The halls were bustling with people, as they did every morning in the senior lockers hallway. Stan was standing with Wendy at her locker, the jocks were hanging out talking football, and Craig and Tweek were holding hands at their lockers, as they did every single morning.

"Did you sleep last night?" Craig asked his boyfriend.
"What do you think?" Tweek asked, chugging his coffee.
"Not very well, I'm guessing." Craig frowned.
"Not even a little. My anxiety, man." Tweek said, pulling at his hair.
"Stop that." Craig said, putting his hat on Tweek's head.
"Pull on the strings, not your hair." Craig smiled.
Tweek smiled a sweet smile and pulled the strings.

Craig and Tweek were distracted until they saw Eric Cartman approach them.

Cartman cleared his voice, "Uh, hey fags, I have a question for you."
"What do you want, lard ass?" Craig asked.
"Cartman, don't!" Kyle protested.
"This will just take a second, Kyle." Cartman said.
"What?" Craig demanded.
"I was just wondering, are you two like, ever going to stop pretending to be gay?" Cartman asked in his smart ass tone of voice.

The whole hallway grew quiet and stared at the situation before them. Many of the girls had scowls on their face, clearly aggravated with Cartman's homophobia. The guys were looking around at each other, waiting for the million dollar question they had all been wondering, but never thought to ask.

"You're such an asshole, Cartman." Kyle scolded.
"What? It's a valid question. It's been 8 years, they've been together since the 4th grade." Cartman stated.
"So what?" Kyle said.
"So what?! If you all remember, this was initially something they pretended to do because all the Asian girls drew pictures of them!" Cartman yelled.
"Cartman, why do you have to do this?" Stan asked.
"Because I have to know…are you guys actually gay?" Cartman asked.

Tweek was starting to shake, clearly anxious by this entire situation. Craig looked down at the floor, he and Tweek never talked about their relationship and this was not the time to do it.
"Fuck off, Cartman." Craig whispered.
"Oh, so you are?! Why don't you just admit it?" Cartman asked.
"Cartman, stop it! This is none of your business." Kyle yelled.
"I'm making it my business." Cartman said.

Craig and Tweek both remained quiet, Tweek because of anxiety, Craig because of anger, both of them because they really didn't know what to say. This whole thing was like a smack in the face.

"Craig it's totally cool if you're gay, but why Tweek?" Cartman asked.
Craig tightened his grip on Tweek's hand.
"C-Craig…" Tweek whispered.
"It's been 8 years and the kid still shakes all the time and thinks the world is out to get him and have you seen his crooked teeth?!" Cartman yelled.
Tweek turned towards the locker to hide his face.
"How dare you…" Craig whispered.
"What?" Cartman asked.

Then, Craig punched Cartman square in the nose, making him fall backwards. "OW! Craig, what the fuck!" Cartman yelled. Craig's chest was heaving from the adrenaline. Token, Clyde, and Stan rushed and pulled him back before he lunged after Cartman again. "How fucking dare you talk about Tweek like that!" Craig yelled, trying to fight the boys holding him back. Cartman was holding his nose and looking at Craig writhing to get free. "Tweek is better than you'll ever fucking be, you piece of shit!" Craig screamed. Tweek had fallen to the floor in front of his locker, trying to comprehend what was happening. "Tucker! My office, now!" The principal demanded, pointing down the hall. "Come on dude." Clyde said and guided him to the principal's office. "What an asshole!" Cartman said, standing up to go to the nurse's office. "You're the asshole, Cartman." Kyle said, walking over to Tweek.

"You okay, Tweek?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah…I'll be fine." Tweek said, looking at the ground.
"He's a dick, don't worry about him." Kyle said.
"I've never…seen Craig go off like that." Tweek said.
"Cartman deserved it." Kyle said.

Kyle didn't seem to understand that Tweek didn't really care what Cartman had to say about him, but he had never seen Craig get so worked up. This whole situation was going to change everything for them. Tweek's mind was already going a mile a minute, trying to wrap his head around what had just occurred.

/~***~\\\\\

"Craig, you haven't gotten into a fight since your freshman year, this really shocks me." The principal said.
"I apologize sir." Craig said.
"Eric Cartman says mean and derogatory things to people all the time, you've never gone after him like this before." The principal stated.
"I know, sir. But he said something about Tweek and it just set me off." Craig said, not making eye contact with him.
"I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to suspend you for a few days." He said.
"Can you tell me how Tweek is doing?" Craig asked.
"He's doing fine, he's back in class now that his panic attack is over. But Eric Cartman is at the hospital with a broken nose." The principal said, sternly.
"I don't care about him." Craig said.
The principal sighed. "Go on and head home, Craig. I've already told your parents."

Craig just got up and walked out of the office, he dug his keys out of his pocket and walked outside to his car, driving home with his head fuzzy. 'I've never gone that crazy before.' He thought to himself. 'Are you ever going to stop pretending?' played over and over in his head the entire ride home. He couldn't wait to crawl in bed and take a nap, he needed the thoughts to stop.

/~***~\\\\\

Craig was woken up by a knock at his front door, he peered one eye open and looked at the clock, it was 4:07 in the evening. He stared at the clock for a minute before the knocking continue, he sighed and got up, rubbing his eyes and making his way downstairs. He opened the door to see Tweek standing there, his hands in his pockets, his eyes looked red. He was also soaking wet from the rain that had begun. "Hey dude." Tweek said, giving a small smile. "Hey." Craig said, looking to the ground. The both remained still and quiet for a few minutes before Tweek finally spoke up. "Look, we don't have to talk about what happened today, but can I just come inside and hang out, like always?" he asked, almost sounded desperate. Craig smirked, this is why he liked Tweek. "Yeah, of course." Craig said, stepping aside so Tweek could walk in.

The grabbed drinks and snacks and went to Craig's room. Craig shut the door behind them, his parents wouldn't be home for another couple of hours. Craig had learned to keep it dark in his room to help with Tweek's anxiety, Tweek would come over to take naps because he felt calmer around Craig. Lately, he had been sneaking out at night to stay with Craig because he's never able to sleep at home. Craig handed Tweek some dry clothes and a blanket. "Are you gonna take a nap? You probably should, you look exhausted." Craig asked. "You mean the redness? I was crying earlier." Tweek said. Craig turned his head quickly to Tweek. "When I was having my panic attack…and maybe at lunch…and maybe during last period…" Tweek said, pulling on Craig's hat strings.

Craig's eyes softened, was this tearing Tweek apart inside like it was him? "I'm sorry…" Craig said, he really wanted to reach out and hug the blonde, but there was a battle going on in his head. "Like I said, we don't need to talk about today. I just want to be here with you." Tweek said. "Okay." Craig smiled and turned on his tv. Tweek sat on Craig's bed and pulled out his sketchpad, like he often did on the evenings after school. Craig turned on his video games and sat with his back against the bed, like he did on evenings like this one. It was a routine that they had grown accustomed to.

Although today, there was tension, the air was thick with it. Both boys were internally screaming, but didn't know what to say to each other. Tweek was staring at his sketchpad, having no idea what to draw. He looked over to Craig who was highly concentrated on the enemies he was shooting at. Tweek looked back to his sketchbook and flipped through his old drawings, his eyes widening when he realized for the first time, that they were all of Craig. Craig was his biggest inspiration. How could he let something that Eric Cartman of all people said affect what inspires him? Tweek closed his sketchbook and looked over to Craig, who was still concentrating. The blonde laid his head down on the bed and stared at Craig. His heart started to beat faster as he said "Craig…"

"Yeah?" Craig replied quickly, like he was waiting for it, but not breaking concentration.

Tweek was shaking and tears were building in his eyes, he blinked them away and paused for a few more seconds.

"When did we stop pretending?" Tweek asked and the world stopped. Craig paused his game and everything was silent except the raindrops hitting the window outside. Craig was just staring at the paused video game on his screen, hands clutching the controller. Tweek was hugging himself on the bed and willing himself not to cry again. Craig wasn't saying anything and Tweek was internally panicking, his thoughts were racing. 'Oh fuck, oh fuck, I just ruined everything. Why am I so stupid?!' he was thinking to himself. He squeezed his eyes tight and grabbed on to the sides of his head. The anxiety was talking very loudly and he just wanted it to stop. "The end of 4th grade." Craig said. The voices stopped and Tweek's eyes flew open and stared at Craig, who was still looking at the screen. "W-what?" Tweek asked. "We stopped pretending around the end of 4th grade. At least…that's when I stopped pretending." Craig said, finally turning to look at Tweek, who looked absolutely shocked. Craig chuckled and stood up, then sat next to Tweek on the bed. "Don't you agree?" Craig asked with a smile. Tweek was still staring at him, he just smiled and said "Yeah…that sounds about right."

Craig pulled Tweek into a tight hug. Tweek was still somewhat shocked and slowly hugged Craig back. "No matter what Cartman says…I think you're perfect Tweek, I always have." Craig stated. Tweek was so overwhelmed with happiness in this moment. "Craig…I-" Tweek began, but was silenced when Craig pressed his lips to his. Tweek was so shocked and happy, he couldn't believe what was happening. But he quickly kissed Craig back. Craig broke the kiss and pulled the blonde into his lap, his arms pulling him closer to him. Craig pressed his forehead to Tweek's. Tweek was shaking, his heart was racing, he had been waiting for this moment for so long. Craig looked into Tweek's eyes and they stayed like that for what seemed like forever. "Tweek…I…I love you." Craig said. A blush came to Tweek's face and his eyes widened as tears spilled out of them. "I'm not afraid anymore, Tweek. I don't know why I ever was, but I'm not afraid to love you anymore." Craig stated. "I…" Tweek's voice cracked. "I…I've loved you for so long, Craig." Tweek whispered. Tweek fell into Craig and hugged him tight, crying hysterically. Not from sadness, but from relief.

"Shhh, it's okay babe." Craig said and stroked the blonde's hair. "What is everyone going to think?" Tweek asked, curled up in Craig's arms. "Who cares what they think?" Craig inquired. Tweek looked up at Craig and he felt so safe for the first time in a very long time. "After my suspension, we are going to walk into that school and show everyone that this is real. Fuck Eric Cartman and anyone else who wants to judge us. I love you, Tweek. I'm not ashamed to say it. God, it feels so good to say it!" Craig exclaimed with a smile on his face. Tweek chuckled with a smile and snuggled into Craig more. Craig pulled a blanket over top of them and they watched the rain fall outside. "I love you, Craig." Tweek said. Craig responded by kissing him, which was just fine by Tweek.

/~***~\\\\\

A week later, Craig returned to school, walking in holding Tweek's hand as always. Tweek was nervous, today they were going to announce to their friends that they hadn't pretended for a long time. "It's gonna be just fine babe." Craig reassured him. Cartman stood at his locker with his nose still bandaged and bruised. Craig tightened his grip on Tweek's hand and walked up to Cartman with confidence.

"Cartman." He stated.
"Ah, Craig! Look dude, you already broke my nose, you don't need to break anything else!" Cartman pleaded. The guys were already watching the interaction unfold.
"I just want to apologize for hitting you and not answering your question." Craig smiled.
"Huh?" Cartman was confused.
"I just wanted to let you know that Tweek and I stopped pretending a long time ago." Craig said and looked at Tweek, Tweek blushed.
"What?" Cartman, stunned.
Craig leaned down and kissed Tweek deeply on the lips, right in front of everyone. There was a chorus of "aww" coming from the girls, the guys just all stared blankly.
Craig pulled away and smiled at Tweek.
"Let's go to class, babe." Craig said and they walked off hand in hand.
All the guys were left in the hallway looking at one another, shocked and confused.
"Dude." Cartman stated.