This is set when Tweek was in their group, and Kyle has to calm him down.
"Hey Tweek..." Kyle trailed off as Tweek, instead of stopping next to them and waiting for the bus, ran past them in another direction, screaming bloody murder about "GNOMES!". He glanced at his other friends, well, best friend and enemy, green eyes tainted with worry.
"What a freak." Stan muttered, staring straight ahead of him, seeming unfazed by the previous events. Cartman nodded in agreement and rolled his eyes. Kyle narrowed his own ones.
"Do you guys just not care?" Kyle demanded, crossing his arms. Stan looked down and kicked at the snow, letting a few chunks glide across the icy road.
"Not really. He's only a replacement." Stan reminded the redhead, and Kyle's face went red, a clear sign he's pissed.
"Yeah Kyle, stop being so faggy for that spaz." Cartman sneered, ignoring a quiet "Dude, watch it." from Stan. Kyle glared at the obese boy next to him, and then at his friend who he had also labelled as being "compassionate." Boy, was he wrong.
"Assholes." Kyle spat, flipping them off quickly and turning around on his heel, dismissing the calls of "Kyle, come back!" and "God, what a fag."
He marched off in the same direction as Tweek, determined to find the blonde. He had expected nothing better for Cartman, but Stan? Did no one care for Tweek?
He wondered what even happened. He had a good guess it was to do with the gnomes, but normally Tweek would come to school anyway, even if he had bags so bad they looked like black eyes. He was too scared that if he ditched, the gouvernement would get him, and, of course, that was "Way too much pressure, man!"
Kyle chuckled, sticking his hands in his pockets. He thought about what Cartman had said, about him being faggy for Tweek. He frowned. Was he really? The Jew had always been more caring towards Tweek, and considerably so, than the other boys, maybe excluding Craig, though the two hadn't been on very good times since Tweek had ditched his group for Stan's...
He shook his head. He was getting off subject. Kyle always thought he was just an extremely passionate person, personality wise, and so never thought twice about his affections toward Tweek Tweak. Could he possibly... Like like Tweek?
He blinked. His feet had somehow found their way to the 'Tweak Bros.' which was where Tweek lived with his parents. Kyle gulped, and entered the store.
"Oh, hello Kyle! Come to see Tweek, have you?" Mrs Tweak asked, looking up from the table she was cleaning with a sponge and spray. He nodded, looking around with minicaule interest. It appeared he was the only person in the cafe who wasn't a staff member, and he wasn't even a customer.
"...He should be in his room." Mrs Tweak continued and Kyle looked back at her, giving her a brief, grateful smile and turning to enter the door on the other side of the cafe, which led to their apartment. His hand had reached the door handle just as Mrs Tweak's voice called again. He whirled around.
"Don't forget a squirt of cream softens the coffee grinds." She told him solemnly, before winking. He rolled his eyes, and turned back to open the door. He was met with the stairs leading up to their living quarters and he ran up them, thinking for the hundredth time just how bizarre Tweek's parents were.
A few minutes later, he was just outside Tweek's door. He wondered why Mrs Tweak didn't seem to care her son wasnt in school, or bother to ask him the same thing, but decided to not think about it too much. Tweek was lucky to get one glance from his parents at times.
"Tweek? Are you ok?" Kyle asked, knocking on the door once before slipping inside. He had been round only a few times, and was surprised to see the state it was in. Every object in Tweek's room seemed to be facing the door. With a groan, he edged between Tweek's wardrobe and desk as he fought to get to the corner of the room, just where Tweek's window was, where he knew Tweek would be hiding. Sure enough, he found him, and opted to slouch next to him.
"Hi Tweek." He whispered and the blonde in statement looked up, hazel eyes scanning the image of his friend. He gave a small smile, and Kyle grinned back, not intimidatingly.
"You ok?" Tweek gave a small whimper. Kyle wasn't sure whether it was voluntary or not.
"Fucking gnomes man... They're coming for GAH me!" He cried, grabbing onto Kyle's arms. Kyle felt his heart race as Tweek latched onto him, and it felt almost natural to him to pull Tweek into his arms.
"I'll protect you." He murmured, tracing patterns on Tweek's back. Tweek pulled away, and the two locked eyes each other.
"W-why?" Tweek questioned shakily. Kyle let his eyes close for a second, thinking. Then without another thought, he leant forward and kissed Tweek on the lips. The boys quickly pulled away and blushed.
"Because you're my friend." Tweek's hand found Kyle's. "And no gnome is gonna touch my friend."
"Y-you can't stop-" Kyle pouted.
"Tweek, please. I can kick any gnome's fucking ass." Kyle told him, and the boys laughed, but both knew it was a deadly serious statement.
Epilogue
From that day on, Kyle protects Tweek from the gnomes. From moving in together to sleeping in the same bed at night. From never leaving each others side to writing early wills, entitling all their possessions, especially their underpants, to the other, of course.
And when they kiss at night, and hold each other close when they make love, well, they would like to say that, too, is to protect themselves from the gnomes.