Everybody would always remember the day that Tweek and Craig walked into the front doors of school, holding hands. Teachers and students alike had to double take as the first outed gay couple in South Park Middle School revealed itself, the day after Christmas break in the seventh grade year. And while almost nobody was overly rude or blunt about the situation, the two became quietly infamous amongst the student body, people whispering and even fantasizing about what their lives must be like. Several students that later came out themselves admitted that they felt inspired by the two—Tweek, who ducked his head in embarrassment at first, but who never let go of the others hand, and Craig who promptly flipped off anybody who even considered teasing them.
They made a great pair, even the kids who felt the most iffy about it had to admit.
But although the majority of the student base was able to continue on normally after the shocking gossip development, there was one boy who gave them a hard time almost daily.
For weeks, and even months, after they made their relationship known, Eric T. Cartman spent the majority of his free time cracking jokes, calling names and even occasionally saying things just downright cruel at their behalf. Craig was able to ignore it, never really listening to Cartman in the first place, but Tweek would always start shaking violently when he came near.
"Hey homos!" The obnoxious, still high-pitched voice rang on a particular day through the cafeteria. "I'm surprised you guys went for pizza! I was sure I'd see you both scarfing down the hotdogs!"
Nearly everybody in earshot groaned, but Cartman was too busy laughing at his own joke to notice. He sauntered over to the table with his tray, seating himself opposite the table from Kenny and popping a tater tot into his mouth.
Craig hadn't even looked up from his phone, but his hand had briskly reached over to grab Tweek's in case he got upset again. Cartman looked at the two and smirked mockingly.
"Out of curiousity, Craig, is the smell of coffee like, a major turn on for you now?"
Tweek made a noise as he twitched, and Cartman's smile widened. Craig took a sip of his milk, continuing to text calmly with one hand.
"And while on that subject, who tops?"
At this final question, Tweek cried out, covering his face and Craig finally turned towards Cartman directly, his expression still apathetic, but hardened.
"You have asked that same question every day for the past two months," Craig stated monotonously, an edge of roughness tinting the words, "I have told you every time that we're thirteen fucking years old, and despite all the reality shows about slutty white girls, the average thirteen year old is not sexually active—not that it would be business of yours if we were, fatass. So just do everybody with eyes and ears, and a nose for that matter, a favor and fuck off."
Cartman looked irritated at the speech, and the cheers and laughter from the other people at the table didn't really help. He stood up abruptly, taking his tray and turning around, spitting:
"Fine, you douchebags don't deserve me anyway!" He turned to stomp away, and Craig called after him.
"Just so you know, Eric, the people who are the most homophobic are usually just really deep in the closet themselves."
Cartman heard Craig's words, and he heard the sounds of high fives and thankful chatter behind his back, and he suddenly shifted towards the door, throwing his uneatten lunch away and leaving the cafeteria entirely.
For some strange reason, he suddenly wasn't hungry.
And so Tweek could finally relax, Cartman eased significantly off of the teasing, and the happy couple was able to thrive and grow, eventually becoming one of the three oldest couples at the school.
But this story isn't about that particular couple.
This story begins two years later, on the first day of freshman year at South Park High School.
Kyle and Stan showed up together, eyes wide as they saw how huge it was.
"Dude..." Kyle whispered, "I used to picture what college would look like..."
"Yeah," Stan muttered.
"I didn't even think that would be this huge."
"Yep," Stan agreed again, grimacing and running a quick hand through his smooth black hair.
Between the two boys, Stan had definitely changed the most. Sometime between eighth grade and Labor Day, his voice had dropped a few octaves, he'd shot up to a daunting five foot eleven, and his shoulders had broadened, giving him what Kyle had heard Wendy describe as a "perfect bod". He no longer wore his hat, which gave him a very mature look, and his gray eyes had softened from their childlike wideness to a cool, calm gaze. There was no doubt that Wendy was going to have a challenge keeping other eyes off of him, probably even from the seniors.
Now Kyle, on the other hand, hadn't changed nearly as much as he would have liked. He still wore his hat, though he felt more self conscious about it since most of the kids had outgrown that, and was still the same height: five foot five. His physique wasn't scrawny, but not muscular. He was lean, his mother had told him, and he still had lots of growth spurts ahead of him that would make him taller and stronger. His face, he knew, remained very young-looking. His hazel eyes still felt wide and his cheeks still looked pudgy, and the light line of freckles that ran across the bridge of his nose paired with his olive complexion just made him look scruffy.
He probably looked like he was twelve, whereas Stan had been able to get into a rated R movie by himself.
"There you guys are!"
Both Kyle and Stan jumped and turned at the unexpected arrival of Kenny. The sight of the third friend made Kyle a bit less self-conscious about his height, but almost worse about his looks in general.
Kenny was definitely short, but damn was he hot.
Anybody that looked at him knew that he could probably get any girl in bed just by winking at her, and he definitely put it into use whenever possible. His dazzling blue eyes and messy blond hair gave him an angelic and innocent face, paired with his devilish smirk gave his entire persona enough contrast to attract eyes from all sides. He still wore the same orange parka, never being able to upgrade without literally breaking his family's bank, but he didn't tighten the strings so much anymore, and the hood hung more loosely around his face.
"Hey Ken, you had better be in the same homeroom as me!" Stan greeted his friend.
"I will," Kenny replied confidently, "you're with Mr. Turner, right?"
Stan smiled in relief, "yeah!"
"Marsh and McCormick—they sort it based on last names." The blond boy turned to greet Kyle, grinning at the Jewish boy, "and what about you, Broflovski? Prayin' to Moses that you aren't close enough to 'Cartman' to be stuck with him?"
"Damn right I am," Kyle muttered, wincing and then smiling as he greeted his friend, "how was your summer, dude? Did Tammy make it back from her trip okay?"
Kenny nodded, and scratched the back of his head, "yeah...but we broke up."
Both Stan and Kyle were shocked now, "you what?!"
"Yeah...it just wasn't going great..." He tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
"Sorry to hear that, man," Stan said, "you guys had been dating for over a year straight this time, right?"
"Year and two months, yep."
Kenny and Tammy had been on and off since elementary school, much like Stan and Wendy had, but this was definitely the longest they'd been together at one time, and people were starting to think that it might finally be permanent.
The three friends continued to chatter in the hall, too engrossed in their catching up to notice the figure that walked right up to them, watched them for a few minutes, and then trailed away.