Kenny has always been one of the few things that can make Kyle's heart ache. Kyle doesn't consider himself a particularly emotional person; that's usually Stan's job. Kyle's the angry one, the righteous one. When it comes to Kenny though, Kyle always feels his most helpless.
Kyle stares at Kenny now, snoring in Stan's bed. Kenny sleeps deeply and contentedly despite his face. His face makes Kyle's stomach churn. Makes him want to paint over the black and blue and green that colors Kenny's skin until everything is rosy and peach again. Makes him want to sew the cuts together until everything is smooth and even. Kyle cannot do these things though and his hands lay listlessly at his sides as he stares.
Kyle then turns to Stan who is at his side and he is reminded that his heartache isn't a solitary one. Stan's sadness is always so apparent, especially to Kyle, who knows that Stan always swallows often when he's on the brink of tears. Stan looks at Kyle when Kyle brushes his fingers against his friend's. This makes tears well in Stan's eyes, threatening to fall. Kyle watches Stan's throat move with a swallow.
"What are we gonna do?"
Kyle does not have an answer to this. He never does and it never fails to be frustrating for him. He feels as if he is simultaneously failing both of his boys in a horrifically meaningful way. Stan looks to Kyle for plans and advice and he cannot provide any. Kenny does not expect his friends to rescue him but Kyle wishes so strongly that he always could.
He detangles his fingers from Stan's and walks toward the bed timidly. Usually when Kenny shows up at Stan's doorstep like this, they let him sleep and keep themselves busy with homework or a movie. But Kyle has never seen Kenny look quite as devastating as he did today and he feels as if the blonde needs their constant supervision. Kyle kisses Kenny softly on his right eyebrow, his lips barely brushing the darkest of the bruises. Then he spoons into Kenny's side on the bed.
For some reason, this makes one of Stan's welled tears finally fall and he brushes at it quickly with a balled fist. He follows suit, curling into Kenny's other side. Kyle stares at Stan's ocean blue eyes for a moment before Stan brushes his lips against Kenny's other eyebrow.
Kenny stirs, winces, and Stan panics slightly. "You OK?" he asks in a whisper.
"M'fine," he murmurs. "Don't stop." Kenny has always been desperate for physical affection and this makes Kyle smirk and want to cry at the same time. When the three were little kids, this is always how they slept at sleepovers, Kenny in the middle, soaking up all the warmth he could.
Kyle isn't good at admitting his emotions but he loves the two boys next to him with his certain type of fierceness. Kenny is broken and Kyle and Stan will build him back up. They will do it again and again as many times as he needs. Stan has never told Kyle this and Kyle has never told Stan either, but he knows it's true.
At some point, Stan kisses Kenny's other eyebrow. Kyle briefly wonders if his lips would taste of tears, since he has stopped bothering to brush them away as they fall. Now is not the time to consider what it means that Kyle thinks about the taste of his best friends lips. Nor is it the time to consider whether it's normal for teenage boys to curl in bed together and give soothing eyebrow kisses. For now, it is simply the time for Kyle and Stan to build Kenny up. Just as they always have and always will.