Quick update: we spotted an inconsistency in chapter 1 that changes from here on through the rest of the story! We've gone back and fixed it, but rest assured, it changes nothing of the story! The change was simply to add Token into the biology class!

The next morning, Tweek woke first. He sat up, rubbing his eyes in sleepy confusion. It took him a few seconds to realize he wasn't at home, and a full minute to calm his panicked breathing remembering where he was. He put a hand over his pounding heart, then slipped out of the bed, looking down at Craig's sleeping form. He shook his head fondly, wondering why Craig hadn't dumped him on the floor, then got up.

He crept around the room, careful to stay silent as he changed into his now-dry clothes. Folding up the borrowed pajamas, he set them on the bed, got his phone and key, slipped on his shoes, then crept out of the Tucker house.

The sun had yet to rise, and the clock in the living room told him it was three in the morning. Counting in his head as he walked, Tweek was pleasantly surprised to discover he had slept for about four hours, a new record for him.

Craig woke up ten minutes earlier than his alarm would have sounded, as always. He sighed, laying still for of a couple minutes, then sat up. Tweek wasn't there anymore and, on closer inspection, neither were the things he had with him. He figured the other had gone home, which was kind of sad but he guessed it was better if Tweek got home before his parents realized he was gone.

"This is how those dudes in the movies with the one night stands must feel like," he muttered. He shot Tweek the usual good morning message, hesitated a second, and then added "babe". He turned his alarm off, stood up and went to take a shower.

When he got out, a reply was there, reading 'Gwokw meoievd'. Craig snorted, having a suspicion as to why.

'C u at the bus?'

He was already buzzing with excitement for the day. The worries he had were forgotten, the only thing on his mind was Tweek and the way he had fallen asleep on him yesterday, making him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

He frowned. Clyde was right. That was pretty gay.

Tweek was sitting at his desk, working on a Lego set. His phone buzzed and he checked the message, covering his mouth to stop his squeal of surprised delight.

A pet name. Someone- his boyfriend- CRAIG, had used a pet name. For him.

His hands shook so badly as he typed, his message scrambled, becoming a jumble of nothing letters mashed together.

Craig's second message was quickly answered with a 'ya', then Tweek shot around his room to get ready. His parents had left by that point, as always, and for once, he was actually happy to have the house to himself, laughing out loud in joy.

He had a boyfriend. Him. Tweek Tweak. Tweek the Freak. He had a boyfriend who called him a cute pet name and pet his hair until he fell asleep. Who cuddled him in a coffee shop and watched the snow.

The thought almost made him cry. It was all so much. Maybe too much. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really feel the best. Figuring he knew the reason, he managed to send a text that was readable, saying, 'I think I might be a little overstimulated, so if I'm off today, that's why.'

Craig checked his phone, and nodded to himself. It happened every now and then, and was usually okay. So, Craig shot him an 'alright!' and finished his breakfast, then headed out the door.

"Tweek!" He caught up to him at the bus stop, jogging slightly. He stopped in front of him, not knowing whether to fist bump or hug him, so he just stepped close and bumped his shoulder with his own, hoping he hadn't made it awkward.

Tweek smiled brightly, bumping him lightly in return. He hadn't been sure what to do either and had decided whatever Craig chose he would follow. The usual group was already gathered, and he wasn't sure how they would react to the usually stoic boy pulling him into a hug.

"Wow, Tweek gets all the excitement and we don't even get a hello? Weak, Craig. Weak," Token said, faking hurt.

Tweek flushed, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

Clyde laughed, nudging Token's shoulder. "Aw, be nice," he said. "Tweek deserves it."

Craig took his hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry, he's just being a dick," he muttered.

Token smiled. "Clyde told me you finally got your shit together, Craig."

Jimmy grinned "C-Con-Cuh…" He took another breath. "Congra-ats, guys! W-was time you di-did!"

Tweek shuffled in place, happy and nervous. He was glad they had supportive friends, but worried how the rest of the school would take it. Sure there were students everyone figured was gay or didn't care (Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Butters all came to mind) but, if they did this, they would be the first out couple. It was a terrifying thought.

If he were with anyone but Craig, Tweek didn't think he'd be able to go through with it.

Craig pulled him even closer, noticing his worried look. "We can wait with this if you're unsure," he told him and squeezed his hand again. They hadn't done anything more than cuddling and hand holding anyways and that wasn't even as noticeable as it could be. After all, he was around Tweek all the time anyways, it was nothing new for anyone in the school.

Tweek squeezed his hand back. "It's okay," he said. "I'll be fine."

Craig nodded and looked at the others. "We'll be kind of jumping into cold water here. I don't think anyone is openly out at school, definitely none dating. If you could maybe help us watch out for… problems, that'd be great."

Clyde looked aghast that Craig thought he would do anything other than his best to help them, pretending to pout, though he dropped it quickly as he realized Tweek's genuine nerves.

"Of course we will," he said. "Don't worry, I promise we'll be on the lookout for anything weird."

The other two agreed and Craig thanked them as the bus arrived. They got on and went to their usual seats, Craig taking the seat at the walkway as always. As soon as he was settled beside Tweek, he put an arm around his shoulders.

Clyde grinned widely, wiggling in his seat like an excited puppy. "You guys are as cute as I always thought you'd be," he cooed.

Craig snorted and Tweek swatted at Clyde, beginning to tic from embarrassment. He still wasn't feeling the best, so it was likely that being overstimulated was making it happen.

"Had that coming, you creep," Token cackled.

"Y-You ok-okay there, d-duh… dude?" Jimmy asked.

Twitching harshly a few times, accompanied by multiple sounds, Tweek got himself under control and nodded, leaning back in the seat.

He began to worry, thinking over his usual symptoms. Usually, he started with feeling bad, as he had that morning, but then he would get more quiet as the day went and pull away from all forms of contact with others. Right now, he felt bad, but he didn't want to get away or be quiet. Along with the quiet was usually a strong emotion, commonly anger, but he wasn't feeling that either. If it wasn't overstimulation, then what was wrong with him...?

Craig threw him a worried glance. "Tell me if anything gets worse and you want to get away, alright?" He didn't want him to do anything for his sake that made him feel bad.

Tweek nodded, looking out the window at the passing buildings as the others began to talk and plan out Wednesday afternoon.

The bus stopped at the school shortly after and Craig remembered that he had actually packed coffee for Tweek. He got it out of his bag and offered it to him. "Want some?"

Tweek blinked at the container, then took it. "Thanks." He opened it, taking a drink. Maybe his problem was he just hadn't had enough coffee yet.

Craig grinned. They walked to their lockers and said goodbye to the others. He restocked his locker freezer, something that had gotten Clyde to call him extra more than once, and sorted through his books and notes. He looked at his locker door at the group shot of him and his friends that his mother had taken on a trip when they were eleven. He liked it a lot, but it was old and he wanted a newer version of it. Maybe they'd get the chance some time soon. He could take one at the mall, but it wasn't the setting he wanted.

Digging through his own locker, Tweek took mental stock of his body. The bad feeling was still there. Was that a hint of pain in his stomach? Hmm, was he a bit warm? Well, warmer than normal for him?

No matter.

Materials obtained, they headed off towards their classes, Tweek hoping the day would be over quickly.

Class was taking forever. He couldn't wait for the next class but somehow robotics just wouldn't stop. Craig groaned in misery, but once it did, he was the first out of the room and probably set a new record for that, too.

Tweek was waiting for him outside the classroom, having chosen to walk with Craig over going to bio with Clyde.

Craig's mood went up immediately when he spotted his boyfriend and quickly jogged to where he was waiting. "Hey, b-babe." He stuttered over the last word, unsure of how Tweek would react and not used to it. It felt weird on his tongue but since Tweek had apparently liked it this morning he had tried to motivate himself to use it all class long.

Tweek's face lit up in delight, pink dusting his cheeks. "Hey, Craig," he greeted.

Craig figured using pet names was totally worth it. He might have to make a list with some nice ones this evening. "How are you doing? Feeling any better? How was class?"

He shrugged. "It was okay." Truth was he wasn't feeling any better but actually a bit worse. However, he wasn't going to say anything. He was worried about ruining the day.

Craig nodded as they started walking. "Mine sucked balls. So long and boring today." He shrugged. "The test went well though I think."

"I'm sure it did. You're smart and good at this stuff." He hesitated a moment, then reached out and touched Craig's hand lightly, silently asking permission to hold it. Craig eagerly opened his hand to let Tweek take it, trying not to seem too desperate for the soft touch.

"Thanks, Tw... Babe." He stepped his speed up slightly so they would be on time for biology to still talk to Token and Clyde a bit. When they entered the classroom, a few groups paused their conversations to stare at them, eyes locking the pair's joined hands. Tweek tightened his hold, continuing forward despite his nerves to their table, Clyde and Token welcoming them happily.

Craig only squared his shoulders and gave some that wouldn't stop staring the stink eye, even after they had said hi to the other two. He sat down and pulled out his school work. "Anything interesting happen?" he asked as he set up his pens.

"Well, Bebe almost beat up a kid for telling her her shoes didn't match with her personality," Token told them, unimpressed.

Craig snorted. "What kind of insult is that?"

"Dude, you don't understand," Clyde said seriously. "Shoes are everything to girls. Don't you remember all that shit that went down in fourth grade?"

"Yeah, I remember but what does that mean? Are they insulting her personality or her shoes? Or her choices in shoes? Token, explain before Morgan Freeman comes and does it."

Token rolled his eyes. "Probably everything together. Bebe was furious."

"An insult to a girl's accessory is like taking a swing at a dude's dick, Craig," Clyde insisted.

Craig raised his eyebrows. "I don't get girls."

"That's why you're gay," Token commented dryly, adding, "What?" when Craig glared at him.

"Even if I weren't it wouldn't make sense."

"I don't know," Tweek added. "I don't get girls either."

Token grinned. "That kind of proves my point."

Craig leaned forward. "You can't tell me you understand that."

Token looked at him smugly. "I would also be pissed if someone told me my shoes sucked."

Craig's face lost all expression for a moment and then he shook his head, disbelief in his posture. "Traitor."

The lesson was interesting enough to actively listen to while scribbling with Tweek again. While Craig was getting concerned since Tweek was behaving differently than he usually would when he was overwhelmed, Tweek was fairly certain he knew what was wrong now, but was adamantly denying it to himself.

The next few periods passed quicker after that, Craig annoyed at having to actively pay attention and in math, the class going down to the computer lab and making communicating with Tweek through the window impossible. Lunch came around faster than anticipated and suddenly they were sitting at the table staring at the inedible mess the substitute cook had made, the usual one out ill for the time being.

"Well, this is gross," Token said.

Clyde looked ready to cry. He hated the substitute for multiple reasons, the biggest being that the man disliked all the children at the school but especially him for whatever reason.

Craig reached into his bag and slid Clyde a sandwich he had made that morning. Clyde sobbed with happiness, grabbing his bestie up in a tight hug before devouring the gift.

Token was already considering leaving the school grounds to get food, suggesting it to the others. It wasn't technically allowed but a lot of kids did it and the group had gone through worse things than an angry teacher.

Craig shook his head though. "I'm fine with sandwiches."

Tweek looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure this will be enough?" he asked, looking suspiciously at the pathetic sandwich sitting squashed on the table.

"I have two more. I'll be fine. You guys can go, though. I need to write an essay for chemistry tomorrow and I need to get done with it. I'm only half done." Craig took a bite of his food as Token looked at the other three.

"Tweek, Clyde, Jimmy, are you gonna come along?"

Clyde glanced at the couple, then smiled and nodded, grabbing his bag quickly. "Yep, let's go, guys," he said, ushering the others out of the cafeteria, leaving Tweek and Craig alone. They all gave him odd looks as but before any could argue, Clyde had already pushed them through the door.

"Hmm," Craig commented lightly, then turned to Tweek. "What exactly does he think we're going to do that he's out of here this fast?" But then again, it was Clyde and Token had offered him food, so maybe it was just that.

"Craig, I don't know if this will shock you or not," Tweek said with a slight smile, "but Clyde doesn't exactly have the most realistic expectations of things. For all we know, he thinks we're either going to start making out now that they're gone, or we'll consider this a lunch date since it's just us."

Craig snorted. "You're right. Lunch date sounds nice. But not in the cafeteria. Wanna go back to that classroom again?"

Tweek nodded. Being in the crowded room wasn't the most comfortable, and now that he was positive he was getting sick, he didn't want to hang around to deal with everyone.

"Great." Craig took his hand and they left. The classroom was unlocked yet again, allowing them to slip inside and for Craig to pull Tweek to the tables they had sat on yesterday, climbing onto it and settled beside one another.

Tweek leaned against the window, glad for it's cool surface on his already warm skin. He was thankful not for the first time he ran hotter than other people, as it made it harder for him to get caught when ill.

"I actually do have to do the thing for chemistry. I hope that's alright," Craig said as he opened his bag to pull out his notes.

"That's fine. I'm not feeling up for conversation right now," he said, closing his eyes.

Craig nodded and absentmindedly ran his fingers over Tweek's back as he read through what he had written out already. Tweek decided he could get used to this; the quiet of the room combined with the gentle motion on his back was quite pleasant.

Craig was done faster than he thought he would be. He had worked all his points out already so he only had to write down the last few and write the end of the essay. When he finished, they had a little less than twenty minutes left.

He packed his things back into the bag and put it on the floor, stretching out on the table. He lifted his hand again and started petting Tweek's hair like he had the evening before, still in silence as to not disturb the other. Tweek allowed it for a few minutes, then groaned and scooted away.

"You're gonna make me fall asleep," he pouted.

Craig smiled. It was unfair how cute Tweek could be. "Would a nap be so bad? You're pretty out of it today."

"If I fall asleep, I might not wake up. If I don't wake up, I'll miss class. Then I'll miss information. Then the bus, then my shift at work, then I'll die here in this room because I liked you petting my hair," he said, half getting worked up for real, half just as a way to shake whatever tiredness he could off of himself.

Craig snorted. "Haven't heard you do that in some time now. I'll wake you when break is over if you fall asleep. But it's okay if you really want me to stop."

He got to his feet, deciding to pace a bit. "I can't sleep now, Craig," he said firmly. "I'll just be sure I lay down tonight, no Lego sets."

"Okay." Craig watched him walk around, following him with his eyes. "Is there anything you need right now?"

He shook his head. "I'll be fine, don't worry," he assured. In his mind, he was making a list of medicines to look at once home.

"Okay." Craig slowly swung his legs back and forth, observing Tweek pace. He decided on what to do a bit after, stopping the legs. "Tweek."

"Hm?" he asked, watching his feet as he walked.

"Come 'ere." Craig patted the place on the table between his legs to signal Tweek to stand there. Tweek paused, looking up at him in confusion. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him, and he did as instructed.

Craig tried not to look unsure about it, as he carefully cupped Tweek's cheeks with his hands. It was a weirdly intimate gesture and Craig felt as if his brain was short circuiting for a moment. He did not think this through. The freckles on Tweek's face were close enough to count and Tweek's eyes had such an intense color that Craig felt himself start losing his cool. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes to regain some composure. When he opened them again, he actually managed to say what he had wanted to.

"Calm down. Whatever's on your mind right now is going to be alright. If it's not, you can come to me and we'll try solving it together, alright?" As Craig was able to watch, and feel, as Tweek's face turned bright red, his eyes widening at the closeness of the other's face, he suddenly wasn't so sure anymore if this had been the right approach. After all, maybe movies weren't the best thing to take as examples.

Tweek stuttered, unable to think of something to say back as his brain turned to mush, so Craig let go, starting to feel his face grow warmer and warmer too. One of his hands shot up to his neck in an attempt to rub the awkwardness out of it. "Sorry! That was a little… much."

He took a step back, shaking his head quickly. "N-No, no no, it's f-fine, it's totally fine. I just, nnk, I wasn't, uh, expecting it," he spluttered.

Craig smiled awkwardly. "I'm really not good at this." He pinched his nose between two fingers, closing his eyes shortly to calm his own racing heart down.

"Me neither." Tweek stepped back, but did indeed feel calmer. "Thank you, Craig."

"You're welcome..." Craig looked up over his fingers, staring longer than was polite. "Your freckles are so cute..."

Tweek touched his face lightly. He had never thought a random assortment of dots on his face would be described as such, but it warmed him to his core to hear, and he smiled.

When the bell rang, they parted ways, both feelings happier and better than they had in a long time.

When Craig came home after school, he sat down and printed out some of the photos he had taken the past two days. The collage was coming together nicely but he was still missing a lot, and he still needed to glue them all together.

There were many pictures of his friends, Stripe, the other two guinea pigs, some of the type of car he wanted, a nice house from a trip to another city, some of a pet shop, and a picture of one of Tweek's drawings of space and a rocket. A selfie with him flipping off the camera was laid in the middle.

There were some things he wasn't sure about yet. He didn't know if he wanted to have kids, so he didn't put any of the pictures he had taken of children at a playground, without showing their faces of course, and he had never thought about marriage before. The relationship with Tweek was still too fresh to make him sure of anything and prior to that it had never come up. His family wasn't the type to pressure him into thinking about things.

The picture of Tweek sweeping the floor in the coffee shop, half turned away and illuminated by the light of the setting sun flaring through the window laid on the desk alone. He really loved the shot and he couldn't decide where to put it since he wanted to emphasize it.

Maybe as the start of the part with his future home life.

He worked some more on the collage, then went to look for his sister. His parents were still at work but Tricia should have come home around the same time as him. The rest of the afternoon he spent with her, watching the Scary Movie series and making fun of each other.

"Sooo..." Tricia started while they were at the last movie. Craig felt like he knew what was coming. "You and Tweek, huh."

Of course.

"What about us."

Tricia shoved him roughly. "Don't play dumb, asshole. You know what I mean. Spill them beans."

Craig sighed. "He told me he liked me and eventually I said I liked him back and asked him to be my boyfriend."

She grinned. "Gay."

Craig shoved her back, making her giggle. "Shut your mouth. You're too young for this anyways." She gasped, offended.

"I'm nine! That's old enough to know about my idiot brother's relationships!"

"It's not. And you will never be old enough." She flipped him off, sticking her tongue out at him. He mimicked the gesture just as enthusiastically. They kept it up for a minute until the movie made Tricia turn away, declaring Craig the winner.

"Ha."

"Just wait. I'll get you next time."

Craig sighed and then ruffled her hair. "Just don't tell Dad yet, okay? I need to do that myself."

"Fine, whatever," she agreed. "Now shut up so we can watch this dumb movie."

Tweek was glad for once to be shut away in the backroom. Rather than grinding beans, tasting blends, or doing any of the other things he was suppose to, he curled up in a ball on top of a stack of broken down cardboard boxes.

It had been a while since Tweek had last been sick, and he had forgotten how miserable it felt. His body was heavy, he was chilled, and his stomach was forming knots.

'Of course this would happen now,' he thought bitterly. 'I let myself get excited, and now I'm sick.' The more he thought, the more upset he became. Then, another thought occurred to him.

He didn't have to tell anyone. He could fake it.

Once home that night, Tweek took some medicine and went right to bed as he had promised Craig earlier. He couldn't sleep, but had long since learned that sometimes just laying down for a while helped.

He wasn't going to let this beat him. Not now that he was so close to actually have fun for once. Tweek was going to hang out with his friends, and it was going to be a magical goddamn experience. He was determined to make it so.