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All things considered, Tweek could accept that his problems were stupid.
He had good grades, his friends and boyfriend helped him recover from his meth addiction, he had an incredible boyfriend, and in two years he’d be able to move out of his parents’ house and go to college with his friends and lover.
When he put all that together, the world really did look more beautiful.
But that didn’t mean that his problem, however stupid it may be, wasn’t still there.
Over the years, Craig had gone from being an uncaring doofus to being an oblivious doofus.
Don’t misunderstand him. Tweek was blessed. He knew how good he had it. Craig’s been voted hottest boy in their school since elementary, he'd literally never shown any interest in even a celebrity so there was definitely no worry about cheating, and when they were alone he could be incredibly touchy and cuddly. Tweek won the boyfriend lottery.
He just wished…maybe…that Craig could be a little more romantic.
He was a wonderful friend, boyfriend, and in general very sweet to Tweek, but he never thought about the little things. He wasn’t trying to be neglectful or rude, a lot of things just genuinely didn’t occur to him.
“You realize the solution is to just sit him down and have a conversation, right?” Kyle asked him, blinking slowly. “I mean like, the stakes have never been lower, dude.”
The two had formed an unlikely friendship during middle school, and continued to grow closer into highschool. Mostly because their boyfriends insisted on having the stupidest rivalry to ever exist.
To this day, Tweek has no idea what started the rivalry, or what the end goal is, all he knows is that because of it he’s had to watch Craig take part in the most ridiculous challenges with Stan.
But, Kyle found the whole thing as equally stupid as Tweek did, and thus a friendship was born.
Tweek groaned and rested his head on the counter of the coffee shop. He was technically on shift, but business was pretty slow today. “D-Don’t just dismiss my woes!’
“Dude, this is a stupid problem to have, get over it.” Kyle told him bluntly, but in that sincere, kind tone he always had.
“Ngh- come on! You’re telling me y-you wouldn’t care if S-Stan never t-tried to be romantic?”
Kyle snorted and sipped his coffee. “I’ve been dealing with Stan’s overly romantic bullshit since I can remember. I’m maxed out on my level of romance tolerance. Not every day has to be something out of a romcom.”
“You don’t get it.” Tweek sulked. “I just- I like him so much, I love him, is it really so wrong to just…want him to show it a bit more?”
“Dude, Craig is obsessed with you.” Kyle stated like it was a fact. As if it had been written down somewhere. “It’s honestly pretty gross. You’re sulking over nothing.”
Tweek slumped down further. “You’re not very good at comforting…”
Kyle let out a heavy sigh. “Look, if this is that important to you, I’ll…I don’t know, I’ll fucking do something about it.”
What?
Tweek lifted his head, now wary. “Uh…w-what does that mean exactly?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Kyle replied smoothly and sipped his drink. “Just try not to pull your damn hair out, okay?”
As nerve-racking as it was, how much damage could Kyle really do? He had a good head on his shoulders, he always thought things through, and he was always the one to think rationally.
It would be fine. Whatever happened…it would be fine.
Still, Tweek’s pretty sure it would take a miracle for Craig to actually get a clue and be more romantic.
Movie night was one of Tweek’s favorite days of the month.
Once a month, he and the rest of the gang got together to go to the movie theater and watch whatever was playing. Sometimes Stan’s gang joined them, sometimes they didn’t. Either way it was always a blast. Even Cartman was tolerable as long as he had enough snacks.
This month was one where Stan’s gang accompanied them, and they were all trying to pick out their snacks.
“Ngh- why can’t we get gummy worms?” Tweek complained, already getting frustrated.
Craig frowned. He had his hands in his pockets, neutral as ever. “You can get gummy worms if you want, honey.”
Tweek scowled. “I don’t want to get gummy worms for me, I want to get them for us! You…You’re so…”
He just wanted to share a candy with his boyfriend. All the other guys were doing it, well, the ones who were dating at least, and Tweek thought it was cute. He wanted to be a part of it.
Craig did not get the memo.
“I don’t understand the problem. You get the candy you want and I’ll get the one I want.” Craig said like it was obvious.
Tweek was about ready to explode with rage, when a hand set itself on his shoulder.
“I’ll share gummy worms with you, Tweek.” Kenny told him brightly.
Tweek looked at the blonde in surprise and slight confusion. “Ngh…don’t you want to share a candy with Butters?”
“Eh, Butters can’t get candy this time, one of his parents bullshit punishments,” Kenny rolled his eyes as he explained, but then he smiled. “Anyways, you can sit beside us and we’ll share the worms.”
It was surprisingly considerate of Kenny. And maybe it wasn’t exactly what Tweek had in mind, but he really didn’t want a whole candy to himself so…
“Um, yeah, sure, we can-“ Tweek started.
“Honey, I changed my mind.” Craig chimed in abruptly from beside him.
Tweek’s head whipped over to look at him baffled. Craig just stared at him with his usual neutral expression. “Wait what?”
“Let’s get gummy worms. I’ll pay.” Craig told him simply, already getting out his wallet. “We’ll share them.”
“B-But…you don’t want gummy worms.” Tweek protested lightly.
Craig just hummed. “Well now I do.” He went up to the counter and ordered them.
Tweek stood there dumbfounded, before glancing at Kenny. He opened his mouth to apologize but the blonde just gave him this almost…mischievous smile.
“Maybe next time then.” Kenny winked, before making his way back over to Butters.
Tweek had no idea what to do with that. Kenny was just kind of a weird guy though, so he forgot about it.
He and Craig split every gummy worm. Craig even went out of his way to feed Tweek his share multiple times.
It was cute, if not a little bizarre.
South Park was always cold.
It’s just how it was when you lived in Colorado, even if there wasn’t snow it would still be freezing. People grew up wearing winter clothes as a constant.
Tweek couldn’t even remember a day where he didn’t see Craig wear his chullo at least once.
Tweek himself tended to run hot, or at the very least didn’t notice how cold he was. He was too anxious to worry about being cold of all things.
It wasn’t a big deal in elementary, only slightly noticeable in middle school.
But for some reason in highschool it was considered unacceptable.
His friends all but bullied him into getting a puffy, dark green jacket to wear, but he only actually remembered to wear it like 25% of the time.
Craig had accepted it. He’d fix Tweek’s buttons on his shirt, but rarely did he try to make him wear more layers.
Which is what made today so baffling.
Everything was following its usual routine at school, and after school everyone stepped outside and was making plans to head to the mall.
It was particularly cold out, even snowing faintly, and Tweek could feel the cold. He hugged himself for warmth during the conversation, which went unnoticed.
Until a coat was suddenly draped over his shoulders.
Tweek opened his mouth to thank Craig, figuring it must’ve been him, but then he realized the jacket was orange.
Everyone else in the group had gone silent, now looking over at Tweek in shock.
Kenny stood behind him, before coming around to face him more directly, wearing just a white t-shirt now. He grinned. “You looked pretty cold. You should work on remembering your jacket.”
Tweek’s eyes widened. “O-Oh, oh god, t-thank you but- but I can’t take your coat, you’ll f-freeze and get sick and it’ll be my fault and-“
Suddenly, Kenny grasped Tweek’s hands in his, rubbing them with his palms to try and warm them. He smiled innocently. “Eh, I’m fine. I run pretty hot.” He spoke in a teasing tone. “Besides, can’t have you freezing to death, now can we?”
Before Tweek could even think to form the words of a thank you for the kind gesture, the jacket was ripped away from him, and replaced with another, thinner jacket. A hat was shoved onto his head.
The first thought that entered Tweek’s mind was how he was suddenly surrounded by the smell of Craig. Just the faintest cologne, remnants of how Stripe’s food smelled, and just something uniquely…Craig.
His cheeks flushed, suddenly feeling warmer than a furnace.
“He’s fine.” Craig told Kenny plainly, tossing the orange jacket back at the boy. “You should worry about yourself.”
Kenny smiled easily, putting his jacket back on. “Sorry, I just didn’t see anyone else noticing he was cold. Thought I should step in.”
Craig’s jaw clenched in a way Tweek had never seen before. And it left Tweek feeling more confused than ever.
What the hell was even happening right now? How could he be expected to think and figure it out when he was covered in Craig’s scent?
God, he could just curl up in a ball and go to bed like this.
“Come on, honey, I’ll walk you home.” Craig suddenly addressed him in a mutter, putting his arm around Tweek’s waist and pulling him along without so much as a glance at Kenny or their friends.
“Uh…kay.” Tweek said dumbly.
Looks like they weren’t going to the mall.
The moment they got to Tweek’s house, Craig invited himself in.
He pulled Tweek along upstairs. He hadn’t said a word the entire walk back and frankly it was starting to make Tweek nervous.
Craig seemed mad. It wasn’t really an emotion that Tweek was used to seeing on the boy. Sure, it’s not like Craig’s never been angry before, but as he got older he only got calmer and more patient. It took a lot to get him riled up.
The tight grip he had on Tweek’s hand was telling.
“…Craig?” Tweek spoke up nervously as they made it to his bedroom.
Craig didn’t say anything, merely letting go of Tweek’s hand and moving to sit on the bed. He gently patted the spot next to him.
Tweek shyly came over and sat down beside him. He could’ve taken off the chullo and the jacket now that he was inside, but he had no desire to do so.
At this point, Craig would be lucky if he got either item back.
“Okay, I get it.”
Tweek’s eyebrows furrowed, looking at his boyfriend with confusion. “…Get…what?”
Craig was looking down at his lap with a troubled expression. “I…haven’t been a good boyfriend lately.”
That made the blonde do a double take. “W-What!? Where did that come from!?”
Craig huffed softly. “Stan told me that Kyle mentioned something about you venting to him. That I haven’t been very attentive…or romantic.”
Tweek flushed with humiliation. “Augh! I-I can’t believe he said that. Oh that’s so embarrassing! I’m sorry C-Craig, I didn’t mean it like-“
Craig held up his hand to silence him. “I thought it was bullshit at first.” He admitted. “I mean, I just figured, with how much I…” He hesitated, swallowing thickly. He mumbled. “I guess I didn’t think I needed any gestures. I know how I feel about you, and I know how strongly I feel it.”
The blonde’s eyes softened. “…Craig…”
“But then I saw Kenny’s bullshit actions.” Craig muttered with distaste. “And now I get it.”
Tweek’s eyebrows furrowed. “W-What do you mean? What did Kenny do?”
“Dude, he was flirting with you.”
His eyes all but bulged out of his skull. “WHAT!?”
Craig rolled his eyes. “Not for real, he was clearly doing it to stick it to me, to prove a point, and…goddammit, it fucking worked.”
Tweek had a lot more questions about that. Was this what Kyle had meant when he said he’d take care of it? Did he serious enlist Kenny to flirt with him just to teach Craig a lesson?
“I’m so shit at this…” Craig mumbled with a small sigh. “I don’t…dammit, I don’t think. I don’t consider what you might need. I just figure if you need something…you’ll tell me. If you were cold and you asked for my jacket, I’d let you wear it every time. It just doesn’t occur to me to…assume.”
“Craig…” Tweek swore his heart was melting. He just wanted to pull the taller boy into his arms. But he knew it was important to let Craig finish.
“I’ll…I’ll try.” Craig mumbled. “I’ll try to notice. But…if you could also just tell me directly sometimes, that- that would be helpful. Just tell me you want to do whatever it is because it’s romantic and I’ll do it. We can share a candy, even if it logically makes more sense to just get our own.”
Tweek had to giggle. Craig was trying so hard. He really did get the sweetest boy as his partner.
“So…don’t rely on Kenny for anything.” Craig mumbled, chewing on the inside of his cheek, damn near pouting. He looked at Tweek. “He’s stupid and unreliable. Also poor. I can take way better care of you, so…just come to me when you want something.”
Tweek grinned widely, and couldn’t resist anymore. He pulled Craig closer, his hands reaching up to cup his face gently. He pulled Craig’s head down to cradle it to his chest, and Craig easily slumped against him, smushing his face into Tweek’s chest.
“…I love you so much, Craig.” Tweek murmured into the boy’s hair.
“…I love you too, honey.” Craig’s muffled reply.
He really was so damn lucky.
“I’m keeping this jacket by the way.” Tweek told him cheekily.
“Honey, you could literally just smile at me and I’d give you my entire wardrobe.”
How could he ever think his boyfriend wasn’t romantic?