(A/n: The boys are 8 years old.
Summary: Stan and his friends have their first sleepover.
Please enjoy)
Chapter 36: Weekend Sleepover
As soon as 6 o'clock hits, the doorbell to the Marsh's abode rings. Immediately brimming with excitement, Stan leaves his bedroom and races down the stairs. It's only him and his mother at home, his father and sister went out an hour ago to spend time with their friends. Stan sees his mother leisurely advancing towards the front door, opening it in the same manner that elicits a whine for her to hurry up. Once it's finally open, two figures appear before them on the porch, protected by their jackets on this cold evening.
"Kyle!"
"Stan!"
Giving Mrs. Marsh a quick wave and bidding his mother goodbye, Kyle enters the house, hastily kicking off his boots then Stan tugs him up to his room. Sharon and Sheila giggle at their jubilant children, then they engage in small talk.
Five minutes after Sheila left, the doorbell rings again. Stan stays put in his room, him and Kyle (who's now wearing his pajama's) watching a cartoon on television on the noirette's bed. A minute or two later, a chubby brunette walks in and he narrows his chocolate brown eyes at them.
"You guys started already?!" Cartman asks angrily.
"No, we were just watching t.v," Stan says.
"Yeah so relax," Kyle huffs rolling his lime-green eyes.
Cartman slowly loses his glare as he walks further into the room, Stan telling him to put his bag next to Kyle's on the floor then change into his own pajamas.
"Ew can't he put his stuff somewhere else?" The redhead complains.
"I was gonna do that anyway." Sticking his tongue out at Kyle, Cartman sits his bag on top of Stan's dresser. He takes out a pair of pj's, and just as he heads for Stan's bathroom he glimpses up at the television screen, scrunching up his face in confusion at the chaos happening in the cartoon. "The heck are you guys watching?"
Stan shrugs. "No idea, but we just need to wait for Kenny then we can play some games."
This peaks Cartman's interest, but only for a brief moment once he looks closely at the t.v stand. "How're we gonna play games when you don't even have a console?"
"Board games," Stan and Kyle say in unison.
Cartman looks to them as if he expected to be letdown at some point before or amidst the sleepover. "Laaaame."
"You don't even know what kinds I have," Stan argues.
Cartman turns away, stepping into the bathroom. "Don't care, board games are lame and boring."
"So you don't like playing Connect Four or Sorry?" Kyle inquires wittingly.
"O-of course I don't."
"Liar!"
"Still!" Cartman spins around. "I came over here for two things: snacks and games. There's no way you can wrong with snacks."
Now it's Stan's and Kyle's turn to appear deadpan. "Should've known you only agreed to the sleepover just to freeload."
"Then what about you? You only came over cuz your 'super bewst fwend' asked you to?"
"Obviously!"
"Obviously," Cartman mimics in a slightly higher tone, but the matter drops with him turning back around and shutting the door. After he's done changing, he puts his previously worn clothes into his bag and plops down on the floor by the television stand.
The wait for Kenny is excruciating. As minutes ticked by, the boys started to wonder if their poor friend had died. It's the only plausible reason they can think of regarding Kenny's tardiness. Earlier at school he was eager to participate in the sleepover, it was doubtful he would miss it for anything.
"Should we...start without him?" Kyle asks Stan after twenty minutes of looking at random shows on the t.v.
Stan purses his lips. He doesn't want to exclude Kenny out on the fun, plus it would be wrong - especially if Kenny eventually shows up. "Let's give him some more time."
"Like what, an hour?!" Cartman nearly exasperates. "He's probably dead-"
A knock sounds at the front door.
"That's gotta be him." Stan hops down from his bed, leaving his room. His mother opens the door to reveal the parka wearing child, however he seems depressed, his body language giving it away since his face is concealed by his hood.
"Glad you could make it Kenny," Mrs. Marsh says with a small smile as she allows the boy entry into her home, closing the door afterwards. He nods his head quietly, taking off his boots. Sharon then notices her son by the staircase. "Oh Stan, hope you don't mind if he wears a pair of your pajamas."
Stan isn't surprised that Kenny came empty-handed. "Sure."
"Also we'll be making pizzas for dinner," his mother mentions, ambling towards the kitchen. "I'll call you all down in a few minutes."
Stan beams. "Okay." They go up to his room, Stan not questioning the alcoholic stench emitting off of Kenny. This isn't the first time he's smelled like this. Stan heads for his dresser, and begins to rummage around inside the drawers for some pj's.
"We thought you died dude," Cartman states; half-serious, half-jokingly.
Kenny shakes his head, then loosens his hood. "Mah parents fought again."
"Well that explains why you reek of beer," Kyle grimaces.
"Here." Stan hands Kenny some pajamas he hardly wears. "And while you're at it, you should take a bath too."
Kenny acknowledges that he's tainting the air around them by deepening his frown. He wanders into the noirette's bathroom, closing the door behind him.
"Who's freeloading now?"
"Shut up Cartman."
Ten minutes later, Kenny comes out - cleansed of both the grime and the fetor of booze. His mood seems slightly better.
"Alright, since we're all here let's play some games!" Stan announces happily.
"Booo!" Cartman jeers, thumbing down the idea.
"You can choose Kenny," Stan says, ignoring the brunette. He points at his wooden bookcase, on the top and middle shelves are children's books and on the bottom shelf are different genres of board games. "Be quick though cuz my mom will call us down soon."
Nodding, Kenny approaches the bookcase and begins searching for a game for them to play on the last shelf. He settles on a pack of cards, and reaches for them. "How 'bout UNO?"
"Wow, I forgot I had that," Stan says, mildly shocked.
"Hmph, fine. At least UNO's kinda fun." Kyle rolls his eyes at Cartman's pseudo-stubborn response.
The four boys sit in a circle on the floor, Cartman declaring he will shuffle and hand out the cards.
"You better not cheat," Kyle warns him.
"Psh, I don't need to cheat to beat you," Cartman smirks. After sloppily randomizing the deck, he starts distributing the cards, first starting with himself then to Stan, Kenny, and deliberately giving Kyle his cards last. They each got eight.
The game commences smoothly, but only for several seconds. Stan and Kenny both anticipated that either Kyle or Cartman was going to do something to set the other off, if they had of betted Stan would've won because he chose Cartman. After dishing out skips, draw 4's, and reverse cards, Kenny ends up winning, mainly because Kyle and Cartman kept duking it out against each other and Stan had a bad hand. Their game ended just in time, Mrs. Marsh yells for them to come down to the kitchen.
Kyle and Cartman walk out bickering at each other, Stan and Kenny stay behind to stack up the cards.
"Can't play anything without those two fighting each other," Stan grumbles.
"Yeah, aah should've picked somethin' else," Kenny says, feeling he's at fault.
"It wouldn't have mattered, they would've found some way to ruin the fun over any kind of game."
"True."
They put the cards back into pack, Stan returning it where it was initially, then they go down to the kitchen.
After washing their hands, the boys start making their own pizzas. Sharon had enough ingredients for them to make four, and much to her satisfaction they behaved themselves, only teasing one another to a small degree but having fun all the while. After they're done decorating their pizzas to their liking, and after baking them in the oven, thirty minutes later the four children are sitting in the living room watching a movie. Sharon had retreated up to her room, warning them not to be too loud and to keep the living room clean.
The boys played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would select a movie for them to watch. Kyle won. He chose an action/adventure film, it lasted for half an hour.
"You guys wanna watch another one?" Stan asks. Kyle opens his mouth to answer him, but a yawn slips out. Cartman snorts.
"Sleepy alrea-" A yawn cuts him off.
"Guess we'll save another movie for tomorrow then," Stan proclaims while stretching. Turning off the television, him and his friends dump their paper plates and plastic cups into the trash can in the kitchen, then head up to his room, shutting off the living room light.
Kyle and Cartman get their sleeping bags out with ease thanks to the lamp still being on, meanwhile Kenny stands awkwardly in the middle of the room. Cartman notices with a snicker, laying his sleeping bag away from Kyle and Stan's bed.
"Looks like po' boy is gonna have to sleep on the floor."
"We're sleeping on the floor too though," Kyle affirms.
"Yeah but we have sleeping bags, Kinny doesn't."
Stan frowns. "He'll sleep in my bed then." Kenny looks to him with wide eyes.
"Pfft that's so gay."
Both Stan's and Kenny's cheeks tinge a faint pink. "S-shut up," Stan says.
Laughing at their flustered faces, Cartman slips into his sleeping bag, Kyle doing the same.
Stan engulfs his room in darkness, scooting over to create some head space on his pillow. Kenny's demeanor showcases his hesitancy. "Stan, are you sure?"
"Yeah, unless you actually wanna sleep on the floor?"
The blonde shakes his head, and timidly climbs into the noirette's bed, facing away from Stan while getting under the sheets.
Soft breathing fills the silence, belonging to both Kyle and Cartman who are now fast asleep. Stan would've been the same had it not been for Kenny's fidgeting. He looks over at Kenny.
"Are you uncomfortable?" He whispers.
Kenny stills in that instant. "K-kinda...it's...mah first time layin' on a real bed."
Stan smiles sadly at him. "It's very comfy." Kenny hums in agreement, then it's quiet again. It drags on long enough for Stan's eyelids to start drooping, but shuffling right next to him prevents them from closing completely. He lazily looks over at Kenny again, the boy's hazel eyes locking onto his sapphire ones through the dark.
"What?"
Kenny lightly nips his bottom lips, averting his gaze. "T-thanks...fer lettin' me sleep wit you an' fer also...lettin' me choose what game ta play an' fer lettin' me borrow yer pajamas an' use yer bath."
The corners of Stan's lips curl upwards a little. "You don't have to thank me for none of that, we're best friends."
Kenny looks back into his eyes, giving him an earnest smile. "Aah know, but aah doubt Cartman or even Kyle would've done all that fer me."
"Kyle probably would've, but definitely not Cartman since he's a butthole." They chuckle quietly, then Stan yawns. He faces the ceiling while closing his eyes. "Let's get some sleep. G'night Ken."
The smile stays on Kenny's lips as he shuts his eyes. "G'night."
(A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up on Christmas!)
