Author's Note: Hello! I'm very glad that you all liked the last chapter and I appreciate everyone of your reviews. Now here's another!

Butters waited outside by the basketball court where Kenny had asked in the note. He hummed happily to himself, his hands clasped together with his fingers laced as he drummed them on his hands. Uh, any time now, he said to himself. Maybe it was still too early. Kenny did say fifteen minutes into the period not five. He leaned against the building as he waited, picturing Kenny's sweet face. He smiled. He liked Kenny best without the hood. Though he had no complaint with the hood on.

Kenny, meanwhile, sat in class, watching the clock above. This was one of the two most peaceful classes of the day for him. No Cartman or Stan or Kyle. No poor jokes or Jew cracks and no Butters. No stress. It was just him and few others he remembered from his elementary school days. Like Pip and Craig and various other memorable faces scattered about with few new faces.

He looked up at the clock again. Two minutes had passed. He let out a slow, easy breath and raised his hand.

"Yes, Kenny?" Mr. Stevens asked.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

Mr. Stevens pointed at the hall pass on the board and Kenny stood. Walking to the board to collect the pass, he had a feeling Butters would already be waiting. He smiled a little to himself. No. He knew Butters would already be waiting. He walked out into the hall and made his way to the door closest to the basketball court on the other side of the school building. He made it with no complication.

When he opened the door and made his way outside, he looked about and turned left and walked to the court where he saw Butters leaning against the wall.

Noticing Kenny, Butters pulled himself away from the wall, his eyes bright with joy.

"Y-you needed to see m-me, Kenny?" Butters asked hopefully as Kenny stopped in front of him. He wanted to hug him, but thought better of it. Kenny might not like it.

"Yeah," Kenny replied, looking down. He looked up at the blonde boy again. "Butters, look, I-"

"Ca-can you take off you hood?"

"What?"

"Your hood," Butter answered. "Can you take it off?"

"My hood?" Kenny asked, confusion ringing in his muffled voice. "Why?"

"B-because," Butters replied, "I like to see your face."

Kenny looked at him for a minute and then scanned the area around him like he was worried about someone seeing his face, but he removed his hood when his eyes met Butters's. Butters smiled as Kenny revealed his face. Butters reached out to touch his cheek, but Kenny pulled away before Butters had the chance.

"Look, Butters," Kenny began, "I like you-"

"A-and I like you, Kenny," Butters parroted with a smile.

Kenny smiled back weakly. "Right," he replied. He looked down again for a moment before he continued. "We've been through a lot. . .but. . ." It was hard to continue. It just hurt so much, but what other way was there to keep him safe from Cartman?

"B-but?" Butters asked in confusion and concern, a twinge of hurt was audible in his quivery voice. He had no idea where this conversation was leading, but it scared him.

"But," Kenny began again, "I think we. . ." He stopped to take a deep breath. "I think that we should. . .stop. . .seeing each other."

"Oh." It was a short and sad reply which made Kenny's heart ache.

There was silence for a moment. Neither one of them could talk. Even the birds seemed to have stopped singing.

"W-was it the sex?" Butters asked as he twiddled his fingers, looking down.

The question had caught Kenny completely off guard. He opened his mouth in surprise and then blushed when Butters looked up at him, his head still bowed.

"Uh," Kenny replied, looking down now as he rubbed the back of his neck. "N-bo, it wasn't that. The sex. . .the sex was great," he said with a smile and the blush still on his face. He looked at Butters's smiling face and then he quickly said, " It was good. . .fine. . .I-it was okay."

Butters smile faded a little. Shit! Kenny thought. The great Kenny McCormick, sex-doer (with women and men alike) and educator (for all those who cared to listen. . .or not) was flustered by the mention of sex! There was definitely something wrong, but that was just one of the many things Butters had the power to do. To him anyway.

"It's just that Cartman is up to something and it involves us," Kenny explained.

"Oh," Butters said again in that same sad tone. "Well, uh, I. . .uh, guess I'll be seeing you around."

Butters made his way around Kenny and to the door where he had come through. Kenny looked down, feeling and fearing his mistake. Was it really right to let him go just like that? Was it right to let him go at all?

"Uh, Kenny?" Butters called.

Kenny turned, expecting and wanting Butters to ask him to take him back.

"Can I a-at least have a hug good bye?"

Kenny smiled softly. "Sure." He would've settled for a kiss, but it was better than nothing at all.

Approaching him, Kenny felt the bitter sweetness of the moment. He opened his arms and pulled Butters close. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of him.

When they pulled away, Kenny's lips brushed against Butters's cheek and almost, almost connected with his lips, but he had refrained from it.

"Bye, Butters," Kenny whispered and then walked away, leaving Butters standing alone.

From a near-by bush, Cartman had his camera rolling. Sweeeta! It was great to see the results he wanted. All of this footage he'd use to his advantage, manipulate it to make it appear the way he wanted it to and Clyde, being one of Mr. Clive's most trusted students, would help him. He shivered with delight at the very thought of further continuing this. . .game with Kenny and Butters. And what a game it was! He smiled from ear to ear.

Not only would Clyde help him, but whether they knew it or not, Token and Wendy, the anchors for the school's news crew would also help him.

His grin grew wider still as he stared at the image of Butters on the digital camera.

"Mark Cotswolds," Mr. Fink, the art teacher called. He was still doing attendance.

"Here."

Stan and Kyle sat at the last table, one sitting across from the other as they whispered to each other.

"Rebecca Cotswolds."

"Where do you think Cartman is?" Kyle asked.

"Here!"

"Don't know," Stan replied. "But I have a bad feeling about it."

"Ralph Daniels."

"You too?" Kyle asked. "I mean, sure, I'm glad he's not here ragging on me, but. . ."

"I know," Stan replied knowingly.

"Present!"

"And you know," Stan began, "Kenny has been acting weird."

"Yeah," Kyle agreed.

"Devon Donald. "

"Cartman might have something to do with it," Kyle added.

"Here!"

Stan nodded as Mr. Fink called out another name from the list. Stan was worried, to be totally honest. When Cartman had something planned or wanted to prove something, he went far. Maybe too far. The Passion of the Christ incident came to mind.

Kyle looked at his friend. Stan looked as if he were thinking too hard about it, worrying too much. "Maybe you're thinking about it too much," he said, a twinge of anger in his voice.

Stan smiled as he watched him scribbling across a blank sheet of paper. "Jealous?" he asked.

Kyle looked up at him again. "No," he said simply.

"Good," Stan replied. "Because you're the only one for me, baby." He smiled devilishly.

Kyle grinned in return and in seconds they were laughing hysterically.

Mr. Fink turned to look at them and the class turned their attention to them. "Because you find the attendance so amusing, Mr. Marsh and Mr. Broflovski, why don't you two finish it up for me?"

Stan and Kyle looked at each other as they stopped laughing. They slowly stood and as they approached the desk in the front, Mr. Fink handed them the list and as Stan called out each name, Kyle marked each of them down as cutting, except of course for himself and Stan and Wendy. He tried to hide his smile and Stan cleared his throat, holding back a laugh.

When they were done, Kyle put the list on the desk and then went to sit back down with Stan at the back table.

"Take out your projects you've been working on!" Mr. Fink called. Taking the book he had on his desk, he opened it and began to read.

There was movement in the room and sound as people got up to get their things. They were all working on self portraits. Few students had gone to the next part.

"Hey," Stan said.

"What?" Kyle asked as he sketched his own face.

"I just realized something."

Kyle put his pencil down.

"Butters has been hanging around us a lot lately," Stan said. "I don't mind or anything. He's not as annoying as he use to be, but he has been around for a while now."

Kyle seemed to be thinking. "Yeah."

"Why?"

Kyle shrugged, but he too wondered why. Something told him Cartman knew, but what was it that he knew that rest of them didn't?

HEE!

Jess