Stan's POV
Last day here in Hawaii, I wake up feeling much better rested. Probably because I don't have to spend 2 hours past midnight practicing my ukulele. I should get up now but I don't really want to, I feel really warm, like I'm hugging the world's coziest furnace.
Wait, this feels familiar. It feels like the same as yesterday, I was feeling warm like the sun was blanketing me until that warm slipped away from me. I woke up shortly after because I felt cold without it and I couldn't find it again.
I find myself spooning Kyle. Was I doing this yesterday too? I really don't feel like letting go but something tells me Kyle won't be as pleased as I am if he wakes up to find me cuddling him.
I get up and walk to the dining room with my laptop to check my YouTube page to see how the videos I uploaded are doing. Besides the Vlog I uploaded on the first day, I also uploaded our performance last night under Butter's permission. Immediately, I noticed a bunch of comments on both of the videos.
I decide to check the ones from the Vlog first. Most of them are them wishing me a happy holiday and calling Wendy a slut, but the ones that caught my eyes are the ones about Kyle. Like I said, I hadn't done a Vlog in a while and this video is the first time my viewers actually get to see Kyle in person. Some of them are calling him cute, others are happy that I got my best friend back.
There are, of course, asking about our relationship. I've come clean that I was Bi a while back but I never had a boyfriend, so there's an all-out debate in the comment section right now. I take a moment to read the comment that started it.
Who wouldn't love these two, inseparable best friends ever since they were kids? Idek who wouldn't, right? It's so obvious why I ship these two.
They see us as a couple? Somehow that idea isn't that odd, if anything I kinda like that. Kyle and I have been growing closer since we moved pass our fight. Even without that, Kyle is the person I'd trust my life with and the one person I'd give up anything to protect, that says a lot about how much I care about him.
What am I thinking? Even if Kyle is the most important person to me, that doesn't mean we can be a couple. I don't know if I should try anything with Kyle's condition, something changed when Kyle told me his past with Vivi. I feel more protective of him, I didn't want to let anything else hurt him like that girl did, so far I've been able to keep any weird impulses in check but I still couldn't put my finger on it until now. Those feelings are too strong to friendship standards, even super best friends standards.
Am I falling for him?
Ugh… It's too early for me to question my feelings. I need coffee. I close my laptop and see Cartman coming out of his room. "Hey lardass."
"Where's breakfast?"
"We're going out for breakfast today, remember? You can have some snacks in the pantry if you want."
"Twitchy needs to get up and cook some grub. I'm starving here." Cartman grumbles as he grabs some Cheesy Poofs from the cupboards.
"Leave Tweek out of it, Cartman. He isn't your personal chef." I defend poor Tweek who isn't here to defend himself.
"He doesn't know how to leave things alone." Kenny groans angrily as he walks in and sits down next to me.
Cartman rolls his eyes. "Please, it's not my fault I walked in on your bitch."
"Stop calling Charlie a bitch." Kenny warns him.
"Oh right, sorry. That would mean that I'd see it as an actual girl."
I notice Kenny's knuckles go white as he clenches his fists. "You did not just go there."
"Trust me, I got a full body view before the freak scrambled to put it's clothes back on, caught it staring at itself in the mirror before locking the bathroom door." Kenny isn't the only one getting mad. Charlie's a sweet kid and she doesn't deserve to be treated like that by someone as disgusting as Cartman.
"She isn't a freak!" Kenny practically jumps off his chair, growling at Cartman's smug face.
"Then what is she?"
"STOP IT!" I shout, halting their argument. "Both of you can it before she hears you two, it's our last day here so if you want, you two can never see each other again after we get home."
That stops the feud but not Kenny's rage, he goes back into his room steaming with anger. I turn to Cartman who looks completely indifferent to it all and I ask him, "Do you hate us?"
"Only the ginger Jew, the rest of them are just fun to push around."
After a few minutes, everyone else comes out of their room. I can't tell if they heard Kenny and Cartman fighting but with how loud it was, I'd be surprise if half the block didn't know. The atmosphere is deafening until Charlotte and Butters start thanking us for the surprise, hearing how happy it makes her brings our spirits back up. For the last day, we're going to shop around for souvenirs and spend some time at the beach before we have to leave tonight. I promised mom that I'd get her some coffee.
Shopping doesn't take too long since we want to spend as much time as we can on the beach before we have to go back to the chilly winds of spring showers. I got the coffee and a little tiki statue, as a memorabilia and because it looks like it's pissed off expression reminds me of Kyle.
We get changed and hit the beach the minute we got to the house. Since this is our last day, we decide to go all out to the bench. Charlotte and Butters are sitting under a tree, Charlie and Kenny are playing Frisbee against Ike, Tweek and Kyle. I see a beachside bar and decide to get some drinks from it. "Ok, who wants what drink?" I ask them.
"Rum and coke." Kyle gives his usual order as he sends the disk back to Charlie.
"I'll have a chi chi." Butters places his order, apparently he fell in love with them the last time he was here.
"Make that two." One for Kenny.
"Three." And another one for Cartman. I'm not fucking paying for his drink if that's what he's thinking.
Tweek and Charlie don't want any, and Kyle wouldn't let Ike get one no matter how hard he tries his begging pout. With everyone's orders in mind, Sue and I head to the bar.
"Three chi chis, one rum and coke, one whiskey." I place our orders before letting Sue order hers.
"Strawberry sunrise, no ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas."
The bartender nods as he mixes our drinks, leaving Sue and I to talk a little while we wait. She visibly relaxes with a sigh and a smile, "You know, after all the shit that's happened, we really needed this break. You needed to reconnect with some of your old friends and I got to know you guys a little better."
"All I saw you get to know is Tweek and his cooking. You two have been getting along really well."
"Oh haha, don't pull that tone on me." Sue slugs me in the shoulder and leans against the bar. "Tweek's a really great guy, charming and a really good cook. However, Jake isn't gonna let Tweek go if I go for him now. I'll have to deal with that loose end first. Besides, right now I just wanna help him be the best person he can be. I know how much it sucks to have your potential ignored by something you can't control."
Man, that's a mood killer. But I don't blame her almost everyone in her crew knows her rough start, and part of the reason why we hate Jake so much. The guy's a dick that really needs to know that Sue isn't some trophy girlfriend.
"It sucks that we still need him."
"He's a pretty face for the public, as long as it keeps us going, it doesn't matter. If we don't keep our ratings up, I don't know if the school would let us keep our program." We notice the mood change and she sighs. "Sorry, we should be happy. It's our last day here, we would make it worthwhile."
"Yeah, anyways, you're right." I take her cue and lighten up the mood again, thinking about the fun we had on this trip. "It's nice to see Butters again, I'm glad he's so happy now with Charlotte. Makes me wish I could fall in love like that."
"You mean with Red there?" She smirks as she looks over at Kyle. "I know you've been giving each other glances since we got here. You broke up with that cheater, so what's stopping you?"
"My feelings are in a weird place right now, I don't know if it's just me not wanting to lose him again or whatever. Besides, Kyle isn't really one for feelings."
"Well then, think about it and make him see. When all possibilities are gone, what's left is the truth."
"Thanks." Our conversation ends when the bartender returns with all of our drinks on 2 trays. "Come on, rookie. Let's get all this back to the others." Sue says as she carries one of them and we make our way back to the gang. Kyle is arguing with Cartman about something again, what this time?
"What did we miss?" Sue asks.
"Charlie was just asking for more stories on the misadventures in South Park."
"Did you tell her about the one with the Nazi zombies?"
"Oh, yeah. That's when we were playing The Stick of Truth."
"Nazi zombies?"
"Yup, we were all there for that battle." Cartman begins to narrate with an overly-dramatic voice. "T'was a battle to end all battles, the fierce humans of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep against the retarded drew elves of the Elven forest-"
"Hey!" Kyle shouts angrily.
Cartman, as for usual, ignores Kyle's outcry and finishes his story. "-for the most powerful artifact known to this world, the Stick of Truth."
"Please, it was just a plain old stick." Wendy scoffs. We all reply with cold, angry glares. She doesn't understand that we risked our lives for that 'plain old stick'.
"So what happened to it?" Charlie asks curiously.
"After Kinny went crazy with the stick's power, Douchebag farted on his balls and we threw the stick into Stark's pond."
"You knew a kid named Douchebag?" Sue raises her eyebrow in confusion.
"He farted on your balls?" Charlie asks Kenny to which he just shrugs.
"It was a weird moment for everyone. It just happens."
"Man, I wish I could've seen it." Charlie sighs wistfully. I didn't know that half of our adventures would be that appealing to someone, half of the times the townsfolk just want us dead.
Kenny, being the loving boyfriend he is, picks up a random stick by his feet and takes Charlie's suggestion. "How about we play one round? For old time's sake."
Everyone agrees to one game and honestly, I'm kinda excited. It's been a while since I got to be with them and play like we were kids again in our backyards. Video games are fun and all but there's nothing more with a little trip down nostalgia lane.
"So how are we gonna decide factions?" Kyle brings up a good concern. Half of the kids we used to play with aren't here.
"Psh, I'm the great wizard of the humans." Cartman answers, like he's answering the most obvious question in the world. "Butters, Kinny and Tweek are already humans. Don't think that you can corrupt them with your Jew magic."
"Then I guess I'm Stan Marshwalker again, elf king." I kneel before Kyle, like the loyal ranger I am.
"First mate Ike, ready for your command."
"Very well then." Kyle nods before asking, "What about the girls?"
"We've been over this before, Kahl. Girls can't play."
Charlie and Sue both cry out. "Fuck you, why not?"
"Because girls are whiny and weak and all they'll do is bitch about their outfit, besides I'm the wizard king and I said so."
"But we have the Stick of Truth. Whoever controls the Stick controls the universe, remember shit-for-brain?" Kyle waves the stick with a smug look on his face. When did he take that from Kenny? Kenny doesn't seem too upset about it anyways seeing that Charlie can play now.
I walk to Kyle's side and back him up. "Yeah, and we say that the girls can join us."
Cartman looks like he's about to have an aneurysm before relenting, "Fine, Wendy, come over here."
"I guess you and Charlie are with us." Kyle welcomes them as they join our side, Charlotte doesn't want to play because the pregnancy drains more energy from her.
"Roles?"
"We'll just stick to our old roles." Kenny says as he points out him, Butters and Tweek. "Butters is a paladin, Tweek's a Barbarian and I'm a princess."
"Goddamnit Kinny." Cartman grunts in frustration. "Of course the crossdressers have a boner for each other."
Everyone except from Cartman, looks at Charlie with concern, worried that what the fatass said would hurt her. But to our shock, she shrugs and plays it off like the smartass she can be, "He's not wrong, oddly enough it did start of as some stupid ass punishment from a bet. But I found myself through losing that bet."
"Whatever, pussies. Choose your classes." Cartman cuts Charlie off, much to her annoyance.
Sue decides to be a thief, Charlie is a mage while Wendy is a warrior, fitting for each of them. With roles and teams set, we just need to prepare and let all Hell break loose.
"Very well then." Cartman draws a line in the sand with a walking stick he probably stole, and announces, "This marks our borders, we will meet back here in 20 minutes and we will burn your forest down to get the stick."
"You're on, fatso." Kyle responds before we all break off to gear up.
Kenny's POV
We search across the area and some local stores for the equipment we need, most of our weapons are toys, stuff we found around the house, drift wood and rocks. Not really effective weapons compared to my old bow or Butter's old hammer, but it should do the job nicely. I hope we don't get hurt, I've gone about 2 weeks now without dying and I don't wanna hurt my princess because of some stupid game.
"All right, almighty grand wizard. What's the plan?" I cross my arms at our 'leader' and his dominatrix warrior of a girlfriend.
"We go in there and kick Kahl in the nuts." Cartman declares, we all just give him blank stares in response. Really, Cartman?
"For the stick dumbass, that's not gonna help us get the stick." I want to slap this fat ignorant son of a bitch all the way to South Park.
"But… Kahl will be in pain~" He whines annoyingly, like that makes the most sense in the world. Knowing him, it probably does to him.
"And what makes you think that Stan and Ike will let you get close enough to Kyle to do that?" I retaliate as I readjust the plastic tiara on my head I bought just for this game.
"Besides, Sue is really strong." Tweek adds.
"That Charlie has fire too, I can see it in her eye." Even Wendy is giving her thoughts on it, not that Cartman cares, of course.
"Those pussies aren't gonna do anything because you guys are gonna keep them distracted. Wendy will fight Stan, Tweek and Kinny can go for the chicks since they wouldn't hurt their boyfriends. Butters, you keep Ike busy and get the stick. I'll beat up Kahl and make him suck mah balls." Cartman says once again in that overconfident tone. He's gonna make us battle while he sits in his fucking tower again like he did with Douchebag.
Butters looks at the weapon Cartman gave him in utter conflict, "But Eric, I don't wanna hurt Ike with a lead pipe."
"Are you a fighter, Butters, or do you wanna join the faggy elves?"
"Leave him alone." I step in again to defend poor Butters. "I don't like fighting my girlfriend either, Cartman."
"Too bad, I'm the wizard king and I command you to battle your hoes." Cartman stomps away and goes to Wendy, leaving the three of us frustrated with his supposed 'authoritah'.
"Fucking Cartman…" I growl as I kick the sand around me.
Tweek looks absolutely on edge, "I don't know how I'm gonna fight Sue, she looks like she'll take down a tank if she wants to." He's right and so can Kyle and Stan, Cartman has no idea what he's up against.
"What are we gonna do then?" Butters asks worryingly, but unfortunately we have no other choice
"We go to battle. What else can we do?" I say dejected as we follow Cartman and Wendy beyond enemy lines.
We reach the point we're supposed to spilt up and gang up on them from both sides and surrounding them. Our base is at the house after the Elves claim supplies and weapons for themselves while the Elven forest is a small area of greenery with trees and stuff, not too far away.
Later awhile of walking and careful attempts at stealth, we are surprised by Charlie, looking nonchalant in a white bathrobe, a big sunhat and a parasol in her hand. "Oh look, it's the blond trio. You were seven seconds behind schedule."
"Aww geez, I'm not sure if we should fight her." Tweek says, "It's three on one."
"Can I even the odds then?" A voice rings from the tree Charlie is leaning on. We didn't even notice her until we look up and see them big silver eyes gleaming dauntingly as she jumps to her partner's side.
"Sue?" Tweek exclaims. Sue now has a bath towel wrapped around her head, looking like a thief's cloak and hood and leaving her eyes as the only prominent feature we can see through that hood. I notice a bent arched-shaped stick with a rubber band they made as a makeshift bow and a canister filled with sticks on her back as her arrows.
"Sugar, you didn't think I was gonna let her fight alone, did you?" Sue intones, acting as carefree as Charlie is right now while she draws her bow. "The king's got you all figured out."
That makes sense. Shit, they must've set us up and let us play into their hands. I turn to Butters and whisper, "Butters, they know what's up. Try and find Cartman before they send Ike after you."
Butters scrambles as he runs into the shrubary, but the girls don't even bat an eye. They set their focus completely on me and Tweek, "Everything going according to plan, huh?" Charlie mocks with a playing tone.
"You girls are really getting into this."
"Hey, if you wanna see the insanity of South Park, you gotta let yourself live in it."
With that, we engage in combat. Sue is firing her arrows at Tweek along with twigs she throws at him like throwing knives, while Charlie charging towards me with that parasol. I jump back to avoid her attack and throw the Frisbee at her; she blocks it by opening her parasol, using it as a shield as the Frisbee bounces off of it.
"Not bad, princess. You're really good at this" I smile as I reach her the jump rope we found on the beach, I use it as a whip and knock the parasol out of her hand.
She looks flustered as her weapon is kicked away, but she counters by splashing me with a bottle of ice cold water, slowing me down as she retrieves her weapon. "Thanks, Kenny but you know there's something beautifully ridiculous about you calling me by that pet name when you have a fake plastic crown on your head."
"Welcome to South Park." I smirk as the slowing effect wears off and we jump straight back into battle.
Kyle's POV
Sending Sue out for a stakeout is the best play we did. After we learn about Cartman's plans, we figured the best strategic is to let them think their plan is working and trap them so just like Cartman wanted, Sue and Charlie are going after Kenny and Tweek. Ike will go after Butters but I warn him to go easy since Butters has to get close to the stick at least and he isn't hard to take down. Ike is pretty strong if he wants to be especially with his growth sprut.
Now all we're waiting for is Cartman and Wendy to make their move. Stan doesn't have his broadsword anymore and I don't have my golf club, but the brooms from the house will give that lardass a few good bruises.
"Do you think they know we know?" Stan suddenly asks out of boredom.
"Even if they know, we have the upper hand. Our biggest concern is Wendy, I don't know whether to go easy on her because she's a girl or beat the shit out of her for being a cheating whore."
"I thought I was the one fighting her."
"Please, after our battle in the school with Douchebag, do you really think fatso will fight his own battles?"
"Give up the Stick of Truth, you filthy elves. It belongs to the humans!"
"The Stick will never belong to a racist, selfish prick like you. You want it? Come and fight me for it, fatass." I challenge him as I draw my weapon.
"Fine!" Cartman shouts, accepting my challenge, only to throw it at his girlfriend. "Wendy, beat the crap outta Stan and Kahl."
She doesn't seem to care as she marches towards me and Stan confidently, "Gladly."
"It's show time." Stan grins, he acts as his role as my loyal ranger and leaps into action.
I will say one thing, Wendy isn't an easy opponent. Cartman probably loaded her up with the best armor and potions so that she could guard him. Cheap spineless bastard. I cast a wind spell with Sue's battery-powered hairdryer, temporarily kicking Wendy off balance as Stan performs Whirlwind Slash. It obviously makes a dent in her armor but she isn't done yet. We get so caught up in the battle I almost forget about Cartman, who's sneaking over to the stomp we used as a pedestal for the Stick of Truth. I leave Stan to fight Wendy, knowing now that half of her armor is gone that Stan would stand a better chance, and go after Cartman.
"Oh no you don't." I shout as I throw my weapon, launching it into the air and hitting him smacked on the back of his head.
Cartman glares angrily at me as I place myself firmly in his path. I pick up my weapon and slash Cartman with it, knocking him down easily. He refuses to stay down though as he picks himself up and try attack after attack on me, none of them landing and doing any damage as I counter his every attack, sending his fatass flying backwards with his body covered with bruises.
"Fight fair, you cheating Jew." He shouts angrily as he charges towards me again.
"Please, I'm hardly fighting right now." I mock him as I sidestep, easily dodging his attack and giving him a good kick to the back.
"Fine, you asked for this." Cartman growls with a warning tone. I don't understand what he's doing because I hear a slurry of curses and swear words coming out of his mouth and a charge of electricity forming around his hand.
"Whore! Weirdo! Ginger! Bullshit! Christian! ASSHOLE!" Cartman cries as a surge of lighting shoots right towards me, I couldn't move out of shock but I hear shouting, "Kyle, look out!" I get knocked down and watch the lighting charge blast right above me.
I regain my bearings and I see Stan on top of me, he must've been the one to push me out of Cartman's attack. It doesn't look like the attack hit him either as I stare into my savior's eyes. He just jumped in to protect me, he saved me.
"Mommy what are they doing?" I look over to see a little girl, no older than 5, looking right at us with her parents, the mother blushing in embarrassment over her daughter's question. I feel my face redden as I realize why. Without any context, our positions do look a little obscene with Stan pinning me down on the ground and him looking over me protectively, maybe even a little possessively.
"Nothing sweetie, close your eyes and go to grandma." The mother stutters as she sends her daughter away before she shoots a disapproving snarl at us. "Shame on you boys."
I begin to stutter as I want to explain that it's not what it looks like, as cliché of a line that is but she stomps away to her child before I could get the words out. The father just shakes his head before reaching into his wallet. "Well, it is a PC society now. Here you go, boys." He hands us twenty bucks before following his wife back to his family.
"Umm… Thanks?" I mumble as he walks away. I try to get up but Stan isn't moving, he hasn't moved throughout that entire event.
"Come on, Stan." I said a little shyly from being in this position, "Wendy and fatass must have the stick by now."
Stan seems get knocked out of his daze, "R-right." He nods and stutters as he stands up, pulling me up too. We rush back to the battle ground to see Tweek, Kenny and Butters out, Wendy and Cartman going up against Sue as Charlie heals Ike's wounds. Stan and I join in and it's clear now that the humans are fighting a losing battle.
It's not long before they're all taken out and we win the match. "Nice try Cartman, but the stick is still ours." I taunt him triumphantly as our team cheers. "How does it feel getting your ass whooped?"
"God-fucking-dammit!" Cartman bellows angrily before turning to his fallen warriors"It's all your fault!"
"Seriously? We had little to no potions with us because you wanted all the cheesy poofs to yourself." Tweek cries out in defense.
"Yeah, Eric." Butters joins Tweek with just as much anger and frustration. "We're n-not invincible."
"Can it, Butters. Stop being such a little wuss."
"Cartman. That's enough." Kenny steps in again, being the voice of reason and Butters' guardian.
"Kinny, we could have gotten the stick if Butters wasn't such a pussy that he couldn't even beat a kid."
"B-but I didn't w-wanna hurt Ike, he's Kyle's br-brother." Butters says with a sob in his voice.
Cartman starts ranting, "He's a Jew-"
"Shut up, fatass." Ike and I yell, I would've pierced this broom handle right up his ass if Stan isn't holding me back
He continues, once again ignoring our outbursts. "- and Jews go to hell, do you wanna join him? If you're gonna be that way, you might as well join those pansy elves. We don't want you anymore." Cartman finishes coldly, Butters looks like he's ready to fall apart as Charlotte rushes over to us.
"Eric Cartman, that's enough!" Wendy scolds as she slaps her boyfriend, he whines as he rubs the cheek with the searing red handprint.
"Butters, darling." Charlotte holds Butters, coddling and comforting him. "Shh… it's OK. He didn't mean it."
Charlotte leads Butters away from us, allowing me to yell at Cartman. "Why are you targeting Butters? This is his getaway too and he's paying for us to be there for him."
"Psh, that's why you're here. I'm here because he needs my awesomeness. I saved his proposal."
"You nearly ruined it, Cartman!"
"Shut it you Jew, you're the last person who can act like they know anything."
"BUTTERS!" I hear Charlotte shriek from behind us, we turn and we're shocked to see why. Butters is in the sea, swimming further and further out. Charlotte is trying to call him back while going out into the water as far as she can.
"Oh god…" I hear Tweek exclaim in shock before we all spring into action.
"Butters, come back!" I shout out, hoping to catch his attention.
No such luck.
As we run over to them, I see Tweek's eyes twitching, his breath hitching with shallow breaths. This isn't good. I think he's having an episode.
Before I can think, I see Stan taking off his shirt and diving in after Butters. OK, calm down. We need a plan. "Kenny, get Charlotte back on shore. Wendy, Cartman, call 911 and go get help." I start barking orders at everyone, they all run off while I tend to Tweek, who's hyperventilating now. "Tweek, buddy. I need you to calm down."
I look over to see Kenny having trouble getting Charlotte back to shore. "Charlie, help Kenny take care of Charlotte." She complies and heads over to convince Charlotte.
Not after a moment does Charlotte get out of the water do we hear a loud splash. Butters isn't calm at all, he's thrashing and shouting. Stan is trying his hardest to stop him from panicking and… Oh no, Butters is pushing down on Stan! It's not long before both of them go under.
"NO!" Oh god, Stan!
Thankfully, Stan comes back up with Butters over his shoulder, still flailing his limbs around like a madman. Both of them make it up to shore before Stan gently lays Butters down on his back and collapses next to him.
"Sue, take over for me." I say as I put Tweek under Sue's care and start dashing over to Stan and Butters. I start with Butters who has his eyes closed and with no signs of breathing. Immediately I begin performing CPR, clearing his airway and pressing down on his chest. After a few seconds, Butters starts coughing out the waters in his lungs and I hear him taking in deep breaths.
I then turn my attention to Stan who sits up and looks at me with proud eyes, he seems fine other than a scratch on his head. I let out a sigh in relief, "Thank Moses. You two are alright."
"Were you about to perform CPR?" Stan smiles lightheartedly, "Maybe I should've stayed in there longer."
"Jackass." I let out a choke of relieved laughter and punch him on his shoulder playfully, only now noticing a rough and prominent scar on his shoulder blade. I sneak a glance at it with concern but Stan doesn't seem to notice. It's not long before an ambulance shows up and the paramedics give us aid.
Stan's POV
After hearing what Charlotte and the paramedic said, I realize how much I don't know about them. It turns out Butters has Schizophrenia and what happened must've triggered Butters into an episode. Butters has been trying to stop taking medication of the cost they could save for their child and because he doesn't want to rely on them anymore. It takes them a while to calm Butters down before they take him to the hospital.
I'll be honest, even as a kid I knew there wasn't something right about Butters, but I would've never guessed it was something this serious. Watching what happened to him, it was like he lost control of where he was and he's just panicking. To lost control of your body and mind like that, it's terrifying.
Everyone is in a damped mood after what just happened, we start packing since our flight is in a few hours. Charlotte and Butters are staying for one more day so that the hospital can monitor him properly. We thank them for the trip but it was all forced false smiles. I notice Tweek sitting on Butter and Charlotte's room alone, looking distressed. "Hey Tweek, how are you feeling?"
"How do you think I feel?" He glares but I can tell he didn't mean it. "I had an episode. Right there when Butters needed more attention than I did. Right… in front of Sue."
"She's not gonna think any bad about it. You can't control it."
"That's beside the point. Butters needed me, I couldn't even take care of myself and I ended up being nothing but a burden. Kyle had to worry about me because I couldn't keep it together."
"Stop that, I don't have your condition and even I know it doesn't work like that. Look, this was just a fucked up series of events. There was nothing more we could do." Tweek seems to take in my words but he doesn't react, he sits there in silence as I let myself out of the room.
I look for my roommate but I haven't seen him since we came back from the hospital. I go to Ike's room to look for him. "Ike, have you seen Kyle?"
"He went over to the beach, had to clear his mind."
With that, I head to the beach where I finally find my redheaded companion, sitting on the seaside as he watches the waves lap against the shore. I sit down next to him and make my presence clear, "Hey, dude."
"We were just here a few hours ago, laughing and playing around like we were kids again. Reality's a bitch." Kyle says softly as he looks solemnly at the horizion. I join him as I let the thought sink in. What a fucking day…
"I didn't know Butters was capable of that." I say. "He looked so cheerful."
"That stunt Mrs Scotch pulled really terrified him, he was always scared that she'd come and finish the job. That's why he doesn't want to go back. No one in South Park comes out normal, we're all battered and scarred. Nothing more than ticking time bombs." He puts his hand on my shoulder and I flinch as I feel his finger lightly grazing over my scar. "Stan, I noticed a mark on your shoulder."
I let out an empty chuckle at the memory and his sadden expression, I don't want Kyle to feel bad over some shit Shelly did, "Like you said, no one comes out unmarked. Mine's just more obvious."
"I heard about what happened but if it's OK, I wanna hear it from you."
"After we moved to Denver, mom had to work double time to support us, which means less time together as a family. I understood why and I guess without my dad, I wizened up and tried to be the kid my mom wanted me to be. I focused on school and football, until I found music. I helped her whenever I could. But it never felt right to me, I didn't feel like I was living and all I did was drink to fill that dull feeling in my chest." Kyle shifts uncomfortably as I mention that and he looks at me apologetically. "Anyways, even with all that shit, I tried to live my new life here. Shelly wasn't taking it as well. She was already fighting with me for mom's attention but now that the time she spent home was less, there was no one left to lash out to but me. She blamed me for ruining Mom and Dad's marriage, she said if I'd kept my shitty thoughts to myself, we'd still have our old lives."
I take off the shirt to let him see my scar as I point to it. "This was from the last time I saw her, made with a knife from my 16th birthday party."
"Jesus, that's horrible." He mutters. It aches my heart to see Kyle look so guilt-ridden, like he's blaming himself for this.
"Yeah." I chuckle as I put my shirt back on. "She left quite the mark, huh?"
Kyle says nothing, looking more down casted than I've ever seen him. I get up with a jump, starling the poor redhead. "I need to get out of this funk." I look at the sea, playing in the water for a while seems like the perfect solution. "You coming?"
Kyle follows my gazes and immediately objects, "I'm not swimming in fish piss."
"Fine." I look around for a solution and I see a stand-up paddleboard at a rental shack. "How about that?" I point to the board
Kyle looks in contemplation. "Wouldn't our feet touch the water?"
"Come on, Kyle. Live a little." I whine a little as I put on a begging pout. I know that Kyle can't resist me doing that.
Jackpot! Kyle rolls his eyes and reluctantly agrees, "The things I do for you, Stan Marsh."
I practically bounce to the shack as I rent a paddleboard and life-jackets for the two of us. Kyle sits on the front end of the board while I stand on the back end with a paddle, gently pushing us out into sea. Kyle seems to relax a little as he looks out into the sea, I keep paddling as I take in the view around me. I'm gonna miss Hawaii, maybe I can come back here someday; maybe even with Kyle and the gang… or just with Kyle.
I get knocked out of my train of thought as I notice that we're getting picked up by a wave. "Woah. Hang on, Kyle." I yell excitedly.
"Stan? Stan?! What's going on?" Kyle cries out as we ride the wave until it wipes us out and we fall into the water. I pop back up onto the surface of the sea and head toward shore, giddy with adrenaline over what just happened.
Kyle comes back up shortly after with the same expression and sits next to me. "That was awesome! How high did we go?"
"I don't know." I join in his laughter. "You still upset about swimming in fish piss?"
He rolls his eyes as he splashes me, "Shut up, I wanna enjoy this."
I retaliate by picking him up and tossing him into the water again, I watch Kyle come back up with his eyes change and his grin widens. "Oh you are so dead, Marsh." We start playing around, splashing water at each other, trying to make the other give up and cry uncle.
Seeing that I make him so happy after watching him stressed out about our friends just gives my brain a burst of mind-dazing happiness. I guess this is how Kenny feels when he makes Charlie smile because I don't want this feeling to end.
I walk over to him and place my hands on the sides of his head, making him halt his attacks and stare into my eyes. I take in the sight before me, Kyle bubbling with happiness, his red locks darkens by the water and matting onto his head, his eyes and smile make him blissfully happy like the fucked up situation an hour ago never happened. He looks ever better than the day I saw him again. This sight is beautiful. He is beautiful.
"What?" He says in between his laughter, completely oblivious to my growing feelings towards him.
I can't help myself anymore. In one swift movement, I close the gap between us. I hear the laughter stop and I feel the smile on his face drop as our lips connect. This time I take even more time to remember the taste and the feeling, it's so overwhelming but intoxicating. I feel like I could get addicted the way Kyle's making me feel right now.
I pull back expecting him to slap me again like the night at my apartment, but what I see when I open my eyes is Kyle in shock, but not angry, more so innocently confused. He has this adorable 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' look as his face flushes into a light shade of pink, "Stan…?"
Fuck, the way he said my name. I can't help it, that adorable face is begging to be kissed. I pull him in again, sealing our lips together again. I feel Kyle stiffen against me as I deepen the kiss and I feel things I never felt, not even with Wendy; this elated high, this feeling of completion and possessiveness, and the chills I feel going up and down my spine make me feel like a 10 year old boy figuring out how to kiss again.
The last thing on my mind is the feeling of Kyle slowly moving his hands to cradle the back of my head and his fingers running through on my hair as his lips begin to move with mine. I wrap one arm around his waist, pulling him closer before my brain short-circuits from our kiss.
A/N: There's your first big romance scene between these two. I've been looking forward to writing this scene since I started this. Next time, we see how Kyle reacts to Stan's advances.
Holy shit, this took so much longer than I planned with everything going on. I am so sorry and I hope it's worth the wait. Next chapter will come back on the usual Friday schedule.
I hope you guys like the Stick of Truth segment, that put took forever to write since I'm not used to writing action and I had to learn how to write this by reading through Stick of Truth stories. By the way if you wanna read awesome SoT stories with a little more variety (and Not an AU), I recommend "Rise of the Dragonborn" by TheDarkAngel'sShadow and "South Park: Stick of Truth (Female version)" by Mage of Hope.
As always, feel free to check out the drama this story is based on, "It's Okay That's Love" by SBS. Please let me know what you think, reviews and comments make my day c:
Take care, Loves.