-1Disclaimer: SP boys are copyright Matt Stone Trey Parker and South Park Studios. Not me. And that's probably a good thing…

A/N:

Okay, I thought I was going to have a chapter before I left, but I didn't… I'm sorry… D: But here's one now! Yay!
ENJOY!

…if anyone wants to see the fish I caught, check out zoshi-the-confused. deviantart. Com (without the spaces :D) I have one pic up and I'll try to have more soon, after I sleep off the travel crazies..

Thanks to:

Kennylover98

Bee Bop


I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Thank you former reviewers for coming back, and welcome new reviewers! I hope you enjoy!


Title: Lovesong

Author: Zoshi the Confused
Rating: PG-13 to M (eventually)
Category: South Park

Genre: General/Romance

Contains: (or will contain) Violence, Adult Situations, Swearing, SHOUNEN-AI - BOYLOVE

SEQUEL TO VANILLA BLUE


Stan barely took three steps into the classroom before a pair of hands gripped his arm and dragged him back out. The school walls streaked by him as he was dragged further down the hallway and into a bathroom. Feeling the tight grip finally leave his arms, he turned around to face the nervous blond now standing off to the side, wringing his hands and looking at him with a horribly guilty look.

"W-we… uh, that… that is, t-there's a problem, S-stan…" Butters whimpered, backing up against a sink.

"A problem? What are you talking about?" Stan frowned, confused. What the hell had happened?

"Well, well, you see, t-there was this p-project, a… a few days ago…" Butters stuttered, but Stan stopped him.

"Calm down, Butters, all right? Calm down…" Stan put his hands on the blond's shoulders. Butters took a deep breath, then nodded. Stan took his hands back and motioned for him to continue. "Okay, try again…"

"There was this project, and… and Ah got grouped with Kenny an-and Eric…" Butters began to explain, gripping his hands tightly in each other to keep them from shaking. "And we were gonna go to Eric's house to do it, but… but his mom was-" And here Butters paused to take a gulp of air. "-was busy, and… and then Kenny got hit by a car, and Eric said we had to go to my house, and I didn't want to…"

He turned big, blue, pleading eyes at Stan.

"Please don't be mad, Stan, Ah… Ah didn't mean for it to happen…" Butters whimpered again, and Stan found himself putting his hands back on the blonde's shoulders, rubbing them gently to try and calm him down.

"Its really all my fault, Ah really should've been payin' more attention," Butters frowned, his eyes flitting away to focus on something unknown. "Ah'm always messing thin's up and its not right, no sir…"

"Butters, I'm sure it wasn't your fault…" Stan was getting a little worried now; he hadn't seen Butters this flustered in years. "Tell me what happened."

There was a moment where Butters continued to stare off somewhere, and then he turned his eyes back to Stan. His face was pale, drained, his eyes wide and scared.

"They're gone…" His voice came out as a squeak. Stan frowned thoughtfully for a second.

"They?" He pronounced the word carefully, as if that would help shock his memory into remembering what that 'they' could be.

"Th…the letters…" Butters said, his head lowering slightly as his voice dropped. Now he was staring mournfully up at Stan, rigid and unmoving as he waited for Stan's reaction.

For a moment, Stan didn't know how to react. The letters were gone. Kyle's letters were… gone. And then he remembered what Butters had been saying, that there was a project, that he was supposed to work on it with Kenny and Cartman… that Kenny had died before they'd gotten anywhere. Cartman and Butters had to work on the project at his house, alone.

"Cartman…" he breathed, just noticing that his hands were gripping Butters's shoulders tightly. The blond was shifting uncomfortably in his grasp. "Cartman… has them…?"

The thought was so unreal it barely registered in his mind. Butters's place was the safest, he'd concluded, mainly because no one out of their little group regularly went there. From what he knew, no one at all ever regularly went there. The letters should have been safe, hidden away as they were.

Butters nodded, but just barely.

"He musta looked around when Ah wasn't there…" Butters explained, sighing shakily. "But Ah had to leave a few times, and Ah didn't know that he'd, he'd start snoopin' around…"

"Are you sure Cartman took them?" Stan asked like it was the most important thing in the world. And maybe it was.

"It had ta be, no one else was over since then, and they were there before…" Butters gazed at him woefully, and Stan felt the shoulders his hands were on droop. "Ah messed up, didn't Ah…"

"No, Butters, its not your fault…" Stan said, "You couldn't know that Cartman was going to be an ass and go looking where he wasn't supposed to…"

What to do now? If Cartman had those letters, then he knew. And he knew everything, everything they did. But that wasn't the worst part; they'd only read those letter to figure out how to help. Cartman was sure to use everything that came into his grasp as blackmail for whatever plans he had in mind, especially if that something involved Kyle, and if Cartman did that, if everything came out into the light…

"…we're doomed…" Stan didn't realize he spoke the last part out loud, but Butters shuddered, staring at him.

"We are?" The blond shuddered again, hands freeing themselves to grip onto Stan's arms. "Ah knew it, Ah knew I ruined everythin'…"

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that…" Stan hurried to reassure him. "It's going to be all right, I was… just thinking of something else. Don't worry, alright?"

"Alright Stan…" Butters took a deep breath. "But what do we do about Eric?"

"Watch him," Stan said thoughtfully, "Watch him very, very carefully…"

For a long moment the two stood there, until Stan realized that his hands were still resting on Butters's shoulders. He pulled them away, clearing his throat.

"We should get back to class before the teacher marks us absent," He said, stepping back a little. Butters nodded before heading out of the bathroom slowly. Stan made to follow, but stopped, looking down at his hands. What a weird feeling… He shook his head, closing his hands and heading out of the bathroom. He'd have time to wonder about that later, right now Cartman was more important.


Frustration, impatience, both good words for how Stan was feeling at the moment. For the past five days he, along with Butters, had been watching Cartman's every move. Well, every move that they could see. There were still the hours after school, when neither Butters nor Stan could find him, when he could have been putting his plan in motion.

When they weren't watching Cartman, they were trying to monitor Kyle. It wasn't the easiest thing either, especially since most of the time he was locked away behind the doors of his house. Each time Stan went over the visit was monitored, either by the hawk-sharp eyes of Mrs. Sheila Broflovski, who would bustle in with the excuse of asking what they wanted for dinner or to inform them that she was stepping out for a bit, or the cold eyes of Ike, who would generally stare at Stan as he entered the house, retreating to his room afterwards. Stan suspected that the boy was listening through the wall, since every time they got up to leave Kyle's room Ike was there too, and wouldn't you know it, heading in the same direction as them, whether it was the kitchen or the backyard.

Stan had no idea how Kyle could stand living like that, but surprisingly, the redhead was calm and relaxed. He didn't snap at anyone, didn't even glare at anyone, which led Stan to believe that something was horribly wrong with his best friend. Fuck, Kyle hadn't gotten mad at anything for almost two months. Ever since he got back he'd been… weird. Different. Not-Kyle. Stan didn't like it, and he suspected that it had something to do with whatever it was that made him denounce his relationship with Kenny.

But there was one thing that struck him as odd: both Butters and Kenny (who was beginning to say less and less as the days passed) told him that Cartman was suddenly rocketing through lessons with high grades. Now, granted, Cartman wasn't a stupid kid, when he applied, he managed to out-ace almost everyone, but the fact was that school grades weren't top priorities in Cartman's mind. The only way he'd want to do well in school was if he was confident that he'd be able to outdo Kyle in that, and he wasn't. Why would Cartman be applying himself now?

Unless, he was just forcing Kyle to do his homework? That could be plausible, then he wouldn't have to waste energy on things he didn't want to do.

But… there was so much in those letters, to use them like that seemed… lacking. There had to be more to what he was doing, Stan was sure. But what?

"Stan, would you take Sparky out?"

He groaned, rolling off of his bed. Sparky, the family mutt, was already waiting for him outside his door. The damn dog always knew who it was that was going to take him for the walk, and had the annoying habit of shadowing whoever it was until they put on their shoes and got the leash. Grumbling a series of curses Stan plodded down the stairs, Sparky at his heels the whole way, and pulled his shoes on. The dog was doing circles in front of the door, tongue lolling about, eyes bright with excitement, as if he hadn't been out for a walk just a few hours earlier.

"Trust me, mutt, there's nothing new to sniff out there," Stan told him as he clipped the leash onto his collar. "Just the same old world there always is…"

They headed out, Sparky nearly dislocating his shoulder, as usual, in his haste to get to the neighbors tree. After a series of deep sniffs and huffs he left his mark and they set off on their walk.

Overall, Stan didn't mind walking the dog. It gave him an excuse to wander around for a while, something that he'd usually get quizzed over by his mom otherwise, and it was so routine he could let his thoughts wander without worrying that he was going to do something stupid, like cross in the middle of the street and walk under a car.

And so, with Sparky leaving his trail as he followed someone else's, Stan let his thoughts wander.

Cartman. Cartman definitely had a plan. More than once that week Stan had caught him looking at Kyle with a triumphant glint in his eyes, a look that generally meant that havoc was soon to follow. It was days past now, but still no havoc. Did Cartman have something bigger in his plans? Something more than just humiliating the redhead? What was he planning that took him so long to act?

It must be something horrible, Stan decided. Something so… Cartman that the rest of them couldn't figure it out. The thought did nothing to calm Stan's nerves. They were frayed enough as it is, what with the constant worrying about Kyle he did, and about Kenny, and about Butters, because as hard as he tried the blonde couldn't hide the fact that whatever tough façade he'd built up was crumbling under the pressure of the current situation. Butters had never been able to deal with problems this big. He was never as bad as Tweek, who'd fall apart at the mention of pressure, but he wasn't the best either. The only thing keeping Butters going, Stan thought, was his unexplainable optimism in the face of everything. As horrible as things got, he always managed to find some shred of hope in everything. That, Stan discovered, was something that wouldn't go away, as a day after they'd decided to watch Cartman, Butters had shown him an intricate schedule that would allow them to shadow Cartman as much as possible over the days.

"Ah really think we got a shot at this, Stan. Actually, I think we got a really good shot at this," Butters had said, beaming at him happily. Gone was the nervous wreck in the bathroom, replaced by the poster boy for optimists everywhere. Sunshine in the gloom, that's Butters.

Stan chuckled to himself, pulling Sparky away from a bush and heading on. The walk was nice, and relaxing, but they should be getting back soon. He turned around, starting off, when he saw a familiar figure on the other side of the street. Pulling Sparky along, Stan crossed the street, hurrying after the figure.

"Butters! Wait up!" He called out, and the blond stopped, turning to look at him curiously.

"Oh, hi Stan." Butters grinned, then looked down at Spark. "Hi there doggy…"

"What're you up to?" Stan grinned back. Suddenly, he didn't feel so disinterested in things anymore.

"Oh, uh, noth-nothin' much," Butters clasped his hands behind his back loosely. "You know, just takin' a walk around…"

"Mind if we join you?" Stan asked, Sparky wagging his tail lazily at his feet.

"S-Sure," Butters stuttered, and while he smiled, Stan had the feeling that something wasn't quite right. Still, he stayed quiet as they started off down the street.

"So, anything interesting happen lately?" Stan asked after a while.

"Well, Ah was over at Kenny's house today," Butters said, kicking at a rock as they passed it.

"How's he doing? He's been a little quiet lately," Stan glanced over at the blonde.

"Oh, he's… well, he's tryin' to move on…" Butters said with a sigh, then looked over at Stan from the corner of his eye. "I'm tryin' to get him to still, you know, believe but…"

Stan groaned, and Sparky looked up at him, head cocked.

"Why? If he could only hold out a little longer…" Stan shook his head angrily. A little longer, and what? They were no closer to solving the problem than they had been two months ago.

"It was Rebecca… He really thinks that Kyle's moved past it…" Butters said, rubbing his arms.

"Do you think he has?" Stan asked, looking at Butters closely. The blond frowned for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, Ah don't think he did. Have you noticed? Kyle doesn't look so… happy." Butters said thoughtfully. "Ah don't think he's really into Rebecca."

Stan snorted.

"He wouldn't be into her no matter what," Stan said, "She's just as crazy as his mom. And she's always hanging all over him. Fuck, no guy wants that."

"…what about a guy who wants to forget everything?" Butters asked quietly. Stan sighed, looking up at the sky.

"Whatever. God, I can't think about it anymore, that's all I've been doing all day today." Stan groaned. "My head's starting to hurt sooo bad…"

Butters chuckled at that, shaking his head.

"Ah know how you feel, trust me." He said grinning over at Stan. The black haired boy found himself grinning back comfortably.

"You wanna come over, Butters?" Stan asked suddenly. Butters looked at him, a little shocked, then glanced away nervously.

"Well… actually, Ah was… Ah was going to ask you if Ah could stay over at your house tonight…" Butters said, finally looking back at him.

"Sure," Stan said without really thinking about it. "Why?"

"See, my parents went to visit my Aunt and Uncle, and Ah sorta locked myself out'a the house," Butters explained, "And Ah was gonna go to Kenny's house, but he's working tonight, so…"

"It's no problem," Stan grinned, but something about Butters's explanation didn't' sound right to his ears. Whatever, the blond was smiling so happily that Stan felt it would be in bad taste to start interrogating him right then. "Come on, my mom should be done with dinner by now."

Together they headed back towards Stan's house, Sparky leaving his trail in their wake.