Chapter Text
I have hated Craig Tucker since fourth grade.
Tweek had never really expected to be friends with Craig after their fight. Especially considering they both had to be hospitalized after the ordeal. Giving someone a black eye which took weeks to properly heal was an easy way to ruin a friendship. But the deep dislike he had developed for the boy seemed to have come out of nowhere.
In their small mountain town, it was always better to move on from these spats and learn to exist amicably. The fight had been entirely orchestrated by Stan and his friends. There was no real bad blood between Tweek and Craig. All of it was a ruse used to fabricate a fight for the entertainment of their fourth grade class.
Tweek knew he had no reason to harbor any animosity towards Craig. It was illogical and yet that did nothing to stop the dark tendrils of hate circling his heart.
Before their infamous duel, Craig had always been just another classmate to Tweek. The boy who always wore a blue chullo hat, sounded like he was eternally congested, and was a little too blunt at times. There was nothing particularly remarkable about Craig but he had always been nice to Tweek. Which for Craig was mostly making dumb jokes and daring him to jump off the monkey bars. He treated Tweek like any other kid in their class and at the time, Tweek would have probably even called him his friend.
That changed during their stay at the hospital.
The days Tweek and Craig spent in recovery were almost like a reward for getting into a fight. Three days of no school, binging Red Racer as nurses tended to their every need. Tweek could withstand the excruciating pain if it meant getting out of class and work for a bit. The time passed by in a steady silence which Tweek relished. Considering Craig was a kid of few words and Tweek was having trouble even drinking his coffee due to the stitches on his lower lip, it was no surprise they barely spoke.
While at first this arrangement left Tweek content, a subtle paranoia began to fill his mind. He could feel Craig staring at him constantly. The stoic boy’s gaze scrutinized his every move and burned the back of Tweek’s head. Suddenly conscious of the jitteriness he couldn’t control, Tweek knew his presence must have finally worn its welcome. Craig had never seemed to mind the twitches before but this proximity to it must have been too much.
“Gah, I’m sorry.” Tweek said at last. He pulled his eyes away from the TV and towards Craig. “I can’t help it… the shaking. It’s annoying”
Strangely once he was confronted with Tweek’s gaze, Craig seemed to want to look anywhere else. Pulling the strings of his chullo hat, Craig obscured his face and spoke in a small, broken voice. “It’s okay.”
But Tweek swore he felt those green eyes on him again the second he looked away. Only now it was pissing him off.
The little bubble of isolation which Tweek and Craig had been living in popped the second they were back at school. Gossip, news, trends, and the latest Cartman scheme came flooding in. The entire student body had moved on and the fight was old news.
Which meant the curse of being trapped in close quarters together needed to be lifted. As the bell rang and students rushed to their desks, Tweek took extra effort to grab the seat next to Craig. Even though Tweek felt agitated the moment he saw Craig, he forced the resentment down. He had to be friendly, get through this first awkward encounter and the whole ordeal could be forgotten. Tweek rarely smiled but he managed to flash his gritted teeth uncomfortably. “Hey, Craig.”
There was no response from Craig except for a few emotionless blinks.
By the time fifth grade rolled around, it was a universally acknowledged truth that Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak were not friends. Not that it seemed to bother Craig in the least. Constantly surrounded by his gang, he was always in the center of the action. Meanwhile, Tweek had become a loner. Nothing more than a ghost which haunted Craig and prayed for his downfall.
While Craig excelled in the social department, Tweek still couldn’t help but notice how much the boy struggled with school. Especially math.
The period after lunch, as the class shuffled in, their teacher handed out their graded math worksheets. This was always Tweek’s favorite part of the day. A smug grin spread across his face when he saw the beautiful red “A” written on the top of his homework page. He glanced to his side, the seat assigned to his least favorite person. Craig’s worksheet sported a very disheartening “D-” and a terrifying collection of notes written in red.
Tweek could almost laugh. Normally, Craig immediately shoved his worksheets into his notebook as if that would hide the evidence from his report card. But not today. Today Craig was staring at the page.
Suddenly, a bloom of shame filled Tweek’s chest. Craig looked like he was about to cry. Not that Tweek should care, since Craig was a certified asshole who ignored him most of the time. But still, it felt wrong to laugh at someone else’s struggles. Guilt ate at Tweek, forcing his lips to move before he had a chance to think it through.
“Y’know, i-if you wanted, I could tutor you.”
Craig looked up at him, green eyes shining with a bit of anger. The emotion on his face passed, barely lasting a second. A light dusting of blush lingered though, betraying his embarrassment. “I don’t need help from you.”
Any ounce of pity Tweek had felt for Craig instantly vanished. He flashed his perfect worksheet dramatically, making sure Craig could see the score written at the top. “Suit yourself.”
Tweek worked extra hard to make sure his math grades were all A’s that year.
Elementary school eventually turned into middle school. With a world of other worries, Tweek decided sixth grade would be the year he stopped thinking about Craig. It was pointless to fixate on it and waste what little energy he had. No one cared that he had perfect grades. No one cared if he even showed up to school most of the time. No matter how hard he tried to prove he was more than a twitching freak, it was ultimately useless. People like Craig would always look down on people like Tweek.
Though as the first month of middle school dragged on, the sad truth became apparent. His classmates did not even notice Tweek anymore. He had gone from weirdo to insignificant background speck. No one looked down on him. No one looked at him at all.
So why couldn’t Tweek stop himself from noticing every single little change about Craig. Towering, good looking, and popular, if it wasn’t for the worn out blue chullo Craig would be almost unrecognizable.
That same hat was missing when Craig came waltzing into detention.
As a regular member of the after school detention club, Tweek had yet to run into the Tucker boy that year. Seems South Park Elementary’s resident troublemaker was finally on the up and up. Tweek on the other hand not so much. An afternoon in detention was always preferable to an afternoon working at the coffee shop. At least it gave him time to actually get his homework done.
“What are you doing here?” Stan Marsh whispered harshly as Craig took the spot next to him.
“Flipped off Ms. Tyson.” The hatless boy laid his head down on the desk in front of him.
“WHY? The team needs you. We can’t both be benched over fucking detention.”
“She took my hat.” Craig replied as if that instantly explained and justified everything. His eyes wandered the classroom until they fell on Tweek. After a moment of eye contact, Tweek broke the stare, turned back to his English essay, and tried to tune out the two football players.
Stan groaned. “Fuck. Coach is not going to be happy.”
Ms. Tyson’s classroom was notorious for her strict “no hats indoors” rule. A rare request considering they lived in the freezing cold mountains. And for Craig, who probably slept in his hat, it was a ridiculous ask.
Unable to focus over the sound of Stan berating Craig for being a stubborn ass, Tweek watched the clock tick and wondered if he would get frostbite one day from not dressing warm enough.
It was already dark when Tweek knocked on the Tucker’s front door. This whole idea had been stupid, but Tweek took a deep breath. His body felt like running while his feet felt too heavy to move. As he heard a shuffling on the other side of the door, his body started shaking even worse than normal. He twisted the blue knit in his hands and begged for anyone but Craig to answer the door.
The universe was against him when a head of black hat hair and a pair of bored green eyes looked down at him.
Tweek waited a moment for a greeting that never came before he realized he’d have to speak first. Small groan escaped his teeth and he shoved the blue hat at Craig. “Here!”
A second passed before Craig grabbed the hat from Tweek’s outstretched hands. Without a word, he stared down at the familiar article. “My hat?”
“I picked it up from Tyson’s room. I thought…” This was such a mistake. “I t-thought maybe you’d want it before tomorrow.”
“Well, I don’t.” The door closed a little too quickly and the whole frame rattled from the force.
Craig Tucker was never seen wearing his iconic chullo again.
While the school paper was hardly the end all be all, it was still a generally respected and credible journalistic outlet. Even outside of South Park High, a majority of the town was subscribed to the weekly publication. This was thanks in large part to the absolute beast Jimmy Valmer was in the editing room. Tweek normally looked forward to reading the thoughtful student essays or news reports. But this headline made him feel sick.
Craig Tucker: South Park’s First Openly Gay Kid!
A photo of Craig flipping off the camera took up a majority of the feature. Tweek’s eyes quickly scanned the article, which included details of how Craig came out during a school assembly. As if that was news, the entire school had seen it.
When asked for a comment, Craig said, “Fuck off.”
The whole thing seemed extremely out of character for the stoic Craig. A big show of coming out and all of this attention seemed like something he would have wanted to avoid. Although, Tweek supposed, he was hardly in the position to judge that. The last time he had spoken to Craig Tucker was about three years ago, right before the asshole slammed the door in his face.
Tweek gripped the cursed newspaper in his hands and tore it in half.
“I just can’t believe it.” A group of girls were huddled in a circle, completely blocking the hallway and making it impossible for Tweek to get to his next class. Each one had a copy of the paper in their hands.
“He’s just so brave, so vulnerable.”
“It kinda just makes him even hotter.”
The ripples of Craig’s grand coming out spread throughout the whole school. Suddenly being gay was totally cool. Administration was inspired to start sharing resources for other kids questioning their sexuality. The entire student body came together to raise money for LGBTQ+ charities. And seeing how positively everyone had responded, other kids finally had the courage to come out.
When the GSA formed, it made sense to elect Craig as the president even though he hadn’t joined the club. Much to everyone’s disappointment, Craig finally put his foot down and refused to go along with their ridiculous ideas anymore. His after school schedule was already full of sports and Red Racer reruns. Being the town’s gay icon was too much work.
Everytime he thought about that stupid headline, Tweek couldn’t help the bitter feeling of jealousy which seemed to only feed the hatred in his heart. He had been openly gay since middle school and no one had been rushing to praise him for it. There weren’t articles written to praise him for his bravery. Instead, Tweek had gotten a fist to the face. The taste of blood filled his mouth every time he remembered that day.
Sometimes, Tweek wished Nichole had come into his life just a year earlier. Because ever since they found each other in seventh grade, the world had felt a little less lonely.
There had been a fear in the back of Tweek’s mind that the moment the curtains closed, Nichole was going to disappear. That with the school play over, she could finally stop the act and admit their whole friendship had been nothing but a façade. Tweek knew it was an irrational fear. But a deep sigh still escaped his lips when after their final bow, when the crowd was no longer watching, she kept holding his hand.
Nichole Daniels was new to South Park and wasn’t burdened with a history that came with growing up in the small town. A clean slate, able to be whatever person she wanted to be. She was relaxed and easygoing. So smart she got bored with school. Always starting new art and crafts projects but never finishing them. She tried so hard to be rebellious but was always too scared to really take a risk.
And she called Tweek her best friend.
As Nichole dug through her parent’s cluttered garage, Tweek bit at the skin surrounding his nails. It was embarrassing to admit that this was his first ever sleepover, so he kept it to himself. But it was impossible to hide how nervous he was. He knew he was acting weird.
“Found it!” Nichole waved the tightly bundled sleeping bag above her head triumphantly.
Biting down on his finger a bit too hard, Tweek let out all in one word. “Thisismyfirstsleepover.”
“Really?” There was a look of mild surprise on her face that made Tweek feel just a little pathetic.
Nichole jumped over a broken shelf and played it cool when she stumbled into a half empty can of paint. “Want an ice cream sandwich?”
Ice cream secured, lights off, and movie loaded into the DVD player, the two kids settled into the cozy warmth of the Daniel’s living room. Tweek watched as the opening scene to Spirited Away started playing. From her makeshift bed on the couch, Nichole looked down at Tweek.
“Are you actually going to sleep?”
She knew Tweek barely slept so there was no point in lying. “I don’t know.”
“Then let’s watch Kiki’s Delivery Service next!”
Halfway through the movie, Tweek was thoroughly invested in admiring Haku and mentally cursing anime boys for being way too easy to crush on when Nichole stuck her bare foot in his face.
“Ack. ”
“Stop gawking at the river spirit and answer me. The dance next month? Will you go with me?”
“Sorry, I’m gay.” Tweek threw a hand to his forehead in mock dramatics before Nichole gently kicked him in the face again.
“You know what I mean!” There was an edge of a laugh in Nichole’s voice before she went on more somberly. “Go with me as my friend.”
“School dances are just… ngh . It’s too much pressure!”
But when the dance rolled around, Tweek found himself in that stuffy gym with Nichole pulling him to the dance floor.
Over the course of their friendship, the image of Nichole pulling Tweek along seemed to be a recurring trope. When Nichole got an idea, Tweek knew it was inevitable for him to be roped in. At first, he tried to resist. Trying new things made him anxious. The unknown left too much room for things to go wrong. But whether Tweek liked it or not, life couldn’t just be comfortable familiarity forever. And it was a lot more fun to partake in new experiences with his best friend. No matter how apprehensive Tweek felt about whatever scheme Nichole proposed, he always eventually relented.
So when Nichole flashed a pack of cigarettes she had bought from a kid behind school, Tweek tentatively followed her to his backyard.
“I-I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Nichole just smiled and confidently stuck the cigarette to her lips. There was a flick as she struggled with the lighter but eventually the horrid smell of smoke filled the space between the two teenagers.
An attempt to take a drag only led to her coughing uncontrollably. It didn’t dissuade her. A few more tries and she was able to take in a deep breath of the smoke. She extended a fresh one towards Tweek, who visibly flinched back.
“No way.”
“You have to try it at least once.”
“NO! I’m not getting lung cancer.” Tweek took a step back and pulled the hem of his sweatshirt roughly. “Oh, god! You probably already got it with all the smoke you inhaled.”
The lighter was already clicking in Nichole’s hand as she singed Tweek’s cigarette. “That’s not how it works. You won’t get lung cancer from ONE cigarette.”
Tweek eyed the lit stick with disdain when she offered it to him again. They both knew it was already a lost battle. Shaky hands took the cigarette and slowly raised it to chapped lips.
“Just once.”
“Just this once.”
The smoke which filled Tweek’s lungs felt light and sacred. He didn’t cough. As he exhaled and watched the wisps escape from between his teeth, he waited for the other shoe to fall. For his lungs to immediately explode or his entire throat to turn to dust. Neither happened. Tweek knew nothing would happen. He always knew but that didn’t stop his mind from screaming in panic.
Just like how he couldn’t stop his mind from constantly convincing him that this friendship with Nichole was going to come tumbling down any minute. Sure, they had made it to eighth grade and were still friends. But next year was high school. Nichole would ditch Tweek the moment she found someone better.
Tweek held his breath through freshman year, waiting for it to happen. But it never did. Instead it seemed to be a provable fact that if there was a Tweek nearby there would be a Nichole not far away.
Coffee was synonymous with Tweek. Or at least it might as well be. From drinking an unreasonable amount everyday to being forced to work at his parents’ café since he was six years old, coffee had always been a constant in his life. Even now, as he managed the orders that came rolling in during the morning rush, he could feel the craving. Just another quick cup to help him get through his shift.
As the brown liquid hit his throat, Tweek felt relief wash over him. It had finally quieted down following the usual morning bustle and he had a moment to pour himself a cup. Working the opening shift by himself was a lot but nothing he couldn’t handle. He actually preferred it over having one of his parents there to help. With only two weeks left of summer, Tweek was starting to feel just a little stir crazy. Too much time spent with his parents was not good for anyone’s mental stability.
The relationship had gotten marginally better. He could admit that. At least now he was paid for all the hours he worked. His parents knew they couldn’t work their son to the bone without some monetary compensation.
It still sucked that his whole summer was nothing but work. The expectation was that Tweek would work every day during his breaks from school. In exchange, he would get more time off during the school year which allowed him to focus on his academics. It was the only compromise he and his parents could come to even after a long talk with his therapist.
At least it made him look forward to school starting. Only two more weeks until the first day of junior year and Tweek’s first day off in over a month.
As the afternoon and the end of Tweek’s shift moved in, the door rang as a customer entered the shop. Tweek didn’t need to look up from the iced oat lattes he was making to know it was Nichole. He placed the coffee on the counter in front of her, where she eagerly grabbed it and began chugging it down.
“Everything good?”
She didn’t take the straw from her mouth and nodded. “Just needed my fix.”
Rolling his eyes, Tweek untied his apron and tossed it over the cash register. “You make it sound like drugs.”
The moment his dad walked through the door, Tweek jumped over the counter and yelled a quick goodbye. Before Mr. Tweak could say anything, his son was already out the door, latte in hand and a bouncing Nichole chasing after him.
Tossing her emptied coffee cup in the outside trash, Nichole paused to wait for Tweek. The blonde held a cigarette to his lips and lit it with a snap of his lighter. Once the butt was burning brightly, he took a quick drag before passing it to Nichole. Smoking out in the open like this was a sure way to get in trouble, but Tweek easily swallowed that worry.
He may be responsible for Nichole’s caffeine addiction but she was responsible for his nicotine one.
The two shared a second cigarette as they walked down the street. The afternoon sun was brutal and stung at Tweek’s burnt cheeks. On the other hand, Nichole looked radiant. Her sunscreened dark skin glistened with sweat. There was a glow about her, like she was hiding a secret and trying not to smile.
“So… how was work?” Tweek asked even though he could already guess how she was going to respond.
“Fine.”
A small spike of anxiety made Tweek shudder. Whenever he asked Nichole about her volunteer job she never elaborated past one or two words. Every day she woke up super early to go tend some gardens and collect samples for some sort of botany program. It seemed to be pretty physical work, considering she was always covered in sweat and dirt when she came in for her afternoon coffee. She had been so excited for the opportunity, saying it was going to look great on her college applications. Tweek had expected a detailed account after her first day but Nichole stayed uncharacteristically tight-lipped.
It was hard not to overthink why. Maybe their friendship was finally going to unravel.
“By the way,” Nichole said but paused to scratch at a patch of dried mud that was stuck to her arm. “I won’t be stopping by tomorrow.”
This would be the first day all summer she wouldn’t be by to get her free coffee. “Oh… Why?”
Her brown eyes darted down and she pursed her lips. Her reply came quietly and quickly as if she was hoping he wouldn’t hear. “I got a date.”
They were just a few steps from Nichole’s house but Tweek stopped dead in his tracks. He had to have heard her wrong. “What?”
“I have a date.”
The only thing Tweek could do was gape at her and blink slowly. This was a joke or prank of some kind. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
Every gear in Tweek’s mind raced as he desperately searched for anyone Nichole would be going on a date with. For the past four years, Nichole had confided in him about every single crush she ever had. If a cute girl even so much as smiled at her, Nichole would be rushing to tell Tweek. And now she had kept an upcoming date to herself, not telling Tweek until the day before. “With who?”
“Oh, just Tolkien.” As if that was a completely normal thing to say when it was not.
“TOLKIEN?” Tweek gestured with his hands to emphasize how outrageous that was. “Tolkien Black? The guy who has been dating Wendy for TWO YEARS? A guy you have never spoken to the entire time you’ve lived in South Park? The ack asshole who is best friends with the king of all assholes? That Tolkien?”
“I mean, he and Wendy broke up last spring.” She smiled sadly. “I knew you’d be pissed. That’s why I didn’t tell you he was working with me.”
Suddenly everything clicked into place and Tweek felt a painful twist in his heart.
Craig Tucker was the one person who Tweek hated. So much so that the hate had spread to anyone who called Craig a friend. And Nichole had still chosen to spend every day that summer crossing enemy lines to flirt.