[Present Day]
Tweek was laying in his bed, in his room, at Boulder University of Colorado. His parents had, thankfully, been able to help him get a room all to himself even as a freshman. Mostly unheard of, but when informed of his "disabilities" they agreed readily enough to it. His therapy sessions were every two weeks, through telehealth, but he was covered to go to the counseling center on campus if the need arose.
He could hardly believe it, he had followed through on his interest. He would be getting his BS in Computer Science. A broad enough degree, that he might narrow further with graduate work or if he could, the special program that allowed him to attain his bachelors and masters, but he hadn't wanted to put all of that pressure on himself so quickly. He figured after an entire year, he could make that decision, even though he knew it would be a lot of pressure.
For now though, he was all right. Fine, even.
Classes hadn't begun yet, he knew others from South Park were attending classes there too. He had only been to the campus itself a few times, he knew where his classes were and where the cafeteria was. He had inquired about the least busy times, though he knew he would probably take snacks on his full class days, but he wanted to be able to get coffee on days he didn't feel like making himself some. His parents, of course, had supplied him with the means to make himself coffee and promised to send him more supplies when he ran out, he would just have to tell them what he wanted or needed.
He had some food with a well stocked fridge and small closet, but on long days he knew he wouldn't feel like making something. He did have a few frozen meals that wouldn't take much to reheat but he had found a love of cooking during high school. He wasn't fancy or anything, but he preferred cooking his own food than reheating something frozen.
This would be the first time he was on his own, completely.
No parents, No Craig, hopefully no underpants gnomes.
Sure there were others from South Park here, but the campus was large and there were no guarantees they would be in the same general education classes. He wanted to join clubs, at least one pertaining to his major and probably any LGBT+ oriented clubs he could find.
He had wondered after he and Craig broke up whether it was only Craig or if he liked men in general, eventually he landed on the label of demisexual, but still very much gay. Women were great as friends, but nothing beyond that.
In the previous years he had changed considerably, from the small twitchy child he had been. His blond hair was still wildly spiked, but not because he tugged at it, more because he put product in his hair and liked it like that. His fingers were often covered in chinpokomon bandaids because they would often split open. He had gotten taller, not as tall as Craig, but he was a respectable 5'10. Craig had continued to grow past his freshman height and stood around 6'6. Unlike Craig, he was still lean, he didn't have much muscle-mass, but he was strong enough from all the shifts at the coffee shop and lifting and carrying their stock around and having to move the machines to clean them or around them. He mostly still dressed in black or tan cargo pants and a mixture of button up shirts, regardless of his ability to properly button them, a plain t-shirt beneath it usually in black, gray, or sometimes a dark green. He started wearing boots when he was fifteen, finding them to be comfortable and they protected his toes if he happened to drop something or trip over himself. He had toyed with the ideas of piercings and tattoos, but ultimately decided that right now, they were too much pressure.
A feeling of unreality swamped him suddenly.
He laid back in his bed and gazed up at the ceiling.
A few things had occurred to him, this was the first time he was spending an extended time away from south park, this was his first time being somewhere new without Craig, and what was he going to do now that he was here, by himself?
He wasn't quite sure, but he knew he made the right decision. He and Craig were still..., friends, but distance had definitely grown between them. Not just because they weren't dating anymore, but Craig had withdrawn further, spending most of his time with Christophe. While glad Craig had at least one friend, he worried about what they got up to. Christophe was incredibly violent, not that anyone in South Park had done anything about his tendencies.
But Craig and Christophe weren't his problems or responsibility.
He sighed and got up, going to make a cup of coffee.
He calmed as he got his mug and the coffee beans. As the pot brewed, he gazed around the space, a small apartment, to himself. Thankfully he was on the ground floor, and even had a backdoor that locked that if he wanted to for some reason, he could go out of though it couldn't be locked from outside.
Soon, he returned to his room with his coffee and used his Playstation controller to turn on his PS4. He turned it to a streaming service and put on something mindless for background noise. He halfheartedly paid attention and drank his coffee.
He played on his phone with one hand, scrolling through Facebook, checking when and where his classes were again. He knew but he was still anxious about everything. Maybe he would go to the "Student Union" area tomorrow and see what he could learn about any clubs. Being alone was a little terrifying, but all the skills he'd learned in therapy over the years would help. He could and would do this, without Craig.
Craig...