Disclaimer:

Don't own South Park. Nor will I.

I'm completely convinced that today is going to be amazing.

"Alright Stan so then! So then she said that she wasn't really interested in having a boyfriend right now, she was more focused on bettering herself first!" my best friend Kyle Broflovski said, beyond excited. Only he could be that pumped over a rejection. The two of us were on the phone. I was currently sitting in a Mcdonalds, waiting on my ex to arrive so we could finally patch things up. But she was running late so I gave Kyle a call to see how things had gone on his latest attempt at wooing the now single (and significantly kinder) Heidi Turner.

"She's already lost most of her Cartman weight and apologized to the handicap kids too!" Kyle continued "It's so great having the real Heidi back."

"and to see Cartman so shut down?" I asked teasingly. Kyle and Eric Cartman had been at each other's throats since we were eight and Kyle always got a kick out of seeing the other boy get his just desserts for doing something wrong. This time though was different. Losing Heidi because of his own mistreatment of her (including a few murder attempts) and then having her call him out and pull a gun on him seemed to really hit Cartman hard. He hadn't really talked to anyone since, he barely showed up to classes and if he kept it up he might not even go to high school with us next year.

Kyle had been walking on sunshine the entire time.

"I mean," Kyle tried to play it off "I guess that's cool too." I could hear the smile in his voice. "You know he only stopped showing up to her house a few weeks ago when her dad threatened to kill him?"

"You've told me dude."

"Heidi's dad is so freaking muscular he probably could have done it one handed!" There was a pause as Kyle went quiet, obviously imagining Heidi Turner's stupidly strong dad doing just that to his daughter's deserving ex boyfriend.

Before we go really talk any further one of the doors opened and Wendy Testaburger stepped into Mcdonalds. The light hit her just right and she seemed to glow, looking truly angelic.

"Oh shit dude she's here!" I was getting excited myself "Talk to you later!"

"Good luck Stan!" Kyle hung up and I smiled at her, cheerful as could be.

I didn't need luck though. This right here? Getting Wendy back? In the bag.

See, Wendy and I had been on and off dating ever since we were eight years old. Sure we've broken up once or twice, but what couple didn't take breaks? If the last year has taught me anything it's what a stable relationship should look like and what it shouldn't look like so I knew that what the two of us had was special. I had it on good authority that she didn't even want to end things between us in the first place. Which made it a little awkward on my side since I readily joined up with Butters and his movement damn quick after we broke up.

But whatever. That crap is in the past. It's Valentine's day, the perfect time for love and gooey emotions and all that crap. I wasn't being too forward by inviting her to a super fancy restaurant and at the end of the day we were going to be dating once again like nature intended. It's funny how a year or so of being single could lend you some perspective on things. I loved Wendy, I could see that now. I mean sure I loved her before but this time, I was going to be a better boyfriend than I ever had been. Because that's what Wendy deserved from me. It's a whole new chapter in our lives and I can't wait to get started!

"Hi Stan." Wendy smiled at me and sat down. I chosen a little table off in the corner away from the hubbub of the front of the store.

"Hi Wendy." I replied, chill as I could be.

"So how have things been going for you?" Wendy asked. It had been a few days since the two of us have had a real conversation. We don't really talk every single day but I make sure to at least wave or something at her whenever possible.

"They've been decent enough. I got a C on that one English project so Mom has been giving me hard looks all week." We had waited a whole week for the teachers to grade the stupid thing with its stupid assigned partners and its stupid twenty five percent of our grade. Then I got a C while Nelly (who was impossible to work with) had gotten an A! There was no justice in the world I swear.

"Nelly did say you left her to do most of the work alone while you ran off with Kenny to do who knows what." Wendy recalled.

"The one time!" I protested a little defensively "Mrs. Silver is super strict when grading things! She and Nelly blew the whole thing out of proportion"

"I got an A," Wendy said "Plus extra credit for doing it alone. Even Butters and Clyde got a B."

"Grades aside." I quickly moved the conversation along "I was wondering if we could get back together. Go out again."

Now, I hadn't meant to bring that up so quickly. My original plan was to slowly work it into conversation, after making Wendy laugh a few times and subtly reminding her just how nice it was to hang out with me. Not that i'm egotistical or anything. However this talk of grades had Wendy's eyes growing a little harder at the mention of Nelly and my slacking. I didn't want her to think of my slacking at a time like this. Mind you I don't think me not being the best student in the world was going to make up Wendy's mind when I asked her my question but you could never be too careful. So I wound up panicking a little and asking her out again right there on the spot. Ah well, it's not like she was going to say no. I loved her and she loved me and this was going to work out just fine.

"Go out again?" Wendy was full on frowning now.

"Well yeah." I said "Now that the gender war is over and couples are starting to get back together. It's not like you even wanted to break up in the first place."

"I didn't?" She had moved on to glaring. That wasn't good.

"Well yeah, I know you just wanted to stand by your girlfriends." I continued "But things are different now."

"Are they?" Okay so I was getting a little tired of her answering me with more questions.

"Yes." I replied.

"So boys are going to treat girls with respect from now on then?" Wendy asked me "No more of this sitting around on your hands while one of you terrorizes us?"

"Skankhunt's gone so yeah we should be good." I didn't really see what that had to do with us getting back together but it wasn't like we boys would just let Skankhunt run wild again. That mass breakup tactic was a smart one. Even if it did piss us off and send us running to Butters.

"What if he comes back?" Wendy wanted to know.

"Then boys and girls will unite to run his ass out of town." I said confidently. No way was that bastard going to ruin things for us again.

"Because it's completely his fault that all of the girls broke up with all of the boys?"

"Exactly." Finally we were on the same page!

Wendy sighed. "The answer is no Stan."

I blinked. So we weren't on the same page. "No what? No we won't run Skankhunt out of town? I mean sure we never actually caught him but if we all put our heads together-"

"I don't want to go out with you again. We're staying broken up."

The world stopped spinning. I felt like my heart stopped beating while my brain processed those damning words that just came out of her mouth. Staying broken up? What was that supposed to mean? We weren't supposed to break up in the first place! We were good! Great! Sure things got rocky because of Skankhunt but that was over with now! Old news! Other couples got to reunite so why the hell would we not?

"I don't understand." I finally ground out the words after what felt like an eternity of just staring at her closed off face.

"I know you don't," Wendy sighed "which is the point."

"Then explain it to me!" I snapped, horror and hurt all swirling around my stomach and forming a feeling of intense anger that just begged to be released. How many nights had I sat up and wished, prayed, that Wendy would find her way back to me? How many times did I let her know through smaller actions that I loved her? Who was she to do all of that? To throw me away like yesterday's news?!

"We didn't break up because of Skankhunt." Wendy said patiently "We broke up because when the girls were targeted, when we needed you boys, all you could do was huddle around your phones and laugh. Then you whipped out your dicks and ran around the school screaming about fair rights when it was the GIRLS-" there went that patience "-who were being hurt. We got the online harassment, the sexism, the CYBERBULLYING and all you could do was cry and bitch because oh no now I don't have a soft girl to slobber on anymore!"

"That's not why I want to get back together with you!" I snarled "I miss you!"

"You don't miss ME you miss the THOUGHT of me! The fake me you've been building up in your head ever since we broke up!" Wendy snarled right back.

"What's the difference?!" I demanded "I want to be with you! I want to love you and shower you with affection and hang out and...and..everything else!"

"We can hang out as friends. We can be affectionate as friends. We can platonically love each other just fine. I don't want to date anyone right now Stan. I don't want a boyfriend at this time."

Oh.

"So I just have to wait until you better yourself as a person and then we can date again?" see now that made sense. Why didn't she just say that before?

Wendy stood up, looking at me with anger and disappointment in her eyes. But that quickly bled into a sort of resigned acceptance.

"Goodbye Stan." She said "Until you've gotten over me, it's probably best that we didn't talk."

Then she was gone. Out of the food joint and out of my life. I didn't even realize that I had been sitting there, just sitting there with my mouth slightly open. Not until one of the Mcdonald's employees came over to me and politely asked me to order something or leave it's been like an hour. That's when I closed my mouth and left, just wandering down the road. I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do or how I was going to do it my mind was just in a haze.

Until you've gotten over me it's probably best that we don't talk.

What the hell? What the hell what the hell what the hell?!

Get over her? How am I supposed to get over the girl that i've loved since I was eight years old? If not before that?! You don't just flip a switch and then boom you don't love anymore! It doesn't work like that! How can she expect that of me? Just get over her like the vast majority of my life had just never actually happened where does she get off ahhhhhhh-

I stopped walking.

My feet had carried me to a park, once described as a place where lost souls go with no other purpose in life. That park. Now, I had always thought that such a concept was ridiculous, just like a lot of stuff in this town. This park was open to any and everyone, people brought their families here, went out on dates here. The idea that this was a place for someone who didn't know where else to go was dumb to me.

Yet it's where my feet took me.

How can she not love me anymore?

That was the big question. How was it that Wendy Testaburger could wake up one morning and decide that she doesn't love Stan Marsh? Even saying it out loud like that sounds like crazy talk. We're the couple. The best friends who have been together forever and are gonna get married and have a bunch of kids and live happily ever after, the end. Mind you I'm not even sure I want to get married or whatever but damn it the option should have been there on the table for us! We're Stan and freaking Wendy! Up until Craig and Tweek got together we were household names! How could she do this to me?

I walked through the park, trying to ignore the various sad looking people around and what it meant. It wasn't the biggest park, so naturally it didn't take me very long to come across him. A larger boy just sitting alone on a bench that (at least right now) looked desolate and removed from reality. His eyes were downcast and in his hand was some kind of snack. A starcrunch maybe? I was moving closer and the closer I got the more pathetic the boy looked.

Eric Cartman.

Hell no I was not in the same boat as Eric Cartman! He ruined his relationship all on his own! Heidi couldn't even look at him anymore for logical, obvious reasons! Their break up was permanent while Wendy just needed a bit more time before she was ready to date-

"You don't miss ME you miss the THOUGHT of me! The fake me you've been building up in your head ever since we broke up!"

-me.

Oh my god.

I collapsed on the bench, numb, and the two of us sat. Not saying a word to each other. My eyes started to burn and I sucked in a breath. I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't. This wasn't the end of us it couldn't be. I wouldn't allow it! There's gotta be something I can do! Anything!

"You got to the bargaining stage pretty quickly." Eric said quietly "Took me two weeks to hit it."

"Screw you!" I damn near growled "Our situations are different! Completely different!"

Eric shrugged "What does it matter the circumstances or the situation? It's not like we're any less alone in the end."

I stared down at my shoes, tears finally breaking free and sliding down my cheeks. Which only hurt more because I hated crying. What good was crying when you could be out there fixing whatever it was that made you cry in the first place? Yet here I was. Sitting with Eric Cartman on a bench in the middle of a park that seemed to be a gathering place for the lonely and the broken. It wasn't fair. The day was supposed to end with Wendy back in my arms not further away than she's ever been!

"I love her." I whispered.

Eric just snorted and took another bite of his food before replying.

"Wouldn't it be nice if that's all that mattered?"

Author's Note: This takes place after my other one-shot Burying the Hatchet. Although it's not required to read it, they just take place in the same world and reference the same things.