A/N: Special thanks to ILoveStanMarsh, lily's mom09, m-adam ant, and Kenny and kyle for their fantastic reviews. I love you all!

Note 1: This chapter largely comprises Kenny's flashback, except for the last three lines. In this chapter and this chapter only, "I" refers to Kenny, instead of Stan—again, except for the last three lines—. Please keep that in mind :)

Note 2: this chapter is really conversation-heavy, due to its retrospective nature.

Disclaimer: I do not own South Park or any character present in this story. They belong to their rightful owners, and I do not intend to use them for any kind of profit.

Rating: T for coarse languages; WILL definitely go up in the next—and final—chapter.

XxXxX

I waited patiently as I held the receiver. The clock indicated that it was only one hour to midnight. Making Nick go to bed was, honestly speaking, a nightmare, as this was his first day in his new home with his new family. He was only two years old, so it was no wonder that he felt uncomfortable adjusting to an unfamiliar environment far away from the children shelter. Butters said he would sleep in Nick's room for the first few days to help him stay asleep and give him comfort in case the child wakes up in the middle of the night. Well, that meant I had to sleep alone in the bedroom for the time being. I suddenly remembered what people said about child-raising: it damages your relationship.

Now that Nick was sound asleep in his bed beside Butters—who was equally sound in his restful state—, my first priority was to inform my best friend Stan about this new addition to the family. That was the why I was holding the receiver eleven o'clock in the night, fighting every urge to drop dead on my bed and get some rest after fighting an incredibly busy day.

After a few seconds of ringtone, I could hear somewhat groggy voice of Kyle. "Hello, Broflovski speaking."

"Uh, hey Kyle, it's Kenny." I felt a bit sorry, realizing that I might have disturbed him sleeping. "Sorry I'm calling this late. Did I wake you up?"

"Oh, hey, Kenny! No, not at all. I was just a little bit tired, that's all." Kyle said cheerfully. "So, what's the matter?"

"Ur, I have a little news to break. Can I talk to Stan first?"

"Oh, sorry. You barely missed him. He flew to London for a business trip yesterday." I didn't miss the cheer in Kyle's tone dying down. "He wouldn't be back in three weeks, until July 26."

"Oh, that's too bad." That was a genuine expression of my sympathy. I'm well known for my ability to read people's minds; the redhead was the type of person who can easily get depressed in the absence of his loved one.

"Well, if it's urgent, you can try his cell. Just keep in mind England is in a different time zone from the East Coast. It's like, four in the morning there." Kyle noted. "Or you can just let me know, and I can bring the news to Stan when we're doing Skype."

"That's so kind of you, but I don't think that would be necessary." I decided to tell Kyle the news. "You know, um, we adopted a child today."

"Oh, really?" I had to distance myself from the receiver for a second as Kyle practically shouted to the phone, causing my earbud to ache. "Uh, yeah."

"That's fantastic!" Kyle was incessant.

"A boy? A girl?" "A boy."

"How old is he?" "Two years old."

"Where did you, uh, meet him?" "The Guardian Angels Shelter for Children. Butters volunteers there."

"Sounds great! What color is his hair?" "Blonde. It's spiky and stands up everywhere. Reminds me of Tweek sometimes."

"Jesus, that's so cute!" I grinned. Kyle got easily excited when talking about children. I wondered why he hadn't got any kid yet. He would surely make a good parent. "You got sixteen questions left, Kyle."

"Oh, I'm sorry." His tone finally lowered down. "I do this kind of thing a lot. Stan keeps complaining that I sound exactly like Sharon to him whenever I do this." He chuckled. "Congratulations, Kenny. I envy you."

I smiled. Seeing that he loves children so much, maybe I could do him a little favor.

"Maybe you wanna see him?"

XxXxX

"Hey, Ken." Kyle formed a bright smile at the sight of his old friend opening the door for him.

"Hey. Long time no see. Come in." I greeted the redhead standing in front of me. "Butters told me to wake him up when you're here, but I think he could use some extra sleep now. Nick woke up for a total of thirteen times last night and both of them should be pretty exhausted."

"That's okay." he stepped inside and closed the door. "Um, do you think I can have a sneak peek at Nick for a second? You don't have to wake anyone up."

"Sure, but try not to make too big a noise."

"I won't."

I led him to the half-closed door to Nick's room where the two blonds were deep in slumber. I could see Nick facing our direction, with a blanket covering his body from chest to toe. I looked at Kyle, and he seemed almost mesmerized at the sight.

"Oh my God, Kenny." He didn't break his gaze to the boy. "He looks so peaceful. And you were right about his hair. He does look like Tweek, minus all the twitching and spazzing."

"Actually, he's as shy as Tweek once was. His biological parents were neglectful and abusive. He wouldn't talk to anyone and jumped at anyone's touch when Child Protection Services finally rescued him." I bit my lower lip, feeling terrible about my kid. "We could understand the hardship he had to go through, as both Butters and I grew up under irresponsible parents. As soon as we heard the story from the children's shelter, we decided we couldn't let another innocent child suffer the same fate of ours. We wanted to show him that he, too, can be loved."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know he had such a terrible history." Kyle pulled me into a hug, patting on my back. "It's a noble thing you're doing here. I have no doubt that you'll be the most perfect father that any child could possibly hope for."

"I hope so, Kyle. I hope so." I returned the hug and remained in that same position as I once again made a silent pledge to make Nick a happy kid who was beloved by his parents. I broke the embrace as I smelled the sweet scent of hazelnut seeping from the kitchen.

"Coffee seems ready. Let's have some."

XxXxX

If there's one thing about coffee, it would be that it makes a fantastic combo with donuts. Together they make a perfect side to be served whenever there is a little talk going on. Kyle and I have never seen each other for a very long time, so we had a plenty of topics to talk about. When the topic moved on to Kyle's marriage, I decided it was time I put forward the one I had in mind.

"So, I can see that you're a big fan of children, am I right?" I asked, dipping another glazed donut into the coffee.

"Yeah, you can definitely say that." Kyle licked on sticky sugar on his fingers.

"And you and Stan have been married for like, a year by now, huh?"

"Yeah… Actually, our first anniversary is less than three weeks away. It's 27th." He reached for another donut as he said that.

"Good for you!" I tried not to sound too invasive into his personal when asking the next question. "Then why don't you adopt a child? You like children, and your new life in this state has stabilized a lot. Isn't it time to consider expanding your family and stuff?"

I almost immediately regretted brining up that particular topic as I could see his face noticeably darken. "Yeah, um…" his hand stopped moving in the middle of the air, a few inches from the donut dish. "I gave it some serious thought, but basically… Stan wouldn't let me."

"What? Seriously?" I was taken off guard. Stan was capable of being stubborn sometimes for sure, but I didn't think he was insensitive enough to deny Kyle what he so desperately wanted. "How come he became such a dick?"

"No, no, Kenny, actually he is right." Kyle shook his head in strong denial. "We don't have enough time to raise children. I don't have enough time to do it. Taking this year for example, I have to attend a very important research project for about a month in Texas as a graduate assistant. I agree with what Stan said: we should wait for the time when we can afford to properly take care of our new child."

"Research project?" Kyle was doing a research? "What research project?"

"Uh, we're designing this new metrological model to better explain and predict severe weathers. Tornadoes and hurricanes and stuff. I was assigned to data collection and analysis team, and the job begins on 22nd."

"Wow. Sounds complicated." I remarked.

"It is complicated. Actually, data collection and analysis is the most labor-intensive process of all." Kyle formed a bitter smile on his face. "I'm gonna have one hell of a summer."

"It seems you will."

It was apparent for everyone who met Kyle once that he never cut himself a slack. If I were him, I'd never do anything that remotely resembles work at least for a month after grading three hundred undergraduate essays during the spring quarter. But he's Kyle after all, and he's going to be gone for his new research in Texas in less than two weeks.

…Wait, two weeks?

"Uh, excuse me Kyle," Maybe I heard the date wrong. "You said Stan comes back from London on 26th, and the anniversary is the day after. But if the research begins on 22nd…"

Kyle made a forced smile. "Yeah, it seems you got them right."

"Then, you're going to be in Texas when Stan comes back home? And, what about the anniversary?"

"Yeah, that was the real problem…" Kyle trailed off. "Well, I contacted the head of the research team for that matter and asked if I can start the work a little later than scheduled."

"And?" I had no idea as to where this was going. "What did they say?"

"Basically, they said yes."

"Well, that's a good news! Getting to spend some time with Stan, and still not losing your position. It's like eating a cake and at the same time keeping it." I said cheerfully, fully expecting Kyle to return the same expression. He didn't.

"Um, to be perfectly honest, I didn't pull that out without paying some price." He now had a somewhat depressed look. "To compensate for the late entry, they almost doubled the share of my work. Guess I'll be spending whole July in front of my workstation at home."

"Oh…"

Now I was beginning to see what was happening. Kyle was allowed to work at home for the first few days of the research so that he can spend the anniversary with Stan. But the company was not generous enough to let him slack a little, and it gave him lots and lots of more work to do in order to compensate for his 'privilege.' How nice of them. Stan would be furious if he found this out.

"Does Stan know?" I asked.

"No!" Kyle seemed startled at my question, as if I muttered a blasphemy against something that he held most dear. "He doesn't know and he shouldn't. Look, Kenny, you gotta promise me that you'll never gonna tell Stan. Please."

"Um, yeah, that's not a difficult promise to make at all. But then again, why not? Don't you think he deserves to know what you're going through?"

"You're good at reading people's minds, Kenny." Kyle stated matter-of-factly. "Do you think Stan would let me do this kind of thing when he finds out the whole ordeal? Believe me, he was staunchly opposed to the very idea of me doing research. He said that I didn't have to work for money until I get a real job, because he could take care of any financial matter between us all by himself. I had to lie to Stan to finally convince him that it was not about money, but about my experience as an academic."

"Wait a second, Kyle." This was getting deeper and deeper. "You lied to Stan?"

"Sort of." He seemed a little restless, playing with his own fingers. That was Kyle's habit when he felt embarrassed or apprehensive. "I really needed that money from the research."

"But, Kyle, Stan was right. He earns a handsome amount of money from the job he does at the insurance company. You shouldn't worry about any financial problem. I mean, he pays for your fucking tuition! Stan can pretty much take care of everything."

"Don't you get it, Kenny?" Kyle shot a sharp glance at me. "That is the whole problem. He does everything for me. But what about me? I don't get any opportunity to do anything for him. He wouldn't let me!"

"But Kyle, it's because Stan loves you. He doesn't want you to be involved in excessive work because he cares about you so much."

"I know, I know." His stare softened down. "But I really wanted to be able to do something for him. Something nice. And I actually came up with a plan for doing it this year."

"Namely?" I inquired.

"A trip to Japan. You know, Stan is a big fan of the whole Japanese culture and he talks about how much he wants to travel to Japan someday in his life every other day."

"Woo-hoo, Japan. It's as far away as a country can be from New York."

"True that. That's why I needed some extra money. I'm gonna get paid 1.5 grand for this research, and I've been saving up all the money I got from teaching extra hours in college summer sessions. That would make just enough to spend a few good days in the Eastern country, home of Chinpokomon."

I snorted. "And you were saving it as something like a surprise gift for Stan?"

Kyle nodded. "I was eventually going to tell him on the anniversary day."

"Gee, Kyle," I had to chuckle a little bit. God, they just care about each other so much. Nothing in this world would ever succeed in separating those two. "That's, wow, moving. I'm sure Stan's gonna be impressed at your meticulous planning."

"You think so?" Kyle blushed a little. "I don't know. I just want to make him happy. He says that the mere fact of me being with him is more than enough to make him happy, but I want to do something concrete and specific."

"I see, I see." Like I said, nothing was going to separate those two. Butters and I got along together just well, but there was something more special about the relationship between Stan and Kyle. Maybe because they've been super best friends since the beginning of time and learned inside and out about each other very well.

"Then, um, are you okay to be here, Kyle? You said you have a lot of work to do."

"What time is it?"

"Almost four."

"Already? Oh well, I gotta be going, then." Kyle finished his now sugar-tasting coffee and sat up from the table. "Thanks for the coffee and stuff. I really enjoyed it."

"My pleasure. Nice seeing you again, Kyle. Let me know how the work's going."

"I will. And, um," That apprehensive look again. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"And what would that be?" I smirked.

Kyle avoided my gaze "Can I, uh, see Nick for the last time?"

I chuckled. He just couldn't help it, could he?

"Go ahead. Just make sure you don't wake them up."

XxXxX

Ding, dong.

Please, for God's sake, answer the door.

I was standing in front of Stan and Kyle's house. It was Thursday, July 25, just one day before Stan's scheduled return from England. Earlier that day, I tried to reach Kyle multiple times to check on how the work's going, because he failed to call me even once since the day we had a little talk over hazelnut coffee and donuts—I was pounded on by Butters for not waking him up later that day, may I add—. However, Kyle never answered the phone. I couldn't get rid of the ominous feeling that something was definitely wrong, so I called it a day an hour earlier than usual and drove all the way up here to check on Kyle. But no matter how many times I furiously pressed the doorbell, only silence greeted me from inside the house. Feeling anxious, I began to pound on the door, shouting.

"Kyle, are you home? Hello?"

…Still no answer. I briefly considered breaking into the house, and then figured it would be a little bit too extreme. What if Kyle shows up with groceries on each side of his arms, asking why I had to break the door and get inside the empty house? It would not be so easy to come up with a plausible excuse in that situation.

Giving up, I turned around to towards my GMC pick-up truck. Right then, I noticed that the curtain inside the front window was tugged to the side. Seeing that, I decided to take a brief peek inside to see if Kyle was there.

The living room was dark, because there was no light on. All I could make from the outside was the couch, the TV set, a pc monitor from across, the green carpet on the floor, and…

…A dark, limp figure.

…Lying on the carpet.

…Face-down.

…

Oh, shit.

Without thinking about it, I instantly started banging on the front door with all strength I could muster at that time. The door made a cracking sound on the first contact, and on the second, the lock broke off, allowing me to enter the premise.

I ran to the living room as fast as I could, flipped the light switch on, and held the aforementioned figure in my arms turning him to face me.

It was Kyle, of course.

I placed my hand in directly under his nose to check if he was still breathing. When I felt the flow of air coming from inside the nostrils, I praised the name of Jesus for a thousand times. I shaked him frantically in a desperate attempt to wake him up.

"Kyle! Oh, for almighty fuck's sake! Can you hear me? Come on, wake up!"

Then I saw his fingers twitch. His eyes fluttered as if he was trying to open them, although in vain. He took a few deep breaths, and long moans escaped from his mouth.

"mmmm…"

I thought he mumbled some words along with moans, but I couldn't make it out.

"What? Kyle, I can't hear you. What did you say? Do you want me to fetch some medicine? Do I have to call 911?"

"S…Stan…"

…He was calling Stan's name.

"Stan… is that… you?"

"No, sorry, Kyle." I felt deeply sorry that I wasn't him. In no other time did I want to be Stanley Marsh so desperately. But there was no way I could lie. "It's Kenny. Your good friend Kenny Stotch."

"Kenny?"

His eyes finally began to open slowly. But they were so different from what I remembered. If I recall it correctly, Kyle's eyes were supposed to be exuberant of the bright color of emeralds, posing a stark contrast with his black pupils. Instead, the eyes in front of me were all puffy and bloodshot. The green irises were devoid of any glistening.

"Kyle, you okay? What the fuck happened to you? Is it diabetic shock or something?"

"Oh…"

Kyle seemed to have difficulty registering what was going on around him. No wonder, I thought, because he just awakened from that…faint? coma? seizure? or whatever he was having until just fucking now. If it was indeed related to diabetes Kyle had since early childhood, I shouldn't be wasting precious time like this. I reached the pocket and drew the cell phone out.

"Just hold on a second, Kyle. I'm gonna call the 911 for ya."

Then I quickly dialed the three digits. The very moment I was going to press the send button, however, a hand from beneath grabbed the phone and pulled it down away from me.

"Please…"

Kyle was holding it.

"Please… don't."

"Don't what, Kyle?" I was agitated. "Maybe you don't appreciate the seriousness of this situation, but you were fucking lying on the floor when I got here. Since you were not answering my call since this morning, there is a good chance that you've been like that for fucking hours! You need medical attention, buddy. Now give me back my phone."

"No, Kenny, I'm fine. I really am."

Saying that, Kyle pulled himself back up and sat up by himself.

"See? I can sit up all by myself. It'll go away any minute. Just give me a few seconds."

I was at a loss of what to do. Shouldn't I really call an ambulance? Was Kyle really okay without professional medical attention? I wanted answers.

"Tell me, Kyle." I stared directly into his eyes. "What the hell happened?"

He returned my gaze, and apparently forced an unnatural smile as if he was trying to calm me down. "I'm really okay, Kenny. I was just really tired and must have fainted. It happened quite a few times for the last couple of weeks."

I was left speechless. He was talking about his "faint" as though it meant nothing. And what did he mean when he said it happened "quite a few times"?

"Jesus, Kyle. You say like it's normal. I can assure you, it is not. It's not fucking normal to have a faint like every other day. Now let me have my cell phone back so I can call 911."

I reached out my hand to snatch the phone from Kyle's hands, but he simply held it away from me.

"I said I was okay, Kenny. I just need to eat. That's all."

"…"

At least he seemed to have recovered enough to have an argument with me like this. But he just needs to eat? Is that really all he needed?

"Kyle, when's the last time you ate something?"

"Uh… I dunno…"

I sighed. "Estimate."

"Um… I think I had some snacks two nights ago."

"Oh, fuck you, Kyle. There goes the reason! No one can eat nothing for friggin' two days without fainting! What were you thinking?"

"…"

He didn't give any answer, but I already knew the answer very well.

"You've been doing that research thing again, am I wrong?"

Kyle didn't answer this time either, but soon he silently nodded in acknowledgment.

I tugged on my hair in disbelief. "Why, Kyle? Why do you do things like this? Why don't you take care of yourself first before taking care of your work?"

Kyle looked like he was on the brink of bursting into tears. "I…I just wanted to get over with it as soon as possible. Then I can have those three days with Stan all to ourselves without having to worry about the work."

"…"

I was made speechless again. Even in such a terrible situation, all he could think of was Stan. He was going to kill himself someday if he continued doing this.

"You're a damn idiot, Kyle." I meant it. Love can make reduce a genius like Kyle Broflovski into a complete moron blinded by stupid emotions.

Kyle chuckled. "Maybe I am, after all."

I gave up trying to call 911. There was no way I could convince him to go to the hospital. It was just out of the question. Instead, I had somewhere else that I wanted to call in mind.

I spread my right palm horizontally in front of Kyle, and demanded. "Now give me back my cell, you moron."

"I said no 911."

"I'm not calling 911, you stupid. I'm gonna order you a pizza. You said you needed something to eat, right? You're not in a shape to cook even a pop-tart, so I'm doing you a favor here. Now hand the phone over and tell me what your favorite is."

Kyle's eyes widened a little bit, and he reluctantly handed my phone back to me.

"Uh, Kenny, you don't have to do this."

"Kyle, you smartass, I'm not doing this because I have to. I do it because I want to, and I choose to. As a friend, I mean. Now shut up, and tell me what your favorite is."

A genuine smile was soon plastered over his face.

"…Thanks, Ken. Hawaiian, please."

"Hawaiian, huh? I didn't know you liked it."

"It's actually Stan's favorite."

I let out the deepest sigh, feeling absolutely defeated. Kyle was all over Stan. Nothing was ever going to change that.

"Okay, Juliet. Now lie on the couch and get some rest while I place order."

"But, Kenny, I have works to…"

"No 'but,' Kyle. I'm not letting you do any of your fancy work until you finish at least three slices."

"…Three slices?"

"Including crusts."

"…"

"Now, Kyle," I pressed further into him. "Do I have your word?"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "…Yes, sir. You have my word."

"Good. Now lie down."

I helped Kyle get up and fetched a blanket from one of the closets in the bedroom. While I was looking for the right-sized blanket, I saved every document he was writing on his computer and shut the computer down, pulling the cords off afterwards. As Kyle lay down on the couch, I gave him the blanket and dialed the local pizza chain to order a large Hawaiian. By that time, I realized that I was yearning for a cigarette.

"I'm gonna check on my car, so stay put. Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't"

As I approached the now-broken front door, I heard Kyle calling me once again.

"Kenny?"

"What?" I turned around to face the source of the voice.

"…Thank you."

"…No problem."

XxXxX

That one cigarette was a bliss. Although Butters didn't like to see me smoking at all and gave sermons everyday to make me quit, today I fucking deserved it. I've been cutting down on my smoking anyway, so just one more today wouldn't hurt my lung. Much.

As I was trying to fix the lock to the front door, the delivery vehicle arrived. It was thirteen and something, so I pulled out sixeen from my wallet and let him keep the change.

With a large Hawaiian pizza in my hands, I triumphantly marched through the hallway to get back to the living room again.

"Kyle? Pizza's here."

There was no answer. Soon, I found that Kyle was sound asleep on the couch, in the exact position that he was in when I gave him the blanket.

I grinned, opened the box, and picked a slice out. Damn, Hawaiian tasted good. Maybe I can order one for my family when having pizza for dinner.

I put the rest of the pizza in the fridge, and left a post-it memo stickered to its surface.

Three slices. Don't forget the deal.

Checking on a sleeping Kyle once again, I turned the light off, and left the house.

XxXxX (End of Flashback)

I remained silent as Kenny finished his story. It felt… surreal.

"So," Kenny asked, holding a now empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Do you still think that Kyle doesn't care about you?"

XxXxX

A/N: That's third part of the story. The next chapter would definitely be the last one. I hope you enjoyed the little revelation about Kyle. The chapter almost sounded like K2, which I think is adorable XD

As you can see, now I'm collecting back some plot items that I placed in the story as it nears its end. Apparently, the frozen pizza that Stan was fuming over in the first chapter was Hawaiian, after all :D

Unfortunately, I'm putting this story on hiatus until I'm done with the semester finals. One of the most important projects is due in two days, and then the final period week starts on Dec. 12. I slacked on course reading while writing this story, so I really need to start studying to avoid getting C/Ds. I even registered for a winter special session course after that, not because I like college but because I need those three credits to graduate :( I'll try to conclude the story by the end of December. Ideas are popping up all over my head for other stories, so I'm gonna start writing them as soon as I conclude this one.

Thank you for reading! Please tell me how you think about this chapter!

- Jack Colquitt