"Shit!"

The sound of glass shattering followed by a very audible cuss came from behind the counter.

Stan breathed out a huge sigh, walked over to the pieces of broken glass then proceeded to sweep it up.

Ever since he found out about Ike being one of the performers he had been acting fidgety and jumpy. It was as if Tweek's jittery demeanor has been passed on to him like some sort of virus.

Token eyed him with worry, he knew that Stan wasn't in the right state of mind to be helping with such a big and important event, he truly regretted his decision of letting Ike perform, but on the other hand he wanted the event to be a success and for it to be so they need to have people who were willing to perform.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah."

Token looked at his watch, it was five thirty. Only 30 minutes until the event starts. A number of guests and people who were supposed to perform had already arrived. Most of them we're familiar faces that he had known through the years of living in South Park.

Token had asked the performers to stay inside the employee lounge in order to prepare for their acts.

"Kenny I know I already said this earlier but you're in charge of the register. You and Clyde can take turns if things get busy."

"Sure, I mean in such a special occasion you gotta show off the special goods right? I am the hottest one here after all so it's only fitting that-"

"Yeah, whatever shut up. I am going to go to the lounge to check up on the performers. Stan, I know things aren't exactly peachy for you right now but please try not to break any more stuff okay? Just focus on your job and ignore the people who's ordering at the counter."

Stan nodded, mouthing off a meek "thank you" to Token.

"I'll check on you guys later…"

As Token left, Stan let out another huge sigh. "Ugh I hate this."

"Well you shouldn't let it get to you dude…" Kenny replied, whilst straightening the collar of his uniform.

"I am trying to stay focused but...it's like there's this...ugh...I can't explain it but-"

"He isn't here dude, it's just his brother who'll be in the stage. Try to calm yourself down okay?"

"Y-yeah you're right."

"Who isn't here?" Tweek spoke up, he had just gotten back from the bathroom to accompany Butters who was adjusting the sleeves of his (or rather Tweek's) uniform.

"Oh God." Kenny blurted out then darted towards the shorter blonde boy, enveloping him in a tight embrace.

"You look so freaking cute, I feel like I am going to die of a heart attack."

"K-Ken? I can't breathe, but thanks!"

Kenny released the smaller blonde from his grip and continued to admire his clothes.

"It's my first time wearing such a thing, I feel like a real barista! Well not really but...it's pretty darn cool!" Butters' eyes twinkled as he lifted his apron up with admiration.

Token had the last minute idea of having Butters help them. The blonde was more than willing to lend a hand since he had planned on working at the coffee shop anyways ever since Kenny had proposed it. But since he wasn't well versed with the art of coffee making yet or knew how to operate the register. Token assigned him to help with organizing the performers and to help bring drinks to the tables instead.

"Oh uh I am going to be working with Stan today right?" Tweek spoke up suddenly remembering his assigned task.

"Yeah, but just ignore him if he gets too bitchy. He's not in the right mood tonight. I mean he's been so angsty lately but tonight he is a bit more extra."

"Fuck off Kenny."

What's wrong with Stan?" Butters asked quietly.

"It's nothing Butters...ignore me and go do your thing."

"Oh okay, I should probably go talk to Token about what I am going to do next, see you later then."

Kenny, Tweek and Stan waved Butter goodbye then went back to their own workstations. Since Kenny was manning the register, Tweek and Stan found themselves alone together with nothing but an awkward silence surrounding them.

...

"Umm, I broke one of the mugs." Stan spoke up,

"O-oh...does Token know?" Tweek replied, feeling somewhat surprised that Stan talked to him especially after Kenny had just said that he wasn't in the right mood to talk to people.

"Yeah he does, I just wanted to let you know, since you might look for it. It's one of those transparent ones that we use to serve macchiatos on."

"I see, it's fine."

The awkward silence once again returned. Stan discreetly glanced at Tweek who was looking down at his shoes and seemed to be slightly uncomfortable.

Considering the fact that they never really talked to each other alone like this before, the two felt unsure on how to act. Stan attempted to speak up earlier but their conversation ended up falling flat. Despite the awkwardness Stan thought that the silence was slightly soothing.

That is until Tweek surprisingly spoke up and broke it.

"The person you're happy to not be here...is it that Kyle person? Oh gosh, I am sorry If I am prying it's okay if you don't want to answer me."

Stan looked at Tweek whose eyes were filled with what seems to be curiosity. He bit his lip and let out another sigh.

"Yeah, it's Kyle…" Stan took another deep breath before continuing.

"You heard about him from the others right? Considering how much of a blabbermouth they are."

"Y-yeah, he's your best friend right?" Tweek nodded remembering what Clyde had said.

"Well he used to be until…"

"Until…?"

Stan looked into Tweek's eyes. Opening his mouth to speak but then immediately closing it up. He felt weird, he normally wouldn't talk about such things with other people but for some reason there he goes almost talking about it. He wondered what was it about Tweek that made him feel that way. He had an urge to speak up and release the feelings that had been bubbling up within him for the past few months. There was a little voice inside Stan's head that told him not to say it but...Stan ignored it and with a gulp he opened his mouth once again.

"Tweek...can you keep a secret?"

"Y-yeah." Tweek nodded once more.

Stan glanced around, Kenny was busy wiping the counter and Clyde was currently on the front door greeting the various people who came to watch the acts. No one was around to pry into their conversation. Stan deemed it safe then slowly got closer to the blonde in order to whisper something into his ears.

"I am...gay."

"H-huh?"

"Well, maybe bisexual…? But it's not like I was super attracted to Wendy though, so maybe not? I am not really sure how to label myself yet but anyway that's not really the point."

"The thing is...I kinda fell in love with Kyle." Stan could feel warmth in his cheeks, it was also visibly red. Tweek felt surprised with the sudden display of embarrassment from Stan and from his confession.

"O-oh…"

"Wendy my ex-girlfriend...s-she knew about it before I even realized it...she was coaxing me to spill out my feelings but I didn't understand how I really felt back then, so it's not like I can agree with her. I thought she was making up an excuse so that we could break up."

"She broke up with me because she said that she wanted me to be true to myself but I ended up being more confused than anything...and I hated it, I hated myself. So I blamed Kyle for it...and told him that he's the one who did this, he's the reason Wendy and I broke up."

"I am an absolute idiot right? Blaming others for such a thing…"

"After that I was all alone. The time I spent without a girlfriend or a best friend...it made me realize which one I was more upset about. I was more devastated about losing Kyle than I did with Wendy. And that's when it hit me that Wendy was right…

And now I can't bring myself to face the two of them again.

"I think it's because of pride...I wanted to overcome it but it's like two shackles holding me back. I am also scared of how they will react. And what if I face rejection from Kyle? I mean if I were in his shoes I wouldn't like the guy who blamed me for his breakup...now imagine if that guy confessed his love for you."

"I hate it...I hate everything…"

Tweek looked at Stan, his eyes were glistening as if he were about to cry. Tweek felt sorry for him, he finally understand why Stan was behaving in such a way.

"W-well I am glad that you were able to tell me all of that Stan, you must have been keeping this all by yourself, that's not exactly healthy you know?"

"Um y-yeah….I felt a bit better after telling you to be honest, it was good to get things off my chest."

"B-but you really should talk to them you know? Nothing good will come out of ignoring the problem." Tweek bit his lip after realizing what he said, he felt like a hypocrite for advising such a thing when he himself was ignoring Craig.

"I'd like to but...I am scared."

"So how abou-"

"Two chai latte please" A voice interrupted the two boy's conversation. Stan freezed in place as he heard that order. It was a voice that he knew all too well.

"W-wait a minute, Stan? Is that you?"

"Hey now Wendy, he's obviously very busy please don't disturb him." Tweek turned around and was greeted by the sight of a pretty girl with long straight black hair. Next to her was an equally beautiful yet much more well-endowed girl whose hair looked like the exact opposite of the former girl. It was just as long but it was bright blonde and curly.

"I wasn't talking to you Kenny…" The girl who seemed to be named Wendy replied.

"I know that but you still shouldn't bother him, he's busy."

"He doesn't seem busy...he's just chatting with that guy next to him." The blonde girl pointed to Tweek which made the poor boy flinch.

"Stan...we need to talk." Wendy said with a stern voice.

"..."

"Stan?"

"I-I need to go." Stan cried out, as he suddenly dashed away from the others.

"H-Hey Stan wait!"

"Jeez, you scared off one of our baristas what have you got to say for yourself Ms. Testaburger?" Kenny scolded.

"I didn't scare him! I just wanted to talk...your friend is the one who's being difficult."

"Um should I go look for him?" Tweek asked.

"Nah, I need someone to make the drinks. He'll have to come back eventually."

"Yeah you guys stay here, I am the one who's going to go look for him." Wendy spoke up and walked over to the direction where Stan had ran off to.

"Hey don't go to the places that says employees only alright?"

"I can't promise that." Wendy replied as she trailed off.

"Ugh this is so not the right time to have this issue arise." Kenny sighed. He already had his hands full with Tweek and Craig, he didn't expect that the Stan and Kyle issue would resurface right away.

"I still want that Chai Latte you know…"

"God Bebe, read the fucking mood."

"What mood? Wendy and Stan have already left, I just want my fucking latte." Bebe told Kenny off with an annoyed tone, flipping her hair in the process.

"Fine...whatever, Tweek, give me one chai latte."

"O-ok…" Tweek nodded obediently.

"So who's the cutie with the messy hair, do you mind introducing him to me?"

"No way, Tweek belongs to my boss..."

"Kenny? You called me?" Tweek spoke up, he was busy making Bebe's drink and didn't hear the rest of what Kenny had said.

"Oh uh...this guy's name is Tweek, he's our new barista."

"Hey Tweek, my names Bebe. A pleasure to meet you." Bebe smiled sweetly, which slightly unnerved Tweek.

"H-hi."

"Can you make that chai a venti? I am way too stressed right now lemme tell you."

"Why? Is Wendy venting out on you about the whole Stan thing?"

Bebe let out a huge sigh. "Hell yeah she is, Is Stan venting out on you too?"

"No not at all, I probably would have preferred if he did, all he's been doing is be grumpy and depressed. He doesn't want to talk to anyone about it at all."

"Ugh why is it so hard being a friend...I don't need all these extra drama but it's not like I can just ignore her."

"Oh god, tell me about it…"

"Hmm...you know what? I will. Do you mind if I pull up a chair here on the counter? Since Wendy went after Stan, I've got no one to talk to."

"Alright fine, but place it near the side since I've got other customers to tend to."

"Yeah yeah…" Bebe replied as she twirled a curly strand of hair upon her finger.

"Alright so here's the lineup, once you get called on stage you should go right on it. If within five minutes you still haven't shown up then we would have to forfeit your act...any other questions?"

An adult man in a magician's costume raised his hand.

"Can I be the last act? The finale should be the best one after all."

"No, follow the lineup Mr. Marsh."

"Aww."

"C-C-Can I get a bottle of water?, My throat is parched, I c-c-can't tell my jokes like this."

"Oh sure Jimmy, there's a crate of water bottles in the storage room, I suppose I can get someone to bring it here."

"I'll do it." Craig who has been quiet all this time spoke up.

"I can't stand so many people crowding around, I want to get out of here."

"Oh...alright then. At least you're useful for once." Token teased.

"Fuck off." Craig flipped off Token as he exited the lounge.

"Everything seems to be going great, Butters you'll be the one who's going to call the acts on stage is that alright?

"Yup."

"Awesome! Now I need to go outside, and see how things are doing. Once I start the event, bring the performers outside okay? I am leaving them in your hands.

"Okay!"

As soon as Token left, a young preteen sporting pigtails and clad in a green coat approached Butters.

"Hey um, are you Butters Stotch?"

"Huh? Yes, Yes I am…"

"Hi, it's nice to finally see you in person." The girl gave a big grin, which Butters thought looked familiar.

"Um, do we know each other from somewhere? I am sorry if I forgot…"

"Well no, but I do hear about you a lot from my brother. I am Karen by the way, Karen McCormick!" The girl extended her hand, offering a handshake.

"Oh, you're Karen! I think I heard Kenny mention that his sister was performing."

"He knows? Aww man, but yeah I guess he would since he works here. Darn it, and I sneaked around to not get noticed by him too."

"Why don't you want him to know that you're performing?"

"I am going to be reading this poem that I wrote for him and I wanted it to be a surprise…but the truth is I am having some confidence issues. I am kind of scared of performing for so many people."

"You can do it Karen!"

"Y-yeah I guess..."

"Hmm how about you read your piece to me first as practice?"

"Well I suppose…it would help. But it's super embarrassing."

"Don't worry I won't judge, and whatever it is you wrote…I am sure it's amazing" Butters assured.

"Y-you're really nice Butters…I now understand why big bro's always talking about you."

"Aww jeez, you're nice too Karen."

"Hmm…hey Butters? Besides listening to my poem, can you do something else for me?"

"Huh? Um sure." Butters agreed. In his mind there was that nagging thought that he had something else planned to do that he can't exactly remember what it was. Well whatever it is, it'll probably come to his mind later. He needs to help Karen first.

"Staaan!" Wendy cried out.

Stan ran in fervid panic as he tried to find a place where he could hide. Beads of sweat formed in his forehead as he heard Wendy calling his name from a distance.

Storage room? No...It's way too obvious of a hiding place, the lounge? No way, the performers are in there. Bathroom? Also an obvious place to hide…

Still he could always lock it up, and Wendy would look bonkers for bothering someone in the bathroom.

"Fine, toilet it is…"

Stan hurriedly ran inside the bathroom and locked it. Unaware that there was still someone inside it.

"Hey what the fuck, I am still in here." a voice cried out, luckily they weren't using the toilet and was just washing their hands.

Stan's stomach dropped as he turned to see who it was.

"K-ky…" Before he could finish saying his name, a barrage of knocks soon came from the other side of the door.

"Staan! I know you're in there! We need to talk, come out please!"

"I-is that Wendy?" The other person who he had locked up in the bathroom with him asked.

It was at that moment that Stan knew he was fucked. There was no escape...he was stuck inside the bathroom with the person he has been avoiding and on the other side of the door was the girl that he was also avoiding.

Stan wished that the ground opened up and swallowed him whole right now.

But sadly things just wouldn't go as he planned to.

"Huh Hey look at the three of us, we're all blondes, ain't that cute?"

"Oh right. If Butters was here, there would be four of us."

"Who's Butters?" Bebe asked, then chugged her chai with the grace of a typical white girl.

"Hmm well, where is he?…oh there! You see that guy over there walking towards the stage carrying some sort of box? That's him." Kenny pointed.

"Well would you look at that he seems exactly like your type."

"Hell yeah he is." Kenny nodded.

"Are you guys dating?"

"Nope, at least not yet…"

"What, are your charms not working?" Bebe teased.

"Sadly no."

"Well It's not like you have any charm to begin with...Oh...hey why the long face Tweek?"

"H-huh?" Tweek looked up.

"Yeah, is this hag annoying you? Don't worry I can kick her off if you want. She's way too talkative, also nobody has ordered anything ever since she sat here."

"Kenny, you dick!"

"Oh no, it's not Bebe's fault! She's fine. It's just that...I am worried about Stan. It's been a while and he hasn't returned yet.

"Well I am sure he's there somewhere, maybe Wendy caught up to him and they're finally talking things out."

"Oh god, I hope." Bebe added, as she took another swig of her chai.

"Hmm well it seems that most of the guest have already arrived anyway...if you're so worried how about I call Clyde over here to man the register and I can take over the barista job while you look for Stan?"

"Wouldn't Token be mad that we didn't obey his orders?"

"I don't think so...and besides I am sure Clyde will be more than happy to run the register since Bebe's here." Kenny teased.

"Oh God no, if he comes here I am going somewhere else." Bebe looked at Tweek who had on a look of worry in his eyes. A wave of guilt soon washed over her.

"B-but who cares about my opinion anyway...You go on ahead and look for Stan sweetie."

Tweek's eyes widened with delight when he heard what the blonde girl had said.

"Thank you Bebe!"

"Y-you're welcome…" Bebe replied in a flustered tone.

Tweek trotted away, leaving behind his two fellow blondes.

"Your boss sure is a lucky guy huh, he's a real cinnamon bun, my heart skipped a beat when he looked up to me and thanked me."

"Truth to be told, he and my boss aren't dating...Craig's too much of a beta to confess."

"Craig...Craig Tucker? He's your boss?...and he likes guys?" Bebe asked, bewildered with the information she had just received.

"Haha yeah, it's a long story…"

"Oh? do pray tell…"

"Always the gossip with you huh?"

"It just feels comforting to know that Craig likes guys, which is probably the reason why he rejected my advances on him last year."

"Keep telling yourself that, Bebe."

Tweek walked around wondering which place to look for Stan for first. He thought about going to the bathroom, but it would be embarrassing if he knocked over there and someone else was using it. Tweek decided to check the storage room instead, after all that was the place where always went to when he's hiding from Cr-…a certain someone.

The blonde gingerly opened the door, and crept inside as soon as he saw a figure standing near the bags of sugar. "Stan is that you?"

"Hm?"

THUD

Tweek flinched in surprise, not only because of the door suddenly slamming shut behind him, but also because he suddenly realized who the figure was.

"Tweek."

"C-Craig."

"I uh…I am gonna go back…" Tweek replied nervously, then immediately grabbed the handle of the door in order to escape.

"Eh?"

"What's wrong?"

"I-It won't open!"

"WHAT?"

Craig dropped the crate of water bottles that he was holding then attempted to open the door, Tweek was right it wouldn't budge…since when did it break?

He suddenly remembered slamming the door way too hard earlier, maybe karma got him because he was planning on blaming Clyde for it?

"Oh god, are we stuck here?" Tweek uttered, his eyes were wide in panic. He distanced himself a good three feet away from Craig.

Craig looked around the storage room, then the broken door, and finally Tweek. Despite the very unfortunate event happening upon them, Craig thought that maybe this was a good thing? This was the perfect chance for him to apologize to Tweek, the blonde had nowhere to run off to, he would be forced to listen to whatever Craig had to say.

"I think so…"

A/N: Hey guys sorry for not updating for almost a year, I've been so busy with art requests that I don't have as much time to write anymore. I am a bit rusty, so there's some mistakes but I sure did miss writing fanfics. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading!