This is sort of an introductory chapter. Consider it a prologue, if you'd like. I don't, though. I'm only mentioning this because a reviewer once pointed out that the first chapter in another story didn't match its summary.

It was only a handful of years ago that Kenny professed his love to Kyle. Although Kenny practiced for months on how to approach the issue with Kyle, the boy's reaction had remained a mystery until he actually went forward with his plans.

FIVE YEARS AGO

Kenny approached his friend during recess. He dragged him to a relatively empty part of the school and tried to psyche himself up.

"Come on Kenny... You can do this. You can do this."

Kenny repeated the words he wanted to say in his mind for a long time while staring at the ground, leaving Kyle to wonder why he had called him away if he didn't want to say anything. Kenny began to shake slightly, so Kyle put his hand on Kenny's shoulder.

"Kenny?" Kyle said.

The blond boy immediately turned his bright blue eyes toward his friend, who smiled.

"I like you." Kenny whispered.
"What?" Kyle asked, honestly not having understood what Kenny said.
"I like you." Kenny repeated slightly louder and much faster.
"I... What?" Kyle asked again, smiling awkwardly.
"I said I like you." Kenny said as clearly as he could.

Kyle had a mixed reaction. He gasped as if he didn't expect it, yet, judging from his face, he was calm and at ease with the situation. Once Kenny awkwardly moved on to asking how Kyle felt about him, that calmness vanished. He became angry and confused, as if he was unsure – or perhaps afraid – of the answer. Just as Kyle was about to say something, the bell rang. Kyle looked at Kenny for several seconds until he walked away.

"Kyle..."

PRESENT

Kenny never approached the topic from that point on – at least not directly. The boys' unspoken agreement was to not let it run their lives and not to mention it to anyone; an agreement they both disregarded. Kenny disregarded the former and tried over the years to show his love for Kyle, though in ways only Kyle would understand, while Kyle spoke of it fairly regularly to Stan.
It was during one of the longer complaint sessions at the school that Stan decided to finally give Kyle a piece of his mind.

"-right? Stan?... Stan?"
"Yeah... Sure..."
"You OK?"
"No, Kyle. Wanna know why?"
"Um... Y-"
"It's because for almost five fucking years I've heard you complain about Kenny nearly every single goddamned day. And I'm sick of it."
"I-I..."
"You never give a shit about how other people feel or what they think. I'm done with this crap. Either tell him you don't like him or stop bitching about it."
"I'm sorry..."
"Yeah, that's what you always say."

Stan walked away from Kyle and toward Kenny and Cartman. Kyle looked at Kenny just long enough for the blond to notice him. Kenny smiled warmly and signaled for Kyle to come join them, which he did, albeit reluctantly. Stan didn't even look at him or react in any way once he arrived. The boys stood in silence, with Kenny glancing at Kyle every few seconds and Stan ignoring Kyle, all while Kyle stared at the ground in shame and regret, until Cartman broke the silence.

"So... Any of you guys wanna play the new Terrence and Phillip game?"
"There's a new one?" Kenny asked excitedly.
"Only out in Canada so far... And I have a copy at my place."
"Why is it only out in Canada? And how do you have a copy?"
"Kyle, don't sweat the details."

"In other words, you're lying." Kyle thought."You're probably gonna try to get us to do your homework or whatever."

Little did Kyle know that Cartman was telling the truth for once... for the most part. He had neglected to mention that there was only one controller for his console, as the other was broken.

"Something you forgot to mention, Cartman?" Kyle asked angrily.
"I totally forgot that one wasn't working... Sorry!" Cartman replied as he played.
"And corded controllers? I didn't even know they still made these!"
"Do you want to lose when the battery dies? Or to have shorter-than-your-dick ranges that provide no comfort whatsoever?"
"Whatever..."

Kyle got up from the couch and grabbed the broken controller.

"Do you have any tools?"
"Sure. Why? Think you can fix it?"
"I'll try." Kyle sighed.
"Great!" Cartman replied as he paused the game. "I'll show you to the tools."

Cartman got up and carelessly tossed the only working controller where he was sitting, before leaving to accompany Kyle to the tools' location. Kenny and Stan looked at the controller, then at each other.

"Wanna play?" Stan asked.
"It's fine if you go first. I can wait."
"Alright... If you say so."

Stan picked up the controller and unpaused the game. Kenny looked at where Kyle and Cartman had gone and imagined what they were talking about.

In the Cartmans' backyard, Kyle and Cartman headed into the tool shed and looked for whatever tools Kyle thought would be useful.

"Screwdriver?" Cartman asked.
"Duh. How else am I gonna open it?"

While Kyle unscrewed the controller, a thought popped into his head.

"How the fuck am I gonna know what's normal and what's not? I need something to compare it to."

"Cartman, could you do me a favor?"
"Um... Depends on what you want."
"I need the working controller so I can figure out what's broken."
"Alright. I'll get it."

Cartman arrived and found Stan still playing the game, while Kenny watched. Although Kenny was staring at the screen, Stan, and even Cartman, could tell his mind was elsewhere.

"Guys, I'm gonna need one of you to take that controller to Kyle. He's out back."
"Why?" Stan asked as he paused the game.
"He says he needs it to compare them or something... Figure out what's broken."
"I got that; I meant why us?"
"You think I'm going to walk back and forth to get Kyle everything he wants?"
"Well, I'm certainly not going."
"I'll do it." Kenny said.

Stan and Cartman stared at Kenny in surprise.

"Didn't even know you were paying attention." Cartman replied.
"Kenny, are you sure? I mean... You and-"

Stan looked at Cartman, thought about what he was going to say, and changed it.

"Um... If you don't mind, I'd be OK with that."

While Kenny picked up the controller and headed for the tool shed, Cartman wondered what Stan was about to say. He looked at Stan, who immediately turned his head and pretended he didn't know what the fat boy was thinking.

Kenny arrived at the tool shed in a few seconds. Kyle heard him and, thinking it was Cartman, spoke to him before confirming his identity.

"Hey, Cartman. Give me that... that... Um... Kenny?"
"Yeah!" Kenny replied with a smile. "Cartman got lazy and Stan didn't want to go, so I came here instead."

"Great." Kyle thought. "Well, let's get this over with."

Kenny excitedly handed the controller to Kyle and watched him work. First, Kyle unscrewed the working controller. He looked at both it and the broken one, checking every part he could identify. After several minutes of staring at the controllers, Kyle announced defeat with a weary sigh.

"I have no idea what's wrong with it. It seems perfectly normal."
"I'd suggest it's the battery, but, as you pointed out earlier, there's no battery."
"Yeah... but... the wires might be cut somewhere I can't see. Find me a knife."
"Are you sure Cartman won't mind cutting open his controller's cord?"
"Do you really care?"
"I guess not..."
"Great! Hand me a knife."

Kenny reached for his pocket and handed Kyle his switchblade.

"Do you always carry that?"
"Yup."
"What for?"
"Protection. What else?"
"Right... Well, I guess this'll do."

Kyle reached for the switchblade and quickly removed it from Kenny's hand. The proximity allowed Kenny to realize just how small his friend's hands were, compared to his own. When they were kids, Kenny, Kyle, Stan, and Cartman were approximately the same height, but it changed over the years. Kenny became the tallest, followed by Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. In Kenny's eyes, Kyle's short stature only made him cuter. He often imagined what it would be like to pick Kyle up in his arms. It made him happy to imagine a relationship with Kyle, even if the real thing seemed impossibly far away.

"Kenny? Kenny?"
"Hm?"
"You OK?"
"Sorry; I was... daydreaming."
"About what?"
"...You don't want to know. So, how's the controller?"
"It should be working now. I found a wire in the cord that wasn't connected properly."
"Really? How'd you fix it?"
"Duct tape. How else?"
"Right..."

Kyle screwed in both controllers and started making his way toward the exit, but stopped mid-way.

"Kenny..." Kyle said with his back facing Kenny.
"Yeah?"
"I..." Kyle added as he turned around. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"What's that?" Kenny asked, truly not understanding what was on his friend's mind.
"You know... that."
"Oh... What did you want to tell me?"

In spite of his past experience with Kyle – or perhaps because of it – Kenny's heart began to race. He pictured Kyle confessing his love to him over and over again. He imagined kissing Kyle for the very first time and finally being able to hold him in his arms. A voice in his head told him he was wrong, yet he couldn't help but be excited by the thought.

"I... I just..."
"Yeah?"
"I need it to stop, Kenny."

Kenny could almost hear his hopes and desires shattering. He looked at Kyle with tears in his eyes and spoke to him in the saddest voice he could muster, sobbing uncontrollably.

"W-What? W-Why? It's not like-"
"I just can't take it anymore, Kenny. You like me. I get it. I don't need constant reminders every single day."
"B-But-"
"I'm sorry, Kenny."

Cartman, having grown tired of waiting to play his game, approached the shed.

"What's taking so long, Kyle?"
"I'm done. Let's go."

Cartman turned his gaze toward Kenny and saw him with fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

"What's wrong with him?"
"Nothing."
"Did you make him cry?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Way to go, Kyle! Didn't know you had it in ya."
"I said I don't want to talk about it!"
"Jeez, Kyle. Stop being such a pussy."

"Fucking fatass..."

Kyle and Cartman went back into Cartman's house, but Kyle still looked back on his friend he had left in tears and felt a deep sense of regret.

"Kenny... I'm sorry."

After several minutes of weeping and sobbing, Kenny finally got a hold of his emotions and stopped. He wiped away what tears were still on his face and headed back into the house. The boys were playing a different game now, but not one Kenny recognized.

"Hey, Kenny!" Cartman yelled as he played against Kyle. "Good to see you're no longer crying like a little girl."

Kenny stared at Cartman in anger and mumbled incomprehensibly to himself.

"Well, sit down! I'm almost... done! Ha ha! Take that, Kyle!"
"Hey, it's my first time playing this!"
"Whatever... Whaddya say, Kenny? Wanna try defeating the master?!"
"...Sure."

Kenny started playing against Cartman. He tried his best to defeat his friend, but he kept thinking about Kyle and what he had said. He didn't even have time to figure out the controls; just a couple of minutes later, Kenny was defeated.

"Yeah! Suck it, poor boy!"

Kenny stared at the screen for a long time without saying anything. Kyle and Stan were concerned for his well-being, but only Stan dared say anything about it.

"Kenny? You OK?"
"Of course not!" Cartman yelled. "He was just defeated by... the master!"

Kenny kept staring at the screen, apparently not paying any attention to Cartman's mocking. Seeing as how he wasn't reacting, Cartman decided to push the blond further. He started poking him several times per second and raised his voice.

"Ha ha, Kenny! Wanna try again? Or maybe you wanna cry, like when Kyle-"

Kenny suddenly snapped, got up from the couch, and started punching Cartman as hard as he could. Kyle and Stan also got up and tried pulling Kenny away, but the tall boy was far stronger than either of them, and, in his current state, he was even stronger than both of them combined. Kenny simply pushed his friends backward somewhat gently and kept punching Cartman, breaking his nose and making him bleed profusely. In his blind rage, he just kept punching Cartman harder and harder. Blood splattered all over his fists and clothes, as well as Cartman's clothes. Kyle and Stan tried several more times to stop him, only managing to get pushed even harder. Finally, after being pushed harder than usual, Kyle tripped and fell onto a controller that had been tossed onto the ground, smashing it and making him yell in pain. His scream pierced Kenny's mind and turned his anger into regret and sadness.

"Kyle!"

"Seriously?" Stan thought."That's what stops you?"

Kenny rushed to Kyle's side and helped him up.

"I'm sorry, Kyle. I-I..."

Kenny looked at his fists and started shaking. They were covered in blood. Cartman's blood. He looked at Cartman and saw him knocked out. He looked at Stan and saw him horrified. He finally looked down at Kyle, who was even more horrified than Stan. He was on the verge of tears – not because of the pain, but because he couldn't believe Kenny had done something so atrocious.
The three conscious boys stood in silence, with the only sound being Cartman lightly snoring. Kyle finally decided to say something.

"Kenny... You..."

Kenny suddenly got up and ran out Cartman's front door, leaving his friends to wonder what the fat boy would do once he woke up. Stan quickly figured out what had made Kenny snap: not Cartman, but Kyle.

"Kyle really did it... I never thought he would actually... He did it."