Tweek

Bebe had really pretty hair.

Tweek really didn't have any sort of comparison. He didn't often look at hair. His own was hideous, Craig's was always covered, he was usually staring at people's feet rather than dare look them in the face. But right now, he had a pink, flowery comb in his hand and Bebe's hair in his twitching hands as he carefully tried to pick out the tiny snarls that seemed to magically appear in her soft curly hair.

He wasn't exactly sure how he'd managed to get this job, sitting in front of Token's fireplace with the other girls who were helping Bebe get ready. It wasn't like he'd asked to help doll Bebe up for a make-believe wedding that felt awfully real, no, he'd just wandered through Token's side door and the girls had beckoned him over, insisting that he stay. It had been mostly Bebe who had convinced him, staring at him with those calm happy mocha eyes as she insisted that he'd be so much help if he stayed.

Considering the fact that if he went outside again, he'd probably only end up feeling more sick, Tweek had reluctantly agreed. Now he was getting to stare at Bebe's hair and marvel at how wonderful it was. He could sort of understand why Clyde had been sighing about her golden curls now, they were very soft and definitely every bit as pretty as the girl who owned them. When he was focused on this task, careful not to let any of his violent twitches pull on her hair unnecessarily, he didn't have to think about Craig or the wedding, or even the girl whose hair he was admiring.

Jesus, something's wrong with me. Whatever it was, it had been bothering him since the very moment that the wedding had been announced and it still hadn't gotten better. Granted he didn't feel quite as sick as he had before, but he felt horrible in new ways now so it wasn't like there was an improvement. Instead of a generally queasy feeling, he'd had cold hard dread lodged in the back of his brain for the last week and a half.

Carefully, he picked out another knot with the edge of the comb before accepting another sparkly flower barrette and adding it to the half of the girl's head he'd untangled already.

Of course, Tweek reflected, letting out a soft involuntary sound, the dread had turned into something else at this point. Now all he could find were claws in his stomach, making him feel like he wanted to throw up or possibly just cry. He was pretty sure he had an alien growing in his stomach. It was gradually eating him away, picking bits of organs out until he was nothing but a nest for the creature. Oh god, I'm going to die!

And the worst part was that the alien seemed to get agitated whenever he was around Craig, so now Tweek was hiding from the boy because apparently he wasn't allowed to come in here. Maybe Bebe knew and that's why she'd enlisted his help. Tweek almost wanted to think so, but at the same time, he hated that this whole thing was already dragging him and Craig apart. All I wanted was to have a friend? Why was that too much to ask? Did I do something wrong? I bet this is all my fault. If I'd done things differently Craig would never have to get married to Bebe. This is horrible.

"Come on Jenny, isn't this enough makeup?" Bebe asked with a laugh, pulling away from her friend, who in retaliation bopped her nose with the weird shimmer powder that all girls seemed to own.

"Nonsense! No such thing when it's you, Bebe. You make the makeup look good, you know?" Jenny insisted, grinning from ear to ear. Bebe let out another giggle, but she still shook her head, like she didn't believe the girl before her.

Turning around, forcing Tweek to stretch his arm so he wouldn't lose his place with his combing job, Bebe brightly asked, "What do you think Tweek? Does it look like too much to you?"

The girl didn't really need makeup, but Tweek couldn't deny that she looked pretty with it as well. It wasn't as heavy as the makeup Kenny used, but they had put something sparkly on her lips and more shimmer over her cheeks. He couldn't tell if she had anything on her eyes, but then, her eyes were beautiful, even without anything so he wasn't sure if he'd be able to tell the difference, even with makeup.

"Ngh-" Shivering, staring at the girl that was going to start dating Craig with wide, wild eyes, Tweek squeaked, "I th-think you look really nice!" Noticing the other girls staring at them, as if Bebe asking him was somehow questionable, Tweek hurried to add, "I mean, Jesus! I d-don't know! I don't –rrr- wear makeup so I'm sure you know b-better!"

"Aww, he thinks you look cute~" cooed Millie, giggling at Tweek's horrified shout. "I'm kidding Tweek, it's okay, I agree with you. Jenny always puts too much makeup on people." Looking at her, spooked that the girls were being nice to him, Tweek just went back to combing out Bebe's hair. At least that was a task that he understood.

"As long as Craig thinks you look nice, you'll be fine~!" Annie insisted, going back to adding more glitter to the front of Bebe's breastplate that she was going to be wearing over the top part of her dress. "Come on though, he'd have to be stupid to think you don't look pretty!"

"Hey, Tweek!" Heidi pipped up from where she was letting another girl French-braid her hair. "You're Craig's friend, do you think he'll think Bebe is pretty?"

The Alien clawed at his stomach again, making Tweek bite his lip to hold back a whimper. As all the girls turned to him and stared at him, Tweek twitched hard under the pressure beating down on him. Dropping his comb so he could tug at his hair hard, Tweek squeezed his eyes shut tight and yelped, "JESUS! I D-DON'T KNOW!" Panicking, the boy looked at Bebe's face and nearly shrieked because oh god why had he said that, it had come out so wrong, what if Bebe thought that everyone thought she wasn't pretty? What if she thought that Tweek thought that she was ugly? What if she hated him? "B-but Clyde thinks you're really pretty, s-so you must be ohjesusdon'tkillme!"

"Clyde thinks I'm pretty?" Bebe asked, her eyes lighting up.

"That's not important," Red said, cutting through her question. "Everyone thinks you're pretty Bebe, Craig would have to be stupid not to."

"I'm honestly really glad that they chose Craig instead of one of those other boys," Lola said, looking up from her checklist so she could give Bebe and appraising look. "I mean, honestly Bebe you dodged a bullet. There aren't that many cute boys in the Human faction."

"There are a few!" Another girl called out. "I mean, Token's pretty cute. And Clyde isn't that bad. And when Kenny's not wearing a dress, he's okay too." Looking around at then, feeling mildly panicked being in the middle of all the girl talk, Tweek almost screamed when the same girl said, "Don't worry Tweek, we think you're just adorable. Like a little fluffy kitten or something." Unsure what he was supposed to say about being compared to a kitten, Tweek just blinked helplessly at the girls, twitching.

"I bet Craig thinks he's like a kitten too," Millie commented, hiding her giggle behind her hand.

"No, he probably compares him to his guinea pig," Red informed the other girls, rolling her eyes. "He's so weird."

"So what do you think about Craig, Tweek?" Bebe asked, turning back around so Tweek could return to brushing her hair. Thankful for the distraction, Tweek instantly started picking at the remainder of Bebe's tangles. "You're such good friends with him, so what do you think about how he looks? Do you think he's cute?"

Almost choking at the idea of ever calling Craig cute or thinking of him in any similar way, Tweek shook his head frantically, freezing his hands so he wouldn't hurt Bebe's hair. "JESUS CHRIST NO!" Twitching, Tweek gripped the comb more tightly so he wouldn't yank on his hair. He's not cute, he's perfect. At least on the outside. It's what he'd always thought about Craig, that he looked perfect, but inside was different.

As the other girls all let out sounds of disappointment and went about their other tasks, Bebe softly asked, "Then what do you think he is?" Shivering, Tweek let out a soft squeak before blinking worried eyes at the back of Bebe's head. "I mean, I just thought that you might know him best. So what do you like about him? What is he?"

Picking up several of the flower barrettes to distract himself, Tweek fussed with them and mumbled, "Ngh- I- I don't know, he's…" Eyes fixing on the glowing jewels on the bow as they caught the light and flashed deep blue, Tweek found himself pushing out the words, "He's perfect. I mean, h-he's not always perfect, but on the outside, he looks perfect and on the inside, he's really w-wonderful and I don't know if anyone else thinks so –ngh- b-but I do."

As he spoke, Tweek found some of the horribleness in his chest lessening, like thinking about Craig, not about the stuff that was currently happening with Craig but just the boy himself, made things better. Humming under her breath, Bebe softly said, "You know, I bet he wouldn't agree with you on that, but I think you know better since you see more clearly than most people." Blinking, Tweek made a sound of confusion, to which Bebe giggled softly and explained in her pretty, soft voice, "You always see through people Tweek. I think that's why Craig hangs out with you, among other things."

Shivering, Tweek quickly went about fixing more barrettes into Bebe's hair. Just as he was finishing, Bebe said, "What else do you think about Craig?" What do I think about Craig? Jesus why is she asking that? What do I even think about him!? When he didn't answer for a long moment, Bebe turned around and took his trembling hands in her soft palms. "Come on, he's your friend, so what about him stands out to you?"

Unable to yank his hands away, mostly because he was terrified if he did then Bebe would get mad and tell Craig, Tweek jerked to the side and mumbled, "Lots of stuff stands out. Jesus, th-that's a big question! I mean, there's s-so much about him!" Shifting back and forth, rocking nervously, Tweek looked down at his bare torso at the repainted skin that Craig had done just that morning in preparation for the wedding, for which Kenny had demanded they look nice. As the memory of Craig's gentle fingers gliding over his face cropped up in his mind, Tweek shivered and blurted out, "H-he does my war paint!"

Carefully putting down Tweek's hands, almost like she could tell her touching them was bothering him, Bebe picked up the discarded comb and shifted a little closer, her dress fanning out over Token's carpet. "I figured he did. He's really nice when he wants to be." Reaching forward, she gently dragged the comb through Tweek's hair, pulling on the snarls that were always there.

Biting his lip, looking at the floor as he submitted to Bebe's attention, Tweek found himself muttering, "Yeah, he's really nice, just –ghn- n-not to everyone. B-but he's wonderful to his guinea pigs!" Remembering what Red had said about Craig thinking of him as a guinea pig, Tweek squeezed his eyes closed and burst out, "Jesus, you d-don't think Craig actually thinks of me as a guinea pig, d-does he?"

"No, I think you're like a star to him," Bebe hummed in return. "Because you're so full of life and fire and life and you shine brightly to him." Shivering, unsure what he was supposed to say to that, Tweek just twitched as the girl pulled out a snarl in his hair and went back over the patch of hair determinedly, fluffing it up even more than it usually was before sort of combing it to the side. "How does he treat you, do you think?"

Picking at his nails, Tweek mumbled, "Rrr- H-he sort of… Idontknow, he always stands up to people who are hurting me. Like when Cartman was being horrible, he hurt him. And JesusIdidn'tlikethat! B-but I sorta did like it too. D-does that make me a bad person?" Hugging his torso, because he'd never said that out loud to anyone, just hinted at it to Craig, Tweek half expected Bebe to tell him he was horrible and that she never wanted to see him again.

But instead, the girl just kept combing out his wild hair. "That doesn't make you bad. It's normal to want to see the people who hurt you get what they deserve." Normal. Even Craig didn't call him normal. Tweek knew he wasn't, knew that Craig's idea of him was the most accurate, but he still liked that dream of his being spoken by the calm and collected Bebe. "Do you think he does a good job? At protecting you?"

Forgetting the fact that she was brushing his hair, Tweek quickly bobbed his head up and down fervently. "YES! D-did you know –ghn- h-he got me a shirt that makes the aliens leave me alone!?" Stilling again so she could go back to neatening his hair, Tweek fussed with his pants as he continued, "And- And the monsters leave me alone when he's around! I m-mean, they're still there, but if they came out –grrr- h-he'd fight them! But I think they're scared of him."

"Are you scared of him?"

"NEVER!" Looking up, Tweek's eyes widened and he looked at the girl fiercely. "Craig would never hurt me!"

"I know. He cares about you," Bebe said easily as if she could just see what had taken Tweek months to even start to understand and accept. Watching him evenly, the girl continued, "And I think that you care about him too. Right now, he needs that. This whole thing is really confusing, and he needs his friends, you especially."

Staring at her with barely concealed wonder, Tweek twitched as his brain threw up a million objections. Because he really shouldn't be around Craig right now, he was possibly horribly sick and he might or might not have an alien in his stomach and what if he passed it on to Craig? Craig, who was about to get a girlfriend who was pretty and nice and smart and everything Tweek wasn't! He couldn't do that to him, that would be wrong! But Bebe's eyes were calm and meaningful and she probably knew what she was talking about so he should listen, right?

"Okay," Tweek breathed, shivering as he did so. Nodding happily, Bebe got up and pulled Tweek to his feet easily before almost smothering him in a hug that reminded the boy of how Clyde acted when he got excited. Just like with Clyde, Tweek allowed her to do it, unsure what else he was supposed to do.

"Good," she said firmly, nodding. "Now shoo! I need to finish getting ready!" Fluffing his brushed hair with her hands, Bebe grinned and said, "I'll see you later, okay?" Before he could answer, he found himself being half pushed, half herded out of Token's house by Heidi and Red, who kept saying things about how it was bad luck for a bride to be seen right before her wedding by boys and how he needed to remind Clyde that he was walking Bebe down the aisle so he had better be ready.

Stumbling out of Token's house and into the mayhem that had become his front yard, Tweek darted around different Humans and Valkyries, trying not to get in anyone's way. He couldn't find Craig, but he was sure the boy was somewhere. Everything was in utter chaos in preparation for the wedding though, so it was hard to be sure.

All of the kids were dressed in their best. The girls had all put on dresses under their armor, and the guys were wearing clean tunics and pants. Cloaks had been mended and swords had been shined and Kenny had ditched his orange Parka and instead was wearing just his dress. At least, he had been when Tweek had last seen him, which was a while ago, to be honest. He'd been hiding with Bebe for quite some time.

Wandering around, Tweek caught sight of Wendy and Cartman, who were both sitting on thrones at the front, right up near the makeshift altar which Token had somehow thrown together. They were both arguing furiously, sniping at each other before facing forward once more like they couldn't stand to even look at the other. They're so weird, why are they anywhere near each other? All they're going to do is fight!

Ignoring them because he didn't need the stress at all, Tweek turned and his mouth simply fell open. Because there he was, standing next to Kenny like he could give less of a fuck. What he'd said to Bebe popped up in his mind because right then, Craig looked nothing short of perfect. He'd been forced to remove his cloak, as well as his hat, but Kenny had given him a rich blue cloak that matched his eyes to replace it and his hair had been neatly brushed and combed so that it swept over his forehead and fluttered slightly in the breeze. Shivering hard, Tweek let out a squeak, because he hadn't been expecting that. He hadn't expected Craig to look so amazing and cool.

Hurrying closer, Tweek almost tripped over the banner that had been left lying across the ground and let out a screech as he nearly pitched forward. At the sound, both Kenny and Craig stopped their conversation for a moment to look up. Feeling utterly stupid, Tweek hugged his sides and looked up at the two of them just in time to hear Kenny say, "And what about Tweekers here? Come on Feldspar, I'd say he's adorable, wouldn't you agree?"

Staring at Tweek with those intense, piercing eyes, Craig clearly answered back, "Yeah, he looks pretty cute."

Wait, what? WHAT?! DID HE JUST?!

Inexplicably, Tweek found his face growing horribly hot, like he was getting a fever. Stopping in his tracks, Tweek suddenly slapped his hands over his face as he felt further heat flood his cheeks and really the rest of it as well. Oh, Jesus, I have a fever! "Tweek?" At the sound of Craig's voice, Tweek felt the heat get even worse. This was so much worse than it had been at Christmas, this wasn't going away.

As he looked up, he found Craig's brows were furrowed and he was walking over towards him. OH GOD I'M GONNA GET HIM SICK NO I CAN'T DO THAT! "Oh god, Don't get anycloserjesusImdying!" Not only did he have an alien in his stomach but now he had a fever and it was probably a symptom and he was definitely going to die now.

"Come on Tweekers, it's okay," Kenny sing-songed, skipping over to him and throwing his arms around the boy's shoulder, ignoring his protests. Smirking at Craig, who Tweek thought sort of looked like he wanted to kill Kenny, the Princess continued, "You and Fucker are just having a weird chemical reaction that causes flash-fevers. It's very normal and will only happen more as you get older."

"OH JESUS, REALLY!?" His screams drew the attention of Butters, who had been walking by, probably on his way to do something important instead of paying attention to Tweek dying, which wasn't important at all. Shivering, Tweek pushed Kenny off of him and insisted, as he whipped at his hot cheeks, "No, I –ghn- I think I'm just dying!"

Tilting his head, Butters' eyes lit up as he looked back and forth between Craig and Tweek, like something wonderful was happening. "Well, I dunno 'bout that Tweek, t'me, it sure looks like you're blushin'!" When Tweek only let out a shriek at that because only girls blushed and this clearly meant he was dying, Butters continued, "I think that it means you're in lo-"

Covering the boy's mouth with a dainty hand, Kenny happily announced, "No, you're dying Tweeky, maybe you should spend your last moments alive with Craig." Letting out a shriek at that because Kenny had just confirmed it, Tweek leaped back only to find himself falling backward. Before he could hit the ground, however, the warm arm of Craig wrapped itself around his shoulder, pulling him to his feet.

As the Alien in his chest turned to something that got lodged in his throat, Tweek shivered and looked up at Craig as the boy flipped off both Butters and Kenny, adding his other middle finger for good measure. Giggling, Kenny blew Craig a kiss which the Noirette simply ignored, in favor of pulling Tweek away from the other boys.

Catching Craig's sleeve as he so often did, Tweek followed the boy, allowing himself to be lead away from most of the mayhem. As he stared up at the boy, Craig turned around and caught Tweek's attentive eyes, which made the boy squeak. Letting out a soft sigh, Craig stopped somewhere behind the makeshift altar behind the trellises that one of the girls had pulled out of their garage. "You should ignore them," he commented, scuffing his clean shoes over the ground. "They're full of shit." His cheeks turned pink at that, and Tweek had a moment of panic because Craig was clearly catching his disease, before Craig's cheeks went back to normal.

"I know that," Tweek mumbled, looking at his own feet. Twitching, he crossed his arms over his stomach as the sick feeling started to return. He hated it and desperately wished it would just leave him alone for a moment, but it wouldn't. It felt like it was invading everything about his life and it wasn't fair because why couldn't he just be happy with Craig?

Sucking in his cheeks, Craig asked, "So where were you?" His voice was as flat as ever, but when Tweek looked up into the boy's eyes, he could see something in them, like Craig had been looking for him, like he'd been worried when he couldn't find him. Even on a day like this, he's still thinking about me…

Nibbling on his lip, Tweek quietly said, "I was –ngh- w-with Bebe."

"Oh." That was it. Like he was glad that Tweek had been with someone instead of alone. For a moment, Craig just stared down at him, then he moved. Tweek didn't even twitch as Craig wrapped his arms around Tweek's head and pulled it close to himself. "It's gonna be fine, okay?"

In that moment, with Craig, Tweek found himself nodding and saying, "I know." Because somehow, it was.