Kyle nibbled on his lips absentmindedly as he flipped through the channels on the television in Cartman's living room. Finished makeup schoolwork sat on the oak coffee table. Butters had been nice enough to bring him the schoolwork he was falling behind in, he appreciated it. He managed to finish it with the help of some scrawling notes and the textbooks provided for the class.
He wasn't going to let his injury interfere with his grades, he was dead set on graduating in three months and not even a gunshot wound was going to prevent him from walking that stage. Kyle settled on reruns of some cartoon, mainly for the background noise as he laid back on the couch and closed his eyes. His legs were throbbing in pain and he was determined to stay off them for the sake of his health.
He was told that the bullets grazed bone when they shot him, that would explain the pain. He was lucky they didn't shatter the bone completely. He didn't know why they hadn't just taken him to the hospital but he supposed too many questions from the staff would create problems for everyone.
Butters was a good doctor.
Even if he was just eighteen and never seen the inside of a medical school.
"You look like you're going to die of boredom. Unless you're already dead." Cartman's voice filled his senses and a slight poke to his cheek had his eyes opening.
"Oh good, you didn't kick the bucket on me."
Kyle blinked up at Cartman who was leaning over him looking down at him. There was a frown on his face as he stared at the redhead. Kyle shifted so he was sitting up against the arm of the couch, his new favorite place to lounge.
"Clearly not. How can I help you?"
Cartman had straightened up and walked over to the TV and opened a cabinet showing a Nintendo Switch hidden in its little cubby. Kyle parted his lips to speak but was cut off by a joycon being shoved into his hands. A grinning Cartman sitting down next to him with the second joycon.
"How about a few games, just like old times?" he said.
"Dude, you're so on," Kyle said with a grin. This beats old cartoon reruns and sitting around staring at the paneled ceiling with one eye closed. Kyle fiddled with the controller in his hand as Cartman set up a game of Mario Kart.
He watched as Cartman chose Bowser as his driver with ease, he probably should have suspected that. He used his thumb to move the cursor around the different players and finally settled on Yoshi.
"Yoshi? I always pegged you as a Princess Daisy type." Cartman spoke in a teasing tone.
"Seriously? Maybe Kenny but not me." Kyle snorted.
Cartman chose the first track and then the countdown started for the round to begin. Kyle found himself in sixth place from the start. Cartman had a lead on him - though not for long, Kyle was gaining on him and he hit a power-up orb. The box shuffled and landed on the most infamous of items - the blue shell.
"Oh, you fucking better not."
Kyle only grinned as he gained traction slowly reaching second place. Then it happened, Kyle pressed the A button and sent the shells at Bowser. Causing the character to stall in place as everyone passed the immobile pixel.
"You motherfucker."
Kyle couldn't help but let out a series of laughs. "Sorry, Cartman all is fair in karts and war."
"You don't act like you're sorry." though there was a slight smile on the other's face.
Needless to say, Kyle won that round and started to feel his boredom ebbing away as the afternoon continued. He was starting to relax around Cartman and it was almost like they were kids again, minus the Cartman trying to make his life hell part. Then again, wasn't he making his life hell by holding those pictures over his head? Kyle had already become resigned to that, he had joined at first by the threat but then he joined officially by his own free will.
Cartman paused the game and placed the controller down on the table and stretched his arms above his head.
"I'm hungry, want to order a pizza?" he asked looking over at the other.
Kyle shrugged, "Sure dude."
Cartman pulled out his phone and dialed the local pizza parlor and stepped away to order. Kyle placed the control he was still gripping in his hand right next to the other and shifted in his seat. He'd been on bed rest for the past week and he was getting restless. He wished he could move around without pain and he hoped that such a thing would be soon because it fucking sucked.
Within the hour the pizza arrived and Kyle craned his head to see in the kitchen. While he couldn't see much over the island he was able to make out Cartman pulling the pizza out of a plain white cardboard pizza box. Soon the other was coming back into the living area with two plates. Kyle had a plate with a plain cheese pizza placed into his hands.
"Thank you," he said and settled down and started to eat his slice in slow and easy bites.
That was the second time Cartman was considerate of his diet. Maybe throughout these years, they'd been apart, Cartman changed into less of an asshole, that or Kyle was being too trusting of his kindness. The dude did put a gun to his head after all. He looked at Cartman who was eating his slice of pizza and they sat there in silence.
The sudden kindness, he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. Though he would be lying if he didn't enjoy it just a little bit. It was a nice change of pace.
"Hey, Jew?"
"Mhn?" Kyle hummed and placed his pizza down and turned his attention to Cartman.
"After your legs heal, do you have any plans? Are you going back home?" Cartman wasn't exactly told of the conversation with his mother a few days ago. Nevertheless, it still made Kyle tense for a moment.
"I don't know, mom kinda just told me to never come around if I was going to be part of your business." Kyle shrugged.
"Maybe work up enough money to rent an apartment." he finished and rubbed his index and thumb together, the grease from the pizza shining on it.
Cartman frowned, he hadn't known about that. "That's a real bitch move, her own son."
"My mom isn't a bitch." Kyle said coolly.
"It was a bitch move though. You can't deny that."
Kyle set his jaw and held his tongue before letting out a heavy breath, "Technically, maybe you're right, but it still doesn't excuse the word bitch." he eyed the man beside him.
Cartman shrugged and swiped up their empty plates and placed them in the sink.
"I want my couch back,"
Kyle froze, he was being kicked out?
"Before you fucking flip, I'm not kicking you out. Come with me," he said and left the kitchen and headed up the stairs next to the hall and kitchen. Kyle hesitated for a moment before standing up slowly and measuring the pressure on his legs before following.
Stairs were a bitch. He managed to catch up with Cartman who was waiting for him at the end of the hallway. There were three doors, one was the door to a bathroom telling from the sight of a showerhead in the darkness. The other was closed tight and another door was open.
"That's my room, this-" he paused and opened the closed door and he stepped forward seeing the room for himself. It was a nice room with a four-poster bed, a dresser and a tv, a door leading to what he figured was another bathroom was at the end of the room.
"Is the spare room, but it'll be your room until you get out of my house," Cartman said leaning on the doorframe once Kyle entered and sat on the bed.
He looked at Cartman with an unsure expression.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you being so nice to me, I mean it's nice but…" this was Cartman, the guy that he was supposed to hate but he found himself not exactly feeling hate coming from the man anymore. Was it not mutual anymore? Kyle found himself doubting himself having the same feelings anymore himself. Kyle realized it a while back in freshman year, the feelings he had for Cartman were strange, he didn't hate him as much anymore but he still fucking pissed him off. He wasn't sure what to make of them.
"Do I need a reason to take care of one of my men?" the tone of voice and amused look on Cartman's face didn't tell the whole story but Kyle would just take it like that for now. He'll figure out how the man ticked eventually.
"You know I'm beginning to think you're not as terrible as you used to be."
"Gee, thanks"
"I mean it, Cartman." Kyle smiled at Cartman who returned with a smirk.
That fucking smirk would be the death of him.
A week later Kyle found himself back on the couch, though not because he was kicked out of his new bedroom. He was enjoying himself watching Cartman flit throughout the kitchen, smells of food and the sour smell of alcohol was in the air. Tonight was a gathering of all the inner circle of the mafia, which meant the friends that Kyle had said goodbye to at the start of high school. It unnerved him, he was familiar with Kenny and Stan as they hung out semi-regularly, he was just unsure of the others and it was visible in the tension of his shoulders. He knew there was nothing to be nervous about, he just felt like he didn't know the people anymore.
He saw Cartman come over with a glass of red liquid. "Wine your ass up, you need to relax and let go. Loosen up a little Kyle."
Kyle took the wine gingerly and decided nursing it would be a good idea. He was a lightweight and he didn't need to be drunk off his ass before the party even started. The bitter taste filled his taste buds as he took a sip. It wasn't the greatest tasting but it relaxed him just a tiny bit.
A knock on the door sounded and the person just graciously let themselves in. It seemed to be a typical occurrence here. He guessed the door was always unlocked.
Stan and Wendy made their way into the living room from the foyer.
"Hey Bossman," Stan called out and got a grunt in return. Cartman was too busy cooking to even acknowledge his presence, Kyle learned that the hard way when he tried striking conversation with the brunette. He tried to help the other with cooking but the outcome was his orders to just leave everything to him.
Stan flopped into the seat next to Kyle and the redhead looked at his best friend from behind the glass of wine.
"Hey, dude." Stan grinned at him.
"Hey, what's up?" Kyle said, returning the grin.
"Do you think it's a good idea for you to hit the booze this early?" Stan said and Kyle shrugged.
"Cartman said I needed to loosen up and relax," Kyle said using air quotation marks with his two fingers. Stan let out a snort of laughter and craned his neck to look where Wendy had gone.
Wendy had gone off to the kitchen to talk to Cartman but got the same treatment as Kyle and ended up in the living room in between Kyle and Stan. From what Kyle could remember, Wendy was Cartman's advisor, she was where he got most of his business and planning advice from, he supposed.
"Hey, Kyle." She smiled at him.
"Hey Wendy," he replied simply. Her eyes trailed down to his bandages beneath his pants and he raised an eyebrow.
"I wish you could have joined us under different circumstances." she sighed.
Kyle's eyes closed and he took a rather long sip of wine.
"I wish that too," he said.
"I'm honestly shocked the two of you have been living in the same house for two weeks and it's still intact." Stan joked.
"He's -" he looked over at where Cartman was mixing a pot of spaghetti sauce, "not that bad really. He gave me a spare room, I can't complain much."
Stan looked confused and opened his mouth to say something. Since none of this was adding up to him. Though any sort of conversation was cut off by the door swinging open wildly and a grinning Kenny was holding up two twenty-four packs of beer in his hands. Behind him was Butters who had his hand on his face.
"Party time bitches!"
The grinning blonde made his way over to the kitchen to place the beer in the fridge leaving Butters to close the door behind them and make his way over to a chair near Kyle, Wendy, and Stan.
"Heya fellas," he greeted them with a smile.
"Hey Butters," Kyle smiled at his friend.
"Hey Kyle, how're you feeling?" he asked.
"M'fine, I'll be even better when this wine kicks in." he snorted. Kyle watched as the room filled with conversation, Kenny and Cartman were talking in the kitchen. More so Kenny was annoying Cartman and the brunette was telling him to fuck off.
Wendy and Stan were practically glued to each other, which wasn't anything that wasn't typical for the pair. They had the weirdest relationship but it was love plain and simple. Kyle was happy for his super best friend, though it was typically him that Stan came crying to when Wendy and he did their annual breakup. That hasn't happened in a while though.
Kyle was content just to fade into the background and answer any questions that were thrown his way.
Soon the last couple was arriving through the door. Tweek and Craig were the definitions of fashionably late.
"Sorry, we were late," Tweek said from beside Craig who had a passive look on his face, as usual.
"Really, be lucky we showed up at all." he drawled. "Tweek insisted we come. So, we're here." he shrugged.
Figures, Craig is still a massive asshole.
Kyle worked his way through the evening, dinner was good, there wasn't a doubt that Cartman was great at cooking and it was something he took seriously. Kyle found himself working on a buzz by the time everyone moved towards the living area for a conversation. Cartman had made it clear that they were here to have fun and dinner was strictly business free.
The coffee table was cleared and soon red solo cups full of the beer Kenny brought were placed upon it.
"We're seriously going to do this?" Craig piped up.
Kyle shrugged, "What's the harm in a drinking game,"
"I knew you had it in you to loosen up, Jew." Cartman laughed.
He wasn't even mad at that, the wine flowing through his veins was making all the decisions for him. He was relaxed.
"Alright." Stan piped up and picked up his cup.
"Never have I ever had a crush on someone in this room." such a simple question, Kyle found himself at a loss. He wouldn't lie and say he hadn't, he looked at Cartman from the corner of his eye. He would admit it, that suppressed crush that he had on Cartman back in middle school. He was beginning to wonder how suppressed it was as he watched the brunette, who had a flush on his face from the alcohol from dinner.
Everyone including Kyle drank to that.
"Alright, never have I ever have I had sex with anyone in this room." Kenny piped up.
The couples' drank leaving Kyle and Cartman to not drink, Kyle looked awkwardly at the cup and studied the outside and the contents. The questions that pertained to people in this room were making him rather feel uncomfortable, it seemed targeted towards the couples in general. He rolled his eyes and lifted his cup and had a weird light in his eyes.
"Never have I ever kissed a boy," Kyle said in a clear tone. Stan coughed and looked around to see that everyone had drunk, including Kyle.
"What, who dude?" he asked.
Kyle grinned, "I don't kiss and tell, Stan."
"Oh, you asshole." He said and threw a small throw pillow at Kyle who dunked and started to laugh.
It was clear after that game everyone was trashed. Kenny and Butters were passed out leaning on each other's shoulders with a half-eaten bag of Cheesy Poofs between them. Stan was still awake but in a half-asleep daze, Wendy was snoozing with her head in his lap. Craig and Tweek were cuddled up on the second couch sleeping.
Kyle was dozing off himself, the clock on the wall blinked against his irises reading half past midnight. Cartman seemed to be the only one that was heavyweight enough to have some sense of sobriety. He walked across the mess and scooped Kyle up in his arms.
Kyle furrowed his brows and weakly hit his hand against Cartman's abs.
"What're you doing, Cartman?" Stan's voice filled Kyle's senses.
"Taking him to his room," those were words that were fleeting in Kyle's ears.
"It's one less person passed out in my living room," he said and Kyle felt himself being carried upstairs and placed on something soft. Kyle's eyes fluttered open and grasped Cartman's sleeve and a confused look was targeted at him.
"Thanks," Kyle whispered
"Don't mention it." "
Kyle's hand dropped from Cartman's sleeve and he fell into a peaceful slumber.