Work Text:
Tweek's feet were sore.
It was Monday when Craig asked his boyfriend of nearly nine years to a date at the amusement park. Tweek was standing outside his locker, trying to fit his Algebra II textbook in between his backpack and a plastic pencil case. The blond's locker was filled to the brim with extra highlighters, pencils, notebooks, tissues, sanitary wipes, hygiene products, and thermos for his coffee. His friends had been telling Tweek for years that he would definitely not be needing half of the shit he had half-haphazardly thrown into his locker, but his friends just didn't understand! You never know when you're going to need a full Arabic-to-English dictionary! What if the Algerian government randomly showed up and Tweek needed to reason with them? Better safe than sorry, he always figured.
"The amusement park?" Tweek repeated curiously as he reached down to pick up a wad of crumpled up homework assignments that had fallen onto the ground. "Why do you-ngh!-want to go there?"
"Because," Craig frowned, "we haven't gone since, like, middle school. Remember when we went all the time as kids?"
"Well yeah," responded Tweek. "But ticket prices have gone up since then! I'm not sure I can-ugh!-even afford it."
Craig's usually deadpan face transformed into a wicked grin. "No worries, babe. I already bought you a ticket."
So that's how Tweek ended up here on a sunny Saturday afternoon. His stupid boyfriend knew that there was no way Tweek would go knowing that he'd be wasting Craig's hard-earned money. That bastard was so lucky that Tweek loved him.
He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he felt the heat seemingly melt off his skin, baffled at the fact that his boyfriend could keep his signature blue chullo on without a care in the world. The weather was certainly not forgiving and—to make matters worse—Craig insisted on touching Tweek somehow at all times. If they were waiting in line for a ride, Craig was standing behind Tweek with his arms wrapped around his waist and his chin on top of his shorter boyfriend's blond head of hair. Whenever they were walking, Craig had Tweek's hand in his, holding gently enough that it felt comforting but tight enough that Tweek couldn't pull away.
It was nothing new for the two of them—they had always been a touchy couple, but it was just way too warm outside to be attached to the hip like they usually were. Tweek felt hot, sticky, and oh yeah, his feet were stinging like a bitch.
I'm definitely gonna have blisters tomorrow, Tweek thought.
"Craig," Tweek groaned, stopping his feet. Craig looked back at him, never letting go of his hand. "I need to sit down for a second."
"What's wrong, honey?" Craig asked sweetly, using his free hand to push back Tweek's hair and reveal his forehead. On any other day, Tweek would've been embarrassed that he'd gotten his boyfriend's hand soaking wet with his sweat, despite knowing that Craig definitely didn't care. "Do you need some more sunscreen? I know you like to use SPF 100 just in case, but I looked online and apparently SPF 30 is good enough—"
"No, that's not it," Tweek said, closing his eyes and leaning into Craig's hand as a small breeze drifted across his forehead. Ever since that one time the two of them had gone swimming at the lake as kids and Tweek had gotten sunburned on his entire body, Craig always carried some sunscreen in his backpack. The blond had been obsessively searching Google for details on skin cancer and premature death for hours, and Craig was only able to lure him away from the computer by saying that Stripe was missing his other "dad." Both of them were eighteen and about to graduate now, but Craig had never stopped carrying it.
"It's just hot and my feet kinda hurt." Tweek didn't bother mentioning that "kinda" was a complete understatement. How the hell did Craig seem completely fine?
"Of course, sweetie," Craig said, leading Tweek to a bench. The dark-haired man took the blue jacket he had tied around his waist and set it on the back for Tweek to lean on in case so that he didn't burn his skin on the hot metal. It was totally overkill, but Tweek felt his heart gush.
He's way too good to me, Tweek thought as he sat down. Craig gave him a kiss on the forehead before he left Tweek to go get him a drink. It didn't matter how many times the two kissed, Tweek always felt his chest throb at the feel of Craig's chapped lips.
He took the end of his shirt and wiped some more of the sweat on his forehead. When he looked, the green had turned dark from wetness and a streak of white came off too. Shit, maybe he should ask Craig for some more sunscreen when he got back, considering he'd just wiped his off. Although, he hoped it wouldn't be necessary and the two could just go home when Craig got back. Tweek couldn't wait to blast the AC of Craig's truck while listening to some 80's rock band on the radio. He'd kick his shoes off to let his feet breathe while his boyfriend made some stupid joke about the sweat from his socks stinking up the car.
Tweek was so lost in his fantasy that he didn't notice Craig make his return until he felt a freezing sensation on the back of his neck. He jumped with a "Gah!" and turned to see the taller man holding an ice-cold water bottle on his neck.
"That was fast," Tweek said, taking the water bottle and unscrewing the lid. "Sorry, I'll pay you back."
"Don't worry about it," Craig replied nonchalantly, taking a seat directly next to Tweek. Their knees knocked together as the blond tilted his head back and gulped down the drink. "I know you like coffee, but I figured you might want something a little more hydrating."
"Coffee is hydrating," Tweek retorted. "But you're right. I wanted-ngh-water. You know me so well," he teased. He would've told Craig to scoot his ass over and give him some breathing room, but he realized he could lean on Craig's shoulder and shut his eyes.
Craig snorted. "I'd be concerned if I didn't know you like the back of my hand at this point."
Tweek just hummed at that, feeling the pressure in his toes lessen. He was kind of tempted to ask Craig if he'd massage his feet for a little bit. Tweek knew that his boyfriend would probably do so if he asked nicely, but he decided he could do without the weird stares they were bound to receive. He could already sense sideways glances as some people walked past them, but he was too tired to care.
"Can we go home?" Tweek asked after a while. "I think we've gone on-gah!-all the rides that we like."
"That's not true," Craig replied monotone. "We still have to go on the ferris wheel."
"I mean, do we have to?" Tweek asked, now holding the water bottle to his forehead. He knew he was kind of acting like a baby by complaining, but he really didn't care.
Craig leaned his head on Tweek's and interlocked their hands. "Sorry, babe. Normally I'd take you home, but we have to go on the ferris wheel today, trust me. Besides, I thought that was your favorite ride?"
"Ugh, it usually is, but I don't know if I can even make it all the way over there. Like I said, my feet are killing me."
"Just one more ride, honey. Don't worry, I'll give you a piggyback ride over there."
Tweek finally glanced to look into Craig's bright green eyes and saw that he was completely serious. Tweek's eye twitched as he looked away.
"No way, dude. That's way too embarrassing."
"Too bad," Craig said before standing up. Tweek watched in horror as the people around them stared at Craig, who was squatting awkwardly in front of Tweek. "Come on, before my knees start to hurt."
"Craig, oh my god," Tweek said. "Get up! People are looking." When Craig just shrugged Tweek gave a light punch to his boyfriend's back before he climbed on, grabbing Craig's jacket behind him. Tweek knew this was one of those moments where he was definitely not guilt-tripping Craig out of his decision. Tweek had no clue why Craig was so insistent on riding the dumb ferris wheel, but the blond was definitely peeved about it. The taller boy stood up straight and grabbed Tweek's thighs as the blond wrapped his arms around his neck.
Tweek shoved his face into his boyfriend's back in shame. "Dude, this is, like, so embarrassing. I was just-gah!-complaining earlier. I can walk, seriously!"
"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I made my man walk on his sore feet?" Craig deadpanned with his nasally voice. "Don't be embarrassed. We don't know any of these people."
"That's not the point!"
It took a few minutes for the two of them (or for the one of them) to make it to the ferris wheel, and then it was another 20 minutes of waiting in line. Eventually, Tweek had slid off of Craig's back and handed him back his blue jacket. The taller boy tied it back around his waist before grabbing Tweek's hand again and interlocking their fingers. Tweek blushed, knowing that other people were watching, but the embarrassment of being seen with their hands interlaced didn't hold a candle to the random kids asking their moms what game the two of them were playing and why Tweek had to have Craig carry him.
"Next in line," the ride operator said after a while and the couple clamored inside. The blue sky had turned somewhat of an orange and the heat had finally began cooling off. Tweek took another chug of his water, this time finishing the rest. Craig put it in the backpack to recycle later.
"So..." Tweek trailed, eyeing his boyfriend. "You were so certain that it was-guh-necessary for us to ride this. Why? The ferris wheel is my favorite ride, not yours."
"Yeah," Craig said, looking down. His hands were clasped together in his lap and he didn't look at Tweek for a few moments. Eventually, his green eyes met with Tweek's dark blue ones as he spoke.
"Do you remember coming here as kids? Like that one time when you thought North Korea was going to nuke us or something?"
Tweek rolled his eyes. "You can't hold that over my head forever, you know. It was a valid concern!"
Craig grinned a little at that, letting out a small laugh and looking out the window. "Sure, dude. Anyways, it got me thinking about the past, you know? And how far we've come. Then I started thinking about the future and..."
"Are..." Tweek gulped. "Are you breaking up with me?"
Craig's gaze snapped back to Tweek's face who looked like he was about to burst into tears. The blond had already started fidgeting with the buttons of his shirt, and Craig reached over to stop his movements.
"What? Of course not! You know I love you, babe." Tweek felt his cheeks go warm as he flushed with embarrassment. He stopped fidgeting and itched his cheek.
"L-Love you, too!" he blurted, looking anywhere but at his boyfriend. Craig grinned wide at that, revealing two rows of crooked teeth. Tweek wanted to ask him if he had been wearing his retainer, but he decided it wasn't the time.
"Thanks, honey. Anyways, it's quite the opposite." Now it was Craig's turn to fidget. He messed with the ends of his hat, resisting the urge to pull it down and hide his red face. "We've been together for what? Nine years? I don't know any other couple who would start dating in the fourth grade and not break up by now. I know that I hate when we're not together, and I'm sick of having to call or text you at night when I wanna check on you. Like, I love you, dude. I'm in love with you, and I wanna spend the rest of our life together."
Holy shit! Tweek thought. Is he about to propose?
"A-Anyways... I was hoping you felt the same way—"
"I do!" Tweek blurted out without thinking. He cleared his throat and motioned for Craig to continue.
"Heh, good. I was thinking... We're about to graduate, right? And then we'll be, like, officially adults. We can finally be independent from our parents. I know we were both thinking that we'd go to college here in Colorado, and I was just wondering. Do you... Do you wanna..."
Oh my god, Tweek gulped. Here we go!
"...move in together after we graduate?"
Tweek blinked at him, his mouth agape. "Wait, you weren't gonna propose?"
Craig jerked back. "What? Dude, we're eighteen! I can't even afford a ring!"
"But the way you were-GAH!-making it sound...!" Tweek replied frantically. Craig cleared his throat.
"I mean, I figured eventually we'd g-get married or whatever, but I was gonna wait until at least our mid-twenties."
That made Tweek's mouth fall open even wider. So he had thought about this?
"Unless," Craig gulped, "you were planning on marrying someone else..."
"Of course not!" Tweek cried. He shoved his face in his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. "GAH! Jesus Christ, man! You scared the shit out of me. Obviously I wanna get married one day, but not right now!"
"Dude, me neither!" Craig said with a raised voice. His face mirrored the pinkness in Tweek's cheeks. "You're the one who brought it up!"
Tweek just groaned into his palms. God, this was the worst. Craig was trying to have a romantic moment and here Tweek was fucking everything up. He sat up straight and looked directly into Craig's eyes.
"Yes, I'll move in with you," he said with a wide smile. Craig's own eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and Tweek reached over and held his hands. "If the-mm!-offer still stands."
"O-Of course!" Craig said, his mouth cracking into another open-mouthed grin. He tore his arm from Tweek's grasp to wrap his arm around his boyfriend's shoulder and swoop down to give him a long, wet smooch in the lips. Tweek laughed into his mouth before they pulled away. He noted the look of relief on Craig's face.
"Did you really think I'd say no?" he asked with a smirk and a raised brow. Craig just chuckled.
"I mean, I don't know. I thought maybe that'd be moving too fast for you or something."
Tweek rolled his eyes and gave his boyfriend another quick peck on the lips. "Dude, we've been dating for nine years. Nothing could make us move 'too fast.'"
The two of them looked away in surprise when the car suddenly stopped, jolting them forwards. They looked at the ride operator who threw his thumb to the exit.
"Ride's over, lovebirds. Move it."
Tweek and Craig smiled as they stepped out, holding hands. On the way through the exit, Tweek asked, "What kind of apartment do you want?"
"It's up to you, babe," replied Craig. "Anything you want, I'll get it for you. As long as it's in our budget."
"Hmm," Tweek hummed. "I'll have to think about it."
"Take all the time you need, honey," Craig said, tightening his grip on Tweek's hand. "Come on, now we can go home."
Tweek suddenly stopped, making Craig turn to look at him.
"My feet still kinda hurt..." he said with a smile. "Can you carry me to the car?"
Craig scooped Tweek up without hesitation, one arm supporting the blond's back and the other hooked under his knees, carrying him princess style. Tweek rested his head on Craig's shoulder while the other gave him another giant peck on the forehead.
Now Tweek really wanted to get home. He had the feeling he'd be up looking at apartments for sale all night.