A/N: Thanks for the reassurance and all the positive reviews. Hope you like this chapter.
Now upstairs in a guest bedroom with the door wide open, there was an awkward silence between the two boys as they sat and pondered their next move. Kyle quickly wiped at his tear stained eyes, embarrassed now that he'd let Stan see him cry. Stan didn't know silence had a sound up until now and it was quite nerve wracking, so he finally spoke up. "So...why did you tell me I was cute?" He asked.
Kyle kept his head down, not really sure what to say. "Because you are." He whispered so softly, that Stan wasn't sure if he heard him at all. "What? I can't hear you Kyle, you have to speak up."
Kyle looked up at Stan, meeting a pair of piercing blue eyes. "I said because you are. Happy now?" He then swung his eyes away, looking everywhere but at Stan. He fiddled with the edge of the bedspread.
Downstairs, Cartman had groggily come to. His eyes roamed the disheveled living room, taking everything in sight. "God, what a pigsty. Kenny, hey Kenny!" He yelled. "Kenny you poor piece of crap, answer me!" Kenny was laying on the floor, flat on his face, still conked out.
Cartman sighed in aggravation and pushed himself off the couch. He realized how bad that move was and bent over, steadying himself on the arm, almost spilling his guts on the floor. "Where the hell are Stan and Kyle?" He muttered to himself. He took his time wandering over to the TV set to shut the DVD player off. No use wasting electricity.
Maybe they went upstairs for some reason. He started to ascend very slowly, one step at a time; his brain felt like mush, and each move caused his head to hurt even more.
Stan's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. "Um, thanks." Stan mumbled. He didn't know how to respond to that. Was he supposed to tell Kyle that he was cute, too? Was that how it worked?
"I guess you hate me now, huh?" Kyle asked. His big green eyes stared woefully at Stan, making Stan's insides quiver, but not in nausea. Last year was when Stan started having these weird feelings about Kyle but was always afraid of telling him; he didn't want to risk losing their friendship over something he wasn't sure Kyle felt the same about. Now that he knew, it was still awkward for him, but it made telling him and acting on his feelings a little easier.
"No, I don't hate you. Things are just gonna be, well, different from now on. More complicated." Stan couldn't believe he was doing this. He inched closer to Kyle on the bed, placing one hand on the other boy's arm, pulling him towards his chest. Kyle was startled, to say the least. "Stan, what are you-?" He started to ask but Stan's lips crushing his in a hot, searing kiss interrupted him.
Now it was Kyle's turn to act shocked. "What was that for?" He asked when they broke apart. The kiss had definitely rattled him more than what he'd liked. He'd never known Stan to make a pass at other guys before. But then again, he had no idea his best friend was gay. This was the first he'd heard about it.
"Just thought I should return the favor, you know?" Stan replied. "I'm still not sure about all this, but I think I'm willing to give this, us a try." Kyle felt like jumping up and down and acting like a complete fool, but he managed to keep his cool. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Why didn't you ever tell me about well, you know. About this, before?" Kyle asked.
Stan shook his head. "To be honest, I don't know. I guess I didn't want to mess up things up between us. I cherish and value your opinion more than anyone else's. I think you're the greatest guy in the world. I didn't want to lose you as a friend."
Kyle grinned. "You'll never lose me. I feel the same about you. So, what do we do now?"
"This." Stan closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Kyle's, glad that he was finally able to relax about his feelings towards his best friend and not hide it inside anymore.
Inside, Kyle was grinning like he just won the lottery.
The pair fell back on the bed, kissing, hands attentively exploring and caressing, totally engrossed in each other. In fact, they were so involved; they didn't notice Cartman standing in the doorway, just watching with amusement and a rather strange look on his face.
After a few seconds of guy watching, Cartman loudly cleared his throat, causing the two new lovers to freeze in terror. "Holy shit dude!" Kyle freaked. They both scrambled off the bed and stood as far away from each other as possible.
"Ha! I knew it. I knew you both were gay. And with each other!" Cartman leered. He came in further, pulling the door shut behind him.
"It's not what it looked like, Cartman." Stan tried to explain. He looked at Kyle, who looked just as speechless and frightened as he was. They were both perfectly aware of what a vicious, manipulative creep Cartman could be. Like that time he made Scott Tenorman eat his parents in a bowl of chili. All because he wanted his measly sixteen dollars and twelve cents back.
"Oh really? It looked like you had your tongue shoved down his throat." Cartman said to Stan. Stan started to defend himself further, but lowered his head in defeat instead. He knew it was useless denying the obvious. The question was, what was going to happen now?
"You're not gonna tell our parents are you?" Kyle asked fearfully. He knew what his mother would say if she ever got wind of this. She would blow her top. She'd be absolutely furious. She might even disown him or something. Kyle was trembling at the mere thought of what his parents would do to him.
"I don't know. What will you give me if I don't?" Cartman asked, enjoying the looks of horror on their faces.
"Not a damn thing. You can forget about getting any money from us." Kyle said. His palms were starting to become clammy, he was so nervous. He rubbed them on his jeans, but that didn't make him feel any better.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a sexual favor." Cartman said. Both of the boys' eyes went wide as they digested this.
"What? No way. Just get out." Stan growled.
"Fine. The phone's waiting for me downstairs. I guess I'll start with Kyle's parents." Cartman started to head for the door, but Kyle's panicked voice stopped him. "Wait! We'd be willing to negotiate."