Kenny lied awake all night long. The air was hot and muggy. He wasn't even sure what time it was in hell. He'd been there for two days, he assumed it was Friday night. No one kept track of time in hell though, each passing day was meaningless.

Kenny has told Damien and Pip all about what had happened between him, Stan and Wendy. Neither of them had any real advice. It was still nice to get it off his chest. He assumed since they'd been in hell so long they'd forgotten what it was like to have strong feelings one way or another. It was easy to be cynical when you slept in a place where you could hear screams at all hours of the day.

Kenny glanced at the window. A dark curtain was pulled over it, blocking out the harsh light of the fires. He pulled a pillow over his head and tried to muffle out the sounds from outside. He was beginning to dread the day he would be stuck here forever.

Kenny groaned and stood up. He wondered when he'd been sent back to earth. He had a feeling it would be soon.

Kenny cracked his door open and stepped out into the hallway. He couldn't sleep, but there was no point in sleeping anyways. Satan's house was so big. No one would notice if Stan stepped outside for a moment.

He walked out of the front door and into the hot air. He was wearing a tank top and shorts but Kenny felt sweat begin to form almost immediately.

He began walking down the street, with nowhere in particular in mind. Off in the distance, he could hear people arguing and glass being broken. It didn't phase him though, Kenny knew he wasn't in any real danger. There really was no fate worse than death.

There was a downtown district of hell. It was just what you would expect. Large buildings with busted out windows, people trying to lure you in their house of the street will killer looks in their eyes, hell hounds digging through the gutters for scraps. Kenny had been here a million times.

There was really no need to eat in Hell, but if you wanted to indulge there were restaurants. The restaurants would charge you time, time spent being tortured. People still longed for food. They could have anything they wanted, conjured up in a blink of an eye. All they had to do in return was submit to the torture pits for minutes- but what was a little time when you had eternity. People could eat until they popped. Gluttony was one of the seven sins after all. Kenny thought this was the best incorporation of one of the sims that Satan had.

Kenny walked past the liquor store and stepped over the wasted bums on the street. They slurred their words at him, most likely hurling insults his way but Kenny couldn't understand them anyway.

Kenny glanced down at the pavement. It was cracked and dirty. He heard another bottle break, it sounded closer this time.

Before Kenny knew what was happening he was on the floor. He tried to get himself together when he felt someone grab his shirt and pull him up to his feet. He heard the rasp of material ripping. "Hey, what gives?" He looked to see who his attacker was.

His eyes met his attackers. They were burning blue, violent, and angry. "You know what you did, you bastard." He took a swing.

Kenny got knocked squarely in the face. He stepped back and got a good look at who it was. "Stan?" He asked.

"Damn right it's Stan! And what are you? A demon?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. "This is part of the torture, isn't it?"

Kenny rubbed his check. "No Stan, it's me. Kenny."

"This is a trick!" Stan lunged at Kenny again. Kenny put up his arms to stop him. He didn't want to fight but Stan's blows were calculated.

"What did I ever do to you?" Kenny asked, stumbling backward. He took steps back to avoid Stan's fists.

"You're the reason I'm here. If you hadn't stolen Wendy away from me I'd be on earth right now, with her!"

"Stan I-" he was hit with another punch.

"You bastard. I fucking hate you. She and I were soulmates and you had to come to fuck that up didn't you?!" Stan was in a fighting stance again.

"Come on Stan. You two were broken up." Kenny took a moment to catch his breath, "You can't blame this on me."

"Then who should I blame it on?" Stan was seething. Kenny knew he was caught up in wrath. He was so angry. Kenny had never seen him like this before.

Kenny didn't answer he just stared blankly at Stan. He didn't have words.

"You motherfucker." Stan growled, "How could you do that to me? We were friends."

"I just..." Kenny trailed off. Why was he trying to justify anything?

"Wendy and I were soulmates. We were perfect for each other. We made each other so happy." Stan continued.

Kenny couldn't help but chuckle. "Was Wendy happy when you were drunk in the street every night, Stan? Face it, Stan. Wendy didn't like you because you're an alcoholic. You couldn't take care of yourself on earth, now look at you here. You're still a drunk mess."

Kenny felt anger well up in his chest. He felt a burning need to defend Wendy. How could she have dated this asshole for so long?

"That's it you're dead." Stan jumped at Kenny and pinned him to the ground.

The punches were fast and hit like lightning. Kenny tried to block but he seemed to fail every time. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. "Stan, stop," Kenny groaned. It was a beating Kenny hadn't experienced in a while. His head was beginning to spin.

Stan finally stopped when Kenny had blood dripping from his nose. He stood up and turned to look at Kenny on the ground. "Fuck you demon. Tell the real Kenny he better stay the fuck away from Wendy." He walked away.

Kenny laid on the hot cement. "Fuck..." he touched his face and pulled his hand away. It was covered in blood. He let his eyes close. He knew his time here was almost up.

•••

Stan's funeral was long and cold. Wendy sat in the middle of the rows of chairs, next to Kyle. She and Kyle both spoke. Wendy didn't know how she felt about speaking at her ex-boyfriend's funeral, but she felt she owed him something.

After the coffin was lowered Wendy threw a rose on top. "Goodbye, Stan. Thanks for being my first love." She whispered. Her cheeks were burning with frozen tears.

After the funeral, Wendy went home and sat in her room again. She was hoping for some closure from the funeral but she felt just as lost as before. Why did it hurt so bad when Stan was her ex-boyfriend.

She sighed softly. Her memory was still clouded by all the good times.

Wendy picked up her phone and opened her messages. Still no reply from Kenny.

Wendy scrolled down a way. She found her conversation with Stan. She'd never bothered to delete it. She opened it and began to read through their text messages.

The first couple of messages were just from Stan. He was apologizing to her, asking her to text him back. She never did. She felt her heart wrench.

She scrolled up a bit more. It was them talking about going to the New Year's Eve party. It all felt so far away now.

Wendy read back the texts, one from Stan stood out to her:

I promise I'll just have one drink tonight. Don't worry about me Wendy (:

Her heart sank. He didn't keep his promise. He never kept his promises. Wendy wondered if that was really that bad. She deleted all their messages and took a deep breath.

"Wendy Testaburger," she said aloud to herself, "You've got to get over Stan. He was no good for you and you know it."

She needed to say it. She needed to hear it from herself. She set her phone down and looked outside again, "Maybe this is a new beginning."

Her heart still ached.

•••

Kenny jolted awake. He was back in his room. The pain from the fight in hell had faded away. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand. He had lots of missed texts but the first one he opened was Wendy's. It said she needed some space.

Kenny groaned and stood up out of bed. He opened his door and his house reeked like weed. "Where the hell have you been?" His mom asked hands on her hips.

"I've been in hell mom." Kenny walked to the kitchen. He saw a plate fo brownies on the counter, weed brownies he suspected. His mom had just learned how to bake them. "Can I have some of these?" He questioned, looking at the tin. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Oh Kenny, I guess. Just don't tell your father." His mom replied.

Kenny grinned, he pulled out his phone. It was a text from Cartman. He asked him to come over but had no further explanation.

Kenny took out a knife and cut the pan of brownies in half. He cut it into fourths and stuck them inside a ziplock bag. "Okay, I'm going out. I'll try not to be as long this time." Kenny didn't even glance at his mom as he left, but he was sure she gave him a disapproving glance.

His truck was parked in the driveway, keys in the ignition. He had no idea how it got home from school, but he didn't question it. He got in and drove to Cartman's house. Kenny could tell it was early in the afternoon.

When he got to Cartman's house he knocked on the door and it was immediately answered. Cartman was standing on the other side with a sleeve of Oreos in his hand. "Glad you came when you did."

Kenny raised an eyebrow as he stepped in from the cold. "Was it that urgent?" He questioned. He didn't hesitate to flop down on the couch. "You want some pot brownies, my mom made them." He offered two to Cartman, who took no time to start eating these.

"Aw man, these taste like shit. Your mom can't cook." Cartman complained, Kenny didn't say anything back. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in school for the last three days."

"I've just been..." Kenny trailed off, "I don't know. Around." He shrugged nonchalantly eating a brownie.

"Did you hear about Stan?" Cartman asked, he sat down on the couch and it creaked.

"Yeah, man. It's kind of weird he's not around more." Kenny didn't have much to say. He still felt like Stan was punching him in the face.

"Yeah, Kahl is really upset about it. He even talked to me about it." Cartman sighed and glanced at Kenny, "Stan's death's got me thinking dude."

"Thinking about what?" Kenny questioned.

"Well, our friendship. And my friendship with Stan, and Kahl."

"Yeah, we used to be so close. Not so much anymore. But me and you still hang out, fatass. I hadn't hung out with Stan in years."

"Yeah after he started drinking he wasn't fun to be around more." Cartman chuckled, "He was the literal definition of a non-functioning alcoholic."

Kenny laughed, "Yeah, you're right." He glanced over at Cartman. "Did you just call to reminisce about old times?"

Cartman shrugged, "Or something like that. Remember what I'd always tell you when we were kids?"

"What? That I was poor?" Kenny questioned, smirking.

Cartman laughed, "No that you were my best friend. It's still true, I just..." he trailed off and shook his head, "I just have been thinking about Stan dying and I just wanted to tell you that again. You know, in case something were to happen to you."

Kenny just smiled softly. It still irked him that Cartman didn't know about all the time he'd died. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere soon."

Cartman smiled, "Great." And awkward silence passed. Kenny thought this was the first time he'd seen Cartman get somewhat emotional since they were kids. "You up for a round of COD?" Cartman asked, he handed Kenny a controller before he could answer.

Kenny and Cartman played games all afternoon. The edibles had finally kicked in and they were both sitting stoned on the couch. Kenny kept losing his focus, his mind drifting to Wendy. He wondered how long he should wait before he texted her. How much space did she need?

Cartman won for the tenth time in a row. "Hey what the fuck man, are you even trying?" He asked, annoyed.

"Hey sorry, I've just got some shit on my mind." Kenny shook his head and set down the controller. His eyes were starting to hurt from staring at the screen for so long. "It's about Wendy, I think I really like her dude."

"Whoa, never thought I'd hear that one." Cartman laughed loudly. "So what's the problem?"

"She texted me saying she needed space. I don't know what to do. I think maybe I'll just give up, seems like a lot of work sometimes." Kenny sighed softly. His head was spinning from the weed.

"She needs space? Why don't you just text her anyway? Women love that shit. They're always playing mind games. They always say one thing but they mean a different thing. Like they'll say don't text me, but it's a test to see if you'll let them leave."

Kenny just laughed, "That's ridiculous. Wendy knows what she wants."

"I wouldn't be too sure. Text her right now and see what happens." Cartman encouraged. Kenny just sighed and pulled out his phone, what did he have to lose anyway?

He started typing out a text. He wasn't sure what to say exactly. He started off by apologizing, maybe that was the route to go.

Cartman looked over his shoulder. "Dude, what the fuck are you doing?" His eyes read over the long paragraph in the message box and shook his head. "Hand it over." Before Kenny even had time to react Cartman had grabbed his phone from him and typed out a message of his own. He didn't even have to time read it before the fatass presses send.

Kenny grabbed his phone back, "What the hell Cartman?" He started to get angry but then he read the text that had been sent. It just read: R U Ok?

Kenny sighed, "I guess it's not the worst text ever, but would it have killed you to type out 'are' and 'you'?" Wendy was already typing her reply.

"What's wrong with that? She's responding, isn't she?" Cartman snickered and Kenny turned so his phone was out his view.

Wendy's replied and asked if he had some time to talk, explaining there were things she wanted to talk about. Kenny's stomach dropped. His mind raced, what did she want to talk about?

Kenny felt him sober up the second the Adrenaline hit him. He always seemed to get his grip back on reality when he felt things were about to get serious. He just texted back, asking if he could pick her up. He stood up quickly, still feeling slightly buzzed. "Hey man, I've gotta go. I'm gonna go talk to Wendy." He headed towards the door.

"Okay whatever, you pussy-whipped bitch." Cartman just rolled his eyes, "I'll see you later."

Kenny smiled, "See ya!" He quickly ran from Cartman's front door to his truck. The sun was starting to set and snow started to fall softly from the sky.

Kenny got in his truck and headed towards Wendy's house. His heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn't sure why he felt so stressed. Maybe it was cannabis-induced paranoia or the fact he hadn't smoked a cigarette since he'd risen from the dead.

As Kenny turned into Wendy's street he saw her figure walking towards him. He pulled over and leaned across and opened the door. "I would've picked you up from your house." He said as Wendy climbed in.

Wendy looked stunning to Kenny. The fading sunlight shone in through the windows and illuminated her dark eyes. Kenny's eyes followed the slight curve of her face to her soft lips to her nose that was slightly red from the cold. When his eyes met her he couldn't help but smile. He felt a nice warm sensation fill his chest. He'd never felt it before, but he didn't want the feeling to stop.

"Yeah I know," Wendy replied, slicing through his thoughts, "I just told my parents I was hanging out with Bebe so I could stay out later."

"You're sneaky." Kenny chucked, pulling away from the curb. "So what's up? Sorry I've been gone for a few days... I just kind of disappeared." He felt like that was a poor explanation, but he didn't know how to explain it any other way.

"It's okay Kenny, I've been dealing with a lot," Wendy said softly, Kenny glanced over at her. She was looking out the window.

"I'm still sorry though." They drove in silence for a moment, "Is it okay if I go to the lookout?" He questioned, Wendy, nodded in reply. Kenny began to drive through the neighborhood on the side of the mountain.

After a few minutes, they'd reached the lookout. It was a beautiful evening. They'd just managed to catch the last few rays of sunlight as it set behind the Rockies. The lookout was a couple of parking spots in the mountains in South Park. It had a view of the whole valley. South Park looked tiny when viewed from above.

Kenny reached over and turned down the music, "So, what did you what to talk about?" He asked he sounded nervous even to himself.

Wendy sighed deeply. "I guess I'm just confused." She started.

Kenny relaxed a bit, "Oh?"

"Yeah I'm confused about me and you and like, what's going on." She finished up.

"Oh." Kenny didn't know what to say. His eyes drifted outside. The snow was still falling. Every flake that landed on the car melted immediately from the heat inside. The windows were starting to fog up.

"But I can't blame you for this. At least not fully." Wendy looked over at him. "I mean, we just had a conversation a few days ago about how we were just hanging out but... oh I don't know." A moment of silence passed between the pair. "Bebe just told me about how you begged her for a blow job and-"

"How I did what?" Kenny asked. He felt annoyed, why would Bebe lie about this to Wendy.

"She told me you begged her for a blowjob at school the other day." Wendy was annoyed now too. She crossed her arms.

"That's not what happened. Bebe came out of nowhere and started kissing on me and then she started to suck my dick but I didn't finish. She offered and-"

Wendy narrowed her eyes, "Are you implying my best friend is lying to me?"

Kenny stopped and looked at Wendy for a moment. "We aren't even officially dating, I don't know why it matters."

Wendy groaned, "Can't you see? That's the problem. I just, I feel sad about it. Like me and you kind of had something going and I'd hoped you'd feel the same way but I guess not."

Kenny just stared off into space. But he did have feelings for Wendy, or so he thought. Maybe he didn't. He felt a kind of sadness wash over him. Wendy didn't believe that Bebe was lying to her, and Kenny didn't think he could convince her otherwise. His brain felt like mush, his high returning after the initial adrenaline rush he received. His tolerance was so low every time he came back from being dead, he forgot and he seemed to have overdone it at the absolute worst time. He felt words forming in his mouth but he couldn't put his emotions into any words.

"I'm just not sure like if anything will come from this, you know. I don't know what you want or what you're thinking. I feel hung up on you but I don't know why. I just feel this indescribable happiness when I'm around you. It's just nice. You look at me like I put the sun in the sky or something, I don't know." She giggled softly, "I think it sounds crazy."

Kenny remained silent watching her mouth as she talked. He wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them and feel her lips on his but for now, he waited, she continued to talk.

"I just want someone to be there for me, someone who's genuinely good for me. Someone better than Stan." She added the last part softly.

Kenny felt his stomach turn. How could he be better than Stan? His mind raced with all the times he'd shoplifted, all the cigarettes smoked, all the pot smoked, the fights he'd been in, the constant deaths. How could he be there for someone else when he felt like he was barely here at all? His mind filled with all the images of bad things he'd done. Kenny didn't think of himself as a good person, in fact, he considered himself quite the opposite. He viewed himself as someone with a fleeting life, set up to be white trash, and in trouble just like his parents. He had to say something or he felt like he was going to be sick.

"I'm not better than Stan. I can't be better than Stan. Wendy, I feel like I'm not the person you make me out to be. And I don't want to hurt you, goddamnit." Kenny felt his mouth moving and he felt like he had lost control of it all, all if spilling out like vomit from his lips.

"You built me up to be something and I'm not like that. I'm not better than Stan, Wendy. I can't provide for you in life. I have no plans for the future, hell, I don't even have my life planned out a week from now. And you... Wendy, you're so smart, and beautiful and lovely to be around. Everyone loves you here and I'm just, I don't know, I'm just me. I'm just Kenny and I'm quiet and I'm in the background of things a lot. Sometimes I feel like people forget I even exist. And when people do remember me it's not for anything good.

"It's for all the times I've fucked up. It's for me sleeping around and getting stoned out of my mind. It's for that time me and Clyde did acid and the police found us out of our minds in a field. I don't know really what you think I am. I just don't want to give you the wrong impression I guess." Kenny finally finished up. He felt like that was the most he ever said in his life.

Wendy stayed silent this time. Kenny felt like he had just info dumped a whole lifetime of information on her. He didn't know what to think anymore. He didn't know what she wanted from him. He wondered if she just wanted him to not sleep around while they were talking like this. Kenny figured this wouldn't be too hard. The only other person he'd hooked up with since new years was Bebe and he felt like that had been less than enthusiastic. But what would come after that? Would they continue to date? Would they move in together? Would they get married? All of that was too far off in the future for Kenny to comprehend.

Wendy's words came like a knife slicing through his thoughts and effectively silencing them at the same time. "You have a good heart, Kenny."

Kenny burst out laughing, "A good heart?" He questioned, "I haven't done anything good since the fifth grade."

"I'm not talking about whether or not you smoke or not, or you sleeping around. You're so kind. Do you think I haven't noticed over the years? Who do you love most in the world?" She asked.

Kenny was taken aback for a moment. It was a question he'd never been asked before. His mind raced with all the people he knew. His friends, his parents, his flings. Romantic love was off the table. He still didn't know if that really existed. "Probably Karen." He answered after a moment, "She's just so amazing and she deserved way more than our shitty parents provided for us. Which is more than I can say for me and Kevin. We deserved all the shit that was thrown our way."

"Kenny I'm sorry-"

"Please don't pity me, Wendy. It's okay." Kenny smoked softly. He hated talking about his family life. He hated when people looked at him with that pitiful look in their eyes. Kenny had, admittedly, gotten the worst of it. He took every slap, every shoe thrown, every attempt at harm for his sister. She was fragile and emotional, what kid wouldn't be after all that.

"Kenny you have a good heart." Wendy stayed again, "That's something that can't be taught. I think people with bad intentions are hard to sway from their usual habits. You care about people, a lot. I can tell. You're trying to protect me from you before even letting me. But I don't need you too. You're something I want to take a chance on. I want to get to know the real you." She explained.

"The real me?" Kenny repeated. He looked over at Wendy and she was looking up at him with her big beautiful eyes.

"Yes. We can take things slow." Wendy reaches her arm out to touch his reassuringly. "I just want to get to know you more. I've been distant lately. I don't want you to get the impression I'm not interested."

Kenny took a deep breath in. This didn't seem too bad. His mind flashed with the memory of Stan in hell telling him to stay away from Wendy. Then he remembered a very fiery Bebe telling him to stay away from Wendy. He swallowed a lump in his throat. With Bebe around, he needed to be careful. She was willing to lie to keep them apart.

Kenny finally released his breath, he didn't know why he was holding it in the first place. "Sure." He smiled weakly it felt like. "Let's hang out some more, get to know each other better. Take things slowly." He looked out the window. The snow was starting to come down hard now as the final rays of the sun had dipped behind the mountain. "But for now, we should get out this storm. We don't want to be up here on this mountain when it hits full force." He shifted his truck into reverse to pull out of the parking spot.

They rode down in silence, with Judas Priest playing from the car stereo. Kenny couldn't help but sneak glances at Wendy. He felt like he was dreaming. He had no idea how he had attracted someone like her to him. His gaze shifted back to the snowy roads, he wondered if it would last.