Hey all, so I know that I said season one's all wrapped up, but before we get to season two, I thought we could use a little interlude to slow things down and get our bearings. Part two isn't gonna pick up exactly where part one left us (the prologue already did that, remember?) so how about we take a quick peek into the interim and see how things are going? Seems like a good idea to me, so without further ado, allow me to welcome you to...

THE PINK LEMONADE HOLIDAY SPECIAL


Chapter 9: Hang With Me

"You did not get Craig Tucker a 'weed-themed sweater' for Christmas."

(Christmas)

"I swear to god," Kenny replied before taking a long hit from the pipe he'd pulled out of his glove compartment moments earlier.

"Well what does that even mean?" Wendy asked as he handed it to her. Her feet planted on the dashboard of the boy's car, she ducked her head down to light a hit for herself.

"Oh it's great. It's got this huge pot leaf covered in lights and ornaments and it says '420 Days of Christmas' on it."

"That's literally the worst thing I've ever heard."

"Does that mean I should return the one I got you?"

"Oh shut up. What did you get me?"

"It's in my trunk," he told her. "You want it now?"

"Nah, I can wait. I've got your present in my car too, we can trade after the party."

"Speaking of which," Kenny began before taking another hit. "Are you looking forward to seeing everyone again?"

Wendy sighed. "A bunch of my peers who essentially live out of state and get to do all the cool stuff I wish I could? Yeah, totally."

"I'm not exactly stoked either. I know Token throws these things every year but I've actually skipped like, the last three. Reeeaaally not interested in hearing about what everyone's getting for Christmas while my family can barely ever afford a tree."

"The holidays blow," Wendy deadpanned.

"Agreed," Kenny nodded as he passed the pipe back to her one more time. "You almost ready to head into this thing?"

"Ugh, almost," Wendy said as she finished off the bowl, holding her last hit in for as long as she could. "Okay, yeah," she finally exhaled. "That should do it."


Kenny locked his car and the two began the walk past the gates of the Black residence and up to Token's annual Christmas party, wiping their coats down with some of the dryer sheets Kenny had stored in one of his parka's inner pockets to rid their clothes of the stench of pot.

"So just refresh my memory," the boy began, "Why don't you wanna hang out together at this thing again? Something about you being embarrassed by being seen with the town's resident poor kid and drug dealer?"

"Ugh, please, I already feel like enough of an asshole. I told you, everyone asking me about school is going to make me uncomfortable enough without having to also explain why you and I are so chummy all of a sudden. I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Don't worry," Kenny laughed. "It's cool, I get it. Like I said, these things aren't really my scene anyways. Craig and I'll probably cut out early to go throw rocks at trains."

"I really do not get you guys."

"It's our Christmas tradition!" Kenny said defensively as they reached Token's house.

Wendy walked up the steps to the front door, leaving Kenny behind in the driveway. "Whaaaaaatever. Just let me know when you're leaving and we can exchange gifts by my car."

"Will do," Kenny answered before pointing a finger gun at her. "See you on the other side." Wendy pointed back at the boy as she passed through the door and disappeared into the party.

After the girl had gone, Kenny leaned against Token's garage and fished a joint out of his pocket. Might as well kill some time, right? Besides, Wendy had smoked most of the bowl they'd shared.

Kenny lit the joint and took his first hit, exhaling the smoke through the cold night air. Shivering, he was just about to pull his hood up to help fight the chill when he felt something cold and wet land gently on his face. Looking up, he saw that it had started to snow.

You could typically rely on Decembers in South Park to be cold and bitter. But while the small mountain town was usually buried in snow by Christmas, this year had been different – the temperature so low and unforgiving that nothing had managed to fall from the sky but ice. South Park had only seen one proper snowfall all year, and that had been weeks ago.

Kenny pulled the hood of his parka over his head and looked up at the falling snow. Taking another hit from his joint, he realized it hadn't snowed since Thanksgiving.

(Thanksgiving)

Opening his refrigerator door, Kenny pushed the turkey left over from dinner towards the back of the fridge before shoving the Tupperware containing the stuffing and mashed potatoes his mother hadn't allowed him to leave without inside too. Thanks to an annual food drive, Thanksgiving was the one time the McCormicks had more food than they needed. He shut the door, only to pause for a moment before opening the fridge back up and reaching inside to remove a can of Sprite. Holding it in his hand, Kenny rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling and briefly considered how he wanted to spend the rest of his night, before making up his mind and closing the fridge.

Kenny set the Sprite down on the counter and went into his room for his lunchbox. Bringing it back to the kitchen, he popped it open and withdrew a small bottle of codeine – some cough syrup he'd written himself a prescription for the last time he'd gotten some 'scripts from Token. Returning to the kitchen with the cough syrup in hand, he broke the seal around its cap and brought the bottle briefly to his lips. After a quick sip he set the bottle down next to the can of soda and ducked into the cupboard to root around for the small bag of Jolly Ranchers that he knew had to still be back there. Even if Butters had been eating them the kid would've been too considerate to not leave Kenny at least one.

Finally finding the bag, Kenny peered inside before plucking out a green Jolly Rancher and rolling it between his fingers. After grabbing a Styrofoam cup from the cabinet above the fridge, he was set.

Kenny cracked open the can of Sprite and emptied it into the cup. He picked the bottle of cough syrup back up and, after a brief moment's consideration, emptied about half of its contents into the soda, turning the clear liquid a medicinal purple. After one more sip from the bottle for good measure, Kenny screwed the cap back on the cough syrup and slipped it into the pocket of his parka. He plopped the Jolly Rancher into the purple concoction and it was finished. Sprite; codeine; candy. Lean. Traditionally served in Styrofoam. Kenny took a long, slow slip of the syrupy soda before picking his lunchbox back up. Supplies in hand, he made his way up to the roof to watch the sunset.


Twenty minutes later the sky had gone dark and Kenny was halfway done sipping his lean. He sat on the buttress at the edge of the roof, legs dangling off the side. Reaching for his lunchbox, he took his pipe and began to pack himself a bowl, only to be interrupted by a vibration in his coat pocket.

Kenny took out his phone to find a text from Wendy. She'd texted him two emojis: one of a pine tree, and the other one of a small fireball. He texted back a green heart. After a few moments, she texted him an emoji of a car.

Returning his phone to his pocket, Kenny took his first hit from the bowl he'd packed, before realizing that he should probably get rid of his lean before Wendy arrived. Given the choice of gulping it down or chucking his cup off the roof, he quickly found himself downing the rest of the almost sickeningly sweet liquid, allowing the Jolly Rancher to fall from the cup and into his mouth. He stored it in the side of his cheek after rolling it over his tongue for a moment. Just to get the taste. Sour green apple.

Kenny was just finishing his first bowl when he got another text from Wendy, this one containing a pair of eyes. He stared at his phone for a second before scrolling through its emoji keyboard. Considering his options, he decided to text back an emoji of a small gray square with two white letters on it: "UP!" Wendy texted back an emoji of two hands extended toward the sky in praise. Kenny grinned to himself and put his phone back in his pocket.

"I thought that one was going to get you," he heard Wendy say behind him as she emerged from the stairwell.

"Did you?" he turned around, hopping off the buttress and taking a seat on the ground next to his lunchbox.

"Yeah, 'cause there's no way to say 'roof' in emoji." She walked over to where Kenny was sitting and took a seat beside him. She leaned against the buttress behind them as Kenny finished packing a bowl and passed it to her. "What are we smoking tonight?"

"Christmas Lights," Kenny told her as she took a hit.

"Isn't it a little early?" she exhaled.

"Never too early for Christmas lights."

"Well I guess you do leave yours on all year." Wendy nodded to the nativity scene that Kenny had plugged in after the sun had set. Casting the two in a dim orange glow, the lawn ornaments served as the only source of light illuminating the dark rooftop. Even the stars were slowly becoming obscured by a thick layer of clouds.

"Why am I smoking you out again?" he teased her as he took the pipe back for another hit. "Did you seriously blow through the stuff I gave you last week that fast?"

"Dude, no, I can't get high at my place; my like, whole family's there? It's Thanksgiving, remember?"

Kenny had practically forgotten. It seemed like every time he blinked it was getting harder to open his eyes back up. He was finding it hard to think about anything else besides him and Wendy sitting on his roof getting stoned together. His head nodded. It sounded like a nice thought to fall asleep to.

"It's cold up here," he could hear her say over the buzzing that had begun to cloud his ears. He could feel Wendy moving next to him, pulling on her pea coat and wrapping her arms around herself. Kenny couldn't feel the cold as he took another hit from the pipe Wendy'd passed him. Exhaling, he steadied himself and found his voice.

"So dinner at your folks' didn't go so well?"

"What gave you that idea," Wendy replied grimly as he handed her back the pipe.

"Well you're sitting on my roof getting high with me instead of like, playing Pictionary or whatever people do with their families on Thanksgiving."

Wendy sighed. "It was like, unbearable. It was my first time seeing everyone since I, you know... came back; and it was all anyone could talk to me about. Like you know, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins… none of them could stop telling me about how sorry they were that 'it didn't work out.' It made me feel like I was at like, I dunno... a fucking funeral for my future or something."

Wendy passed the pipe back to Kenny. He silently took a hit as she continued.

"The worst part was that some of them didn't even know. Like they were actually surprised to see me because like, I was in the city for Thanksgiving last year. That meant I had to fucking... explain things; and you know how talking about that stuff makes me feel."

"Yeah," Kenny said softly, offering a quiet condolence and a freshly packed pipe. He watched her light it as a faint buzzing began to cloud his ears, slowly growing louder as he found himself suddenly enveloped in a blanket of warm fuzz. Feeling his eyelids begin to droop, he struggled to keep them open. "Well, I'm glad you came over." He could barely make out the sound of his own voice above the steadily mounting white noise.

"Ugh, I had to." Kenny focused on Wendy's voice, trying to keep track of what she was saying as the world behind her shifted and blurred out of focus. "I was going to go crazy if I had to spend the rest of the night sober. As soon as you texted me back I told my mom that the Broflovskis had invited me over for dessert and I bolted."

"What, didn't feel like crouching in those bushes behind your house?"

"Oh shut up," she glared at him playfully. "I wanted to see you, asshole."

"Wanted to see me, huh?" He teased again.

"Yeah, I wanted to see you," she repeated quietly. Wendy paused. "You know, whenever we do Thanksgiving at my house, my dad has us all go around the table and say what we're most thankful for."

"Cute. What'd you say?"

Wendy gave a small laugh. "I made up some bullshit about how I was thankful to have such a great family to spend the holidays with. I said that it barely made me miss school at all."

"Well I'm sure it made your folks happy to hear that."

"I guess," Wendy sighed. She was quiet for a moment. They both were.

"It made me think though, if I really did have anything to be thankful for. I've had like... y'know... kind of a bad year."

"Right."

"But as bad as it's been, the last few months haven't been as terrible as I was expecting them to be; and that's, like... mainly been because of you."

Kenny turned to face her. He wanted to respond but couldn't find the words. He was having a hard time stringing any thoughts together at all.

"And like, on the drive over here I realized that I didn't even need to have texted you. If I'd just shown up at your door and told you that I was having a rough night, you'd say something lame to make me laugh and take me up to the roof to get high."

Of course he would have.

"So yeah..." she continued. "Being stuck in South Park has been bad, but... having you around has definitely made being here a whole lot more bearable. And while I still might be bitter about how things have gone for me, well... If you and I are friends now, at least one good thing has come from all this, right?"

Kenny still didn't know what to say. He just let her keep talking.

"Ugh, I know it sounds lame, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that... I'm thankful for you, you know?" She avoided his gaze as her voice grew softer. "So... thanks, Kenny."

After a moment's silence, Wendy's eyes found Kenny's once more. He saw a vulnerability there that he imagined she'd shown very few people. She shifted nervously as she waited for him to respond.

"Are you gonna say anything?" she asked quietly. Hopefully.

Even if Kenny could find the words, it wouldn't have mattered. The tension and noise that had been building in his head finally erupted as the codeine he'd downed before Wendy arrived hit him like a freight train and his whole world went purple. Time seemed to stop as he realized that there was only one way he could respond to what Wendy had told him. So he leaned forward, took the girl's face in his hand, and kissed her.

(Christmas)

"Hey, can I get a hit of that?"

Kenny had gotten so lost in the snow falling from the sky that he hadn't even realized that someone had walked up the driveway towards him. Standing a few feet in front of the boy, illuminated by the light that shone from above Token's garage, was Bebe Stevens.

"Oh my gosh," Kenny said softly. "Hey."

"Hey," Bebe smiled at him. The two stepped towards each other and embraced. "How've ya been, kid."

Her arms still around him, Kenny exhaled. "Things have been so weird, dude."

"It sounds like it," she told him as he passed her the joint. "Are you waiting for Wendy?"

"Nah, she already went inside. I'm probably gonna chill out here a little longer, but you should go in and find her; she probably only came to this thing because she wanted to see you."

Bebe smiled. "It's really weird," she told him, "Actually hearing you talk about her like that."

"Like how?"

"I dunno, like you know her. Although I guess you do, now."

"I mean, I don't think I know her any better than you do."

"I'm not too sure about that anymore; from everything you've told me, it sounds like there's quite a bit that no one seems to know about Wendy Testaburger."


After parting ways with Kenny, it only took Wendy about twenty minutes before she began feeling ready to leave. While she found herself amidst a sea of familiar faces for the first time since she could remember, it'd been hard to find anyone that she really wanted to talk to. It'd been nice to catch up with Red and Nichole, but listening to them talk about how college was going turned out to be just as depressing as Wendy expected.

The only person she'd really been looking forward to seeing anyways was Bebe. Whenever she'd thought of her recently, Wendy couldn't help but feel disappointed with herself for doing such a terrible job keeping in touch with her childhood best friend. Bebe had been a shoulder for her to cry on all summer, and Wendy had returned the favor by barely even texting her since Bebe had left to go back to school in September.

It wasn't that Wendy didn't want to talk to Bebe, she just never knew what to say. While her friend may have been the one person whose life at school she wouldn't have minded hearing about, Wendy wasn't exactly sure how she'd account for her own time if Bebe asked what she'd been up to in South Park. The question actually had come up more than once, but Wendy had always allowed it to end their conversation, letting the text just sit there for weeks until it was long forgotten. Wendy had hoped that talking to her friend in person might be a little easier; at least easier than having to make small talk with the rest of her former classmates.

But so far, Bebe was nowhere to be found. After taking one more cursory glance around the party for her friend, Wendy decided that she needed some punch. However, when she ducked into the kitchen to grab a cup, she came face to face with the one person she'd hoped that she could spend the night without bumping into.

"Oh, hey Wendy," Kyle Broflovski waved awkwardly.

"Oh, Kyle," Wendy started, a little caught off guard. "Hey. What's up." Ugh, she couldn't believe she was going to have to do this. "How've you been. How's uh, school."

Kyle laughed sheepishly. "Oh you know. It's Cornell." Wendy didn't know. "It's like as much work as you'd probably expect," he explained. "I carried like a full course-load this semester so I basically lived in the library..."

"Sounds rough," Wendy replied dully as she moved to pour herself some punch. She almost (almost being the key word here) felt bad for Kyle. He finally managed to get away from his mom and he still couldn't figure out how to put down a textbook for more than five minutes. God, it was like his parents had actually deprogrammed the part of his brain that knew how to have fun.

"So, uh, I was actually kinda hoping to run into you at this thing," the boy started again. He sounded nervous. Wendy arched her eyebrows at him as she took a sip from her punch. How ironic.

"I was, uh, wondering if you'd talked to Stan recently?"

Typical. Wendy took another sip of punch before giving the boy a curt reply. "No, I haven't."

"O-oh, o-okay," he stammered in what could have passed for a decent Butters impression. "I was just wondering how he's doing. I haven't talked to him in a while..."

"Well, none of us have. I think he's doing fine, though. I bumped into Sharon at the grocery store like a month ago and she said he's still in rehab. I think he's like an in-patient at SPYC. He's like, talking to people, or something. About all that stuff with his dad, I think.

"Well I'm glad he's somewhere like that at least."

"Uh huh." Wendy took another sip of punch. Kyle continued to stand around awkwardly, as if he still had questions for her or something.

"Um, I don't suppose you've talked to Cartman either?" Unbelievable. "I noticed he wasn't here, but…"

"Yeeeeaaah... it might surprise you but Eric and I don't really... talk."

"Yeah, I wasn't really expecting that you... yeah. I was just wondering if like..." His voice sounded small as his words seemed to fade away. "I dunno. Honestly it's been... hard making friends at school so I'd been looking forward to coming back and maybe like..."

Oh my god, was he serious? The last thing Wendy wanted to do was stand around listening to Kyle Broflovski wax nostalgic about the old friends he'd basically chosen to cut out of his own life. So everyone at Cornell probably thought that Kyle was as boring and uninteresting as he actually was. Boohoo. What was he expecting? That the relationships he'd stopped putting effort into would just be waiting around for him to come pick back up? Entitled little shit. Topping off her punch, she decided she was done.

"Hey, so uh," Kyle tried to start again. "I heard that you didn't go back to school this year and I just wanted to say that like... totally sucks... I felt really bad when Ike told me..." Yeah, apparently not bad enough to realize that she'd be the last person who'd want to hear about how unhappy he was at his fucking dream school.

"Appreciate it," she said bitterly as she turned to head back to the party, leaving the boy alone by the punch bowl. She resisted the temptation to flip him off behind her back as she left the room. Eat shit, Kyle Broflovski.


"You're not wearing the sweater I got you!"

"I'm never going to wear that thing," Craig greeted Kenny as the blond leaned against the wall beside him.

"Well Merry Christmas to you too."

"Clyde's down to smoke after this by the way."

"Oh nice! Who else is here?"

"Ack!" Tweek practically spasmed as he scrambled around the corner to join the two. "Craig! I used up all the toilet paper in Token's bathroom!"

"Oh my god," Kenny gasped in excitement. "You got Tweek to come!"

"I didn't want to!" The other blond clarified, a mug of hot chocolate clutched in his trembling hands. "Craig knows Christmas parties make me anxious! Everything about Christmas makes me anxious! Like Santa Claus! That shit freaked me out when I was a kid! I don't want some fat guy with a beard watching me all the time! Seeing everything I do! Knowing everything about me! Judging me! It's too much pressure!"

"Not to mention the whole breaking into your house while you sleep thing, right?" Kenny winked at the jittery boy.

"Gah!"

"Don't tease him." Craig took the mug of hot chocolate from Tweek's hands and took a sip for himself. "What happened in the bathroom."

"I used the last of the toilet paper! It wasn't my fault though there was just barely any left! I... I sat there for like five minutes freaking out about whether to use it or not but... but I had to, you know! Do you think Token's gonna be mad at me!? Oh my god, he's going to think I ruined his party! Oh my god... oh my god I need to go to the store and buy more toilet paper before he finds out!"

Craig grasped the sleeve of Tweek's oversized Christmas sweater as he tried to run off in panic. "Hey. It's okay. You do not need to go to the store and buy toilet paper. Breathe."

Tweek's whole body shuddered for a moment before he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Jesus Christ," he sighed as he clutched his chest.

"Better?" Craig passed him back the hot chocolate.

"Better."

"I am so glad you brought Tweek!" Kenny grinned.

"M-merry Christmas," Tweek trembled into his mug.

"Did you bring the other one?" Kenny asked Craig, looking around the party hopefully.

"Thomas is volunteering at SPYC."

"Gah!" Tweek spilled his hot chocolate on himself. "Ouch! Shit! Craig! How does Kenny know about that!"

"I told him."

"I told you I didn't want you telling people!" Tweek hushed his voice, looking around nervously. "If people find out everyone will think I'm... I'm a s-slut or something!"

"I mean it sounds like you are," Kenny winked at him again.

"Ack Craig!" Tweek started to beat the taller boy on the shoulder. "What have you told him!"

"He's joking," Craig lied, glaring at Kenny. "Can we go smoke now, Clyde said he'd be ready whenever you got here."

"Smoke!" Tweek yelped. "I don't wanna smoke! What if we get caught and thrown in jail! What if I get too high and freak out!"

"You usually just get really sappy and cuddly."

"G-gah... Okay maybe..."

"Great, so let's go."

"Dude, gimme a minute," Kenny replied. "I just got here. Besides, I can totally get Red to come smoke with us." Kenny turned around to look for the girl, only to see Kyle Broflovski emerging from the kitchen. "Uh," he turned back to Craig, "Actually yeah, let's go now."


Wendy emerged from the kitchen annoyed. Glancing around the party, she spotted Kenny chatting with Craig and Tweek over by the stairs. Ugh, she was almost tempted to ask Kenny if he wanted to duck out and smoke another bowl in his car. Fortunately, a cheery voice from behind distracted her before the rest of her resolve could crumble away.

"Surprise bitch!"

Wendy spun around to finally find Bebe standing behind her. With a pair of fake antlers protruding from a headband buried in her golden curls and a Christmas sweater pulled tight over her ample bust, the girl was truly a sight for sore eyes. Finally, someone she felt like she could actually talk to. But before she said anything, Wendy eyed her friend in mock scrutiny.

"Are your... holy shit, are… are your tits actually getting bigger?" she asked, trying to sound as sincerely bewildered as possible while still cracking a sly grin.

"Oh my god, shut up," Bebe laughed as the two girls embraced. "It's so good to see you."

"Ugh I cannot even tell you how good it is to see you."

"You make it sound like all your friends moved away and you've just been living in this town by yourself for the last four months or something."

"Actually I've been looking for someone to run me over with their car and you're the only one I trust to kill me on the first go."

"Oh puh-lease. The last few months couldn't have been that bad. I'm sure you've at least had time to develop some new hobbies."

"Oh yeah, let's see: uh, moping, wallowing in despair, reflecting on past failures…"

"Selling drugs?"

Wendy's stomach lurched. Oh my god what? What? This was not happening. It couldn't be.

"Uhhhhh whaaaat're you talking about?" she asked, trying not to break into a cold sweat.

"I bumped into Jimmy Valmer while I was looking for you," Bebe smirked at her. "When I asked if he'd seen you he told me you sold him some pot in the parking lot of MPCC a few months ago."

"That fucking blabbermouth," Wendy swore as her insides settled, relieved that Bebe didn't seem to know the full extent of the truth. She quickly found her composure. "I thought I could make a few bucks ditching this old weed that my roommate forgot I was holding for her. I wouldn't have sold it to Jimmy if I knew he was going to tell our entire graduating class though..."

"Relax," Bebe laughed. "I figured that you wouldn't want that kinda thing making the rounds so I told him to keep his mouth shut about it. Wouldn't want Kenny to think you're encroaching on his business, right? Or is that why you two have been hanging out so much?" she asked slyly.

There went Wendy's stomach again. "How do you know about that?" she asked, probably a little too nervously. She didn't know whether she'd meant that Kenny sold drugs or that they'd become friends.

"That Kenny sells drugs or that you two are pals now? He told me, duh. He's mentioned hanging out with you like, a bunch of times."

"What? What, do you guys like, talk?"

"Yeah, like all the time. We're super close, actually; we kinda talk to each other about everything."

Everything? "I'm confused, how long has this been going on?"

"You mean how long have we been friends? Since like, high school, dude. I swear I told you about this, like... kind of? We like..." – she laughed nervously and broke eye contact – "Slept together a few times?"

Holy shit that was right. "Holy shit that's right."

"Did you know we lost our virginities together? Like," Bebe giggled, "to each other."

"Ooh no way, I do not need to think about two of my best friends doing… that."

"Jesus Wendy it was like, five years ago. Before the whole 'Clyde' thing happened, even. Kenny really helped me get through that breakup afterwards too, actually."

"Ahhhh what did I just say!"

"Ugh, not like… that. But like, I remember this one night, right after things ended, he came by my house around 3 AM with a bottle of cheap scotch he'd stolen from his parents or something. He woke me up by throwing pebbles at my window, can you fucking believe him?"

"Never," she deadpanned in her finest Craig Tucker impression.

"We stayed up all night drinking before Kenny went back out through the window as the sun started to come up. God, we got so drunk. We made this stupid pact and swore that we'd get married if we were both still single by the time we turned 40. Or maybe it was 30. I dunno, we were super trashed. Kenny almost broke his neck trying to climb down the side of my house."

"Cute."

Bebe's eyes narrowed. "You know," she grinned, "if I didn't know better I'd think you sound jealous.

"Ha! Good thing you know better."

"You don't have a crush on him, do you?"

"Oh my god, do not be ridiculous."

"Shame," Bebe said into her plastic cup, rolling her eyes. "He definitely has a thing for you..."

Wendy scoffed. "Oh please."

"I mean, not that he's told me, but you can tell from the way he talks about you."

"And how's that?"

"I dunno, like you're... like the two of you are Batgirl and Robin or something. He's always telling me about the 'cool Middle Park parties' you take him to. It kinda sounds like you guys spend all your time together, honestly." Bebe laughed, "He told me he's even convinced you to smoke pot with him a few times, which I like, could not believe."

"A few times," Wendy repeated dully.

"Yeah, which is why that was like the first thing I thought of when Jimmy told me that he bought weed from you."

"Well I hate to disappoint you Bebe, but I'm not running around South Park peddling drugs with Kenny McCormick." She cooly took a sip of her punch. "But while I can't say I... approve of all of Kenny's... hobbies, I have had a good time hanging out with him for the past few months."

"And that's all you guys do. You just... hang out."

"Well, yeah. He's like... the only friend I have left here."

"And you're just friends."

Wendy hesitated to answer. She looked down at the plastic cup of punch in her hand.

(Thanksgiving)

Honestly, Wendy wasn't sure if she'd texted Kenny an hour ago with the intention of having sex with him. Of course, she'd known how Kenny might react to the feelings she'd decided to share with him. But that hadn't stopped her from asking him if she could come over, or from getting in her car and driving to his apartment, or from doing her eyeliner at the stoplights on the way there. Fuck, who was she kidding?

But whether or not this had been her intention from the start was a question she probably should've thought about before the boy had kissed her – because now all she could think about was climbing into his lap and fucking him right there on the roof. So without a second thought, she shifted to straddle him and pushed him back into the buttress behind them, taking advantage of the small gasp he let out and sliding her tongue into his mouth. Sour green apple.

"Sweet," she whispered against his lips. Kenny didn't answer with words; his response came in the form of his hands sliding up her skirt to grip her ass through her tights. Reacting to the boy's touch, she started grinding into his lap, feeling him harden beneath her. God, was she really doing this? Fuck it, she was doing this. It may have been cold, but they could keep each other warm.

Wendy's hands moved down Kenny's body, intending to make quick work of his belt and jeans. However, she paused when she realized that the boy's lips had stopped moving against her own. Drawing her head back, Wendy could see that Kenny's face had begun welling up in frustration. He looked down to avoid her gaze, only for a few tears to begin falling from his face. Shit.

"Shit, shit, shit," she heard Kenny say under his breath as she slid off him and back onto the ground. He buried his face in his hands but she could tell from the way his shoulders trembled that the boy was crying.

Wendy tried not to panic "K-kenny?" her voice broke. "Kenny, what's wrong?"

"I just… I'm sorry, but I… I dunno if I can keep doing this, Wendy."

She swallowed hard. "Doing what?"

"I dunno…" he said quietly. "These… one-more-times."

Her stomach dropped. "Kenny…"

"I'm really sorry, I mean, it's just… a few months ago you told me that this wasn't going to happen again. But like… we've had two one-more-times since then and this just feels like it's happening again. I guess it's just gotten to the point where I just… I don't really know how to feel."

Wendy felt like a complete bitch.

She was almost afraid to respond. "Do you feel like… like I've been using you?"

Kenny sighed in frustration. "No, it's not that. It's more like… I dunno... I really… like you, Wendy."

Her heart felt like it was breaking. "I really like you too," she hurried to reply. Fuck, she was about to start crying herself. "I… I meant what I said before, you know."

"I didn't mean to kiss you," Kenny sniffed a few tears away.

A tear fell down Wendy's own cheek. "Well… I was kind of asking for it." Yep, now they were both crying. So much for her eyeliner.

"I don't know what you're asking for, though. Because every time this happens, it feels like it's… like it's leading to somewhere we can't go."

Wendy had been hanging out with Kenny for so long now that she'd started to routinely forget that the entire reason the two of them had grown close in the first place was that she'd needed a way to fund her escape from South Park – an escape they both knew would involve leaving him behind. Remembering never made her feel very good.

She looked at Kenny. Wendy could tell by the sadness in his eyes that they were both struggling with the same emotions. There was some comfort in that, but not enough to prevent her from beating her fist on the ground in frustration. "Fuck, dude."

Kenny let out a small laugh. "Right?"

"I mean, if things were just… different."

The boy was silent for a moment. "You ever wish they were?"

"Of course I do," she admitted through her tears. The fact that he even had to ask made her feel bad. "I mean… being friends with you has been more fun than anything that could've happened to me if I'd gone back to school last semester."

"You're gonna make me kiss you again."

Still crying, they both laughed.

"I'm really sorry," Wendy said, her voice quiet again. "I don't… I guess I don't always know what I want."

"Well, I just want things to be okay with us when you… when you leave. I'm not sure they would be if we started acting like anything other than friends in the meantime."

Wendy sighed. She knew he was right, but Kenny had become so, so much more than just a friend. How could she possibly put into words just how special he'd become to her?

Suddenly, she found the words she'd been searching for.

"Y'know…" Wendy began quietly, "You're more than just my friend, Kenny."

Moments passed before the boy replied. Finally, he answered her.

"Don't say what I think you're about to say."

"…You're my super best friend."

Kenny sighed. "C'mere," he motioned for her to come sit by him.

Wendy shifted around until she was sitting next to him, edging closer until their bodies touched. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she wiped the tears from her eyes. Listening to his breathing, she could tell that he'd stopped crying too.

"Is this okay?" she asked. "Was this okay?"

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "Are you still cold?"

Before Wendy could answer, she felt something wet touch the tip of her nose, something colder than the tears she'd been crying only moments before. She looked up to see that it had started to snow. The first snowfall of the year. She huddled closer to Kenny.

"No."

(Christmas)

"Yeah," Wendy said quietly, still looking down at her cup. "Yeah, we're just friends."

Wendy felt her phone vibrate. Taking it out, she saw she'd gotten a text; a car emoji.

"Hang on," she told Bebe, "I'll be right back."


Kenny leaned against Wendy's car, her gift tucked under his arm. Hearing the click of the car's automatic locks, he turned to see Wendy walking towards him, her hands buried in the pockets of her pea coat.

"You coulda just grabbed me on your way out dude!" she said as she drew close. "I almost missed your text."

"I didn't wanna blow your cover," he winked at her. "Here," he said, holding out her present. "Gotchya something."

Kenny thought the girl looked a little nervous as she took her gift and turned it over in her hands.

"Can I open it now?"

"Please!"

Wendy unwrapped the gift to reveal a vinyl copy of "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen. She turned it over in her hand before letting out a sigh of exasperation. "Unbelievable."

Kenny couldn't help but be a little taken back. "Hey, what? I know you don't have a turntable but I still thought it'd be fun to get stoned and play it over at my place. We've never listened to Springsteen together before! Plus, that's a first pressing! I actually found a-"

"A guy online who was selling a bunch of original copies," Wendy replied dully before he could finish.

"Uh, yeah, actually," Kenny said in confusion. "Wait, what?"

Instead of answering, Wendy walked past him and opened the back door of her car. She reached in and pulled out what could only be a vinyl record concealed in some festive wrapping paper.

"Oh you're kidding."

Wendy just sighed in amusement, holding out the boy's gift. "Merry Christmas, Kenny."

Kenny took his present and let out a small laugh. "Merry Christmas, Wendy."


Happy holidays!