Tap, tap, tap.

He inhaled sharply, becoming aware of his surroundings.

Tap, tap, tap

He rolled his shoulders gently but frowned as they didn't move. He could feel something around him, holding him down.

Tap, tap, tap.

"The…?"

Stan opened his eyes slowly. He was lying on his back and his white ceiling stared back at him. The tapping was somewhere in the back of his mind, but he was too focused on what was around him.

He carefully moved his head to the side, wincing as something beat his head from the inside.

Kenny was splayed on his stomach with his arm wrapped firmly over Stan's bare chest. He frowned, but didn't move. It was another weird morning. He felt weird.

Kenny's hair was splayed around him messily. Spikes were framing his face, making some kind of dirty blond halo. He could see some dried blood on his face and there was the shadow of what he guessed was a bad bruise. A strand of hair was curled around his eyelashes and Stan had a sudden urge to brush it away.

Instead he sighed and looked back at the ceiling. He didn't move to get Kenny's arm off him.

In truth, he was comfortable. And warm… and comfortable.

It was a strange feeling, sharing a bed. There was no room to move, you couldn't spread out or move whenever you wanted to, but the closeness wasn't bad. It was actually kinda nice.

The thought made his heart bounce strangely. He rolled his shoulders again, attempting to wake Kenny without actually waking him.

He frowned again.

Finally, Stan sat himself up quickly. The movement made his head spin and the little dude with a mallet inside his skull began pounding on the bone. Each throb had him sinking lower and lower form the light seeping through his curtains.

Kenny yawned deeply and turned next to him, raising his arms above his head and stretching. Stan tried not to look at the dark purple blotches on Kenny's pale skin.

"Morning, dude," he croaked.

Stan winced at the sound and Kenny must have seen because he smirked at him in a sleepy, lopsided way.

He frowned at Kenny before rubbing his face, attempting to wake himself up. He looked around his room. Somehow they had managed to trash it last night. Empty plates, beer cans, the whiskey bottle, clothing and all sorts of unknowns littered the floor.

He yawned, glad that it was Saturday. He felt Kenny turn in the bed and finally sitting up. He glanced at him and chuckled. His hair stuck out in every known direction and his face looked like a punching bag.

"Dude, you need a shower."

He raised an eyebrow. "That sounds nice."

The way he purred made Stan shift uncomfortably. Stan got to his feet, all too aware that he was in nothing but his boxers. He reached down and grabbed the T he had taken off the night before. Then he opened his closet and grabbed a towel from the small pile by his shoes. He smiled as he saw the two familiar Canadian faces staring up at him.

"Here, dude."

He chucked the towel at Kenny, who was now on his feet and stretching. He caught the towel but winced and grabbed the new bruise on his stomach. The bruise that his father had made the night before. Stan turned around and searched his room for something to put the rubbish in. Finally, he found an old paper bag rolled up under his bed.

When he stood up to clean, he saw Kenny was gone and he could just hear the running shower.

He grabbed the cans and the bottle before quickly running downstairs and hiding it at the bottom of the trash can. As he turned around, he saw his mother's fluffy frame walking into the kitchen. She looked half asleep but smiled as she saw him.

Suddenly her face dropped. "Stanley!"

He watched in confusion as she ran to him, staring intently at his face. Her lithe hands gently reached up and poked his left cheek. A shooting pain spread over his face, making him hiss and wince.

"My god, Stanley. What happened?"

"What's wrong?"

She gave him a 'do-you-think-I'm-stupid' before putting her hand on her hip.

He shrugged it off. "Nothing mom. Just a scrap at school."

"Was it that Eric Cartman, again? You know that boy is nothing but trouble. I don't know why you're even friends with him!"

He smiled. "You and me both, mom. I'm going to get dressed. Oh, Kenny stayed over last night."

His mom's face softened as he mentioned Kenny. She nodded knowingly before opening the refrigerator and pulling out a whole pack of bacon, a box of eggs and some pre-made pancake mix.

Stan had the urge to hug her, but he didn't.

Every time Kenny stayed over, his mom always made the biggest breakfast. She'd never admit it, but she felt sorry for the boy and she knew first-hand what poverty was like. Kenny always loved coming to his house because to him, they ate like king's every morning.

He left the kitchen as the sound of sizzling bacon filled the kitchen. He headed back to his room and saw the bathroom door was open He saw steam was drifting into the hallway. Stan felt himself peer slightly around the corner where he caught a glimpse of pale skin in his room. He snapped back around and stomped into the bathroom, now annoyed with himself and craving a ridiculously hot shower.

He locked the door and stripped, turning on the shower as he did so. As the room began to fill with steam again, he started to feel his muscles relaxing.

As Stan walked towards the shower, he caught a glimpse of himself in the clouded mirror. He dragged his hands over the mirror and felt his eyebrows shoot up in shock. His black hair was sticking up awkwardly like it always did. He saw dark blue eyes were red-streaked and there were small circles under them. But it was the deep, dark bruise covering the left side of his jaw and moving up onto his cheekbone that caught his attention.

He let out a quiet laugh. It actually made him look pretty bad-ass.

With a last lingering smirk at himself, he turned and climbed into the shower.

Stan was going to kill Kenny.

The bastard had used up all the hot water so he managed to get his head covered in shampoo before the water turned to ice and he was left at the end of the bathtub, attempting to wipe bubbled from his eyes.

He had to brave the water, to which he did with a very unflattering squeal. He washed his hair out and quickly ran the soap over his skin before jumping out the shower. He shivered before wrapping his body in one of the huge bath towels his mom got from Wal-Mart.

He dried himself quickly, still freezing, before putting on his thin bathrobe.

Kenny was spread on Stan's bed, his controller in the blonde's hand while he played freely on COD. He glared at the boy who was now dressed. He was wearing one of Stan's favourite T's, his own jeans and a pair of Stan's socks.

Stan opened his mouth to make a comment when the boy turned his face upward. Kenny's face looked even worse than he thought. Not only was his left eye bruised, but so was his cheek. He could see some swelling around his nose where it was no doubt broken. Everything he was about to say disappeared from his tongue and instead he turned to his closet.

He grabbed some clothes and then closed the closet door, dressing quickly.

When he emerged, he was wearing dark blue jeans and a light blue T with Animal printed across the front. He had put a long-sleeved chequered shirt on over the top. It was his favourite shirt because it was a mixture of three different blue's and some black thrown in as well. He rolled up his sleeves to the elbow and put on his watch and the beaded bracelet that Wendy had got him for his sixteenth birthday.

"Do you still wanna go to Denver, dude?"

Stan glanced at Kenny, who seemed totally unaware that Stan was in the room. He reached down and grabbed a dirty sock from the floor before launching it at his friend. Kenny kept his bright eyes focused on the screen, but moved his head slightly to the left, avoiding the sock without so much as blinking. Stan shook his head and began to walk around his room, picking up the clothes.

As he walked past his door, the smell of bacon and eggs slammed into him, making his stomach growl.

"Kenny, breakfast is up."

The game was paused and Kenny was on his feet before Stan could put his clothes in the washing bin in the corner of his room. He hated cleaning, but if there wasn't at least a clean spot on his floor big enough for a person to lie in then he didn't get any allowance. It was the only source of income he got, but his dad promised it would stop when he turned seventeen and he would have to get a weekend job. He wasn't looking forward to it, so he tried to milk as much money from them as he could until then.

They walked down the stairs and into the kitchen together. He saw the table was laden with bacon, eggs, toast, cereal, milk, OJ, pancakes and even some poptarts.

His mom was on the phone, stretching the cord across the kitchen as she made coffee.

"Of course, honey… well, it was bound to be hard… I know, honey, I know…"

He could hear Shelly on the other end. She was at college now, in her third year. She was majoring in Veterinary Studies and doing pretty well.

Kenny sat at the table and Stan felt his stomach roll at the look on the boy's face. He studied the food as if it would disappear. He saw the longing in the boy's eyes, but he didn't touch the food. Stan slowly sat next to him and waited. He knew Kenny was waiting for permission from his mom, but she was deep in her conversation. He wanted to tell Kenny to go for it, but last time he had, Kenny looked at him like he was completely insane.

Stan grabbed the hem of his mother's robe and tugged gently. She turned around, mid-sentence. He saw her eyes flit to Kenny slowly, as if in slow-mo. Her face dropped as did the phone, and she brought her hands to her mouth. She stared in open horror at Kenny's face, her eyes shimmering with tears of shock.

He saw Kenny fidget uncomfortably, but he let her stare.

"Oh, honey…" she breathed.

He felt embarrassed as his mom walked over to the blond. She gently touched his face and winced slightly as she brushed his nose. She shook her head and he saw her jaw was set.

"Mom… Shelly's still on the phone."

She nodded again and walked back around to the phone. She put it back to her ear but her voice was deeper now, more upset. She gestured to the boys to eat, which they did with vigour. Kenny didn't seem fazed at all by Stan's mom reaction; he almost seemed used to it. That was sadder in some way.

Stan gave him one last glance before digging into his Fruit Loops.

"That was awesome, thanks Mrs Marsh."

His mom smiled weakly at Kenny before looking back down into her mug of coffee. She had been subdued and quiet while they ate. Now the plates were empty and Kenny leaned back in his chair. He held the slab of meat on his face while draining his glass of OJ.

Stan studied the sad look on his mom's face. He saw glanced at Kenny and saw he was stretching, so he gently patted her hand and sat back as Kenny yawned.

His mom blinked and took another sip of coffee.

"So," she said cheerily, "what are you boys up to today? Going out with your friends?"

"We're going to Denver today," said Stan, just as cheerily.

She nodded her head before glancing quickly at Kenny. Then she turned to the empty plates.

"Well, you two have fun."

As she picked up the plates, Kenny sat up. He put the meat down to help her but she brushed him off.

"It's alright boys. You two go and have some fun."

Stan frowned. Usually his mother was the complete opposite to this, but he knew she was being overly nice for Kenny's sake. He also knew that it would only make her angry if they tried to help, so instead he got to his feet and gestured for Kenny to follow.

They went back to his room where Stan leant him an old pair of his dark blue Converses.

He shoved on his own pair and grabbed his favourite brown leather jacket, his keys, wallet and phone.

"I gotta stop at my place first, dude."

Stan nodded at Kenny. They left the house with a quick goodbye to his mother and stepped into the crisp early afternoon. There wasn't much activity in the street, most people would be in the main town. They walked quickly to Kenny's house.

Stan saw that Kenny was hesitant to go inside, but he grit his teeth and pushed open the front door. The musty smell wafted through the front door and hit Stan with a grimace. He followed his friend into the house, even though it made his face ache.

"Wait here, dude," said Kenny quietly.

Stan nodded and stood in the doorway. Kenny walked quickly through the open room that contained dirty green carpets and walls that were once white. The paper was peeling off in some places and he could even see some mould in the corners. The sofa in the room had been patched multiple times and there was a small TV set that looked like it was from the eighties. Then he realised it probably was.

Three doors led off from the room. He knew the far left one led to his Kenny's parents' bedroom, the middle was their tiny bathroom and the right was Kenny's room. He used to share with his older brother, but Kenny hadn't seen Kevin in about two years. He told them that he called sometimes, but only to ask how Kenny and Karen were. He refused to speak to his parents.

Stan felt the tension in his muscles as he studied the door to Kenny's parents' bedroom.

He jumped as Kenny's door opened and Kenny walked out. Stan smiled as he saw the blond wearing his usual orange parka and brown gloves. He saw Kenny shove something into his pocket before gesturing towards the front door. Stan walked out first before Kenny slammed the front door shut.

Stan winced but didn't say a word as they started up the road and into town.

There were quite a few people walking around, some doing shopping, some kids just pissing around. They made their way to bus stop, talking about nothing in particular. They got a few looks from the bruises on their faces, but for the most part, people just ignored them.

"We have to go see it dude."

Kenny nodded in agreement. "But I don't think it'll be as good as the first one."

Stan shrugged. "Well it's more like the comics, and they were awesome."

"Sure, dude."

They stopped at by the bus sign. Stan looked over the times but was stopped as the bus into Denver pulled up. He smiled at Kenny and climbed aboard. They paid their fare and took a seat at the back. He felt his phone buss in his pocket and pulled it out.

Sup, fag. Wuu2?

"Cartman wants to know what we're doing."

Kenny laughed. "Tell him to go fuck himself."

Stan did so. The text he received back was partially unreadable and the rest was just a jumbled of insults. He smiled and put his phone away, completely ignoring the fact that Kyle hadn't text him in over two weeks.

He felt himself sigh inwardly, and clicking the button on his phone, covering the screen in darkness. He didn't see Kenny watching him intently until he put his rough hand on Stan's bare arm, making him jump.

"Don't worry about Kyle, Stan. He'll come around."

Stan frowned, annoyed at Kenny's wimpy tone.

"I'm fine," he hissed, a little more maliciously than he intended. Kenny sighed and sat back, leaving Stan to sulk.

They spent the majority of the ride in silence, until Stan finally broke it.

"I just don't get it dude. What the hell did I do? He just… freaked."

Kenny smiled sadly.

"Stan…" His blue eyes bore into Stan's as if he was willing him to understand Kyle's madness. The blond sighed.

"Just give him some time."

Stan nodded before turning back to his phone. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his headphones, hooked them up to his phone and put bud in his ear. He offered the other to Kenny, who took it without a word.

He turned on shuffle and they both leant back to listen to Stan's music.

"So, what do you wanna do, dude?"

The bus hissed as it pulled away, leaving the two of them stood on the bustling city street. The buildings towered around them as wave after wave of people rushed along the streets. Stan started to move with Kenny, trying to avoid the stares of strangers as they looked over their faces.

Kenny remained silent with his hand in his pocket.

Stan frowned but moved forward without a word. He glanced at his phone and saw that it was quarter past two.

He followed Kenny for a while, entertaining himself with city life. It was completely different from his home town. He was used to seeing a familiar face around every corner, but here there were only strangers. For all he knew, these people would rob him, or even kill him. He knew nothing about this place, didn't know where he was really going. He had been to the city before but mostly with his parents who knew where they were going. Now he was entrusting himself to a boy who looked like he was still half-asleep.

Stan reached forward and grabbed Kenny's arm. He made it look like he was holding him for balance rather than for comfort.

Kenny didn't even look up at him, however. He pulled a piece of paper from him pocket and then glanced up at the street signs.

"Dude, where are we going?" asked Stan as Kenny pulled him around yet another unfamiliar corner.

Kenny sighed. "It's embarrassing."

Stan raised an eyebrow. "The why'd you bring me?"

Kenny groaned and grabbed Stan's arm, yanking him into an empty doorway and out of the way of the marching people on the street.

"I'm going… to the dentist."

"What?" chuckled Stan uneasily.

"Dude, don't laugh."

Stan smiled apologetically. "OK, I'm sorry. What do you man?"

Kenny rolled his shoulders uneasily. Stan couldn't help but smile at him, he had never seen Kenny uncomfortable… about anything.

"Look."

The blond reached into his pocket. He pulled out a whole wad of rolled up dollars. Stan's eyes went wide as he took in how much money must have been there.

"How much is that?"

Kenny shrugged. "About five hundred."

"Where the fuck did you get that, Kenny?"

Kenny's eyes narrowed and he looked mildly insulted.

"I didn't fucking steal it, OK? I saved it."

"You saved it?"

"Yeah, dude," he pouted. Kenny's eyes met the floor and Stan couldn't help but feel bad.

"From what?"

"Everything. I never spend my money, dude. I needed to save it because there was no fucking way my parents were going to look after me. I wasn't even going to spend this, but…"

Stan stepped closer, putting a supportive hand on Kenny's shoulder.

"It's OK, dude. What's up?"

He sighed dramatically. Finally, he turned to Stan and opened his mouth. He pulled his lip down with a finger and Stan glanced briefly inside. He felt himself wince as he saw one of Kenny's back teeth was almost black.

Kenny closed his mouth quickly before gritting his teeth. Stan could see colour flushing his friend's cheeks.

"Why didn't you say something, dude? I could've leant you some money."

Kenny shook his head. "I'm not open for charity," he spat.

The comment felt like a slap, but he let it slide. Wasn't he just a dick to Kenny about Kyle?

"But why come here, dude? Why not just go to Mr Frederick in South Park? He would have given you a discount."

Kenny looked up at him. He felt a jolt of shock go through him at the sadness in his friend's eyes.

"If I went there, my parents would know that I had money. If they knew that, they would take it. Simple. I've been saving since I was eight, Stan. I've never really spent much. This is the most I've used since I started, and I wouldn't have even used it if I wasn't in so much goddamn pain."

Stan felt his stomach twist in sadness. He was completely overwhelmed with the urge to hug his friend. He wanted to tell him that he could move in with him and get away from his fuckwit parents. Instead he patted Kenny's shoulder.

"OK, dude."

They started to move through the streets again and Stan kept his mouth shut. He let Kenny lead him across the roads, around corners and through alleys until they finally stopped outside a posh looking building. It was painted white with high windows and a shiny sign above the door.

Denver Dentistry.

Stan moved forward when he noticed that Kenny hadn't. He turned around and saw Kenny with his hands in his pockets. He leant forward on his feet and kept his head down so that his blond hair swept over his face.

"Kenny?"

"I fucking hate dentists, dude."

Stan stepped towards him. He put his hands on Kenny's shoulders.

"It's OK."

Kenny frowned and glanced up. Stan couldn't help but see all the colours in Kenny's eyes. He blinked repeatedly before trying to give him an encouraging smile.

"I gotta tell you something, dude. There's another reason I need you here."

"O- oh?"

"Yeah, see, I fucking hate dentists and this is the only place that will put me to sleep so they can take this goddamn tooth out. So you're gonna have to be my designated partner."

Kenny gave him a lop-sided grin and Stan couldn't help but smile back.

"Fine, dude. Let's just get you in there, OK?"

Kenny put his arm around Stan's shoulders and pulled him closer before starting forward into the dentist. Stan frowned but didn't move, letting Kenny take the same comfort that he had similarly sought not minutes before.