This is a short story I've been working on. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank U, Next

Chapter 1

Heidi's POV

I'm beginning to regret the day I gave Eric Cartman another chance...

Where do I begin? We broke up in 4th grade and I never looked back. In high school I had a few boyfriends. I dated Bridon Gueermo. He gave up on playing basketball and joined our high school chorus. I was in chorus as well so that's how we connected. We sang many duets together. We made beautiful music together. Then he cheated on me with Bebe Stevens and that was the end of that relationship. Sometimes, I still listen to some of our duets. It makes me smile.

Then there was Clyde Donovan. Ugh, there really isn't much to say about Clyde. We're two completely different people. We weren't compatible at all. I'm not giving him anymore of my energy, NEXT!

By college, I was dating Kenny McCormick. We dated for two years until he died of a drug overdose. That's how Eric and I reconnected.

It was at Kenny's funeral...

After saying my final goodbye to Kenny, Eric walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Heidi, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss. Kenny was a good guy and one of my best friends." I haven't seen Eric since high school and I won't lie, he looks great. He's gotten taller, he's about 5'11 and he's lost weight.

I smile and nod. "Thank you Eric. He always spoke really highly of you, even when you were being an asshole." I chuckle a bit.

"I wasn't being an asshole, I was trying to hope him with his addiction."

"I know. We all tried to help him."

"Yeah..." He looks down.

"Well anyway, I'll see you around." I turn to leave as this is becoming a little awkward.

"Hey Heidi?" Eric calls out to me.

I turn toward him. "Yes?"

"Would you like to hang out sometime?" He looks down and starts fidgeting. "Maybe get a drink or something?"

"I don't know Eric..."

"Oh come on! We've haven't seen each other in years. It will be nice to catch up."

I'm probably going to regret this later, but… "Okay..."

About a week later, we went out to dinner. We decided to go to Red Lobster. "So what have you been up to?" He asks after we order our food.

"Just working on finishing school." I tell him as I take a sip of water. I decided to go non alcoholic for this outing. I can't say the same for Eric.

"That's cool. What's your major?"

"Elementary education. What about you? What are you doing with yourself these days?"

"Working."

"Where do you work?"

"At the mall."

I can see this is going to be painful. "Doing what?"

He starts laughing nervously. "You're going to laugh."

"No I'm not."

"I work at a shoe store." His face turns red.

My eyes light up. I love shoes! "Oh really? Do you get a discount?"

"Of course! I'm grateful for that, I can buy myself and mom all the latest."

Then something hits me in that moment. "Oh God!"

"What?" Eric asks raising his eyebrow.

"So you work at the store that Clyde's dad owns?"

"He doesn't own it anymore, Clyde does."

I smack my forehead. "Oh God!" I mumble.

"Is that a problem?"

"Clyde is my ex boyfriend…"

"Okay, and? I'm your ex too. I was your ex before he was."

I start laughing. "We were kids. Does that really count?"

"It does to me!" He raises his voice a little. I'm kind of surprised to get that reaction out of him.

"Really?"

He nods. "Yes! I know I acted like a controlling, insensitive, selfish asshole, but you were the first girl I fell in love with. I just wasn't good at expressing my feelings back then."

"Oh wow..." I don't even know how to respond to that. I want to think he's full of shit, but when I look into his eyes, I can tell he's being genuine.

"I've always wanted you back Heidi." He takes my hand and gently squeezes it. I look into his eyes and he smiles at me. I smile back, but then my smile quickly fades as I'm hit with guilt. I jerk my hand away.

"We can't do this."

Eric frowns. "Why not?"

"Kenny was just buried a week ago!"

"I'm sure Kenny would want you to move on."

"It's too soon..." I look down. "We were together for two years. It doesn't seem right to date his best friend so soon after his death." I look at Eric. "I'm sorry Eric, I just don't think I can move on."

He gets up and sits down next to me in the booth. He puts his arm around me. "I want to help you move on." He turns my head towards him. "Please?"

My mouth wants to say no, but my heart is telling me to give him a chance. There's no harm in that, right? "Can we take it slow? Again, I just lost Kenny. I'm not ready for anything serious right now."

He nods. "I'll go as slow as you want me to, babe."

That's how it started...