Me Plus You

by ReneyyySprouse

One boy plus one girl in the need to subtract one very unfavourable ghost from the past can quickly multiply to equal more trouble than either of them ever counted on. Two-shot. Stendy.

1. Part I

Me Plus You.
Part I

-x-

Wendy's brain was ticking over at about a million miles an hour. Just as she could almost swear that her head was going to absolutely implode, the high school senior suddenly widened her brown orbs in realisation. Slapping her hand down on the red buzzer as hard as she could, Wendy licked her bottom lip.

"Four cubed minus pi over six?"

As her math teacher nodded her head in confirmation, an eighteen year old Wendy Testaburger sensed her grin grow across her cheeks.

"Well done, Wendy," Ms. Coleman praised her twelfth grade student, "Another correct answer, and in record time, too."

Still smiling to herself, Wendy glanced around at the rest of her high school Mathletics team where they stood on the stage next to her in the school gym.

"W-wow, Wendy," Butters stuttered out, nervously knocking his knuckles together, "You sure have been studying, huh?"

"Yeah, go Wendy!" tenth grader Dougie offered lamely from the end of their team's podium.

"You can say that again," Token added from right beside his team captain, "We're gonna' totally cream all those other loser schools in the semis."

Laughing along with Token as the two swapped an eager high-five, all the excitable commotion was suddenly brought to a halt as Ms. Coleman cleared her throat, "Okay, let's just not get too ahead of ourselves, shall we? I believe we're going to be faced with some very formidable competition this afternoon."

Wendy's advance placement math teacher was an older, shorter woman. Her matted mess of graying hair was tied up on top of her head and she wore a small pair of glasses right on the end of her nose. But she was one of the teachers that Wendy got along with more so than most others, and she had certainly proved herself a phenomenal coach for South Park's Mathletics team.

"Now, go and enjoy the last few minutes of your recess. Our first round of the semi-finals is during lunch break, so make sure none of you are late."

Shooting her ever-beaming grin at their teacher, Wendy firmly nodded her head, "Thanks, Miss," she spoke before quickly glancing over at Token, "I'll bring my flashcards in our free period."

As Butters and Dougie climbed down from the stage and headed towards the exit, Token was right behind them while he called back to Wendy, "Sounds good. Cya' then."

Descending the first step for herself, Wendy looked back to Ms. Coleman with final glance of confidence. The two competitors' podiums were sitting side-by-side on the stage and the shiny, red buzzers stared back at Wendy invitingly as she made her way across the wooden floor in search of her girlfriends while she still had some recess time left.

The eighteen year old girl reached back and tightened the elastic around her long, black ponytail and adjusted the green bow in her hair. Wendy was feeling pretty proud of herself and her team. South Park had done an amazing job of gliding through the Mathletics competition throughout the year, and now their school were playing host to the regional semi-finals.

And if she was being honest, she sort of liked their chances of taking out the whole damn thing. Token was one of the smartest guys in the entire school, only second to Dougie who was a complete brainiac and absolutely incredible for just sixteen years old, and Butters was improving by leaps and bounds every day, too.

As these blissful thoughts continued to dance across her mind, Wendy's eyes slowly drifted over towards one of the entry ways to the gym. It looked like some of the competitors from the other schools were beginning to arrive. The teenage girl narrowed her curious vision. She wasn't completely certain of all the schools that would be taking part in the first round of semi-finals that afternoon, but before she could investigate quite as much as she would have liked, Wendy abruptly felt herself jump at the sound of her name.

"Wendy?" she heard again, "Wendy Testaburger?"

Twirling around on the spot, Wendy was frozen with confusion for a split second before the tall figure, blonde curly hair, and slight British accent suddenly registered in her memory.

"Gregory?" she exclaimed in surprise, "Gregory, oh my God, hey."

The closer she walked towards him, the more Gregory's charming smile became completely unmistakable to her. The former South Park boy's hair was still styled to perfection on top of his head, and he wore a maroon coloured blazer and long, black trousers. He had shortly transferred back to his old school of Yardale following his quick stint at South Park elementary all those years ago in the third grade. It all felt like an absolute lifetime ago to Wendy.

"It's been forever," she spoke with an exasperated giggle, offering her old friend a quick, innocent hug.

"Indeed it has," Gregory agreed, returning the friendly sentiment. In the next second, he held Wendy out at arm's length, keeping his hands glued to her shoulders for only half a second before allowing them to fall back to his side, "You're still as lovely as ever."

Feigning the faintest possible pink blush in her cheeks, Wendy briskly shook off the compliment and casually folded her arms over her chest, "I didn't know Yardale was in this competition. You're on your school Mathletics team?"

"That I am," he confirmed, gesturing to the embroidered Yardale Mathletes team logo on his blazer, "But don't suspect for a second that I'm going to go easy on you."

Awkwardly tensing her shoulders and laughing slightly at his joke, Wendy subtly glanced down to her own uniform. South Park had just managed to afford some basic, custom made polo shirts for their team. But still, it was better than nothing, and the bright, green team logo sewn into her shirt made Wendy hold her head high as she licked her lips and quickly changed the subject.

"Well, hey, I've got a class to get to in a few minutes, but if you need a tour guide later, I might be free?"

Gregory raised an eyebrow at the seemingly nonchalant offer from the teenage girl. Wendy certainly did look as gorgeous as he remembered her to be - almost as gorgeous as the adorable little eight year old he had first been so infatuated with a decade ago. He took one small step closer to Wendy, grinning down at her as he did.

"Sounds wonderful," he spoke sounding rather impressed as he took a short second to chuckle under his breath, "Perhaps we can use this to make amends for that awful slur you shouted at me during our last encounter all those years ago."

For a sharp moment, Wendy frowned in slight confusion. But then, as she suddenly remembered how her eight year old self had ultimately told Gregory to "get lost" with the use of some much ruder terminology, the dark haired girl felt her vision widen.

"Oh, come on, that was so long ago now, we were only kids," she argued with an embarrassed giggle, "We're all much more mature around here these days, I guarantee it."

Before the promising statement had even completely left her lips, Wendy and Gregory's pleasant catch-up was abruptly shattered by the sound of some excitably heavy footsteps rushing right towards them.

"Wendy, oh my God, Kenny just made me laugh so hard that milk came out of my nose, wanna' see?!"

Cringing slightly at the childish words that were an incredible contradiction to what she had just told Gregory, Wendy slowly spun around on the spot and gazed up at the tall figure behind her in the red poofball hat.

With a half-empty milk box in one hand and his schoolbag lazily slung over his opposite shoulder, eighteen year old Stan Marsh smiled down at Wendy as he waited for her to answer him. When the silence from her only carried along, Stan quickly saw that not only was he interrupting the teenage girl from a conversation she was having, but he also realised exactly who she happened to be having that conversation with.

Taking a step towards the school quarterback, Wendy gestured back towards Gregory, "Uh, Stan, you remember Gregory from third grade?"

Swapping roles for the second introduction, Wendy directed Gregory's attention towards Stan. She gently took a hand to the dark haired boy's arm for a short second, giving it a tight squeeze, "Gregory, you remember my boyfriend Stan?"

Almost instantly, the two young men were locked in a vicious stare down with one another. Stan was stunned and completely speechless. He didn't have the first clue what to say or how to react to this unfavourable ghost of the past. But Gregory, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so uncertain. The Yardale boy had one precise thought on the forefront of his mind telling him exactly what he wanted to say.

"Boyfriend?" he repeated cynically, "How very interesting. And here I was thinking you two were just stuck in a silly little childhood romance that was only going to eventually fizzle out."

Stan immediately felt his chest clench up.

"Sorry, dude. No fizzling here."

"Oh, I see. So, you two have been dating consistently for ten years, then, hm?"

In a moment of stubborn regret, Stan silently gritted his teeth together. 'Consistency' was one notion that Stan and Wendy had definitely been lacking for a previous number of years throughout their epic romance.

Since they had been those two innocent, little eight year olds who had first fallen head over heels for each other, Wendy and Stan had been on and off with their relationship like a light switch. But as many times as they may have drifted apart, their insane love for one another never truly faded away.

It wasn't until a few years ago once they had properly settled into their freshman year that they also happened to settle more permanently with one another. And since then, they hadn't broken up and gotten back together ever again - not once.

They were finally, completely serious about one another. And finally, they were happy.

Sensing the awkwardness begin to build all around them, Wendy quickly decided to switch subjects again, "Gregory's on his school Mathletics team," she spat out lamely in Stan's direction, "Yardale made it to regional semis, too."

"Ha!" Stan exclaimed with a laugh. He took a purposeful hold of Wendy's waist and yanked her in towards him, staring directly at Gregory as he did, "Well, too bad for Yardale and every other shitty school here that they can't even begin to compare with the smartest, most brilliant girl the entire mountains has to offer, right, babe?"

Wendy felt like she had almost been pulled right out of her own skin by Stan's attempt at brutish male dominance. Uttering a nervous laugh, the teenage girl loosely wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's back, too, while trying her very best to stop him from spilling his milk box all over her.

"Oh, believe me, I don't doubt Wendy's expertise for a second," Gregory spoke, raising a daring eyebrow, "That's why she's offered to show me around your humble, little school later, isn't that right, Wendy?"

As the smug expression fell from his face, Stan tightened his grip on his girlfriend and blew out a subtle sigh of relief as Gregory finally looked to be strolling away to catch up with the rest of his classmates. But not before he had the chance to bid Wendy a proper farewell, of course.

Reaching for the gorgeous teenager's hand, Gregory pecked at the back of it with a quick, chaste kiss. And instantly, Stan felt his blood boil.

"Until this afternoon, then, Miss Testaburger."

Using the dumbfounded moment in time to make a quick exit before Stan could expel any of the fury building behind his crystal blue eyes, just like that, Gregory was gone. Giggling quietly to herself, Wendy simply shook her head back and forth, catching Stan's attention.

"Dude, what the hell was that?" he sniped.

"Easy there, Romeo," Wendy sung sarcastically, finally shrugging out of Stan's over-protective grip on her, "He was just being a gentleman - you should try it sometime."

The continued teasing tone from his girlfriend was not making Stan feel any less ticked off, "You're not really gonna' show him around later, are you?"

Frowning at him slightly, Wendy allowed her voice to soften, "Does it really bother you that much?"

"No duh," Stan instantly snapped back, "He's still totally interested in you."

"And when have I ever been interested in him?"

Scoffing out loud at these words, Stan's memory was immediately flooded with images of eight year old Wendy skating around Stark's Pond with the posh little blonde turd by her side. As he opened his mouth to speak, though, the teenage girl quickly cut him off.

" - And I only mean in the past three or four years when it would actually matter to our relationship?"

Skidding into silence, Stan was frozen for a second before he hopelessly shrugged his shoulders. Wendy hadn't even seen Gregory for at least a decade - how could she possibly know whether she ever would have fallen for him again?

"He's just a creep, okay?" Stan said, continuing to argue his point, "I don't trust the guy."

"I hang around with the guys on my math team all the time, you don't have a problem with any of them?"

"Well, yeah," Stan laughed, "Because one of them's a geeky little sophomore, one of them's Butters, and Token's dating Nichole."

"Mm, but if Token and Nichole were to ever break up..."

"Dude!"

"I'm kidding!" Wendy exclaimed with a loud giggle. She crept closer towards her boyfriend, reaching down for Stan's hand and squeezing apologetically, "I'm totally kidding."

She gazed up at him, mirroring her eyes with his and lacing their fingers together even tighter, "If you don't want me to show him around, I won't show him around," she announced, finally catching a smile in the corner of his mouth, "Can you just do me a favour and try to relax? I'm already stressed enough about this competition as it is."

Carefully listening to every word she spoke, Stan sighed mutely to himself as he nodded his head. His beaming little smirk only continued to grow as Wendy suddenly snatched his milk box out of his hand and took an adorably small sip out of it.

In a moment where he wanted to make absolutely sure that they had made up with one another, Stan let go of Wendy's hand and instead went to pull her in for a hug, until the sound of the bell ringing throughout the gym made the both of them jump in surprise.

Looking back to him as she wiped her milk moustache from her top lip, Wendy eased out a soft breath. So much for getting to catch up with the girls before recess was over. But then, on the other hand, any time spent with Stan was welcomed - even when all they were doing was sniping at each other. Every second with him was worth it.

"I've got history. I'll catch up with you in our free, okay?"

Handing his carton of milk back him, Wendy watched with an infatuated grin as Stan only nodded once more with a near silent "'kay". He worried too much. Far too much.

Standing up on her toes, Wendy took her gentle hand to the back of Stan's neck as she leaned in and sweetly kissed his lips. Immediately feeling his eyes close blissfully shut, Stan simply melted into the exchange, his skin popping with goosebumps at the familiar taste of his girlfriend. After a few spine-tingling seconds, Wendy slowly pulled back, brushing her nose up against Stan's and whispering to him as she did.

"Love you."

Stan's heart was booming in his chest. He dropped his hand from where it had found her waist as he finally allowed Wendy to leave, the smile never falling from his face, "Love you."

Sharing one last second of pure adoration with him, Wendy then spun around on the spot and quickly scurried off towards her twelfth grade history class. Stan watched her for a couple of tender moments, smirking at her perfect hips swinging from side to side in her high-waisted, black skirt. Soon enough, the teenage boy about faced and began to head off in the opposite direction towards his own class.

Wendy really was amazing, Stan thought to himself. And not just because of her brains and her beauty. But because of the way she always assured him that she truly only had eyes for him.

---

Squinting her eyes and chewing down on her bottom lip as she wracked her brain for the right answer, Wendy suddenly clicked as she flipped over her flashcard. Smiling to herself, Wendy felt her chest swell with pride. Another correct answer.

Making a quick note in her binder where she sat in the senior's area of the school library, Wendy reached for her next flashcard before he eyes darted upwards at the appearance of Stan heading down the gray carpeted stairs. Man, she loved having free periods with him.

"Hey! Quick, come down here and quiz me!"

Smirking at her cheekily, Stan shuffled past some of his other senior classmates studying quietly and then pulled out the chair at the desk beside Wendy.

"Don't you think you deserve a little bit of a break?"

"There'll be plenty of time for a break once the guys and I win this competition," Wendy snapped back. Inching her chair closer towards Stan's, she slid her pile of flashcards over to him. She rested her head in one of her hands against the table, blinking at him with batted eyelashes and hinting at him to begin.

Rolling his eyes at her teasingly, Stan soon conceded pretty quickly as he placed his schoolbag on the floor at his feet and held up the first flashcard for his girlfriend. Wendy carefully studied the card, reading all the jumbled letters and numbers on it as she attempted to solve for 'x'. After a few short seconds, the dark haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"Sixteen?"

Stan almost didn't even bother to check the back of the card, but as he did, a beaming grin automatically flew across his face, "Dude, you're a genius. I don't even know what half the symbols on these cards mean."

Giggling at the sweetness hiding within his bizarre compliment, Wendy shook her head as she scribbled down some more notes in her binder, "Well, that's nothing. Wait until you come and watch me in the actual competition."

Keeping the smile on his face, Stan licked his lips to speak, "When's the first round again?"

"During the first half of lunch."

The very second that the last syllable left her mouth, Stan felt the colour drain from his face.

"...Like, the first half of lunch today?"

"Mhm," Wendy answered, not even stopping what she was writing to look up at him.

For a short moment, Stan was silent, suddenly wanting to kick himself. As he placed the pile of flashcards back on the desk, he hesitated for a minute or two, running his hand down his face with regret.

"Wendy... babe, you know I have football practice on Fridays at lunch."

As her frantic scribbles slowly began to trail off and then eventually came to a complete halt, Wendy frowned for a second, shooting her vision up to pierce Stan's. She swallowed back a lump in her throat, "Yeah... I do know that. That's why I warned you about it, like, four weeks ago and asked you to speak to your coach about getting today off."

The memory flooded back to him like a tidal wave crashing down on top of his head and completely filling his lungs. Stan gulped. Crap.

"Did you even talk to him?"

The venom in Wendy's voice forced Stan to stutter over an answer, "I maybe, possibly, just might have... forgotten to mention it to him..."

Scoffing with a shake of her head, Wendy angrily crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, can't you just skip training today?"

"I can't just not show up without giving the team or my coach any notice."

"I did give you notice!"

As hushed as her whispered shouts at him may have been, they were still rapidly gaining Wendy and Stan just a little too much unwanted attention from the other seniors sitting around them in the library.

Glancing down shyly into her lap until all the curious eyes finally turned away, Wendy blew out a long, sad sigh from between her lips. She knew that Stan missing her competition wasn't the complete end of the world, but she still had a right to be upset. Wendy had worked so hard for so long in preparation for the semi-finals, and she wanted more than anything for her boyfriend to be there to support her. But the effort from Stan seemed to be totally misplaced.

Lifting her head back up to look at him again, Wendy lowered the tone in her voice, "I know football is important for college, but you know how much this means to me."

Shuddering within himself at the mere mention of the uncertain, post-graduate world, Stan ran an exhausted hand down his face, "Can we not make this about college, please?"

"Oh, so you just want to make it about how inconsiderate you're being instead?"

The sadness lingering in her deep, brown eyes pinched at Stan's core. Shaking off the daunting thoughts of he and Wendy shipping themselves off to college, the teenage boy nervously scratched the back of his head.

Okay, yes, he had messed up - he absolutely should have spoken to his coach about having that afternoon off from training as soon as Wendy mentioned it to him. But there was genuinely nothing he could do about it now. Stan was the school quarterback, he couldn't afford to miss training. Surely Wendy could understand that. Right?

Lamely shrugging his shoulders as he tried to shoot a smile her way, Stan held in a breath, "I'll make it up to you."

The silence swept back over them like a landslide. Wendy sat glued in her place, her arms still heatedly folded over and her brow still furrowed with all the unimpressed aggression in the world.

In the very next second, Wendy broke free from her solidified state, snatching her bag up from the floor of the library and carelessly shoving her flashcards and all her other belongings into it. Unbelievable.

"You know what, it's fine, whatever," she huffed, standing up from her chair, "Just forget about it."

Feeling his eyes widen at the chaos suddenly taking place all around him, Stan tried to reach for his girlfriend's hand, "Wendy - "

"I said just leave it, Stan," she sniped at him, making her way towards the library's exit, "I think Token's in the gym getting ready. I'm supposed to be studying with him, anyway."

And then, without daring to utter another word, Stan watched as Wendy scurried up the stairs, out of the library and into the school corridor en route to the gym. Hanging his head, the teenage boy growled out loud in frustration with himself.

Was he really going to continue to sit here feeling like an idiot, or was he going to catch up to Wendy and apologise for real?

Resisting the urge to slap himself in the face, Stan came to his feet and made a direct beeline for the hallway that lead down to the gym. Thankfully, the long, dull coloured corridor was reasonably empty. The vast majority of the school's students were all in class, but it wasn't long until Stan bumped into a couple of other seniors enjoying their free Friday afternoon period, too.

At his first glimpse of them, Stan groaned under his breath.

Frowning to himself in surprise as the dark haired boy almost ran right past without even acknowledging them, Kyle stepped in front of Stan and held him back by the arm.

"Whoa, dude, where's the fire?"

On his initial instinct, Stan bit his tongue as he swapped expressions with Kyle Broflovski and Eric Cartman where they stood in the middle of the hallway. He wasn't particularly in the mood for a judgemental lecture from Kyle, and he certainly didn't care to hear any inappropriate joke Cartman had to offer about his current situation with his girlfriend.

Shrugging out of his best friend's grip, Stan mulled over a response for a moment or two before heaving out a breath, "I'm just headed down to the gym. I need to talk to Wendy."

Kyle raised an eyebrow, "The gym? I thought you were helping her study in the library this period?"

"Well, I was," Stan said, stepping around his friends and rolling his eyes slightly as he heard them following behind him, "Until she decided she wasn't in the mood for my help anymore..."

"Uh oh," Cartman grunted from where he was desperately trying to keep up with Stan and Kyle's quick pace, "Did she finally dump your dumb ass for someone who's just as much of a stuck-up nerd as she is?"

"No," Stan snarled through gritted teeth, "She may have just got a little pissed off at me, that's all."

"Pissed at you for what?" Kyle asked as they finally rounded the last corner before the gym.

"I forgot to ask my coach for this afternoon off, so now I can't go and watch her in the lame Mathletics thing," Stan answered with a hurried explanation, "It's no big deal."

"Uh, it's probably a big deal to her," Kyle argued, "What did she say to you?"

Stan balled his hands into fists in his pockets as the callous tone from Wendy echoed across his mind, "...I believe the exact phrases were "it's fine", "whatever", and "forget about it"."

Laughing to himself as the three of them stepped through the double doors and into the gym, Kyle shook his head back and forth, "Dude, I'm no expert, or anything, but I'm pretty sure those are three things girls say which mean the exact opposite of what they really mean."

Holding down a shudder, Stan remained silent. He hated having to admit when Kyle was right, especially when it came to relationships. Even more so when it came to his relationship.

"We'll be fine," Stan declared nonchalantly.

By now, the rest of the stage had been properly set up for the commencement of the Mathletics competition, and all the seating for the audience had been lined up across the hardwood floor. Weaving between the chairs and the teachers and the other students as Stan scanned the room for Wendy, the teenage boy cleared his throat again.

"All I have to do is find Wendy, tell her how sorry I am, and rattle off some line about how she doesn't need me sitting front row to show everyone how amazing and smart she is, and then - "

As ingenious as he thought his plan was sounding, the blueprints for his scheme suddenly crumpled into an unreadable pile in Stan's mind as his sentence suddenly trailed off. Apparently, Wendy hadn't been able to locate Token as her substitute study buddy, but it certainly seemed like the dark haired girl had found someone to spend the remainder of her free period with.

The sight of Wendy talking and laughing with Gregory again over on the other side of the gym felt like a knife through Stan's gut. If he had known that ditching her math contest was going to push her right back into the presence of her old flame, well then...

"What the hell?" Kyle abruptly spat from over Stan's shoulder, "Is that... that - "

"'Ay, it's that faggy French piece of crap from Garrison's third grade class!" Cartman grunted in over the top of both his friends, "What the hell is he doing here?"

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Stan could feel his stomach beginning to rumble in anger all over again, "He's here for the goddamn Mathletics thing," he answered, "And he's been all over Wendy since the second he fuckin' saw her."

"Why are you getting so mad?" Kyle asked with another small laugh, "Its not like she's gonna' return the favour and be all over him, too."

"Well, yeah, maybe not until I upset her and drove her right into his fucking arms," Stan exclaimed with heavy sarcasm, kicking one of the chairs in front of him in frustration, "What do you think I should do?"

Cartman snorted under his breath, "I think you should get laid one more time before she leaves you for him for good."

Twirling around on the spot so quickly that he could almost feel the furious flames licking at his feet, Stan went nose-to-nose with Cartman and prodded him in the chest, "And I think you should shut the fuck up before I jam my fist down your fat fucking - "

"Whoa, whoa, guys!"

Leaping in right before Stan was able to rip Cartman's intestines out through his throat, the sudden sound of a fourth voice caused all three boys to glance around behind them.

"Dude, what's with all the hostility?"

As he carelessly swept his messy blonde mop of hair out of his eyes, Kenny narrowed his hazel vision at Stan in confusion.

The final member of their ever-lasting foursome had been rather preoccupied during that day at school - but not for the reason that anyone might have suspected. Kenny had volunteered to work behind the scenes and up in the rafters for the Mathletics semi-finals, rigging the lighting and manning the rest of the tech equipment.

It may have been just slightly against his normal character, but if it meant designated time off class and the chance to earn the extra credit he was severely lacking leading into graduation, then Kenny was all for it.

Focusing back on the issue at hand, the middle McCormick readjusted the rolled up lighting cord on his shoulder and raised an impatient eyebrow at Stan.

Rolling his eyes at the thought of having to explain himself for a second time, Stan merely grumbled under his breath and gestured across to the other side of the gym. Following his friend's reluctant glance, Kenny's expression soon widened in surprise at what he saw.

"Hey, I remember that posh little prick," Kenny commented with a snigger before turning back to Stan, "What the hell's going on there?"

Stan huffed out in near defeat, "I don't exactly know," he admitted, "But I'm sure as hell gonna' find a way to put an end to it."

Swapping a nervous glimpse with one another, Kyle and Kenny subtly shook their heads. Stan couldn't really be credited for the skills he held in making up with Wendy after an argument. More than often than not, the teenage boy always managed to complain about missing her just enough for his girlfriend to eventually come around without exactly receiving a proper apology from him. Either that, or Stan would simply end up pulling some stupid stunt to try and win her back. But, luckily enough for both he and Wendy, any such scheme was yet to develop in his mind.

"Hey, how's about you totally sabotage him during the nerdy math contest thingy?" Cartman suddenly burst with laughter from where he stood behind Stan.

Kyle and Kenny immediately felt their expressions drop. That sure was nice while it lasted.

"What?" they spat in unison.

"Yeah, think about it, you guys," Cartman continued to ramble along, directing all his attention towards Stan, "Kenny's gonna' be up in the rafters, he could drench him in something totally fucking disgusting, or even drop one of those heavy lights right on top of his faggy, blonde head, it'll be fucking hilarious!"

"No!" the green-hatted boy and his blonde friend found themselves crying out loud together again.

Taking the lead, Kyle spun Stan back around to face him, "You're not seriously considering this, are you?"

"Yeah, dude," Kenny agreed, "I can't afford to get busted for messing up. I don't have any extra credit from any clubs or groups or sporting teams, and I am not gonna' be held back a grade like my loser brother was."

"Not only that, but if you think Wendy's pissed at you now, she will destroy you if you ruin this Mathletics competition."

Flicking his wide blue eyes back and forth between the two desperate arguments from his two best friends, Stan felt his head begin to spin slightly. He supposed both Kyle and Kenny had a point. He didn't want to land any of his friends in trouble because of of his own dumb issues with Gregory, and he definitely didn't want to upset Wendy any more than he already had.

But then, on the other hand, as he felt his heart sink at the sight of the two old friends still chatting away where he could see them between the shoulders of Kyle and Kenny, Stan shook his head.

This was still his school, and Wendy was still his girlfriend. Gregory had to be shown that he couldn't just march right back into South Park and act like he never left.

"Aw, come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Stan asked.

"Killing him if you drop a stage light on his head?" Kenny quickly snapped back.

"Okay, obviously I'm not considering that suggestion," the dark haired boy argued, "But you seriously don't think its gonna' be even a little bit worth it to see him completely humiliated in front of everyone?"

Watching on as his best friend stood firmly aligned with Cartman, Kyle frowned in disbelief. They soon found each other's glance, locking their eyes together tight as Stan read the appearance of clear disapproval spread across Kyle's face.

Taking the obvious hint, the quarterback looked back to his friend in the tattered jeans and orange t-shirt, "Kenny?"

For a split second, Kenny felt completely torn. On any other day in any other circumstance, the blonde boy would be right by Stan's side causing just as much mischief as him, if not more so. But Kenny wasn't an idiot. He knew that now more than ever, he really needed to stay out of trouble.

Sensing the reluctance in his friend's frown, Stan stuck out his bottom lip with a pout, "Come on, dude, he even kissed her."

Kenny's jaw dropped, "He what?"

"...Okay, maybe it was only on the hand," Stan stuttered out after some slim hesitation, "But, still! I can't just sit back and let him pull that sort of shit, I've gotta' teach him some kind of lesson."

Shifting his vision between the evil sense of eagerness sitting in Cartman's eyes and the pleading desperation in Stan's, Kenny tried to resist his own wicked temptations as they quickly began to creep up on him. In a last ditch effort to keep his destructive habits in check, Kenny snapped his neck back around to stare at Kyle.

But, after only a few more seconds of deep thought, it was absolutely no use.

Groaning out loud with unashamed annoyance at caving into his friend's demands, Kenny spun around on the spot and joined Stan and Cartman where they stood beside one another with their arms crossed.

A small smile of triumph swept across Stan's lips. He knew that the loyalty shared between he and Kenny was strong enough to thwart any other opposing factors that stood. And as the three of them began to make their way back out of the gym as an unwavering, rock solid unit, Stan knew deep, deep down that the exact same thing could be said about Kyle.

Glancing back at his best friend with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, Stan smirked at the red-headed boy, "C'mon, dude, you know you don't want to miss out on the chance to prove me wrong if this all turns to shit."

"Yeah, Negative Nancy, hurry up and get your conniving, Jewish ass over here!"

While the taunt from Cartman certainly wasn't helping his decision in even the slightest, Kyle could only grumble under his breath as he eventually rolled his eyes again. Stan may have been talking a lot of crap in the last five minutes, but his best friend was definitely right about one thing.

And that was the fact that Kyle sure as hell wasn't going to avoid any opportunity to watch Stan completely screw himself over.

"Oh, he is so going to regret this..."

-x-