Kyle stood completely still, unsure of what to say. He didn't move a muscle, staring blankly at Cartman as he continued messing around with something in his hands.

"W-What the fuck is wrong with you, Cartman?" Kyle stuttered while holding his shoulder, "I am not taking my shirt off in front of you."

Cartman sighed, "What I am trying to say is that when you fell out of the treehouse you probably got at least a few scratches on your back when you landed." Holding up a tube of anti-bacterial cream in his hand, Cartman said, "I was trying to help."

Kyle snatched the tube out of Cartman's hand and asked him, "What do you mean you want to help? You are the reason I was pushed out of that treehouse. I didn't fall."

Cartman seemed to want to say something, but bit his tongue as he grabbed the medicinal cream back from Kyle's hand. "Would you just let me do this, you stupid Jew?"

Kyle looked away from Cartman as he started taking off his orange t-shirt. Throwing the shirt to the ground, Kyle turned towards the counter. He stayed completely quiet as he heard Cartman pop the cap off of the tube and was shocked when he felt Cartman's fingers on his back.

He was more than a little surprised when he actually felt a sting, guessing that there were a few large cuts, just like Cartman had said. As Cartman continued Kyle thought more and more about the slow and careful movements Cartman was making. It almost seemed like he didn't want to be hurting Kyle, but the medicine caused a sting in Kyle's wounds that couldn't be helped. With every new small dab on his back, Kyle let out a small whimper, clutched the countertop, and tried to think of something else.

Cartman was forcing himself back from grabbing Kyle, turning him around, and smashing their lips together. Having the red head shirtless and actually being given permission to touch him, it was like a dream. Every movement Kyle was making seemed to get increasingly sexual by the second and it was driving him crazy with every moment he didn't have Kyle pinned to the counter and screaming. Until Cartman actually noticed how badly Kyle's back had been scratched up because of him.

He continued applying the ointment and it almost hurt his ears to hear Kyle slightly squeaking out of the sting that was caused by the medicine. He could feel Kyle's back muscles tensing underneath his touch. When he heard one more squeak from Kyle, Cartman immediately pulled his hand away from Kyle, hesitating to make the next move.

Recently Cartman had been finding it harder and harder for him to keep up his act of hating Kyle. Every time he said something insulting towards his beloved he wished he could take back every insult he'd ever said to Kyle and apologize for everything he had ever done to hurt him. As soon as Cartman finished with the medicine he quickly pulled his hand away from Kyle's back and put the cap back onto the tube.

Kyle slowly turned when he felt Cartman move away from him. Not making contact with Cartman, he muttered a soft, "Thanks," before grabbing his shirt and holding it in front of him. He didn't know quite what to say or do. Cartman, his mortal enemy had just helped him out.

Continuing to think about the situation, Kyle figured that he shouldn't think much of it since it was Cartman's fault that he had gotten hurt in the first place.

While Kyle continued analyzing the situation and everything that had happened, Cartman watched every move Kyle made and all of the small features he never noticed about his friend. Like how soft his jaw line was or how his green eyes seemed so bright with his pale skin and recently cut red locks. The haircut was what did it. The way his new haircut framed his pale features and made him look at Kyle's face directly was what made Cartman appreciate Kyle's features even more. He looked down slightly from Kyle's green eyes, still fixed on something off to the side, down to his cute nose and how it was the exact opposite of the stereotypical 'Jew Nose' Cartman believed every Jewish person had.

Still looking down further, Cartman fixed his gaze on Kyle's pink lips. He had noticed that a lot of the time, Kyle played with his lips and bit them slightly when thinking about something. Now biting his bottom lip slightly while thinking to himself, Kyle seemed almost too cute. Cartman had to tightly grasp the top of the kitchen table behind him to keep himself from grabbing Kyle and forcing him to the ground.

Kyle still had his shirt in his hands and as he began to come back from his thoughts, he began playing with the soft fabric between his fingers as he felt Cartman's eyes burning holes into him with his intense stare. It was strange; he hadn't really felt like this before. It was almost like he felt like prey sitting in an open field with the predator watching his every move and planning his attack.

It was almost like Kyle could see in his head how Cartman would attack and finally take him down. And it started exactly like this, with Cartman eyeing up his prey, and ready for the kill.

Cartman continued watching until Kyle looked up from the floor and started to look back. Cartman immediately turned, realizing that he had been staring and trying to play it off like nothing had happened at all, "What are you looking at?"

Kyle's eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed as he watched Cartman carefully. His formerly overweight friend had slimmed down quite a bit over the last eight or so years and had developed pretty fluid, smooth motions to boot. He had become cool, calm, and collected, just as he had wished he could be when he was a pudgy eight year old on crazy adventures with his three stupid friends.

However, what Kyle saw before him was a nervous wreck of a man. Cartman's eyes were looking around the room, trying to find something interesting enough to focus on that wasn't the half ginger boy in front of him. Cartman silently cursed his mother for not having a more interesting kitchen and made a mental note to put random distracting objects in every room in the house so in cases like these he wouldn't have to return the judging and suspicious gaze of his shorter companion.

Kyle could see the slight panic on Cartman's face as he tapped the kitchen table behind him in a painstakingly slow rhythm. The unremitting sound reminded Kyle of the countless times he spent in class watching the clock tick until the final bell rang. The more he paid attention to it, the slower the ticks went by and the more time it seemed he had spent sitting in the cramped old desks of South Park High School.

Now the constant sound seemed to make the situation more and more intense as with every tap on the table, Cartman seemed to grow less patient with Kyle and how he was returning Cartman's previous stares.

Cartman finally stopped his tapping, but Kyle only noticed when he saw Cartman cross his arms over his now "buff" chest with his peripheral vision as he kept his eyes centered on Cartman's.

The two were now finally looking each other in the eye once again, neither of them quite sure what to say first or who was going to say anything.

Cartman loosened his muscles and let his shoulders fall slightly as he released a heavy breath through his nostrils. Tilting his head slightly, Cartman seemed to be examining Kyle now as opposed to his previous gawking. Kyle was fully aware of Cartman watching him and as he watched the taller man's eyes narrow in suspicion. He followed his friend's gaze and looked down to his chest and seeing a large scratch mark going down from below Kyle's heart and down his left side down to his hip bone.

Cartman always gave Kyle a little bit of credit for not being just skin and bones, but the pale boy was definitely skinny enough to make out his collar and hipbones. On top of being skinny, Kyle was also not very muscular. He and Stan may have had a lot in common, but the love for exercise was not one of them.

It wasn't really a love of working out, it was more a love of wanting to be a football player that had Stan always doing something to make himself in better physical condition. Kyle was just happy that his best friend wasn't stupid enough to go as far as to take steroids.

While Stan was working out, Kyle usually spent most of his time studying or searching the web. Hell, he had even spent more time with Cartman and Kenny while Stan was either on the field at practice or at Wendy's house.

Kyle was immediately brought back to reality from thinking about his friend by Cartman's chuckling.

Kyle looked down at the scratch again. It wasn't very deep, only barely breaking the skin enough to draw a small bit of blood, but either way, it was something that needed to be dealt with before it got worse. Kyle shook his head, ignoring his friend's soft chuckles and reached forward to grab the small tube of antibacterial cream from behind Cartman, on the table.

When Kyle leaned forward to grab it he barely had enough time to notice that Cartman's body had stiffened considerably and he had stopped making any sounds at all. Kyle pulled away and looked down into his hand, seeing that he had grabbed a thick, black Sharpie marker instead of what he needed.

He held it up, holding the label out to show Cartman what it was, "What were you doing with this?"

Cartman gulped softly, hoping that it wasn't loud enough for Kyle to hear him choking down his nervous thoughts in high hopes of being able to think of a lie fast enough, "What? You don't have Sharpie markers in your house? Or is your stupid Bitch of a mom too cheap to buy them?"

Kyle threw the Sharpie at Cartman, a little surprised that he was able to catch it before hitting him in the face, "Shut the fuck up, Asshole. I saw you using it in that God damn treehouse of yours and wanted to know what it was for."

Cartman stiffened and his eyes got considerably wider as Kyle spoke, "What the hell were you doing looking at me in my treehouse?"

Kyle noticed that there were no traces of any kind of joking matter in Cartman's voice and his fist was clenching at his sides as Kyle realized that Cartman let his arms fall from their previously crossed position. Slightly afraid of how Cartman was reacting, Kyle answered, "I told you I wanted to know what you were hiding up there. I couldn't see from the street so I followed you up. And now we're here. Now can you give me the fucking Neosporin shit or whatever it is?"

Cartman reached behind him and grabbed the small packet from where he had left it on the table. He brought it forward and handed it to Kyle, not entirely sure that he'd fight for the opportunity to touch his milky white skin again after seeing how much pain he was causing his red haired companion.

Kyle snatched the tube from Cartman's grip and popped the cap off, turning the tube over and hovering it above his open hand. After squeezing the tube, Kyle popped the cap closed and tossed it into the garbage bin a few feet away. He turned to Cartman and explained, "It's empty."

Cartman turned around and started walking out of the kitchen and explained, "There's more up in the bathroom."

Kyle followed Cartman out of the kitchen and through the living room, carrying his shirt in his hand at his side. As the two made their way through the living room and back past the front door, Kyle looked at the living room and saw how everything looked exactly how it had when they had all left the house earlier that day for the movies. Had Mrs. Cartman not bothered to clean up her son's spilled box of Cheesy Poofs and ignored the mess? Kyle turned back to Cartman to follow him up the stairs while asking, "Is your mom asleep? I thought we'd wake her up with the two of us screaming at each other."

Kyle hesitated slightly as he gripped the bannister, realizing that the two of them hadn't actually screamed at each other. The entire time seemed to be the two of them glaring at one another and then a snippy comment every so often. Kyle continued up the stairs as he heard Cartman answer, "She's not home."

Laughing to himself slightly, Kyle explained his laughter by asking, "Working the usual corner tonight?"

Kyle stopped laughing as soon as Cartman stopped walking up the stairs. He had one foot in the air, about to go up another step. Cartman had stopped so abruptly that Kyle had to keep himself from bumping into the tallest of the pair. When Kyle thought that Cartman would turn and punch him in the face he noticed Cartman's hand grip the bannister tighter and mutter and somewhat audible comment about Kyle's bitchy mom and her stupid hair.

Continuing to walk, Cartman went up the stairs and led Kyle to the bathroom on the left, just across from his bedroom.

Cartman opened the door and Kyle walked in after him, taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub as Cartman searched through the medicine cabinet. After a few moments, Cartman grabbed the Neosporin and tossed it over to Kyle before going to close the medicine cabinet doors.

As Kyle popped open the tube he said, "Nothing in that treehouse can be worth going through all of this."

Cartman's hand tensed up on the edge of the small cabinet door before he slammed it shut before whispering, "You have no idea."

Cartman turned to look at Kyle carefully placing the cream over the long mark, careful not to hurt himself too badly with the slight sting the medicine caused in the wound. Cartman watched as Kyle stood up from his seat and pulled his tight jeans as far away from his body as he could get them so he could get the bottom bit of the mark that was going below the jeans.

While staring, Cartman got a slight look at Kyle's black boxer briefs, almost chocking on air as he bit his thumb and looked away. Cartman found himself looking in the mirror and saw the position he was in. Cartman immediately took his fingers away from his mouth and crossed his arms across his chest.

Kyle was too distracted by trying to get the Neosporin on without hurting himself or getting it on any of his clothes to notice Cartman's foot tapping, trying to keep himself from watching his friend practically flash him and try to keep his lower half from getting turned on from the sight of a shirtless Kyle in front of him, practically tearing off his own pants.

Cartman took his attention off of his tapping foot for a mere second to look up at Kyle, his hand almost in his pants, a clear shot of his underwear in sight, and the Neosporin made his pale skin slightly shine in the bright lights of the bathroom.

It took every ounce of will power Cartman had to keep this mental torture to becoming a physical erection for Kyle to plainly see. The tapping of his foot and biting of his thumb did little to help, but Cartman needed every little thing he could find to keep himself from pinning Kyle to the bathroom floor and ravaging him.

And of course, sweet, innocent Kyle had no idea what he was even doing when he released his jeans, letting them sag slightly down his thin hips and show the top of the elastic band on his boxers.

Cartman bit his thumb harder, holding back a groan as he turned his gaze to look at the lock on the bathroom door. He could lock it from the inside so no one could walk in on them and then pin Kyle to the floor and do everything he wants with him. It was the perfect plan. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. All he had to do was get the lock clicked and Kyle's pants off and it would be fine.

Cartman started tapping his foot even louder and faster, creating a faster rhythm. The tapping caught Kyle's attention as he looked up at Cartman while he put the small cap back onto the tube. He saw Cartman biting his lip as he watched the doorknob.

Kyle's eyes widened "Don't think you can lock me in here. I have my phone and can call for help if you try to kill me."

Cartman's foot stopped tapping and he put both his arms at his side again, "No, I wasn't thinking that at all, Jackass. Way to trust your friend into not murdering you."

"Well you tried. You had that stupid whiffle bat out on Stark's Pond. For all I know you could have pushed me out of that ridiculous fucking treehouse on purpose just to get me up here and kill me with a gun you have hidden under the sink."

"KYLE! HOW LONG HAVE YOU FUCKING KNOWN ME? ALMOST TWELVE FUCKING YEARS NOW? AND HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I LEGITIMATLEY TRIED KILLING YOU? IF I CAN CHOP UP A KIDS PARENTS AND SERVE IT IN A CHILI TO THE GUY DON'T YOU FUCKING THINK I GOD DAMN WELL KNOW THAT A WHIFFLE BAT ON A POND ISN'T GOING TO DO JACK SHIT!"

Kyle stood perfectly still on the opposite side of the small bathroom from Cartman, a little more than surprised at his outburst. Had Cartman really not meant to do any harm to Kyle at all and was just trying to pass it off like he did?

"Give me some credit here, Kyle. I was stupid back then, but not a complete retard."

Cartman walked over to the bathroom door, swung it open and stormed down the stairs and back down to the kitchen.

Holy mother of Jesus, I am really sorry this took so long but here. Extra special over 3000 word chapter because I am a stupid and waited so long.

Any comments, requests, and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated and thanks for reading up to this fairly anti-climactic ending of this AN.