This is it guys, the final chapter. I have to say that I felt a little bit like crying when I wrote the final words. I have enjoyed writing this sooooo much (said in my best Craig voice lol). Your comments, favourites and follows have meant so much to me while I have been writing this and each and every one has brought a smile to my face. I hope to write another story at some point but will have to come up with some interesting ideas first.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and I hope you like the last chapter!

Chapter 13 – It's Now or Never

Cartman had planned to humiliate Craig at the Coon and Friends meeting he had arranged to take place after school. Knowing what a prideful person Craig was he couldn't think of a better punishment for his lack of attention recently.

He intended to get all of the Coon and Friends together and draw their attention to a traitor they had amongst them. When he had them wound up enough he would reveal that it was Craig who was the traitor by being constantly distracted by a certain twitchy blonde.

Cartman knew how sensitive Craig was about his relationship with Tweek. He had never seen them do anything more than hold hands in public. He assumed (wrongly) that it was because Craig was embarrassed and that they left all the "other" things they did until they were alone.

When he had seen the two of them making sad eyes at each other on the floor of the school hallway he had seen an even better opportunity – and a bigger audience - for his plan.

"Craig you seriously need to get help. If you can't cope without the touch of a man for more than a few days then you have a problem!" Cartman smirked as he heard a wave of laughter come from the crowd of students who had gathered around.

His plan was going better than he had ever imagined. He had never seen Craig blush before but there it was! Craig and Tweek both had cheeks which had gone a warm shade of pink and Craig had quickly broken contact from Tweek and stood up.

"I was just helping him pick up his books" Craig responded quickly, feeling like there were a thousand sets of eyes gazing at him. This was everything Craig hated. He was the centre of attention and being ridiculed in front of his peers.

"You need to stop thinking with your dick Craig!" Cartman continued with a satisfied grin. There was only one thing he liked more than winning and it was someone else losing and Craig was losing big time.

Craig looked at Cartmen and then at Tweek. Tweek had steadied himself enough to pick up all of his belongings and stuff them into his backpack. He got to his feet and turned to make a quick exit but his path was blocked by a group of people who had gathered to witness the latest drama.

Craig started to make his way towards Cartman, who seemed to be satisfied that Craig had been humiliated enough. He glanced over his shoulder for one more look at Tweek who was now walking in the opposite direction surrounded by Stan and Kenny.

Cartman - who had seen this last look at Tweek – saw it as one further act of defiance and shook his head

"You need to get your priorities straight Craig" he hissed.

It felt to Craig like a switch had been flicked on inside his head and everything was suddenly bright and clear. Why had he been siding with Cartman – who he hated – over Tweek? He had been miserable for days now and what was it for? To please Cartman?

"You know what Fat Ass, for the first time ever you're right." Craig announced. Cartman's mouth dropped open and he seemed unsure if he had just been complemented or insulted. This didn't matter though as Craig continued

"I do need to get my priorities straight…and you aren't one of them" Craig's voice was steady as he shook his head. He wondered what on earth he had been thinking over the past few days.

Craig turned around and tried to spot Tweek in the crowd. After a few seconds he saw a scruffy head of blonde hair and knew it was the one he was looking for. As he started to make his way towards it Craig felt a hand grab his arm. This caused a gasp amongst the remaining crowd and also recaptured the attention of the people who were leaving.

"EH! Don't walk away when I'm talking to you! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cartman spat, tightening his grip on Craig's arm. Craig ripped his arm away from Cartman and smirked

"I'm doing what I should have done right from the beginning. I'm going to stick by what's important to me" Craig made his way down the corridor away from Cartman. His eyes scanned the hall and found that Tweek was now looking towards him after hearing the continued commotion.

Craig took a deep breath and made his way towards Tweek. As he approached, Stan and Kenny both stepped in front of Tweek, looking like a pair of bouncers. Craig thought how funny it was that they seemed to think that Tweek needed protecting. If they really knew Tweek they would know that he could probably kick everyone in school's ass when he was angry.

Tweek pushed his way past them but gave them both a grateful smile. Craig stopped when he was a few steps away from Tweek.

"Tweek…" Craig found that his usual inability to say what he needed to was starting to kick in. He looked down and tried to forget about all the people gathered around him. It was now or never, and he knew that, but it didn't make any of this easier.

"What is it Craig?" Tweek asked in a small voice, genuinely not sure what he was about to hear. Tweek hadn't heard what had been said after he walked away and wondered if Cartman had told Craig that if he wanted to remain a member of Coon and Friends he would have to break up with Tweek. If Craig didn't really care about Tweek, as he had said, then it would be an easy decision for him to make.

Craig searched within himself to find the words he wanted to say to Tweek, but they just weren't there. He knew that he had been standing here too long to have not said anything and it was starting to get awkward – especially with all the spectators.

He couldn't say what he needed to and he was going to lose Tweek. This realisation scared Craig more than anything ever had before. He felt like his chest was being constricted and for a brief second wondered if this was how Tweek felt before he had a panic attack. He needed to do something!

"F*k it!" Craig declared as he stepped forward towards Tweek. He felt the toes of their shoes meet as he placed his lips against Tweek's.

There was nothing spectacular about the kiss, it was just a meeting of lips which lasted only a few seconds but for both Tweek and Craig everything stopped. For those few seconds they were the only people on the planet and the world belonged to them.

Craig had closed his eyes and saw flashes of lights like fireworks going off behind his eyelids. He felt the same kind of warmth as when he was wrapped up in bed on a cold, snowy day. In that moment he knew that any suffering or embarrassment he had endured over the last few months was worth it for this, it was worth it for Tweek.

Tweek didn't have a chance to close his eyes, he was frozen. He felt Craig's lips against his own but couldn't believe it, everything felt surreal and dreamlike. This was the moment he had imagined countless times and it was more magical than he could have ever believed.

Craig reluctantly pulled himself away and the world came back into focus. He very quickly became aware of the whispers and cooing surrounding him. But Craig was amazed to realise that he wasn't bothered. For the first time in his life he didn't care what other people thought of him.

He looked at Tweek who still had a look of shock on his face. Craig couldn't work out if it was a good look or a bad look. So he simply said

"Okay?" Hearing Craig's voice shook Tweek from his daze. Tweek knew that he was too unsteady to answer but he could also see that Craig was looking for reassurance that what had just happened was okay.

Tweek gave the most genuine smile he had even given in his life and nodded his head at Craig. Craig's shoulders relaxed and any sign of stress was removed from his body. He returned the smile and surrounded Tweek's hand with his own.

"Shall we walk home together?" he asked becoming conscious of the attention they were still drawing from the other students. Tweek, once again, just nodded his approval of the suggestion.

As they were about to make their way towards the exit a voice cut through the gradually reducing noise behind them.

"Hey! Wait!" the voice belonged to Stan who was stood with Kenny in the nearly empty corridor.

The crowd had more or less disappeared, the urge to get home overwhelming the need to continue watching. Most people were satisfied that what had already taken place would be the highlights anyway.

"This whole war thing has been stupid" he continued "I haven't been having any fun since we all separated. If I have to play a game that means I can't spend time with my best friend, then I'm not sure it's a game worth playing at all".

"I agree, if we have to stay in two different groups then I don't want to play anymore" the new addition to the conversation was Kyle, who had been stood slightly further down the corridor. Stan turned around and smiled at the re-instated support from his best friend.

Spotted around the hallway were all of the Freedom Pals and Coon and Friends. Each one had held their position when the commotion began and stayed around to see the outcome. By this point they had all made their way to where Stan was stood and were expressing their agreement.

The only person who had not joined the group was Cartman. He was still stood apart from everyone with a look of rage on his face. This was not what he had planned. After weighing up the situation Cartman realised that he was defeated and more importantly outnumbered.

"We are much stronger together you guys, we should never have separated in the first place" Cartman advised, in his best fluffy voice, as he made his way over to join everyone else. Craig gave him a look of disapproval but as everyone else seemed happy enough he didn't say anything.

Craig decided that, for now, he wasn't concerned with what happened to the Freedom Pals or the Coon and Friends.

"You guys can sort this out between yourselves – I don't care. Tweek and I aren't playing tonight, we're going home. Right babe?" Craig wanted to check that Tweek was okay with this as he had remained silent for a long time now.

Tweek had barely heard a word that anyone had said since the kiss. He just kept replaying it over and over again in his head. But at the sound of his name he was jolted back to reality. Thankfully he had heard all of Craig's question and was relieved at the thought of finally leaving – especially as it would be with Craig.

"Right" he smiled, unintentionally squeezing Craig's hand. As they exited the school they could still hear negotiations taking place behind them but neither one of them had any concern about the outcome.

The first few minutes of the walk home were uncomfortable. Eventually Tweek asked how Stripe had been – knowing that it was the subject Craig liked to talk about most – and the awkwardness disappeared. Once Tweek was up to date with Stripe's recent activities they continued their walk in a comfortable silence, each just happy to be back in the company of the other.

As they reached Starks Pond Tweek's hand unexpectedly left Craig's. The lack of warmth alerted Craig to this and he turned to try and identify why Tweek was not still by his side.

As he spun around he saw that Tweek was stood motionless, just staring at his feet.

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking around trying to spot any obvious causes of the anxious look that adorned Tweek's face. After a painfully long wait Tweek looked at Craig and simply said

"You kissed me?"

Craig wasn't sure if Tweek was looking for an answer, but his tone indicated that he had just asked a question. Craig thought that it was best to answer anyway.

"Yes, I did." His response was as calm as if he was answering any other everyday question, but his exterior calmness was a huge bluff, his heart had begun to race at a mile a minute. He knew this conversation would have to take place but had thought it would at least wait until they were at his house.

The puzzled look remained on Tweek's face. He attempted to speak a few times but words didn't come out. Craig could see that he wanted to say something but knew that he just needed to let Tweek speak in his own time.

Eventually Tweek took a deep breath and said one word

"Why?" Craig could see that Tweek was genuinely confused. He started to panic that maybe Tweek hadn't actually been okay with the kiss and had just relied on his acting skills to pretend he was in front of everyone else.

On any other day Craig would have just shrugged his shoulders and mumbled an excuse about not knowing why he did it, but today was different. Craig realised that the kiss had been a good start to letting Tweek know how he felt but now he had to use his words.

"I'm no good at this sort of thing so just let me say what I need to say and don't interrupt" Craig instructed. Tweek normally would have told Craig not to boss him around but on this occasion he remained compliantly silent.

"I used to think that it was a weakness to care about people. If you didn't care about anyone or anything then you couldn't get hurt. I was boring old Craig Tucker and I liked it. But that all changed when I agreed to pretending to be in a relationship with you."

Tweek couldn't decided if Craig meant the last part in a good or bad way but he stayed silent as instructed.

"The more time I spent with you, the more I hated the time we were apart. I couldn't get away from you because you were the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes in the morning and your face would be the last thing I thought of before I fell asleep. Jesus you even gate-crashed my dreams most nights!" Craig chuckled slightly at this revelation.

Tweek could feel his heart overflowing with love. In one way he wanted Craig to stop speaking so he could tell him how much those words meant to him but, in another way, he would have been content to listen to Craig's speech for the rest of his life.

"I didn't know what it all meant at first. I thought that we had just become best friends and it was normal to feel that kind of way. But then I found myself wanting to kiss you and hold you and…well I knew then that it was more than just friendship. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to pretend to be your boyfriend anymore Tweek…I want us to be together for real".

Craig felt exhausted. He had never talked for such a long time before and expressing his feelings was draining. Being honest about everything he had so carefully hidden for the last few months was the scariest thing he had ever done. But none of that compared to the nauseous churning he had in his stomach waiting for Tweek's reaction to his declaration.

If Tweek hadn't been so overwhelmed with emotion he would have found it funny that the situation was reversed. Usually Craig was the one who couldn't express how he was feeling whereas Tweek used a thousand words to explain something that could be done in ten.

He swallowed down a happy sob and said

"Craig…I've been yours, for real, for a long time now. I just didn't think that you would ever feel the same way about someone like me. I didn't want to risk losing you if I told you how I really felt".

Craig furrowed his eyebrows creating a look of confusion on his face

"What do you mean "someone like you"?" he questioned.

"You know what I mean…everyone knows I'm a spaz and that I'm weird. I must be an embarrassment to you. You're perfect Craig and you could be with anyone you wanted so I never dreamed that you would pick me".

Craig walked forward shaking his head and reducing the distance between him and Tweek.

"I'm not perfect…I'm boring! I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You're extraordinary Tweek. You've had so much shit to deal with but you never let it beat you. If you were stood in a crowd of a thousand people I could find you straight away, because you shine dude".

Tweek couldn't hold back anymore and threw his arms around Craig's neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. Tweek felt Craig's arms wrap around his waist and hold him just as tight.

"I love you Craig" he whispered, saying the words out loud for the first time. Craig stepped back slightly and his hands moved from Tweek's waist up to his face, one hand on each of his cheeks.

"I love you too babe". There was nothing in the universe more beautiful to Tweek than Craig's smile and the one on his face at this moment was the most perfect Craig Tucker smile he had ever witnessed.

Craig's thumb gently caressed Tweek's cheek as he leaned in and met Tweek's lips with his own. This time Tweek let himself get lost in the kiss. He closed his eyes and once again the world outside the two of them slipped away.

Tweek concentrated on nothing else but the sensation of Craig's lips caressing his own, they were softer than he could have ever imagined.

After a number of small, gentle kisses Craig pulled himself away and his hands slowly left Tweek's face, tracing his jawline as they did.

"So what do we do now?" he asked looking at the boy stood in front of him with the incorrectly buttoned olive shirt and unkept, scruffy blonde hair.

"We could go to your house and play X-box?" Tweek replied. The two boys smiled at each other remembering the first day their relationship had started.

For the rest of their lives the tradition - which started on the day that Craig Tucker stood on the sidewalk and offered his hand to Tweek Tweak - would continue. They would always be there to hold each other's hand.