Chapter Text
“You wanna have a quick smoke later today?” Craig asks, glaring at the few younger students whispering about them. Kenny winks at the girls, exaggerating, and throws them finger guns with the smoke hanging from his lips. “I’m going over at Tweek’s after dinner, so before that?”
Kenny inhales the smoke, wondering how much he wants Craig to know about his homelife. “Nah man, I got some shit to do today”, he exhales, leaning his head against the rough wall of their high school. Craig turns his gaze at Kenny, lifting his eyebrows to mimic fake surprisement, like the little shit he is.
“What? Kenny Mccormick has something more important to do than have a cig with his loyal smoke buddy?” Craig shoulders him, mouth lifting in a little smile. Kenny huffs out a laugh.
When he says he has shit to do, he means he has to figure out a place to sleep tonight. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem. It’s not like Kenny hasn’t had to crash at one of his friend’s places before. Kyle and Stan, even Cartman lets him sleepover every now and then when his dad starts getting too handsy. This time though, he has to take Karen with him. Kenny being 17, Karen is now 14, so she can usually crash at her friends’ if she needs to. The need for Karen to sleep somewhere else isn’t usually as urgent as Kenny’s, since their parents wouldn’t lay a hand on her. Or didn’t use to, anyway. Now, it’s Thursday, the middle of the week, and none of Karen’s friends’ parents allow them to have friends over at school nights. Assholes, as if the whole town doesn’t know the Mccormick family situation. Thus his problem: Where can they crash that will take both of them?
Kyle is out of town, so there’s no way Kenny will go ask his mother for a place to sleep. Cartman’s mom doesn’t care, but Karen doesn’t need to hear all those snide “haha you’re poor” -comments that would for sure be made if Kenny asked Cartman. Kenny’s thinking about asking Stan when Craig snaps him out of his thoughts, lighting a second cigarette. “What’s up? You’re actually thinking hard on something”.
Kenny sighs, throwing the butt to the ground and crashing it under his heel. “I gotta find a place to sleep. For me and Karen”.
“Oh. Shit rough at home?” Craig exhales the smoke. Kenny crosses his arms and gives a dry laugh.
“Yeah. Shit, never thought my dad would actually touch Karen. I’m used to the occasional beating but there’s no way I’m leaving Karen there tonight”, he mumbles, his voice turning into a whisper at the end of the sentence. When Kenny glances at him, Craig has turned his head to properly look at him.
“Fuck, your dad’s a fucking prick. You have any ideas where to go?” Craig offers the end of the smoke to Kenny. Later, Kenny thinks back on this moment, to the way Craig’s always emotionless eyes looked at him as he handed him the smoke to subtly comfort him.
Kenny shakes his head and inhales the rest of the smoke. “Man, I don’t know. Probably gonna ask Stan if we can crash on their couch or something”, he exhales, looking ahead at the snowy view.
Craig’s silent for a moment. Then: “You could come to our place”.
Kenny turns his eyes to Craig’s. “What?”
Craig rolls his eyes. “Yeah, my mom’s on a business trip so dad doesn’t care. Isn’t Karen the same age as Trish? They can be friends or something.”
Kenny studies Craig's face. Stoic as ever, no way to tell if he’s silently pitying him or just doesn’t care and wants to help. “You’re not offering just because you feel like you have to or something, right?”
Craig scoffs. “Shut up Mccormick, I don’t do shit I don’t want to. I’ll text my dad and sister.”
“What about Tweek? Is he gonna freak?” Kenny wonders, remembering Craig’s mention of going over there. That earns him a glare from Craig.
“What the fuck do you mean. He’ll get it, he can survive a day without me.”
Kenny lifts his hands in the air. “Wow, defensive much? I just don’t want him to think I’m stealin’ his man or something”, he assures. “Not that I don’t want to, though”, he adds as an afterthought and winks playfully.
Craig rolls his eyes. “Shut the fuck up, you manwhore.”
~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Tweek sees Craig’s familiar car stop in front of his house. He hurries to the blue car, three coffees in hand. The noise in the car can be heard outside, Tweek remarks, as he opens the door to the front seat.
“Hi babe”, he gets greeted with a kiss from his boyfriend.
“Hey Tweekers!” Kenny sticks his head between them from the backseat, smirking.
Tweek jumps a little, then rolls his eyes, smiling. “Ngh- morning Kenny”. Kenny smiles brightly at that. Karen and Tricia are sitting in the backseat, watching something on Tricia’s phone and talking. Kenny sits behind Tweek, hanging onto the back of his seat.
“Here”, Kenny watches as Tweek hands Craig a coffee and receives a soft smile in exchange. Then Tweek twists to reach to the backseat. He’s holding a cardboard cup with shaking hands towards Kenny, a twitchy smile on his face. “Agh- for you, Kenny”.
Kenny flickers his eyes from the cup to Tweek, surprised. “What, for me?” he takes the cup handed. It’s warm. “Aw, Tweek, you’re an actual angel!”, he takes a sip and groans. “Craig, you have no idea how jealous I am right now. Your boyfriend rocks, dude!”
Tweek twitches and squeezes his eyes shut, flustered, “AGH- shut up! It’s just coffee”
Karen and Tricia snicker next to Kenny. Craig grins, eyes on the road. “I know right? He’s the best”. He gets a punch in the arm. “Ow, babe, I’m driving!”
2.
Tweek is laying next to Craig, trying to sleep (as one does during a sleepover), when he hears the tapping on the window. He jumps to sit, alert. Dammit, just when he was calm enough to almost fall asleep. Craig has been still as dead for a few hours already (he’s not dead, Tweek checked his pulse), but Tweek still hasn't been able to sleep.
After a few moments, Tweek thinks it was probably just the wind, or the creepy tree in front of Craig’s window. He sighs and lays back down. He’s just closing his eyes again, when he hears rustling. His eyes shoot back open and he rolls down to the floor to look for a weapon. The rustling continues as he desperately searches the floor for something, heart in his throat. He grabs the first thing his hand catches and shoots up to stand next to the bed. He’s staring at the window when it opens and someone flops in with a grunt. Tweek stands there, hoping the person doesn’t notice him right away. It’s gotta be a serial killer, or a robber or a crazy animal kidnapper who wants to take Stripe! But Tweek won’t let that happen, he thinks as he charges with the object in his hand and kicks the panting burglar to the side.
“Ow, fuck, what the fuck!” The stranger jumps to his feet, holding his fists in front of him.
Tweek recognises that orange jacket. He slumps in relief, lowering his weapon. “Jesus Christ, Kenny! I thought you were a serial killer!” He exhales, dropping his weapon to the floor.
Kenny lowers his fists too. He glances at the lump curled on the bed. He hadn’t remembered to consider the option that Tweek might be here too. “Damn, I didn’t mean to intrude on your sleepover”, Kenny scratches his cheek. He furrows his brows at the dropped weapon. “What were you gonna do to me with a spoon, anyway? Scoop my eyes out?”
Tweek shakes in stress. “Fuck, I don’t know man! I just grabbed the first thing I found”, he whisper-yells, staring at the spoon at his feet. Kenny huffs a laugh and Tweek turns his gaze to him. Only now he notices the split lip and bruised face Kenny has shown up with. Tweek’s eyes feel like they’ll bulge out with how shocked he is. He rushes closer. “AGH- Jesus Kenny, what happened to you?”
Kenny lifts a hand to his cheek, as if he forgot the blood on his face. “Oh, uh, it’s really nothing, I’ve had it worse than this. I just need a place to sleep, is all”, he says, with that never leaving grin of his.
Tweek glares at him. “Shut up, we’re disinfecting those. Ngh- come on”. He grabs Kenny by the elbow and leads him to the closest bathroom. Tweek switches the lights on and sits Kenny on the toilet. Kenny’s eyes follow him, as he rummages through the cabinet under the sink to find the first aid-kit.
“So you just casually know where the closest first aid-kit is? You patch him up a lot?” Kenny asks, as Tweek grabs the disinfectant and some cotton pads from the kit.
Tweek hums. “Nah, he, um, mostly bandages me when I get into fights or get myself hurt”, Tweek tells him, getting the stuff ready. “This shit stings, by the way”, he warns before pressing the cotton pad on the slash on Kenny’s cheek.
Kenny hisses. Tweek cleans the cut, staring at Kenny’s face intensely. His hands shake less than they normally do, and only his eyes twitch every now and then. It’s probably because he’s concentrating so hard , Kenny thinks. Concentrating on me . The moment feels weirdly intimate, with Tweek gently holding Kenny’s face and treating his injuries. Then Tweek leans back and the hand on his cheek twitches, so Kenny knows he’s about to talk. “Do you wanna tell me what happened?” He searches Kenny’s eyes.
He looks worried , Kenny observes and pushes down the surge of affection the thought causes. Kenny blinks at the brown-green eyes. “Not really, but I figure you deserve some kinda explanation when you’re doing all this to me”, Kenny smiles softly, his eyes flickering to the first aid-kit on the counter.
Tweek chews on the inside of his cheek and moves to swipe the blood from Kenny’s lip. “You don’t⎯ ngh, need to tell me anything”. The lip he’s cleaning curls into a fond smile. It makes Tweek twitch.
“Thanks, Tweek”, Kenny tells him and genuinely means it. He feels warm thinking about the way Tweek dragged him to the bathroom and started treating his injuries. Tweek gives him a shaky smile back.
They tiptoe back to the room after cleaning Kenny’s face. They stop to stand in the middle of the room, Tweek trying to find something with his eyes in the dark. “So, a bed for you, huh?”
Kenny shakes his head. “Nah, I can sleep on the floor. I’m just thankful you let me sleep here and didn’t stab me in the eye with that spoon earlier”, Kenny chuckles. Tweek rolls his eyes but still searches for something. Then his eyes find Craig's blue bedcover and he grabs it from the floor.
He starts folding the bedcover to a smaller make-shift mattress and shushes Kenny when he tries to refuse. “Shut up, I’m making a bed for you. Deal with it, ngh”, he snaps when Kenny tries again. He throws the bedcover on the floor and goes to hunt for a spare pillow for him. Then he grabs a space patterned blanket from Craig’s bed and points to the make-shift bed. “Get in, burglar.”
Kenny snickers at Tweek’s antics and lays down where Tweek pointed at. The bedcover really does soften the ground, and the decor pillow is probably better than Kenny has at home. Kenny yawns when Tweek gets on his knees to the floor and tucks him in with the space blanket. “This is Craig’s favorite blanket, it’s really soft”, Tweek grins at him through the darkness. Kenny smiles so wide he thinks his lip is about to split open again. “Good night, Kenny”.
“Good night, Tweek”, he whispers when Tweek worms his way into Craig’s sleeping arms.
~~~~~~~~
Kenny wakes up to a rustling sound. He blinks his eyes open and sees stars glued to the ceiling. He sits up to stretch and sees Tweek awake, sitting on the bed with a phone in hand. A sleeping Craig is clinging to his waist, nose buried in Tweek’s shirt. Seeing Craig this vulnerable is rare for Kenny. He wonders if Tweek gets to see him like this all the time.
“Oh, ngh- you’re awake”, Tweek says when he notices him staring. Kenny lifts his eyes to Tweek and receives a knowing smile. Shit, Tweek totally caught him staring. Kenny tears his eyes away from both of them and yawns.
“What are you watching?” He asks as the noises from the phone register in his brain. Tweek glances at him.
“It’s um, agh- these relaxing videos of people whispering in your ears and stuff. I think it’s called ASMR?” Tweek explains to him. Kenny almost laughs. Of course Tweek is watching some weird shit at 10am in the morning. That’s such a Tweek thing to do. So he says that.
“Of course you’re watching some weird ass shit first thing in the morning. Nope, never heard of this ASMR”, Kenny shakes his head, smiling playfully. Tweek rolls his eyes at him.
“Agh- it’s supposed to be relaxing and give you like, brain tingles or some, ngh- shit! That’s why I’m watching it”, he glares at the phone. “It’s not really working tho, agh- I can’t find a good video”.
Kenny eyes at the cozy looking bed. “Can I try? I’ll choose you some mind blowing ASMR. But I wanna see what it’s about too”.
Tweek ponders for a moment. “Agh- fine. Come here. I’ll move Craig so there’s space for you”.
Kenny cheers in his head and moves to Tweek’s side of the bed. He sits beside Tweek, shoulder to shoulder, and gets comfy. He takes the phone from Tweek and scrolls to find a video, while Craig snores next to them. They settle down to watch the video. Kenny can feel Tweek shaking next to him, but it’s actually kind of nice. Cozy, at least.
~~~~~~~~
Craig wakes up in a warm bed, next to a warm body. He inhales Tweek’s scent, feeling content in his boyfriend’s embrace. He presses a soft kiss on the skin of Tweek’s hip to let him know he’s awake.
“Good morning, love”, Tweek’s gentle voice greets. He feels him run his fingers through his hair. What a peaceful morning.
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! Damn, you really sleep through anything”, another, not as smooth and lovely voice greets him.
Craig lifts his head and opens his eyes. He squints at the third person in his bed and just stares at him blankly when he recognises him. He moves his gaze to Tweek.
“Honey, what the fuck is Kenny Mccormick doing in my bed?”
3.
Kenny exits the loud house behind him and sits on the porch. He lights up a cigarette, enjoying the cool night. Alcohol is running through his system and making his thoughts hazy.
Then someone sits beside him with a grunt and steals the cigarette from his hand. “Gimme that”, the man says.
Kenny rolls his eyes at Craig’s voice. “Asshole. I didn’t even know you came to parties anymore”.
Craig exhales the smoke and turns to look at Kenny. His chullo has slipped to the side a little, exposing more of his hair. His eyes trail Kenny’s face in the moonlight.
“You have freckles?” Craig wonders out loud and starts poking the freckles one by one with his forefinger. This is how Kenny realizes he’s even more drunk than he himself is. “I never noticed that”.
Kenny lets out a strangled laugh, surprised by the sudden proximity. He grabs Craig’s wrist and drags it down. “Wow, you’re drunk, Tucker”, he laughs again.
Craig keeps on rambling, again, like Kenny never said anything. “I soooo like freckles. Tweek has freckles. They’re so pretty”, he turns to Kenny again and takes his face in his hands, “He’s so pretty”.
“Can't argue with that”, Kenny chuckles through his squished cheeks. Craig’s drunken eyes light up at his answer.
“I know right? I have such a pretty boyfriend”, he lets go of Kenny and sighs wistfully. Kenny tries to stop himself from laughing to his face. It’s so fitting that Craig is the type of drunk to brag about his boyfriend.
“Yeah? Where is Tweekers then?” He asks, lighting up another cigarette to replace the stolen one. Craig’s mouth quirks down at that. Kenny loves the revelation that Craig becomes actually expressive when he’s drunk enough.
“Oh, he’s home. He doesn’t like how overwhelming parties are”, Craig sighs heavily and turns his head to look at the sky. This seems to give him an idea. He whips his head to look at Kenny again. “Oh, do you have a pen with you? I wanna do something”.
Kenny almost chokes on the smoke. “Oh my god, dude, you’re so random when you’re drunk”. When Craig still looks at him expectantly, he rolls his eyes. “No, Craig, I do not have a pen with me. Why would I?”
Craig scoffs and starts digging his pockets. Somewhere from there he magically pulls out a pen. “What the hell, man”, Kenny whispers under his breath as he watches Craig test the pen.
“Alright, now give your face to me”, Craig demands and flexes his fingers expectantly. Kenny laughs at the word choice and dumps the rest of the smoke to the ground. Craig grabs hold of his face with one hand, pen in the other hand. Then Kenny feels the cold tip on his cheek. With Craig intensely staring at his face and tracing his freckles with the pen, he’s way too flustered to even question what the hell is happening. This touchy version of Craig is doing something to him.
“I did this to Tweek once. Freckles remind me of stars”, Craig mutters after a while. Kenny focuses on the feel of the pen.
“Oh? What are you doing to my face then?” Kenny asks, not really getting the idea behind this.
“Star constellations, dumbass. This one’s my favorite,” Craig breathes and Kenny can see how his eyes fill up when he gets to talk about this topic. “The Aquila. It’s this eagle from Greek mythology and it’s just so cool. Your freckles on this cheek are perfect for it”.
Kenny wills down the flush. Why is Craig talking about stars making him blush? He gets a sudden flashback to the night a few weeks ago, when it was Tweek gently holding his face and talking quietly. Then it was soft cotton pads and Tweek’s scratchy skin (from biting his fingers, probably), now it’s the sharpness of the pen and Craig’s bigger hands on his face. Kenny’s sure that if it wasn’t so dark, Craig would definitely notice the blush on his cheeks. He tries to think of something distracting.
“Wow, okay. What are you drawing next then?” Kenny lets his eyes dart to the sky. Craig stops at this.
“What’s your zodiac sign? I’ll do that next”, he decides and gets back to work.
Kenny breathes a laugh. “I don’t really believe in that shit, dude”. This gets Craig to pull back and glare at him. Kenny immediately surrenders under that look. “Damn, fine. I’m an Aries”. Craig keeps going at that, apparently satisfied with Kenny’s answer.
“Do you believe in horoscopes, then? Never took you for a spiritual guy”, Kenny questions curiously. Craig Tucker, the most logical person ever, is into this kinda magic bullshit?
“Astrology is a type of space science, too. It’s not that I believe in it but I think anything with stars is interesting”, Craig furrows his brows, probably having issues articulating his thoughts this drunk. His hand is surprisingly confident for someone who was just tumbling down next to him.
He hums. “That’s kinda cool, man. I mean, how you’re into all that space shit and just remember fucking constellations at the top of your head”, Kenny says his thoughts out loud. Craig smiles a little at that and Kenny feels his breathing on his cheek.
“No one except for Tweek lets me talk about this stuff. None of my friends want to hear it anymore, except for you I guess, since they’ve dealt with it when we were kids”, Craig explains. Kenny’s still amazed to hear Craig willingly talking about something with so many words.
Kenny smiles, feeling kind of special. He likes the fact that Craig feels comfortable enough with him to ramble about his interests. Hell, it’s an honor to be the only one besides Tweek to witness this side of Craig. Then the word choice kicks in.
“Wait, did you just call me your friend?” Kenny feels a grin splitting his face. “Have I been promoted from smoke buddy to friend? Aw, Craig!” Craig’s hand pauses. Kenny’s not sure if he’s imagining the flush on Craig’s face.
“Shut up, Mccormick”, he glares. Kenny laughs. Craig is still glaring when he pulls away. “All done”.
Kenny brings his hand to his cheek but can’t really feel the ink on his skin. Something flashes and he turns to Craig to see him with his phone up. “I’m gonna send this to Tweek”.
“Show it to me too! I wanna see what you did to my face”, Kenny whines, pushing closer to see Craig’s phone screen. They stare at it together for a second, shoulder to shoulder. “Hey, that’s not bad”, Kenny whispers, admiring the picture.
It isn’t anything fancy, with it being taken in the darkness with a shitty phone flash. The camera is focused on Kenny’s left eye though, which contrasts the ink on his face.
“That’s the Aquila”, Craig points at his left cheek. In the picture Kenny is just touching the corner of the constellation, not looking at the camera. It’s kind of artistic in Kenny’s eyes. The flash makes him look pale, which makes the constellations stand out. His eyes look like they’re glowing, with them matching the dark color of the ink. His mouth is a little open in wonder but he looks kind of beautiful, Kenny finds himself thinking.
“Wow”, Kenny breathes out. Craig hums in agreement and starts tapping a message to Tweek.
~~~~~~~~
Me:
[jpg.image3]
Tweek<3🐹:
is that kenny????? he let u draw on him??
wait r those freckls
knny has freckled??
CRAIG TLL ME U TWO ARNT SMOKIN WEED UR GONNA STINK
at least bring me sum
I didnt know kennys aries wow
Me:
yes 2 all of the abov
wait nO nt all
no wed bebe
Tweek<3🐹:
AJSKSJKDJKKS R U DRUNK
“no wed bebe” im so bullyin u in the morning DORK
i bet kennys laughn his ass off readin over ur shoulder rn
Me:
your right
sav me
snd hlp
4.
They stumble into the deserted bathroom, Tweek’s labored breathing and frustrated grunts bouncing off the walls. Kenny chose this bathroom for a reason: this is his smoking bathroom because literally no one uses it. He figured Tweek wouldn’t like anyone barging in right now.
He had gotten to the scene when the surrounding students had already pulled the fighters apart. Kenny wasn’t that surprised to see that the other kid had a black eye and blood running down his nose, and the other one was a fuming Tweek. This situation wasn’t that rare but Craig not being there to lead Tweek elsewhere was unusual. So, Kenny took it upon himself to bring Tweek somewhere more guarded. He felt somehow responsible for Tweek with Craig missing. He has noticed himself chatting more to Tweek (and Craig since they’re usually attached at the hip) in passing than he has before.
Though, now that Kenny has successfully guided Tweek away from the crowd, he realizes he doesn’t really know what to do. Tweek is hyperventilating and pulling his hair, pacing in front of the sinks. Kenny stands there, useless.
“Tweek?” He tries. Tweek shrieks as an answer. Kenny digs his phone out of his pocket. “Okay, I’m texting Craig”.
That snaps Tweek to panicked rambling. “Craig, oh god! NGH- that guy was being such an asshole, AGH- talking shit about my boyfriend like it’s okay just because we’re, agh- a little different, jesus-”, he cuts himself off with a wheezing breath. Kenny’s protective instinct kicks in at that strangled sound and he rushes to Tweek’s side with wide eyes. He grabs the other hand tugging Tweek’s hair and moves to lay it flat on his chest. No time to wait for Craig.
Tweek gasps at the sudden touch and pushes him away. Fuck.
“Okay, it’s okay, I’m not touching you but you gotta breathe with me, Tweek”, Kenny tries with a (hopefully) calming voice. Tweek aggressively nods his head while struggling to breath. “I was gonna put your hand against my chest to feel my breathing, it might help. I won’t touch you or grab you again”.
Tweek stares at his own hand with blurry eyes like he’s not sure if it’s really there or not. Then he smacks the hand against Kenny’s chest and grasps at his shirt. He moves to look into Kenny’s eyes for the first time and gasps desperately. Kenny holds eye contact and starts to take deep breaths, determined to make this work.
Tweek struggles for a while, but slowly his breathing starts matching Kenny’s. They do this until Tweek is breathing normally again and breaks eye contact. He moves to lean his back to a sink.
“You okay, Tweekers?” Kenny makes sure, moving next to him. Tweek stares at the floor.
“Yeah. Thanks”, he responds, his voice raw.
Kenny hums. “So the fight was about Craig? What’d the dude say?” Kenny can’t and doesn’t even try to contain his curiosity. Tweek jumps slightly at the mention so Kenny rushes to add: “Don’t tell if you don’t want to, tho”, he finishes, remembering how nice it had made him feel when Tweek didn’t demand any answers from him.
Tweek glances at him quickly, considering. He bites his lip. “Well, you’re, ngh- kinda friends with Craig, right?” Kenny nods at him so Tweek continues. “AGH- well, you know what he's like then. He’s different, ngh- like I am, but not in the same way. He thinks differently than other people do, so, agh- sometimes people notice that and think he’s weird. It’s so shitty! Agh- they don’t have the fucking balls to say it to his face but they talk behind his back. And, agh- Craig doesn’t notice nor care but I do, and, and, NGH- it pisses me off, man! Why can’t people just mind their own business, shit!”
Tweek pants after getting out the words and Kenny ponders on what he said. He does recognise Craig from his words. Craig has been a man of few words ever since they were kids (unless the topic was about something he’s passionate about, his guinea pig for example) and some people think he’s rude with his blank stare and bluntness. Kenny just always liked the way Craig says what he thinks and doesn’t hold back. He also doesn’t care about things most people would, like the way he dresses or what other people think of it. Hell, he still wears that blue chullo hat he has always worn. Kenny thinks it’s refreshing.
“Hmm, yeah, I get what you mean. I always thought Craig was a good type of different, he’s great. I don’t get how people don’t get tired of caring so much about useless shit like this”, Kenny rolls his eyes, getting annoyed too. His lungs start itching for a smoke. Fuck, maybe he associates Craig with smoking?
Tweek sighs. “Yeah, Craig’s fucking awesome. Fuck, I can’t wait to, ngh- get out of this town.”
Kenny turns to smile at Tweek. “Well, he’s lucky as shit to have you, Tweekers. Damn, you guys are such a badass couple”, Kenny chuckles and sees Tweek smiling too.
Tweek’s about to retort back when the door slams open and Craig marches in. He looks like he just ran from the other side of the school. He immediately glues his eyes to Tweek and rushes to hug him. “Sorry, you know I was retaking that test. I just read Kenny’s text. Are you okay, honey?”
Tweek melts in Craig’s arms and rubs his face to his shoulder. They’re standing so close to Kenny that he can almost feel the warmth coming from them. For some reason, he’s overcome with the feeling of affection for the two. Kenny smiles.
“Yeah, I’m okay now. Kenny, ngh- happened to be there so he took me here”, Tweek explains, smiling more brightly now to Kenny over Craig's shoulder. Kenny’s smile widens.
Craig turns to him with his arms still wrapped around Tweek. “Thanks, asshole. I’ll offer you a free smoke for that”.
Kenny leans closer to them excitedly. “Hell yeah! Tweekers, isn’t your boyfriend so sweet to me? Giving me gifts and all”, Kenny teases and elbows Tweek lightly. Tweek laughs, nodding along while Craig rolls his eyes (fondly).
5.
One day at lunch, Kenny casually sits down between Craig and Tweek and the two quietly make space for him. The cafeteria is busy but the whole table stops at this unusual placement. Not only is the seat of choice weird, but Kenny Mccormick never sits with “Craig and those guys”. He always sits with Stan’s group a few tables over. This time though, he plops down and steals a fry from Tweek’s plate.
“Hey assholes”, he greets, throwing a glance at Token and the others at the table. Then he turns his head towards Tweek. “Hey Tweekers”, he smiles sweetly and takes another french fry. Craig flips him off. “So is the invite to your house still standing? Or was it Craig’s house?”
Craig pokes his cheek. “Don’t steal my boyfriend’s food, rat”.
Kenny faces him and pulls at his chullo’s stringy piece. “Rat?” he repeats. “That’s a new one for sure”.
“Don’t call him a rat, Craig!” Tweek shoves Craig’s shoulder over Kenny. “You can have some Kenny, I won’t eat all of them anyway”, he slides the tray closer to Kenny.
“Sweet”, Kenny whispers under his breath and digs in. Craig rolls his eyes but pushes his tray closer to Kenny too.
“We’re going to my house first to feed Stripe and then we’ll go to Tweek’s”, Craig tells him. Kenny’s eyes widen.
“Oh shit, I get to meet your guinea pig? You might as well confess your undying love for me, babe”, Kenny smirks and leans against Craig in fake-affection (it’s not as fake as he pretends it to be). Tweek snickers next to him while Craig stares at his eyelash-batting, unimpressed.
Craig and Tweek share a knowing look over Kenny when he goes back to munching french fries, still hanging onto Craig’s arm. Today is the day.
Clyde’s voice bursts their little bubble. They had continued their individual conversations, half listening to the weird affectionate bickering the three had going on. Now Clyde voices what they all were thinking: “Sooo… What’s going on here?” He gestures vaguely between the three of them.
Tweek, Craig and Kenny lift their heads simultaneously, freaking the others out even further. “Jesus christ”, Token whispers under his breath, bemused. Do they suddenly share a brain?
Now Tweek and Kenny tilt their heads in confusion at the same time. Craig stares at them blankly, already tired of this shit.
“Y-y-yeah. Are you f-fucking Ken-Kenny now, too?” Jimmy raises his brows, targeting the question at Tweek and Craig.
This gets an anxious AGH out of Tweek, paired with a nervous tic of his head. Craig narrows his eyes and flips them off. “None of your nosy asses’ business”. Kenny stares at them, slack jawed.
Are they what????? His thoughts scream but he keeps up his cocky facade. “Man, you wish, don’t you? That would fill your spankbanks for months, you pervs. Me on my back with-” Craig cuts him off with a smack to the back of his head. “Ow, shit! Craig!”
“Shut your fucking mouth, Mccormick”, he snarls, glaring at Kenny’s pathetic whining.
Tweek elbows him. “Ngh- that was deserved, weirdo”. Kenny dramatically presses his hand to his chest in betrayal.
Clyde’s expression screams are yall seeing this shit .
+ 1
(Few days before scene 5)
“AGH!” Tweek screams as he drops his luckily empty coffee cup on the floor. He collapses on his knees to the floor, pulling his hair. Craig sighs. Tweek has been shakier and more on edge than usual for days now. Craig has tried comforting him and giving him time but this is getting ridiculous. Usually Tweek sorts his thoughts by saying them out loud so he rarely gets this silent about what he’s thinking. Craig knows this pattern. It means Tweek needs a little push to get the courage to tell Craig whatever is on his mind.
“Tweek, honey, come here. We need to talk about this”, Craig starts, grasping Tweek’s hand and leading him to the bed. Tweek grunts anxiously but follows. They settle on the bed, facing each other cross-legged. Craig takes hold of both Tweek’s hands. “You can talk to me, Tweek. I can see something’s bothering you and you can tell me, whatever it is”, Craig coaxes.
Tweek shivers, knowing he has to tell Craig. But he’s just so afraid . What if Craig thinks he’s disgusting? What if he thinks Tweek doesn’t love him? What if their whole relationship falls apart because of this?? He gulps. “Ngh- but I’m scared that, that- AGH! What if this ruins everything?”
Craig stops himself from rolling his eyes. He knows Tweek is really scared, but they go through this same thing everytime. He squeezes Tweek’s hands to let him know he’s hearing him. “It won’t. You’re always scared of that and nothing you’ve told me has ruined us”.
Tweek glares, getting frustrated. “Well I know it’s not logical! But, agh- it’s just that- What if this is the time that you’ll snap and won’t take my shit anymore! What if… what I say hurts you?” His voice gets quieter towards the end. Craig furrows his brows. Hurts him?
“Well now I’m intrigued. But I won’t get tired of you, ever. You’re stuck with me forever now that I have you”, Craig cracks a smile, lifting Tweek’s chin to make him look at him. This seems to calm Tweek. He takes a deep breath.
“Ngh- okay. I didn’t not want to tell you! I just had to figure it out first…” Tweek explains. He grips his hands free to fidget with his sleeves. “I’ve been thinking that… AGh! I’m probably polyamorous!” He yells out, squeezing his eyes shut.
Craig stares at him blankly. He picks at Tweek’s duvet with his fingers. The fabric has a nice pattern that makes his fingertips tingle. “Uhhh, what was that again?”
Tweek’s eyes shoot open. “Craig!” He scolds. “We read about this like last week!”
“Yeah but there’s just so many of them!” Craig argues, pulling at his chullo’s strings, embarrassed. Tweek smiles and rolls his eyes. How did his anxiety make him forget Craig is still Craig? He snickers fondly, relaxing further.
“Polyamorous is the one that means a person can… agh- have a crush on more than one person at the same time”, he explains while picking his nails, feeling vulnerable now.
Craig processes this and nods. “Oh”.
Tweek frowns at him again. “Oh? What oh?”
“Yeah, oh. Makes sense I mean”. Craig nods to himself, gathering his thoughts. “It’s Kenny, right?”
Tweek lets out a surprised squawk. “HOW do you know?!”
“Well, you let him sleep at my place that time, and made him a bed. You gave him my favorite blanket, Tweek!” Craig points out like that fact alone makes it obvious. Tweek gawks at him. “And then that day last week, when I was taking a test and Kenny managed to calm you down. That made me think that you must trust him”, Craig shrugs.
Tweek shifts in his place, surprised at how obvious he was being. And Craig didn’t even say anything when he noticed all this! “AGH- why didn’t you say anything?!”
Craig shrugs again. “I don’t mind Kenny. He’s fun”, Craig states, picking at the duvet again. Tweek wonders…
“How do you feel about Kenny then?” Craig furrows his brows at the question. “I mean, ugh, I love you a lot but Kenny makes me feel all flustered and warm inside too. Like I wanna be with him more”, Tweek continues, trying to explain the feeling and observing Craig curiously. Craig’s brows furrow even further.
“He makes me feel warm too. And I like being with him. Remember that picture I sent you from the party? I really liked that”, Craig remarks, lifting his eyes to Tweek. Tweek is grinning excitedly. He grabs Craig’s forearms.
“Craig! Do you like him too?” He probes. Craig opens his mouth to say something but closes it. His eyes wander, mulling over the question. Then his eyes snap back at Tweek’s, realization in them. Tweek smirks.
“Ohhhhh, that’s why I’ve been feeling so weird around him lately”, Craig understands, nodding his head. “Wow. I guess I do like him”, he admits.
Tweek laughs happily. “I can’t believe that we both like him! Jesus christ”, Tweek grins. Craig smiles too.
“Yeah”, they laugh together. Craig yawns, falling back on the bed and pulling Tweek with him. “So what are we gonna do about it?” Tweek settles next to him, looking at him weirdly.
“What do you mean?” Tweek asks, stretching.
“Aren’t you the one who should know what happens next? I mean, do we ask him to date us or what”, Craig wonders.
Tweek freezes. “Well, I don’t know. Wouldn’t that kinda change everything?” Tweek bites his lip anxiously. “People would stare at us”.
Craig huffs. “Since when has it mattered if people stare at us?”
Tweek turns on his back and crosses his arms. “It has always bothered me”, Tweek muses. Craig starts twirling Tweek’s hair absentmindedly. “I just mean that, we already don’t fit in at this town. Ugh, if we added Kenny to all of this, people would talk even more shit! I’m tired of people judging my every move”.
Craig’s heart pangs. Of course Tweek cares about these things, how could he ignore that? “Sorry I didn’t notice this bothered you before”, he murmurs. Tweek hums and presses his head closer to Craig. They stay silent for a while, Craig thinking how to push this.
“It’s just that, uhh”, he starts, struggling with his words, “If they already talk shit, why try to please them now? We can’t let them decide what we do with our lives, Tweek”, Craig finishes, grabbing Tweek’s face with his hands and turning him to face him. Tweek looks at him tenderly and Craig knows he’s close to breaking through. He thumbs at those gorgeous freckles. “Besides, Kenny doesn’t really fit in either, don’t you think?” He makes Tweek smile with that.
“Yeah, I guess he doesn’t”, he admits softly. Craig Tucker’s charm is working on him, hard .
“Yeah, so what’s one more oddity to this fucking… freak party we have going on”. That makes Tweek burst out laughing. Craig grins. Success.
“NO, you are not calling our fucking relationship a freak party! Oh my fucking god, Craig, jesus!” Tweek cackles, shoving at Craig’s stupid face. Craig takes it happily. Tweek hasn’t been this happy for days, so Craig shoves him back.
Tweek rolls on top of him, grinning. His grin melts to something closer to a lovesick smile when he stares at his boyfriend’s face. “I love you so much”, he breathes and presses down to kiss him.
~~~~~~~~
“Well hello there little guy”, Kenny babbles at Stripe who is sitting contently in Tweek’s lap. He’s trying to get the guinea pig to warm up to him with a lettuce leaf.
“She doesn’t like a lot of people”, Craig warns. “Tweek is an exception, Stripe loves him”. But Kenny is stubborn and brushes him off with a “rodents love me, did you know I had a pet rat as a kid?” and goes on explaining about the street rat that lived in their dumpster. Craig makes eye contact with Tweek, both grinning. He can’t believe they both find this guy actually charming. But Craig can’t lie: Kenny desperately wanting Stripe to like him kinda warms his heart. Even when Stripe nips Kenny’s finger, he just curses and goes back to trying. It’s ridiculous. Craig loves it.
~~~~~~~~
“So Stripe hates me. Karen is gonna hear me cry myself to sleep tonight”, Kenny announces, falling back on Tweek’s bed.
Craig huffs and sits against the headboard. He kicks Kenny lightly at his side. “Drama queen. I told you she hates most people”.
“She doesn’t hate Tweek”, Kenny points out.
Craig sighs. “Idiot, I also told you that Tweek is special”.
Kenny makes his best puppy dog eyes. “Craig, are you saying I’m not special?”
Craig huffs at the childish remark. You are special , he doesn’t say out loud.
"Ngh- you are special!" Tweek cuts in, coming to the room with a coffee mug in his hands. "Tho I don't know what you're talking about".
"He's whining because Stripe doesn't like him", Craig sighs. Tweek sits on the bed between them.
"Oh. Then you're not special", Tweek corrects, sipping his coffee.
Kenny gets up on his elbows and exclaims: "You both are fucking bullies. Telling me I'm not special…"
"Damn right", Craig ensures, kicking Kenny to the side again.
Kenny hugs Tweek's leg. "Are you just gonna let him abuse me, Tweekers?"
Tweek rolls his eyes over his coffee. "Kenny, stop being dramatic. And don't lie Craig", Tweek huffs.
Craig frowns. "Lie? What am I lying about?"
Tweek looks at him mischievously. "Like you don't think Kenny is special. We both know that's not true".
Craig glares at Tweek, secretly mortified at being exposed. He rubs the nice pattern on Tweek's duvet again. Tweek smirks and sips his coffee, enjoying the teasing.
"Wow. Are we about to kiss right now?" Kenny jokes, but Tweek suddenly twitches aggressively, almost splashing his coffee. Craig grabs it from his hands before it spills and moves it to the coffee table. Kenny shoots to sit up, reassuring Tweek. "Dude relax, I was just joking".
But Tweek turns to him, looking determined and terrified at the same time. "AGH- Can we? Can I?" He screeches, looking like he's about to have a panic attack. Craig grabs to hold his hand in support.
Kenny smiles dumbly. "Uh what?"
Tweek shakes his head with his eyes shut. "Can I kiss you, dumbass!" He yells.
Kenny's smile drops and his eyes widen. "Huh?" He blurts out, looking from freaked out Tweek to a neutral Craig. Craig just nods at him. Kenny looks at Tweek again, who looks like he's about to burst. "Yeah?" And with that Tweek grabs his shoulders and kisses him swiftly. Kenny parts, blinking confusedly. He’s probably the embodiment of "no thoughts, head empty". He can't even process the first kiss when Craig is already crawling closer to him. Though, Craig inches his face closer slowly, giving Kenny time to back up. But Kenny just closes his eyes again and takes the kiss.
When they part, Kenny sits there dumbfounded. It’s silent, ignoring Tweek’s twitches. After a minute Tweek screeches anxiously: “AGH! SAY SOMETHING!”
Kenny turns to look at the shaking Tweek. He scans the color of his eyes, the nervous tic on his eyebrow, the famous beautiful freckles on his cheeks, to the hand squeezing at Craig’s.
Then he moves to Craig, noticing the hair peeking under his hat, the shape of his nose and the mole under his lip. “My brain isn’t really functioning right now. That’s your fault, bastards”.
Craig frowns. “Idiot, say yes or no at least”. Tweek bites his lip anxiously.
“Uhh it depends really, are we talking about a threesome here or what?” That earns him a huff and anxious grunting. Tweek smacks him on the knee.
“Fuck you! We’re AGH- being serious here!” He grumbles. Kenny rubs the spot Tweek hit him, but feels bad at the desperate look in Tweek’s eyes. Craig is nodding next to his boyfriend.
Kenny just doesn’t really get it. “But- What- What do you mean?” He laughs in shock.
Tweek whines in frustration. “We mean, we want you to date us”, Craig clarifies, avoiding eye contact and pulling at the strings of his chullo with the hand that isn’t squeezing Tweek’s. Kenny blinks at them.
He huffs in confusion. “Why? Why do you wanna date me when you’re already dating each other?” He questions, not believing this is real. Craig and Tweek want to date him?
“AGH! Because we want to, asshole! We like you so just- Fucking tell us if you like us back!” Tweek pulls at his hair. Craig is glaring at the duvet and fidgeting with his hat.
And Kenny thought he was being obvious. “Hell yeah I like you”, Tweek and Craig perk up at that, “Have I not been flirting with you both for like, months? What the fuck?” He throws his hands in the air.
Tweek points at him accusingly. “I thought you just did that to everybody! The eyes and the teasing”, Craig nods in agreement.
A lopsided grin stretches to Kenny’s face. “ ‘The eyes’, huh?” Tweek glares. Kenny scratches his cheek. “Well, duh, but not in the way I flirt with you guys. That’s genuine”, he explains.
“And how were we supposed to know that?” Craig squints at Kenny.
Kenny lets out a giddy laugh. “Okay, fair”. He pauses to think for a second. “Yeah, I’m in”, he nods. Tweek exhales shakily, finally being able to relax. He grabs Kenny’s arm to move him up in the bed to lay between Tweek and Craig. They lay down next to him. Kenny is on his back, Tweek on his side and Craig on his stomach. Kenny looks up at them. His boyfriends . “Wow. I have two boyfriends. I can’t wait to brag about this”.
Craig huffs with a smile on his face. He brings the hand he isn’t leaning on to Kenny’s face and starts tracing his freckles. Tweek looks at them with a smitten smile on his lips. Then he grins.
“Guess what Craig called us when we were talking about us three a few days ago?”
~~~~~~~~