Whoo okay, I managed to crack this out between work and packing. Mostly exposition and a little smut. Addie's here for maybe two sentences, poor kid!

I also went back and rearranged the paragraph formatting in the previous chapters. I hope this makes the speech a little clearer and I kept it in mind when writing this chapter.

The first clue was the missing vase on the windowsill. They had got it at a yard sale for 'tree-fiddy'. Shari had haggled it down from $15. Kyle only remembered because he could almost hear Cartman goading in his ear about how his wife was better at being a Jew than he was. Kyle had been happy to give up at ten.

It was gone now, and so was some of the crockery from the cupboards. Thank fuck Cartman and Addie had gone out to lunch. Kyle didn't know what he would have done had they crossed paths. Or shit, if Cartman had let slip that they were… whatever they were.

'Fucking' felt crude, detached. 'Dating' was too conventional and implied they were still getting to know one another. Maybe they were. This was a side of Cartman he'd never seen. The side he'd always tried to unearth.

Most other terms like lovers or boyfriends, just made him laugh; both at the idea of Cartman and him being cutesy like that, and out of a mild despair. Because he kind of wanted them to be like that. And he didn't even know where they would both be in a month's time, or even a week. Or where Cartman would want to be.

Perhaps it was best to just enjoy what it was. Living in the now was a lot more fun than moping about the past and mourning the future.

"Wasn't there a vase on the windowsill?" Addie asked. She received a gentle nudge from Cartman. He wanted to see how long Kyle was going to play dumb.

"No, no I don't think so, Ads."

Asshole. Cartman was suddenly back to bouncing on his heels and tensing his fingers in agitation.

Kyle checked his answering machine. Blank. Rosenberg could have warned him at least. Kyle wished Addie a good night and excused himself to his room. Cartman deftly ushered Addie to hers.

Kyle raided the bottom of his wardrobe. As he had suspected; the box of wedding memorabilia was gone. It shouldn't have mattered, not when he was sort of possibly kinda moving on. But knowing that the album was gone, the pressed flowers, the display board with Solomon-Broflovski and their picture underneath…

He went over to his sock drawer and took out a once significant loop of metal, held it, cool and pleasant against his sweating palm.

For the first time, Cartman was tucked up in bed before Kyle. He lay there listening to the soft whirr of an electric toothbrush coming from the bathroom, and ran the small wedding ring around in his hands.

Kyle had stuffed it straight back into the dresser when Cartman entered, so of course he was going to nose about it in there the second Kyle left.

Cartman considered trying it on, but he'd seen enough sitcoms to know how that scenario always played out. His fingers were far chubbier than Kyle's. Even the pinky was a risk.

At the click of the bathroom light, Cartman abandoned the ring back where it belonged.

Where it now belonged.

Cartman moved across the bed to prepare for Kyle's arrival. There was a stifled yawn when he came into the room, sleepily pressing his eyes and shrugging off the borrowed sweatpants. Cartman pulled back the sheets in welcome. Kyle slipped in beside him tucking his arms under the pillow as he reclined. He allowed himself a peaceful sigh. "Want to play a game, Cartman?"

"Does this game involve your dick?"

"For once, no."

Cartman rubbed his eyes. "It's late. Can't we raincheck?"

"It's really simple. We just ask each other questions, alternately. Anything we want."

"Anything," Cartman repeated warily.

"No obligations to answer."

Cartman embedded his face back into the pillow for a moment before deciding to give in. He could give up a few secrets in exchange for Kyle's. "You go first."

"So, I mean… Addie. How, when, where?"

"That's three questions. Greedy Jew."

"Okay, condense it down to, what do you know about Addie's mom?"

"Not much. She rode my dick then robbed my ass – wasn't exactly love at first theft. And yes it was on prom night, I know you've been dying to get that out of me."

"So had you ever… before?"

"Nope. First time out on the field and I knock it out the park." He swung an imaginary bat. "Boom!"

Kyle laughed sadly. If only others could be so lucky.

Cartman knew a lot more, but he had no desire to bring any of it up right now. He knew the moment the game was suggested that it would be one of Kyle's questions and he had dreaded it. What could he say about a woman who spent the last few years of her life as a pro, raising a little girl in a brothel?

He remembered their ugly dank room well, and how small Addie looked as she sat on the one bed. A relief to him that her mother's work was conducted in a different room. He'd asked her if she wanted to pack anything, realised how ridiculous the question was as it fell out of him.

He remembered how the only thing that frightened her more than being outside the brothel was the giant gruff man that everyone she had ever known had abandoned her to, and how she had silently cried herself to sleep in his car. And the weird sick pain in his chest when he realised he had no idea how to help her, and how much he wanted to. This tiny stranger suddenly consuming him, more than Kyle ever had.

"So, why does Addie call you 'Cartman'?"

"It's my name. It's only 'dad' if the situation calls for it, like if we're around strangers and it's not worth the hassle explaining. Or if she's trying to manipulate me into something."

"Does it work?"

Cartman chuckled. "Always… and hey!" Cartman rolled to his side and poked Kyle's nose. "It's my turn, no more cheating."

Kyle crossed his arms but nodded for Cartman to proceed.

"What happened to your stupid hair?"

He squirmed uncomfortably and settled on, "Too hot for curls in summer," for his answer.

"Then how come you had the same hair back in February?"

"Now who's cheating by asking extra questions? Wait…" Kyle's eyes went owl-like. "How'd you know that?"

"Might've spied on you a little." Cartman saw the irate flicker in Kyle's eyes. "After the robbery," he clarified. "I didn't lie when I said I didn't know you worked at that stupid pharmacy."

"Fine, I believe you. Whose turn?"

"Yours."

"Okay so… you spied on me. How often do you come back here?"

"Few times a year. Just big holidays, birthdays. We swap our Winter and Summer clothes and leave them with mom. No point carting it all around in the pick-up."

Kyle turned away, tugging angrily at the corner of the pillow. "I can't believe you've been coming back here all this time. You never even thought to reconnect with any of us?"

"I didn't even know you were here! Thought you'd be a big shot lawyer or doctor or whatever else Jews do. You always said fuck South Park."

"Yeah well, so did you. And look at us now." He sighed. "Your turn."

"Why such a big apartment? You really need two bedrooms? Pharmacies pay that well?"

"You're cheating again." Kyle rolled back to face him. "It's just what was available when I was looking."

Yeah fucking right.

Kyle's eyes flicked to his. "What do you do for money?"

"Whatever is needed."

"Dark, dude." But he wasn't going to press further. Cartman was already distressed, flexing his fingers into fists, had refused to look at him the last half of the conversation. "Cartman, it's your turn."

"I've got no more questions."

Even Kyle knew he was lying. "I'll go again if that's okay."

"Whatever."

"When are you going?"

And there was the crux. Cartman finally looked at his doe-eyed and heartbreaking expression. "When I get called out."

"And nothing will persuade you to stay? Even if it's what's best for Addie?"

Cartman's face hardened.

"Dude, you saw her at that party with those other kids. She's starved for interaction."

"Nuh-uh she's like me. She's sociable because it gets her what she wants. She merely tolerated those brats."

"Oh bullshit, Cartman! Even if that were true, she needs some sort of schooling. It's not healthy dragging a little kid around like that, with no-one her age to talk to. She'll end up weird like Rebecca and Mark."

"Fuck you, she's perfect."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just mean, how's she supposed to have a future without education. A real one? You know exactly the kinds of options available to women in the underworld you're traversing. There's not a lot, and they're all unpleasant."

"Nah, see I've got it all figured out. I'm teaching her how to be a croupier."

Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose in disbelief. "Oh Jesus Christ, Cartman…"

"Don't give me that. She's good, you've seen her. We'll hit Vegas in a few years when she's old enough – she'll start off on a poker table and in a few years she'll run the damn place. Then when she's bored, we retire."

"That's the stupidest thing you've ever said."

"Besides I love you?"

Kyle's jaw snapped shut as Cartman's eyes bored into his own.

"Yeah," Cartman murmured slowly, "I fucking thought so. And you listen to me Broflovski, you don't get to fucking tell me how to raise my kid."

Any other situation in the past would have brought out Kyle's obstinate nature. The need to fight Cartman on something he believed in passionately always outweighed whether or not he was right. But there was nothing black and white here and he didn't like this new uneven playing field. "Okay," he conceded. "That's fair. I've got no right, even if I knew what it was like to be a parent. And you're doing a good job. I mean, I didn't even think you could look after yourself let alone a small child."

"Somewhere in there was a compliment?" Cartman snorted.

"Sorry, that was a bit backhanded." Kyle combed his fingers through Cartman's hair, and he moved closer in response. "I mean it, Cartman, I'm really impressed. I just wish you'd let me help. Having help doesn't mean you failed."

"I can't stay in South Park. Not even for her. I tried, believe me, I fucking tried."

Kyle pulled back for a moment. "What about long-distance? You could do your job but leave her with me. It's win-win; you both have a steady home but you get to leave whenever you want."

Yeah and you'll totally be fine about my extra-curricular activities with my partners in crime?

"I've never left her. Not more than overnight. I don't think I could." That was the problem with being a single parent. People talked about the sacrifices of parenthood often enough but never about the self-absorption that came with it. The all-encompassing co-dependency that ruled every move and decision.

"All the more reason why you need to do this Cartman. Every parent needs grownup time, especially with their…" Partners? The words flashed into his throat and stayed there. Was that what they were?

"I'll think about it," Cartman's voice rumbled against his cheek and Kyle tightly hugged him from elation.

"That's all I want."

"Got one more question."

"Shoot," Kyle smiled down at him.

"A pharmacist? Seriously?"

Kyle shied away. "I wanted to be a doctor. A paediatrician actually. But medicine is fucking depressing, even with kids. Maybe even especially. But I quit my residency before I got anywhere near specialising. Couldn't hack it. You see people destroying themselves and all you can do is give them an IV and some health advice and send them away, then do it all over again when they turn up next week with the exact same problems."

"You're too much of a Helpy Helperton, like your hippy boyfriend."

"Maybe it's lucky for you I am?"

Cartman snorted again. "You've got to learn a lost cause when you see one."

"All I see is a smartass who doesn't know a good thing when he has it."

"Someone has a high opinion of himself," Cartman smirked. "But I guess that's easy when you're perfect."

Kyle blushed. "I'm really not… Trust me. If you'd taken advantage of our game you'd have dug up a lot of skeletons."

"Worse than pharmacy robberies?"

"I'd say so."

"Don't believe you," Cartman said as he nuzzled into Kyle's neck. "And I meant what I said before. I wouldn't have stolen that shit if I'd known about you working there.

Kyle fixed his gaze onto Cartman's. "Then you're more ethical than I am," he mumbled cryptically, and nestled down for sleep under Cartman's confused scrutiny.

Did there really need to be this many shades of green in the paint aisle? It wasn't as if it was an actual paint store, there were beach buckets hanging from the shelf dividers. This was why Kyle hated shopping at the General Store. It was too general. But Shari wanted some kind of apple green for the spare room and Shari got what Shari wanted, especially when Kyle was teetering around the metaphorical dog house.

"Kyle?" He found himself pressed into a fierce hug as a familiar cologne teased his olfactories. "Kyle, it's been weeks! How have you been?"

Kyle showed Stan his well-rehearsed smile, "Great, thanks. Sorry I missed your New Year party."

"Meh, it was crowded anyway. Hoping to get a house soon. Money's tight, but it could be tighter. Just glad the loan went through for our treatment."

"Oh yeah." Kyle picked up a can of paint. The wrong green that Shari asked for, but the one she wanted was definitely going to be too bright. "How's that going?"

Stan's lips thinned. "Failed."

"Oh Jesus, dude, I'm sorry." He hung his head. Why hadn't Stan said a word before now? Had Kyle really been so distant that Stan couldn't talk to him anymore?

"We're going for it one more time. Our parents have put together a bit of cash and we have some savings. Still a bit short, unless we give up on the house idea." He laughed a humourless laugh. "But the whole point of the house was to fill it with kids. Gotta love irony."

Kyle perked up. "How short are you? I have savings."

"Oh dude, no…"

"Not gonna hear any excuses. Tell me how much, I'll give you what I can."

Stan gripped his shoulder. "I'm begging you Kyle, talk to Shari first."

"It's my money, I can do what I like. We agreed to have a shared account for bills and that's it. If I can't say anything about a new purse or boxset, she can't say anything about this."

"Who even buys boxsets anymore," Stan pondered.

Kyle chuckled. "I'll come round tonight with my checkbook." Stan began to open his mouth in protest but Kyle shushed him. "I wasn't there for you before. Let me make it up to you."

Eventually, Stan surrendered. "I never could argue with you," he grinned. "That's what Cartman was for."

"Okay I'll admit it," Shari sighed as she admired the spare room. "The green you chose was better."

Kyle carefully affixed the final shelf onto the wall. "See? I know what I'm doing."

"Still, it would have been nice if you just brought back some sample pots. It could have been a total waste of an afternoon."

"But it wasn't, so I win."

"Not everything is a competition, dear," she sighed. "I'm putting coffee on, want some?"

Absolutely, he was thirsty as hell and needed the caffeine boost. He followed her into the kitchen, leaving his t-shirt behind because she seemed to be enjoying the paint-splattered view. "I saw Stan at the store," he said, cautiously.

"Oh, how are they doing?" She didn't sound upset. Maybe he'd given them a wide enough berth that she'd gotten over the donation thing.

"Great," he lied. "Actually I was wondering if…"

"Hmm?" Shari spooned the grounds into the filter.

"If I could start hanging out with Stan again?"

She hesitated as she wrapped up the coffee bag. "Was I stopping you?"

"You weren't happy about it," he accused.

"Of course I wasn't. You can't honestly say they weren't being creepy."

"I can honestly say that." The air thickened. "I don't think it's creepy at all. Anyway," he turned away. "It doesn't matter now. So can I?"

She watched the dark water drip down into the pot and shrugged. "You're a grown man, do what you like."

Fine. He would do just that.

South Park had never been this hot before, Kyle was certain of that, as he pulled the sticky sheets from his sweat-beaded back. He slumped across the room and locked the door so he could remove his boxers without causing a scandal. He winced as he collapsed back onto the bed. There was a particularly nasty bruise somewhere on his butt but he wasn't about to go look for it in the middle of the night. Actually it was possibly closer to morning. It was dark out but he could hear birds yammering away. Cartman stirred beside him.

"You awake?"

"Nyuu," Cartman mumbled into his hands.

"You bruised my butt. Thanks a lot, dickwad." Kyle turned on his bedside lamp and they both hissed as the light assaulted their eyes.

"Ay, you asshole, fucking warn me." Cartman waited until his sight adjusted before admiring his work on Kyle's rear. "Not a bruise."

"Then what is it?"

Cartman's teeth gleamed between his insufferable grin. "Bitemark."

"You bit me?" He had a vague recollection of Cartman's teeth on his cheeks during rimming. It hadn't felt that hard at the time. But back then his mind was swimming and his body was wrecked from the myriad of new sensations. Cartman pressed his thumb into the flesh. Kyle yelped in pain. "You fucking dou-" was cut off by a vigorous kiss.

"Ssh," Cartman purred, "Too loud, Kahl."

He grumbled back but drew Cartman closer, pressing a semi-hard dick into his hip.

"So you do like it rough," Cartman teased. "I knew it."

"Shut up." It wasn't long before Kyle was eating his words, courtesy of Cartman's hand enclosing his mouth to muffle his moans as he laid him flush against his chest and gripped his cock. As wonderful as the attentive, lip-oriented Cartman had been, this was the version Kyle had expected; raw and unapologetic in his claim, whispering what he wanted and how much he wanted it. God, I want to make you scream, Kahl.

Kyle was over the edge in no time at all. Cartman shoved his spent body to the side and using sweat and come as lube he fucked his dick between Kyle's slick thighs. Thick ribbons of come and a slowing of thrusts signalled the end and Kyle huffed when Cartman collapsed on his back. Kyle moaned, trying to prise him off. "Heavy…"

"Rude," Cartman grouched but obediently rolled aside. He smirked when Kyle tidied his hair back off his face.

"Hey, Cartman?"

Cartman was half-asleep already. "Hm?"

"It wasn't stupid. When you said you loved me."

"We still on that?" He shook his head. "You were right, it was stupid. It was the truth but it was stupid."

"Is it okay if I'm stupid too?"

Wordlessly, Cartman pulled him down for a kiss and Kyle placed his head on his chest were it belonged.

Where he now belonged.

And that's it until I return. See you in a few weeks!