A/N:

You know how when you have a big WIP going on but then ideas for other things come to you and won't leave you alone?

Day One: Friday

It was only 9 AM, and Tweek already wanted to light himself on fire. Metaphorically, of course, because Jesus Christ.

He'd had such plans for this day. Great plans. Fantastic plans, even. He'd had a FedEx delivery scheduled for the morning with the things he needed to make the elaborate birthday present he'd been planning for literally months. He had the entire apartment to himself because Craig had volunteered to work a bunch of extra shifts at the warehouse to cover vacation for half the crew. Plus, he had a whole bunch of new cupcake frosting designs that he wanted to try out if he had enough time left over after Operation: Greatest Birthday Gift Ever.

But, of course, Tweek's plans were not meant to be. He had been, as usual, up far too late the night before, stuck in a caffeine-induced Wikipedia black hole. When Craig's cell phone alarm had gone off at 7 AM Tweek had mistaken it for his phone and sleep-launched the thing across their room and right into the corner of the dresser. (The accuracy would be impressive if it hadn't completely cracked the phone's screen, screen protector and all.) If that wasn't enough, after Craig had rolled out of bed and stumbled tiredly to the shower, and Tweek had grabbed his laptop to check the status of his delivery, he was greeted with a message about how it had been "tentatively rescheduled" for almost an entire week later due to "inclement weather".

What did that mean? Tweek frantically tried to make sense of it, but came up with nothing. Tentatively rescheduled. How was anyone supposed to make plans around a tentative rescheduling? He was going to have to come up with some other present idea and just thinking about that gave him a headache. It had taken him so long to come up with the idea he currently had and now he had to think of something else? Tweek prided himself on giving good presents, and usually he succeeded, but Craig was an exceptionally difficult person to gift as it was, and this was an exceptionally important birthday.

Craig had been Tweek's best friend for over a decade, but it had taken until they'd been hanging out for a few years for Tweek to realize it was mutual. He would have bet money on Clyde being Craig's best friend, but no; one Monday morning Craig had walked into middle school math class and dropped a red poker chip onto Tweek's desk with a clatter.

"I have the other one," was all he'd said, holding up a nearly-identical poker chip, this one blue. Both chips were stamped with the letters 'BFF'.

And then, last year happened. How it had happened was all still kind of a blur for Tweek; he still couldn't quite believe that he was sharing an apartment with Craig Tucker, let alone dating him. He isn't even sure who had initiated things first; he just remembers that he and Craig were hanging out by themselves one night, sitting too close together on Craig's couch like always, watching some old sitcom rerun. Tweek had twitched so hard at one point he'd thrown the bowl of popcorn out of his lap and all over the floor. He remembers freaking out about the mess, and Craig grabbing his hands before he could rip out all of his hair in a panic. He remembers looking into Craig's eyes and seeing something indecipherable beyond the gray color, something that made his heart beat faster and his breath hitch. He remembers how impossibly soft Craig's lips had felt against his own, as they tentatively, awkwardly came together in what Tweek remembers as the best moment of his entire life.

This was the first time they were going to be celebrating Craig's birthday together as an official couple, and for Tweek, that meant there was just that much extra pressure on him to get Craig something amazing. The fact that he'd even managed to come up with one gift idea he felt good about was a huge deal; thinking of another one now that FedEx had apparently failed him seemed nothing short of impossible. But he was going to have to try.

First, though, he needed to go get a new phone. There was no way he was going to get anything done without one. Making an angry Tweek noise at the ceiling, he sat up and glared at the wall across the room.

It's fine, he thought, trying to mentally calm himself down. You've got a week 'til his birthday. You'll think of something.

Day Two: Saturday

"No," Tweek muttered. "No. No, no, no." With a frustrated sigh, he slammed his laptop shut and leaned back in his chair, picking up his mug of steaming hot coffee with both hands. The shop was completely dead, and he'd been clicking around on Amazon for what felt like days (two hours and twelve minutes) but still hadn't managed to come up with anything good enough. Though if he ever needed weird and creepy novelty pillowcases, apparently Amazon was the place to go.

(And okay, he'd thought about it, but if he seriously got Craig one of those, he just might kill him.)

"Rrrghhh!" Tweek looked around Tweek Bros. for any kind of inspiration, then let out a sigh. Of course he wouldn't find any inspiration here; the whole aesthetic of the place screamed Tweek.

On the plus side, if anyone was looking for gift ideas for Tweek, all they'd have to do was pop into the shop, look around for two minutes, and they'd be all set. But that didn't help him now. There was nothing in the coffee shop that Craig would want.

Hmm… Tweek looked down at himself, seriously considering just sticking a bow on his forehead and calling it a day at this point, but then he shook his head. No, he could find something, he just had to look harder. Unfortunately, it looked like he was going to have to actually go out shopping; clearly going the online route wasn't working for him.

Sighing again, Tweek stood up and checked the clock on the wall. His dad would be coming in anytime now to take the closing shift. Tweek would have just enough time to run back to his house, put his laptop away, grab his stuff and hopefully have a successful mall adventure that got him home early. Saturday mall crowds were the worst.

Day Three: Sunday

Actually, no. Tweek hugged himself protectively and cast a nervous glance behind him at the horribly inconsiderate lady who'd just shoved her way past. Sunday mall crowds are definitely worse. He continued on his way through the mall as quickly as he could given the sheer number of people who kept stopping in the middle of the mall for absolutely no reason.

"Jesus!" he yelped, stumbling to the right and crashing right into the pillar next to him as a group of preteens plowed through the crowd. Yesterday's mall trip had stressed him out like crazy; he had really not been looking forward to having to go out again today and the humans were just not making it any easier. The only thing that made it worth it was knowing that he was doing it all for Craig.

Tweek hadn't imagined that there would be more people in the mall at one o'clock on a Sunday than on a Saturday, but here he was, surrounded by what seemed like the entire town's population. At least yesterday he felt like he had room to breathe in between people; today he could barely turn his head without bumping into someone.

Of course, yesterday he'd only managed to make it through half of the stores so Saturday had its own problems. Okay, so maybe he'd gotten a little bit distracted inside Williams-Sonoma, and maybe he shouldn't even have gone in there in the first place because kitchen things really weren't the type of thing Craig would want, and maybe he'd spent far much time in there trying to justify the purchase of a new coffeemaker, but that was so not the point.

The point is: I only have four more days! he thought, nearly losing his balance and tipping right over into the fountain as the guy in front of him stopped suddenly to take a picture of one of the Chinese New Year decorations hanging from the mall's ceiling. "Agh!" he squeaked.

Having had entirely enough of this, Tweek ducked into the nearest store just to get away from the crowd. He'd go back out there in a little bit, when (or, more likely, if) everyone else decided to go home. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his shaking, and looked around to see what store he'd ended up in.

For some people, when they get a good idea, they can process it calmly. Tweek is not one of those people.

"Jesus Christ!" Without meaning to, Tweek hopped up and down in excitement, all his anxiety dissipating as a huge smile took over his face. This was going to be even better than his first idea!

Day Four: Monday

Tweek paced around the coffee shop, checking the cat clock on the wall every five seconds. It was almost two, where was he? All he wanted to do was get back to the apartment and keep working on Craig's gift, but he couldn't do that until his dad showed up to take over the shop.

"Come on, come on," he muttered to the empty lobby, anxiously tugging on his apron.

"Hello, son," came Mr. Tweak's voice from behind him.

Tweek yelped, and looked from the front door of the shop to his dad, realizing that Mr. Tweak had for some reason come in through the rarely-used back door of Tweek Bros. "Jesus! Hi, Dad!"

"Did you get all today's cleaning done?" Mr. Tweak asked, moving to inspect the espresso machine.

Tweek was already untying his apron. "Yes, and the latest delivery is in the back!" He yanked at his apron strings and let out a squeak as the knot just tightened; yanking the entire thing over his head he headed for the front door of the shop. "You should have everything you need, thank you!"

Mr. Tweak watched as Tweek twitched his way out the door, mildly curious as to what had his son so wound up, but not curious enough to do anything about it. This was Tweek, after all; his ADHD had always been something of a mystery. Though, Mr. Tweak supposed, it was probably safe to assume that Tweek's behaviour had something to do with the homosexual Tucker boy.

"They're so gay," he murmurs to himself absently as he begins to brew a fresh pot of Tweekers Roast.

Day Five: Tuesday

Tweek gulped down what felt like his four hundredth cup of coffee that afternoon, not even noticing as the liquid burned on its way down his throat. Not sleeping last night may not have been the best idea. But this whole gift thing was turning out to be more time consuming than he'd expected. It was absolutely going to be worth it, though. He couldn't wait for Craig to open it.

Of course, before he could open it Tweek had to finish it. He had the whole day tomorrow and the morning on Thursday to get it done, and while he was cautiously optimistic, optimism was no guarantee.

Doing his best to focus on the coffee beans he was grinding, Tweek wrinkled his nose. There had been a time when drinking as much caffeine as he did had kept him up for multiple nights in a row with no problem. He'd hated it back then, but right now he would give anything to not need to sleep. These days, the amount of coffee that would keep a normal person up for days barely affected him at all. If Tweek didn't need to sleep, that was at least a whole six more hours he would gain a night.

Having to work at the shop every day was definitely not helping with his panic about getting Craig's gift finished, but he couldn't just stop working there. His parents didn't have any other employees and if Tweek wasn't around to help out, his parents would work every single day without stopping and probably work themselves to death, Jesus Christ, and then Tweek would be an orphan and get sold to an orphanage and end up in some kind of forced child labor camp, oh God.

If Craig had been around, he would have reminded Tweek that he was twenty-one, a fully-functioning adult, and that twenty-one year olds did not get put into orphanages if their parents died. He would also have pointed out that Tweek's thoughts at the moment were proof enough that, yes, Tweek did in fact need to sleep. In fact, he probably would have physically carried Tweek out of the coffee shop and back to their apartment and made him sleep.

Tweek closed his eyes, the whir of the coffee grinder becoming soothing background noise as he imagined cuddling up beside Craig in their bed. He swayed back and forth a little bit involuntarily, almost falling asleep standing up, when the sound of hundreds of coffee beans hitting the floor jolted him fully awake again with an, "Agh!"

Looking dejectedly at the bean-covered tile floor, Tweek reached up to grasp fistfuls of his hair, trying not to pull them out. Now he was going to lose even more time he didn't have just to clean up.

Day Six: Wednesday

It was done.

Finally, finally done. Tweek would have cheered and given himself a round of applause if he'd had the energy. As it was, he was so tired he was having enough trouble holding his head up properly; he definitely couldn't handle any extra activity. Yawning, he crossed his arms on the kitchen table in front of him and leaned his head on them.

The important thing was: he'd finished Craig's present. It had taken him staying up for a couple days in a row, but it was done, it was wrapped, and Craig was going to love it.

Hopefully, Tweek thought with a sudden nervous glance at the gift-wrapped box on the table. Exhaustion had a tendency to make him anxious. He really hoped Craig liked the present as much as Tweek had thought he would three days ago.

Now all that was left was the cake, but for an expert baker like Tweek, that was nothing. He yawned again. All he needed to do was have a little nap, and then...

Day Seven: Thursday

"Gah!" Tweek declared, stepping back from his latest masterpiece to marvel at its fabulousness. He glanced at the clock, wiping his hands on his apron. Just about noon.

He'd accidentally fallen asleep last night instead of making Craig's birthday cake like he'd intended, and had to scramble around like a crazy person this morning. But he'd managed to get it done on time, and with a whole hour to spare before Craig was supposed to be home from his morning shift, which was just enough time to get ready.

By the time Craig arrived back at the apartment, Tweek had cleaned up the kitchen, cleaned up himself, and set up the cake and the present carefully on the kitchen table.

"Happy Birthday!" was the first thing Craig heard as soon as he walked through the door.

His reaction was exactly what Tweek had hoped it would be. Craig stopped, took in the scene in front of him, and gave Tweek a big, genuine smile.

"Babe, you shouldn't have," he said, kicking off his shoes before wrapping Tweek in a hug and planting a kiss on the tip of Tweek's nose.

Tweek made a noise that almost sounded like purring, and then blushed. He returned the hug and then pulled back, grabbing Craig's hand and pulling him to the table. "Come on, look!" Now that Craig was home, Tweek couldn't wait for him to open his gift. Both anxious and excited butterflies fluttered in his stomach.

Craig took his time surveying the cake and the black gift-wrapped box beside it. "You made this?" he asked, gesturing to the cake and giving Tweek a look of pure adoration.

"It's a cupcake cake!" Tweek exclaimed, answering a completely different question than the one Craig had actually asked. "It's a bunch of cupcakes under all the frosting!" Clearly he was excessively proud.

Craig took a closer look at the cake, and his smile widened. Tweek had somehow managed to craft an exact copy of Stripe in cupcake form.

He turned his attention to the box, picking it up and holding it to his ear. "What is it?"

"Just open it!" Tweek was rocking back and forth while tapping his fingers on the table and Craig knew if he didn't open the gift soon, he might have a panic attack situation on his hands. He looked at the box again, debating the best way to open it, before just ripping off the wrapping paper, crumpling it up and throwing it in the direction of the kitchen trash can without looking. He opened the lid of the box, and...nothing.

He was silent for a minute or so, just staring down into the box, his expression unreadable, and Tweek's heart nearly stopped. The silence stretched on until Tweek couldn't take it anymore. His voice trembling, he almost whispered, "Do you like it?" As confident in the idea as he'd been when he'd thought of it, the complete lack of a reaction right now was terrifying. He was starting to doubt that it had been a good idea at all, he was sure that Craig was going to hate it, the colors weren't going to look good together, and the whole thing was just really, really stupid.

It was another minute before Craig responded, but when he did, all of Tweek's anxiety disappeared. He reached into the box and pulled out the chullo hat that Tweek had spent the last four or so days knitting himself. It had alternating sections of green and blue, the exact shades of Tweek and Craig's favorite shirts; the strings were the same kind of yellow as Tweek's hair; and because no chullo was really complete without a puffball on top, Tweek had attached a black pompom to the top of the hat.

Craig turned the hat over in his hands a few times before looking up, into Tweek's eyes. "Honey–" He paused for a second, more emotion in his voice than Tweek had ever heard before. "Did you do this yourself?"

Tweek nodded, pulling at the hem of his shirt. "Yeah. I know you already have one, but–" He interrupted himself with a squeak as Craig, who had taken off his old, plain blue chullo while he was talking, carefully slid it down onto Tweek's head.

"There," he said, smiling as he adjusted the new chullo over his own black hair. "Now we both have one."

Tweek smiled back, relief flooding him at the fact that Craig liked the gift. "It looks good on you," he said.

"Likewise," Craig said, pulling Tweek into another hug. He leaned his chin on Tweek's shoulder and said softly into his ear, "Thank you, babe."

"You're welcome," Tweek responded with a happy little humming sound. "And Craig?"

"Hm?"

"Happy Birthday again."