The air was warm and dry, reflecting the common California climate. Luckily for the four teens in a rusting, blue car, they had gotten the air conditioner working, (after many frustrated smacks to the side of the dashboard, of course,) and were driving happily through the would-be heated state.

A few miles after the border, Kyle noticed something wrong. "Are you kidding me?" he demanded, smacking his hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

Stan frowned. "What's the matter?"

The boys started to slow down unwillingly. Kenny and Cartman were too busy fighting in the backseat to notice anything was wrong. "I…I guess we're running out of gas," he stated. Stan sighed.

A few yards later, the car stopped completely, and the redhead in the driver's seat got out of the car in annoyance. The arguing teens in the backseat stopped their feud and questioned Stan about what was happening.

"Well, good going, retard," Cartman said to Kyle with a scowl as everyone exited the no-longer-cool vehicle. "How the hell are we going to get to L.A. by six if we have no gas? Token said if we're late he's giving our rooms to some stupid chicks he met in Denver."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "You were the one who wanted the AC on. I told you it drained gas faster," he muttered. The brunette didn't reply. "I guess we'll have to walk to the nearest town."

Kenny laughed. "We?" he said jokingly. "It's your car, dude."

Stan frowned at the blonde. "It's not Kyle's fault."

Kyle shook his head. "There's no point in all of us going. I'll go by myself," he volunteered. After discussing the matter of who should go for gas for about ten minutes, it was decided that Kyle would go, accompanied by Cartman, because neither Stan nor Kenny wanted to hear him bitching about the heat in the car, and Kyle said he would make the sacrifice for them.

Stan and Kenny watched gratefully as Kyle and Cartman walked off down the hot road with an empty red gasoline container, bickering loudly.

"I'm so glad I'm not Kyle," Kenny commented as the two friends got into the front seats of the car where they wouldn't get sunburned. Stan nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. He's such a great friend," he added absently. Kenny bit his lip in jealousy. Instead of ignoring him, the blonde decided to make a bigger deal of it than necessary.

He coughed. "You know," Kenny began. "Kyle's done lots of things you don't know about."

Stan raised his eyebrows. "Like what?"

Kenny shrugged. "He smokes. Did you know that?" he said. He briefly wondered if he was taking his envy too far, but shook it off. Being a third wheel was getting old. When would someone realize that he could be a good friend too?

The raven-haired teen's eyes widened. "Seriously? No way. He would've told me. No, he wouldn't smoke in the first place. Kyle's too smart to do that."

Kenny made a face. "It's true," he stated. "I saw him with the goth kids last week, and they were all smoking."

Stan frowned. "You're such a liar, Kenny."

He scowled. "I'm not lying, it's true!" he said in frustration. Kenny didn't mind being called a liar when he was, in fact, lying, but when he's telling the truth, being called a liar by one of your best friends is just about the worst feeling in the world. Maybe even worse than dying.

"I hate it when you do that," Kenny muttered in irritation a few minutes of awkward silence later.

"Do what?"

The blonde shrugged. "Get all defensive of him. It's like you worship him or something." He mentally slapped himself. Now he was just trying to get himself into an argument.

To his surprise, Stan simply shrugged and rolled down the passenger window, leaning his head outside, despite there being absolutely no wind. "I don't. I just think you're being a jealous, lying prick."

Kenny stared at him. "I'm the prick? When we were fighting over who should go for gas, all that came out of your mouth was that it wasn't Kyle's fault. Kyle this, Kyle that, when the hell are you going to get it through your head that there are more people in the world than just – "

There was a brief moment of pure confusion as the two teens in the run-down, boiling-hot car on the side of a road somewhere in the Californian backcountry kissed. Kenny, who hadn't even realized it when Stan had forced their lips together in irritation, panicked.

More than anything, Stan seemed calm. There was no movement between the two, simply a long, slow kiss. Kenny didn't bother questioning his motives, because he couldn't find any logical ones based on their conversation. People in arguments don't kiss one another!

Kenny wondered if their lip-lock would last forever, but eventually, Stan pulled away. Despite everything, he scowled.

"Happy now? Can you shut up until they get back, now?" he said, annoyed. Kenny wouldn't meet his friend's eyes. Of course, he wasn't happy, and there was no way he would be shutting up until the other teens returned.

After carefully deciding on words, he planned out a whole speech to give to Stan, who was now gazing out the windshield blankly. When he turned to look at Kenny, he threw the damn speech out the window.

"Why did you kiss me if you hate me, Stan?" he blurted out all at once. Stan's look softened.

He replied, "I don't hate you. I just hate it when you go on and on about how jealous you are of Kyle. Maybe you don't realize it all the time, but I do. I kissed you so you'd realize I'm not obsessed with him. You're my friend, too, man," he said with a comforting smile. But Kenny wasn't so sure.

"Listen, Stan. You're my best friend in the whole world. But for you, Kyle is. Do you realize how crappy it makes me feel when my best friend in the whole world gets mad at me all the time and won't stop being nice to someone else?"

Stan sighed. "I know, I know. You're right. And I'm sorry," he said. His face lit up again and he beamed at Kenny. Kenny closed his eyes as Stan kissed him again, longer and deeper than before.

When they pulled away again, Kenny gave his friend a confused look. "Was I trash-talking Kyle too much again?"

The black-haired teen laughed. "No. I wanted to kiss you that time," he told him, a small blush playing on his handsome features.

The boys jumped as Cartman's loud, obnoxious voice could be heard drawing closer to the car. Stan and Kenny looked out the windshield quickly. As the other two finally got to the car, Kenny chuckled, noticing a cigarette hanging out of the redhead's mouth as he scowled at the yelling brunette beside him.

"Told you," Kenny murmured slyly as the two pairs joined inside the car. Stan gave him a look, and said nothing more.

Maybe Stan didn't know, but Kenny had been bluffing. Maybe Stan also didn't know that he knew what Stan's ticks were, and what the results of a carefully played argument could be.


A/N: Eew gross ending! I've got to stop writing when I'm too tired to realize the difference between a good ending and a bad one :) R&R