Chapter Ten

Kenny's Point of View

"Thank you," I say to the cashier as he hands me my change. I pick up my playboy magazine (cheap entertainment) off the counter and stuff it into my backpack. As I walk out of the local garage and into the snowy night, cold air whipping at my face, I can't help wishing that I still wore a cosy orange parka! I've bought the magazine because I hope it will make me feel better, Damien doesn't allow me to have sex with or even date girls anymore and I have no choice but to obey him. Guys are out of the question as well, but I've only ever been attracted to one male: him, and I'm not entirely sure that was due to my own free will, I'm certainly not attracted to him anymore. I don't feel anything for him, not even hatred, I've trained myself to feel empty around him, it's the only thing I can do to cope with the ongoing suffering he's inflicting on me. I really wish I was the old Kenny McCormick again, yes he may have died all the time, yes no one cared about him but he had a fucking good time getting drunk and partying with hot chics. He gave all that up for hell on earth. It's not that people don't see that I have problems; they just don't care enough to read into them, probably dismissing them with a thought such: 'oh he must just have a hangover.' The only way things can go back to the way they were is if Damien kills me and he is always very careful not to go that far.

As I walk back towards my house through the deep snow, nose slowly freezing off my face (it may have been out of a hood for a fair few years but it still hasn't gotten used to the exposure) I notice someone walking along the pavement towards me, they're slightly swaying from left to right, I assume that they are drunk until I get closer and see who it is. "Kyle, are you Ok?" I ask as I stare down into his tear ridden dazed face. It's a stupid question I know, the answer's obvious! He snaps his head up and stares at me, clearly oblivious until this moment of my presence.

"No, not really Kenny," He says in a cracked voice.

"What are you doing here?" Kyle doesn't live on this side of town and although South Park is only very small it's still odd to see him here.

"I w-was at Cartman's house working on the... on the project."

"Cartman! I might have known he'd have something to do with this, what did he do to you Kyle?" Cartman has always been unreasonably horrible to Kyle, who is one of the most caring people you could meet. I've always thought that he's done it because on some level he secretly loves Kyle, of course I've never told anyone my theory, they may accuse me of 'thinking like a fag.'

"I don't want to say right now," he says as his emerald eyes glisten. You know I say this in a completely straight best friend way but Kyle is fucking gorgeous!

2Well that's fine because I'd rather not listen," I say lighting up a cigarette, putting my arm around his shoulder and smiling, 'come on I'll walk you home.' I keep my arm around him as we walk to his house because I fear he'd fall over if not, he seems so stunned, it's completely out of character: what could Cartman have possibly done? I take my arm of Kyle's shoulder as we approach his drive and he stretches standing up taller, he's obviously comprehended that he's going to have to act normal if he doesn't want his parents to start asking questions. Something in his eyes seems to scream out that he doesn't want to be left alone so I gently reach into his coat pocket and pull out the house key, Kyle smiles up at me as I open the door and nudge him inside.

"Great timing Bubby, tea will be ready in five minutes," exclaims Kyle's mom walking into the hall from the kitchen. Ahhh yes the Broflovski's and their military timing, tea is always at 7:00 on the dot, thank you very much, end of story. "Oh lovely to see you again Kenny, it's been quite a long time!"

"Good evening Mrs Broflovski, it's always a pleasure to see you," I say smiling at her, god I can be charming.

"Would you like to stay for tea Kenny? We're having fish." I look at Kyle and he smiles encouragingly.

"Yes please, I'd never pass up your cooking!" Seriously someone should give me a charm medal or something. Kyle rolls his eyes and goes to take his seat at the table, I quickly follow, and sit in Ike's chair as Kyle tells me he is at a friend's house for tea tonight.

"It's actually very useful that you're staying for tea," remarks Kyle, "Mom always cooks way too much food for the number of people eating it."

"That's not a problem," I reply as the delicious smelling food is brought out of the kitchen, I can't remember the last time I had a hot meal, I can tell this is going to be good!

It's now 7:40; I can't remember the last time I ate like that; there was enough food on my plate to feed at least two people probably more! My portion was gigantic compared to other people's, I could tell when Kyle's mom looked at me that she thought I was too skinny, therefore she's obviously trying to fatten me up; not that I'm complaining! That food was fucking amazing AND we had dessert DESSERT! After tea was over Kyle told his parents that we were going to crash in his room and play some video games, we're both currently sat next to each other on his bed with our legs stretched out. He hasn't said a word since we've come up, but that's fine, I know he'll speak when he's ready. I look around his room, it hasn't changed much since when we were kids, there's a bookcase crammed with loads of different hardbacks, quite a lot of them non-fiction, on top of the bookcase are his science fair trophy's still incredibly shiny (he must polish them.) He's still got a poster of Albert Einstein up; he was the guy who invented gravity or something like that right? As I finish my tour of the room I look at Kyle who is staring straight back at me, he opens his mouth slowly and says:

"I'm ready to tell you what happened now, dude."

A/N: Two chapters at once! I got into the writing zone! Hope you enjoyed this short little one! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Reviews please? xx