My teacher says to concentrate
So what his name was Peter the Great
The Kings and Queens will have to wait
Cause I don't have forever
The only thing worse than sitting through high school classes once, was sitting through them twice.
Craig plopped down in a seat next to Kenny, having forgotten that this was the one year of high school that he and Tweek hardly shared a single class together. The one and only class being English, which Craig wasn't bad at, but hadn't wanted to look like he cared, so he convinced Tweek to skip with him as often as possible.
As fun as it had been to hookup behind the school back then, now that he and Tweek had actually spent years of their lives living together, the idea sounded impatient and kinda lame. But only kind of lame. Craig supposed if Tweek was still down, it couldn't hurt to act like the teenagers they used to be- were currently. He'd have to ask him.
But this was history, and so Craig was flying solo here. Well, unless he could get in touch with Tweek...
"Hey Craig?" Kenny hissed from the seat to Craig's left, right after the teacher finished handing out the pop quiz. He pointed to a problem, "Ya going with A or C?"
"Neither, D," Craig grumbled, trying not to catch the teacher's attention. Even though sitting by Kenny meant he was constantly pulling shit like this, Craig still preferred him over Eric Cartman, or Stanley Marsh.
Craig hurried through the rest of the quiz, and walked it up to the teacher's desk. "Can I go to the bathroom now?"
The teacher rolled his eyes, more than familiar with Craig's knack for avoiding sitting through an entire class. "Five minutes, Mr. Tucker."
"Thanks," Craig said, sharing a look with the teacher that meant both of them knew Craig had no intention of taking only five minutes.
Still, it was funny to not outright let the man down.
Less than three minutes later Tweek was walking into the bathroom behind him, fingers laced with Craig's as they headed for the stall they'd always messed around in years ago...although Craig supposed right now it was their...current morning spot?
Ugh, just thinking about it was painful.
Surprisingly, it was Tweek who took initiative, hooking his fingers through the loops on Craig's jeans and tugging him close, until Craig got the hint to lean down and kiss him, though Craig couldn't say he was disappointed.
"Where's this coming from?" Craig asked, pulling back for air. "Are your classes going okay?"
"As well as they ever did," Tweek replied, tugging Craig towards him for more kisses. "I got your text and I just...thought maybe we could recreate some of the better memories in here?"
"Oh," Craig said, catching on as his mouth turned up into a small smile. "Absolutely, babe."
"That's what I like to hear, tiger," Tweek said, smiling as Craig leaned in this time. The very use of that nickname sent shivers running through his body.
Just for calling me that I want to make it extra good for you.
"So," Tweek began a bit later, zipping his pants back up, "how are your classes going?"
"I can't really take them seriously, to be honest," Craig said, wiping saliva from around his mouth, and leaning against the wall. "Knowing how they turn out and all."
"Yeah, kind of takes the suspense out of life," Tweek agreed. "And it's only mildly entertaining seeing how much everyone else cares," he added with a laugh. "Like Kyle Broflovski trying too hard to answer all the questions in math."
"That sounds like Kyle," Craig said with a small laugh.
Tweek nodded. "So, if we're trying to pay attention to the timeline, do you think every little thing matters, or just the big things?"
"Well, I don't know," Craig said, hating to have to keep admitting to his blindness. Science was supposed to be his shit, and this was completely against anything he had thought scientifically possible. He didn't know where to fucking start. "I guess we should think about what happened this year...and try to pinpoint the biggest moments. Maybe we're here because we missed something...the first time?"
"Or maybe because we fucked something up," Tweek said, staring down at the floor. "Because we made a mistake."
At his words, Craig immediately looked over at him. He knew that tone, knew what it meant. "Tweek, honey-
We haven't been here a day and he's already thinking of that night? Fuck.
"Don't be soft with me now, man," Tweek said, tears filling the corners of his eyes. "That's got to be it, right?"
"We can't assume anything," Craig said, and he meant it. "Otherwise why would we be all the way back at the start of the year?"
"I don't know, maybe because we wouldn't think of it right away," Tweek said, shrugging.
Craig shook his head. "And approximately how long did it take for you to think about it?"
"Gah! Whatever!" Tweek cried, scratching his hands through his hair. "We both know it's going to happen, we both know what we did was a mistake!"
"Maybe we can change something this time?" Craig said, shrugging. "Maybe it doesn't have to happen at all."
"You just said that's not how time works!" Tweek cried. "You said so when you lectured me about the play! I mean Jesus, I don't even like Gregory!"
"Ze feeling ees mutual," came a voice from just outside the stall. The smell of cigarette smoke filled the air, and Tweek coughed into the sleeve of his shirt.
"Oh great," Craig said, flinging the stall door open, relieved immediately to see Christophe was alone, as Tweek hung back, still smoothing his shirt back out from Craig's free-roaming hands. "What do you want, Christophe?"
"Gregory may be my best friend, but 'e ees not always ze best as catching ze little things. But as for me," Christophe said, smirking, "je ne manque jamais."
"He said he never misses," Tweek offered helpfully, as Craig scowled at the brunette.
"Great, so what do you want?" Craig repeated.
"I noticed earlier zat you two seemed…different," Christophe said, a thin line of smoke shooting out of the corner of his mouth. "But I thought eet might just be a trick of some kind, to throw off Gregory. Zat ees, until I overheard ze two of you just now. You mentioned trying to avoid a mistake, explain what you mean, s'il vous plait."
"So much for blending," Tweek muttered, and Craig rolled his eyes, trying not to show how afraid he really was. There was no telling what would happen if anyone knew they were here from the future.
"Eet would not benefit you to lie to me," Christophe added, his eyes locked on Craig.
"Fine, I'll admit we're acting funny, and that there's a reason for it," Craig said finally, trying to ignore his hands, which were shaking. Tweek had moved now to join him in the entry of the stall, and was gripping tightly on his left arm. "But given your friendship with Gregory, I don't know how you expect us to trust you."
Christophe nodded thoughtfully. "Fair enough," he said, once again taking a drag from his cigarette. "Gregory can be...off-putting, well deserving of distrust. But I do not know 'ow you expect me to convince you zat zis would remain between us."
"Let us think about it," Craig said, and Tweek nodded. "We'll meet you tonight at Starks Pond, alright?"
The brunette shook his head. "Non, I 'ave a...prior engagement with Gregory. But tomorrow? Tomorrow morning before school I 'ave time," Christophe said, maintaining eye contact with Craig.
"...Fine," Craig said finally, and Christophe nodded, satisfied.
"Au revoir," Christophe said, hopping down from the windowsill and heading back out of the bathroom into the hallway.
"Craig, do you...think he'll be a problem?" Tweek asked.
"Honestly, babe, I don't know," Craig said, watching as the door settled back to being shut, unable to shake his uneasy feeling. "But we should definitely be more careful."
…
The rest of the day was a blur, the thought of having fucked this up so quickly weighing heavily on Craig's mind.
With a sigh, he flopped down next to Tweek in his desk chair, turning to face his boyfriend, who was labelling a notebook for the class.
"Blue, babe?" Craig asked, pointing at the notebook.
"It's the only class I have with you," Tweek mumbled, finishing his scribbles and opening the notebook to a fresh page, leaning back and waiting for the class to begin. "It's your favorite color."
Craig shook his head, pulling out the green notebook he'd saved, and holding out an open palm which Tweek automatically placed a pen into. "We know each other too well."
I was so stupid, I'd actually thought he saved blue for our class together on accident the first time.
"Good afternoon, class," the teacher began, tightening her ponytail before turning to write some announcements on the board. Craig finished writing on his notebook and handed the pen back to Tweek, who motioned for him to keep it. "I'd just like to begin with an announcement from Mr. Mackey-
"Wow," Craig muttered. "Haven't heard that name in a while."
"I know, right?" Stan Marsh chuckled, turning around in his seat to look at Craig. "Summer goes by way too fast."
"Something like that," Craig said, surprised that he wasn't scowling at Stan like he used to.
Apparently Stan was surprised as well. He seemed wary now, like he'd been slowed down by his own thoughts, or was waiting for Craig to make him the punchline of a joke that wasn't coming. "Anyways...you trying out for football after school tomorrow?"
"...Maybe," Craig said, shrugging.
"Well, if you are, let Coach know, alright?" Stan said, turning back around in his seat.
"Yes, that's right, and I don't want to hear any complaints," the teacher said, as Craig tuned back in, pointing generally around the room. "You'll all be participating in the school play in some form. This is AP English, I expect better of you all."
Wait, what?
"Fucking kill me," Christophe DeLorne muttered from behind Craig, before speaking up. "Madame, are you sure zis ees not best left to ze ones who actually enjoy drama?"
"Mr. DeLorne, you are here to get a well rounded education. If you do not fully participate in some way in as many activities as you can, you are depriving yourself of opportunity."
Christophe nodded. "Oui, but zis ees a waste of my time. I prefer art over drama."
The teacher sighed. "Mr. DeLorne the theatre is also built to house art, in the form of spoken word and stage performances. Not to mention elaborate set pieces, which you might end up helping create."
"Tophe, it may well be best not to argue," Gregory grumbled, barely audible given how he was seated at a diagonal from Craig, on Christophe's left. "Just agree to design the damn set."
"C'est une question de principe," Christophe replied, having switched to French which Craig didn't understand.
Gregory's reply came a moment later, also in fluent French, "Non, il s'agit d'obtenir de bonnes notes, afin que nous puissions sortir d'ici. I hate this town."
That, at least, Craig could understand.
"Any more questions?" the teacher asked, wiping the announcements off the board. "Excellent, now, open your copies of Dorian Gray please to page 12."
…
Hours later, Craig was laying on his bed, blowing off homework in favor of video games when he got the text from Tweek.
"Hey, what's up," Craig said, as soon as Tweek answered the phone.
"Gah! I can't do it man, Jesus!" Tweek cried, and Craig could practically feel him shaking through the phone. "My parents, man, they're driving me nuts!"
"Calm down, honey," Craig said, entirely unsurprised. "We both knew this was going to be part of all of this, right?"
"Don't tell me to calm down! This fucking sucks!" Tweek cried. "You try re-living a nightmare!"
"...It's pretty late," Craig said, tuning out Tweek for a second to see if he could hear any movement in his house. Besides, it was clear any attempts to calm Tweek weren't working. "Seems like everyone is either in bed or getting there, you wanna come in the usual way?"
"See you in fifteen minutes," Tweek finally said, sounding relieved.
When Craig opened the window for Tweek, he sighed at the sight of his boyfriend with a massive duffel bag thrown over one shoulder, and his backpack, equally bulging from every pocket crammed full.
Why did the sight of Tweek having to run from his parents always tug so deeply on my heart?
"I see, well, it's probably best we stick together anyway, it wouldn't be a far cry from how we were then," Craig said as Tweek shoved the duffel into the closet. He waited for the blonde to join him on his bed, handing him a controller once he did.
"What game do you want to play honey?" Craig asked.
Tweek sighed, leaning into Craig. "I think I'll just watch you play," his voice sounded sleepy.
Craig kissed the top of his head. "We could just go to sleep? We're supposed to meet with Christophe in the morning."
"You don't sound happy about that," Tweek said.
I'm not.
"What choice do we have? He heard us, babe," Craig said with a sigh. "As unexciting as it sounds, maybe we could use someone to confide in?"
"Maybe, but Gregory's boyfriend?" Tweek scrunched his nose, clearly not enamored with the thought.
"Got any better ideas?" Craig asked.
"Well, I thought maybe we could talk to Clyde," Tweek said. "I know it might be weird, but we can't avoid him forever."
"No way," Craig shook his head. "He'll tell the first girl who kisses him that he's got time traveling buddies."
"Think about it," Tweek said, kissing Craig on the cheek before leaning back against the pillows.
Craig joined him after a moment, leaning back in the dark and staring up at the glow in the dark stars. He felt Tweek beside him even though they weren't touching, staring up at them with him.
"Hey Craig?" Tweek asked. "Will you hold me, please?"
"Of course, honey," Craig said, wrapping an arm across Tweek's body, as his boyfriend's own arm came to wrap around his waist. "I love you."
"I love you too," Tweek said. "I'm scared, but I'm glad I'm not here without you."
You'll never be without me.
"Me too," Craig said, kissing his forehead.
…
There was a thick layer of fog on Stark's Pond when Christophe walked out of the trees and into view, a shovel secured on his back.
"Bonjour beetches," Christophe greeted, lighting a cigarette.
"Hey," Craig said, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Next to him, Tweek was clutching tightly onto his coffee thermos, and Craig's arm.
"So, I believe we 'ave something to discuss?" Christophe said, glancing around, always watching for something that Craig didn't understand. Christophe and Gregory always seemed like a mystery, but especially Christophe of the two. He was shiftier, more rough on his edges. That kind of unease doesn't just...happen.
"Yeah," Tweek said, taking the lead. "We're a bit nervous because we have a secret, and we don't want it spreading around."
"Ah, so...zis secret has to do with ze play, and time?" Christophe asked, crossing his arms. "I find zat a bit complicated, but you could say I am curious."
"We don't understand it ourselves," Craig interjected. "So...we don't really know what you could possibly want from us. But, since you're so curious, we'll tell you. We've...been fighting."
"You've been fighting?" Christophe repeated, like he didn't believe them.
"It's true," Tweek said, looking Christophe right in the eyes. "We've been struggling because being together isn't what we thought it would be."
"Uh...huh," Christophe said, still not convinced. "Well," he continued, when Craig and Tweek continued to be silent, "zat ees a lovely story you are spinning for me, but clearly not everything you could be saying. So, since I respect zat you may not completely trust me, I will wait until you are ready to share ze full truth."
"You still think we're lying?" Craig asked.
Christophe shook his head. "Non, I sense ze truth ees present in there somewhere. Eet ees just, not ze whole truth, non?" Christophe replied, amused. "And something tells me, you do not have many….people you can confide zis truth een. Now zat is more of a speculation, but, one I am willing to take a bet on for now-
"Gah! I still don't understand!" Tweek cried, an outburst neither Christophe nor Craig had expected. "Why are you being nice! You're Gregory's fucking boyfriend!"
Christophe rolled his eyes. "Please, do not speak nonsense to me. Eef being Gregory's boyfriend meant I 'ad to be just like 'im, we would not last very long," the brunette said, and Craig noticed Tweek's eyes widen as he registered what was being said. "In case you 'aven't noticed," Christophe continued, "he ees a dick to just about everyone. Still, I love 'im, so een ze end what can I say?"
"Well, thanks," Craig said, tugging lightly on Tweek's arm. "If we have anything else to tell you, we'll let you know."
"D'accord. I 'ave a feeling we will speak again," Christophe said, smirking as he turned away. "But for now, au revoir, beetches."
It's a question of principle
No it's a question of getting good grades so we can get out of here
