Sorry it took a while for this chapter! For updates on the status of this fic, or just to talk to me about it, go to my profile to find the link to my blog! Be sure to follow me! =)
.
.
give me a long kiss goodnight
and everything will be alright
tell me that I won't feel a thing
Kenny and Cartman had already dropped Karen off at school the next morning, and were on their way to their own school when Kenny suddenly turned towards Eric in the driver's seat.
"Hey, Cartman? Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah?"
Kenny bit at his thumb nail absently. "Are you and Wendy dating?"
Kenny honestly hadn't meant to ask while Eric was taking a sip out of the thermos of coffee his mom had given him before they left, but it made the question all the more worth asking.
Eric sputtered, trying to wipe off the spilled coffee from his jacket. "What? No!"
"Really?" Kenny raised an eyebrow at him.
"N-no!" Kenny felt a dim sense of relief that Eric still acted like the same, hilarious mess whenever he got embarrassed. "Why?"
"Because everyone thinks you are?" He posed the phrase as a question, confused at how Cartman could have missed something so obviously whispered about in the school halls. The two had grown very close during their freshman year, seemingly overnight, and ever since then their relationship had been up for question amongst the student body.
Kenny himself had doubted it, at first. But as the years passed, he supposed it could be in the realm of possibility. Obviously Wendy was smart, pretty. A little bossy, but other than that an all-around nice girl. As for Cartman... Kenny couldn't attest to his personality now, as he had grown somewhat quiet the past couple years and difficult to read seeing as they weren't on speaking terms. He looked okay enough, though. He had grown out of being the poster boy for childhood obesity, if only because he had shot up almost a foot during their sophmore year. He was a huge guy, definitely a few inches taller than Kenny, who was almost six feet tall himself, and probably had at least 50 pounds over him as well. Kenny knew a lot of girls liked the big, "teddy bear" type of guys, although he sincerely doubted Cartman was truly a "teddy bear" in practice.
"I-" Eric was still stammering slightly, and his darted back and forth between Kenny and the road before he could finally focus. "We're just friends."
Kenny kept an eyebrow raised at him before shaking his head and looking back out the window. "I still don't get it."
Eric bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means up until high school you two fucking hated each other's guts," Kenny replied, laughing dryly. "Everyone just figured you guys started fuckin'."
Eric didn't say anything, and Kenny glanced back to see his face red and flustered as he continued to drive. Kenny figured there was more to the story, but he knew he wasn't in the right to be asking, nor was he really that interested. He decided to change the subject.
"Thanks again, by the way. For letting us stay the night. And dropping Karen off," he said, a little awkwardly. "I'll get you back. Buy you guys dinner or something." An empty promise. The tone of his voice communicated that quite clearly.
Still, Eric suddenly rolled his eyes. "It's fine. I think we can live without eating off the Taco Bell value menu."
Kenny's first reaction was that of annoyance, but then another feeling followed that was a little more difficult to grasp. Ever since he had gotten into Eric's car yesterday, they had treated each other like strangers. Which, in all honesty, they were. Eric had been appropriately quiet and subdued-although not exactly polite-as one would expect anyone to treat a person who couldn't even be called an acquaintance. And yet, here they were, driving to school together, and having a conversation, albeit benign and a bit forced. And Cartman had just been an asshole to him.
It was familiar. Kenny realized that it was also a little bit comforting, in a strange way.
Kenny snorted slightly, looking back out the window. "Whatever, man. I'm just offering."
"Kyle? Kyle!"
Kyle suddenly snapped back into reality at the sound of his name. He realized he had just been staring down at his shoes, sitting down at the stairs leading up to the main door of the school. He looked over to his side, where Nichole was sitting, still a little disoriented.
"Huh?"
Nichole pouted slightly at him. "I've been talking to you this whole time. You weren't listening, were you?"
"Oh, um," Kyle stammered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Shit, he could never stay focused this early in the morning. "Sorry. What did you say?"
Nichole sighed, but interlocked their arms together and leaned against him. "I was asking what you what you thought we should wear to homecoming."
"Oh." Kyle replied dumbly. "Well, uh, I don't know. Did you want us to match or something?"
"I don't know. I think it would be cute."
"Okay." There was an awkward pause, and he could tell Nichole was still feeling disgruntled, so he laughed nervously. "Sorry, Nichole. You know I'm not good at this kind of stuff. Like... fashion, I guess?"
Nichole chuckled. "I don't even know how you dress yourself in the morning. What the hell were you gonna wear if you weren't going with me?" She expectantly looked up at him.
"I dunno. A suit?"
"Yeah, but what kind?"
Kyle looked back at her, utterly dumbfounded. "Uhh. The kind that's... a suit?"
Nichole snorted and rolled her eyes, leaning her head against Kyle's shoulder. "Christ, you're hopeless. I'll tell you what. I'll just pick out a dress for myself, and then I'll get you a tie the same color."
"Sounds good."
They still had a little time left before they had to get to class. They usually did this, meeting up at school a little early to hang out before they had to start. They didn't have very many of the same classes this semester, and Nichole had an after-school job she was at for most of the week, so this was often the only time they had.
Kyle and Nichole had been dating for almost two years. She was Kyle's first real girlfriend, and she had always been the one thing that made things better. It was nice to have someone there, almost always within arm's reach; someone that made him want to do things, someone that loved him.
He squeezed a little closer to her, instinctively, and just stared into the parking lot until something finally caught his eye.
An SUV pulled into one of the spaces, looking vaguely familiar, but merely that hadn't grabbed Kyle's attention until he saw the passenger door open.
It was the same loud, bright orange parka, the same one he wore every day, and although Kyle knew it was physically impossible to be the same one he wore when they were younger, it was still the same thing. Seeing Kenny wasn't that much of a shock, there was no way to not see his old friends every day in such a small town, at the same school. So he was used to it. But then he finally realized why the SUV Kenny stepped out of looked so familiar, and when Eric Cartman's head popped out of the driver's side door, Kyle's stomach dropped.
Kyle just watched them, shock-still, following with his eyes as they crossed the parking lot. They were almost completely silent up until they suddenly broke off without a word, Eric making his way towards the front entrance and Kenny slipping off to go around the back, probably to stop with his other friends along the way to sneak in something illegal before school started.
They hadn't said a word to each other as they walked up, Kyle could see that. They hadn't said a word, and they hadn't bothered to stick together, but the fact was that it had been almost four years since everything happened. Four years since the two had gotten into a screaming fight at Kyle's Bar Mitzvah and had successfully begun the fragmentation of their foursome.
Four years, and now suddenly they were driving to school together like it was no big fuckin' deal.
Kenny had already slunk out of sight, so Kyle followed Cartman as he made his way towards the school, looking down at the ground.
Kyle didn't know how to feel, how to think, or what to do. He had the ridiculous compulsion to stride over to Cartman and deck him across the head, like a scared animal attacking out of a fight-or-flight response. But what would that accomplish? Give him an answer? No. Help him find out what the fuck he was actually feeling? Probably not. Be really, really satisfying, even after all these years? Maybe a little.
"...yle? Kyle!"
A small shove at him side pulled Kyle back into reality again. His head jerked back over to Nichole, who had put some space in between them and was looking at Kyle with a frown, eyes snapping in annoyance.
"You spaced out again, didn't you?" She sighed, rolling her eyes at the dumbstruck look on Kyle's face.
"Oh, I-" Kyle vaguely realized that Cartman had made it to the stairs and was walking up behind Nichole. Kyle didn't look up at him. He didn't want to find out if Cartman was looking back. "I-I'm sorry." Kyle stammered, sheepishly raking a hair through his hair. "What were you saying?"
Nichole only sighed again, and grudgingly fell back into her previous position, burying her face in Kyle's shoulder. "It's nothing." She grunted, exasperated. Shortly after, when Kyle didn't reply, dumbstruck at what to say, he heard her softly mutter, "I don't know what the hell's up with you lately."
Kyle closed his eyes and carded his hand through his hair again, hanging his head and tapping a finger against his scalp anxiously. He cringed slightly when he heard the bell ring behind them.
It was okay if Nichole didn't know. It wasn't fair to blame her for it, seeing as Kyle had no idea either.
"Nah way, man. They gotta be fucking." Craig took a drag from his cigarette, exhaling back out as he leaned against the wall of the school, trails of smoke framing his face.
Kenny just shrugged, breathing in on his own cigarette before speaking. "I don't know, man. It's not like I think he wouldn't lie to me, it's just the Cartman I know would be all over bragging about that shit. I mean, a pretty girl like Wendy? Seems like he would be screaming it through the halls." Kenny glanced over at the boy in black next to him, smirking slightly. "What about you, Pete? Got anything to add?"
Pete sighed heavily, flipping his fringe out of his eyes. "I don't know, I don't really give a shit." He grumbled. "I wish you guys wouldn't hang out here just to talk about all your preppy bullshit gossip. I already try hard enough to ignore it the rest of the day."
Kenny smirked in his direction. "We love you too, Pete."
School had already gotten out, and they were all hanging out behind the school by a low-traffic part of the building. It had become something of a bad habit for Kenny, Craig, and Tweek to back here after classes got out, to bum smokes from Pete and shoot the shit until they either moved on elsewhere or went their separate ways. Pete hadn't changed much since they were kids, stoic and somber as always, but he hadn't seemed to mind the intrusions ever since Henrietta and Michael graduated. That's how Kenny saw it, anyway. At the very least, he almost always gave them cigarettes when they asked.
Pete rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Could you at least tell your fucking loser friend to stop playing watch dog over there? He's really fucking annoying."
Kenny glanced over at the other blond in question, who was anxiously tapping his fingers against the wall a couple feet away from them, eyes darting around the area. He looked like he had already taken something. Kenny hadn't seen him do it, but it was obvious.
Tweek gritted his teeth, looking back at the others. "I wish you guys wouldn't do this here. We're gonna get fucking expelled. Or worse, arrested. Or both! Gah, Jesus, my parents would fucking kill me!"
"Nobody cares, you fucking crackhead." Pete said slowly, punctuating every word. "Nobody's ever given a shit and no one ever will."
Kenny shot Pete a look, silently telling him to give the poor fuck a break. Pete scoffed, but quieted up and took a long drag from his cigarette.
There was a brief pause before Craig spoke up again. "Anyway, sorry about yesterday, Kenny."
Kenny looked down at the cigarette in his hand, watching as a flick of his fingers sent a small column of ash falling to the ground. "It's fine, dude. I get it. We managed, anyway."
"Yeah, well..." Craig trailed off, and Kenny purposely didn't look up to meet his eyes as they undoubtedly scanned the blond's face. The bruises weren't half as bad as they sometimes got, but it didn't change the fact that they were noticeable. Kenny had probably spent half the day noticing students and teachers alike unable to maintain eye contact. Craig continued his thought after an awkward silence. "If you still need somewhere to crash, I think I can get you in tonight without any problems." Another pause. "Or I can at least let Karen come home with me. My parents don't mind her and Ruby hanging out."
Kenny kept his eyes glued to his burning cigarette, considering the offer. "Nah. I think we're okay tonight." Kenny lifted his head back up to shoot a sheepish grin at his friend, who was looking back at him with a furrowed brow. "Besides, I don't, uh, really like being apart from Karen at night. I'd rather we stick together."
Craig kept looking at him, unsure, and Kenny had to glance back down. He heard Craig sigh quietly and say, "Whatever you say, man. Do you at least want me to drive you?"
Kenny sighed back, finally flicking away the cigarette in his hand, burned down to the filter. He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked some dirt over the refuse. "Nah. I think I'll walk." He started to walk away then, not feeling like lingering to see what kind of uncomfortable, worried looks Pete and Tweek were sporting.
Craig piped up again, calling over Kenny's shoulder, making him pause and turn around slightly. "Hey, man, call me later if you need something."
That "something" could have meant many things, but Kenny just shrugged and waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it, Craig." He answered back, turning back and continuing away. "It's fine."
"What do you mean you're not going?" Wendy was laying on Cartman's bed, head propped up in her hands and legs swaying absent-mindedly in the air. When he turned around, sitting across the room at his computer desk, she was glaring at him.
Eric scowled at the sight and turned back around. "I mean I'm not going. What's so hard to understand?"
Wendy groaned loudly, and Eric could hear her flounder around angrily for a moment. "Eric, don't be that guy."
A flash of annoyance struck him, and he whipped back around to face her again. "Don't be what guy?"
Wendy just kept a steady glare trained on him, setting one of her hands down to tap her fingers impatiently against the mattress. "Don't be that douchebag that thinks he's too fucking cool to go to homecoming."
Eric sighed loudly, tilting his head back and letting his arms go limp at his sides. "Why would I even want to go?"
"Because it's fun? Because all your friends are going to be there? Because it's fucking nice to hang out with people once in a blue moon?" Wendy didn't let up, her gaze as scrutinizing as ever. "I mean, hell, Eric, I bet that one goth kid is even going!"
"What, are you two best friends all of a sudden?"
"Eric, you sound like a huge baby right now."
Eric pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I am not."
"Eric, fucking look at yourself!" Wendy slid up to a sitting position and gestured wildly to him.
"Look, whatever, Wendy!" Eric snapped in exasperation, and he saw Wendy bite the inside of her cheek. "I don't even have a reason to go!"
"Me and Butters are gonna be there. Are we not a good enough reason? Or are you just butthurt that a girl hasn't asked you?"
"I'm not fucking butthurt!" Eric felt his ears grow hot at Wendy's rebuttal. "And it's not like I don't see you assholes more than I need to as it is. Why do we have to hang out at homecoming?"
"Because it's just fun, Eric." Wendy repeated, sighing. "You don't have to make a big deal out of it."
"I'm not the one making a big deal! You are! Right now!"
Wendy groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. "Will you at least watch the game with us?"
"I fucking hate our shitty high school football."
Wendy opened her eyes to shoot a glare at him. "You're a real barrel of fun today. What the hell's up with you?"
Eric frowned and turned back towards his computer. "Nothing."
"Noooo, not nothing. You've been a cranky little bitch with me all day today."
Cartman refused to answer, desperately trying to seem busy on his computer. After a while, he heard Wendy slide off the bed and stride across the room towards him. She stopped directly behind him, and Eric tensed up.
"You're not even doing anything." Wendy finally huffed, after apparently staring at him for a while.
"I'm studying." Eric snapped back. "Which is what you're supposed to be helping me with instead of giving me shit about dumbass homecoming."
There was another pause. "Eric, you're literally just grabbing the calculator window and dragging it around the desktop."
"...I never said I was studying well."
Wendy sighed and pulled up the second chair to the desk, sitting next to Eric. "Eric," she started, absently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Does this have anything to do with Kenny?"
Eric's shoulder's tensed up, and he suddenly felt really guilty. He couldn't exactly place where the feeling was coming from, or maybe he just didn't want to think about it, but after a long moment of silence he glanced over at Wendy a little sheepishly. "Not the homecoming thing. Maybe some of the other thing, though."
Wendy exhaled, interlocking her fingers and placing them on Eric's shoulder. She rested her chin atop her hands. "What'd he say?"
Eric didn't want to get into it, so he just shrugged one shoulder, keeping the other one that was currently occupied still. "Nothing. It was just stupid."
Wendy seemed like she wanted to pry, but after a while she just clicked her tongue thoughtfully. "Just forget about it, if it bothers you so much. It's not like you're obligated to keep hanging out with him. Don't worry about it."
"Yeah," Eric replied, still sounding troubled.
Wendy lifted herself off of Eric's shoulder, leaning back in her chair and stretching her arms out. "And would you at least think about homecoming? It would mean a lot to us if you came."
Cartman scrunched his face up in distaste, but his eyes were softening. "Maybe." He responded dryly, adding, "If I do come, it's just because I don't have the heart to leave you and Butters alone for the entire night. Who knows what the hell he's capable of?"
Wendy scoffed loudly. "Are you insinuating that fucking Butters is going to charm me out of my panties? Right. And my mom's a caribou."
Eric smirked, glancing over at her briefly. She had taken out her phone and was replying to a text, so she didn't notice him looking at her.
He couldn't see her face very well. Her hair had fallen in her eyes again. Eric had the strongest compulsion to move it behind her ear for her.
Instead, he turned back towards his computer screen, the smile Wendy never even saw already falling. "You said it. Not me."
When Kenny and Karen had gotten home, Stuart was already there. None of them said anything; Kenny just shooed Karen off to her room to put her stuff away and get ready for dinner.
Stuart was sitting on the couch, drinking a beer, trying to watch a football game through the static of their crappy TV. He didn't look up when Karen walked across the room to her bedroom, but when the door closed behind her, Stuart glanced up at Kenny blankly.
Kenny met his glare evenly, slowly sliding his backpack off his shoulder and setting it on the ground with a dull thump. "Do you want anything for dinner?" Kenny asked flatly.
Stuart glowered at him a moment longer before turning back to the television. "No."
At the end of the night, after Karen had put herself to bed, Kenny found himself stepping into her room. She was already fast asleep, so he closed the door behind him carefully. He wasn't exactly sure why he had come in here or what he was hoping to accomplish, so he just slid down the door to take a seat on the ground, watching his sister sleep as if keeping a vigil.
Maybe he didn't have to be so worried. After all, Karen wasn't the one that Stuart was concerned with.
It was one of the last few things Kenny could be grateful for, in a bittersweet way, that Stuart had never laid a hand on Karen. Even before Kevin had died, when things weren't as bad, he would never dare to touch this daughter. Kenny didn't know if it was some kind of twisted "thieve's honor" or something else, but he never questioned it. He couldn't question it.
Kenny suddenly brought his hand up to lightly brush against the left side of his face, still tender and bruised.
He shivered slightly as he realized he didn't know if he could be comforted by that fact anymore.
After a while, Kenny stood back up, quietly exited the room, and headed back to his own. He went straight to his dresser, and opened the bottom drawer. He dug through his clothes until he reached the bottom, and fished around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small plastic bag filled with papers and weed and stuffed it into his pocket.
It's gonna be fine. He repeated the mantra to himself as he snuck out the front door to do his business behind the garage. When he stepped out into the cool night air, the chill forced him to shudder again.
Everything's gonna be fine.
