It had to have been some time around four in the morning when my phone went off, disturbing my slumber. I was about to ignore it when I realized that the only person who even thought to call me at such an hour had always been Tweek. So I answered without thinking further into it and made an attempt to wipe the sleep from me eyes. I was so tired.

"Hello?" I mumbled into the microphone. I slowly pulled myself upward into a sitting position and yawned.

"GAH!" the undeniable voice of Tweek exploded into my ears and I had to actually pull the phone away from my ears while he screamed before bringing it back up, "Cr-Craig?!"

I stretched, "Mhmm.." I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall back onto the comforting mattress.

"U-umm.... Did I - ngh - did I wake you?" he whispered.

"Yes," I responded absentmindedly.

There was shuffling from the other end, "Ack! I-I'm sorry, I'll j-just go!"

"Tweek," I said firmly, "I'm wide awake now. Might as well tell me why you called."

"O-oh..." I could hear the guilt in his voice, "I-I had a nightmare..."

"About?" I asked.

"Erk! I don't remember!" He exclaimed.

I put my arm over my eyes and yawned again. There was a long pause before I spoke up, "What was your favorite toy as a kid?"

"Wh-what?!" asked Tweek, obviously confused by my sudden question.

"It's a question, Tweek. You're supposed to answer it," I told him.

"Oh... Man, I don't remember that!" was his well thought out response. I sighed softly but he must have heard me because he started to freak out a little bit, "ACK! I-I mean, there was th-this cool monkey thing m-my mom gave me!"

"Was it just a stuffed animal?" I asked.

"Well... Y-yeah, I guess.. It held this - erk - coffee mug and whenever you squeezed it, i-it would make this weird noise," he told me.

"That doesn't sound that cool," another yawn escaped my lips.

"H-hey! I thought it was awesome!" Tweek protested.

I smiled softly at this, "Seems kinda stupid to me."

"Oh yeah?! W-well what about you?" I could hear the defensiveness in his voice.

"I never really played with toys," I said, "I only hung out with Stripe and watched Red Racer."

"Gah! Well Red Racer was a stupid show!" Tweek said in a tone that sounded as if he were trying to convince himself rather than me.

"No it wasn't," I responded.

"I-I know...." he sighed and there was another small silence. I could feel myself slipping in and out of sleep yet I still tried my hardest to stay awake. Some time went by before Tweek spoke up again and I was mildly surprised that I hadn't fallen asleep by then, "Do you - ngh - have a d-date for that dance?"

"Don't be stupid, Tweek," I said, wondering why he had asked me such a question, "I'm not going to the dance." Another silence and then a question of my own popped into mind, "Do you?"

"ACK! No way, man! That's too much pressure!" he said hurriedly. For some reason, I felt a bit relieved at this response.

"So you're not doing anything for Valentines Day?" I rolled over and stared into the darkness of my room, wondering why I felt so weird all of a sudden.

"N-no..." said Tweek, "I don't - NGH - know if you know this, dude, but I-I'm not really - ACK - p-popular.."

I blinked and frowned slightly, "You don't have to be." More silence.

"C-Clyde said he was going to g-get me a date.." Tweek told me. I suddenly felt a bit sick at the thought.

"Really," was all I could find myself saying.

A pause, some shuffling, and then a response, "I don't - erk - want him to."

"Clyde's an idiot," I muttered into the microphone.

"GAH! Wh-why do you say that?!" he asked.

I sighed, "He thinks he can force things like that."

"Oh.. Y-yeah," Tweek started, "Ack! I-I guess you - ngh - can't really force l-love."

"Mhmm," I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling tired again.

"C-Craig?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Thank you.."

"Mhm."

"..Goodnight Craig.."

"Goodnight, Tweekers."

■ ■ ■

The next day at school, posters of the dance had been put up everywhere. They said idiotic things about romance and told the students to buy the tickets quickly before they raised their prices. Just an excuse to get money, no doubt. I had found myself in a rather bitter mood with all this stupid shit going on around me. Almost every kid in school had a romantic interest and it was kind of getting on my nerves.

I was just glad that I wasn't the only one without a date, since Tweek was in the same boat as me.

Of course, I thought differently when my eyes landed on Clyde and Tweek. Clyde had his arm around the blonde and they were talking to a small group of girls who I barely even recognized. Well, Clyde was doing more of the talking and Tweek looked like he wanted the school to be invaded by Gnomes so he could get out of the awkward situation that he had been forced into. I found myself slowly approaching the two and listening in on what was happening.

"So, yeah, any of you lovely ladies want to take him on?" Clyde grinned.

All the girls were silent, staring from one to the other in what looked to be confusion. One of the girls cleared her throat before speaking up, "Sorry, Clyde. We've all got dates already."

The brunette frowned at this bit of information, "Oh come on! I bet Tweek's way cooler than whoever you guys are planning to go with!"

"GAH!" screeched Tweek. The girls stared at him again.

Clyde sighed, "It was worth a shot!" he waved them off and they slowly left. Their silence turned into murmuring which turned into loud talking by the time they reached the end of the hall.

"Sorry, Tweek," Clyde apologized.

Tweek scrambled away from Clyde's resting arm and shook his head vigorously, "I-I didn't want a - ACK - date in the first - oh, Jesus - IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

A laugh escaped Clyde's lips, "You and Craig, both so boring!"

"Wh-what about Token?" questioned Tweek.

"Nah, he can't get a date. Unlike you and Craig he actually wants one," Clyde glanced around and spotted me, "Speak of the devil!"

"GAH! Craig!" Tweek jumped a bit at the sight of me. I walked over to them and stood in between the two. Tweek opened his mouth to say something when Clyde interrupted.

"Hey! You!" Clyde grabbed some random girl's arm and gently pulled her over, "See this hot blonde guy?" He gestured to Tweek.

The poor girl, who had long wavy dark hair and pale skin, looked pretty freaked out at the sudden suggestion, "I.. I.." she hesitated, looking from Tweek to me and then back to Clyde, "I'm not going - please don't force me into anything! I mean I would but it's just so expensive a-and I don't even know you and - oh, goodness, I'm sorry for rambling, I'll just go now!" With that, she yanked away from Clyde's grip and ran down the hall.

"That was..." Clyde said, staring after her in confusion, "really weird." Tweek and I exchanged glances before Clyde continued on, "Anyhow, don't stress too much on it! I'll definitely get you a date!"

Tweek blinked, "GAH! D-dude, I already - ngh - said th-that I don't-"

"A date? For The Spaz?" someone said from behind Tweek. I looked over and saw only one of the kids from Junior High standing with his arms crossed. He was a senior now, but other than that I didn't know anything about him, "That's nearly impossible. Look at him!" He snorted.

Tweek spun around to face the guy with a terrified expression. He trembled and shook and stuttered, mumbling incoherent sentences left and right. He backed up closer to me and Clyde stepped up.

"I bet you don't have a date, either!" said Clyde, resting his hands on his hips like some fifteen year old girl ready to engage in a cat fight of some sort.

The guy smirked, "I don't need one to feel better about myself." His eyes glanced in my direction and he was about to look away when he must have recognized me. A spark flashed through his eyes and his smirk deepened, "Oh, you two are back to being friends? I thought you hated the freak!"

I frowned and flipped him off, "I never said that."

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I just assumed that when you called him annoying and a freak that you hated him," he chuckled, "my bad."

"You actually said that?" Clyde turned to me, surprised. I looked away, not wanting to face my mistakes at that moment.

"Oh yeah, Spazzy here was even there when he said it," nodded the guy.

Clyde looked at me as if he were the person I had betrayed, "Damn, dude. I knew you screwed up but I didn't think you fucked up that bad."

I stared at him, "Being ignored by your best friend for years equals 'little screw up'?" Clyde shrugged and scratched the back of his head, staring at me some more. I flipped him off.

"You didn't mean it, though, right?" asked Clyde.

Narrowing my eyes, I responded rather harshly, "Of course not."

"Then why would you say an evil thing like that?" the guy questioned, that annoyingly smug look playing across his features.

I raised my middle finger, "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"No," Clyde chimed in, "but you really should to Tweek!"

My gaze instantly snapped to the blonde who was staring at his feet, squirming and twitching and silently freaking out at everything that was going down.

I took a deep breath, "Tweek-"

"S-save it," responded Tweek, glancing to me, "I don't think I-I want to- ngh - listen to you right now."

The senior laughed and shrugged, "Well, I'll see you guys later then! Good luck getting a date for that creep," and with that he turned around and sauntered off in the other direction.

I flicked him off before I turned to Tweek. I could see a very small, sad looking smile playing on his lips. It made me want to hug him but I knew that wouldn't do anything helpful. I was about to say something when the bell rang and it was time to get to our next class. I didn't move from my spot and neither did Tweek and Clyde. We all just stood in a small circle, silently thinking about whatever the hell was going through our minds at that time. Clyde was the first to leave.

"I don't want to be late to class," he had said, waving slightly, "see you two later."

That left only me and Tweek in the nearly empty corridor of South Park High. I was watching him carefully but he seemed concentrated on his shoes at the moment.

"Cr-Craig?" he asked, glancing up at me. I waited for him to continue, "I-I want you to - erk - tell me everything. Just not now."

I slowly nodded, waiting for him to continue because I knew that couldn't be the only thing he was going to say. I felt sort of nauseous but I made sure that my expression didn't show any bit of emotion I was feeling. I couldn't let everything fall apart, not now.

Tweek looked up at me, that rare bit of confidence flaring in his eyes, "Let's m-meet at Stark's Pond tonight." I nodded and watched him turn around and scurry off to his next class.

There was no way I was going to make it through the day so I skipped my last couple of classes and just went home. This was going to be a very interesting night and I had a feeling that this would be it; if I screwed up tonight then there's no way Tweek would ever talk to me again.

If all I had to do was tell the truth then how could I possibly fuck up this time?