Chapter 21:
I Swear on It

At this point already it seems that Craig had completely missed the fight, the crowd now starting to disperse. Some people linger around the circle that had formulated, and from here Craig can see Stan sitting grumpily on the snow, being comforted by his boyfriend and girlfriend or whatever their relation to him is. He has some cuts on his clothes and face with some bruises. It doesn't seem too extreme but it just solidifies to Craig that Tweek can keep control of himself, instead of ripping the first person to do him wrong into shreds. A few meters away from them Stan's hat is thrown haphazardly. Any minute now, a teacher will come outside to punish him and Tweek both.

As he nears the area, Craig can spot the other body sitting on the ground with their legs laid out in front of them, breathing deeply. "Ayo Craig!" Stan suddenly barks angrily, catching the attention of many nearby, "Get ahold of your fucking boyfriend! Why the fuck is he attacking random people out of nowhere?!"

"Ack!" Tweek twitches, fisting at the snow beneath him and baring his teeth, "The least you could do is be fucking grateful, you smelly uncaring son of a bitch!" He himself is covered in a few bruises, but all in all seems to be in better condition than his enemy. Craig smirks.

"Grateful for what? That you delivered my hat to me?! The one that belonged to me in the first place?!"

Craig hums to himself. So Tweek really came to school to return Stan's hat to him? He knows Craig could have done it for him the next day, right? Why did Tweek care enough to do it anyways? Clearly it's not because he cares about Stan. "Arghh!" Tweek growls, flailing to get himself to his feet again it seems before Kenny grabs ahold of him to keep him down. "Hey! Let go!"

"Tweek," Craig finally says and Tweek freezes seconds before he is about to lash out dangerously at Kenny as well. He has a look of a deer in headlights as he stares wide at Craig with those green eyes. "Let's just go."

"Does he even go to this school?" Stan grits when Kyle helps him stand up, the ginger sending Craig a raised eyebrow.

Craig just replies with a middle finger and walks up to Tweek, who is frowning very guiltily at the ground. He refuses to say anything, barely vibrating or moving at all when Craig stops right before him. He looks up to where Kenny, Clyde and his other friends are looking at him with concern and confusion but he just waves them off. They shrug and leave but not before Clyde shoots him a nervous thumbs up and Kenny points at himself and then Craig with two fingers in a 'I'm watching you' gesture.

Tweek still refuses to stand up or look at him, and Craig has no other choice but to crouch in front of him. "Tweek?"

"I'm sorry, Craig. He was just being so pissy and it pissed me off!"

Craig's not sure what to reply. He lets himself drop to a sitting position. Here he was just thinking that Tweek is capable enough to control himself, but now he's claiming the opposite. "What happened?"

"You forgot Stan's hat…" he finally looks up to meet Craig's gaze, and the raven head's breath is taken out of his lungs at how mesmerizing he looks, even still, even littered with all these injuries. "So I came to the school to return it but everyone was attacking me and accusing me left and right and when I finally found him he just gave me this look!" He then proceeds to make— as he claimed— a look. Craig can't help but snort, and apparently that is enough to bring a smile to Tweek's face. Craig's breath hitches all over again. God damn he has a crush on this boy. "So I got angry and beat him up." he finishes, face dimming down.

"Don't blame yourself." Craig says and places a hand on Tweek's shoulder. He's glad everyone left at this point, because he can feel his face heating up as they speak. Actually, they should probably leave before Mr. Mackey finds them like this or something. "The first day of school is always stressful as shit, especially in tenth grade, when you've never been before. So you handled it really well."

Tweek doesn't look all that motivated when Craig stands up after that and brings down a hand to help him up. Craig's heart does a somersault when the blond hesitantly takes it and gets up. Craig mulls over that he shouldn't treat Tweek like a preschooler, but he's not sure what else to say as they make their way to the wall surrounding the shool. He guesses he's ditching school again.

"You know… Last week I overheard Cartman talk about my mom's bush so I kicked him in the stomach."

Tweek turns to him shocked, "Really?"

"Yeah, and uhm, just today my friends were taking jabs at me and I was so embarrassed! This school sucks ass."

"Why are you telling me this?" Tweek asks just as they reach the dumpster where kids climb over the wall to sneak out.

"So you won't feel bad about what you did, I guess?" It takes them a minute before Tweek feels safe enough to hop off the wall. Somehow he lands on two feet while Craig nearly tripped and has to use his hands to balance himself.

"He deserved it." Tweek tells him earnestly, wiping his hands on his coat. "Agh, I suppose I just don't want you to get into trouble because of me… Like in that gas station."

"Well…" Craig bites the inside of his cheek as he drags his legs in the direction of Stark's Pond. Kenny told him to make sure that Tweek knows that Craig thinks of him as his own person. "Do you want me to be responsible for you? You sneaking into school had nothing to do with me…"

"Yes it does, Craig!" he snaps, stopping Craig in his tracks. "Because we made Ms. Cartman a promise that you would return Stan's hat to him and clearly you didn't care enough to actually try! Does this mean nothing to you?!" He grabs at his hair and Craig can't help but furrow his brows and click his tongue.

"Why do you care? It's not like he can't live without his hat."

"Because you promised, Craig!"

"So? Nothing happens if you don't go through with it. It's just a word, Tweek."

"It's not! Because… Because…" he grumbles while clutching at his head tightly. For a moment, he doesn't say anything, just squeezes his eyes shut tightly while emitting a low and broken growling sound while Craig watches and waits until Tweek huffs and opens them back up again. His green eyes are sharp as they look at Craig. "Ughh! Because, if you can't even bother to keep a simple promise like that, then how am I supposed to be sure you'll put effort in keeping the promise you made to me?!"

Craig raises his eyebrows, not replying immediately. Tweek just continues to make inhumane sounds and shut the world off with closed eyes and hands on his ears.

The promise Craig made to Tweek…? Shit, what was it? He concentrates with a hand to his temple as he glowers down at the woods nearby the school. He was half asleep at that point, and it was just after he discovered he's very gay for the Pond Boy he met… If he remembers correctly…

"You're special too, Tweek. And not just 'cause you breathe water and eat worms. You're funny and cool and nice. I wanna be your friend every day,"

"…Promise?"

"Yes."

…Was that really it? To be his friend every day?

"Because keeping your promise is way more fun, and something I actually want to do."

"And how am I supposed to know that?" he rasps as he drops his hands from his hair, frowning at Craig. "If the word 'promise' means nothing to you, then tell me how."

Craig shifts his gaze, a strange weight of guilt and shame welling up in his chest. "Because… I really do mean it! You have to trust me!" He looks down, probably looking like how Tweek had when Craig found him after his fight with Stan. Something touches his arm and he looks up to discover that Tweek is now closer, patting his arm sympathetically. Just like Craig had done for him time and time again. It just makes him feel worse.

"Craig. I barely know you."

"But… I really like you. I mean it."

"I really like you too, Craig, that's why I want to be able to trust you. I hope you understand." He twitches. God he is so pretty.

"T-Then how about this," Craig asks, taking Tweek's hand gently off his arm and holds it instead. "I barely swear on anything, so when I swear that you can trust me, I really, really do mean it."

Tweek's mouth does a little 'o' shape when he gapes at him. "Swear? Like on your god?"

"Uh, I'm not really a religious person."

"Oh. So it's just another meaningless word?"

"N-No—! Here, I have an idea— Give me something to swear on and I'll do it, and then you'll know that when I swear, I really mean it." It's a bold move— and probably a stupid one at that. Craig hadn't done many bold moves since he went out to fish that pond creature out of Stark's Pond… which wasn't that long ago. Maybe the South Park toxins had finally started to take effect on his brain this past week. Or maybe he's just super gay. "Anything."

Craig nearly giggles girlishly when Tweek squeezes his hand back. But of course, the blond doesn't seem to be affected with the same conditions Craig is whenever he is around him. He just presses a finger from his other hand against his chin as he looks at the sky in thought. "Anything I say, you'll do… Hmm, what do I want Craig to do…?" Craig thinks he's getting sick. Why did he do this. Oh, so Tweek can trust him. Right. At least he doesn't think he regrets it, yet…

Tweek lights up and looks back to him, "Arr, I know! I want you to swear that, for the next fifty days, you'll make me a cup of coffee each and every day! I want it very hot and only a little sweet, whenever we hang out— and on the days we don't, bring it to the pond and I'll return the cup when no one is home and place it outside your house."

Craig blinks. "That's it?"

"I know that you probably care about me more than Stan's hat, but I still need you to show loyalty, because I went through the fifth layer of hell and the girls' bathroom to keep our promise to Ms. Cartman, to show my loyalty to you."

Craig nods, face flushing. He'll have to ask him what he means about hell and bathrooms later. "Okay. I swear on it."

"Yay!"

And like that, they resume their way towards the pond, swinging their linked hands between them. "So are we friends still?"

"Yes, Craig. I was your friend even before you made your promise."

"Okay… I'm sorry Tweek."

"I'm sorry too, Craig." he tells him honestly. "I just want you to know that you're special to me."

Craig blushes further. His heartbeat picks up again like it does often with Tweek and it has his mind reeling. Isn't this how boyfriends talk and walk with each other? Should he confess? Kyle told him he should. Should he do it after the fifty days? But that's a long time… And they made up already. Kyle said he should be honest with Tweek… The whole point of the Coffee Swear is to show Tweek that he can be trusted, which means to show him that he is honest. Then he should be honest with him, right?

His heart is going crazy, and Tweek must be some sort of fool to not notice how much Craig is sweating from where they're grabbing each other's hand. But as always, Tweek either is ignoring it or just doesn't care. Does this mean he doesn't mind? What if he's uncomfortable? Craig tries peeking at the other and just finds the blond smiling softly down at the street, swinging their arms idly. It doesn't really answer any of Craig's questions— instead just makes his heartbeat rate skyrocket.

Is this really not some strange creature side effect that's poisoning his mind? Everyone else seems to act normal next to Tweek, though. Hell, Stan even fought him. Craig will need to remember to hide that jerk's notebooks the next day.

Craig had already made up his mind, though, earlier. And the sooner the better…