NOTE: Hey all! Little life update for me. Unfortunately, as I was leaving work last night, I received a call saying that my grandfather had passed away. I just started a new semester at school, and I'm already going to be missing a day or two of classes. Please be patient with me this next week or so as I recuperate from this loss and catch up on my school work. Thank you and love you all!
It's been a few weeks since Craig started his road to recovery, and slowly but surely, he was starting to stop some of the nasty habits he started. He stopped smoking so much, stopped scratching at himself, and started regaining the weight he lost from not eating. Tweek, however, was getting ready to fly to Philadelphia for his own orientation. He felt nervous leaving Craig already, knowing that they were slowly easing their way back into a routine. They were laying in Tweek's room when he had the idea, a small smile spreading on his face.
"Hey, Craig?"
"Hmm?" Craig was curled up under his blankets. Tweek had noticed he tried to hide himself whenever he could, but he was slowly showing more and more of his body each day. Tweek laid down next to him, grinning now.
"Come to orientation with me." Craig blinked.
"What…what do you mean?"
"I think you need to get out of South Park, out of Colorado. Come to Philadelphia with me! That way you can see the campus before I go so you know how to get there from the airport!" Craig snorted.
"What, you don't want to meet me at the airport each and every time I come to Pennsylvania?"
"God no. Plus, how will you surprise me every now and then?"
"I have to surprise you?"
"Well…no, but it would be nice to see you if you have a long weekend…" Craig chuckled, rolling onto his back, thinking.
"I mean…I don't know…what would I do all day while you're at all your presentations and shit?"
"I don't know…explore? Philadelphia isn't that hard to navigate. Plus, you have your phone." Craig snorted again.
"Mmm…I don't know, Tweek. I should be working."
"Come on! It's for, like, three days! We'll stay an extra day so we can do somethings in the city and get a late flight!" Craig smiled at how excited Tweek was about the prospect of him going with Tweek to orientation. He grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.
"I'll talk to my parents." Tweek grinned, tossing his hands in the air in celebration. Craig laughed, wrapping his arms around Tweek's waist and burying his face in his hip. Tweek smiled, stroking his hair.
"You'll love it. You'll never wanna leave."
Laura and Thomas thought the idea of Craig going to Philadelphia was incredibly healthy for him. They thought that it would be good for him to get out of Colorado and see what else is out there to help his mind recuperate after everything that happened. When Craig came downstairs the next morning after bringing up the potential of him going, Thomas looked up from his daily dose of the news and smiled a bit.
"Hey kiddo."
"Hey dad."
"When you get your breakfast, come back out here, alright?"
"Yeah." Laura came downstairs after hearing Craig's voice, smiling as she sat next to Thomas on the couch. Craig came back out a few minutes later with a bowl of cereal, plopping into the recliner and pushing the lever down to lay back.
"So…we thought about what you asked us last night." Laura said, Craig blinking after taking a big spoon full of cereal.
"Mhm…and?" He said around his cereal, Thomas chuckling.
"Well…we think this will be good for you. So…your mother and I took the liberty to already buy your plane ticket and book a hotel room for you." Craig let out a cough after swallowing his cereal, setting the bowl aside.
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah! Think of it as a late grad gift." Thomas laughed.
"You got me some cool space themed shit because I changed my major!" He said. Craig had done some contemplating and decided to switch his major from sports journalism to astrophysics. He loves sports, but he doesn't want to write about them for his entire life. He'd rather be looking at the stars.
"Well…yes, but we think after everything that has happened this year, you deserve a nice little break from Colorado." Laura said, brushing her thumb over the scar on Craig's eyebrow. Craig blushed, smiling a bit. He stood, tugging his mom into a hug, followed by his dad.
"Thanks, guys." He breathed out, a grin on his face. Laura kissed his cheek.
"Now call your boyfriend and ask him what you should pack." Craig jumped as she smacked his ass as he walked away, grinning as he rushed upstairs after putting his bowl in the sink. He laid back down in his bed, looking out the window as he dialed Tweek's number.
"Morning handsome!"
"Hey, I have a question for ya." Craig was grinning, biting on his nail to keep from spilling the news so quickly.
"Hit me with it."
"So…what should one pack when they go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?" Tweek was silent for a minute.
"Are…are you joking?"
"Nope. Hundred percent serious, honey."
"Like…are you saying…you're gonna come…with me?"
"My parents already bought my plane ticket and booked a hotel room for us." Craig could practically feel Tweek smiling through the phone.
"I…holy shit. This is…I-I'm in shock honestly. I didn't think you'd actually come."
"And why not?"
"You're a homebody."
"Am not!"
"Well, you have been lately. I was offering it because I was worried…" Craig hummed, closing his eyes.
"You were right. I…I need to get out of Colorado. Get some of that…fresh city air?" Tweek snorted.
"There's nothing fresh about city air. But…for packing…I guess a pair of jeans, some shorts, and a t-shirt really. It's pretty warm over yonder." Craig hummed.
"Sounds good. I'm…really excited."
"I'm excited, too. I love you, alright? I gotta run. See you later?"
"You can bet your sweet ass you will."
The next few days leading up to their flight were a whirlwind. Come the day of their flight, they had to leave for the airport around eight am. They were leaving a day before Tweek actually had to do anything for orientation, that way he can give Craig a tour of the campus. The flight was, surprisingly, not as long as Craig had anticipated. It was really pretty getting to see the city as they landed, the thought of Tweek being among the masses making him somewhat…excited for him. Yes, it's going to be sad when Tweek is flying here without Craig in about a month, but now that he's seen the city, he's already excited to hear about the adventures his boyfriend will have. When they got off the plane, Craig couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. The airport was stuffy, but Tweek was already leading Craig through the airport as if he has been to the city a thousand times.
"So…we can either take the train or a taxi, and I vote train because taxis scare me." Tweek explained as they walked outside. Even though they were a little outside the city, Craig could still hear the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia. He hummed.
"I'm okay with the train." He said, taking a hold of Tweek's hand. They found their way to the train station, waiting about ten minutes for the train. Craig was surprised that the train actually went straight to Temple's campus, but they needed to go to the hotel first, so they took it to this station called Suburban Station. Tweek had an excited look on his face as they walked through the train station to the exit.
"You're…gonna love this." He breathed out, Craig furrowing his brows as he smiled.
"You seem-," Craig blinked as they walked outside, taken aback suddenly by the pure beauty of center city Philadelphia. City Hall stood proudly across the street, beautiful statues with intricate details covering the front of it. There was a lot of noise, and honestly, it was a nice change from his quiet mountain town. "Excited." He finished, a grin on his face as he looked around. Tweek grinned, giving his hand a squeeze.
"Yeah…I am," He took a moment to look around, tugging Craig down the street. "Come on. Our hotel is in Rittenhouse Square."
"I have no idea what the fuck that means." Tweek let out a laugh as they walked. It wasn't a long walk, about ten minutes maybe. There was a cute park in the middle of the city, which Tweek informed Craig is Rittenhouse Square. Apparently, there are four squares in Philadelphia, all having unique qualities to them. Their hotel was across from the park, and Craig had to remember to kick his parent's ass for putting him up in such a boujee hotel. Once they checked in, Craig looked out the window of their room while Tweek unpacked his extra clothing into the dresser. He would be spending the night at Temple tomorrow so he didn't have to travel back and forth from the hotel and campus.
"So…initial thoughts?"
"It's…amazing…I didn't think cities could feel so…simple?"
"It does feel simple. It's relatively easy to navigate."
"Yeah…I-I figured." He breathed out, his gaze never leaving the buildings. Tweek smiled, wrapping his arms around Craig's waist from behind.
"So…I have a surprise for you…but it's the day after I wrap up my orientation."
"Oh? And you're gonna tell me and then make me wait three days?"
"Mhm. Gotta keep you guessing." He chuckled, kissing his shoulder. Craig chuckled.
"Well…we have other things to do. Come on," He turned, kissing Tweek's forehead. "We got a college campus to see."
The campus seemed…small to Craig. It wasn't, in any way, shape, or form. It just felt small, because you could reach the other side of the campus in ten minutes, but the other side of campus was the span of five long blocks. It was medium sized he decided, especially compared to Craig's campus. He noticed that a lot of old buildings were being utilized as classrooms, and to Craig, that was pretty cool. He smiled as he listened to Tweek talk about each building, excitement in his eyes as he pointed to a building.
"Oh! This is my school! The School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management! It looks ugly now, but they're doing a lot of construction on it. Actually…there is a lot of construction on campus in general. They're building a new fucking library and it's gonna have robots that bring your books."
"What if the robots go rogue and beat you with a book?" Tweek froze, smacking Craig's arm.
"Don't be so fucking negative!" He laughed, looping his arm through Craig's. Surprisingly, despite the area being notorious for crime, Craig felt surprisingly…safe. They walked down a long brick walkway, a giant bell tower standing in the middle of campus.
"Well…this is neat." Craig murmured, looking up at it as they walked to sit in a patch of grass that was by the tower.
"People will literally use this as a way to give directions on campus. I mean…it's hard to miss." Tweek chuckled, laying back in the grass. Craig laid next to him, noticing that, despite being in the city, the campus was relatively…peaceful.
"It's a cool piece of architecture." The sun was bright and it was warm and that warmth helped Craig…relax. He hasn't thought about her once and he hasn't felt the urge to hide. Craig Tucker really did need this. They spent a little more time walking around the campus, Tweek stopping suddenly with a grin.
"Hey…can we…do something in center city?"
"Is it my surprise?"
"No! I told you, that's after orientation. This is another cool thing."
"Hmm…I prefer the surprise but…I guess this will do." Tweek grinned, tugging him towards the subway. Once they were back in center city, Tweek took Craig to a building called Liberty One Observation Deck. After paying, they rode an elevator all the way up, Craig blinking as the door opened. It was a room that had windows all the way around in a circular shape overlooking the city. It was a little taller than City Hall, so getting to look down at the beautiful building was something that Craig could get used to. He grinned, always loving the feeling of being high. He never hated heights. He always felt closer to the moon.
"My mom and dad took me up here the first time we visited here," Tweek murmured, standing next to Craig. "I just…once I saw this I knew I needed to come back here." Craig chuckled, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"I can see why…I'm…really excited for you, Tweek. You're gonna do so many awesome things here." Tweek blushed, leaning into his side.
"Thanks, Craig." They stood there, watching the sunset behind a building until it was completely out of sight. When they got back to their hotel room, Craig pushed Tweek against the door, making the blonde gasp.
"I…can we…try and be intimate?" Craig breathed out. It was a question he normally wouldn't ask, but they haven't had sex since a few days before Craig left for orientation (which was almost three weeks ago). Hell, all they've done is kiss! Tweek smiled softly at the request, nodding.
"If…if this is something you're ready for." Craig nodded, blushing.
"I-I…miss you, Tweek." Tweek hummed, placing a gentle, experimental kiss to his neck. He smiled as he heard him gasp.
"I miss you, too."
They didn't have sex, but it was night of rediscovering themselves all over again. Craig propped himself up on his elbow, hovering over Tweek as he smiled. The moon shone in, lighting up those emerald eyes of his. Craig hummed, placing a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"You know…we could just…get hitched?" Tweek blinked, his face turning a dark red.
"Craig…"
"I-I know, I know but…think about it. We don't even have to tell anyone. We can do it while we're here. That way I can just…always have you. I'm…so scared of losing you. It hurts when I think about it and…I-I don't know I just…really fucking love you." Tweek closed his eyes for a moment, reaching up and brushing the hair off Craig's forehead.
"We can't…at least, not yet," Craig smiled a bit. "Maybe…maybe for our twentieth birthdays. Or-or to celebrate graduating from college."
"But that's two or four years from now!"
"We've waited this long to date, we can wait a little longer to get married." The words felt weird coming out of Tweek's mouth, but they also felt right. He did want to marry Craig, but he wanted to get through school first. Craig pouted.
"Alright, fine. Only because I love you." He laid down next to Tweek, the blonde rolling over to face him.
"I love you, too, ya know. And I'm not saying I don't want to marry you. Because I-I do. I really really do." Craig's heart fluttered, a smile forming on his face. He held out his pinky.
"Pinky promise?"
"We have so many pinky promises."
"Well, we've kept them all, haven't we?" Tweek smiled slowly, linking their pinkies.
"Alright…pinky promise."
Tweek's orientation, from the sounds of it when they talked on the phone, was just as painful as Craig's. It was long presentations and cheesy ice breakers in an effort to bring the students closer together, but Tweek did meet a nice girl named Ivy in his orientation group. She was from New York and told Tweek she had a lot of anxiety about leaving home. They immediately hit it off, both expressing their concerns about being so far away from their hometowns. After a while, Ivy smiled. They were eating lunch now, their second day coming to a close soon, and they had been talking amongst themselves.
"So, Tweek, got anyone special in your life?" Tweek blushed, smiling around his cup.
"U-Uh…yeah, actually. He's here in the city with me now. He, uh, had something bad happen a few weeks ago and needed to get out of Colorado."
"He, huh? What's his name?"
"Craig."
"Mmm. He sounds hot," Tweek laughed softly, scrolling through his phone to find a good picture or Craig. He settled on an image of them after one of his hockey games. He slid his phone across the table, Ivy gaping at his phone. "Are you serious?! That's him?! He's gorgeous!" Tweek grinned.
"I know. He's…honestly the best," He admitted, taking his phone back. "What about you?" Ivy smiled softly, pushing her phone across the table.
"My girlfriend Autumn. She's…the love of my life." Tweek smiled at the image. It was both of them at prom.
"She's beautiful." He breathed out, sliding her phone back.
"She's going to Florida State. I'm…anxious about everything…ya know, the distance and all." Tweek smiled sadly.
"I totally understand. Craig's going to University of Colorado…we've argued a lot over the months…about the distance."
"Us too! I'm just…ya know-"
"Scared." She blinked, smiling sadly.
"Yeah…scared." They talked quietly for the remainder of the lunch, finally going on to see a few more presentations before class scheduling. Tweek didn't even call Craig when he left the campus, heading straight to Rittenhouse Square to see what he was up to. When he got back to their hotel room, Tweek heard the shower running. He hummed, knocking on the bathroom door.
"…Tweek?!" He smiled, pushing the door open.
"It's me."
"Jesus, I thought I was about to die naked." Tweek snorted, taking his shirt off.
"Really? You thought you were gonna die?" He shimmied out of his pants and boxers, stepping out of them before tugging his socks off and pulling the curtain back. Craig jumped, smiling a bit when he realized Tweek was naked.
"Well…if I have died…I must've gone to heaven." Tweek rolled his eyes, smacking his chest as he got in the shower with him.
"Stop with the dad jokes!" He laughed, Craig tugging him into a kiss. He didn't even bother responding, knowing it was a lost battle. He pressed Tweek against the wall, humming against his lips. The water felt good on Tweek's sore body, but these kisses felt better. He smiled, tilting his head to the side as Craig kissed down his neck. "S-so what's the-nng-motive here?"
"Mm…we'll see." Craig purred, tugging him closer. Tweek grinned, wrapping his arms around his neck.
"Hey," Craig looked up at him from his spot on his knees, placing gentle kisses to Tweek's stomach and hips, "I love you." Craig smiled, sucking lightly at Tweek's hip. A small moan left his lips, his eyes fluttering shut. He placed a light kiss to the dark hickey on his hip as he stood up, kissing him again.
"I love you more."
Craig woke up to the sound of Tweek's alarm the next day, smiling a bit as Tweek rolled over and shook him awake.
"Hey! Hey you! It's time for your surprise!" Tweek was so excited and it made Craig's chest hurt from how adorable he looked, hair still messy from sleep. Craig chuckled.
"'m up." He slurred, sitting up slowly. After getting ready and going downstairs to eat breakfast, Tweek took Craig's wrist and started dragging him towards the subway.
"I've had this planned out for ever. I knew once I got you here I had to take you to this place."
"Oh, so it's a place?" Tweek grinned.
"Craig, it was made for you." Craig furrowed his brows.
"Tweek."
"Cross my heart. You will cry."
"I'm trusting you." After a ten-minute subway ride and about a fifteen-minute walk, Tweek grinned as they stopped in front of a pretty looking building.
"Ta da!" Craig blinked, looking up. He grinned slowly, his hand covering his mouth.
"Wait…Tweek, you didn't!" Tweek had brought Craig to the Franklin Institute, which was known for their science, astrology, hands on experiments, and, overall, just being a neat place for science lovers, such as Craig. He tugged Tweek into a tight hug, grinning from ear to ear.
"Surprise! I knew you'd love it!" Tweek laughed, kissing Craig's cheek. Craig grabbed his hand, rushing up the steps of the institute. Once inside and waiting in line, Craig looked around, awe in his eyes as he took in everything around him. He had always dreamed of coming here. When he was thirteen, he made a list of the best science and space museum type places to go to, and the Franklin Institute was number one on his list. After they paid, Tweek just held onto Craig's hand as they wandered around, letting his giddy boyfriend lead the way. Tweek smiled when they reached a hallway that was dedicated to space, enjoying the way Craig's face lit up. He tugged Tweek over to a map of stars and planets, pointing to some of the planets as he rattled of facts about the planets.
"Okay, so when I was younger, I learned this song that helped me remember the order of the planets, and-and I love it so, okay, just, I'll say it, ready? The sun's a hot star. Mercury is hot, too. Venus is the brightest planet, and Earth's home to me and you. Mars is the red one, Jupiter's most wide. Saturn's got those icy rings and Uranus spins on its side. Neptune's really windy, and Pluto's really small. So-so you wanted to name the planets, and now you named them all! I don't-I don't remember where I learned that from, but it always stuck with me. I still consider Pluto a planet, I don't want it to feel left out. And-and did you now that Jupiter has the shortest day out of all the planets? Its' day lasts about nine hours and fifty-five minutes and because of the rapid rotation, the planet is flattened slightly! Neptune also has a really active climate. It has a lot of storms that go through its upper atmosphere and it has high-speed winds that can get as fast as six hundred meters per second! The longest storm was in 1989, and they called it the Great Dark Spot and it lasted five years!" Tweek followed Craig's finger, trying his best to keep up with all the facts. He leaned his head on his shoulder, his cheek smushed up from leaning on it. He smiled, glancing up at Craig at one point. That familiar happiness was back in his eyes, and Tweek was so happy to see it. He kissed Craig's shoulder after a while.
"Come on…they have a planetarium I think you'd like." Craig's face lit up, nodding as Tweek lead him through the institute. They stopped every now and then, watching some kids try out some of the interactive exhibits (and, when no one was looking, they'd try it out, too). It was the happiest they both had been in a long time, and man, it felt good to feel that way. Once in line for the planetarium, Craig kissed Tweek's cheek, blushing.
"Thanks for, uh…letting me ramble about space." Tweek smiled.
"You shouldn't feel sorry. It's…adorable and, quite honestly, really impressive." Craig laughed softly, leaning against the wall.
"I…yeah? You think so?" Tweek pressed a quick peck to his lips.
"Of course. You support me in my endeavors and I'm gonna support you in yours. I love you. It's what we do." Craig chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah…you're right," Once they walked inside, Tweek watched Craig out of the corner of his eye as they sat in the reclined seats. They little display hasn't even started yet and Craig was already brighter than the moon a few nights ago. Once the room was full, the lights dimmed out and the dome above them was filled with stars and constellations. Tweek leaned against Craig's shoulder again, looking up at him. He tuned out the narrator of the video, Tweek wishing to only focus on the look of pure joy on his boyfriend's face. He smiled, his eyes dropping closed. He was content. Craig was content. It was perfect. He didn't even hear Craig talking to him after about twenty minutes, the people around them starting to leave. "…did you know that about Ursa Major? I had no idea and I thought that I knew everything! I just-Tweek?" Craig glanced down, smiling at his sleeping boyfriend. He chuckled, kissing his forehead as he nudged him awake. "Tweek, wake up." Tweek shot up, blushing as he wiped the droll off the corner of his lips. Craig grinned slowly.
"S-Sorry!" he stammered, blushing a darker red. Craig grinned, kissing his forehead again.
"Don't be. I know this can be boring." Tweek's eyes widened as they stood up.
"N-No! I'm not bored! I-I'm just really tired from the past few days and-and all." Craig chuckled, wrapping an arm around him.
"I know, honey. Thank you. Seriously. This…trip has been…rejuvenating." Tweek smiled, grabbing Craig's hand that had the promise ring on it and pressing his hand that had the promise ring against it, their palms pressed tight together as their fingers slid between each other.
"Well…I made a promise. I promised to keep you happy and-and healthy. I wasn't doing that for a few days when you really needed me, so now I gotta make up for it. If we're gonna get married someday, I have to keep up these promises." Craig's heart fluttered at the mention of marriage, smiling softly.
"If we get married…what last name are we using?" They stopped walking, both thinking a moment. They looked at each other at the same time after a few minutes, smiling as they said at the same time, "Tucker."
NOTE: Sorry this chapter is so all over the place, but like I said at the beginning note, it maybe a bit before I can update again! So, if you haven't figured it out by now, I go to school in Philadelphia and it happens to be Temple! (yes, there is a lot of construction on my campus currently). I purposely did this so I could have specific locations mentioned throughout the city and campus that our boys go to! All of these locations are places I have been to and, if you were all interested, I can add pictures that I have taken of specific spots, such as City Hall, so that way you can actually see what they see! Let me know what you think! And also: the song of the planets Craig says is a song I used to learn the planets. It was a toy I had that was Blue's Clues themed that had Steve sing the song every time you pressed a planet. Hope you enjoyed, and as always, any and all feed back is appreciated!