Bittersweet Bundle of Misery
Chapter 10 – A Day is Far too Long
By: StalkerDex
(Author's Note: This is the final chapter. I will be switching between scenes very frequently for the first part of this, so pay attention to the little dots indicating a scene change! Hopefully it doesn't get too confusing. I'm seeing this like a movie in my head as I'm writing it lol. Hope you guys enjoyed the story and I am planning on doing a sequel to it once I take a small break. Writing these stories is very stressfull!)
Kenny lurked ominously in the darkened hotel room. It was six A.M. and he had sent Alley away. She hadn't questioned him. He figured, with the crazed state he was in she wouldn't.
He was sitting in his chair before the blinds, small shreds of light and dust surrounding him once more. It was Friday. The day had finally come; and even though he knew he wasn't going to be attending Kyle's funeral, he'd still dressed up as though he were. It only seemed appropriate because today; well, today would be the day that Kenny McCormick died.
…
Stan was sitting beside Eric, dressed in his best for Kyle's funeral. He had decided to stop and see his boyfriend before hand, even though he was certain seeing him dressed for the funeral would be difficult for him.
"I'm going to be there representing you, Eric…I promise," Stan assured.
Both of his hands were cupping one of Eric's, his thumbs gently stroking it. He adored him so much; he simply couldn't touch him, or kiss him or tell him enough. He craved Eric endlessly.
"I know…look…I wrote this…can you please read it at the funeral for me?" Eric replied, pulling a small, folded up piece of paper from beside him and handing it to Stan. His boyfriend took it gently before placing it into his pocket, knowing that he shouldn't read it until it was time.
Before Stan could respond, however, Eric's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started to breathe heavily. What the fuck?
"Nurse! Nurse!" Stan shouted as he shot out of his chair.
What was happening? He was totally fine like ten seconds ago!
…
A knock at the door. Kenny didn't bother to move. He'd left it unlocked.
"Come in," he insisted, his hand grasping his gun tightly. He wasn't shaking. He wasn't biting his lip or breathing heavily. No, in fact, he was the calmest he'd ever been in his entire life.
He watched intently as the door slowly creaked open, Joe standing just on the other side. The threatening man made his way in slowly, as though he knew what Kenny was up to. He had a gun in hand as well.
Kenny smirked at him arrogantly as he rested his elbow on the table beside him, his gun aimed directly at his opponent.
"I see you came prepared," he mused, referring to his enemy's weapon.
Joe nodded, standing about twenty feet or so away from the young man. Perhaps taking this one's power had been a mistake.
"You have to accept it Kenny…there's no other way out of this…you have to die."
"I know."
Joe raised his eyebrows at him doubtfully.
…
"Eric…Eric!" Stan shouted helplessly.
He was surrounded by nurses. The beeping of the heart monitor was flat lining. He was dying; he was fucking dying. On the day of Kyle's funeral he was going to lose him.
"ERIC!" He wailed, falling down to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Clear!" The doctor shouted as they started to shock his chest. They were doing their best to keep him.
"Eric fuck…you can't fucking die…please…hold on Eric just a little bit longer…" Stan sobbed as he watched helplessly. There was absolutely nothing he could do.
…
"If you know, Kenny…why do you keep aiming that gun at me?" Joe asked, stepping a little closer.
"Because…" Kenny said as he finally stood up, also inching his way closer, "…you're going to die to…"
As he said this he whipped his gun into the air. A single shot was fired, ringing monstrously throughout the room.
…
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Stan pulled his head from his hands. The heart monitor was beeping? What the fuck was…
As he thought, he suddenly felt very light headed, a bright light seemingly blinding him. He lost all consciousness.
…
"Fuck you…" Kenny spat out as the darkness started to take hold. He had been shot; blood pooling around his body. However, as death started to take hold of him, he looked beside him to see Joe, also consumed with a pool of darkened blood. It had actually worked…they'd fired at the same time, killing each other. A strong wave of relief washed over him as he hoped and prayed things worked out like he thought they would.
"Fuck everything…" Kenny whispered as he slowly closed his lids, accepting his fate.
…
Kenny gasped as he shot up, covered with sweat. He was breathing heavily as he looked around him, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. He remembered it all. He had shot Joe. Joe had shot him. He had died…did it really work? Did killing Joe really give him his powers back?
He looked beside him to see Alley, her beautiful eyes widened. It was morning, seeing as the sun was shining brightly into their room. Fuck…he was in their room. In their apartment. He wasn't in California…why the fuck wasn't he in California?
"Baby…are you okay?" Alley asked as she comfortingly put her hand to his back and rubbed.
He blinked stupidly at her, "what…uh…what day is it?"
She looked totally confused as she shrugged, "the date? Or the day? It's Friday…I'm not sure what date it is…" she admitted.
"Oh…uh…okay," Kenny said as he reached over to his nightstand, grabbing his phone. He was curious as to what the date was. However, as he looked at the screen he felt his heart stop.
Missed call: Kyle Broflovski.
What the fuck?
"Uh…I have a missed call from Kyle…" Kenny said softly, trying to see how his girlfriend would react.
She yawned and rubbed her eyes, realizing she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep.
"Call him back then," she said casually as she got out of bed and threw her pink robe on. She was definitely going to need some coffee.
Kenny felt his stomach lurch as he watched her leave their bedroom. This wasn't what he'd thought was going to happen. Did life, like…reset itself? He figured he should call Kyle and see what he had to say.
…
Eric was in the kitchen, munching on Doritos as Kyle sat across from him drinking some coffee. It was their morning ritual to chat a bit and hang out before they each went to school. However, this morning Eric couldn't help but notice he didn't feel like he had before.
For one thing, he felt like he was missing an enormous chunk of time, which was strange. He hadn't been drinking or anything. Perhaps it was just one of those phenomena like déjà vu or something.
That, however, was the least of his worries. At the moment, as he looked Kyle over, he realized that he didn't real feel anything for him. Yesterday, well…what he could remember as yesterday anyway…he had been so fucking head over heels in love with him. Yet, today, for whatever reason he just felt sort of numb towards him.
Sure, he still loved him in the sense that he was his best friend and closest confidant. But, as he ate his chips, he couldn't help but feel that there was something very significant missing in his life.
"Hello?" Kyle asked. Cartman hadn't even noticed his phone ringing.
He decided he would give Kyle some privacy as he spoke on the phone, waving goodbye to him and walking out the door. He figured he could stop at the grocery store and get a coke or something to get him through the day. His head was killing him.
…
Stan's head was throbbing as he trudged out of his old bedroom. He wasn't sure why, but he was at his parent's house. He was dressed in his work uniform and suffering from an enormous hang over.
"Good morning, Stan," Sharon said less than cheerfully as her son walked like a zombie into her kitchen.
He was squinting one of his eyes, obviously taking offense to the sunlight in the kitchen. She couldn't help but be irritated with him. After all, she'd picked him up from the bar for, like, the millionth time last night.
"Here," she said as she dropped a plate full of eggs and toast before her son.
"Thanks," he muttered as he struggled to find his bearings.
What the fuck? He seriously felt like he'd just missed a month of his life or something. He didn't even really remember what had happened the night before.
Sharon could see the confusion on his face and it irritated her even more.
"Stan…seriously…you're not going to pull the 'I don't remember' card with me again, are you?" she demanded angrily.
Stan shrugged as he took a small bite of his eggs, completely repulsed. He didn't want to eat.
"I really don't," he said, though not overly hostile.
Normally when he and his mom would have these confrontations he would be so fucking angry. Today, however, he felt completely different. For the first time in years he felt…hope.
Sharon looked her son over for a second before sighing and sitting down beside him, realizing that he wasn't being aggressive with her. It was a little refreshing.
"You went out with Butters last night…you got wasted. Your father and I came to get you…that's all I know. I'm not sure what you and Butters were up to."
Stan nodded. He kind of remembered going out with Butters, but he couldn't for the life of him remember what they'd discussed.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Stan suddenly spat out, looking up at her.
Sharon felt her heart literally skip a beat as she looked at her beautiful son. Something was very different about him.
"It…It's okay, Stan. I'm just worried about you, you know?"
He nodded. Of course she was worried about him. He was fucking up. He had been fucking up for so long. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but, as he sat there in the awkward silence with his mother, he knew that something was significantly different about his life. What the fuck had happened last night? He wished so badly that he could remember.
"Mom…I…I have to tell you something," he spoke slowly.
Sharon held her breath, preparing herself for the worst as her son spoke. He continued.
"I…I've been having a really hard time. I've been drinking because…well…there's just some stuff I haven't been able to deal with and I'm starting to realize I can't do this alone."
"Well…what is it Stan? I'm your mother…I love you more than anything. I would do anything in the world to help you," she insisted as she leaned forward and grabbed his hand.
He smiled softly at her, placing his free hand atop hers.
"Okay. Um…this isn't really easy for me to say. I…I fell in love with someone and they rejected me. I know that happens to everyone but, the thing is…I haven't been able to talk about it or really deal with it. The reason is that…I'm gay, mom. I'm really sorry…I hope I'm not a huge disappointment, but I am gay."
Sharon blinked at him before smiling warmly towards him, bringing him in for a hug.
"Oh Stan…I'm sorry sweetie. It's not a big deal. I mean, it is…but it's not to me is what I'm saying."
She leaned back and looked him in the eyes, "do you want to tell me about what happened then?"
Stan returned the warm smile, "yeah…actually, I would really like that, Mom."
…
Cartman was walking listlessly through the store as he browsed the candies. He had already retrieved his soda, though figured perhaps he should get something tasty to go with it. It always helped with the stress. Fuck. What was this horrible, nagging feeling he had? What was missing?
"Oh, shit…I'm sorry…" he spat out as he accidently collided with a very beautiful, young red head.
"It's okay…I'm sorry," she stammered, blushing profusely.
Eric smiled at her.
"Um…okay, so this is going to sound like a pick up line, but it's not. Do I know you?" He asked, completely genuine.
She laughed a bit, "you know…that does sound like a really lame pick up line but…uh…you kinda look familiar to me. What's your name?"
"My name is Eric…you?" he asked.
"Hmmm…well, Eric…I can't say that I recall actually meeting you before. My name is Alexis."
Eric nodded towards her. He didn't recognize that name either.
"Well…I guess not. You really do look familiar though," he admitted as he scratched the back of his head.
She looked him over for a second before smirking cockily towards him. This girl seemed pretty ballsy and he was intrigued by it.
"Why don't you give me your number, Eric…perhaps we can have a drink and see if we can get to the bottom of this?"
He smirked back at her, trying to be more arrogant than she.
"Why don't you give me your number and we can have a drink at my place and see what happens?"
She laughed confidently towards him before leaning over, reaching into his pocket and locating his phone. He swallowed hard as she pulled it out and quickly entered her number. Fuck…this girl was insane!
"So, uh…yeah…I'll call you," Eric stammered, a little flustered that she'd done that in such a public place.
"Yeah…I know," she replied before smiling at him and walking away, swaying her hips seductively as she did so.
Still, as he watched her walking away he couldn't ignore that pit in his stomach. What the fuck was he missing?
…
"So…Kyle…how are things?" Kenny asked, still totally confused as to how he was speaking to Kyle.
"Great, dude! I've been doing really well in school and I got a cool job at a local animal shelter. It's really just been awesome."
Kenny nodded before easing his way into figuring the situation out.
"So…uh…have you heard from Stan at all?"
"Stan? No. Why?"
Holy shit. It was seriously as though the entire situation had reset itself.
"No reason. What about your health? Have you been sick at all?"
"Pfffttt…no, dude. What's up with you? You're being weird…" Kyle insisted.
Kenny felt his stomach lurch. It had reset. It was as though all of the events that had taken place because of his deal had completely erased themselves. He toyed with whether this was a good thing or not for several moments.
"I'm sorry…I'm just a little off man. I'm glad to hear from you…so…everything is fine then?"
On the one hand…Kyle was alive. On the other…Stan and Eric. What did this mean for them?
Kyle smiled genuinely, his joy creeping into his voice, "Kenny…I can honestly say that nothing has ever been better."
Kenny nodded before the two of them said their goodbyes and he hung up the phone, a strange feeling washing over him. He was so relieved to hear Kyle's voice, he really was…but…he knew now that things, no matter what, would never change for the four of them.
Kyle would always get sick.
Stan would never find hope.
Eric would never fall in love.
And Kenny…Kenny would never stop dying.