Chapter 1: Awakening

It was 23:47, according to a certain dark haired teen's alarm clock - the first sight he saw as he awoke from a loud banging sound coming from downstairs.

Stan Marsh's house was average for the town of South Park. It was nothing special, but to him it was home. Stan Marsh was a popular, athletic, friendly and kind guy. He prided himself on his ability to handle situations well and provide solutions to a range of issues - most of them caused by a certain fatass who he preferred to keep out of mind for the majority of the time.

As the banging started to become louder, the dark haired teen knew he would have to evacuate from the comfort and warmth of his bed to investigate. He began to walk down his stairs, holding a baseball bat in hand, when he noticed a tuft of ginger hair from the small rectangular window in his door. The baseball bat was put away and Stan opened the door revealing his best friend Kyle Broflovski shivering outside in the cold.

South Park was a fairly cold town, especially during the winter months, and no-one went outside without a very good reason to do so. Kyle Broflovski had changed over the years, he decided in sixth grade to remove his 'Jew-fro' to reveal shorter ginger hair. He'd also gotten much taller, roughly four inches shorter than Stan who was 6'2.

"Kyle? What're you doing here?" Stan asked, rubbing his eyes due to his prior abrupt awakening.

"Are you gonna interrogate me or invite me in?" Kyle asked with a hint of sorrow and monotony to his voice as he shivered staring at the ground.

The two seventeen year olds headed inside, closing the door behind them and took a seat on the living room sofa. For a few moments, Stan observed his best friend. He was exceptionally good at reading body language, especially for the people he spent a lot of time with. The pair were part of a very small but close-knit friendship group including Kenny McCormick, Eric Cartman and recently Wendy Testaburger. As of late, Kyle tended to spend the vast majority of his free time with his girlfriend, Bebe Stevens. She was a cheerleader, who acted as the deputy to head-cheerleader Wendy Testaburger. Both girls were highly desired by everyone in South Park High School for their beauty and talent alike. Kyle had been together with Bebe for the past few months and was beginning to grow fairly attached to her.

"I broke up with Bebe" Kyle blurted out as he interrupted the eerie silence in the dark room. Stan stared at him in confusion as Kyle looked ahead, closed his eyes and opened his mouth. "She cheated on me.. with Clyde" He confessed as his eyes re-opened, revealing that he was tearing up. At this moment, his face had an expression that could only be described as an equal mix between rage and sadness.

"Dude! I'm so sorry! What the f**k?! I thought you guys were like.. an item or something" Stan said in shock as he tried to rationalise how or why Bebe could've done that to his best friend. "How did you find out?" He asked out of curiosity. "I was walking to her place, I wanted to surprise her for her birthday, but when I got to the house.. in the window.. I saw th-.." He began to break down and sob, with his head in his hands. Stan moved closer to him and place a supportive arm over his shoulder to console him. "That sucks, I really don't know what to say" Stan said at a loss for words. "Nah it's cool, if that's the way she is.. then I don't even want her". Kyle was struggling to get out his sentences as he was very visibly distressed. At that moment, Stan removed his arm and made his way to the kitchen. Several moments later he returned with two large mugs of hot chocolate, passing one to the distraught teen on his couch. Kyle's lips arched upwards slightly forming a sad but appreciative smile. "Thanks".

As they sat together, having their drinks, Stan began to cheer Kyle up in the way he did best - by being himself. Kyle had started to smile again as they talked through all the aspects of their relationship that he hated. "Well, it's over now and I'm alright with that. Clyde's still gonna die tomorrow though" Kyle stated in the most sincere way. Stan agreed as he looked up at the clock noticing it was 02:00 am.

"S**t dude, it's two! We've got school in 7 hours" Stan said with a hint of shock and worry in his tone. "Hold up, did you finish the book report for English?" Kyle asked, referring to a previous conversation they had during the evening. "I was gonna do it before school, but probably won't get time" Stan said acting careless. Kyle was visibly concerned for him at that point. "You needed to get that done! Crap, I feel so guilty now. I'm sorry man". Stan put his arm around his best friend and confessed: "S'all good, you're much more important to me than some dumb report". Kyle's heart was warmed by this comment and he turned so the pair were face to face. Kyle responded with a similarly heart-warming: "Thanks for being there for me" accompanied by a smile that forced Stan's lips to curl upwards into a grin.

Stan's thoughts and inner monologue were immediately broken by a punch he had received on his right arm. After a few seconds, he noticed that Kyle had jolted out of his warm embrace and was half-way upstairs to head to sleep. Stan stayed there, still, unable to move. He was completely dazed for a few minutes with his mind racing through thoughts as if it was an F1 race track.

"What... the f**k... was that..."