Kyle stared at Stan for a while, somewhat frightened due to his serious expression. He stood for a few seconds before going inside and sitting down in the small living room. Once there, Stan followed his example and asked what he wanted to.

"What's with you and Kenny?"
"He's just a little upset we're getting married."
"...Is that all?"
"Yeah. I'm not cheating on you with my ex, Stan."

Kyle's honesty was blindingly obvious, but Stan still had doubts. After sitting in silence for a while, Stan reluctantly dropped the issue.

"...OK. I trust you, Kyle. I'm sorry I got suspicious."
"That's alright. Now, we should work out the invitations to our wedding before we do anything else."
"Yeah. I was thinking about..."

Meanwhile, as the boys talked about who to invite to their wedding, Kenny made his way into the kitchen and took out several beer bottles from the fridge. He drank each of them slowly in his bedroom, taking his time to think about Kyle. He still loved him deeply, but Kyle didn't share his feelings. He knew Kyle loved Stan now, and all that he could think about was how much he wanted Kyle back.

"Maybe I want him because he doesn't want me... That's certainly cliché enough to be true."

Kenny finished the last beer and lied down on his bed. He needed to clear his mind, and the alcohol helped him to do that. He had been drinking heavily ever since he broke up with Kyle, but only at night, so he would be fully awake the next day. The hangovers were terrible at first, but eventually he got used to them and was able to act normally during the day.

"No more beer... I guess it's time to go to sleep."

Kenny closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately, still thinking about Kyle.

Meanwhile, as Kenny passed out, Stan and Kyle got ready for their bedtime. They lied down on their bed facing each other and smiled, happy to be with each other.

"Hey, I was wondering..."
"Yeah?"
"Is Kenny prettier than me?"
"Wh-What kind of question is that? And what's with the sudden obsession with Kenny? Is this a jealous thing? It's over between me and him."
"...I'm just a little nervous, with the wedding coming up and everything. I don't want anything to go wrong."
"Just relax... I love you, Stan, no matter how much Kenny wishes he could change that."

"...And that's what has me worried. He might be desperate enough to do something stupid."

"Now let's just sleep."

Kyle cuddled closer to Stan and gave him a short kiss on the lips before closing his eyes and falling asleep. Stan stayed up for what seemed like hours, trying to work out the details of their wedding in his head. He wanted everything to be perfect, to make Kyle happy. He was so excited to finally marry Kyle that he stayed up all night, unable to sleep.

The following morning, Kyle and Stan got up at 6 AM sharp, as usual, to leave for their jobs. It was the toughest time for both of them: when they had to be separated for several hours. Kyle hugged and kissed Stan several times in preparation for the arduous task ahead.

"I'll miss you, Stan." said Kyle inbetween kisses.
"I know. I'll miss you too. Now I have to go. If I'm late my boss'll kill me."

Stan gently brushed Kyle aside and left first. Kyle was always the last one to leave, because his schedule allowed it. Stan, on the other hand, had to leave home early.

Meanwhile, as Kyle watched Stan drive away, Kenny slammed the snooze button on his alarm clock, unsuccessfully trying to use it. Eventually he became too frustrated to care and just tossed it against the wall in front of him, smashing it into tiny pieces and leaving a mark on the wall.

"Fucking alarm clock."

"KENNY! Is everything alright up there?"
"Yeah, Kevin! Everything's fine!"

"Now I'll never get back to sleep..."

Several minutes later, once he gave up on sleep, Kenny got up and started getting ready for college. Unlike Stan and Kyle, who graduated with ease, his grades crashed after the break-up. Kenny was simply too depressed to care once he had lost the most important thing in his life.

"Time for school... Or college. Whatever..."

"Alright, I'm off to college."
"Have fun."

"As if I could..."

By the time Kenny made it to his college, Kyle was frantically searching for a picture of Stan in his work desk. It had recently occurred to him that he hadn't brought any to work, but he wanted to check anyway. Instead, he found a few pictures of himself with Kenny that they had taken when they were together.

"Kenny..."

Kyle's mind began to wander. Why were there still pictures of Kenny in his desk? Why hadn't he removed them? Why did that bother him? The questions floated around in his head, but no answer was found. At least not one Kyle was willing to consider.

While Kyle focused on Kenny and Kenny focused on Kyle, Stan worked tirelessly in preparation for his wedding. His boss had already revealed that he didn't mind, as long as he didn't spend too much time doing it. However, Stan didn't care. He was psyched for the wedding and spent as little time as possible doing his actual job.

As Stan typed away wedding invitations in his laptop, Kenny found himself surrounded by his many friends. Kenny had always been a popular guy, who could easily make friends with even the most antisocial of individuals.
Kenny looked around himself several times. He was surrounded by friends, yet he had never felt more alone in his life.

"I miss Kyle so much..."

Kenny felt tears rushing to his eyes, so he ran as quickly as he could to the bathroom, where he could cry without any repercussions to his reputation.

"Dammit... I can't believe I'm crying over this again... I thought I'd gotten over him... I guess I was wrong, as usual."

Kenny quickly wiped his tears and pushed all thoughts of Kyle out of his head before leaving the bathroom. He was finally ready for another day.

Later that afternoon, once Kenny dropped his things at his house, he started heading for Kyle's place. In spite of the jabbing pain in his chest every time he remembered what Kyle and Stan were planning, he kept his word about meeting Kyle. They arrived almost at the same time, much to their surprise.

"Hey, Kenny."
"Hey."
"So, what do you wanna talk about?"
"I dunno. I just wanted to hang out. We haven't really done that since... All I'm saying is that it's been too long."
"I agree. C'mon; let's go inside."

Kyle unlocked his front door and led Kenny into the small living room, where the boys sat down next to each other. They remained in silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts. Kenny was desperately trying to overcome his embarrassment over his actions with Kyle the previous day, whereas Kyle could only think about Stan and the wedding.

"Look, Kyle, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I am jealous of Stan, but that's no excuse for what I said."
"That's... uncharacteristically grown up of you."

"Always with the big words..." thought Kenny.

"I just want things to go back to normal between us."
"Kenny, it's been years... And I'm not so sure now's the right time for that."
"Why? Because you're getting married?"
"Yes."
"...You know what? Forget this. I was trying to be a friend, and-"
"Don't start that. I'm just saying, can you really keep a clear head when I'm about to make what's probably the biggest decision of my life?"
"It's your choice, Kyle. I can handle it."

"At least I hope I can."

"I hope so, Kenny... Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to my mom's and invite my family to the wedding."
"I would've thought Stan was taking care of the invites. He's the one who proposed, after all..."
"He is, but I want to talk to my mom myself."
"I thought you said she's not exactly happy about..."
"I still care about her, Kenny. She's still my mother, even if she doesn't act like it anymore."

"Always with the empathy... That used to annoy the hell out of me... Now I just miss it. I miss you."

Kenny became lost in his own thoughts, which didn't go unnoticed by Kyle. He briefly wondered what was on Kenny's mind, but once Stan made his way through the front door, he became fearful that his fiancée would overreact to Kenny's presence, as he had done the previous day.

"Hey, guys."

Stan appeared to be at ease with Kenny and Kyle hanging out, which calmed down the latter.

"Hey, Stan."
"Hey... Well, I should get going. I'm sure you guys have a lot to talk about, with the wedding and all that..."

Kyle's first instinct was to tell Kenny that he didn't have to leave, but he was too worried that Stan would take it the wrong way, so he simply nodded and Kenny left him and Stan alone.

Later that day, once Stan and Kyle agreed on the design for their invitations, they split up. Stan headed for the post office, to print and send the invitations, whereas Kyle headed to his mother's house. He wanted to invite her and his family in person, rather than through a card.

"Time to make her face the truth."

Kyle knocked on his mother's front door, confident that he'd be able to invite her and the rest of his family without any trouble. The door was opened by Ike, who greeted his brother with a big hug followed by a short handshake.

"Hey, Kyle. I haven't seen you in a few weeks. How's everything going?"
"Hey, Ike. Everything's good. Great, in fact, which is why I'm here."
"C'mon. You can tell me all about it inside."
"Thanks."

Once the brothers made their way into the living room, Kyle raised his hand and showed his sibling the ring Stan had given him.

"No way."
"Yes way. Stan proposed, and I said yes."
"That's great news! So, are you here to invite us to the wedding?"
"Of course. You guys are my family. I want you there."
"What about mom? You know how she is..."
"I want her there too, even if she doesn't."
"...Look, it's no secret that mom doesn't really want you around anymore. I don't think you should invite her. She'll take it the wrong way and start yelling or something... You know how she feels about your whole... situation."
"I know, but... she's my mom. Our mom... Even if she doesn't really act like it."

"So much for unconditional love."

"Alright. It's your choice."
"Where is mom, by the way?"
"On a date with dad. They should be back soon..."

Almost an hour later, Kyle and Ike's parents finally returned from their date. Their mother was particularly surprised to see Kyle, whom she hadn't spoken to since he moved in with Stan, in spite of Kyle's many attempts to do so over the phone. Her first instinct was to berate her son for being gay, but her husband's disapproving look was enough to keep her at bay.
Unlike his wife, Kyle's father was still in touch with his son and approved of his sexual orientation.

"Hey, son."
"Hey, dad."

Kyle's mom watched as her husband and son hugged, something she hadn't done in several years. She grew jealous of their obvious connection and became upset that they were displaying it openly. She coughed loudly to get their attention and the room was permeated by an awkward silence. Eventually, when the silence became deafening, Kyle cleared his throat and showed everyone the reason for his presence. His parents' reactions were polar opposites: where his father showed pride and enjoyment, his mother showed disgust and disapproval. Kyle focused solely on his mother's reaction, as she was the main reason for his invitation. He hoped to fix their relationship by inviting her to his wedding, but he could see that that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"So Stan proposed?"
"Yeah!" replied Kyle, excited to share the news.
"...And you said yes?" Sheila asked hesitantly.
"Of course!"
"So when's the wedding?"
"It's in a few days."
"Already?"
"Yeah. Stan thought we should wait a little longer, but I didn't want to. He's out sending invitations right now. I wanted to invite you guys personally, though."
"Thanks, son."

The whole family was back together again. In spite of her previous disgust, even Sheila was feeling somewhat nostalgic. Kyle noticed the change in her demeanor and smiled to himself, relieved that his mother seemed at ease about his presence.

"So, can I count on you guys to show up?"
"Of course. Right, honey?"

The room was filled with yet another awkward silence as everyone stared at Sheila, awaiting her answer. She could feel their questioning eyes digging holes on her skin, expecting her to say yes. Once all the men in the room started glancing at each other instead of Sheila, she gave her answer.

"Sorry, Kyle. I can't be there."
"Thanks, mom. I knew I could count on you." Kyle said sarcastically.