Thanks to everyone for reading/following/kudos, and a special thanks to aliblly, KitOfYaoi & Sleepy mouse at AO3 as well as Cuma at ffnet, your kind words kept me working on this chapter today, when I really just wanted to go play some video games instead. I almost forgot, I also need to thank Angel Weasel-Woman for a inspiring one of the lines in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Need

======Tweek's POV======

'I need to get up!'

'I need to go after Craig!'

'I need to apologize!'

When I try to stand, my legs turn into jelly, it's either sit down or fall down, so I drop down on Craig's bed. I basically land in Thomas' lap, literally right in the space between his legs, so I scoot over quickly, but Kyle is also sitting on the bed, which leaves me stuck between Thomas and Kyle.

"Are you okay, Tweek?" Thomas asks, and I give him a dirty look, 'I think it's pretty obvious that I am NOT okay, Fuckhead!'

Clyde, Cartman and Kenny hurry after Craig, leaving Stan Marsh standing alone in the doorway and he looks nearly as upset as I feel.

"Kyle, what the fuck! Are you getting high again?" Stan barks so loudly that I'm worried the whole house will hear. The last thing I want is Mrs. Tucker thinking I'm a drug addict, so I open my mouth to tell him to shush, but my mouth feels too dry to speak. Instead I end up searching the room for the bottle of water from earlier, but it's nowhere in sight.

"Dude, lay off, it's only pot." Thomas says condescendingly.

"Yeah, Dude, lay off. " Kyle agrees. He reaches across the bed and pulls the last of the joint from Thomas' hand. "It's not your business." He puts it to his lips, causing Stan's face to redden in fury.

"Don't you have a girlfriend to look after?" Thomas smirks, "shouldn't you get back to that?"

"Fuck you, Thomas!" Stan growls, and barges into the room. He grabs Kyle by the hand, and flicks the tiny roach from Kyle's fingers, before dragging him off of the bed. Kyle doesn't look happy about it, but he still allows himself to be escorted out of the room.

Stan slams the door closed on his way out.

Thomas mumbles something low under his breath, while grabbing the roach from where it landed on the bed. I can't actually hear what he says, but since I'm glaring in his direction I spot the flash of pure pain that teases across his face. When he catches me watching, he swiftly conceals his sorrow with a grin, but I know what I saw.

"I guess I need to roll a fresh joint. You'll share it with me right, Tweek?"

With Kyle gone, I realize I'm all alone with Thomas, and this is the last place I want to be.

"Screw you, Dickhead!" I release the irritation that I have been holding back, and pull myself up from the bed, intending to leave.

"Why so hostile, Tweek?" Thomas grabs me by the wrist, before I can escape. "I thought you'd be more curious about me. I know that I'm curious about you."

I pull my arm out of his grasp, but I don't leave.

"I couldn't care less about you." I lie, and we both know that I'm full of shit. I am curious, painfully so. I don't necessarily care about Thomas himself, but I care very much about Thomas and Craig.

Thomas stretches a long muscular arm behind me and pulls a flashy black North Face parka from the back of Craig's desk chair. I decide it must be his, since I know Craig's entire wardrobe by heart and he doesn't own anything quite that nice. Thomas shoves his hand into one of the parka's many pockets and pulls out a tiny silver portable ashtray, he deposits the leftover roach inside, and slides it back into the pocket. He then rummages inside another deeper pocket pulling out a large bag of pot, a small pack of rolling paper, and a small silver drinking flask.

"Have a seat, I won't bite." Thomas commands good-naturedly, and I instinctively comply, dropping back down on Craig's bed, and scooting towards the wall in order to put distance between us. I press my back against Craig's headboard and pull my legs up, so I can sit comfortably cross-legged while hugging one of Craig's pillows to my chest for protection.

I already know that I hate this guy, but I realize this is my best chance for enemy reconnaissance. Craig obviously has no intention of telling me about their relationship! If I want to get to the truth I have no choice but to go to the source.

'Sorry, Craig.' I think to myself, and I'm momentarily struck by a wave of guilt, because I know what I'm doing is wrong, but my heart is begging for answers, and Thomas is the one who can supply them.

Thomas looks at me thoughtfully for a moment, the smile never leaving his lips, and my heart is beating like crazy as I wait for him to divulge the deep dark secret that will explain Craig's deceit.

'Maybe Craig's working with Thomas on a top secret government plan to eradicate worldwide guinea pig experimentation. Ngh-That's just like Craig! So noble!'

Instead of ratting Craig out, Thomas tosses the flask into my lap.

"Cognac, have a sip." Thomas commands again, and I look at him like he's crazy.

"What! Booze? No way! My dad will kill me if I drink booze." I lift the flask with two fingers and hold it away from myself like it's something dirty!

"He'll probably kill you for smoking pot too right?" I give him a dirty look, because he's right and I don't like it.

"Just take a tiny sip, I borrowed it from my stepfather's collection. It's tasty, you'll like it. I brought it to drink with Craig, but since he's being a butt."

I shake my head, defiantly, and throw the flask at Thomas, it bounces off his sturdy chest and falls to the floor. "Don't call my boyfriend a butt, you douche."

Thomas' smile fades for a moment, but it's quickly back. He bends down to retrieve the flask from floor, opens the top, and holds it out to me.

"Dude, you need this, you're way too fucking uptight. It must drive Craig out of his mind!"

I want to tell him to fuck off, but I can't since he isn't saying anything that I haven't said to myself a million times. I take the flask from his hand, hold my nose, and put it to my lips.

Thomas starts nearly convulsing with laughter, which causes me to stop mid-sip to frown at him.

"It's not cough medicine, Dude, seriously!" Thomas sputters through his laughter.

"You are such a hot mess, Tweek, no wonder Craig..." He stops talking, just as he is getting to the interesting part, so I glare at him harder, put the flask to my lips, and take the tiniest sip possible.

"It's good." I murmur in surprise, because it really is. It tastes warm and a little fruity as it smoothly slides down my parched throat, I take another slightly larger sip.

"It had better be, it's something like $300 a bottle." Thomas states casually.

"$300!" I gasp and spit alcohol across the room in astonishment. This makes Thomas laugh harder, so I get angrier and take another larger more expensive sip.

Thomas starts using the top of the magazine Kyle left behind as a makeshift table to roll a joint, and I find myself mesmerized by the skilled moments of his thin long fingers.

"So, what, you're like really rich or something?" I blurt out the words that are going though my head, and bite my lip when I realize how stupid and rude I sound, but Thomas doesn't seem bothered, he just continues to smile that patient annoying smile.

"I'm not rich, my stepfather is. Me, I'm just your average surf rat. My family has a place in Malibu, so I hang out at the beach most of the time, when I'm not traveling."

"Aren't you still in high school?" I wonder in between sips from the flask. I've decided that I really like this Cognac stuff a lot. "I mean, I thought you're around our age?"

"Yeah, I'm fifteen, but most of my friends are older." Thomas explains with a grin, and I nod. Although, we're the same age he seems much older. He's obviously more confident, more stable, and much more mature than me.

It's at that point that it hits me, maybe I shouldn't hate this guy as much as I do, maybe my issues have nothing to do with Thomas? I know I'm insecure when it comes to Craig, is it possible that I'm taking it out on an innocent person? I mean, if Craig really has something going on with Thomas, why is Thomas being so friendly to me? Shouldn't he hate me as much as I hate him?

Thomas has finished making the joint, so I watch him light up and take a large hit, before holding it out to me. I decide to make him wait while I drink some more Cognac, before giving in. I pull the joint from his fingers, and stare at it. I somewhat know what needs to be done, since I've been watching people smoke pot all morning, but I'm feeling very intimidated. What if I choke again? I wish Craig was around to help me out, but he's not, so I look over at Thomas.

"So can you explain what I need to do with this thing?" I request, and focus on the joint in my hands to hide my embarrassment, but when he doesn't respond I look up to find him staring at me really intensely.

"You know, those pictures didn't do you justice. I always thought you were cute, but when you actually relax and let down your walls like this you're completely precious."

"Pictures?" I ask, since I have no clue what he's referring to. I look around Craig's room, but Craig isn't the type to keep a bunch of photos around. Sure, Craig used to take cell phone pictures when we were kids, but he grew out of that in middle school.

"Nothing, never mind." Thomas sighs faintly, and shakes his head. "If you don't think you can handle smoking right from the joint, do you want a shotgun hit? It will probably be easier for you to handle."

I have no idea what he is talking about, but if there is something that will make this easier, I'm all for it.

I nod timidly, "I guess I'll take that."

Thomas grins happily and snatches the joint from my fingers. He puts it to his lips, takes a big puff, and leans forward while putting one hand firmly on my shoulder.

With shock I realize what 'shotgun' means! Before his lips can touch mine, I completely freak out. I squirm out of his grip, smack his face away, and kick out with both feet to push him off of the bed.

"Get the fuck away from me!" I scream and jump from the bed, ready to rush from the room, but he's quick, and blocks the door.

"Wait, just calm down." He instructs, standing in front of me and grabbing a hold of both of my shoulders.

"SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE FUCK!" I yell at him furiously. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!"

"I asked if you wanted a shotgun, and you said yes!" He accuses, so I smack him in the face again.

"I didn't know what a shotgun was." I cry out and try to smack him again, but this time he grabs my hand before it can connect.

"I'm sorry, Fuck, I thought you were okay with it!"

"Aggghh! Gross! So disgusting! It's like a kiss! I'd get all of your germs, Jesus Christ!" I start wiping my lips with the back of my hand, because just the thought makes me queasy.

"What, like I'm so dirty?" Thomas sneers at me, and I realize that I've actually pissed Mr. Sunshine & Happiness off. "Besides you've kissed Craig, so you've already gotten my secondhand germs anyway, right?"

"Ngh- no, secondhand germs? I don't, what are you talking about?" I mumble, while wiping at my lips again.

"We've both kissed Craig, so you already have my germs, you little asshole!" Thomas yells at me, and I step back, shocked by both the force of his anger, and also by the meaning of his words.

'He's lying? Fuck, he doesn't look like he's lying, Jesus Christ, Craig really kissed this Asshole! Why? Craig hasn't even kissed me! It's just as I feared! We're just friends, Craig loves Thomas! Oh God, what do I do?'

I have to get out, right now, I need to go! Using all of my strength I shove Thomas out of my way, and I slam open the bedroom door. I rush down the hall and fly down the stairs.

"Tweek, what's wrong buddy?" Butters is standing near the foot of the stairs, he greets me as I zoom past. I don't stop. I think I hear Craig calling my name, but I don't care.

"I want to break up!" I scream, as I shove open the front door and run outside. "I want to break up!" I repeat as the tears pour from my eyes.

Kyle and Stan are talking in the driveway. "Tweek?" Kyle calls out as I rush past.

"I want to break up!" I scream it again and again, and I just keep going, keep running, but I no longer have a safe place to run to, so I just run!

########

End of Chapter 4

See you in Chapter 5