*Enjoy*

Chapter 4: Fishing?

Tweek loves South Park in the morning. The view of the sun awaking over the front range is always spectacular, and Tweek delights in the stillness and calm that he feels as he sits on his favorite bench, directly in front of Tweek Bros., and savors his first cup of coffee for the day.

Unfortunately, nine months ago, Craig convinced him to switch to the loathsome beverage called decaf. It started with little hints and innocent comments about the evils of caffeine, and ended when Craig finally showed up on his doorstep holding an large Amazon box filled with a selection of expensive and imported decaf coffees, Tweek flipped out.

"What the fuck! My family owns a coffee house, I know what decaf is, Craig!" Tweek hissed resentfully, and attempted to slam the door in his face. Ignoring his outrage, Craig patiently pushed his way inside, and calmly headed for the kitchen.

Annoyed, Tweek sat huffing and puffing, and refusing to speak, even when it became obvious that Craig had absolutely no idea how to use the Stotch family's elaborate De'Longhi cappuccino machine. Craig made a huge mess, but he persevered and eventually he produced a muddy looking concoction that Tweek refused to even look at.

"Jesus, I'm not drinking that crap!" Tweek pouted as Craig walked towards him, menacingly holding out a small white coffee cup that was overflowing and dripping with the murky brew.

"Come on Tweek, just try it for me." Craig pleaded sweetly while pressing the foul cup to Tweek's lips and flashing that 'rare' smile, the one that Tweek was powerless to resist.

Tweek opened his lips and took a tiny sip, and it was entirely horrible. It was literally the worst cup of coffee Tweek had ever tasted, but when he looked into Craig's dazzling blue eyes, and saw how excited he was, the only thing Tweek could do was nod and smile. To please Craig Tucker he would give decaf a shot.

Now however, as Tweek sits in front of Tweek Bros. Coffee with his personally, and professionally, prepared cup of decaffeinated coffee pressed to his lips, he scowls bitterly. He's dying for a proper cup of heavily caffeinated espresso. Even after nine months, Tweek constantly craves real coffee, because caffeine is Tweek's drug of choice, and quitting caffeine when you are the heir to a coffee house. Well, let's just say it hasn't been easy, but it makes Craig happy, so Tweek is doing his best.

The sun is now seated properly above South Park, which means it's time to open for business. Originally, their employee, Henrietta Biggle, was schedule to open the store, but Henrietta called this morning at 5am to beg Tweek to switch shifts with her. Since switching with Henrietta would free up his evening to see Craig again - he hoped - Tweek was happy to oblige.

Tweek tosses his coffee cup into the trash, and is about to enter the shop when he spots a red pickup truck pulling up in front of the store. Grinning big, he waves to Thomas Tucker, his eyes excitedly searching the cab of the truck for Craig. This is his chance to tell Craig about his schedule change and invite him over, however Mr. Tucker is apparently alone, and oddly he is dressed in a casual summer suit. A strange fashion choice for the fishing outing Craig had mentioned last night.

"Hey Son, is the coffee ready yet?" Mr. Tucker asks pleasantly, and follows Tweek into the shop.

"Yes sir, did you want your usual?" Tweek switches to business mode, slipping behind the counter, and pulling his Tweek Bros. apron on.

Thomas nods, and pulls out his wallet, while Tweek grabs a large disposable cup and fills it with freshly brewed plain black coffee.

"Are you working today, Mr. Tucker?" Tweek wonders as he pops a top on the cup and hands it across the counter.

"Yep, our company is re-branding, so things are pretty hectic." Thomas explains, and lays a few bucks on the counter. "I expect I'll be working weekends all summer. Shame really, being stuck in an office while the weathers been so nice."

"What about fishing? Aren't you and Craig going fishing?" Tweek asks uncertainly, his eyes clouding over with confusion.

"Fishing? Doesn't that sound nice. The last time I suggested fishing to Craig, he told me he was too old to be fishing with his pop and flipped me off." Thomas says gruffly with a nostalgic smile. "Well, Son, I better get to work, you keep the change, and have a good day."

"Yes, you too, sir. Thank you for your business." Tweek says mechanically, his eyes filling with panic as he watches Mr. Tucker exit the shop.

"Did Craig lie to me? Why would he...lie?" Tweek whispers to himself apprehensively, while his hands move to his head and he unconsciously tugs on his hair. His thoughts are speeding up, and an uncomfortably familiar feeling starts gnawing in the depths of his brain.

"He lied after I told him that I wanted him to stay the night! Was he lying because he wanted to be rid of me? Was I being annoying...?"

Negative thoughts are spiraling through his mind as they always do whenever he becomes anxious or bewildered. Cutting back on caffeine has helped him to sleep better, but Tweek's emotional issues run much deeper than a simple coffee addiction. Generalized Anxiety Disorder, that's the medical term for it, but Tweek hasn't needed to see his therapist lately, he's been feeling so much better, almost normal... okay maybe not normal, but he hasn't felt this scared in a really long time.

Latching on to the edge of the counter, Tweek wills himself to calm down, but his heart is pounding, and mind won't shut up. Closing his eyes tightly, he tries to recall the good parts from last night.

"Everything was fine. Gah- Craig was smiling. We were watching Red Racer, it was fun. It was so much fun! and...aagh! Craig was so happy!" This brings a slight smile to his face, but it vanished quickly. "Jesus Christ, so why did he lie? Nggh-why did he kiss me? Was he just trying to distract me from his lie?"

Tweek's speaking quicker now, and louder, looking at his hands he sees they are covered in bandages, and his eyes open wide remembering.

"Craig's sunburned! The cactus! I fucked everything up!" Tweek shoves himself away from the counter, slamming his back against the coffee shelf, bags of coffee drop to the ground, he doesn't notice.

"Craig's back was all burned, those tan marks, I touched them! The sunburn! Craig's going to get skin cancer, but it looked so damn good, so I touched him. Oh Jesus! That was it! I touched him, and he was able to read my mind! HE KNOWS! Craig figured everything out, I always knew that he'd figure it out someday! OH NO! And now he knows that I lied in 4th grade when I said I wasn't gay! Gah, does he think that I want to touch his penis! He's going to break up with me! I don't want that! I DON'T WANT THAT!"

Tears are pooling in Tweek's wide eyes, rolling down his pale cheeks.

"I need Craig!" With shaky hands Tweek pulls out his phone and stares at it. He's really crying now, and his body twitches faintly, he touches the screen and opens up his phone log. Craig's number is right there! Talking with Craig will relax him! Talking with Craig always relaxes him but...

"I can't call Craig!" The realization hits him hard. So hard that that everything stops. His fingers go limp, and the phone slips out of his hand. He stares at it blankly, sobbing silently, and gnashing at his bottom lip with his teeth, because he can't call Craig! Craig lied to him, because he knows, so he can't call Craig!

"Fuck!" Tweek whispers, picking up his phone again. His parents are still out of town, and he needs someone right now. Unsteadily, he scrolls though his phone log, he has a lot of numbers, Tweek knows a lot of people, because Craig has a lot of friends. That's the thing, Token, Clyde, even Jimmy those guys are cool, but the only reason he has their numbers is because when they can't find Craig they call him looking for Craig.

"SHIT!" There isn't a single person that he can call at 7am on a Saturday and just say 'Hey buddy, this is Tweek, do you mind heading over to the coffee house right now, because I need a little help me with my huge ass fucking panic attack?!' There's only Craig!

Tweek scrolls back to Craig's number, but no! HE CAN'T CALL CRAIG! He tosses the phone aside and shakily drags himself up from the ground.

Tweek does have one friend he can count on. Craig won't like it, he won't like that Tweek's cheating, but Jesus Christ! That's what Craig gets for lying. Grabbing an empty cup, Tweek's hands nervously fill it to the brim with freshly brewed caffeinated coffee.

"Hello, old friend." He mumbles sadly as he puts the cup to his lips and takes a big guilty sip, it's really hot and it burns as it slides down his throat, but it TASTES SO GOOD! It makes him feel just a little bit calmer.

Behind him he hears the swoosh of the front door opening, so he takes one more large sip, and quickly stashes the cup beneath the counter. Breathing a deep breath, he puts on his business smile, and turns to greet his customer.

"Good morning, Tweek." A familiar voice calls out to him in a honeyed drawl, and a tall handsome teen saunters to the counter. "How are you this fine morning."

"Why are you here?" Tweek wonders out loud, losing his fake smile as he stares up into Eric Cartman's creepy smiling face.

"Hey, is that anyway to treat a customer, Tweek?" Eric asks scornfully, his shady smile growing larger. "I happen to be here on some very important business."

Breathing deeply, Tweek forces a fake grin, and asks. "So what can I get you, sir?"

#####