This is yet another introductory chapter. This story will take longer than expected to reach the main plot.
Kenny arrived at his house and immediately went for the bathroom. He stripped as quickly as he could and got into the shower, not realizing how cold the water was, even after it splashed his body. He stood in the freezing water for a long time, trying desperately to scrub Cartman's blood off of his hands and face, but only managing to spread it over an even larger area.
"It's not coming off... Why won't it come off?!"
Kenny was starting to panic. He scrubbed harder and harder, actually managing to hurt himself, but without stopping.
Meanwhile, as Kenny desperately tried to get Cartman's blood off of him, Kyle and Stan awaited the ambulance they had called for Cartman.
"So... Are we gonna talk about what just happened?"
"Kenny just did what you always wanted to." Stan said.
"I... I never wanted..."
"I didn't mean to say that. I'm just... I can't believe Kenny really did it. Who knows how bad it really is? What will Cartman do? You know he's the kind to hold a grudge and do anything to settle the score."
Cartman started groaning in pain and opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and his face hurt, but he didn't let it show.
"You alright?" Stan asked.
"No, I'm not alright. That little fucker hit me!"
Cartman looked at Kyle and frowned.
"This is all your fault."
"My fault? You're the one who pushed him!"
"If you hadn't made him cry-"
"You made Kenny cry? I thought Cartman was joking about that!"
"I-"
"He sure did. Dunno what he said, but it must've been something big."
If Stan had any doubts before, they were gone now. He pulled Kyle away from Cartman and spoke to him in as low a voice as he could muster.
"You actually told him you weren't interested?"
"You told me to."
"I never expected him to beat the shit out of Cartman..."
"Neither did I."
"Not like he didn't deserve it, though." Stan thought.
Seeing that the other two boys were done with their conversation, Cartman yelled at Kyle.
"By the way, don't think I didn't see my controller. One of you – or Kenny – is gonna have to pay for that."
All three boys heard the ambulance approaching, so Kyle and Stan helped Cartman up.
"Come on, fatty. Let's get you to the hospital."
"Shut up, Kyle."
After just a handful of minutes, they arrived at the hospital. The police arrived as soon as they could, once they were warned about what had happened. Cartman was hesitant to tell them the truth, but he did it anyway. Although the police wanted to arrest Kenny, Cartman told them he didn't want to press charges. He knew something was going on, and instantaneous revenge would ruin his chance for long-time retribution.
"Kenny... You will pay. You can be sure of that."
Cartman was sent for a head CT, giving Kyle and Stan some time to talk.
"So... Why did you do it?" Stan asked.
"Do what?"
"Why did you tell him you weren't interested?"
"Because you're right. You're sick of me always coming to you, I'm sick of him always coming to me. I'm done."
"Is that really what you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"You never told him until now, even after all these years. You only told him because you were upset that I had yelled at you... I think you did it because you wanted to apologize to me; not because you wanted to."
"Maybe you're right. I guess now you're going to say I like Kenny or something, right?"
"Um... Nah... That was totally not my point." Stan sarcastically said.
"...Let's just hope Cartman's OK."
Kenny finally managed to get the last bit of blood off of himself, but his clothes still had some drops. The cold water had finally registered in his mind, so, in spite of his bloody clothes, he was now lying in bed, trying to warm himself up. As he lied there, he began reviewing what had happened to him.
"I went to school... Got invited into Cartman's house... Then Kyle told me to stop showing him I like him... Cartman pissed me off, so I... hurt him. And then I... hurt... Kyle... I'm so sorry... Kyle..."
Kenny started crying, fully regretting his actions against Kyle. He sobbed loudly, alerting his brother that something had gone wrong. Kevin left his room and found Kenny's clothes on the floor. He saw the blood stains, picked up the clothes, and went into Kenny's room.
"Bro? Is everything alright?"
Kenny wiped away his tears and stopped sobbing.
"What do you want, Kevin?"
"Whoa, bro... Take a chill pill. I just want to help you."
"I know... I'm sorry. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at myself."
"What happened?"
"You promise not to tell anyone?"
"Of course."
"Alright... I'll tell you."
Kenny summarized most of his day for Kevin, leaving out his confrontation with Kyle, among other things. He had to stop to hold back his tears several times, as the end always came to his mind. When he finally reached the part where he knocked out Cartman, Kevin was unsure whether he should cheer or be silent. He went with the latter, leading Kenny to the part where he hurt Kyle. He finally lost control and resumed crying. Kevin patted his back and spoke once Kenny stopped shedding tears.
"Look, Kenny... I know Kyle's your friend and all, but... You just knocked him down. It's not like you broke his nose and knocked him out."
"That's not all... Kyle's face... He looked at me like... I've never seen him so scared."
"I'd be scared too, if I saw something like that. Didn't even it occur to you that you should stop once he started bleeding? Or when you broke his nose? Or when he was knocked out?"
"I was just so angry..."
"What did he say that made you so pissed?"
"He... He just... He reminded me of a bad event in my life."
"How bad was it?"
"...Bad."
"OK... I hope some day you'll manage to tell me."
"I'm sorry, Kevin. If I could tell you, I would."
"It's OK. I know you'll tell me when you're ready."
Kenny and Kevin hugged, and Kenny started crying again. Kevin held him tight, letting him express his sadness for as long as was necessary. Once Kenny stopped crying, Kevin let go.
"Thanks, Kevin."
"No problem."
Kevin left Kenny's room and went back to what he was doing.
After a couple of hours, Cartman was released from the hospital. Kyle and Stan took him home and asked him what he was going to do about Kenny.
"Nothing at all." Cartman said.
"Right..."
"Maybe something... I haven't decided yet."
"What about the police?"
"I told them I wasn't going to press charges."
"Then you have something else planned?" Kyle asked worryingly as the boys approached Cartman's house.
"Don't worry, Kyle; you'll be the first to know. Now screw you guys, I'm going home."
Cartman ambled home and slammed the door, leaving Kyle and Stan alone.
Cartman's mom was waiting for him inside the house. She noticed Cartman's stitches, as well as the blood on his shirt.
"Eric! What happened?"
"It's OK, mom... I... got in a fight."
"Who did this to you?"
"Um... It doesn't really matter. I forgave him."
"It does matter! I'm going to talk to his parents and-"
"Mom! Please, don't do anything. Please."
Liane looked at her son, sighed, and nodded.
"Alright, Eric. I trust you."
"Thanks, mom."
Cartman and Liane hugged, whereupon Cartman's face reflected his true feelings. He was angry at Kenny, bent on revenge.
"Tomorrow is the day you pay, Kenny... Trust me on that."
On their way to their respective houses, Stan asked Kyle more about the incident.
"Did he start crying right away?"
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I want to know more so I can give you some advice."
"There's no advice to be given. I hurt Kenny, he got sad, and cried. That's all."
"Did he say anything?"
"He just stuttered some random words... Didn't really say anything... Look, I really don't want to talk about it any more."
"That's OK. We're almost at my place anyhow. Race you there!"
Stan dashed for his house, with Kyle following closely behind. In spite of his size, Kyle slowly caught up to his friend, but didn't make it in time. Stan shook hands with him, and Kyle was off on his own path.
Kyle arrived at his own house in a few minutes. He stood at the front door, with the key in his hand, but didn't go in.
"Kenny... I have to warn you."
Instead of going in, Kyle ran for Kenny's house.
Kyle knocked on the door and, a few seconds later, Kevin opened it.
"Hey, Kyle."
"Hi, Kevin. Is your brother home?"
"Sure, but... He's a bit... sad, I guess would be the word."
"Do you think he'd mind if I went to see him anyway?"
"Not at all. Go right ahead."
Kevin moved to the side and Kyle rushed upstairs and into Kenny's room. Through the open door he saw the bloody parka Kevin had left on Kenny's bed, as well as Kenny himself, back facing the door, curled up into a fetal position. Kyle could hear faint sobs, indicative that Kenny hadn't taken notice of his presence, so he knocked on the door, startling the blond. Kenny wiped away his tears and slowly got up. As soon as he turned around, he saw Kyle and smiled.
"Hey, Kyle."
"Hi."
"Not that I mind, but... why are you here? After what happened, I didn't expect you would talk to me again."
"I came to warn you."
"About what?"
"Cartman's pissed. And I mean really pissed. Scott Tenorman pissed."
"Wow. Haven't heard that name in a while..."
"This is serious, Kenny. You need to focus. Cartman's looking out for revenge, and, knowing him, it could be anything."
"I get it... I just... How are you doing?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. I pushed you pretty hard, and I saw you had fallen on Cartman's controller."
"Well, my ass hurts a little... but I'm OK."
"It's a cute ass too." Kenny thought as he smiled.
"Well, that's everything... I should go home now. I'm sure my mom's worried about me."
Kyle turned around, when a question popped into Kenny's mind.
"Wait..."
"Hm?" Kyle said as he faced Kenny.
"I... Why didn't you just call me or something? I doubt I'm your favorite person right now."
"I..."
"Come on, Kyle." Kyle thought."Make something up."
"I wanted to see you." Kyle blurted without thinking.
"Great. Now he's gonna think I like him."
"Um... Thanks, Kyle."
"I-I should go. Sorry."
Kyle quickly ran out the front door and started thinking about what he had said while he went home.
"Fucking stupid thing to say... It's probably Stan's fault. Got inside my head. I just hope Kenny doesn't overthink it. Although... Why did I come here? I could've just called. The idea didn't even occur to me."
While Kyle tried figuring out just why he hadn't called, Kenny was trying to figure out what Kyle's final statement, before he said he had to leave, meant.
"It's a mixed signal... Or maybe it's just friendship. Why would Kyle lie to me before if he did really like me? It makes no sense. It's probably friendship."
Kenny lied back down on his bed and closed his eyes.
"Just friendship... Nothing more."
The following morning, Kenny woke up late for school, as was normal for him. Kyle and Stan were waiting for him near the school gate, but Cartman was nowhere to be seen.
"Do you think Cartman's not coming because of Kenny?"
"No way. His mom isn't believing his lies anymore. For the most part. He probably told her the truth about his trip to the hospital."
"Yeah... Look, there's Cartman!"
Stan looked at where Kyle was pointing and saw the fat boy approaching.
"Hey, guys. Where's Kenny?"
"He isn't here yet."
"Typical..."
"Are you planning something, Cartman?"
"Why do you care, Kyle?"
"Yeah. Why do you care, Kyle?"
"What, and you don't, Stan?"
"...Good point."
"He's a friend; that's all. I care about him just like I cared about Cartman when Kenny beat the shit out of him."
"Aw. I didn't know you cared, Kyle."
"Shut up, Cartman."
Just as Cartman was about to retort, the bell rang, forcing the boys to get to class.
Kenny arrived at the school a few minutes after the bell rang. He hadn't even noticed his hood was off as he rushed into the classroom. Everyone, including the teacher, stared at him. Kenny's eyes surveyed the room, coming to a stop when they met Kyle's.
"I had almost forgot what Kenny's hair looked like..." Kyle thought."All I could see most of the time were a few golden strands covering his eyes..."
Kenny's eyes wandered again, this time stopping at Cartman's. The boys stared at each other for a while; Cartman in anger, and Kenny in fear. The entire class noticed their stare down, but didn't say anything.
Kenny went inside the classroom and closed the door behind him. He didn't feel like he was ready for whatever Cartman had planned, yet he had no choice.
"Time to face Cartman."