Thanks to anyone who's been reading this!
Apologies for this chapter being mostly leading up to future events, but it must be done!
After the first kiss, their relationship gradually came more naturally to them. Tweek would come over in the morning on school days, Craig would drive him to school, and they'd hold hands anywhere they went. When they had to part ways to go to classes they didn't have together, they'd give each other a short kiss. Nothing felt particularly forced; that was, until Clyde made his big announcement.
"Craig! Craig!" Before the raven knew what hit him, he'd been grabbed from behind by an overzealous brunette in between classes. Shaking him off, Craig turned to face his freckled friend- noting how far he made Tweek jump during his attack and flipping him off. This didn't seem to stop the brown-eyed boy's enthusiasm. "You won't believe what happened!" The blue-eyed boy knew he wouldn't get away from Clyde until he listened to him.
"... What's that?" His voice dripped in disinterest, but the brunette continued.
"I've got a date with Lola! Like, the cheerleader Lola!" As Craig had predicted, he wasn't interested whatsoever.
"G-good job, Clyde!" Tweek's enthusiasm was simply from the coffee in his hands- that and he wanted to keep in good standing with Craig's friends. Clyde beamed at the blond before continuing.
"Yeah- all I have to do is throw a party and invite you guys!" This statement stopped the couple in their tracks. They both assumed she wanted something from him, but this was a very odd request. Craig was the first to put their internal concerns into words.
"Why us?" His voice was flat as always, but that wasn't anything Clyde wasn't used to and he simply shrugged it off.
"She named a few couples, you guys were just one of them... And you guys are the only holdouts, so you can't say no!" He looked pretty intense about this. With a sigh, the raven turned to Tweek.
"... What do you think?" He felt like he didn't even have to ask with the panicked expression the blond was wearing.
"Gah! J-Jesus, that's too much pressure! Parties have so many p-people! And what if the cops come? I don't wanna get arrested!" Craig grabbed Tweek's hand in an attempt to calm him down.
"... I think you have an answer, dude." It didn't take long for Clyde to suddenly grab at Tweek's shirt and turn on the waterworks again.
"Dude please! This could be my one chance at true love!" Craig was used to this sort of behavior, but the blond certainly wasn't. With a shriek and another muscle spasm, he flew backwards into his boyfriend for protection.
"Ch-Christ, but you say that every other week!" Getting the message that Tweek didn't want to get clung to, the brunette resorted to clasping his hands in a pleading fashion. The raven rolled his eyes, but the blond was a little more soft-hearted. After a moment of mulling it over, he turned to face Craig. He spoke in the lowest voice he could muster, as if it were some embarrassing secret. "... I-if we go, you have to promise to stay with me..." The raven blinked, surprised that Clyde was able to persuade him so easily, and even more so that Tweek made such an honest request. The brunette's eyes lit up, still getting the gist of the question, and watched Craig expectantly.
"... Before you agree to anything, you should know that Clyde's parties always have alcohol, Tweek." He watched panic flash through the blond's eyes at this. Tweek looked between Craig and Clyde for a moment, tugging his tie nervously and having another fit of spasms. Both the brunette and raven attempted to stop him; even though he didn't show it, Clyde sort of thought of Tweek like a little brother so he didn't want to upset him.
"H-hey dude, it's okay! You've got plenty of time to think about it, the party's not until a week from Saturday!" Craig shot his best friend a thankful- albeit incredibly short- look for not pushing the blond any farther. Tweek was still getting used to the extra attention brought on by their rehearsed relationship, so talking him down from an anxiety peak was a lot of effort... or, at least, more effort than Craig had ever been required to give to anyone.
"Gah! A-alright, we'll think about it!" The olive-eyed boy started to breathe more easily, but he still insistently grabbed Craig's hand as if on instinct. He didn't mind, clutching the trembling hand with his frigidly cold one. He didn't know how Tweek kept his hands so warm in the middle of winter... though, to be fair, his entire body practically radiated heat. Clyde grinned at Tweek before ruffling his hair up and dashing off to his next class, earning another 'gah!' in response. Turning to Craig, as if wordlessly snitching on Clyde, the blond was only met with another farewell kiss.
"I gotta get to class, babe... I'll catch you at lunch." Craig couldn't keep himself from calling the younger boy pet names- it was a reflex, and he'd let it slip so many times that they both accepted it as part of their routine. Tweek simply smiled sheepishly, his cheeks tinted pink as they often were after a kiss. The raven couldn't deny that he felt a heart palpitation in that moment... Trying to ignore it he scurried off to his class, anxiously clenching his fists to keep his tick of flipping people off under control.
Flopping into his desk upon entering the classroom, the taller boy let out an exasperated sigh. He didn't lose his cool often, but sometimes he wondered what Tweek's real feelings on this 'relationship' was... How long did he want to keep it up? They hadn't really discussed that part. Craig's thoughts were interrupted when he felt the puffball on his chullo hat being lifted up and off of his head.
"Something up? ... You look like something's up." The raven peered up to see his offender- the messy kid with strawberry blond hair was sitting backwards in his seat, staring him down.
"Can it McCormick, nothing's up." Craig pulled the strings of his hat down with one hand while flipping Kenny of with the other. He simply snickered, crossing his arms over the back of his seat.
"Man, pretty defensive for nothing being up... You're blushing, by the way." The edges of Kenny's lips curled at that last statement, clearly proud of his observational skills. He'd stopped wearing his parka hood so tightly around his face just in time to get a mouth full of braces. Though he was a lot easier to understand now, having what several of the girls in their grade considered a 'pretty face' seemed to have gone to his head. Regardless, he seemed to be most level-headed of his gang, so Craig didn't really mind him... aside from this moment.
"I'm not blushing, I just had to rush to class. ... Are you going to Clyde's party?" Craig was trying to change the subject as quickly as possible before the attention made his cheeks go any redder. Kenny just laughed a little.
"Of course, man! I'm trying to talk ol' Leo into being my date- but some kids started some rumor about us so it's not gonna be easy. Just my luck, eh?" The raven had to think for a moment before remembering Butters' real name was Leopold. Though Craig tended to avoid long conversations with Kenny, he was also his best source of information that the others weren't willing to give.
"... Any idea why Lola wants so many couples to show up?" Craig tried to seem nonchalant, but chicks' plans made him nervous. This earned another laugh from the poor boy.
"Dude, it's a make-out party... Of course a lot of couples'll be there." Craig's eyes widened somewhat- the ice king had frozen up. Noticing the paler boy's expression, Kenny went on. "... Didn't Lola tell you that?" Craig shook his head somewhat.
"She's not the one who invited us, Clyde did."
"Pffft, figures! Clyde's as dense, as... well, you. No wonder you guys're so close." Another annoying, high-pitched cackle. Craig swore under his breath a little; once Tweek found out what kind of party it was, there was no way they were going to go.
Craig had decided to wait until he could get the blond alone before talking to him, so he approached him at the end of the day. Just like clockwork, their hands connected the moment the raven reached Tweek. The caffeine addict shot him a small smile.
"M-my parents texted me and asked if you wanted to have dinner with us..." Craig could tell the uncertainty in Tweek's voice.
"... I don't see a problem with that?" He'd never had dinner at the Tweak household, but he assumed it wouldn't be anything horrible. Sure, they treated their son more like an employee than their offspring, but if Tweek didn't hold it against them then neither would Craig.
"My parents can be really... o-overbearing." The blond's hand had drifted to tug and toy with one of his boyfriend's wristbands, much like he usually did to his tie or hair. Craig didn't mind, just relieved that Tweek wasn't injuring himself. "T-they keep asking me about you, and... Gah, it's just too much pressure!" The wristband snapped back against the raven's wrist, causing him to wince- but with Tweek panicking like this, he chose to let it slide and opted to grab the blond's hand again.
"Honey, calm down. I'll go... We need to talk about Clyde's party, anyway." The pair of olive eyes in front of him widened.
"J-Jesus Christ, I-I know...!" Craig could nearly sense the incoming panic attack, so he began leading Tweek to his car without any further discussion. The moment they were both in the car, Tweek buried his face in his hands and began spewing out his worries. "That Lola chick was sitting next to me in a-art class- she's crazy! She w-wants Clyde to throw a party just for kissing!" Though the subject of the party stressed Craig out as well, he couldn't help but chuckle at the blond.
"This kind of party is pretty normal, Tweek... Well, when you're dating someone." This caused another yelp from the blond.
"Gah, have you been to one?" He twitched again.
"N-"
"Ch-Christ, we kiss all the time! I could get m-mono!" Craig couldn't help feeling frustrated at the paranoid boy, flipping him off.
"Chill the fuck out, Tweek. I haven't been to one, and I don't have mono to give you." The raven watched as Tweek jumped before looking at the floorboard of the unmoving car. Craig watched him a moment before starting to apologize, only to get cut off by the blond.
"... Were you wanting to go to this one...?" stutter was lost from his voice again, though still hesitant. the raven averted his eyes to stare at the steering wheel.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Craig rubbed the back of his neck. "It's sorta nice to hang out with all the guys, but it's cool if you don't want to. ... No pressure." Craig added that at the end as if that would actually redirect some of the pressure. Of course it wouldn't, he was giving Tweek a yes or no question where he was the only one who wanted to say no. He buried his face in his hands, just like he did before their first kiss, leaving a good thirty seconds of time to crawl by before opening his mouth to speak again.
"I mean it, Craig... Please don't leave me alone at this party. I barely know anyone." The raven didn't hesitate before nodding to him; he knew any sort of hesitation, at least to Tweek, meant uncertainty. He couldn't help but worry that he was forcing the blond to do a lot more than he was comfortable with, but on the other hand this entire relationship was Tweek's idea. At the very least, maybe pushing the blond out of his comfort zone could get him get used to these things. Craig gave the younger boy's hand one last squeeze before beginning the drive to the Tweak residence.