Came back around and my hometown's broken
Here on the ground, there's a love that's frozen
When the words left your mouth, you were set in motion...
"Craig?!" Tweek cried, bolting upright in a bed that felt incredibly familiar, for all the wrong reasons. "Craig?!"
"Oh my god, are you still here?" a blase female voice asked, startling Tweek into screams that didn't cease until his mother stepped fully into view, eliminating the unknown. Obviously he continued internally screaming, but it was good to know that it wasn't a monster, or the underpants gnomes.
Wait...why the fuck was he in his childhood bedroom? Alone! And what was his mother doing here…actually acknowledging his existence?
Where the fuck was Craig?!
"Uh, yes, I guess?" Tweek replied awkwardly, trying to push through the ever-growing series of questions in his brain, the fog clouding his memories. "Sorry? Why am I not supposed to be?"
"It's the first day of school?" she said, like it was a question Tweek should have known.
"School?" Tweek repeated, blinking and his mother rolled her eyes.
"Yes, school. That Tucker kid is out front waiting for you," Mrs. Tweak explained, gesturing with her head to the hallway, which led to the front door down the stairs. "Get moving."
Craig! Just hearing about him got Tweek into motion. Surely Craig would know what the fuck was going on. Tweek hurried now to put on pants...not exactly sure when or how he'd lost the ones he had on before, and changed his shirt for a fresh one, not questioning that his teenage wardrobe still fit him.
Or why some of the clothes he'd run away with were right here in his old room, hung up in plain sight in his closet.
In his rush, he didn't look in a mirror at all. He didn't even think about it, too preoccupied with getting his ass down the stairs and into Craig's arms. They may not be getting along right now, but he still loved him, and the familiarity of Craig would definitely be a comfort right now.
Dashing down the stairs, Tweek only stopped for a thermos of coffee, his internal screams ever-growing stronger and louder at how painful it was to be back here, taking coffee from his parents like he was still in…
Oh fuck no. Finally things were catching up to him, registering in his brain. Was his mother correct? Was he really back in high school? His father was sitting at the same place at the table he always sat at, his mother brewing coffee like she always did. It was all so painfully familiar.
Stop. Stop, right now, and get out that door to Craig, Tweek told himself, gripping the thermos in his hands and heading outside.
Craig was waiting at the sidewalk when Tweek headed down the porch steps, but quickly moved towards him, relief on his face.
"Oh thank god, you're okay, Tweek," Craig said, pulling him in for a hug. Tweek couldn't remember the last time Craig had hugged him like this. Tweek hugged him back, grateful to have a moment where they weren't arguing, or…falling through time and space?
"Why wouldn't I be?" Tweek asked, pulling away, only to instantly begin shrieking at the sight of Craig's face.
"What? What?" Craig cried, looking into Tweek's eyes, only to go, "oh my fucking god!" as he finally got what was likely the best look yet at Tweek's own face.
"Why do you look like that?! What the fuck is going on?!" Tweek cried, gripping onto Craig's arm, unable to look away from him. His thermos was shaking in his other hand.
This was not the twenty-three year old Craig Tweek had just driven into town with yesterday. Gone were all the features Craig had taken on as a young man in his twenties, removing any and all lingering signs of childhood youth, a transformation which Tweek had quite honestly found to be sexy as hell. No, this Craig was...seventeen, no doubt about it. Tweek would never have forgotten his last year of high school, much less what Craig looked like.
It was the last time they'd had anything resembling innocence.
"Where's your...face? And your car?!" Tweek cried, looking around Craig's shoulder at what was unmistakably his mother's car. "Why do you look like this?!"
"Oh my god, I forgot about my car! Do you think it's still out there?!" Craig cried.
"Out where? By the...South Park town sign?" Tweek asked.
"Of course, oh but god my mom will never agree to drive us out there! She doesn't seem to get that I'm not supposed to be here!" Craig cried.
"My parents are acting weird too!" Tweek cried. "Like it was perfectly normal to find me in my bed!"
"What the fuck is going on?" Craig groaned, putting one hand on his forehead. "We're supposed to be going to Clyde's wedding."
"Yeah well it looks like we might be six years too early," Tweek said, shaking his head. "My parents told me to go to high school."
"Same here," Craig said, throwing a middle finger back at his mom, who was honking her horn impatiently.
Tweek couldn't remember the last time Craig had flipped someone off, it was oddly comforting.
"Oh god! Should we even go?" Tweek asked, glancing once again at Craig's mother's car.
"Well, I don't see the harm," Craig said, with a shrug. "Our lives are definitely fucked until we can figure this out...so-
"Oh Jesus! Our apartment!" Tweek cried, eyes wide, panicked. "Our stuff! Our landlord! Our jobs!"
"No, no, no," Craig said, taking Tweek's hands in his. "Check your phone."
Tweek pulled out his phone, using his other hand to all but crush Craig's fingers in his panic. "August 17th, 2013…" Tweek said, trailing off as understanding hit him. "So we really are six years in the past?"
"Looks like it," Craig grumbled, as a beat up truck slowed in its driving by, honking even more obnoxiously than Craig's mom.
"Come on Tucker, we're seniors and you still can't get a car?!" Came the muffled voice of Kenny McCormick, followed by the laughter of a person who could only be Eric Cartman.
"What are you laughing at, Cartman?" Craig called back, knowing just as well as Tweek did that Kenny was only teasing, while Eric Cartman couldn't tell the difference between a laugh and an insult. "You bitch at Kenny for being poor and in the same breath beg him for a ride?"
Tweek felt kind of proud, watching him stand up for himself, like he used to-
Used to? Had it really been so long since Craig had a reason to act out…? Why did everything have to change so quickly?
"Hey, fuck you guys!" Cartman yelled, waving his arms angrily as Kenny continued to drive away.
"Nngh, let's just go, Craig," Tweek said, tugging on his sleeve. "We've got...bigger problems than Eric Cartman."
"Alright," Craig said, leading Tweek over to his mom's car, who had resumed honking.
"I told you fifteen minutes, Craig," she said angrily as they climbed into the backseat. "Now I'll be late for my meeting."
"Whatever," Craig said, almost like a reflex. Tweek immediately turned and stared at him, eyes wide. An old worry had resurfaced, remembering how often Craig used to get grounded back when they really were in high school. It was something Craig's mom was notorious for, and in their current situation it wouldn't do at all, he needed Craig to be free to help him figure this shit out.
"Uhh, I mean, we're really sorry," Craig amended, and now it was his mother's turn to look like she didn't recognize her own son.
"...God, everyone calm down," Craig said, pulling down on the flaps of his hat. "Quit staring at me."
…
The worst part was that South Park High was exactly how Tweek remembered it. Right down to the chewed up gum stuck to the dull linoleum floors and the shoe scuff marks decorating the white walls.
"This has to be a nightmare," Tweek said, shaking his head as he and Craig walked over to their old lockers, a reflexive exercise that left them both shocked moments later when they were both standing there, books now in hand, free hands pushing their locker doors closed like this was just another normal day.
"Ok, I really thought I would have forgotten how to do that by now," Craig said, staring blankly at the closed locker door in front of him.
"Oh Jesus! I fucking hate this!" Tweek cried, slamming his head against the thin metal door.
"On the bright side, we've already done this before," Craig said, likely trying to distract himself from his own emotions by helping Tweek, like he always fucking does. "So you can calm down, honey."
"I don't want to calm down!" Tweek cried, turning on Craig. "Telling me to calm down when we don't know why we're here, or how to get back to where we were is fucking pointless! Also, where the fuck do you think we went?"
"What?" Craig asked. "We who?"
"You and me! If we're us from the future, what happened to the us from the past?" Tweek cried, his head screaming just thinking about it.
Craig's eyes widened. "Oh, oh! I...don't know? I don't know anything!" Craig said, clearly flustered. "God, I just- this is just so frustrating I want to-
Without another word, Craig turned and flipped off the nearest two people who were walking by.
"...Do you feel better?" Tweek asked, looping one of his arms through Craig's and leaning into him.
"Not really," Craig said. "We're still seventeen, in the middle of school and we have no answers."
From behind Tweek came a voice both boys hadn't heard in years. "Oh well isn't that precious, Mr. Spaceman and his spazzy boyfriend," Gregory, Tweek's old, though Tweek supposed now he was back to being his current, drama club rival announced loudly enough for Craig, Tweek and Christophe DeLorne, who was at Gregory's side, to hear. "All cozy on the first day of senior year."
"Go away Gregory," Craig grumbled, which prompted a dark look from Christophe, but the brunette didn't make a move or say a word elsewise.
"Don't think you'll be beating me again Tweek," Gregory said opening a nearby locker and ignoring Craig. "Fall play leading role is mine this year."
"Fall play?" Tweek asked, only to remember with sudden clarity how much that had mattered to him back when he was actually a senior.
God, had it really been so long? He hadn't even thought about that play in ages.
"Play cute all you want," Gregory said, closing his locker. "The end result remains the same. I'll be taking the lead role and you'll be, my…understudy, or something."
"No need for games, Gregory. You can have it," Tweek said dismissively, leaning back against his locker. Everyone turned to him with wide eyes but he could care less.
"Uhhh Tweek," Craig said, sliding a hand across his neck. "I wouldn't promise him anything."
"Why not?" Tweek asked, tired of the whole conversation. "It was a stupid play anyways."
"What was?" Christophe asked, tilting his head.
"Nothing," Tweek said, catching himself and rolling his eyes. "I just don't care. Come on Craig."
Tweek led Craig away from their lockers and past Stan and Wendy, who seemed deep in an argument, into to an empty classroom.
"Tweek," Craig said, once he was confident they were out of earshot. "What are you doing?"
"He can have it!" Tweek cried. "We've got bigger problems than a stupid play."
"Tweek, please be logical," Craig pleaded, which immediately had Tweek's eyes rolling in his head. "Seriously think this through. We can't just go changing things around, life doesn't work that way."
"Are you really going to give me that bullshit man?" Tweek demanded. "We don't need science right now! We need…I don't know!"
"We need to think about why we're here, and what it will take to get us back," Craig said. "Have you seen any time travel movies?"
"No, not really," Tweek said, dismissively. "Why? Do you think we're living out a movie?"
"No…," Craig said. "I just think we could use inspiration. This is obviously-
"Obviously what?" Tweek asked, exasperated. "What's the obvious answer here Craig?"
Come on Craig, just admit you don't know everything.
"…I…don't know," Craig finally admitted, which didn't feel as satisfying as Tweek thought it would. Worse, he sounded scared, and Tweek didn't even know where to start with that, with the face he was making now. The look in his eyes…
"Craig…," Tweek began, but he wasn't sure what to say. "I didn't mean it." Just because he was scared didn't mean he had to take away Craig's defenses. It was a mistake.
"No, it's okay," Craig tried, but Tweek could see through the frown on his face, he really was scared too.
"No, it's not," Tweek doubled down. "This is scary and, all we have is each other."
"…I am scared, Tweek," Craig said, releasing his emotions and taking Tweek's hand. "I don't know what to do."
"Then let's figure it out together," Tweek said, looking Craig right in the eyes. "You and me, right?"
"Yeah," Craig said, nodding. "You and me."
Tweek squeezed Craig's hand. "So, you don't think I should just hand Gregory the lead role in the play? Why not, will I fuck with the timeline?"
Craig nodded, deep in thought. "We should probably try to recreate as much as we can, to keep with the timeline. Especially since we don't know if things will automatically happen like they did before, and we can't afford to assume anything. But," Craig noted. "There must have been something we did, maybe, that brought us back here, now. Don't you think?"
"We were coming into town for Clyde's wedding," Tweek said, confused. "I don't see the connection…at all."
"We'll have to give that more thought," Craig agreed. "But for now let's just try to blend, and not act like we aren't…from the future."
"Well that shouldn't be too hard," Tweek said, smiling genuinely for the first time. "You know how good I am at blending."
Tweek meant it sarcastically, his energy was notoriously chaotic and fearful, and he knew this, was more than willing to accept that he was the one most likely to stick out. But to his surprise the look in Craig's eyes was serious, as he looked directly at Tweek and said, "I know you can, honey. You can do anything."
…
Tweek headed alone into his first class, which was a third period math class, and thought about his conversation with Craig. He'd been thinking about it all throughout first and second period, but hadn't been able to get his boyfriend's words out of his mind.
"Can I really do anything?" Tweek muttered, feeling uncertain. He'd just said something similar to Craig a few days ago, in the middle of a mental breakdown but it wasn't something he typically applied to himself. And it likely wasn't the first time Craig had said those words either, but it was the most recent that Tweek could remember. Was it just because they were back in school together? Was it all part of reliving old times?
That was probably it.
"Ugh, I'm so not excited for this class," Kyle Broflovski said, taking the desk next to Tweek. "I heard the teacher is a dick."
"Really?" Tweek said, trying to remember if that was actually true or not. He didn't remember much from senior year anymore, he'd kind of been hoping to improv it as he went, or maybe get some of the details from Craig.
"Yeah, tests are supposed to be a bitch," Kyle said, reaching down to pull out a notebook from his backpack.
Tweek really hadn't meant to, but as soon as the memory hit, he opened his mouth and said, "well at least the final was better than the midterm. The midterm was absolute trash."
"Excuse me?" Kyle said, immediately giving Tweek a look of confusion, as Tweek began punching himself mentally.
"Gah! Oh Jesus! I meant, that's what I heard from a senior last year, I just…didn't mean to say it the way that I did!" Tweek cried, smacking his head down against the desk.
"Hey, don't hurt yourself dude, I appreciate the heads up," Kyle said, smiling reassuringly. "Know anything else about the class?"
Tweek shook his head rapidly, he'd already said far too much. He wasn't going to risk making himself look even crazier.
"Well if you think of anything," Kyle dropped his voice to a whisper as the teacher began speaking. "You just let me know."
Still not trusting himself, Tweek nodded. It would definitely be nice if he and Kyle could be friends, he couldn't remember if they'd been close the first time around, but Tweek supposed that didn't matter anymore. Technically this was now his first time around, as far as time was concerned. And if he fucked it up, well that would be all on him.
He remembered again what Craig had said about him being capable of anything. He hoped with all his might that he was right.
As if in answer, a text slid onto the lock screen of his phone, and he looked down to see a text from Craig letting him to know to meet at their old (current?) spot in the bathroom at the back of the second floor.
Tweek smiled, as he got up from his seat, thinking about how comforting it was that some things seemed far too written in stone to ever change.
