Craig closed his bedroom door softly. He gripped the doorknob behind him tightly, his knuckles turning white. The soft 'It's a match!' notification from Tweek's phone earlier played over and over in his mind like a broken record.
If Tweek's laptop did not flash his client's request for a zoom call on its screen, Craig did not have an idea what kind of mess the two of them would be deep into.
Craig took a deep breath as he leaned his head back to the door. His head felt light while his heart was heavy, conflicted and confused.
"What the fuck did just happen?" Craig muttered to himself as massaged his temples.
Craig walked towards his bed and he flopped down on his mattress face first. Craig gripped his blanket as he buried his face deep into his blanket. His ears were tinged pink as he thought about what had happened.
It was impossible, right? The notification earlier in Tweek's phone might just be a coincidence. Tweek was not his match from the dating app and there was no way in hell that Tweek was espressolover17 who had a 96% compatibility rate with him.
Craig groaned in his blanket. He wanted to die from embarrassment. The two of them have been best friends since grade school. Nothing more and nothing less. Why the hell was he suddenly considering dating Tweek just because a dating app said that they were matched with a sky-high compatibility rate?
Craig suddenly rolled over and sat upright on his bed, surprised by his own thoughts. His blue eyes were blown wide, his heart beating wildly inside his chest.
What the fuck did he just think? Did he honestly consider dating Tweek even for just a fraction of a second?
"No! No! No!" Craig chanted as he stood up to pace inside his bedroom.
Sure, Tweek was gorgeous and he fitted Craig's physical criteria for a boyfriend to a tee with his blonde hair, gorgeous face, emerald green eyes and lean build. However, it did not mean that he wanted to date his best friend, right? Right? Or did he?
"Oh, fuck this!" Craig said as his mind went into overdrive, overwhelmed by his train of thought.
He was not attracted to his roommate. He always knew that Tweek is gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous, in fact. However, Craig never had the urge to try something more with Tweek.
Tweek was just Tweek with his gentle smiles, wicked wit, and great cooking skills. Oh, sure, he never needed to elaborate and explain things to Tweek. Tweek just knew and understood, but that was the reason they were best friends.
If he was attracted to Tweek, he would be the first one to notice. He was attuned with his emotions and feelings more than anyone, or so he wanted to believe.
Craig sat down at the foot of his bed, stretching his long legs in front of him. He grabbed his phone and opened the cursed dating app that made him question everything. He checked his match and the 96% compatibility rate stared right back at him for the third time this day.
He clicked espressolover17 's profile and he scavenged every information that he could learn about the man. He combed through his page, but there was nothing on that profile page he did not already know.
Craig put down his phone as he closed his eyes. Craig tried to compose himself. He was a rational man. His emotions never control him. Why was he even losing his shit over this stupid thing?
There was a chance that his match was not even Tweek. His best friend was not the type to actively pursue a relationship. Tweek always got asked out, and that was Tweek's usual mode of dating.
Tweek used his pretty face to attract a guy. Then Tweek would go out on two or three dates with the said guy. Until finally, Tweek decided the relationship is too much pressure for him. The cycle repeats in a never-ending loop with Tweek always saying that maybe the next guy would be the right guy.
So with that in mind, Craig was slightly convinced that maybe Tweek was not really his match. His best friend couldn't handle the pressure of dating a guy that likes him. How could he handle virtual strangers?
Craig let out a deep breath. His chest finally felt light. Of course, it was not Tweek. There was simply no way. Chuckling at himself, Craig sent a message to espressolover17 just to make things clear.
If Tweek was indeed espressolover17, which he was not, Tweek would certainly tear down Craig's bedroom door asking Craig for an explanation why he suddenly asked him out for a date.
Craig stood up and sat behind his computer to do some work. He needed to distract himself before his mind insisted that espressolover17's username was a dead giveaway about who the man behind the username was. He did not need to think how much Tweek loved espresso and that the number 17 more likely came from Tweek's birthday.
No, Craig was going to pretend that he did not know that as he busied himself.
"Thank you, sir. I'll see you next time," Tweek politely said to his client as he bid him goodbye.
With shaky hands, Tweek ended the zoom call and he closed his laptop. His heart was restless and his palm felt sweaty. He did not have an idea how he managed to be calm during his business call with what had happened earlier.
Tweek buried his face in the palm of his hands. Did he really just match with Craig on that stupid dating site he downloaded weeks ago? Tweek peeked at his phone that was on the coffee table. The small device felt like Pandora's box. He was sure that if he opened it hell would break loose.
"I'm not going to think about it," Tweek muttered to himself as he got up from his chair.
He looked around the living room, his hand itching for something to do to distract himself to stall from the inevitable. Out of options at hand, Tweek cleaned up the living room fast, deliberately avoiding his phone as if it was a cursed object.
In no time, the living room was spotless. Sweat formed on his forehead from cleaning and from apprehension. Tweek glanced once again at his phone, hands on his hip.
Tweek's phone screen flickered at the same time as he heard a soft notification chime.
Tweek grabbed his phone in defeat, and he sat on the couch. He took a deep breath as he opened his phone. Tweek instantly closed his eyes as his home screen welcomed him. His heart thumped wildly in his chest.
Like an idiot, he squinted open his right eye as he peeked on his notifications. The first notification on the top was his client's email regarding the project that he was doing. Right under that, there were two notifications from the dating app.
Tweek instantly locked his phone. If his heart was beating wildly a moment ago, right now, his heart was trying to break its way out of his chest. Tweek felt light-headed as blood rushed through his body.
Tweek stared at the ceiling to calm himself. His phone felt heavy in his hands. Tweek chewed his cheeks as he gathered the courage to look at what the notification was about. He knew what he was about to see, so why was he losing his shit like this?
Steeling his nerves, Tweek opened the notif he received almost two hours ago. There on his screen, he finally saw the 96% compatibility rate that Craig was talking about. Tweek was 96% compatible with spaceboy … with Craig.
Tweek covered his eyes with his hand as he leaned back on the couch.
"Fuck," Tweek cursed softly. His mind felt empty. Tweek was too overwhelmed to think of anything.
Tweek looked once again at his phone, and he opened spaceboy 's profile page. It was as empty as his. spaceboy only filled up the bare minimum like what he did. spaceboy liked space, red racer, guinea pigs and photography. spaceboy liked things that Craig loved. There was no denying it, spaceboy was Craig.
Tweek did not have an idea why he was stunned at the information when he knew it all along. Seeing it for himself made it so real that Tweek did not have an idea of what he was supposed to do.
"So what now?" Tweek asked himself as he bit his thumb.
He and Craig had always been best friends. Sure, he had a crush on Craig when they were kids. Craig was always the cool kid who always said what he wanted, so how could his younger self not crush so hard on that? However, it was just a silly crush. It faded over time, like how most crushes did when you were young.
Fine. He still had a little tiny bit crush on Craig, but he knew his place and it was just a silly one.
"Craig will surely act like it's nothing," Tweek said, talking to himself. "Why am I even thinking about this?"
Tweek nodded to himself. Why was he even beating up himself with stupid thoughts? This would fade over time. This is just one silly thing that the two of them would laugh at in the future.
With that in mind, Tweek opened his phone once again to check the last notification he received. Tweek raised a brow. spaceboy messaged him.
"Huh? Why would Craig message me here?" Tweek whispered to himself, confused.
Like a curious cat, he clicked the message open. Also like a curious cat, he almost died when his heart stopped as he read spaceboy's message to him.
'Do you want to go on a date?'
Tweek almost threw his phone across the room. He covered his mouth with his hand. His mind unable to wrap around what he just read. Was this a prank? But Craig would not prank about something like this.
Tweek stood up as he shook his head. His body felt hot. What did that mean? Was his silly prayers when they were younger was suddenly being answered? But it was too late... or not?
Tweek caught his reflection in the mirror mounted on the wall opposite him. He was bright red, but why would he not be?
Wide eyed, Tweek reread Craig's message, not once, not twice, but like a million times. Tweek sucked his lower lip. His stomach fluttered and his heart pounded. Craig could only mean one thing…
"Craig likes me."
Craig lost himself in his work that he almost missed the soft knock on his bedroom door.
"Craig?"
"Yeah?" Craig swiveled around on his chair at the sound of Tweek's voice.
"We forgot to buy something. I'm heading out for a bit."
Craig got up from his seat. He walked towards the door and he partially opened it. There, on the other side, Tweek's back was at him as he busied himself on his phone. Craig willed himself to act like normal.
"Do you want me to go out with you?"
"Nah, I'm fine. I just told you just in case you look for me," Tweek said with a chuckle. "Do you want something?"
Craig scratched his chin. "Not really. Are you sure you don't want me to come?"
Tweek glanced back at Craig with a raised brow. "What? Are you that eager to go out with me?"
"Why not?" Craig asked back.
The two of them shared a look. Tweek looked surprised, but please. Craig watched as Tweek shook his head at him with a small smile on his lips. His green eyes looked at him fondly, as if Tweek got the answer he was looking for from him. Craig felt like he was missing something.
"I mean, I always have time for you," Craig explained as he scratched the back of his neck. It felt like he was digging himself into a deeper hole, but Craig couldn't keep his mouth shut. "What? That's true."
For a moment, Craig let himself to study Tweek's features. Might as well check if he was really attracted to his best friend, right? However, Craig did not instantly realized that was a stupid idea.
The way that Tweek's lip twitched at what he said made Craig hyper aware of how much Tweek fitted his type. Craig almost lost his cool at that thought. Tweek was exactly his type. The sudden realization was like a blow in his gut.
Thankfully, Tweek stopped looking in his direction. Craig was suddenly afraid of what Tweek would do if he saw the slip on Craig's expression.
"Whatever, Craig. I'm off," Tweek said as he headed for the door, waving at him without looking back. "Call me if you need something," Tweek said as he looked back smiling at him
Craig was left there to watch as Tweek got out. Tweek looked and acted normal. Too normal as if what happened in their living room earlier was only a coincidence.
So, he guessed he had his answer. Tweek was definitely not espressolover17. Maybe his phone had that stupid notification because he matched with somebody else, somebody that was not Craig.
Cool, right? Nothing would change, so why the hell was he so disappointed? Why was he wishing that Tweek was his match? And why did he feel so spiteful of Tweek's potential match?
"What's fucking wrong with me?"
Craig closed his door shut harder than he intended. He harshly pulled his towel from its hook and grabbed a pair of sweatpants. The pile of neatly folded clothes above his sweatpants tumbled down to the floor from the intensity of his action. Craig ran his hand through his hair as he stopped in his tracks, staring at his clothes that had fallen on the floor.
His phone chimed on his bed, and Craig walked towards his bed to pick up his phone leaving the mess he made. espressolover17 replied to his message.
'If you want to go out on a date I don't mind.'
Craig stared at the short message. The only hope he had that his match was Tweek was gone. For some reason, his mood turned more sour. So, Tweek was not really espressolover17. Tweek would not act that cool and reply to his message like that.
Craig tossed his phone on his bed. His interest in his match diminished. He did not care that they were 96% matched. That was just a silly app algorithm. Who gave a fuck about something like that?
Craig glared at his clothes, anything that he could blame his sudden bad mood into.
Craig took a deep breath as he counted numbers inside his head. He picked up his clothes on the floor and brought them to his bed. Craig silently folded his clothes with controlled actions. The repetitive action did nothing to clear his mind.
Why was he fucking irritated? Why was he frustrated and angry? Why? Just why?
"Fuck it!"
Craig shoved his folded clothes into his cabinet as he stormed out of his bedroom. He needed a cold shower.
He did not have an idea how long he was in the bathroom. The shower did not help. He was still in an awful mood like something bitter was stuck on his tongue.
Craig was drying his hair with his towel when he passed the kitchen. The kitchen smelled of spaghetti. Craig also noted that the oven was on, and the pizza that he requested might be in there. His mood improved a bit, leave it to Tweek to spoil him so much.
Speaking of Tweek, Craig finally caught sight of him in his apron. Craig was mesmerized by Tweek's languid movements as he tossed the pan effortlessly. It almost felt like Tweek was dancing around the kitchen and Craig was captivated. His earlier foul mood was gone as a smile finally made its way to his face.
As he watched Tweek, it suddenly hit Craig like a punch in the face. He liked Tweek. He really liked Tweek. There was no point in denying it.
It all made sense why everyone he dated ended up looking like Tweek. Why he did not feel the need to find anyone to be with, because he already had Tweek on his side. Making things better for him and making him happy even though he did not have an idea with what he had done.
Maybe he was suppressing it all these times, afraid that it would ruin their friendship, but he could not deny the truth right now.
He liked his best friend. He liked Tweek.
Tweek nervously knocked on Craig's door. It was so unfair how calm Craig was earlier when he told him he was going out to buy something from the store. He envied Craig for that. He was always straight to the point with things he liked. Craig even not so subtly flirted with him.
Tweek smiled to himself. If Craig thought he would not put in an effort, that was where he was wrong. He was going to surprise Craig. Who did he think he was asking him like that on a date? If Craig wanted a date, Tweek would give him the best one in the comfort of their own apartment.
"Tweek? Are you going out again?"
Tweek blinked at Craig. What kind of stupid question was that?
"No, dinner's ready. Come on," Tweek said as he rolled his eyes at Craig.
Craig cocked his head to the side. "Why are you dressed up like that?"
"Is there something wrong with it?" Tweek asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He wore his nice button-down shirt to impress Craig.
Craig smiled warmly at him as he shook his head. "No, you look handsome."
Tweek could only look at Craig in stunned silence. There was Craig once again saying whatever he wanted to say. Craig walked past him and straight to the dining room.
"Tweek, where is our food?"
"Who says we're going to eat here?"
"Huh?"
Tweek chuckled as he pulled Craig out of their apartment and towards the rooftop. The trip was short as they only had to climb a flight of stairs.
Craig could only follow Tweek. There, in the small glass greenhouse on the rooftop, a table was set for two. Fairy lights hung around and candles were lit. It was a candlelit dinner for two.
"Cat caught your tongue, spaceboy?" Tweek said teasingly as he pulled out a chair for Craig. "Do you think you could just fluster the hell out of me by asking me on a date without expecting me to get even?"
Craig stared at Tweek in surprise. Did he hear it, right?
"You're espressolover17?" Craig asked.
"Huh?" Tweek asked, confused. He stared sharply at Craig and he realized that Craig was totally clueless. "You don't know?"
Suddenly, all of Tweek's confidence was gone. His heart sank in his chest. Did he just embarrass the hell out of himself? He was rooted in his spot. How was he going to save some face? Craig approached him and Tweek wanted nothing but the ground to open up and eat him alive.
"I'm so happy that you're espressolover17."
Before Tweek could react, Craig wrapped his arms around him. Tweek's heart beat hard against his chest. He shared hugs with Craig before, but this felt different. Craig was flushed against him and this felt more intimate.
"Craig?"
"Sorry," Craig said as he pulled away. His blue eyes were bright as he looked around. "You've put a lot of effort into this."
"Yeah," Tweek said as he shifted around.
An awkward silence filled the space between them. The two of them stood there awkwardly. Tweek did not know what he was supposed to do so he snapped.
"You stupid idiot! How does it not come into your mind that I'm espressolover17 ?" Tweek shrieked. "Now, I embarrassed myself by preparing all this for you," Tweek said as he gestured around the greenhouse. "The worst part is I even thought you liked me!"
Craig blinked at Tweek.
"But I like you."
"Huh?"
"It just sank into me that this is not a dream," Craig said with a small smile.
Craig guided Tweek to sit down on the chair. He effortlessly took over as he popped open the bottle of red wine that Tweek had prepared. He poured Tweek a glass and he poured himself one after. He sipped his wine as he smiled at Tweek.
"Fuck you, Craig." Tweek downed his glass of wine in one go. He stood up as he got their food from a cart on the side that he also prepared earlier. He started to put their food on the table. "You're stupid."
"That's harsh, man."
Tweek glared at Craig. "Because you are an idiot, you stupid dumb dick."
Craig chuckled. He totally deserved that, but he was too happy to complain.
Getting up from his seat, Craig hugged Tweek from behind. He felt Tweek stiffen at the sudden contact and Craig was worried for a second if he moved too fast. However, Tweek eventually relaxed against him.
"I couldn't wrap my brain earlier to the fact that you're him," Craig started. "I mean, we're best friends and that app is just a stupid app. I asked you out on a date because how am I supposed to ask you if you're really espressolover17?"
"How the hell does that make any sense?" Tweek deadpanned.
"I thought you would lose your shit and you'll wreck our apartment."
"Fuck, Craig. That's the dumbest reasoning I ever heard from you." Tweek pulled away from Craig's embrace to glare at him. "I thought you're all smooth with how you reacted earlier when I told you I'm going out."
"Well, I'm trying to act normal," Craig explained. "But you also acted the opposite of what I expected."
Tweek rolled his eyes at Craig.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm a stupid idiot." Craig smiled at Tweek. "But I don't have an idea that you're this romantic, Tweek," Craig said as he winked at the blonde. "By any chance, do you also happen to like the stupid idiot?"
Craig watched fascinated as Tweek's face paled and then became red within a few seconds.
"I- I just thought that if we're going to do this, we might at least do this, right," Tweek said as he looked at anything but Craig. "You're my best friend. Before this, whatever is this that we're doing." Tweek stared at Craig, his eyes earnest, his voice soft. "If I'm going to risk our friendship, I'm going to give my damn best. I know that the stake is high, and I don't ever want to lose you."
"Tweek…"
Tweek finally relaxed. Tweek chuckled at Craig's expression. Craig looked at him as if he was the moon itself. Craig loved the moon more than anything in the night sky.
"So, tell me, Craig. Are you also serious about this?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Craig said breathlessly. He approached Tweek and he cradled Tweek's face in his hand. His forehead against Tweek's.
Tweek chuckled. "Of course. We're both stupid idiots. I need to hear it from you loud and clear."
"I like you. I genuinely like you, and I wanted to try being with you."
Tweek pulled Craig into a hug. "Me too." He pulled back to stare at Craig. "I like you too."
The two of them were grinning at each other, cheeks both flushed from happiness.
"Come on, let's eat," Tweek said as he pulled Craig towards his seat. "I have a treat for you later," Tweek added with a smile. "I've got you a strawberry shortcake. Your favorite."
Craig grinned. "You're the best, Tweek."
Craig stared at Tweek and at their hand clasped together. Everything felt right as if things were finally fitting together.
Craig stopped in his tracks, and Tweek looked curiously at him. Craig swiftly kissed Tweek on the lips. It was short and their lips barely touched. Tweek stared at him, stunned, and Craig shrugged.
"Idiot that was not how it is done."
The next thing Craig knew, Tweek pulled on his hair and Tweek was giving Craig a proper kiss. Maybe they're more than 96% compatible.