::Rusty Iron Pipes on a Chalkboard – The Unexpected Can Be Good::

"So Cartman's going to be stuck in the hospital for two weeks?"

"Yeah- I guess one of his cracked ribs might have poked into his lung? So he's gotta stay for observation to make sure he doesn't need surgery." Kyle reported. "I... guess we sorta beat the hell outta him, didn't we?"

Kyle's voice was of an entirely different tone than last night, when he'd stated that fact as if it were a badge of honor. Dee would still argue that Cartman fucking deserved it, but she could understand not being proud of excessive action taken in a moment of passion. Really, last night felt mildly surreal when compared to the entirely mundane experience of getting up in the morning to go to the bus stop, even if Dee herself had changed up her morning routine to actually make sandwiches for breakfast, if only so she was assured that Kenny ate something that day after spending the night on her family's couch.

Then again, she supposed it wasn't much different than any other time life in South Park got disrupted. Barring extreme destruction of the school or other parts of the town, they pretty much always lined up for the bus the next day, with or without any number of their group's usual members. It was the point at which the cycle just began again, and life moved on, regardless of what horrors had been undertaken before.

"Hey, he fucking started it!" Stan defended in an instant, face twisting with anger. "He kidnapped that poor dog, he manipulated Wendy into a trap, he did all of this- all we did was give him his just desserts." Even as he said it, the righteous fury could not be maintained. Furrowed brow gave way to a somewhat exhausted emptiness as the fire left him in a sigh. "... and then some... I guess... I mean, once he was down, we didn't have to hit him all the extra times... I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't get up. And I wasn't gonna stop Wendy- she was mad."

"She had the right to be!" Kyle agreed. "But..."

Dee and Kenny had been quiet all this while, aware of where that but led; why Stan and Kyle couldn't hold fast to the feeling that they'd done the right thing and nothing else. Neither said it, but all of them were thinking it:

But what happens when Cartman comes back?

"... he's gonna kill us." Stan muttered.

"Or worse." Kyle murmured. "... maybe someone else will piss him off before then? He'll get distracted?"

"Don't count on that!" Stan batted back. "He's probably plotting the doom of all of us as we speak. He doesn't give a fuck about missing school, but the dance is Friday night; he won't forgive missing that, not when the signing contest was such a big deal to him."

Not for the first time at this bus stop, Dee felt like the odd one out. Kenny, Cartman, Stan, and Kyle had grown up together, their dynamics defined when they were still in pre-school as far as she was aware. There was years of experience behind the fear she was listening to, years of abuse that left the boys around her shuddering in the certainty that something horrible was going to befall them the moment Cartman was once again able to move about under his own power, if not somewhat before. She'd heard stories, been a bystander, but this whole mess was one of her first experiences of being directly within Cartman's cross-hairs.

It was a nightmare. A horrible goddamned nightmare, one that refused to end even after the monster was beaten back and taken away.

"Well, Kenny doesn't look worried." Kyle pointed out.

"Kenny didn't beat the hell out of Cartman with a baseball bat."

"Doesn't mean I fuckin' wouldn't have, if I'd been there." Kenny pointed out, the sound of a sneer coming through his hood. "Fucker would gotten his kneecaps shattered."

Dee could agree on that point- if she'd made it in time for the beat-down, she probably would have borrowed that metal bat to use as a pestle to grind Cartman's hands into bloody mush and bone dust... but she hadn't, and it was easy to imagine cruelty when the opportunity to carry it out was not immediately in front of her. She could imagine a number of things she wanted to do to Cartman's soft, shitty body, each torture more terribly exquisite than the last, and not a single image of it disturbed her because she knew he deserved every little thing she could possibly dream up, and more.

"Heh, Wendy actually suggested that." Stan mentioned. "The police found us before she could grab the bat, though."

"Oh, hey, how is she doing?" Kyle asked. "Is she okay?"

"O-oh, uh, she's... she's fine. Great, really, I hung out at her place until it was okay for her to sleep." Stan's face found itself smiling, to the apparent surprise of Stan himself as his gloved hands stuffed deeply into his pockets. "We talked for a while, and... she asked me to go to the dance with her, as her boyfriend."

After all that build-up, I feel like you should be shouting and jumping for joy... tch, who new Stan was so bloody bashful? Dee's head tilted out to peer at their resident lover who always seemed to be getting the short end of the stick in that department of his life. He was happy, of that there was no doubt... but there was something else to his eyes, a pull to his cheeks, that suggested not all was perfect within this new relationship. Something was bothering him.

"So you guys are back together again? Don't you think that's a little fast?"

"Huh?" Stan's head cocked a touch. "Waddya mean, it's not like we just broke up a week ago."

"No, no, after a seriously high-stress situation- Cartman tired to bash Wendy's head in, you swooped in to save the day, and just... suddenly dating? Doesn't that sound like you guys might be riding the rush a little more than following your own feelings?"

"M-maybe, I guess..."

Jesus, Kyle, just skewer his anxieties right on the spot. Need a fire for that angst-kabob?

"But... sometimes riding the rush feels good." Stan added, seeming to find a little more certainty as he spoke. "Wendy and I spent some time talking last night, too... I'm thinking I might see a councilor about how I... freak out about things. Turns out the church offers some mental health services for free, so long as you don't miss your appointments, so... uh... yeah."

"Holy shit dude, what? Seriously? That's great!"

The bus line suddenly collapsed in around Stan, becoming a knot rather than a line, with Stan securely at the center of it. Kyle had a hand on his shoulder, body bent as if he were still recovering from the impact of the news. Stan, meanwhile, was standing a bit taller, as if the burden of finding the right way to say it had been lifted off, though there was also the shock of becoming the center of attention all of the sudden. It was Kenny who had cried out his support instantly, and Dee found herself grinning in this sudden huddle.

"Man, why didn't you tell us right away? That's big news!" Kyle added.

"W-well... uh... I felt like going to see a professional meant I was kinda... crazy. I was a little nervous to say it, I guess, in case you guys thought... well.. y'know." Stan's face had dropped to face down towards his shoes, shoulders coming up into a sort of shrug, but not crunching together as if he felt under attack by his friends crowding around him. If anything, Dee detected a sort of relief in his posture; no doubt his poor anxious brain had played out a thousand scenarios in which this didn't work out, Kyle did think he was crazy, and his most important friendship was once again in peril despite his best efforts... and really, it was Kyle's opinion that matters, Kyle was the first person that Stan looked up towards, flashing a befuddled smile as he let out a little derisive chuckle. "C'mon guys, back off, it's starting to feel kinda gay."

Get over it, we're happy for you, you damn basket case.

"Everyone's a little gay, dude." Kenny snickered. "Get the fuck over it and feel the love for five seconds."

"Hey, hey, you decided this, right? Not Wendy?" Kyle asked, remaining nearby even as Dee and Kenny relented, as told.

"Yeah, this was me... but she helped me find the phone numbers and all that."

Kyle nodded, satisfied. "So long as she's not picking stuff for you, I'm all for it."

"... thanks." Stan uttered, hesitating before he managed to form the word properly, a genuine warmth behind it that was not unlike a clean towel fresh out of the dryer. "You... you guys are great."

The bus arrived shortly thereafter.

If rumor was to be believed, Eric did something terrible last night, and ended up in the hospital. Butters couldn't help listening to rumors; they were just so darn interesting... and this didn't sound that far-fetched, considering Eric. What the terrible thing was, on the other hand, the jury was still out on. Generally consensus was that he'd kidnapped someone, but whether that someone was a teacher, a student, a dog, or the principal depended on who you asked. Either way, it seemed it hadn't gone well for him.

Walking through that kind of buzz, it was hard not to be a little excited, caught up in all of it. He found himself arriving in the science room and feeling an odd sort of thrill when he saw that Cartman's seat was indeed empty, confirming at least some small part of the whispers of didja hear and didja know flying back and forth between kids. Coming to his own table, sitting down next to Heidi, he couldn't help turning her and asking. "Did you hear? Eric's in the hospital!"

Heidi, sporting her usual green shirt with a large pink-petaled flower on the chest, leaned back in her chair, seemed bored. Her head was relaxed back, light brown hair stretching down over the back of her seat as her gaze focused dully on the ceiling. She had her hands in her lap, idly twiddling her thumbs, though they kept crashing into one another. "Good for him." She stated without interest.

"They say he's gonna be gone for weeks- he's gonna miss the dance! Poor feller..."

Heidi's eyes closed a moment, lips pressing together before she leaned forward, momentum carrying her chin down to regular level before she gave him a proper amount of attention for a conversation. "Speaking of the dance, how'd it go?" She quested.

Butters had to blink for a moment. "How'd it go? How did what go...?" He mused, unsure at first to what she was referring... until he recollected to the day before, and the anxious ball of energy he'd been on the subject of publicly showing the rest of the world what he had known for a long while- that he was a touch bi-curious, and that he liked Dee.

For some reason, that felt like a long time ago, but it had only been a day. A long day he supposed, of waiting, of watching over his phone, but then he'd found himself invited out to be given an answer. It hadn't been the one he'd hoped for, nor one he expected... nope, things had been just a touch more complicated than that. More than that, however, he'd been trusted with something quite special; the trust of Dee and Kenny to keep their relationship a secret.

Somehow, everything before that point had briefly vanished from his conscious attention, choosing instead to enjoy the memory of being with his friends at the pond, looking out at the sunset.

"Oh! That! Uh... well, Dee an' I met up later, and he said no."

Heidi's eyebrows raised up, surprised. "Really? He said no?"

"Well, in his way, y'know? But we're still friends, so it's okay." Butters assured as the warning bell rang, sending students skittering to their seats.

"Really?" She asked. "Just... he said no, and it's no big deal. It's all cool. Just like that?" She didn't hide her confusion. It might have been a touch incredulous.

"Just like that." He nodded. "I'm not gonna loose a good friend over bein' said no to, that'd just be silly."

"Doesn't it make things awkward, though?" She pressed. "I mean, the next time you guys hang out, you're telling me you won't even think about the fact that you had feelings for him? And it's not going to make you even just the slightest bit bitter?"

"Nope!" He chirruped back. "He's not sad, so why should I be sad?"

Heidi blinked at him for a moment or two, not seeming to comprehend how it was he was just so... okay with all of this. Honestly, he found her bewilderment more confusing; if he liked someone enough to ask them out, why would it be bad to stay friends? Sure, he still thought Dee was dependable and pretty, and the feelings that motivated to ask in the first place were still alive and well... but those feelings of liking him were also attached to the feelings of cherishing him as a friend. There was no reason for them to exist in separation to each other, and there was even less reason to drop a friendship just because an attempt at romance didn't pan out.

Besides, Dee had treated him with respect. That was worth something. A lot, actually.

"I guess... well, I guess there isn't a good reason." Heidi admitted, lips pursing together again for a second. "I'm just used to hearing about things being a lot messier whenever things don't work out. I'm used to things being messier when they don't work out."

Oh. Right. Eric. That was some nasty business, wasn't it?

"Has anyone asked you to the dance?" He asked, more wondering aloud than anything. He hadn't heard about Heidi dating anyone since the mess with Cartman... then again, rumor tended to be more occupied with her weight than her love life, and it was really more the girls at school who kept up on who was dating who all of the time. For all he knew. Heidi had a special friend, and just hadn't mentioned it.

"Huh? No." Her face puckered, as if she'd just put something sour into her mouth, her body leaning back and her head drawing even further away than that. "I'm not going. I've got better things to do on a Friday night and listen to bad singing and dance to crap school-approved music."

"Oh. Well, I was just thinkin' if you didn't have anyone to go with, me and my buddies are all getting a ride together and comin' as friends, an' I could ask them if you could ride with us, too, if you wanted."

More blinking. More of that puckered, surprised face that couldn't believe... what? That he was being nice to her? What was wrong with being nice?

Her mouth opened, maybe to answer him, but the final bell signaling the beginning of the hour blared instead, and their science teacher, Ace, came sweeping up one of the aisles between the tables to get the day started, and he wasn't the sort to talk out of turn once class got going. Instead, he just flashed Heidi a smile, and turned to face forward.

Whatever she was going to say, it would just have to wait until work time.

::The Author's Corner::

So basically my take on Heidi is that post-Cartman she rejected the victim-hood thing so strongly that she has endeavored to make herself into that image of an utterly independent woman, but she's done it in spite of Cartman, not necessarily because that's who she really is on the inside. Basically, in her desperation not to be the monster Cartman made her into at the end of the recent season, she's gone running all the way to the other end of the spectrum, and that's not exactly a really healthy thing, either. It might look that way from the outside, in the way that she's gotten fit, takes care of herself, so on and so forth... but she's also trying to take on the world alone, and speaking as someone who tried to do that in my own personal life at that age... it doesn't work. XD

I intend to dive into her character more in a later story, because I think it's gonna be full of feels.

Also I wanna squish Stan forever. I'm up through season 3 of watching South Park and the more I watch, the more I'm excited to continue writing everyone and exploring the places their characters can go.

ONWARDS!

-Buttlord