It was autumn, which for a tiny mountain town in Colorado meant the second big snow storm was already well underway; School had been cancelled and after a full day of sledding, snow ball fights and igloo making a pair of boys sat together in one of their rooms (it didn't matter who's) as the setting sun turned the bleak gray skies ruddy, like their cheeks still burnt from the cold air in which they'd been playing.
Craig sat on the floor leaned against the bed, Xbox controller in his hands as he navigated the new dungeon puzzle crawler he'd downloaded, pausing periodically to sip from the warm cup of cocoa beside him. Tweek reclined on the bed just above on the bed itself, watching and drawing in deep lungfulls of the steam that poured off mint tea that he clasped in both hands. The moments stretched pleasantly languorous, neither of them needing to say a word, but eventually Tweek reached the bottom of his mug, and as he swirled the last of the liquid around with the tea leaves he broke the silence, asking the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind.
"Hey Craig?" He asked
"Yeah babe?" Craig responded not taking his eyes off the screen in front of him. There was a long pause before Tweek spoke again.
"When did we stop pretending?" Craig's avatar stopped short as his fingers drew still.
"What, do you mean?" Neither he or the pixilated protagonist moved, his voice calm and steady as ever. Tweek bit down on his lower lip and felt the lower lid of his eye begin spasm, but he shook his head and fought the feeling down to power through with his question once again.
"When did we stop pretending, I mean first we were pretending to be a couple, then we pretended to break up, then we pretended to get back together. Now. . ." Fear welled up inside him and as he felt those familiar convulsions begin to run through his body once again.
". . .Now, we aren't pretending anymore." Craig said finishing the thought as the "PAUSED" Graphic appeared on the screen and he turned to look up at the other boy on the bed. Tweek Shivered but met Craig's gaze, which was as unperturbed as usual. "I dunno, like a couple months? That sound right." Tears welled up in the corner's of Tweek's eyes and he nodded just a bit too enthusiastically as his lips curled into a relieved smile.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Craig nodded in turn and leaned up to kiss the blonde's cheek before turning back to unpause his game and complete the next challenge, Tweek watching contentedly.