"When are you going to get your own apartment?" Kyle asked lightly as he poured milk into his coffee, looking blandly over the table to Kenny who had spent the night with him yet again. It wasn't that he disliked having his long time friend around; but lately Kenny had been working odd hours, staying out so late that Kyle only ever saw him at breakfast and waking him up when he did eventually decide to come home.
The lack of privacy was another problem, as of late, Kenny had decided to forego knocking on doors and would just walk in, it didn't matter if you were in the shower, on the toilet or in bed with someone. Kyle was very slightly sick of it and had decided to press the issue of Kenny getting his own apartment.
The blonde glanced at him lightly before taking the milk and drinking some from the carton, slow streams making their way down his chin and neck before he stopped and handed back the carton to Kyle who looked at it as though it were tainted and set it down on the counter.
"I'll get one soon", he said lightly, wiping his neck on his sleeve before wiping his mouth with the same sleeve. He'd decided a while ago not to tell the other that he in fact did have an apartment just like he'd never tell the other that he enjoyed living with him. The apartment was a nicer one than this, it stood fully furnished and empty across town and Kenny had never spent a night in it.
Kyle muttered something that Ken couldn't hear [he had the vague feeling that it wasn't something nice in regards to him] and left the room with his coffee. Ken looked at the milk carton that was still where the other had left it before grabbing it again and taking another long drink, he just hoped that Kyle wouldn't throw him out before he figured out the enigma that was facing him.
How was he going to get out of the mess he was in?
The doorbell rang shortly after and since Kenny was closest to the door Kyle's voice chimed out asking the blond to get that, his hands full at that specific moment for other reasons. Shrugging his shoulders the male lazed out of his spot and headed to the door, yanking it open and walking back inside his shelter already knowing the two figures clambering in would have enough sense to shut the door behind themselves – at least Stan would. "Hey dude, where's Kyle?" Stan's voice broke first as Cartman was busy shrugging from his jacket, the warm apartment leaving him a bit overheated already. He cut in as soon as Kyle's face popped into view. "Jesus Jew, it's hotter than fucking Hell in here!" He griped hanging his old faded red coat on the nearest hook. Stan elbowed him in the gut and Kyle just rolled his eyes as always, setting his cup on the table for a moment as he took the box that Stan had carried inside into his own hands. "It's not even sixty-five, fatass!" Kyle pointed at their slightly slimmer but still very fat friend before he glanced at Stan and then down to the box. "What's this?
Stan shrugged a bit, scratching his head through the hat he'd had since he was a child. "Dunno but it's all Kosher. Wendy decided to make a bunch of sweets for everyone and made sure you got it all Kosher." He glanced over at Kenny, giving a half assed grin. "There's enough for you too." Cartman's voice piped something about how he hated Kosher and from the side Kenny started to snort a laugh, Kyle ignoring it entirely as he tried to converse with Stan who had, also, taken up a seat at the small four-chair table. Kyle finally gave in and sat down as well, green eyes scanning the three. "It's kind of a surprise to see you both show up like this."
"I was forced by this hippie." Was all Cartman said, though it was obviously just his stubborn attitude hiding that he missed the four of them hanging out together all the time like they used to. Stan laughed a bit and voiced what Cartman could not. "It's been quite a while, you know. I thought it'd be nice to come see the two of you since it was a convenient time, being a Saturday and all."
Ken said nothing to the statement, what was there to say? None of them really hung out anymore, he and Kyle saw one another on a daily basis thanks to their living arrangements, but he hadn't seen Stan since he and Wendy had decided to move in together some while ago and he hadn't seen Cartman in twice as long. At first he'd missed everything about how they'd all been together, Kyle and Cartman fighting all the time, Stan trying to keep the fighting down and he chasing after girls or doing something self destructive just because he'd hated his life that much...except when they were around.
Glancing at Kyle out of the corner of his eye, he noted that as time had gone on he'd found he didn't miss the others nearly as much when he was around than he did when he wasn't. Even when the redhead complained about their lack of visitation.
"What?" Kyle's voice snapped he blonde out of his train of thought and he scrambled for the first excuse he could think of.
"Can I have a cookie?" The look on Kyle's face told him that the other was just slightly more annoyed with him than he had been a few minutes ago as he opened the box and handed off a squashed but mostly round cookie to him which he ate silently.
Stan's cobalt eyes diverted to the side and then he spoke up once more, pointedly at Kyle. "So, uh, what've you been up to? Surly your job hasn't been sucking up all your time right?" Kyle ran his fingers through the cut curly locks, shrugging out of habit as he tried to answer that question. Of course, the answer wasn't one that would explain his avoidance of Stan – that was purely due to Stan's constant talk of Wendy this and Wendy that. "Uh, yeah actually. It's a real pain in the ass but everyone kind of relies on me so often it's impossible to avoid." He lied, which was becoming something of a second nature to him. Sparing a glance Kenny's way he was praying the blond wouldn't call him on it, obviously knowing the ginger was lying.
It'd taken everything he had for Kyle to honestly accept Stan and Wendy's relationship this time, various reasons applied. Now he just didn't want to deal with the drama that came with it, Wendy always being bad news to Stan's life in the past. "Even Kenny hasn't seen a wink of me lately." Though it wasn't a lie it wasn't for the reasons he was insisting. Stan accepted it, however. Cartman looked ready to say something but his wrist came up to check his watch and he mumbled about the time before getting up and stating to get ready to leave. "Sorry but I gotta get. Butters is supposed to be holding my spot in line for that movie Kick-Ass." Tugging his arm through the sleeve he said a quick bye to the other three and left out the front door, closing it swiftly behind him. Kyle could hear his heavy footsteps fade off down the hallway as the three of them sat quietly; awkwardly.
"So, uh, how have things with Wendy been going?" Kyle could only ask this question around Kenny, because Stan never complained around Kenny. Kyle was thankful for that. As expected Stan came back with the common 'Okay' response and Kyle just sat back, nodding. "Oh." Stan looked over at Kenny next, a kind of quirky smile on his face. "So, Ken, when are you going to get your own place. You've got a decent job now, don't you?" From the sound he was a little annoyed he couldn't talk with his Super Best Friend privately but was too kind to ask Kenny to evacuate the room for a short while. Kyle recognized it and felt a bit of pity for his friend but didn't honestly want to know what Stan was so fixed on telling him.
"Soon..." the blonde responded lightly, hiding the slight annoyance he was feeling at the constant asking of the same question. Kyle glanced at him and whether he said it or not, Ken took the hint and got up, heading out of the room so that the two could have their little talk.
Kyle watched Kenny go in silence, green eyes drifting after him for a brief moment before they returned to Stan. He didn't want to seem expectant, but he knew that the other was holding something back and that the blonde could not be there to hear it.
"What's up, Stan?" he asked quietly just in case the recently departed male was listening at the door.
Stan sighed, lowering his voice slightly as he tried to figure a way to word what he was about to tell his best friend. Hands were folded over one another and his fingers fiddled nervously, eyes drifting down and then back up every few seconds. "Um, the thing is…" He hesitated. "Kyle, I kind of wanted to ask Wendy to marry me." His voice was just barely above a whisper, eyes darting to check and make sure Kenny had really left the room. It was a secret he didn't want spilled and anyone but Kyle would be a person he couldn't trust. Shifting in his seat slightly Stan leaned in closer, eyes meeting sternly with the green eyes that belonged to the ginger. "You gotta promise not to ever tell, dude! If Wendy finds out it'll be torture until I actually pop the question." Leaning back he sighed.
"I don't know though, dude, I mean do you think it's too early or something for this type of commitment?" Kyle was Stan's conscience in serious life choices, because the Jew thought things through and took life at a slow and serious pace. He looked antsy and failed to notice Kyle's eyes narrow in a more serious manner. Stan should have recognized that as Kyle's stern lecture face and braced himself for the long talk that Kyle would most likely give him about how stupid an idea it would be to get married so soon after High School but he had gotten a text from the one girl on his mind most. Mumbling about needing a second to text back his eyes never left the phone until it was closed and he finally met back with green eyes – finally noting Kyle's expression.
Kenny pressed his back against the wall as he stood silently beside the door that he was currently listening through. He agreed with Kyle, wasn't this a bit too soon? Especially for a couple like Stan and Wendy with their rough past? Even when he played with the idea of someday getting married,he himself couldn't really picture it; to think that Stan could and in fact thought he was ready to settle down somehow made him feel immature.
"What about you Kyle? Don't you want to spend the rest of your life with someone special someday?" he heard Stan say from beyond the door. For some reason that sentence brought a hitch to Kenny's breath and time seemed to slow down as he thought about it. Just like how he couldn't really picture himself married to someone, he couldn't really picture Kyle married either. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't picture him living with anyone other than Kyle; even with the girls he would bring home, it wasn't like he was looking to spend the rest of his life with any of them.
Not waiting for Kyle's answer he headed for the front door, pulling on his coat and pulling up the hood before yelling through the door to the kitchen where the other two were still sitting and discussing.
"I'm going out." He tried to hide whatever feeling that was welling up in him from his voice but it just came out sounding desperate and not giving the other two the time to react, he walked out, slightly slamming the door behind him.
Kyle opened his mouth to begin his lecture of Stan, but Kenny interrupted by shouting out something about leaving. Then the door all but slammed and Kyle sighed loudly, turning his greens on the blues across the table from him. His gaze was sharp, but not angry. He tried to shove the irritation he had for Kenny aside for a moment, but as he spoke he only seemed to get more and more angry at everything that Kenny had done over the time they had been living with one another.
"Stan, we only just got out of high school. What makes you think that you need to get married now?" his voice was stiff as he tried to speak around the anger he was tring to force down. After all, it wasn't Stan he was irritated with, now was it? Standing up and pacing across the room, he fished out the coffee machine his mother had given him for graduation. He had sworn that he would never use it and had complained about it so loudly that even Kenny's family probably could have heard it across town. Now, though, it seemed almost useful as a distraction as he pulled it out from its place under a cabinet and cleaned the dust off. Even if he didn't drink coffee]Stan did and this was probably a time when a good, strong cup was needed. "You guys have had so many problems in the past, it doesn't make sense to rush into any sort of commitment like this."
The coffee maker bubbled behind him as it brewed and he turned to look at his dark haired friend, waiting for some sort of response.
Stan seemed too busy focusing on his hands, which had been folded on the top of the table before him. Peering up slightly he just gave a weary smile to Kyle and nodded his head a bit. "You're right dude. I shouldn't be rushing into this, considering our record." Considering he sounded a bit deflated he knew Kyle would see the situation more rationally than he himself, who was high in the clouds and thought of nobody but his girlfriend. He was already living with Wendy now; that alone took days of persuasion to get Kyle to see it as a good thing for the dark haired male – Kyle could be such a strict prude sometimes.
Shaking it all from mind Stan decided that it was about time he headed back to his own flat shared with the bossy woman he loved – flaws and all. Kyle was a great friend, and Stan loved the other to death, but he could sense the tension that was present when Cartman and himself walked through the door and decided the ginger Jew needed his time alone to think. If he got bored enough again – or if Wendy wasn't home yet – he could always catch up to Kenny somehow. Not to mention they were within hours of drives from other friends who made it through South Park high, alive and well off. Granted he wanted to avoid Craig at all costs – still uneasy learning that the guy he hung with all the time in the sports locker room ended up queer and dating the town twitch. Kenny seemed to still hang with the foul mouthed Tucker though, as far as Stan knew, their personalities still well compatible.
"All right, Ky." He finally breathed out, moving his seat back. "I'll um, just leave you some time to rest then. I'm sure you could use it after a whole two weeks work straight." Giving a petty excuse he readied for the door, Kyle following close behind looking something of a bit guilty before smiling Stan off. "You'll call me right? I mean, at least answer my calls dude."
"I will." Was the only think Kyle said before the door shut on him, Stan on the outside sighing heavily. "Damn, I wonder if I could still spot Kenny." He wondered offside, looking at the stairs.
Finally making it to the ground floor, Kenny pushed his way out the stairwell door that led out onto the street, letting the cold air hit him and wipe away some of the feeling in his body. He vaguely wondered if Craig or Tweek were home; if they were it might have been worth the half hour subway ride and four block hike to get to the apartment that they shared. He liked hanging out with Craig, they got on well and the other would let him stay the night if he wanted to. And with how tense Kyle was getting around him, he wondered if it weren't a good idea to give him a break.
Deciding it was worth a shot, he took out his phone, found the Tucker's phone number in the list and clicked the call button. It rang three times before an out of breath Tweek answered. Ken didn't ask why the other was out of breath, he'd asked once and found out afterwards that it had been better not to know.
"Hey Tweek, do you think I could stay with you and Craig tonight? Kyle's in need of a break and I don't really want to go stay with Stan and Wendy or Cartman..."
"Y-yeah sure..." the other stuttered before he heard him mutter in the background to Craig who said something intelligible back before the twitch spoke to him again. "When can we expect you?"
"Give me a couple hours...I got some crap to do..." Bidding the other farewell, he hung up and turned to head back into the building, almost running into Stan who was on his way out before weaving around him and heading back up to Kyle's apartment.
There was little time to try and catch the orange hooded blond, Stan's arm jutting out to attempt the smaller of the two to stop but it worked for naught as Kenny avoided his reach. "Hey," He called out, almost following Kenny back towards Kyle's apartment. "Kenny, dude! What the hell?" He turned on his heel kicking the floor when his attempt to stop the blond for a chat backfired on him. He was expecting the blond to actually stop but alas, Kenny vanished into the apartment without saying a word to him at all. "Damnit…" He groaned lowly. "Whatever."
"You're back sooner than I thought..." Kyle noted blithely as Kenny paced past him into the guest room where he slept and started packing a small duffel with clothing. A stillness came over Kyle that always came when Ken actually made any move that resembled moving out and Ken spoke just as the other cleared his throat, obviously fumbling with whatever it was that he wanted to say.
"I'm going to spend the night at Craig and Tweak's, give you a break since all I'm doing lately is pissing you off", turning he gave his friend a leering smile, "don't look so scared...someone will take advantage of you if you do..."
After stuffing two or three days worth of clothes into the duffel, he tied the bag shut and slung it onto his back and headed for the door. Stopping briefly to look back at his friend who's face had returned to the, as of late, usual expressionless look that told Kenny that there was something he was hiding.
"I'll be back in a few days, call me if you need me, I've got my phone..."
Kyle stared at Kenny and even after the blond had left he stared at the door as it sat unmoved. "Take advantage of me…?" He asked himself aloud, eyebrow quirked slightly as he finally pulled his emerald gaze from the door and headed back into the apartment, all the while thinking over the words he'd gotten from the blond. "Craig and Tweek huh?" Flopping onto the sofa he let himself relax a bit more, head rolling back as he did. He sat there for the longest of moment in silence, eventually fading out for what seemed to be only fifteen minutes.
When he did finally come back to his senses his brain made a surprisingly awkward calculation. Everyone already knew Kenny wasn't the pickiest of guys – his flaunted sex life proof enough for that but certainly he wouldn't go so far as to even include his friends in that statistic, right?
"Well, I highly doubt that's his motives but it wouldn't be impossible…" The redhead mumbled under his breath. His body slung forward and his hands unintentionally smacked against his head as he groaned.
At the same time, not nearly as far away as they'd like to be, Tweek and Craig found themselves waiting patiently for their company. Tweek rejecting any advanced the ebony haired male tried stating that it would be too much pressure if Kenny chose that moment to walk in on them. "Come on Tweekers, at least let's finish. I told you Kenny wasn't gonna just fucking teleport here."
"N-no Craig, I don't want him to- ACK! To walk in on us!" The blond was already soothing himself with a cup of his favorite morning drink, trying his best to focus more on the television set than the dark haired man sitting just inches from him. As if by some sudden miracle in their conversation the doorbell rang out and Tweek, jumping to get it and from the shock, bolted upright in his seat effectively smacking Craig's jaw in the process. "Son of a –"
"Oh- Oh my God! Did you bite your tongue off? Oh God, what did I do? K-Kenny's here – he'll know what to do! Oh God oh God!" While frantically rumbling through a couple more mutters of the same thing Tweek answered the door in a panic. "Kenny! Oh God! Craig bit his tongue off! He's probably bleeding and- and what if he dies? It's all my fault!"
"Shut the fuck up Tweek, I'm fine. Jesus."
"I'll just take a shot in the dark and guess I interrupted something..." Kenny said with a smirk as he stepped around Tweak who closed the door behind him.
"N-no you NNGH- didn't!", the twitch stuttered quicky as the blonde headed for the room that he always stayed in when he was staying with them. He took it because it was furthest away from the couple's bedroom, so he didn't have to hear them when Craig managed to persuade his lover into doing something while he was there.
"Doesn't mean you didn't cause it..." Craig muttered lightly as Ken passed him.
"I'm sure Tweak will take care of that tonight..." was all Ken said to the statement.
"The hell he will!" the dark haired male half shouted after the blond before getting up and heading after his guest, "Tweak wont do shit while you're in the house and you know it!" Ken shrugged lightly, dropping his bag on the bed and flopping down, finding once he did that the other two had changed the sheets since he'd last been there. It was probably a good thing, being that they hadn't been clean and he'd had a client there that night; but the scent of laundry detergent only made him wish that he were at home with Kyle.
"Hey, is something wrong man?", Craig asked after what seemed to be a long moment; the blond turned his head to look at him and inwardly smiled when he saw Tweak half hiding under his lover's arm, wrapped up against him and watching their mutual friend with his equivalent to a look of worried curiosity.
"It's Kyle...he's been talking about me getting my own place more often than usual..." a look transpired between the couple before the dark haired one spoke up.
"Well you have your own place...don't you? It's not like you're homeless if Kyle does kick you out...besides, he'll probably forget about it like he always does, so why are you worried?" Ken's eyes dropped to stare at a section of the wall. They didn't understand, it wasn't that he was worried about having to live on his own, he could do it if he had to, but he liked living with Kyle. The ginger usually forgave and forgot when it came to the blond living with him, but this time- this time it felt different; it was like Kyle didn't want to be around him anymore.
Just then his cellphone rang; grabbing it and checking it, half hoping it was Kyle, he was sorely disappointed when he found that it wasn't a number that he new. He clicked the answer button.
"Hello?" a nervous female voice came over the other end of the line.
"This is Ken...right?" the blond sighed, immediately knowing what this was about.
"You need an escort? Address and time..." Without rushing the other two out of the room, he jotted down the information, asked if it was a formal event [it was] and confirmed with the woman on the other line that he would meet her at the time she specified and not a moment later.
Just another paycheck, he thought as he hung up the phone.
Kyle gave up thinking about Kenny, Tweak, and Craig. Thinking led to worry and worry led to him calling the blonde to apologize for whatever he had done to get him to leave the apartment in the first place. He was still confused by the whole situation and when he was confused, he had the tendency to walk. It didn't have to be anywhere; the simple action of it seemed to clear his head and so when he found himself halfway around the block, he was none too surprised.
The ginger stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the blinking, neon sign of a book store and cafe some ways from his house, and wondered vaguely how to get back to his apartment. After a moment or two, though, he decided to get something to eat while he tried to backtrack his way home. Upon stepping into the store, however, his footfalls came to a grinding halt. There, in a black apron over his clothes, walking around with a tray perched in his hands like a professional of some kind, was Cartman. Kyle couldn't help it. Seeing the other in such a situation caused him to laugh, and when he started he couldn't stop.
Eric almost dropped the tray and whirled around to scowl at Kyle, his face flushing bright red as he brought the tray to his side and clenched his fists.
"What are you doing here, Kyle?" he asked in a hissing tone and the red head wiped tears away and shoved his giggling back enough to stutter out a response.
"Me? What are you doing here? I thought-thought you were going with Butters to-to get Kick Ass." he wasn't very successful at holding back his laughter and continued to chortle through his words.
Cartman's eyes fell in such a way that, for a split second if nobody knew what the boy was truly like, one would feel sympathetic for his position before the eyes of a childhood friend. "Kahl…" He drew out the redhead's name, eyes fixed anywhere but in those green eyes as he huffed in anger. "I-I seen it n` everything. And what's it matter to you anyhow, Jewboy?" He spat out as Kyle took a seat in one of the small booths of the place, one that the larger brunette was assigned to. Fetching a glass of water, as customary, he set it down in front of the other with slight annoyance in his actions. Glancing over just barely he whispered a low hissing. "Don't tell nobody about this. I'm seriouslah, Kahl. I'm super seriouslah." He hadn't lost his childhood manner of speaking, especially to his Jewish "enemy."
- x –
Craig frowned as he stood beside the blond, arms crossed over his chest and watching Kenny look through his bag for something to swap into. The two had a long running as friends ever since Craig started throwing the best town parties on Saturday nights. So when Kenny found naught in his bag Craig didn't mind tossing him the stylish and decent outfit he'd been forced to wear for his younger sisters wedding. "What time will you be back tonight?"
Kenny looked over and shrugged and Craig sighed deeply, his nasally voice more monotone now than it had been minutes earlier. "It's obvious… no, it's obvious to me you're into Kyle. Maybe you're letting him get the wrong ideas or maybe he hit the jackpot, what with his brains and all, and needs some space to figure out how to handle the deal. Or, dude, you're just being a fucking dick and acting strange around him and leaving him wondering if you're trying to fall away from him. Clyde and Token did the same shit when Tweek and I were caught. I couldn't give two shits for it but obviously it's affecting you." He gave a shrug, leaning out a bit more from the wall and turning to give the blond his time. "You're your own man, you don't have to take my advice but you might want to make some kind of move for him before you lose the chance."
Craig's words halted the blond in the middle of shrugging into the outfit that the black haired male had given him to wear. Was he right? Was he into Kyle? Well that was probably a stupid question, given how everything that the ginger did effected him in some way...but did he want to admit it? Ken shook his head, he didn't want to drag the ginger into this, he had a debt to pay, if those that he owed it to got wind of something that might hinder that, they would take care of it, and not in a good way.
Ken finished pulling on the outfit before he spoke to Craig, Tweek had left the room to go start making dinner, strangely enough it was something that calmed him and that he enjoyed.
"You know the shit I'm in..." he said lightly, "you know what I did to get that apartment that I never use...what I did to get the money to move out here because my parents sure as hell can't afford it...I have to pay it back and I don't want him dragged into it..alright...?"
The other looked less than convinced but shrugged, deciding not to tell the blond that he would have been glad to help him pay off the debt as it was better to be in debt with a friend than with a mafia. But this wasn't about the money, this was about Ken not wanting to ask for help, he didn't want to ask his friends, he wanted to do it on his own...and that would be his downfall.
Finishing his dressing, Ken sighed and thanked Craig before heading out; he was supposed to meet the woman at some cafe and he really didn't want to be late.
Tweek came past only moments later, his twitching to a minimal as he asked Kenny what he was going to do and how they should keep his own portion of food. "A-are you gonna eat before you leave or…" He trailed off as Kenny approached the door fully dressed, blue eyes meeting his mossy green. "Uh, it's not KFC or anything but it's fried chicken. Craig said you liked it."
"Ken, man, you've gotta try it. He's got this shit down to a T on flavor." Craig's voice broke as he lazily complimented Tweek's skill in the kitchen. "Better than what you know." Tweek turned a smile back up to Kenny's direction. "There's, nng, plenty for however much you want too."
Kenny looked ready to dodge them but Craig, once more, intervened shoving a leg into the blonds fingers. "Don't worry Tweek, he's eating."
Ken just sighed and smiled as he was swept off to the kitchen slash dining room with his friends. He couldn't tell the twitch that he didn't really want any because he was supposed to be going to a fancy restaurant with the lady that was paying him to escort her. So he sat down and forced down a leg or two before he hurried out the door, thanking Tweek and attesting to the blond's truly remarkable cooking ability.
He had to get to that cafe.
Cartman grimaced as he took Kyle's order, his appearance utterly against what he had wanted to be caught dead in while standing in the midst of who he claimed to be his arch nemesis. He'd already been put through a dose of hell as Kyle purposefully found reasons to send the chubby male back and forth over just a simple glass of pepsi. Kyle was amused but the all too angered Cartman was not, as he simply glared with the utmost intense of all glares he could produce. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"Doing what?" Kyle snorted a laugh. "I'm not doing anything but having dinner." He tried so hard to keep laughter from mixing in with his words but before he knew it they were stumbling him. The brunette placed a hand firm on the table top and looked at the redhead. "Where's Kinny anyhow?" Cartman scrunched his nose as he said the name of their blond mutual friend, Kyle flinching at the very mention as his laughter instantly died. Brown eyes popped open wide and a brow was raised. "Oh, oh dude. I knew it. I fucking knew it!" He nearly shouted at the top of his lungs but now that he was no longer eight it wasn't exactly a sociably acceptable thing, so he held his voice low. "You're a fucking fag aren't you Jewboy?"
"What?" Kyle shrieked as loud as possible whilst still keeping quiet, this was the last thing he needed someone to hear about him. "Dude, no way!" He instantly rejected the accusation as he got up in Cartman's face ready to tell him off. Before the words could form in his head though the door opened nearby and a familiar voice made its way into Kyle's hearing range. It was Kenny, but he wasn't alone. Turning to look he was confirmed of that and, though there was little distance between the two of them Kenny hadn't seen him yet. Cartman was about to call out towards the blond and Kyle, in a frantic panic thought of every possible way to stop him but only one would work quickly enough.
Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the worst thing he would ever do Kyle yanked the brunette down by his shirt collar and forced their lips to meet in a rather rough and unwanted kiss. Green eyes kept open and narrowed on brown as Kyle practically ordered the other to shut his mouth.
Kenny smiled gently at the woman as he escorted her to their table, they were meeting the rest of her party there and he was to act as a doting lover might. He supposed it wasn't a surprise and he rather preferred it over the usual request of sexual favors or servant-like behavior.
The woman's name was Ellia, she was older-or at least older than him-probably mid thirties to very early fourties; she'd wanted to impress her friends without making things overly complicated. A handsome young man to escort her to the party without all those nasty relationship strings attatched.
Things were going well, until his eyes snagged on a certain corner of the room; then his breathing stopped. It was Kyle, holding Cartman down to him so that he had to half hold onto the table so not to lose his balance. They were kissing.
"Are you alright?" Ellia's voice broke him out of his thoughts slightly and he barely recovered in time to look away before she followed his gaze. Forcing a smile, he patted her hand gently.
"I'm sorry, but I am not feeling well, I have to go..." She gave him a sympathetic look.
"Oh my, here let me at least pay you for the time..." he pushed her hand away when she tried to force the cash into his hand.
"No, that's alright, I just need to leave..." Then he turned and hurried out, his eyes meeting Kyle's for a brief moment before he vanished out the door and onto the street.
Kyle's eyes widened even more as Kenny's eyes fell on them and proved he'd failed to hide himself well. Pushing Cartman back off him and standing abruptly after Kenny fled the restaurant the redhead balled his hand into a fist and brought it down with enough force to send the brunette tipping back. "Some fucking help you are fat ass, can't even keep us from being seen since you're fucking mouth is so damn loud!" He griped lowly before storming off out of the place, face redder than his hair.
"Great. Now not only are things between us weird but he probably thinks I'm fucking fat boy." Kyle smacked his hand on his forehead and groaned as he stumbled onto the sidewalk outside the café. For a good full minute he sat there before he reached into his pocket and fished out the cell phone he had gotten back in high school. "I'll just call Stan." His fingers were shaky as he pressed the numbers that he'd memorized so easily. "If he doesn't know what to do – Wendy sure will…" He sounded solemn about the thought of telling Wendy Testaburger how he just made out with the Eric Theodore fucking Cartman. And Kenny just happened to be there to see it. "Of course Stan will never keep it from Wendy…" Of course, at that point he wouldn't decline any offers she gave. She was once in his position after all.
He felt sick; arms and legs shaking, Ken felt like his stomach was going to come barrelling up through his throat at any second. Forcing himself to keep walking, he held on to the wall of each building that he passed before he finally fell to his knees and just sat there, trying to remember how to breathe.
You're alright...you're alright… He repeated it like a sacred mantra, trying to take focus his mind on taking out his cell phone and dial Craig and Tweek's number. Why was this so hard?
From somewhere behind him a rough voice called to him, stilling his hand as his eyes widened.
"Hey Blondie…we got something to talk to you about!"
Shit…
– x –
Craig's phone rang sometime after midnight, it had been hours since Kenny had left for his engagement of the night and he and Tweek had assumed by the time that they'd gone to bed [relatively early thanks to the twitch having to get up for work in the morning] that he had probably decided to stay with his client for the night. Groaning as he reached for it, his mind registered the sound of his lover asking who it was.
Reading Ken's name on the caller ID, the identity of the caller registered somewhere in the back of his mind and he answered it with a bleary "hello?" A coughing noise came over the line and then Ken's voice.
"Craig?" Instantly the black haired man was awake, sober from all signs of sleep, something was wrong.
"Where are you?" but he knew that the blonde wouldn't tell him the moment that he heard what he said next.
"I'm not coming home tonight, don't wait up…"
"What- wait up? You think I was awake? Ken where are you!"
"Don't worry about it…", the phone hung up and Craig sighed before getting up.
Great now I gotta go find the bastard…
"Tweek, call Kyle!"
"You fucking nasty Jew-rat!" Cartman's voice shrieked louder than the honking cars that passed when he finally found Kyle outside a ways down on the phone. He already had a bruise forming on his cheek and without even giving Kyle time to dodge or see him coming the larger of the two chucked his fist high knocking Kyle back. "I almost lost my job thanks to your stupid ass!"
"Fuck you!" Kyle finally hissed out a bit less himself than normal. "It wasn't exactly the on the top of my list either. You suck, in fact." He strived to kneel and reach his cell phone from the ground where it hit with a loud clank. Stan's voice blared through the other end trying to break them up without even being there. It was impossible though as they had to exchange a few fists before either calmed down. By the time they had everything was silent around them and Kyle, gasping for breath after taking a few punches to the gut, finally spoke. "Stan… you still there?"
"Kyle, what happened? Are you okay?" Stan's voice was rustic and hard to catch but Kyle picked it up and pressed it to his ear again. "I'm fine. We're both find, unfortunately." Kyle looked over at the battle-scarred brunette who was holding his cheek looking at the redhead. "I'll talk to you later Stan, when I can talk." He shot a nasty look through green eyes before flipping his phone closed and making to pocket it. That is, he would have if it didn't break into the theme song for Terrance and Phillip, his ringtone. "Fucking Stan." He grumbled opening it again and almost barking in his annoyance with his worrisome BFF. "I told you I'd call you tomorrow, alright? Sweet Jesus!"
"K-Kyle? It's… nngk, It's Tweek." The ever familiar voice timidly whimpered from the other end of the phone, sounding more petrified than anything. Kyle sighed and tried to let go of his frustration as he attempted his apology. "Tweek, sorry… I, uh, well I meant that for Stan. Um, what's up? Why are you calling me all the sudden?"
"Craig got a ca-call from- nngk- Kenny, told me to call you...Ken's missing..."
– x –
Ken sat holding his ribs, one of his eyes swollen shut and the rest of him bleeding rather profusely though it was hard to see from exactly where. He looked like he'd been hit by a car and he half wished that it were that simple to explain; but it wasn't and he wondered what he was going to tell Kyle about it.
If he even wants you home after you caught him making it with that fat-ass Cartman. he reminded himself, he wasn't sure why it bothered him, but it did, more because it was Kyle than it did that it was Cartman. Not that he'd tell anyone, but he'd secretly hoped the overweight asshole would turn out to be a homo just because he made fun of them so damn much.
He'd nearly kicked the lard-butt's ass when he'd said something about Craig and Tweek when they first came out as a couple, mainly because they were his friends, but secondly because he had no right to talk..
"Would you like us to get you something for the pain while you wait?" the nurse that had found him crouched outside the ER doors asked, he shook his head, not verbally answering her. All he wanted was to be left alone, no questions, no interaction.
Just stitch me up and turn me out… he thought blithely.
Kyle listened to the blond without much change in his demeanor, eyes only ever passing over Cartman as he was told of things. "You shouldn't get yourself so worked up Tweek, Kenny always does things like this." Kyle replied finally composed again since he had time to breath. The brunette against the brick wall gave a look that practically pestered Kyle to sharing what was going on. The instant Kenny's name was mentioned he was interested and Kyle simply ignored him like usual. "He's always been like this."
Hearing the startled squeak and the break of another voice Kyle sighed. Craig. "Dude, Kenny does this shit all the time. Why'd you make Tweek call me?" He was more irate with Craig, mostly because in the years since their childhood nothing had repaired the shit relationship he and Kyle had together. Craig disliked Kyle and Kyle disliked Craig; mutual dislike. "You of all people know how he is."
"Kyle, I wouldn't have fucking called if it didn't seem at least a fraction of a bit important." Craig's voice was as point blank as ever, leaving no trace of spite or disdain at all. Kyle snorted. "You didn't even call, asshat. You got Tweek to do it for you."
"Would you have stayed on if I was the first voice you heard?" Kyle frowned as Craig had a point. "Right. Look, I have little clue to what the fuck is going on or where his ass wandered to but he called sounding really fucking pathetic. I thought you would at least like to know."
A red brow furrowed and Kyle felt himself getting ticked. "I saw Ken not too long ago. He looked pretty fucking fantastic to me, even had himself some new town ass." He was calling bullshit, the idea of a joke finally popping into his head. Kenny was fine when he saw him last, which wasn't more than fifteen minutes ago, what could possibly have happened between then and now. "Dude, fuck you for helping his ass lie." Hanging up the phone Kyle tossed it to the ground in anger.
Ken stared tiredly up at the portion of the ceiling he could see from the bed behind the curtain that sectioned him off from the rest of the walk-ins in the large room where he'd been taken. They'd stitched up his various cuts, given him some pain medication and told him to sleep, they wanted to monitor him. Was it bad that lying there all he could think of was Kyle?
Did the ginger ever want to see him again? Was Cartman the reason that he had been pressuring him to move out? And if it was, how did he feel about that?
–x–
Ken walked through the door of Kyle's apartment at about noon the next day, not looking much better than he had the night before, granted he wasn't bleeding anymore, but his eye had swollen and he was badly bruised. The doctors had told him it was likely that he had several broken and or bruised ribs, but he had insisted that he didn't want to be x-rayed thanks to his lack of the money to fund it. So they'd bandaged him up and sent him home, as Kyle's apartment was closer-and he didn't want to walk or sit on a bus any longer than he absolutely had to thanks to the fact that it hurt-he'd gone there instead of to Craig's.
Kyle had crashed at Stan's for the night, knowing Kenny had a key to his apartment made him grit his teeth more and more at the thought of having to see him. Why? Kyle didn't quite grasp that, his mind just telling him over and over that Kenny was in deep shit with him. Wendy's loud voice had woken him early after he'd just barely slipped into unconsciousness and he was stuck now listening to her badger on and on about how to fix the situation he had. If there really was much of a situation.
"You really know what I think, Ky." She used the nickname Stan had joked with, Kyle's head already throbbing enough that any more annoyed with her babbling he might just burst. "I think Cartman has a thing for you. I mean, it would make total sense. And you kissing him was a total score on his part. And then on the other side you've got Kenny – who you like."
"What?" Kyle stopped her there, eyes narrowed. "I don't like Ken." She just smiled and laughed, looking at him like he was crazy. "Then you like Cartman? I always thought you had a hint of masochism in you but to like the Neo-Nazi fatass."
"I don't like Cartman either. That's a fucking fact. You kissed him before too, did you like him then?" Kyle shot back and she failed to respond, unable to. He knew he'd got her and stood to leave, Stan would understand when he got out of the bathroom and seen the redhead gone. "I'm going home already. Just tell Stan thanks for me." Wendy laughed.
"Right right, rush home to realize you do have a thing for Kenny." She had a joking undertone to her statement but it bugged Kyle as he shut the door and vanished down the street, insistent on getting to his apartment before Kenny possibly showed.
Kicking the door shut behind him, Ken dropped the house key on the table and headed for Kyle's bedroom. He knew that the ginger wouldn't like it, but his bed was more comfortable than the cot that Ken usually slept in and right now all he wanted was to curl up in a comfortable bed and get some sleep.
The comforter was soft and the pillows smelled like Kyle's shampoo, he felt just a little bit like a stalker as he laid down and breathed in the scent. From the moment he laid down, he felt all of the tension and stress melt from his pain wracked body; all that was left was the dull ache of his injuries.
He didn't care what happened when Kyle got home, for right now he was happy to just sleep.