Surprise!

"I just don't get it Kenny. I don't know how to feel around him anymore. Just when I think I can trust him, he goes and does something that makes me question if I could ever trust him in the first place. Do I give him my trust or not?"

I've healed partially from the incident. My stomach still hurts, but my headache has gone down and I can sit up now without the threat of puking. Kenny decided to come in and make sure I was okay during his study hall. He told me about how I'm the talk of the school at the moment, and how worried Stan is about me. That's reasonable, but I have bigger problems than petty school drama. I decided to ask Kenny for advice with Cartman. I mean, he and Cartman have always had a bond similar to mine and Stan's. He's probably one of the closest people to Cartman, after me obviously.

"Well, what specifically is making you doubt yourself? What are you afraid of?"

Kenny took his hood off to be heard more clearly. It helps when we're having serious conversations like this one. It seems like every conversation I've been apart of has been serious lately.

"I guess I'm kind of scared of becoming a monster. I'm scared he's gonna turn me into a monster, like he did to Heidi. I don't want to get hurt and I wish I knew how to handle this."

He didn't respond for a few seconds, then he took a seat on the bed I was on. I took this as he wanted to tell me something important and sat up straight, preparing to listen to any and everything he has to say.

"Listen dude, I can't say for sure what's gonna happen here. Usually, I'm pretty good at calculating how today's gonna turn out, but I know what you have with Cartman is good. Every other relationship Cartman's had was noticeably problematic in one way or another. He was really good at tricking the ones close to him to do as he wanted, but you never did that. Somehow, you got under his skin, and into his head more than once. You can get through to him like no one else can, and I've seen you do it. The thing is Kyle, it doesn't matter what happens between you two. You could end up like Heidi, and you couldn't. It doesn't matter when it comes to you because you're not the type to just give up on something you believe in. Even when we were little, you had faith in Cartman. You believed that he was capable of changing, or having a little good in him, even when nobody else did. Sure, he failed you time and time again, but you never gave up. It's years later and you still haven't given up."

After he was done with his rant, he took a breath. Then he glanced at the clock and threw up his hood. The last thing he said was muffled, but I've known Kenny long enough to understand what he said.

"Cartman really cares about you, in a way I've never seen from him before. Not just now, even when we were small. I'd say he's genuinely trying to be a better person for you. Give him that chance. If it doesn't work,, then I bet you'll just bounce back again. You didn't stop when he was gone without a trace, and you still won't stop."

I started to process what he told me as he began to leave back to class.

"One more thing." I looked up to face him. It wasn't hard to tell he had a grin on his face. "Thanks for bringing my best friend back."

Kenny's earlier advice motivated me to talk to the only person that has any idea what I'm handling right now. It may not be the best option, but any advice is noteworthy at this point. I need to know exactly how he acted back then, and how to avoid it.

Once school ended the nurse let me go so I could get home and rest. Stan and Cartman met up with me at my locker and basically this is how it went.

"Kyle, how are you feeling?" Cartman asked first. I opened my mouth to answer, but Stan interrupted me with his own question.

"Do you want me to go home with you?". Before I could answer that question, Cartman asked another one.

"You want me to carry your things to the bus?"

This continued for a little while until I loudly announced that I wanted to go to the library alone after school and they stopped babying me. I managed to escape them and started my walk to the town library, preparing myself to dial the number I needed to call at the moment. It's not like I hate her, it's just a weird topic to be talking about with her. I'm not even sure she remembers what it was like, since we were so young. Despite my worry, I pulled out my phone halfway to the library and dialed her number. I'm pretty sure this is still her number, but I wouldn't be mad if she changed it. Much to my despair, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Heidi, it's Kyle."

After I hung up, I found the conversation to have been a complete waste of time and was left unsatisfied. We chatted for a while, talking about how school was going and college. Regular things, then I quickly changed the topic to when she used to date him. I asked her how he acted when he was tricking her and ways she thinks would help avoid it. She basically told me worthless information and read off a google website about narcissistic relationships. She closed up the conversation saying that I should make sure nobody else dates him. Mission failed I guess.

Since that was a useless attempt at figuring out what he's hiding, I decided to continue home instead of my original plans to go to the library, then I got a text from Stan.

STAN: HEY DUDE. COME BY MY HOUSE REAL QUICK.

KYE: WHY?

STAN: PLEASE!

KYE:FINE. I'LL BE THERE SOON

STAN: OKIE

I started on the path to Stan's house, wondering what he could want, then I remembered. He was talking with Cartman today, and also ignored me after I tried to talk to him about it. Perhaps he's in on the scheme. That can't be though, cause Stan and Cartman haven't even really been friends lately. So if Cartman was cooking up a plan and he told Stan about it, then Stan would tell me. Why hasn't he then? What did Cartman tell him, and why isn't he telling me?

I arrived at Stan's house with many questions and little answers. I wanted to know what was going on, and it seems like this might be my best bet. Before I could knock at the door, Stan answered with a bright smile.

"Kyle! Come in." He announced overly enthusiastically.

"Stan, what's going on?"

"Huh, nothing."

He lead me up to his room and seemed to be distracted by something. I searched around the house, trying to find what he was distracted by, but it looked like we were the only ones here.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing!" He quickly replied. He's obviously lying to me. So he is in on it. What could Cartman be planning that he got Stan in on it? Whatever it is, I want to know. I hate when my closest friends keep secrets from me.

"Quit lying. What's going on, and what is Cartman planning?"

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! I'm sick of not knowing the truth. I know Cartman talked to you today. Can you stop lying to me and just let me know what he said at least?"

"I-" He started. Then he put his phone away and sighed. "I can't Kyle. I'm sorry. It'll ruin everything."

"You're supposed to be my friend Stan!"

"Kyle, please don't be mad. Trust me, Cartman's not doing anything wrong."

"He's been keeping a secret from me all day. Only me! How is that not wrong?"

"I get that you're mad, but take it from me, the guy who's been suspicious of Cartman from the start. He's not planning anything bad. You'll find out soon anyways."

"What do you mean? Wait, what am I doing here anyways?"

Stan was silent, then his phone buzzed. He looked at it for a second, then helplessly smiled. "Follow me if you wanna find out."

I started to get nervous by the way he said that. Considering this is one of Cartman's plans, anything could happen. I doubt it's anything bad though, since Stan is a part of it, and he wouldn't let Cartman hurt me. We walked to Cartman's house together. I could feel the anticipation building up in my stomach as Stan opened the door and stepped in. The house was dark, but soon the lights came on and group of people shouted "Surprise!" at me. At first I didn't register what happened until I saw the smiling faces of my friends,boyfriend and brother. I glanced around the room and saw a single cake on the table along with a few presents.

"Happy birthday Kyle." Cartman came up to me and said, a huge grin beaming on his face.

"It's not my birthday." I corrected. "I know, but since yours is so close to graduation, I figured we celebrate now."

"And I told you I didn't want a big party."

"This isn't a big party. There's only five of us. Six if you count my mom. Sorry I couldn't get your parents to show up. They just refused to answer my calls and ignored my texts."

Before he could wallow in self pity about his failure, I jumped into his arms. He was obviously shocked, but I guess that reasonable.

"Thank you. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend." I felt his smile on my face and my heart did that flippy floppy thing it does when I feel overwhelmed with love for this dumbass.

"Woah wait, boyfriends?! Nobody told me about this!" Stan shouted from behind me. A few giggles rose from our friends. I let go of Cartman and turned around to hug Stan.

"Thanks for not telling me Stan."

"No problem man. Cartman told me that you wanted to call off your birthday and I just couldn't say no."

Pretty soon, the party began. Well, it was mostly just them quietly singing happy birthday to me, then Cartman shoved my face in the cake. After I beat his ass with frosting coming off my face, Stan gave me a rag to clean myself and we got into the presents. The first one was from Kenny and Butters, since Kenny couldn't pay for one on his own. They got me a new basketball, which was really thoughtful of them. Then Ike got me a rainbow blanket because I'm a "flaming homo". Stan then handed me his gift. I opened it to find it was a new laptop. After I sat there in shock for a few seconds, I concluded I just couldn't accept his gift.

"It's yours dude. You deserve it. I've seen your old laptop, and I think it's time for an upgrade." I quickly got up from my seat and gave Stan a huge hug. I honestly can't believe someone would spend so much money on me, but it is Stan we're talking about. Speaking of a lot of money, I wonder what Cartman got me. I looked over at the table and saw that there were no more gifts.

"Hey, where's your gift Cartman?" I asked. Cartman lit up as if he's been waiting for me to ask that since I got here. He somehow pulled out a guitar from behind him and took a seat, offering I sit next to him. I did, albeit reluctantly, and he cleared his throat and strummed a few chords before starting. I didn't recognize the song at first, then he sung the first two lyrics, and I instantly knew.

"I swear~."

"Oh my god!" I shouted, burying my face in my hat. I saw Ike and Kenny recording with their phones in the corner of my eye, furthering my embarrassment.

"By the moon and the stars in the sky. I'll be there. And I swear~. Like the shadow that's by your side."

Kenny turned the lights down, setting the mood.

"For better or worse, till death do us part. I'll love you with every gay beat of my heart. I swear Kahl~."

Everyone around us seemed to either be moved or amused by what was going on, but soon my embarrassment wore off and I listened to Cartman's soft singing. Swayed with his quiet playing. It warmed my heart knowing that Cartman had to practice this over and over just for me. I wonder when he did that.

"I'll give you everything I can. I'll build your dreams with these two hands. We'll hang some memories on the walls. And when just the two of us are there, you won't have to ask if I still care. Cause as the time turns the page, my love won't age at all~"

As he played the part leading up to the final lines of the song, I noticed Stan looked a bit sad. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I think I already know what. He's still upset that I like Cartman, but maybe he finally sees why. I mean, this is the most romantic thing I've ever known him to do for me, and there's no way Stan doesn't see that. Granted, he wasn't there when Cartman sung this at the basketball game, so maybe he doesn't get the meaning of the song to us. It's funny how Cartman started that rumor that we were dating all that time ago and we ended up actually together. It's almost like he liked me back then too. Wait...

"I swear, by the moon and the stars in the sky. I'll be there. And I swear, like the shadow that's by your side. I swear to god I'll be there.

For better or worse. Till death do us part. I'll love you with every single beat of my heart. I swear.."

He strummed the final chord and reached into his pocket. For a second I thought he was gonna propose to me, but then he brought out two pieces of paper and handed them to me. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read them.

"No way! Tickets to the Mc Dreidel concert!? How did you get these?! They're sold out everywhere!"

"I have my ways."

"Do I want to know what that means?"

"Probably not."

Cartman kissed me quickly on the lips and whispered "Happy birthday Jew."

Everyone clapped around us. This was probably the best birthday I've ever had. I don't know why I ever doubted Cartman in the first place. He obviously loves me a lot. Sure, he's always gonna be a little sneaky and untrustworthy, but in the end, he does it with a good heart. He does it because he knows it's gonna make me happy in the end, and I can't hate him for that.

I looked closer at the tickets and saw it was on my exact birthday.

"Is this why you wanted the party now? So you could take me to the concert on my birthday."

"Duh, I'm a genius aren't I?"

"Yeah. Thank you. All of you. This was the best birthday I've had in years. Thank you all."

Awww. Happy birthday to me!

I guess this is my way of saying thank you to everyone who bothers to read my crap. I can't express how happy reading your comments and reviews makes me, and I just wanted to let you all know your reads mean a lot to me. I may not be able to have a party like Kyle, or anything but if I get one happy birthday today, I'd be happy. So, leave your birthday wishes down below for me. I'd love to respond to every single one.

While writing this, I had to research the lyrics to 'I swear' to make sure I got them right, but I cut some out to save me the writing. I also think I went too far with Cartman's gift, but then again, Cartman would go all out for Kyle's birthday.

I finished this chapter a bit early, so the last few days I was just rereading and figuring out how to make this better. I think it turned out pretty well, even if it sounds a bit rushed.