It Must Look Pretty Appealing

Chapter 4 – Bang and Blame

By: StalkerDex

(Author's Note: you guys are all too kind. I'm so happy to read your lovely reviews! I'm really stoked on this story! Sorry it seemed a bit rushed. This plot has a LOT of things that are going to happen so I'm picking and choosing the areas I focus on…hopefully it all comes together nicely. I promise to spend more time on this chapter :D Thank you for the honest feedback :) I always appreciate it. As always, thanks for reading guys and thanks for the faves!)

Stan's head felt foggy as he slowly trudged down the hallway. He had managed to dress himself upon waking, though hadn't done much in the way of making himself up. He simply threw a backwards hat on as he walked into the living room, irritated immediately at the sight of Kyle and Eric having breakfast at the table together.

"Good morning, babe!" Kyle said happily as he hopped up and gave Stan a warm kiss on the cheek, embracing him as he did so. It was the first time in a while he'd showed such affection and it threw Stan off. However, as he returned the embrace and made eye contact with Eric he was satisfied to see jealousy in his eyes. Of course he wasn't sure who he was jealous of now.

"Morning. How was work last night?" he asked, having himself a seat beside Kyle's chair.

"It was okay…same ol' same ol'," Kyle replied as he poured Stan a cup of coffee and returned to his seat, placing it before his boyfriend.

He wasn't sure why but he just felt like he wanted to be affectionate. He and Stan had been having such a hard time he figured if he just went out of his way a little bit maybe things would get better. Not to mention it distracted him from Eric. As tempting as it was to go there he knew he could never cheat on Stan. He loved him too much.

As he sat there drinking his coffee and thinking about ways he could make things better with the man he'd been so madly in love with all of these years, Stan's head was in a completely different place. He had been staring Eric down, who wasn't going to budge. He hated him. He hated him so goddamn much. Yet, at the same time, he kind of wanted to fuck him again. He couldn't really explain it. It had just been so different from what he and Kyle shared and he found that to be pretty appealing. It also didn't hurt that they had so much anger and tension between them. It made for some good sex, he had to admit.

Eric, of course, was thinking along extremely different lines. He knew that if he could just get this little affair rolling with Stan he could have Kyle. Kyle would never forgive Stan for cheating, but he could possibly forgive Cartman for sleeping with him. As long as he told him it was only to distract himself from the fact that he really loved Kyle, which was partially true. Sure, Stan was attractive and Eric really did have a certain amount of genuine care for him, but he was standing in the way of what he wanted; he simply couldn't have it.

"Baby," Kyle said softly as he leaned in close to Stan, rubbing the back of his head affectionately.

"What is it?" Stan asked, snapping out of his thoughts and looking lovingly at Kyle. His emerald eyes were piercing. He really did feel bad that he had cheated. Kyle adored him so fucking much.

"I have to go to work in a minute, but I was thinking…why don't you and I go out and get some dinner or something, just the two of us?"

Stan felt his stomach drop a bit. Dinner…a date? Fuck. They hadn't been alone in quite some time. It really did sound nice. Of course, then he would just be alone with Kyle; that meant he would have to deal with what he'd done. The guilt was there, but it wasn't full blown yet. He knew if he were to be intimate with Kyle it would become overwhelming. Still, he had no real reason to say no.

"Yeah, of course babe."

Kyle smiled happily before standing up and grabbing his keys off of the counter.

"Okay…I'll see you tonight," he said as he leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Stan's lips.

Stan smiled at him, watching as he waved goodbye to Eric and left. Shit, now he had to face Cartman by himself. He really didn't want to. Perhaps he could make an excuse and leave the house for a while…

Eric was sipping his coffee casually, looking at Stan amusedly. It was annoying how un-phased he was; of course it was classic Cartman to be that way. Eric knew it was bothering Stan how calm and collected he was acting so he was going to keep that persona going. Truth was, however, he was a little distraught. He felt somewhere deep down that it had been a big mistake for him to sleep with Stan. As much as he wanted to think Kyle would forgive him for sleeping with him he wasn't sure that he would. They had had a moment before hand so that sort of meant, in his eyes anyway, that Kyle had laid claim on him. Do people forgive each other for stuff like that? He really couldn't be certain.

Finally, Stan cleared his throat.

"So, uh…this stays between you and me, right? You know…last night?"

Eric stared at him, narrowing his eyes a bit. Stan couldn't help but note that Eric had grown into a pretty goddamn good-looking guy. His brown hair was always tossled just a bit, which he found sexy as all hell. And those fucking hazel eyes of his…they were so goddamn piercing. Not to mention his physique wasn't half bad. He wasn't nearly as fit as Stan was, but the weight loss had done wonders for him; Especially in his face. He had such a fucking baby face. Stan couldn't help but feel a little self-loathing at the fact that he was admiring the physical attractiveness of a life long dipshit.

Still…there was just something about him.

"That depends…" Eric started to reply, his thumb gently caressing the side of his beverage. He had to play his cards right.

"On what?" Stan demanded, irritated. Of course Cartman was going to play games with him. He was always playing games.

"Well…there's a few ways this can play out, the way I see it. Let's take a look at our options, shall we?"

Stan rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. He had to admit though, it probably wouldn't hurt to mull over the different ways shit could go down.

"Okay…what?" he said begrudgingly. He hated playing games like this. It was part of why his relationship with Kyle had always been so effortless; they were always open and honest. They'd never tried to trick or manipulate the other. It had just always worked. He couldn't understand why things were getting so complicated just because one stupid fucking moron from their childhood had decided to stay with them.

"Well…okay, first option. Neither of us says anything ever. Kyle goes forward blissfully ignorant and you and I continue this little war of ours to see who gets him…which we of course know will end in my favor."

Stan rolled his eyes though decided to keep his mouth shut and hear him out.

"Then, we have our second option. This could play out one of two ways. Either you tell Kyle what we did and he more than likely dumps your whoring ass, or I can tell Kyle and he dumps your whoring ass. Or…maybe he forgives you and stays and I get kicked out…this is the only reason I'm even considering not telling him."

Stan nodded. That was true; it was risky for the both of them to tell him.

"Okay…so what's our last option?"

Eric smiled a little deviously at him before leaning over the table and speaking quietly as though they were being listened to. Stan couldn't help but lean forward, too. He was fairly intrigued.

"Well…our last option is that we all just have it out with each other. You know…we just all fuck and get it out of the way and see where we stand afterwards."

Stan let out a sudden laugh, leaning back in his chair and holding his hand over his mouth to try and contain himself.

"The fuck are you laughing at?" Eric demanded, genuinely pissed at his reaction.

Stan continued to chuckle though managed to calm himself and respond, still smirking the entire time.

"Nothing…it's just…that's fucking insane, that's all. All three of us fucking? Like…at once? No fuckin' way dude…that's a bunch of bullshit waiting to happen."

Eric shrugged and leaned back in his chair, looking at the ground.

"I'm just saying…then we could all just, you know, put it out there and see what we feel afterwards. I mean, eventually we're all going to fuck each other at some point anyway."

Stan felt his stomach drop again. Eric really did think he was going to fuck Kyle.

"Dude, there's no way Kyle has sex with you. I promise you that…he would never cheat on me. He's better than that."

"He's better than you," Eric retaliated.

Stan abruptly shut his mouth, guilt washing over him. Jesus, he was right. He had totally screwed Kyle over. How could he have done that? After all those years? With all the love he harbored for him, and God knows he did. He loved him so fucking much it actually physically pained him at times. What the fuck was he thinking? And not only did he cheat, he cheated with fucking Eric Cartman? It was absolutely mind blowing.

Eric watched as Stan relished in shame, feeling the slightest pang of sympathy. He couldn't really explain it but he found himself sort of giving a shit about how Stan felt. He really shouldn't have manipulated the situation like he had. Though…as he thought about it he did realize that he hadn't started it. Stan had kissed him first.

Why had he done that?

"C'mon, Stan. It's really not that bad…people cheat every day. You're human, you fucked up. It happens," Eric said, unexpectedly.

Stan jerked his head up, meeting Eric's eyes. He looked very distraught.

"Yeah but… it's Kyle."

Eric nodded at him. True. It was Kyle. Kyle Broflovski was the sweetest, most genuine and caring person anyone could hope to meet. How could anyone do anything to hurt someone as good as he? Eric let out a very burdened sigh before reaching out and putting his hand atop Stan's.

"It'll be alright. I won't tell him…you don't have to either. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Stan bit his lower lip and looked away from him, struggling to hold back tears of guilt.

"Yeah, but it's gonna fuckin' kill me," he admitted.

Eric opened his mouth to say something but was surprisingly interrupted by Stan, who was forcing tearful eye contact with him.

"And do you know what the worst part is, Eric?"

Eric shook his head no, eyes wide with curiosity. Stan sniffled a bit, allowing a tear to fall down his cheek as he continued to look into Cartman's goddamn hazel eyes.

"The worst part is…I want to do it again…"

Eric felt a very heavy pit form in his stomach as his eyes carefully observed Stan's face. He was serious. Cartman swallowed hard, his hand still resting on top of Stan's. He wasn't sure what else to do so he squeezed it assuringly.

"Uh…I…" he stammered a bit, totally stumped. He hadn't expected that.

Stan bit his lip once more before slowly leaning towards Eric. Cartman was frozen, not entirely sure if he wanted to go through with this. It was so goddamn confusing. On the one hand, he pined for Kyle so bad. It literally felt like, when Kyle was in the room, he was pulling on his heart, yanking it towards him forcefully. On the other hand, Stan was here, he was interested and he was making himself readily available. It was hard to say no; especially because Marsh was so goddamn sexy.

Eric swallowed hard as Stan pressed his forehead to his, blue eyes staring down at his lips as he flirted with the disaster that was their sexual desire.

"You don't want this," Eric insisted, though didn't bother to move. He couldn't make up his mind.

"No…I don't…I fucking hate you Eric…but I love the taste of your skin…" he said breathlessly.

Eric's stomach was aching so badly as he hovered there. He couldn't take it. It was just too much.

Eric fluttered his eyes closed and gently pressed his lips to Stan's, a little frightened to go through with it.

Truth was they were both terrified, but it was an attraction too strong to fight.