the one boy that catches his attention fully, tweek. He is holding a coffee in his hand, shaking and muttering to himself. He is standing on the opposite side of the hallway from where Craig is, rummaging around in his locker.
Clyde, a boy from his friendship group who has earned the title of being Craig's best friend, is standing beside him, getting a book he definitely won't bother opening in class, from his locker, rambling on about whatever bullshit he has going on in his life. Craig blurs him out as usual. It's a daily occurrence for Craig to ignore Clyde, especially when Tweek is in the proximity, and Clyde whines every time, yet he still talks. Maybe he just likes the sound of his own voice.
Coming into school at 8 am, staying by the lockers with Clyde, ignoring him while staring at Tweek.
Having a routine is a must in Craig's life, he despises uncertainty and the idea of not knowing what might happen. Unexpected change always sends a wave of panic through him, ending in him running off to his room and spending time with Stripe while he comes to terms with this new thing.
That's what happened five weeks ago. Craig discovered he has a crush on Tweek.
Discovering the crush wasn't the issue, Craig has always been the type of person to face things head-on and not waste time on stupid shit, so when his heart suddenly started racing when he looked at the twitchy boy or the butterflies that magically appeared in his stomach when he heard tweeks voice at lunch, craig rolled his eyes at the useless love story symptoms.
What became an issue was the sudden change in his routine. Having to adjust to his sudden need to be closer to Tweek or wanting to change his schedule just to bump into the boy in the hallway. He wasn't used to this. It threw him off guard and made that horrid sense of panic come over him.
But after a couple of hours in his room, cleaning out Stripe’s cage while the guinea pig ran around his room, Craig thought out a new schedule, step by step.
Wake up at 7 am, get to school by 8, stay by the lockers with Clyde until 8:15 while admiring Tweek, go to 3 classes, stare at Tweek more, lunchtime, listen to Tweek, then 2 more classes where he stares at Tweek once more. Then hometime.
Flawless.
Staring is the best thing Craig can do right now since the idea of confessing is out the window. Tweek and he have never even spoken, except for those orchestrated fights in elementary school, which might even give more reason not to confess. The difference in their personalities is hard to ignore. The blonde is emotional and freaks out way too much. The dark-haired boy is stoic and doesn't freak out enough.
The result of these factors, it would be useless to act on his feelings. Nothing good would come of it except dealing with a freaked-out tweek and trying to force the blood out of his cheeks. Besides, he has no desire to develop a relationship with the coffee addict, if he neglects his feelings for long enough, he's sure they'll fade.
The bell rings, forcing Craig's eyes away from Tweek and landing on the clock instead. It's 8:10, he has been staring at Tweek for 10 straight minutes. The blonde boy always spends a long time at his locker in the morning, muttering to himself as he downs coffee. Craig thinks the sight is cute.
Pushing himself off the locker, Craig keeps his head up, watching as people begin to enter their classroom.
He follows suit, walking into his maths classroom, heading straight to his usual seat in the back. The only reason he sits in the far back is to have a better view of Tweek. He prefers to sit in the front so he can be the first out the door, but sacrifices must be made.
Leaning forward, he sighs, resting his cheek on his knuckles, eyes locked once again on Tweek, completely blocking out the teacher's words. Craig's grades aren't terrible, average at best, with a measly C-, which is enough for him.
As much as he loves the routine school brings, it’s still boring as hell.
“Craig!”
His eyes snap up, the high-pitched noise coming from his teacher, who is staring at him with a red, angry face, glasses slipping down his greasy face. Wonder if he ever gets laid.
“Don’t ignore me, Craig. I’ve said your name 5 times now. Answer the damn question on the board, or so help me, you will be in detention for the rest of the week”
Is detention even a thing anymore? Most teachers here have given up trying to regulate a normal school system, living in South Park does that to a person.
Craig flips him off. Promptly leading to him being yelled at a total of 6 minutes and 43 seconds, he was counting in his head. Face remaining unchanged the entire time.
This situation is something Craig likes to categorise into his classroom routine. Sit down, stare at Tweek and halfway through have a teacher yell at him, or his favourite, sigh like he just took off 10 years of their life.
The maths teacher sentences him to a week's worth of detention, which he will definitely not be attending, then decides to save face and continue on with his lesson. Craig goes back to staring at Tweek.
This is a nice schedule.
Class ends, the bell rings, vibrating against the classroom walls, a signal for Craig’s body, he automatically grabs his bag and stands, speeding out of the classroom before the teacher can say a word.
Sliding his bag over his shoulder, he heads for his next class immediately while the hallways are still somewhat empty. He needs to use the toilet, but it would be filled up by the time he gets there since it’s the break between classes. That would be so annoying, he’ll go in the middle of class instead.
Getting to his science class, he slides his backpack off, letting it hit the floor messily, and sits at his seat. Tweek is in this class too. So far, today has been good. Nothing has fallen out of place.
As everyone starts to fill the room, the teacher gets ready to start her lesson. Craig raises his hand.
“Yes, tweek?” The teacher asks.
Craig looks over at the blonde boy, seeing that his hand is also raised. As much as he finds the blonde cute, he is annoying. Craig needs to piss, and the teacher probably won’t let them go at the same time. School is stupid like that, they plot the students against each other in a competition of who can empty their bladder first, not even that, just who can ask permission first. Stupid.
“Can I go to the toilet- ah! Please”
“The class just started, tweek you should’ve gone beforehand”
Oh, and there is another reason it’s stupid: teachers deciding when you should empty your bladder.
“Ngh- they were all full!!” Tweek says, his hands clutching his dark green shirt, pulling at it.
“Just go and be quick”, the teacher sighs, probably not wanting to deal with one of tweeks freak-outs, which is fair, as much as Craig thinks the blonde is cute, he can be a handful.
The raven raises his hand as well, just as Tweek exits the classroom.
“Just go!” The teacher says, who probably just wants to start her damn lesson. A win is a win.
Craig stands up without another word and leaves the room, following behind the blonde boy. Both boys are going to the bathroom closest.
The blonde enters first, and the other boy follows. Craig is happy to see that the bathroom is empty, apart from Tweek, who seems to be giving him a panicked side-eye. Craig ignores it and goes about his business.
Talking to tweek or actually making eye contact is not in Craig's plans, his crush can stay buried and only be able to breathe in classes or busy hallways where he can stare mindlessly.
In Craig's mind, that's the most polite thing to do, wouldn't tweek rather be stared at than bombarded with a sudden confession? Yeah, Craig is doing the right thing here, the more socially acceptable thing.
Craig comes out of the bathroom stall and goes to the sink, standing right next to the boy as they both wash their hands, the dark-haired boy thinking of how he'll need to clean Stripe’s cage after school, it's starting to stink up his room.
Both boys finish washing their hands, and as Tweek walks to the door, Craig follows behind, ready to get back and sit through a boring science lesson.
All of a sudden, his worldview spins, and an ache spreads through the back of his head.
Craig's usual blank expression shifts into one of surprise as he sees Tweek, holding him up against the wall by his collar, the blonde boy's face is twisted into panic and anger.
“Who sent you HUH?! The Korean government?? That was nearly 10 years ago! Hng! Can't they leave me alone?” Tweek trembles but still keeps a steady grip on the other boy's collar.
The dark-haired boy's face falls back down into a deadpan expression, “Tweek, calm down. I don't work with any type of government”
“Liar!! You've been- AH!- staring at me like- like one of those pigeons in England! We all know they work for the queen, like I know you work for Korea!!”
Genuine confusion goes through Craig, pigeons? What is this idiot talking about? How on earth is he even attracted to tweek in the first place.
“Tweek, you're acting crazy, let me go now”, Craig responds in his usual monotone voice.
“No way, dude! You're probably just gonna run to your locker and tell- HNg- tell Korea you got caught!”
“I don't work for fucking Korea!”
“Liar!”
Craig wonders what is even happening right now. All he came to do was piss, now his crush of 5 weeks has him trapped against the wall, talking about pigeons and Korea. He should've just faced the crowd and gone between classes.
“Seriously, let me go man”, Craig says warningly. Just because he finds the blonde cute doesn't mean Craig won't punch him. He has done it once in elementary, and he’ll do it again.
Tweek glares at him, “No, you- you-you've been staring at me- watching me! Like some stalker- and you- you- just want me to let you go”
“So?”
“What do you mean so?! So you admit it!! You've been stalking me- agh oh my god!! I have a stalker- a stalker!”
“Okay, stalking is a stretch”, Craig deadpans
“You've been watching me for the past like, 5 weeks! Thats stalking”
“Stalking is a crime, tweek, staring isn't. Now let me go before I punch you”
Tweek doesn't budge, it seems the threat went in through one ear and out the other. It causes the spark of irritation inside Craig to grow, but he remains patient for now.
“Staring is worse! It's rude, you know?! Any normal person would know that, which is why you're definitely an agent for the Korean government!” Tweek yells again, shaking Carig this time with more panic. “Probably been trained since birth! That's why you act so weirdly! Unsocialised!!”
So much for patience.
Craig shoves the blonde away, pulling back his arm and punching Tweek square in the jaw, causing the other to fall back, though only for a moment.
Tweek, much against other beliefs, isn't someone to shy away from confrontation, that is something Craig has always admired about him. It's also something that makes a bursting pain shoot through him as the blonde hits him back.
The two boys continue to fight. Tweek drags the other down, straddling him and trying to punch him. Craig manages to avoid a broken nose by grabbing the other's wrists and spinning the position so he is on top.
They roll around on the bathroom floor, each failing and managing to land hits on the other. Craig swears the little shit tried to bite him.
Adrenaline only lasts so long.
Eventually, they tire out, lying beside each other with their chests rising and falling, their blood spilt, Craig with a split lip and tweek with a running nose. Neither of them won, yet neither of them lost either.
Craig feels like he lost anyway, this was definitely not in his schedule.
“Why?” Tweek asks, cutting through the breathing-filled silence
“Why, what asshole”
“If you're not a secret spy, which im still not sure on by the way, then why do you keep staring at me?”
Craig shrugs and thinks of a response, “I dunno, you are just nice to look at”
“Like a pet?”
Craig tilts his head to the side and stares at the other, bewildered, “Why are you the way that you are?” he deadpans “, No, not like a pet... like, a painting”
“Oh” Tweek blinks, confused by the other words. They haven't spoken since elementary school, I mean, sure, Tweek has paid attention to the other, it's hard not to when Craig gets scolded in nearly every class he is in. Despite not really knowing Craig, the idea that someone thinks he is like a painting, a piece of art, makes him feel an unfamiliar sensation, “What painting?”
“Dunno, probably something from Thomas Cole, like the oxbow or something”, Craig says, knowing the artist from his art classes. The second his teacher presented the painting, he was reminded of light blonde hair and dark green eyes.
Tweek feels his face heat up, a light dust of pink falling onto his cheeks. He was in that art class, too.
“Really?”
“Yeah, even though you accused me of being a foreign government spy and pinned me against a wall”, Craig responds, rolling his eyes as he sits up, feeling his split lip with grimace.
Tweek follows suit, sitting up and staring at the other, “You still could be.. spies are trained, you know”
“If I were a spy, tweek, I doubt I would get punched by a 16-year-old, with all my high-tech training sessions”
“That's…true- but you could be faking! Tricking me!”
Craig sighs in exasperation and looks at the other, deciding to take a different route. He places a hand on the blonde's shoulder “Tweek, no one is out to get you, okay? Especially not me, I just..find you pretty” Craig says honestly, shrugging.
Tweek flinches initially at the touch, but strangely, he relaxes under it. Struck by Craig's words, he finds Tweek pretty. Tweek definitely did not get that implication from the dark-haired boy's death glare being stuck on him for the past 5 weeks.
Craig stands up, not picking up on how his words must have affected the other. He stands in front of the sink, seeing the damage that's been done to his face. The biology teacher is probably gonna wonder what the fuck happened in this bathroom between them.
Tweek watches, still shocked as anything before jumping up, pulling at his collar, “wait- wait..you NGH! Find me pretty? Me?!”
Craig looks at him from the mirror, “Yeah? So?”
“What do you mean, yeah, so?! That's not something you can just say to a person you punched in the face!!” Tweel stamers out, waving his hands around frantically
“Well, technically, I found you pretty before I punched you”
“That's not-you-...huh”
“Dude, why is this freaking you out so much?” Craig says, with an unimpressed look on his face as he looks back at the blonde
“Dude, how are you so calm!! Do you not understand what a- like.. that's not something you say casually”
“I felt casual saying it”
“I don't feel casual hearing it!!”
Craig stares, judging the other for freaking out so much, not understanding tweeks emotions. Is it really that big of a deal to compliment the other? Yeah, Craig has a crush on the blonde, but he doesn't know that, so Craig's words shouldn't be that unorthodox.
Silence fills the room, both boys staring at each other.
Tweek feels his cheek heat up even more and looks away, pulling at his collar more aggressively.
“Well..I um..I think you're pretty too,” He says licking his suddenly dry lips.
Suddenly, Craig understands why Tweek had so many emotions at hearing that compliment, but these emotions are logical: he's the one with a crush.
“Thank you, Tweek”
“You're welcome..”
Once again, silence fills the bathroom, a nervous tension filling the four walls that can only come from unspoken feelings and inexperienced teenagers trying to figure out new emotions.
Craig turns back to the mirror and holds a tissue under the water and places it against his split lip, cleaning some of the dried-up blood.
“Sorry for like attacking you or whatever” tweeks mumbles, scratching his neck
“It's fine”
“You aren't mad then?”
“No, im not mad”
“Then why does your face look like that?”
“I don't know..just my face”
The bluntness that Craig gives is weirdly comforting for tweeks overwhelming nervous energy, reassuring. He could see himself getting used to it, seeking it out even.
Tweek comes and stands next to him, taking a tissue and following the other actions and cleaning the dry blood from his skin so he looks less like he joined fight club.
“Sorry for hitting you, too, though you deserved it”
“That's..that isn't a really- eh! Good apology”
Craig snorts, amused, “Guess not”
Tweek can't help but let out a small laugh too, he doesn't feel as freaked out as he usually would in social situations.
Craig lets his eyes wander over to Tweek at the sound of laughter. It's cute. Speaking to tweek, hearing that sound daily, having conversations like these ones, he wouldn't mind having this in his routine.
Maybe he should confess, he goes through a mental checklist of all the pros and cons, staring at tweek blankly as he does
The pros are greater.
“Uhh.. you're staring again-”
“I like you” Craig says, bluntly.
“Excuse me?” Tweek squeaks
“I like you” Craig repeats
“What?!! Im sorry- you- wait you..like me?! What, like romantically? Is this a prank? One of those- those prank channels where they spawn in a whole crowd and camera crew and my whole life is ruined and I can't get a job and I die alone in my house with cats eating me decomposing body- oh god! I don't want the cats to eat me!!”
Well, it's not a no, is all Craig can think of, “tweek you need to have some faith in me, okay?” he says, placing a hand on the other's shoulder as he noticed it helped tweek before
“Are you sure? Are you lying? Are you sure it's romantic?”
“No, I just said 'I like you' because I want to be best friends” Craig says sarcastically, rolling his eyes, though smiling, amused. “Im not lying either, I like you tweek”
“Oh..wow”, Tweek says, still in a state of shock, panic, confusion and all the other synonyms for what the fuck. But his heart still races, and a fluttering feeling enters his stomach. Tweek has never had anyone confess to him before, he has never had these feelings.
Does he like Craig? I mean, he definitely finds the raven attractive, and even his personality is appealing to tweak. The blunt attitude and comforting actions have a way of keeping the blonde calm in a way he has never experienced before.
Seeing Craig every day, talking to him and having him by his side. Tweek knows he would like that, the warm feeling in his stomach enhancing is evidence for that.
“I..um..AH- I think I like you..like you too..but i ..im unlike new! To this all- so..”
Craig's blank expression morphs into a soft smile. Relieved, he didn't even realise that he felt anxious.
“It's okay, tweek, I've never done this before either. Im nervous as well,” Craig admits honestly, seeing how Tweek relaxes at his confession, “we can take this slow”
“Slow? What does that mean? Were we meant to go fast?!” Tweek stumbles out, pulling at his collar
Rolling his eyes, Craig fully turns to the blonde, “There isn't a right or wrong in this, it's ours to control. We just have to talk to each other”
“Oh.. that's really nice actually, tweeks says, laughing in relief. He looks at the other, letting his hand drop from stretching out his shirt.
“It is”, Craig agrees, happy the blonde likes the idea of creating rules together, it gives him some reassurance too “Do you wanna come to mine on the weekend? Just to hang out, I have a guinea pig called Stripe, I think you'll like”
Tweek blushes softly at the idea of actually being at the other house, in his bedroom, but he feels excited, too, by the prospect, especially if their conversations are like this one, maybe without the throwing hands.
“Yeah, I..ag..think I'd like that. Meeting stripe”
“Cool” Craig smiles, happy the other accepted his invitation.
Tweek smiles back, a warm feeling of happiness filling him. The change in their dynamic happened rapidly, and for whatever reason, it did. Both boys are happy for.
“Oh shit, class”