Enjoy, I own nothing, and reviews are nice!
Butters let two days pass before going to see Cartman at the shop. Eric was in the middle of a shouting match with some guy, so Butters waited in the car until it was done. The man drove off and Cartman made his way into the office. Butters got out of the car and again knocked the doorframe of the office.
Eric was looking down at some papers on the desk, but jumped at the noise.
"Jesus Christ, Butters," Eric sighed, covering his eyes with his hand.
"That guy was really pissed off," Butters said, smiling.
"Just bitching about how I was overpricing him," Cartman said in a mocking voice. "Asshole."
Butters walked into the office and sat on the tattered chair facing the desk.
"We should talk," he said.
Eric stopped ruffling papers. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did." He turned to look at Butters.
The blond shook his head. "I don't want you to be sorry, I want to know why you did it. Why did you kiss me that first night and why did you kiss me again? If my memory serves me right you stopped talking to me at the end of junior year. I'm just confused, where is this affection coming from?"
"Can we maybe not talk about this here?" Eric asked, shooting a glance at the door. "I get off in an hour, I can pick you up at your place and we can talk somewhere more private."
"You don't want to talk at my house?" Butters asked.
"I think that be a little fucked up," Cartman replied, thinking about Butters' fiancé for once.
"Okay, I'll wait for you then, but if you don't come, I know where you work," Butters threatened before heading out.
Just a little after five there was a knock on Butters' door.
"Okay," Eric said, nodding his head towards his truck. Butters grabbed his coat, locked the door, and followed Cartman to his truck.
After a quiet half hour car ride Eric stopped the car and got up. Butters could see they had driven up a hill and when he followed Cartman out of the car her realized where he was.
"This is where you took that photo," Butters said.
"I told you it wasn't that big of a deal," Eric answered, looking down at the town. He then turned and sat on the hood of his truck. He patted the space next to him so Butters would join.
"You want to know why I stopped talking to you?" Cartman asked once Butters sat down. The blond nodded. "It's because I was in love with you, and I couldn't admit it."
Butters was startled by this revelation, and by how nonchalantly Eric said it. "What?"
"It's been ten years, a lot of shit has happened since then, and when I think back it's so fucking ridiculous to me that I couldn't just admit this. That instead I just stopped talking to you," Cartman leaned his elbows onto his knees. "Then you got accepted to Berkley, which was awesome, but I felt so embarrassed for myself. And it wasn't just you, the guys got out of this town too, even Kenny got out. But I stayed." He put his head in his hands. Ten years was an incredibly long time, and he had been so lonely throughout it all.
"I loved you too," Butters whispered. "I was crazy about you, but then we just didn't talk, and then I left…" He sniffled and dabbed at an eye from under his glasses.
Eric relished hearing Butters say he was once in love with him too.
"You didn't mention you were with anyone. And just seeing you brought everything flooding back," Cartman said. "This is all my own fault. I deserve this for being such a fucking prick as a kid."
Butters laughed. "Who wasn't a prick back then, Eric?"
"We shouldn't talk anymore after this, Butters. I can't just be your friend," Eric looked at Butters, his eyes were glistening.
Butters leaned over, placing a hand on Eric's knee he kissed the brunette.
Cartman sat up and wrapped his arms around the blond.
The two held and kissed each other for a long time. Neither wanted to pull away, they wanted to make up for all the lost time.
"I'm still in love with you," Cartman whispered between kisses. "I never stopped."
Butters began kissing him harder. If this had just happened ten years earlier, if Eric had just kissed him ten years earlier, if he had just had the courage to kiss him ten years earlier, things would have been different, everything could have been so different.
Butters pulled away but pressed his forehead against Eric's.
"Okay," Butters nodded.
"Okay?" Eric asked.
"What do you want to do?"
"What do you mean?" Cartman had no idea where Butters was getting at.
"I'm going to break off my engagement," Butters said, nodding, his mind was made up.
"What? No, Butters, you can't do that," Eric pulled back. What the fuck did he do?
Butters smiled and pulled Eric close again to kiss him.
"I can't marry her," Butters said when they separated again. "Not if I know you still love me."
"Butters, who cares about me? You have a new life now."
The blond smiled, Eric really had changed, it seemed so surreal. He wrapped his arms around the brunette's neck.
"I still love you too, Eric."
Cartman put his hands on Butters' waist, but he didn't feel right. "But this is so fast, Butters. What if it doesn't work out? What if you're throwing everything out the window for some flippant rush of emotions?"
Again Butters kissed Eric, then shook his head. "Eric, I've know my fiancé for three years, I've known you my whole life. I knew you at what was probably your worst, and I fell in love with you then. I'm not throwing anything away, I'm doing exactly what I need to do."
"I'm a mechanic, Butters, you're… educated. Why would you trade down?"
Butters pulled away. Cartman thought he won, he made the blond listen to reason.
Butters thought about how hard Cartman was back peddling. Was he questioning his love? Did Eric just think he loved him because he was unattainable, but now that he was within reach he didn't really love or want him?
But he looked into Eric's eyes. No. He loved him. He wanted to make sure Butters wasn't making a mistake, he was looking out for the blond's best interest.
"I don't care, Eric," Butters said deliberately, running a hand through the brunette's hair. "You make a living doing something so necessary, and you saved my ass twice with it already. And not only that but you're an amazing photographer if you just believed people when they told you that.
"Do you want to be with me?" Butters asked after a pause.
Eric nodded his head. "Yes."
"That's all I need to hear."
The two continued to kiss and hold each other until the sun had gone down.
"I should call my fiancé," Butters said at last.
"Are you sure about this?" Cartman asked one last time.
"I'm positive."
Eric drove Butters home and the two agreed to see each other the next day.
When Butters entered his house it was to discover a tear-filled voice message on his cell phone (he had left in such a hurry earlier he had accidentally left it on his coffee table).
Turns out Butters' suspicions of that research partner were completely founded. His fiancé had loathed the idea of moving to a small town and decided to stay with this other man, who promised to keep her near the bay area.
Though he reprimanded himself, Butters couldn't help but feel a pang of pain at this infidelity. Why couldn't she just be honest with him if she never wanted to move to South Park to begin with? Was she just going string him along and let him settle down here until she finally told him this surprise?
Well, he called her back, and half out of good faith, half out of pettiness, Butters told her the truth about his own situation. She laughed, her guilt slightly alleviated.
"Well this just worked out perfectly for both of us, didn't it?" She said, laughing through tears. Butters' own faithlessness had still hurt.
"Yeah, I guess it did," Butters agreed.
"I really did love you," she told him.
"I really did love you, too," Butters replied.
"No hard feelings?"
"Absolutely no hard feelings. Uhm, one last question, though."
"Shoot."
"Are you still working on your research or was that a lie too?"
"That was the truth! I'm still working on it now, this stupid thing never ends!"
Butters laughed. Both agreed to remain in contact, then he hung up.
Butters laid in his bed that night replaying the events of the day. So he and Eric were meant to be if his engagement ended that smoothly. He cuddled closer to his pillow, better late than never, he supposed. It was finally time for he and Eric to be together.
So I reserved my main comments for the end so as not to spoil this chapter for y'all.
A few things: this chapter shows that I can't sustain love triangles (I hate them that's mostly why) and I'm incapable of keeping Butters and Cartman apart.
And lastly, I stand by my depiction of Cartman in this and later chapters, so there ya go.
