Unravel (Creek)

Chapter 1

It's been almost 5 years since Tweek and Craig agreed, for the good of the town, to pretend to be a couple. To them it was a platonic relationship that people could speculate however way they wanted with no worries to the guys. Craig never cared much for anyone's opinion, not that anyone tested Craig long enough to get a reaction from him. No one messed with him, not even the older kids. 
         Tweek however, everything took some adjusting and most was for the greater good. In middle school pretending to be Craig's boyfriend meant he walked with the popular crowd and no one talked badly about him— at least to his face. He wasn't seen as that crazy, spazzy kid anymore. He was just Tweek. Still, it's was strange for him, he always wondered why the Japanese's girls choose the two of them. In the past, Tweek was the only kid in school who has ever fought Craig and still manage to be able stay in the same circle has him.
            Remember when Stan and his gang pit them against each other? They even fought to the point that they had to be hospitalized for similar injuries. Tweek remembered their time in the hospital room, and how he was so afraid that Craig would get up and suffocate him. Instead, Craig stayed on his side of the room quiet and in a daze. From that moment on, there was always a level of respect between them, which made the whole yaoi nonsense frustrating but tolerable. 
       However, for Tweek things had started to change for him over the years. The more time he spent with Craig the less he thought about anything else but Craig. To be honest, it scared him because neither of them were gay. They had both agreed in the beginning to keep it up 'till they left for college, and that they would both go far away and keep their communication to a minimum. That was the original plan, and still was the plan for Craig. Tweek however, no longer felt that way. He couldn't imagine a world without Craig.
         Despite their pretend relationship Craig still checked out girls, and the girls still checked him out. Often not caring that he and Tweek were a couple.  In the beginning, Tweek was never uncomfortable when Craig spoke to and about girl, but now he was. In fact just recently Craig, Clyde and Token created a list of girls at school that they wouldn't mind screwing. The list infuriated Tweek, but he never said anything. Clyde called the list 'the hottest girls in middle school'. Very similar to the one the girls wrote about them years back. They eventually got hold of the original draft copy, it was tucked into Butters locker on the last day of elementary school.

'Cutest boy in class' original copy:
1. Craig 2. Token 3. Stan 4. Bradley 5. Kyle 6. Jason 7. Leroy 8. Kenny 9. Jimmy 10. Tweek 11. Kevin 12. Butters 13. Clyde 14. Timmy 15. Francis 16. Cartman

         No one knows 'till this day who put the note there. Regardless of which it didn't 'please in sparkles' for the girls especially Bebe, who stopped receiving shoes from Clyde and began getting death threats from Eric. If anything, it made Craig irritable when it was now apparent why girls were always giggling around him. Craig would prefer no attention from anyone, even Tweek sometimes.
Cold air forced it way through Tweek's slightly opened window. Tweek couldn't sleep, he was anxious, but for a good reason. It was the first day of high school and Tweek was excited. Not because he was so anxious to learn, but because Craig was finally back from visiting Oregon. He had gone there for his grandmother's funeral and ended up staying the whole summer. One time when they spoke, Craig told him that his grandmother name Craig and his sister her heirs and left them her fortune to divided but in addition she also left Craig the summer home and since the majority of the family were upset about that, Craig's dad felt it was right to spend the summer there to ease the anger of the family.
          It didn't make sense to Tweek, as he thought, wouldn't you want to be away from them? Why deal with all that pressure? Anyway, Tweek told Craig that he was happy for him and despite knowing he would miss him terribly, and before he hung up Tweek told him to try and enjoy his summer. That evening was the first time Tweek silently cried in a long time.
        In the back of Tweek's mind he felt that Craig's dad decided to stay not because he cared about family, but simply to keep his newly wealthy son away from Tweek. Even though he told Craig he was happy for them. He wasn't. His dad never liked Tweek much. And at the same time, Craig's father isn't blind either, he sees that his son checks out girls so perhaps he saw through their fake relationship and wanted to keep them apart to make sure nothing ever develops.
            Either way summer was hard for Tweek, because he was alone most of the time. He would have never left the house all summer if it weren't for Butters coming over to play video games and dragging him to the park. He wasn't surprised that Clyde and Token was m.i.a, Tweek has known for a long time that they only spoke to him when Craig was around.
        Comfortable in the warmth of his bed, Tweek had to forced himself to get out. Almost falling to the floor when his foot was caught in his bed sheet.
        "R-re-relax," he told himself as he scrambled to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shower.
         It was 4:00 am in the morning but he wanted to be ready and to get to the bus stop on time. As he got dress in front of the mirror his fingers were trembling and he just couldn't seem to button his shirt properly. Upon receiving the text from Craig of his return he tried to wean off of black coffee.
         When they started to pretend date, Craig had one request. Stop drinking coffee. Craig even helped Tweek through his caffeine withdrawal and to Tweek's surprise he was happier without it. In the 5 years that they had been together, Tweek had been free of the trembles, the monsters and messy buttoned shirts. Then Craig went away and Tweek relapsed into drinking coffee again.
            Tweek was ashamed but it help him cope while Craig was gone. When Craig informed him on when they were returning, Tweek cut off the coffee however he was now dealing with the withdrawal and alone. Tweek had hope that before school started he would feel normal again before their face to face encounter. However he wasn't, he was a trembling mess.
          Tweek has changed a little over the summer. His mother convinced him to cut his hair and he did. The hair cut changed his face and made him look softer, Tweek even thought that he looked handsome.  Still he missed his messy hair and was nervous of what Craig would say about it.  Or about the fact that his hair color when short seem more silver than yellow. Butters and Kenny were the only people who has seen his cut so far. Tweek didn't want to know what anyone else thought about his haircut cut, so he grabbed an olive hat from the drawer and wore it.
          Tweek couldn't help but wonder if Craig had changed, yes it was only 2 month but a lot could happen. He wondered if the already tall boy was taller, was his hair longer, the glow of crystal blue eyes did it fade? Was he full of shit now that he was rich, or was he humble like Token? Did Craig miss him?
          Tweek went downstairs and over to the coffee machine. His parents always left him coffee and a note before they left to open the coffee house. Tweek stood in front of the coffee makers for a long while before pouring himself a cup and taking a tiny sip before pouring the rest away. With his backpack at hand, Tweek waiting by the window 'till it was time to head to the bus stop that was a few minutes away.
           From a distance Tweek saw the gang at the bus stop waiting. He made out Jimmy first, then Token and then Butters. The closer he got he saw Clyde and to the right of Clyde closest to the pole was Craig.