I don't own South Park - it's owned by the very talented Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

The Contest

by cell12

Chapter 35

One Year Later

The door to the apartment swung open. Standing in the corridor were two young men. One was taller, well built with soft brown hair. He was muscled and chunky-looking, not fat just big. The second was shorter and thin, although he did appear to have good definition beneath his clothes. The dark red hair on his head was chopped close and only curled slightly.

"Stop trying to pick me up," the red-head snapped, "I'm not a chick, we're not married and you're not carrying me over the threshold."

"But Kahl," the larger of the two wined, "it's our first home together. This needs to be special."

Kyle weighed up the humiliation of been treated like a new bride against making his boyfriend happy, "Fine, but I get to choose my side of the bed."

"But Kahl, ah wanted to have the side nearest the bathroom."

Kyle muttered a few insults under his breath but didn't resist as he was lifted into his boyfriend's arms, "If you drop me or bang my head, I swear Eric," he never finished because they were already in the room.

They had sub-let the apartment for the first year. It was extra funds for them both during their last year at high-school. Kyle had made the decision to not even look at the place until they could move in. He had trusted his boyfriend with all the arrangements and Eric had not let him down. Their tenants had moved out a couple of days ago and the whole place had been cleaned and the new furniture brought in.

The main room was quite large with doors leading off from it. The brown L-shaped sofa was new and looked comfortable, arranged around a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. Game consoles were set on a table underneath. The walls were painted a soft cream, kept from being boring by the artwork hanging on them.

Kyle took some time looking around the room after Eric had set him down.

"Who'd have guessed that Butters would get an art scholarship," Kyle said, running a finger over the painting of him with his three closest friends.

"Ah only accepted his paintings on the hope that he'll become famous and they'll be worth something some day," the larger boy tried to sound mean and callus but Kyle could tell it was all bluster - it was almost always bluster.

"I know that you care really," Kyle teased, "if you didn't, would you have spent all that time helping him fill out his scholarship application forms?"

"Meh," Cartman tried to play down his kind deeds. Kyle knew that pointing them out would make Eric feel uncomfortable.

"Let's check out our bedroom," Kyle said, grabbing the larger boy by the hand and pulling him towards the doors, "which one is ours?" He asked.

Cartman sniggered, "This first door is a closet, for our coats and junk," he said as he opened the door.

The closet was small and tidy, for now anyway, with a rail of coat hooks and some shelves. A small vacuum was sitting on the floor.

"This is Stan and Kenneh's room," Cartman continued, opening the second door.

Kyle quickly ducked his head inside. The room was a reasonable double with a pair of singe beds against opposite walls, with a desk between them - under the window.

Kyle smiled as he thought about his best friend's life was finally turning around. The doctor's had finally given him the OK to resume training just after Easter. Too late for earning a scholarship - since it would take months of work to get his shoulder back into shape. Of course, with so much time out of the game, his skills would be a bit rusty. Kyle had no doubts that Stan would force his way onto the college team. When Stan 'The Man' Marsh set his mind to something he usually found a way to achieve it.

The raven-haired boy had been so grateful when they had told him that he was going to college with them. Kyle had to tell him three times that the whole plan had been Eric's idea before Stan would believe that the Fat-ass cared so much about him. They'd also finally told Stan the truth about their fake relationship and how it had turned real. He had been a little shocked, having been taken in so completely, but had agreed to keep it a secret. It was just easier to let everyone else go on thinking the lie. Kyle had felt uncomfortable with that at first but Eric had explained that it wasn't hurting anyone and that the truth was too complicated for most people to accept.

Kenny had already known about the whole college thing and had made a point of grabbing Cartman into a hug and shouting, best friend ever, loudly in his face - knowing it would annoy the larger boy. Cartman had made a big show of counting his Vegas winning to make sure the poor boy and his brother didn't steal any of it. Kenny had just grinned and told Eric, I know that you love me really, before running around the Cartman house - with Eric lumbering behind, trying to chase him down. Kenny had been even more ecstatic when he learned that Eric had bought his brother's garage and put Kev in charge.

Kyle remembered when Eric had approached his dad, to ask him to keep an eye on the business and financial side of the garage - given that Kev was inexperienced in those areas. Gerald had eagerly agreed after asking a few sharp questions about where the money had come from.

"Snap out of it Kahl," Cartman's voice jolted Kyle back to the present, "we've only got a couple of hours before Stan and Kenneh show up."

"Sorry," Kyle hugged his boyfriend, "I was just thinking about how much winning the contest has helped our friends."

Cartman smiled, "You're too cute to be mad at."

"Call me cute again and I'll kick your ass," Kyle joked.

Eric was tempted to call Kyle cute again, just to see the reaction but instead continued his tour, "Main bathroom," Cartman said, changing the subject and opening the next door.

Kyle took a quick glance. It was a nicely fitted out room, a white suite with a shower over the bath. White tiles broken up with two tones of blue tiles spread across the floor and walls. The only thing that made Kyle ponder was the lack of a window or any natural light.

His boyfriend must have noticed his look, "A lot of apartments have bathrooms with no window Kahl, it's really common. Don't worry there's a window in our en-suite."

Kyle nodded, "I suppose we could leave a flash-light in there in case there's a power cut."

"That's our room," Cartman said, skipping the door, "and this is the kitchen."

Cartman pushed open the final door to reveal a compact kitchen with reasonable space and a breakfast bar with two stools - no room for a table. Then again four male college students were far more likely to eat take-out on the sofa while watching TV or playing a video game. Eric was the only one who had any inclination to cook.

"Why did you skip our room?" Kyle asked, pressing up to Eric and enjoying the heat of his boyfriends body.

Cartman grinned shyly, "Because once ah get you in the bedroom ah won't want to leave until we've - you know."

Kyle grinned back at his boyfriend, he found it adorable when Cartman got all embarrassed and shy - especially when he was talking about them being intimate, "Yes I know."

Kyle lead the way into their room. It was painted a soft sage green with two desks on either side of a large king-size bed. Storage came from a large walk-in closet and two sets of drawers. The aforementioned on-suite wash-room had a toilet, sink and shower but no bath.

Kyle looked at the bed, which was waiting for them invitingly, "You said that you wanted the side nearest the bathroom."

Cartman nodded as he watched Kyle sit on the bed and bounce a few times to test the mattress. He sat down next to him and threw his arms around the red-head, "Cuddle monster loves his sweet peh."

Kyle turned in Eric's arms and brought their faces close, "Sweet pea loves his cuddle monster."

When Stan and Kenny arrived at the apartment, they expected to be greeted by their two friends. Instead all they got was the sight of Eric and Kyle's bags piled up just inside the door.

"Do you think they've gone out?" Stan asked as he moved inside.

Kenny grinned as he heard the faint sounds coming from the master bedroom. "I don't think so Stanny," he said pointing to the door of Eric and Kyle's room.

"It sounds like they're moving furniture," Stan said, hearing the grunting noises and much to Kenny's delight, "maybe we should go help them."

"You do that Stan," Kenny suggested, "I wanna take my bags into our room."

Kenny hefted his bags and made for the second bedroom but stopped to watch as Stan opened the master bedroom door.

There was a loud girlish shriek and a couple of indignant shouts.

"Oh god," Stan said as he backed out of the room looking green. He managed to rush into the kitchen before throwing up in the kitchen sink.

Kenny couldn't help but laugh as Cartman charged out of the bedroom clad only in his boxers. He pointed towards the larger boy, his eyes tearing up with laughter, "They're inside-out, you must have put them on in a hurry."

"Shut up," Cartman snapped, clearly frustrated, "just shut up Kenneh."

"Stan's shriek was so girly, and he's the straight one," Kenny laughed some more.

Kyle had followed his boyfriend out of the room. A bed-sheet was wrapped around his shoulders, "It was kind-of funny," he conceded.

"As long as Stan learns to respect our privacy," Cartman grumbled, calming down slightly.

"It's gonna be so much fun, all of us living together," Kenny pointed out.

And it was.

Authors Note: For those readers who may be disappointed by the one year jump, sorry.

To me the story was pretty much over once Cartman and Kyle admitted their feelings for each other in chapter 35. Yes I could have dragged it on - I actually had notes on Cartman's party and the studio part of the contest, Big Gay Al was going to be the presenter. Honestly, it just felt like I was dragging the story out - even while I was planning it. All that was left was this one year later chapter and the loose ends that will be tied up in chapter 36.

The actual idea to jump like this came to me after reading the excellent story Hate by Kymanlvr, so if you're looking for someone to blame...

Stan's nickname is borrowed from Stan Lee - the guy who created pretty much all of Marvel comics best heroes and villains in a few brief years during the 1960's. The guy is a legend and his self-penned nickname is so kewl that I had to borrow it.

Kyman love to all my readers, cell12.