A.N- Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Just to mention, I think I have introduced all the elements for this story and now I just need to unravel all of them and put them all together. So maybe we're half way done? Maybe. I dunno.
There will be a reference to chapter 3 in this episode. I wonder if you can remember it? Probably not… Sorry.
Hope you enjoy~
10
Kyle was spread across his bed reading a novel, or was trying to, at least. The words simply rested on his eyes and didn't sink in, and instead random thoughts occupied his head. Thoughts like: would the librarians agree to him using the library as a teaching space? How do you teach a person how to read anyway? He wondered where Kenny was, what dinner would be, and what labour role he would get tomorrow. Kyle was usually very good at keeping his thoughts under control, but right now he couldn't concentrate on one thing at all. He was alone; Kenny was out, and Craig was working, but still something was distracting him. Kyle placed the book by his pillow and rolled over, throwing his arms out as he stared at the ceiling. Something was distracting him. He rolled over again until his body was half dangling from the bed. He sighed, staring at the empty space under his bed, until his eyes caught something small.
It was the chocolate Craig had given him. He hadn't eaten it yet, thinking of it to be too precious to eat, and had placed it under his bed for safekeeping. Kyle took it into his hand and rolled up properly on his bed. Should he eat it? That is what it was meant for, not to rot away under his bed. But to eat it just because he was distracted from reading? The thought made Kyle sigh.
It was a moment later when a sudden knocking echoed against the cell door. Kyle frowned and stared at the door with confusion, wondering if he knew anyone with the common sense to knock. Not Kenny, not Craig probably, and not any malicious inmates like Trent who would burst in to attack without a thought; and Kyle didn't know anyone else who would want to visit him. The knocking came again, more loudly, and Kyle jolted to action.
'Wait,' he said as he placed Craig's chocolate under the bed. The knocking continued, clearly not hearing Kyle's voice. The redhead quickly hopped over and pulled the door open.
'Kyle!' a cracking voice cried as blond hair entered Kyle's vision.
'Butters?'
'You better come,' the blond grabbed Kyle's arm, tugging him out of his cell. But Kyle didn't move, confused at Butters' urgent tone.
'What? What's wrong?'
'Craig's in trouble!'
It didn't take any more convincing to make Kyle tumble out of his cell. He didn't question Butters, knowing that a million things could happen to a person in that prison.
'Where is he?' he cried as Butters tried to keep up with him.
'On the ground floor, the South-end bathroom.'
'South-end bathroom?' Kyle muttered to himself as he ran through the hallway. What trouble would find Craig there?
Kyle didn't hold back for Butters to keep up. He vaguely knew which bathroom Butters was talking about and getting to Craig as quickly as he could was his first priority. He leaped down the stairs, not caring about the pain in his feet as he missed a couple steps and kept on running once he reached the ground floor.
When he came to the southern end of the West Wing, Kyle finally came to a stop. He could see the bathroom now, beside the border wall. His throat and chest were aching from panting and he took a second to lean his hands into his knees to try and catch a breath. He looked over his shoulder to check whether Butters had caught up yet, but he couldn't see him. He was on his own now. The thought only made Kyle more determined as he kicked the ground and resumed his running.
'Craig!' he cried, tumbling into the bathroom. He froze. The lights were off, but the door Kyle kept open let in a light that landed on two figures: one, lying on the ground in a puddle of water, and the other standing above him, pulling the limp figure up by the back of his shirt. He met the standing figure's eyes, and the person grinned. Cartman—
The fat guard raised his baton in the air and Kyle finally blinked in realisation. He lunged towards the guard, but by the time he reached him, Cartman had slammed his baton into Craig's back, smashing Craig back into the ground. Kyle looked back in horror as his fists curled around Cartman's collar. Craig didn't move. Kyle turned his eyes back to the guard with boiling anger. 'Why is hurting people the only thing you do!' He shouted, pushing Cartman back with all his might and until they fell back on the floor.
Kyle didn't think twice. He pushed himself off of Cartman and rushed towards Craig lying still in the water. It was painful to watch him, but Kyle pulled him up, wrapping one of Craig's arms around his shoulder for support. He looked back and met Cartman's eyes cold and unmoving. It made him shudder. He began to walk, not wanting to move Craig too much, but desperate to get far away as quickly as possible from that guard. At first, Craig was just dangling off of him, but his feet began to catch its pace and walk beside Kyle.
'Kyle?' A weak voice murmured against his ear. Kyle didn't look to see, but the voice drained away his tension with immense relief.
'I'm right here Craig,' he said. Craig's breath gave a single chuckle, interrupted by a groan of pain. One of his feet was limping, but Kyle was sure that wasn't the only injury, especially after that blow to the back. 'Don't talk,' Kyle ordered softly. But Craig ignored him.
'That showed him, huh?' he said. 'I totally boasted to that fat asshole that you wouldn't come.'
'Of course I would have.'
I know, Craig said to himself hopelessly, but he didn't voice it out. He was torn in two with the wish for Kyle to not have come, and the overwhelming relief that he did.
'How did you know that I was there, being attacked?' He asked.
'Butters called me,' Kyle said firmly, hoping that Craig would stop talking now, using such a painful voice.
And Craig didn't talk anymore. Instead, thoughts filled his exhausted mind. Butters' name seemed so strange to come out now, it didn't seem right, but Craig's mind was too hazy to dwell on the thought. He closed his eyes and let Kyle lead the way, but he made sure he walked as much as he could on his own limping feet. He could hear Kyle's soft panting beside him, stable air breathing in and out of his mouth with every step he took. This was the boy Craig had looked down on and called Princess, a Princess-whore that waved charity around with an absent mind. And now Craig was leaning against him, trusting Kyle completely to take him to safety.
This boy had never been weak. Craig had just never seen thoughtless kindness before, and neither did most people in prison. It was easier to view kindness as a weakness and exploit it than to trust it and give in. But Kyle wasn't weak. His bold actions didn't come from ignorance, although, maybe with a bit of naivety. But it had always come from courage. Courage and love, that made his kindness his strength.
Craig's mind slowly drifted off with that thought in his head.
.
Kyle took the quiet and deserted hallways as much as possible, not wanting to gather attention as he walked as quickly as he could with an injured Craig. He only looked back once he had come to the other end of the West Wing, and after seeing that Cartman was not behind them, preceded to make his way to their destination. He wanted to take Craig straight to the nurse, but thought it best to first make sure that Cartman wouldn't follow them to make a scene in the infirmary. They had to go there, and Cartman knew that, but for the meantime Kyle's priority was to keep that dangerous guard away form Craig.
He looked up as they arrived at their destination, and pushed through the wooden door, making Craig stir awake at the sound of the door opening.
'Where are we?' he asked.
'The library,' Kyle answered as he finally made it in the room. The door closed, leaving them in the dim light of the library. 'Are you okay?' Kyle asked as he tried to place Craig gently onto the ground, but Craig objected from being laid down, instead he sat and leaned his shoulder against the wall.
'I'm fine,' he answered, breathing heavily. Kyle pursed his lips, his heart aching as he felt powerless to help Craig's pain, but he shook the thought away and got to his feet and looked up.
'Christophe!' He called out to the levels above. 'Gregory! Christophe!' A shadow soon swayed jumped off the balcony in response, slipping down the rope until he landed on the floor ahead. He quickly jogged towards Kyle.
'What's wrong?' He asked, seeing Craig leaning against the wall on the ground.
'This is Craig,' Kyle said, crouching down beside the injured brunet. 'He's injured and I need to take him to the infirmary. But before that, I need to make sure that the coast is clear.' Christophe didn't know what this meant, and neither did Craig, but they didn't ask under Kyle's authoritative voice. 'Christophe, can I leave him here in your care? Only for a few minutes.'
It may have been a gamble, but Kyle was putting his trust into Christophe, a boy he had only met a couple of times, and Christophe saw this strong decision in Kyle's eyes.
'Yes,' he answered, and the firm expression on Kyle's face dropped into that of gratitude.
Kyle turned to Craig and whispered, 'You'll be okay,' into his ear. He got to his feet and put a hand on Christophe's shoulder. 'Thank you,' he said, and pecked the boy on the cheek before making his way out of the library.
When the door closed behind him, Kyle leaned against it and breathed a single deep breath. Craig— he would be okay in Christophe's hands. But right now he had to confront something else. Someone else. He took in some air and pushed himself off the door. Craig was waiting in pain.
He walked the way he came, his heart beating heavily with the possibility that he could bump into Cartman at any moment. But he didn't. Cartman hadn't been following them; he was waiting, leaning against the wall of the hallway opposite the bathroom where he attacked Craig. Waiting, as if he knew that Kyle was going to come back to him.
'Put that raven somewhere safe, have you?' the guard mocked as Kyle approached him with tensed eyes.
'Somewhere where you can't get him,' he answered, making Cartman smirk. 'What did he do? Why did you hurt him?'
Cartman leaned off the wall and began to walk towards Kyle, making him take a step back, being on the edge of a comfortable distance with the violent guard.
'You know, I could put a reason to everything I do, but the best thing about being on the "good side" is that I don't need to justify any-fucking-thing I do. So let me be honest with you. I did it for fun.'
'What?' The tension in Kyle's eyes dropped as he heard the unbelievable words. He stood there with eyes wide as Cartman came up to him with his cold grin.
'Yeah, that raven didn't do anything. I just felt like hurting him, so I did. As I said: for fun.'
'You—' Kyle glared, turning to take a step away from Cartman and backed up against the wall. 'I thought you guards were meant to maintain order. To keep us safe—'
'Keep you safe? And shall we teach you how to become noble citizens at the same time? What, do you think this is a fucking redemption centre or something? No, my little princess, this is a fucking dumpster. It's Hell. All your lives ended the second you got here, but that goes the same for us guards as well.' He let out a dark chuckle. 'Not a single guard is here voluntarily, sent far away from home without much chance of going back. Most guards here got into some sort of shit himself, and others are young pawns without much value. Yeah, we do what's necessary for our jobs, but I don't know one single fucking guard who feels any sense of justice or responsibility to keep any of you fuckers safe.'
'I know one,' Kyle said, straight into Cartman's face, making his grin fall.
'Oh yeah… how could I forget my own roommate? That righteous asshole.'
'You're the asshole, hurting people just for fun… Marsh is a decent person, and has a sense of obligation for what he does.'
'You know what, this conversation is getting pretty boring. I thought you came here to tell me something. Not to spill your love out for Marsh.' Kyle continued to glare but didn't object, remembering Craig's injured state in the library. Cartman grinned again and wrapped his fingers around Kyle's collar gently. 'So tell me Kyle, why have you come here?'
'To tell you to keep your filthy fat hands off of Craig.'
Cartman banged Kyle into the wall behind him.
'If you say it nicely, I might even consider it,' he said coldly but with eyes burning. Kyle looked down, but brought his eyes back up to meet Cartman's.
'Please… Just stay away from him.'
Cartman sneered and leaned into Kyle's ear, heating Kyle's neck with his own wet breath.
'I said I was doing it for fun,' he said, enjoying how Kyle wasn't pushing him away, even with his obvious objection to their intimacy. 'I'll let him be, won't even look at him, as long as you give me something funner.'
Kyle's eyes grew wide and he backed up further into the wall as Cartman drew away to look at Kyle's reaction. He was pleased with the hint of fear that couldn't be hidden in Kyle's eyes. Good, good. Kyle was scared because he knew something painful was waiting for him, something he knew he wouldn't object to, for Craig's sake. Butters was right. Praise that pitiful soul.
'What do you want?' Kyle asked through a tense jaw, eyes that were glaring a second ago now averted to the ground. But a thick hand grasped his jaw and pulled his face up, forcing his eyes to face Cartman's, and before Kyle could see what was coming, their mouths connected.
Kyle's arms shot up, but Cartman locked them against the wall with his hands. His chest chilled and his stomach throbbed from the disgust of feeling Cartman's saliva spreading across his mouth. It only got worse as a tongue came out and licked his lips, and it made Kyle want to open his mouth, just to bite it in half. But he knew he couldn't do that, Cartman's cool grey eyes boring into his own warned him of doing so, so he opened his mouth, only to let Cartman's tongue come in. Kyle finally closed his eyes, trying to keep his stomach from churning. It was so sickening it hurt, and all he could do was hide his tongue away from Cartman's in his own mouth.
After, what it was to Kyle long enough to have nightmares of, Cartman's mouth finally left, and Kyle coughed out the contaminated air out of his lungs and breathed anew. What just happened? Why did Cartman just kiss him? He was expecting to be punched and kicked, to end up like Craig or worse, but not this. Not in here, by a guard… There were tears in his eyes, either as a reaction of the coughing or from his whirling emotions, but he couldn't wipe them away as Cartman still had his arms pinned to the wall. He was determined not to let them fall out of his eyes though, and Cartman saw this, and smiled.
'Come up to my room tonight, at nine-thirty,' he said, grilling his stare into Kyle's eyes. He leaned in and licked Kyle's neck, just to remind the redhead of his intensions, before finally letting him go. 'My room is N209. See you then.'
Kyle's arms dropped to his sides and his head bobbed down. He stared at the floor with wide, unblinking eyes, not hearing Cartman's footsteps echoing away. He felt drained, he felt trapped, more trapped than he did that night when he was attacked by Trent's gang. That night he had a chair to defend himself, but now he had nothing.
He wanted to fall to the floor and bury his face in his knees; he even felt his legs begin to buckle, but he didn't let himself fall. Craig was waiting for him; that was the whole reason why he was there. He had to go back and get Craig to the infirmary. Kyle wiped his eyes, neck and mouth fiercely before pushing himself off the wall to make his way back to the library.
He walked, clasping his elbows and with blank eyes, like an empty vessel without a soul in it, and so he didn't notice when a foot stuck out and tripped right over it. Laughter echoed around him, but Kyle didn't take much notice of it. He pushed himself off the floor and continued to walk without even giving a glance to the inmates that had tripped him, and the laughter subsided, unhappy with Kyle's lack of response. The group got up and pushed Kyle in the back, sending him into the floor again, and continued their laughter. Kyle tried to push himself back up, but a foot pressed into his shoulder, keeping him down. He had no time for this. Craig was waiting for him…
'Hey! Hey what are you doing there!' a voice cried. The foot moved off from Kyle's shoulder and he felt the inmates move away from him.
'He just fell over, sir. So I tried to help him up. With my foot,' one of them answered, making the others laugh.
'Don't fuck around, okay? Now move on, or I'll send you all to solitary confinement,' the voice said, trying to act threatening, but not really being able to put menace into his voice. The inmates apologised, still cackling, but did as the voice said and moved on. Now freed, Kyle tried to push himself up again, and an arm wrapped around his shoulders to help, pulling him up to his feet. 'Are you okay?' he asked, gently. Kyle smiled slightly as he saw his helper's face. Who else would it have been other than Marsh?
'Yes, I'm fine,' he answered, and Marsh smiled in response. The inmates turned around and gave them a wolf-whistle, still laughing.
'Shut up!' Marsh called at them, before turning his attention back to Kyle. 'Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you seem quite out of it.'
'I'm fine.'
Kyle didn't look at Marsh, not wanting to see that kind face while all he was feeling was doubt and fear. And Stan didn't push his face up to force their eyes together; instead he placed his hand on Kyle's shoulder and stroked his arm gently.
'Well, if you do feel like you want to talk to someone, you can talk to me. Remember, I'm here for you.'
Those words were enough to bring Kyle's eyes up and see how genuinely caring Marsh's smile was. It made him smile again, just with that, and he took Marsh's hand off his shoulder and wrapped it in his own. It was so warm…
'Thank you,' he said, squeezing Marsh's hand. 'I have to go, now.'
Marsh nodded and let his hand fall from Kyle's grasp. He watched Kyle's back as he ran through the hallway.
'Kenny will get mad if you touch his princess,' an inmate called to him.
'Don't call him that,' Marsh said tiredly, taking his eyes off of Kyle. 'Besides, he's not Kenny's.' He looked back. 'He's not anyone's.'
.
Kyle pushed through the library door to find that both Christophe and Craig were in the exact position he had left them in.
'Thank God Kyle, that freak has been doing nothing but staring holes into me,' Craig complained as Kyle leaned beside him.
'I was keeping an eye on you,' the French boy answered plainly.
'You call that keeping an eye on some one? I call that eye rape.'
Kyle slightly cringed at the word, but didn't stop wrapping his arms around Craig to pull him up to his feet. Craig lightly hissed in pain, but having his face pulled close to Kyle's made him forget about himself.
'Hey, dude, are you alright?' Craig asked.
'What?'
'You just— seem pretty out of it.'
Kyle smiled. Craig was the second person to tell him that.
'Yeah, I'm okay… You on the other hand; we need to get you to the infirmary.'
Whether it was because the danger had passed, Craig's tension seemed to have loosened up and he let himself moan and complain about his pains. But Kyle didn't mind, in fact it relieved him, especially since Craig tried to make the complaints sound casual.
'Shit, I think I sprained my ankle. I'm going to fucking kill that fat bastard if the nurse stops me from doing basketball. By the way, you should actually try it out sometime: do some fucking exercise for once. You have long legs; you might be a good runner. Fuck—' Craig groaned as he pressed his foot on the ground without caution.
'Shut up Craig, and pay attention to your walking,' Kyle chuckled, not being able to believe that he just told Craig to shut up. Craig mumbled and looked down at his limping feet.
The nurse's shoulders instantly dropped the second he saw the two walk into the infirmary.
'I've seen this scene before,' he said, wiggling his index finger, indicating Kyle to follow him. Kyle did so, as the nurse skipped into his small room where he treated Craig last time. He placed Craig on the bench, although the brunet still tried to do much of the moving on his own. 'Why is it always you, huh? Mr. Tucker? Take your shirt off—' the nurse said, wheeling his way to the bench on his chair. Craig did as he was told and showed his back to the nurse, letting Kyle see his condition as well. His back was covered with deep red marks, some cracked open and bleeding down his skin. The sight made Kyle cringe, and his hatred for Cartman boiled again. 'Well, it's not the end of the world. Some of the scabs have cracked and torn off, but you can feel that, right? Kyle, do you remember how you treated him last time?'
'Yes,' Kyle answered firmly.
'I'm gonna trust you then, to treat it. Same thing, clean it, use the hydrogen peroxide on a swab and dab it on the wound gently, then put some anti-bacterial cream on a pad and bandage him. Just where he needs it, don't waste anything. Now, I'm going to check this bugger's foot.' Kyle went on to get what he needed from the shelves around him, looking over his shoulder to see how the nurse was reacting to Craig's foot. Craig groaned quietly as the nurse took his shoe off. The nurse clicked his tongue. 'Well, that's sprained all right,' he said, observing the swelling ankle. 'What happened?'
'I got hit, and probably rolled it over when I fell.'
The nurse hummed at Craig's explanation, not asking for more details.
'You'll need to keep that foot resting for a while I'm afraid. All I can do is strap it up and ice it. It'll be best for you to stay here until you can walk on it again. No good going around on crutches and getting attention.'
'I agree,' Kyle said as he treated Craig's back, making the brunet groan.
The nurse gave Craig an icepack for his beaten cheek as he wrapped up his foot. Once his treatment was done, Craig was taken to the same bed he used last time, but he had to lie on his bandaged back to keep his foot in the air above his chest.
'This sucks,' Craig said as Kyle placed pillows under his wrapped foot.
'It could have been worse.'
Craig huffed at Kyle's words and looked away out the window. It was growing dark already. The fading natural light of the courtyard reminded Kyle of the approaching night, and the deal that was awaiting him in Cartman's room.
'You'll be okay,' Kyle smiled, placing an icepack on Craig's foot as the final touch. The gentle voice made Craig sigh.
'Thanks,' he said. Kyle smiled and got up, but Craig looked at him as if he was missing the point. 'No, I mean, thanks, for coming to help me. Kyle, thanks, for everything.'
It was unexpected, to hear such honest gratitude from Craig. But Kyle accepted it, without joking about it.
'Anytime,' he said, patting Craig's hand, resting on his stomach. 'I better go now. I'll come back tomorrow.'
Craig showed a hint of a grin on his pale face, and Kyle turned to leave, thanking the nurse as he went out. He would be back tomorrow, however a state he may be in.
.
Kyle had less than an hour until he had to be at Cartman's room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, back straight, feet planted on the ground, unable to make himself comfortable as he waited for the time to slowly tick by. Nothing had been able to pass through Kyle's throat at dinner, although his whole body felt drained and empty.
'Hey, you're here,' a bright voice called as the light of the hallway filled the room. Kyle looked up and met Kenny's smile before the blond closed the door behind him. 'Not going to bed yet are we? I have some cards we could play. I'd say Strip Poker, but I guess something more simple would be better for you, like Go Fish?'
Kyle's shoulders relaxed at Kenny's carefree attitude.
'I don't think so Kenny… Not tonight.'
Kenny immediately noticed Kyle's strange attitude; it was most obvious in his voice, kind but lifeless. But Kenny bet that his eyes would have been worse, only if he looked up long enough for Kenny to see them. Kenny's smile dropped and he placed himself beside Kyle on his bed. He felt tense, not knowing how to comfort people, how to talk to people without a light-hearted attitude.
'Hey,' he said softly, hand hovering above Kyle's shoulder, wondering whether to land on it. When he finally touched Kyle, the redhead twitched, shooting his eyes up to Kenny in fear. But when their eyes met he relaxed, and looked down again. The reaction made Kenny's heartbeat race in his chest. There was something wrong with Kyle. 'Sorry,' Kenny said, taking his hand off Kyle's shoulder.
'It's okay,' the redhead sighed, feeling the spot where Kenny had rested his hand on. His eyes moved to Kenny's hand resting on the space between them. 'I won't ask you to hold my hand, I know how you don't like it but—' he looked up, eyes fluttering, hesitant to meet Kenny's eyes. 'Could I lean against your shoulder? Just for a while?'
'What?' Kenny leaned back at the sudden wish, which made Kyle's eyes drop again.
'Never mind…' Kyle murmured. The resigned atmosphere Kyle held was enough to shrink Kenny's chest in guilt. When had he become so soft hearted?
Kyle looked up as a hand came around his head and gentle pulled him down until he was resting on Kenny's shoulder.
'I don't dislike holding hands with you,' Kenny said, releasing Kyle's head so he could hold his hand instead. 'I just don't like the fact that I like it so much.'
There was a deeper meaning in Kenny's words that made the blond blush as he said it, but Kyle was too tired and torn up to detect it. Instead he nestled his head against Kenny's shoulder, feeling the warmth of Kenny's neck on his face, and closed his eyes. Kyle thought that he could stay like that forever. He wanted to, at least.
.
When it turned Nine o'clock, Kyle made a light excuse to Kenny and left his room. On his way to the North Wing, he passed by Marsh again. The brunet smiled and placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder for a brief moment.
'You should get to your cell soon. It's getting late,' he said. Kyle gave him a hesitant glance, but continued his way through the hallway without saying anything. He believed that Marsh must have been genuinely kind-hearted, but that didn't mean he should take his comforting words seriously. Marsh told Kyle that he could tell him anything, but Kyle knew that he wouldn't. He should simply take Marsh's words as kindness and move on. Move on… to N209.
There weren't many kids around on the upper levels of the North Wing. It was probably because most of the facilities were on the ground floor, and because there weren't many cells for inmates in the North. Small observations such as these helped Kyle take his mind off of his destination, but that didn't last long. He had soon arrived at N209.
It had a metal door, but it looked much lighter than the doors of the inmates' cells, and the keyhole seemed used and functioning, probably to keep inmates out than in. Kyle's heart sank lower, if that was even possible, as his hand drew out and knocked on the door. It didn't take long for it to open.
'You're early,' the familiar voice said. Kyle kept his eyes down, but he could tell there was a sickening grin on Cartman without even looking.
'I didn't want to come,' Kyle said. 'But waiting was worse.'
Cartman pulled Kyle's face up, forcing their eyes to meet. He always did that, and Kyle hated it. Wasn't his pain obvious enough without seeing it straight in his eyes?
'Come,' Cartman ordered, pulling him into his room by the jaw clasped in his hands. He shut the door behind them and pushed Kyle's back against it. 'Do you have any idea of what I'm going to do to you?'
'A vague idea, yes,' Kyle answered sarcastically, eyes looking anywhere but at Cartman out of sheer defiance.
'Have you done it before?' the guard cooed. His thumb caressed Kyle's cheek patronisingly, as if he already knew the answer. Kyle didn't say anything, and Cartman took that as a "No". He grinned and let go of Kyle, making his way to the bed further from the wall. 'Strip, and come here. Don't worry, I won't be too brutal to a first-timer.'
Kyle looked down at his shirt. He held the helms and began to lift it up, but noticing Cartman's piercing eyes, turned his back on him. The guard chuckled, but didn't force Kyle to face him, finding his embarrassment amusing enough.
'Take your time, princess. Marsh won't be back until lights-out.'
Marsh? Kyle looked up at the desk beside the door. There were two beds and two desks in the room, which reminded Kyle how Cartman had mentioned Marsh to be his roommate. If the desk behind the bed the fat guard was waiting on was Cartman's, then this must be Marsh's…
The strain in Kyle's chest slightly loosened as he observed the desk. It was messy. There was a pile of papers sitting on one side and a pen lying around without its cap. There was a photograph as well, of Marsh's family, presumably. A happy family with genuine smiles, except for the older girl beside Marsh, who was wearing a scowl, but even her expression made Kyle's lips twitch in a smile.
Kyle sighed, remembering his hands around the hem of his shirt. Get it over with, he told himself, and ripped the shirt off his head. But just as he freed himself of his shirt, something new caught his eye on Marsh's desk. At first he couldn't tell what it was in the dim light, but he slowly began to recognise its features. It was a plane, hand-crafted with sticks and paper. It seemed old, with signs of it being mended over and over again all over its body. It must be dear to its owner, more than just as a paper plane…
'Come on, Kyle. I'm getting impatient now,' Cartman growled, but his voice didn't reach Kyle. The most Kyle could hear was his own weighing breath and the rushing beat of his heart. Slowly, he reached out to the plane and took it with shaking hands. It couldn't be, he thought. It couldn't be…
He turned it, and there was writing on the side of its body. The writing was clumsy and shaken, some letters were flipped, such as "e" and "s", and the spelling was horrible. But in its own writing it clearly read:
A token of my friendship with Kyle
Kyle's mind went blank, but his body burst into life. He picked up his shirt and ran out the room without giving Cartman a second glance. Was this true? Could it be? Was Marsh the boy he met all those years ago? His first and only friend he ever made on the outside world? The boy behind the wall? Could it be, Marsh? Marsh? Stan?
Kyle's legs kept on running, into the West Wing and down its hallways, until he saw the back of the familiar guard in the distance. There were amused voices all around him as he ran half-naked, but Kyle kept his eyes on the guard and charged towards him. Marsh turned around as he noticed the sound of running footsteps, but at that second, Kyle took his hand and continued to run. The amused voices around them turned into laughter and whistles, but Kyle didn't care. All he wanted was to go somewhere private so he could talk to Marsh. They had to run all the way to the end to the West Wing until there was finally no one around.
'You know Kyle, running through the hallways is not really permitted,' Marsh began when Kyle finally let him go, but his words were cut off as he noticed Kyle's half-naked state. He stared dumb-founded at the redhead, leaning into his knees, trying to catch his breath, but jolted back to consciousness with a blush as Kyle finally gathered himself up.
'Is this yours?' Kyle said, coming up to Marsh mercilessly until they were almost touching.
'What?' Marsh croaked, trying not to look at Kyle, which wasn't helping the redhead at all.
'This!' he cried, sticking the paper plane into Marsh's face. The blush faded as he noticed what Kyle was showing him, and Kyle took a step back, letting Marsh breathe. 'Is this yours?' he repeated.
Marsh's shoulders dropped, and he let out a silent sigh. He didn't seem surprised or shocked at Kyle's confrontation, which made Kyle cool down in confusion.
'I didn't think you'd remember it…' he said with a weak smile. All the tension in Kyle's body drained away at Marsh's words. He frowned, the muscles around his eyes and brows aching from tension.
'Of course I do… You were the only friend I ever had. I'm surprised that you remember me.' Kyle looked down at the plane. 'I'm surprised you kept this.'
'Of course I did.'
Kyle looked up, and Stan's smile was too warm, too gentle for Kyle to contain himself. He jumped to Marsh and embraced him, tighter than he had ever done to anyone. Marsh's hands hesitated for a second at Kyle's naked skin, but gave in and held Kyle back, so tightly that he was almost raising Kyle into the air. It would have hurt, but the overwhelming emotions kept them from feeling any pain.
'I thought I would never see you again…' Kyle whispered.
'Yeah… Me too.'
Everything now made sense. Marsh's awkward attitude around him, his almost unnatural kindness and concern, and the uncomfortable gaze he sometimes gave Kyle… everything. Marsh knew that it was Kyle when they encountered each other on Kyle's first day. He recognised Kyle immediately, and that was why he was staring at Kyle, shocked and concerned. Marsh knew. Marsh…
'Stan…' Kyle murmured against Stan's head. 'Why didn't you tell me if you recognised me?'
Stan paused, and then slowly released Kyle out of his embrace.
'At first, I was too shocked. But then… I'm a guard Kyle, and you've become a— you've become a prisoner.'
'A criminal, an inmate, you can say it Stan,' Kyle said quickly. Stan sighed, and combed his fingers through Kyle's hair.
'How did you end up here, Kyle?'
Kyle's chest shrank at the question. This was such a precious moment to him, and he didn't want it ruined.
'For killing my parents…' he muttered, staring at the floor, but Stan's hands grasped his shoulders and he looked up into Stan's strong eyes.
'No, I mean, how did you end up here?'
Here? In prison? A criminal? An orphan? How… he would have to go back a long time. What brought him here? When did all this happen? The night his parents died and he was taken by the police? The night his parents came to his room? The night Ike came to him? The day Yvonne came out of Ike's room? The day Ike came into that house? The day Kyle was born into that house? His whole life locked away in that house with Ike, secluded from the rest of the world?
'I don't know…' Kyle said, finally. 'Everything…' Stan didn't say any more, but held Kyle again, gently pulling his head to his chest. Kyle grasped at Stan's back. 'I was locked up behind that wall all my life, locked up in that house without meeting anyone out of the family and our carers. You were the only person I met for myself. You symbolised freedom to me.'
'And you symbolised hope to me,' Stan said. 'You made me think of a future. Without you, I wouldn't have studied at school. I wouldn't have trained. I wouldn't have come here.'
Kyle laughed softly.
'Stan, as much as you flatter me, I don't think one encounter, with barely a conversation, would be enough to do that. Especially for someone who lived on the outside world.'
'But you did! Before I met you, I was just a stupid second-level citizen who had never even thought about the future. I knew that I was better off than those in the slums, but never thought to reach higher. But then, I saw you and— you were glowing…' Stan sighed again, covering it up with a laugh. 'You can laugh at me for this but, when I saw you climb over the wall on that tree-branch, you had the sun behind you and— you looked like an angel.' Kyle blushed, and so did Stan at the corniness of his own words. 'I know it sounds stupid. But all I wanted to do was to see you again. I even went to the same place a few times, hoping that you'd climb up again. But you didn't. And so I started working hard, studying and saving up, thinking that if I get a high status then maybe I'll see you. But reality began to sink in, I knew that I could never raise myself to become able to mingle with the upper class, so naturally, I thought that if I became a guard, maybe I would be hired by your types of people, and one day, meet you. One-in-a-million, but I didn't have a better plan. As I said, I'm not that smart. But, I guess the worst was to volunteer to come here, I mean, that pretty much destroyed any hopes of ever meeting you at all. But I guess the worst decision, was the best.'
'Wait, you volunteered?'
'Yup,' Stan chuckled, as if to admit his own stupidity.
'Why? I was told that no guard ever "volunteered" to come here.'
'Well, I guess somewhere I knew that meeting you was pretty much impossible. So, I thought that, the least I could do was to make it mean something. To use what I gained from being motivated by our encounter to mean something. To help people out. Shit,' Stan suddenly said, letting Kyle go.
'What's wrong?'
'I've just been blubbering on,' Stan laughed, embarrassingly. 'I've wanted to talk to you like this for so long that, I've just blurted everything out…' He noticed Kyle's state again, and blushed. 'Sorry, I should've let you put your shirt on.'
'It's okay,' Kyle said, his cheeks reddening as well as he put on his shirt.
'Why were you naked anyway?'
'Oh I— I went to the showers but then realised I forgot my soap after I put off my shirt and so, hurried out…' Kyle's words trailed off as he listened to how ridiculous his lie sounded. 'Yeah, so… I should really get back to that shower now. It's getting late,' Kyle quickly said, pacing backwards. But Stan didn't seem to suspect anything. Maybe it was true that he wasn't the smartest person around… Sorry, Kyle apologised to Stan in his head.
'Oh, okay. I have to get back to strolling around the hallways anyway, or what people call "patrolling".'
Kyle laughed. 'I'll see you then,' he said, and turned. But just as he took a few steps, Stan called to him, suddenly realising something.
'Wait!' he said. 'Where did you get my plane from? You didn't get it from my room, did you?'
Kyle's moment of happiness quivered at that question. He couldn't tell Stan the truth…
'I'll tell you later,' he answered, hoping that Stan would forget about the plane by then. He turned and jogged through the hallway, his feet light at first, but slowly coming to a dragging halt. He remembered where he was not so long ago, before he caught Stan. He remembered where he was and why he was there. Cartman would be furious.
Kyle looked back, and then looked ahead. Where should he go now? Should he go back to Cartman's room and face the fat guard's rage? Or should he forget it for a day and return to his cell? Should he pretend that his deal with Cartman never happened? But Kyle knew that he had to face that guard sooner or later.
Kyle felt new weight sink onto his body, and began to ponder through the hallway with an anxious and fearful heart. But the small discovery of the night had given him some strength. His encounter with Stan had given him enough courage to keep his eyes from falling to the ground. He wasn't alone. That was enough for now.
A.N- Thank you for reading!
Told you I would warn you if anything graphically horrible and sickening happened. And I will, although I don't know what my standards are to yours…
Anyway, thank you! Leave a review?