Chapter 4: Brewing Storm

Tweek yawned softly as he awakened, still tightly wrapping his arms around Craig's neck and pressing against him closely. He reluctantly let go of his boyfriend and stretched his arms above his head, turning to check the digital alarm clock on Craig's desk; it read 5:00 AM. He shrugged a bit and sleepily stood up, then grabbed his thermos of coffee from the floor next to the wall and started to walk out of the room, all the while being especially quiet so as not to wake Craig up.

As he walked, he took a swig from the thermos; however, the coffee had grown cold, and Tweek grimaced and coughed as his tongue hung out of his mouth in disgust. He walked down a flight of stairs to the kitchen, quickly turning the tap on and craning his head to drink from it, in an attempt to wash the taste out of his mouth. The teenager then poured the thermos into the sink, washing it out and beginning to make a fresh pot of coffee. The familiar bubbling sounds of brewing coffee emitted from the machine; they always comforted Tweek a bit, though obviously not as much as his dear lover.

Tweek sighed, placing an elbow on the counter and holding his arm vertically, then resting his cheek on his hand. No matter what, it seemed that his thoughts always drifted to Craig, but he knew—or thought he knew—that Craig could never truly love someone like him. He thought back to yesterday, when he had mentioned the poem in Hamlet. Craig had hugged him and told him he was sweet, but he hadn't said those few words that would have alleviated Tweek's doubts.

Craig had not said "I feel that way about you too."

That was part of the reason he had cried after they finished; the ending usually did make him sad, but the tears came from his fear that Craig did not love Tweek the way that Tweek loved him. Craig not sitting with him at lunch had caused dark clouds to form in his mind. Now, as the coffee brewed, a storm also began to brew within Tweek, growing stronger, and the dark shroud of doubt and despair hung over him.

A sudden beep from the coffee machine snapped Tweek back to reality, and he removed the full pot from it, grabbing a white mug from a cabinet. With shaky hands, he poured the hot coffee into the mug. Some of it splashed onto his hand, and he winced, crying out in pain and dropping the cup onto the floor. With a loud crash, it shattered, and the mortified boy covered his mouth with two hands. He fell to the floor on his knees, the sobs escaping his mouth muffled by his hands, and desperately grabbed at a roll of paper towels on the counter. He began to rip paper towels off of it, frantically trying to clean up the spilled coffee as his tears dripped onto the floor; luckily, he soon managed to clean it all up. Throwing away the soaked and brown-stained paper towels, he grabbed a broom and dustpan and quickly swept up the broken porcelain pieces, disposing of them as well.

The innocent teenager retrieved another identical white mug, setting it on the counter this time and carefully pouring the coffee into it. Taking a sip and a deep breath, he seemed to calm down a bit and quietly walked to the bathroom. Tweek took another sip of coffee before setting the mug onto the counter and grabbing a toothbrush from a plastic container nearby. Craig's family always kept a spare toothbrush and various other household items for him, and Tweek's family did the same for Craig. He briefly looked over several tubes of toothpaste before deciding to use the bright fruit-flavored kind. He knew it was meant for younger kids, but it tasted great, and he didn't see why adults had to miss out.

After brushing his teeth, the yellow-haired teen grabbed some mouthwash, measured it out, and poured it into his mouth. He swirled it around, staring at himself in the mirror. His hair was even messier than usual, and he looked a bit haggard, with bags under his eyes despite the coffee he had drunk. The nightmare had kept the poor boy from being able to sleep well; Tweek shuddered as he thought back to the awful dream, remembering it vividly.

He had been lying in an empty black void that seemed to go on forever. He was curled up in the fetal position and surrounded by dark figures, with no one else in sight. Suddenly, a bright light had invaded the edges of his vision; a figure standing in a sphere of light was walking towards him. As it got closer, Tweek was able to determine the identity of the figure. It was Craig! Surely Craig would save him! As the black-haired teenager walked closer, however, he looked down at Tweek, scoffed, and walked away, leaving Tweek alone in the empty, isolated darkness.

Tweek was almost crying just thinking about it. He suddenly realized that he had kept the mouthwash in his mouth for too long, and the strong mint was stinging his gums. He spit it out and gasped for breath (as he had been holding his mouth shut) before picking up the mug and returning to the kitchen. Tweek poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat; about halfway through his bowl, he heard a knock at the door.

Glancing up, Tweek walked to the door and opened it. It was Jimmy, dressed in his Fastpass costume and panting a bit.

"Greetings, brave hero! It is I, F-F-Fastpass!"

Tweek was a bit overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of his costumed friend, but tried to respond in kind anyway.

"Uh, Fastpass! What's the news, my...brother-in-arms?"

Jimmy gave a friendly smile.

"The city's under attack, Wonder Tweek! I have to say, I didn't expect to see you here, but it saves me a trip. Qu-quickly, get your costume on and tell Super Craig to do the same. Be prep...pr-pr-prepa...pr-...ready to fight!"

Tweek nodded, and Jimmy gave a salute and ran off at an incredibly high speed. The golden child's heart skipped a beat as he rushed to put on the simple costume that allowed him to wield his weather powers.

"This is my chance!" he excitedly thought to himself. "If I help Craig and do a good job fighting...maybe I can fix things!"

Tweek rushed to the bedroom, grabbing Craig's shoulder and shaking him. Craig's hat had fallen off as he slept, and the black hair that Tweek loved so much was tousled by the movement. However, his beloved continued to sleep, drooling a bit. After thinking for a moment, Tweek let out a loud scream, causing the sleeping boy to open his eyes and fumble around before falling off the bed.

"Ahhhh! Sorry, Craig!"

Tweek rushed over and helped Craig up; the latter rubbed his head and gave a sleepy smile to the former.

"It's fine, babe…your hair looks cute."

Tweek blushed softly and stared at Craig's emerald green eyes. Sometimes he felt that he could just stare into those glittering eyes forever.

"Why'd ya wake me up, anyway?" Craig asked, putting the large comforter that he had dragged down with him back onto the bed.

"Oh! U-um, you gotta get your costume on, quick! We're under attack!"

With a quick exclamation of "Shit!", Craig hurriedly ran through the house. Within a few minutes, he got his even simpler costume on, wolfed down a donut, and brushed his teeth (once again at Tweek's request). The two were soon out the door and running toward the town square, where they could see the faraway silhouettes of several of their flying fellow heroes firing blasts at some unseen entity below.