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To everyone who knew Craig Tucker, it was quite clear that the teenage boy had a relatively quiet life. At least, he did his best to keep it that way.
Of course, the Tucker's, where he grew up, had unusual ways of behaving. Flipping off his parents during family dinner wasn't exactly well-received by everyone. The prevailing philosophy in his home was that 'actions speak louder than words,' and 'sometimes a middle finger can mean more than a hundred words'.
Craig quickly learned that he would carry this with him for the rest of his life.
But everything fell apart when Tweek Tweak entered his life.
It was a mere coincidence, as everything in South Park seemed to happen, that the troublemaker and the class weirdo were placed in each other's lives. Up until that moment, Craig had no idea why the asian girls had decided to pair up such an unlikely couple. Aside from the fight they had when they were in third grade, the pair were rarely seen together.
Tweek was nothing more than a colleague, occasionally sitting at his lunch table with his group of friends and participating in the games they invented during school break.
Despite this, fate—taking the form of 12-year-old girls—placed them in each other's lives.
At first, it was all just pretense. The "relationship" was nothing more than a way to please the town, which seemed strangely involved in the boys' relationship. And the little arrangement benefited everyone.
South Park would continue in it's usual hot excitement, and Tweek and Craig received money from adults who considered them so brave for expressing themselves freely and were able to buy all the latest editions of games for Tweek's Playstation and space-themed trinkets that Craig raved about.
Everyone benefited. There was no reason for the arrangement to be undone so soon.
This lasted until the city seemed to have completely forgotten about them.
It was common knowledge that the residents of South Park were influenced by whatever trends were popular. The metrosexual fad spoke for itself. So it was no surprise that a trend would die down as quickly as it surfaced.
Craig remembered his first conversation with Tweek about this topic. Of course, Craig's first instinct was that the boys should break up for good; after all, yaoi art fairs were no longer a regular event, and the asian population seemed to have decreased significantly after the City Sushi fiasco.
Everything indicated that this would be the end of their fake relationship.
However, Craig was unable to utter any of those words when he took Tweek to his room after school with the intention of talking.
Craig couldn't meet the blond boy's blue eyes and break up with him. In fact, he seemed completely lost in the vastness of the color of his eyes.
Tweek didn't seem too thrilled about the idea of breaking up either. His anxiety was running high during the silent minutes they spent staring at each other in Craig's room, unspoken words hanging in the air.
It took a push for them to agree to continue the relationship. This time for real.
Craig remembered how he twisted his hands on the flaps of his chullo, partially obscuring his vision as he tried to confess to Tweek that he liked spending time with him and how he didn't mind continuing to call him honey.
Tweek didn't fare much better. He pulled at strands of hair much harder than usual. Grunts escaping his mouth at every sentence. It was a real challenge for him to get to say that they should date for real.
They were both just idiotic boys. But that was precisely what drew them into each other's lives.
Since then, Craig's life has undergone subtle, but extremely significant, changes.
To begin with, Craig learned that his personal philosophy didn't work when it came to Tweek.
The blond boy's anxiety left no room for ambiguity, and although they understood each other like no one else, Craig learned that Tweek was the type of person who needed constant reassurance.
He couldn't rely entirely on actions. Tweek easily lost himself in his own thoughts, so it was important that someone could be the knight in shining armor and help him out of the situation. And Craig was more than willing to take on that role.
He might not be the best, and occasionally make mistakes, but Craig would do his best to express his thoughts as clearly as possible and let his feelings spill out in waves that would hit his paranoid boyfriend.
And he didn't regret it one bit; after all, Tweek also made a daily effort to keep his excessive worries in the background in order to improve his relationship with Craig.
The arrangement continued to benefit them. So there was no reason for it to end so soon.