Had it really come to this? After all these years had the foundation of their friendship really crumbled so far that this was the only thing left that Kyle could do for Stan. He looked down at the phone in his hand and let out a heavy sigh.

"It's the right thing to do dude, it's all you can do." Kenny said as he looked between the phone and Kyle's face, speaking as he loosened the strings from his chin and pushed his hood back from his face, running a free hand through a mass of disheveled blond hair.

"I know it seems that way but…I don't know if I can do it, Kenny." Kyle closed his eyes and set the phone down on his desk. He squeezed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and let out a frustrated growl. "This is bull-shit, it's just fucking bull-shit, Kenny, why do I have to be the one to do this? Stan is really going to hate me forever if I go through with it!" He furrowed his brows together and wrinkled his nose, the emotions he was feeling were bubbling up inside so strongly he felt them as a physical pain. His heart hurt…but then again his heart had been hurting for awhile.

"He needs help, more help than we can give him, and you know why it's got to be you, you're his best friend." Kenny said, scooting his rolling chair closer to Kyles.

"Exactly! So I have the most to loose!" Kyle pointed out, giving Kenny a sideways look, eyes narrowing, "You should do it…" He pressed pushing the phone towards him across the desk.

Kenny chuckled darkly, "Kyle…that would require me to really….truly…deeply….give a fuck…which I don't. I'm really not all that worried, but you are…everyone else is…But hey," he placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder and squeezed gently, "you don't have to do this right now, just uh…just take a few deep breaths, let's go do something else and come back to it." Kenny patted the back of his friends orange coat and gave him a neutral smile. Kyle, whose whole form was ridged with stress seemed to unhinge and relax a bit.

"yeah..okay…later then." He picked the phone back up and set it down on the receiver before pushing his chair out from the desk and standing up in sync with Kenny. The two of them headed to the door of his room, down the steps, and out of Kyles house with a flippant goodbye to Kyle's mother who was sitting in the living room.

It had been over three months since Stans eighteenth birthday, and it seemed that ever since the party games had ended and the sun set on that day, everything had changed, everything had begun to go down-hill, and not in the way they usually did in South Park. Something had changed, everything had changed. One of them had stepped into a darkness that no-one else seemed to be able to see or follow into. Kyle had tried to be around Stan, hell everyone had, but it was like trying to push water uphill. Stan was miserable to be around, always complaining and groaning and quite frankly it was obnoxious as hell. He made everyone exhausted. It didn't take long for everyone to just filter away from him; but not Kyle, no…they were super-best friends and that meant that Kyle had to stick it out through this phase…it was just a phase wasn't it?

So Kyle had stuck it out. He would go to Stans house and listen to him complain about things, listen to him bitch about how everything sucked, his life, his family, and as time went by he even started complaining about his friends. When Stan's parents ended up filing for divorce, that was the last straw, he didn't even want to see Kyle anymore, at least that's how it seemed. Everything Kyle tried to do just blew back up In his face.

"Hey Stan, mind if I come in?"

"Sure…whatever…"Stan threw the door open wider and turned around, steadying himself on the doorframe before moving inside to collapse on the couch. Kyle watched him, a single auburn brow raised. He slowly reached up and pulled off his green hat and hung it with his coat by the door before following Stan over to the couch and taking a seat on the opposite side. He watched him friend from the corner of his eye as they silently watched the television. It wasn't five minutes before Stan reached over his side of the couch and pulled a bottle of Gin into his lap. He unscrewed the top and propped the bottle against his lips, taking a large gulp. He winced and then capped the bottle again, sliding it back behind the couch arm.

Kyle just stared at his friend. It wasn't the first time he had seen his friend drink, I mean it wasn't like he himself had never drank, but it was always in a different context than this. When they drank it was with a lot more people, or at least Kenny and Cartman and they were having a blast, playing some sort of stupid game or watching movies. Somehow this seemed very different. Kyle turned his head a little, trying to seem more focused on the television, but kept watching his friend.

By the end of the the show they were watching Stan had pulled the bottle out eight times and the quarter of liquid that had been in it was now reaching it's dregs. Kyle's mouth was pulled down into a deep frown, his emerald eyes glistening with deep pain for his super-best friend.

"Stan…" Kyle murmured.

"What.." Stan turned his head and looked at Kyle with a dull lifeless stare.

"Stan…we're best friends right…talk to me, why don't you. What's going on with you, what's wrong? Is it the divorce? We can talk about it…"

Stan let out a frustrated grunt and smeared his fingers across his brow before speaking, his tone sharp, "Everything is just fucking shit, Kyle! Everything, it's just…it's just shit! I don't know what to tell you dude, I hate it, I hate this fucking town, I hate fucking everything."

"even me?"

"Fuck, Kyle, why do you have to do that, huh?" Stan looked away pointedly, his mouth tightening.

"do what?"

"That thing! That thing where you make it about you! I'm just telling you that my life is shit and you have to make it about you!" Stan's tone was growing more and more hostile.

"No Stan…this is definitely not about me, it's obviously about you." Kyle clenched his fists against the tops of his knees and looked down at the carpet, his jaw tight. Stan was really starting to piss him off. He waited a long while before speaking again. All the while Stan said nothing.

"Stan… I just want to help you, I just wanna be there for you and I know this is a tough time."

"Oh you do, hu? Like when you ditched me last week to go to the movies with Kenny and Eric..right well..thanks sooo much." Stan snapped, "What about last month? You avoided me all last month...but not that my parents break up you're back to feel sorry for me? They are still going to live together, here…they just aren't together-what a crock of shit."

Kyle's knuckles were turning white. He stood up but didn't take his eyes off the floor. He turned and walked towards the door in silence. Stan called after him and he could hear his dark haired friend sliding off the couch.

"Oh..oh nothing to say about that, hu? Well FUCK you, Kyle." He held up his middle finger, his face contorted in ager, "yeah, right here buddy. Fuck. You. You're a piece of shit."

Kyle turned around to see the gesture being shook in his direction. His green eyes narrowed and his frown was stready, "Why don't you just go finish that bottle you're working on…super best friend." And with that Kyle flung open the door.

As the door rocked open on it's hinges Stan stared after his "ex best friend with a sickly, desperate look fuming in his deep blues. He pressed three fingers to his temple and then stretched them out towards the door for a moment, exasperated. "I love you.." he said, weakly to Kyle's back.

Kyle paused, letting out a dry short sigh as he turned around, looking more hurt than anything else. He stared at Stan laying there on the couch, his hand reached out towards him. He watched as the hand was slowly retracted and then saw it rub the dark haired boys temple again, roughly before it returned to the outward position, but this time Stan's middle finger rocketed up.

"Fuck you, man, You're a piece of shit though!" Stan shouted and Kyle through up his arms, spinning himself around and without another word he hooked his fingers against the handle and slammed the door shut with finality.

"I..love you.." Stan said again, just as weakly to the back of the door, before lifted the mouth of the gin bottle to his lips and taking a swig.

It had been so long since Kyle had talked to Stan, sure they saw each other at school, but it was obvious that both of them were working hard to avoid each other. As Kyle walked next to Kenny, hands in his pockets, he couldn't help but think back on the last argument they had, and the several arguments before that. Now here he was, after already exhausting every effort to get his friend back into his right mind he was going to try again, and more desperately than ever.

"Do you really think sending him to a rehab group is going to do anything. Isn't a drinking problem sort of a symptom rather than an issue?" Kyle asked, not looking at Kenny as they walked. Kenny didn't speak right away. Instead first he shrugged and then he scratched the side of his head.

"Well, I would say we should do an intervention…but Kyle," the redhead looked up at Kenny when he said his name, "Kyle…Stan had pretty much pissed everyone else off to the point where no one would show up to any sort of intervention, and I wouldn't blame them."

"There's still the two of us." Kyle pointed out, but Kenny just frowned, "Yeah well, Stan never really listened to me even before he became this evil..fucking…brats doll. Kyle couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He looked up into the sky, it was starting to snow.

"So where are we going?" he asked, pulling his mittens out from his side pockets and pulling them on over his wiggling fingers.

"I dunno, I was thinking we could just stop at the Ergo's Diner and get some coffee, I could really face-fuck some bacon right about now" Kenny said, rubbing his stomach. Kyle nodded, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat and the two boys walked to the restraint which was only a few blocks away.

Standing outside the venue, knuckles knocking together and eyes darting nervously across the posted menu stood their mutual school friend, Butters, his blond hair was combed and he was wearing a pinstripe blue dress up top, kakis and dress shoes in lou of hi usual faded blue top and mismatched socks. As Kenny and Kyle approached he jumped and little but then smiled. He was a few inches shorter than both Kyle and Kenny, and when he looked up at them it was always in this meek dejected sort of way, big blue eyes always wilting nervously.

"Oh shit…" Kenny stopped in his tracks and smacked his forehead. Kyle looked at him questioningly.

"Oh-uh-nothing, I just forgot there was something I was supposed to do…"

"O-oh hi fellers." Butters eyes widened a little bit as he let his gaze linger on each of the other boys in turn.

"Hey butters." Kyle responded

"uh…hey, Butters." Kenny said, rubbing the nape of his neck uncomfortably.

"what are you doing out here, Butters?" Kyle asked, looking the blond up and down, "and why are you all dressed up."

"Well isn't a boy j-just allowed to look nice every now and then?" Butters mumbled, rocking back on his heels. "a-and well, I'm waitin for someone." A pink blush blossomed on Butter's cheeks and a smile curled the corners of his lips.

Kenny looked from Kyle to Butters and then pressed his index finger to his own temple, looking even more uncomfortable than before. The three of them stood there for an uneasily long moment before Kenny finally piped up, "well that's just…fascinating… come on Kyle." He grabbed the jewish boy by the arm and tugged him into the diner and into one of the empty booths. Kyle peered around Kenny and out the window at where Butters still stood, awkwardly.

"I wonder what that's all about… I mean Butters is a total fucking Melvin but he isn't usually that jumpy…just weird." Kyle said as he and Kenny found an empty booth.

"Uh-yeah…" Kenny nodded he was at least glad the subject had changed off of Stan for a little while.

"Hey Kyle, hey Kenny, what can I get for you today?" asked the waitress as she walked over to their table, pulling out her pen and note pad. It was Bebe, her long coils of blond hair tied up out of her face in a messy pony tail. She looked good in her uniform, it fitted around her luscious curves and accentuated the assets that had begun to grace her form ever since puberty. She had an even rounded face with medina cheekbones and bright blue gray eyes. She had a winning smile and not to mention ample breasts that by Kenny's pretty accurate judgment couldn't be anything under DD's.

"Hey Bebe," Kyle said, not really looking at her, but instead still glancing over kenny's shoulder and out the window to where Butters was, "um..I'll just have a coffee…thanks." Bebe jotted down his order then turned to Kenny who was leaning his chin on his hand, his elbow resting on the table as he looked dreamily up at her, "Oh..I'll have one of you with everything."

Bebe lightly punched Kenny's shoulder and laughed, "Kenny, you crack me up." Kenny beamed and gave her a wink.

"I guess I'll have an order of bacon, and make sure it's not all under cooked, Craig is shitty with bacon." Kenny insisted, pursing his lips and speaking up louder as he said that. There was a voice from the kitchen a moment later, "I head that." The voice was monotone, but unmistakable. Kenny looked through the pick up window to see an already raised middle finger, displayed for his viewing pleasure.

After taking the orders Bebe shuffled off to give them to the Craig. A few minutes later Bebe returned with their coffee.

"Kyle….Kyle!" Kenny reached up a hand and snapped his fingers in front of Kyles face, bringing him back to the room. "dude…drink your damn coffee and stop looking at Butters, you're weirding me out."

"Sorry…" Kyle let out a sigh and picked up his coffee cup. "I dunno, Kenny, I'm just distracted. I mean I'm just thinking about St-" Kenny raised a hand and stopped him.

"I really…really don't want to talk about Stan right now. I just want to eat my bacon, drink my coffee, and fantasize about Bebe naked." The blond sported a shit eating grin and Kyle chuckled.

"Okay dude, I understand." He sipped at his drink and then lowered it again, peering into the dark black liquid, He wouldn't talk about it but it was all his mind would allow him to really think about…Stan.

Outside the snow was beginning to thicken, and Butters breath puffed out from his nose and mouth in clouds. Reluctantly he stopped his waiting and entered into the diner to warm up.

"You can sit with us, Butters." Kyle said with a smile. Kenny narrowed his eyes at the redhead from across the table but he was ignored.

"r-really fellas…uh...well okay." Butters smiled and slid into the booth beside Kyle, who attempted to order him a coffee from Bebe. Butters stopped him with a gentle touch of his fingers to the Jew's wrist, "oh, I would rather just have some chocolate milk." He said, smiling. Bebe took the order and a few minutes returned with the glass and placed it on the table in front of him. Kenny was chuckling and shaking his head slowly.

"Some things never change." He said with a grin, but Kyle frowned.

"well...I hope some things do change." He looked out the window again at the shower of white, his heart aching.

Butters grinned at Kyle, who was barely paying attention and then at Kenny who looked away from him uncomfortably.

"Stop it with that backward smile…" Kenny said snatching the plate of bacon out of Bebe's hands before she could even set it down on the table.

"oh, uh..sorry" Butters erased his smile and lifted his thumb to his lips, nibbling nervously on the tip of his nail. Kenny rolled his eyes and threw his orange hood back up around his face, drawing the strings tightly so that only his eyes were exposed.