Chapter Twenty-One - Number One Girl.

The next morning was one that came with only slight discomfort for Stan. The first thing he had initially thought of from the moment he opened his eyes was the dull throbbing of a headache right at the back of his skull. But, soon enough, he had been reminded of the beautiful girl beside him and had gently cuddled up against Wendy's sleeping frame for a relaxing few minutes. After deciding to leave her where she slept and indulging in a rejuvenating shower, Stan was now making his way downstairs to survey any possible damage that his friends had caused to the house overnight.

Just as he touched down from the final step and rounded the corner headed towards the kitchen, Stan felt a familiar vibration shoot down his leg from his mobile phone. Instantly, he rolled his eyes. Reaching for his phone, the teenage boy already had a half-hearted suspicion of who was texting him.

As he opened his message bank, Stan's predictions were immediately confirmed. At the sight of Darcy's name staring back at him from his phone screen, he felt himself sigh.

'Good morning handsome :) What are you up to today?'

Stan's stomach churned with an all too familiar guilt. He could only imagine how Wendy might react if she knew the girl that he had kissed only three days ago was still texting him. And if that wasn't enough, he didn't even want to think about what she'd say if she knew that he also happened to be texting her back.

'Not much. Kyle stayed the night so we're just gonna hang with the guys today'

Groaning to himself, he hit 'send' on the text and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

The teenage boy had definitely found himself in quite the dilemma. Now, he didn't want anybody to get the wrong idea. He had no romantic feelings left for Darcy whatsoever. Absolutely zip, zilch, zero. He had asked for Wendy back, he had told her that loved her, and he meant all of it. But that didn't mean breaking things off with Darcy was going to be an easy task – even as unofficial as all those things might have been.

Their time spent with one another hadn't even been a mistake, either. Not in Stan's eyes. The only mistake he saw develop from the entire ordeal was the false hope he had implanted within the auburn haired beauty after stupidly kissing her in front of the whole cafeteria. And now, to make sure she kept her distance and didn't begin to suspect anything, he had to lie to Darcy about Wendy. But to also make sure that his girlfriend remained happy, he had to lie to Wendy about Darcy, too.

The relentless thought of it all was just about giving him a head spin until Stan entered his kitchen to surprisingly find it almost completely spotless. Empty pizza boxes were stacked on top of the rubbish bin, all of the beer cans were neatly set out on the kitchen bench, and Stan could even hear the dishwasher quietly rumbling away in the corner.

"Hey, dudes," he finally spoke. Looking up to his friends with an appreciative smile, Stan suddenly frowned as he realised that there had apparently been one person missing from the clean-up effort, "Where the hell is Cartman?"

Placing the last empty beer can down on the counter, Kyle looked to Stan with a mirrored expression of annoyance, "Asleep in the guest room. He crawled his fat ass in there the second I got out of bed this morning."

With a roll of his eyes, Stan didn't suppose that he should really be too shocked. Cartman had never exactly been one for hard work, or for any kind of work at all, really. But Kyle and Kenny had done a good enough job on their own of tidying his parents' house, and aside from that, Cartman would have probably just got under their feet, anyway.

"Well, thanks for doing all the work. You really didn't have to," Stan said, shooting Kenny a thankful grin as well before turning on his heels, "But if that fat piece of shit thinks he's gonna' sleep in for another second, then – "

Before Stan could finish his heated thought, he abruptly came to a skidding stop in the kitchen doorway. And instantly, he felt his agitated frown drop for an elated smirk.

"Good morning," Wendy sang sweetly. She was comfortably leaning up against the door, twirling the ends of her long, black hair around the end of her finger as all that Stan could do was simply beam at her.

"Hey," he breathed out happily. Taking a step towards her, he pulled her into a small, gentle hug, "How'd you sleep?"

From the other side of the kitchen, Kenny snorted, "Um, you two are back together after two years of being apart, there shouldn't be much sleeping going on."

Keeping one arm draped around Wendy's shoulders, Stan turned back to Kenny, firing him a warning glare, "Dude."

"Hey, I'm just saying," Kenny joked again, continuing to test his boundaries, "Geez, Wendy, you need to loosen him up a little bit."

"Kenny!"

A flash of red, hot anger immediately went sweeping across Stan's face, and yet, all that Wendy could do was giggle. It was sort of adorably sweet to see her boyfriend getting all hot and bothered. However, something that did surprise the both of them was the added sound of Kyle chuckling away to himself across the centre island of the kitchen, too.

Flicking his head up, Stan stared at him in utter bewilderment as the red headed teen merely shrugged his shoulders, "What? It was sorta' funny."

Fallen into a stunned silence, Stan shot a soft half-smile in Kyle's direction. He was an odd mixture of astonishment and relief to hear his best friend utter a single sound around Wendy. So much so, that the dark haired boy barely even noticed his girlfriend wriggle from his grasp and gracefully stroll over towards the pantry.

Stan could only lovingly stare Wendy up and down. She was still wearing her cosy pyjama pants. They were just a tiny bit too long for her, so she had rolled the waist band over a couple of times. She also still had on the tank top she had worn to bed but had slipped on a bra underneath it. As she leant forward into the pantry, the bottom of it rode up ever so slightly, bringing an affectionate smile to Stan's face at the sight of the smooth small of her back. He had succumb to such a deep trance that he nearly jumped unexpectedly as Kenny's voice filled the air once more.

"So, when exactly did you start pining after Stan all over again?" Kenny went on teasingly. Strutting over to his friend, he attempted to give Stan and brotherly noogie and slapped him proudly on the back again. He was having far too much fun acting like an impressed father at all of Stan's new exploits.

"Don't feel like you have to answer any of his stupid questions," Stan spoke to Wendy, rolling his eyes and shoving Kenny away.

He hated to think that his friends were talking about things that Wendy didn't want to talk about and were possibly making her uncomfortable. They had only just gotten back together, after all. But even so, Wendy soon revealed herself from behind the pantry door with a giddy grin on her face at the thought of what Kenny had asked her.

"Before I even left."

Wendy giggled again as her unexpected response caused a different reaction from each of the boys in front of her.

Stan brought his voice to the absolute softest murmur, "Aw."

"Ugh," Kenny grunted, disgusted by the sudden romance, "So, he's not the reason you came back?"

Almost instantly, Wendy fell to hesitation. She pondered over what she could possibly offer as a response, noting a look of concern apparent on Stan's face. Her stifling silence continued to stretch on, eventually gaining the curious attention of Kyle, too, but still, it was Kenny who prolonged his prodding.

"I knew there was some kind of mystery about it."

Wendy quickly decided to just shrug off the thought, "I just had some stuff going on," she explained vaguely, "Malibu didn't turn out to be the place for me."

As hard as she tried to hide it, Stan was all too aware of the grim tone that appeared in Wendy's voice at any mention of her old home. Desperate to change the subject, the teenage boy opened his mouth to speak, but before any kind of comforting words could escape him, he was beaten to the punch. But this time, it wasn't by Kenny.

"But you're okay, right?"

The heads of Stan, Wendy and Kenny all abruptly snapped over toward the corner of the kitchen where Kyle had been sort of shrinking away into the background. The sudden sound of his voice, however, had brought his attendance springing into the forefront of each of their minds.

Instantly, Kenny was all out of jokes and Stan was stuck in a stunned silence. But, most of all, Wendy's eyes had narrowed at the surprisingly concerned tone in Kyle's voice. Licking her lips with slight uncertainty, she tripped over her own tongue for a second or two, not exactly sure how to respond.

"Uh… yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

The awkwardness of the exchange was all too obvious to all four of the seventeen year olds. Without wanting to make it worse, Wendy quickly cleared her throat as she decided to change the subject, turning back to Stan.

"Um, not that I'm complaining, but where's Cartman?"

It took Stan a few moments before he could will himself to even consider a reply. He was far too thrown by the olive branch that had been rapidly extended across the length of his kitchen by Kyle. He knew that his best friend had agreed to try and be okay with him and Wendy rekindling their relationship, and Stan appreciated that. But never did he expect that Kyle would actually try this hard this soon.

Stan couldn't help but smile. Everything was just continuing to fall into place so perfectly.

Turning his attention back to his girlfriend, he suddenly rolled his eyes at the thought of Cartman, "The lazy asshole is up in bed asleep."

"Yeah, while Kyle and me were down here cleaning up," Kenny added. He began walking towards the living room, tugging on Kyle's orange jacket as he did, "C'mon dude, let's go ruin his morning."

Chuckling at the idea of dragging Cartman out of bed and away from his pleasant images of hamburgers and milkshakes and Cheesy Poofs or whatever it was that he dreamed about, Kyle was hot on Kenny's heels as their made their way out of the kitchen. Right before they managed to disappear, Stan subtly glanced at Wendy. She had found some cocoa mix in the pantry and now was rummaging through the fridge, so Stan took the opportunity to clutch as Kyle's shoulder right as his best friend brushed by him.

"Hey," he spoke just audibly enough for Kyle to hear him. The red headed boy frowned at his friend at first, but soon felt his nerves settle as Stan shot a small smile at him.

"Thanks. For, ya' know, making so much of an effort."

Without uttering a single word, Kyle merely nodded his head, smiling right back at Stan. He had to admit, it had been so discomforting and strange to see Wendy emerge from upstairs that morning. And as much as he still doubted the circumstances laid before them, Kyle knew it wasn't his place to say anything more than he already had. Stan had asked him to keep his cool. So, until he had reason otherwise, that's exactly what Kyle was going to do.

Within the next second, Kyle and Kenny vanished to unleash all the annoyance on Cartman that they could possibly muster, leaving Stan in the open doorway between the living room and the kitchen. He shivered in excitement, all too aware of who still remained standing in the room behind him. Just as he stood up on his toes and went to twirl back around on the spot, the infectious bliss on his face crashed into dismal agitation as he sensed his phone vibrate once more.

Groaning inwardly, and as quietly as he could, Stan snatched his phone out of his pocket, frowning at the name and text that was swiftly becoming a permanent fixture to his device. He cringed at the new words from Darcy, feeling his body ache with guilt.

'Well that sounds fun… do you think I could maybe come see you sometime today though? :)'

Sighing to himself, Stan clapped his eyes tightly shut, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Even if he did want to hang out with Darcy – which he certainly didn't – it was completely out of the question. But putting it that blankly was definitely a bit too harsh to write down in a text message.

What the heck was he meant to say to her? He supposed that coming up with yet another excuse and lie was nothing short of what he had been doing for the past three days, anyway. One more on top of his ever growing pile wasn't going to make the dark haired boy feel any more awful than he already did. Thankfully, Stan didn't have to mull over his predicament for much longer, as he was suddenly snapped from his trance by the sweetest voice imaginable.

"Do you only have full cream milk?"

Spinning back around to lay his eyes on Wendy, Stan felt his heart skip a beat as she battered her long lashes in front of her hypnotising, brown orbs.

Without even the slimmest sense of awareness, Stan locked his phone and stuffed it back into the pocket of his jeans. Darcy was barely even on Stan's priority list in the first place, but right now, she could definitely wait till later to receive any sort of response from him.

Repeating her question to him in the back of his mind, Stan took one step and started to make his way towards Wendy. She was standing in the door of the fridge, searching for some milk to go along with her cocoa. She grinned happily as her boyfriend shook his head at her in disbelief and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind. Tenderly kissing her on the cheek, Stan chuckled in her ear.

"You are the last person in the world who needs to be worried about their intake of fat."

Giggling through her deep blush, Wendy wriggled her way around in Stan's grip, facing him and standing up on her tippy-toes to plant a small, affectionate peck on his lips. As he then grabbed a mug of his own, and the two of them carried on with some kind of adorable conversation, Stan and Wendy settled into their second full day back together.

Stan imagined that it would all continue on much in the same way that yesterday did – revelling in the cosy comfort of his house and dedicating all of their time on absolutely nothing else but each other. But deep down, Stan knew that he and Wendy weren't going to be able to keep sheltered in their hidden happiness forever.

His phone buzzing over and over again was a constant reminder of that.

Shutting the door behind his three best friends much later that afternoon, Stan sighed in relief at the sound of Kenny's car roaring back to life.

The guys had slightly overstayed their welcome as they had hung out all day playing video games at Stan's house. But Wendy had insisted over and over again that she didn't mind. Stan was just happy that now, for at least another short few moments before his parents returned home, he and Wendy would have each other all to themselves.

Locking the front door, the teenage boy turned around to spy his girlfriend sitting on the arm of the couch, smiling at him. Grinning back as he waltzed toward her, Stan tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear and took her hands in his where they sat in her lap.

"Sorry that they kinda' crashed our party."

Wendy shook her head, "It's fine, really. I was just happy to be here with you."

Goosebumps flew up his arms as Wendy gave Stan's hands a small squeeze. Feeling a faint shade of red cross his cheeks, Stan groaned playfully, gently cupping Wendy's face, "Shit, I really, really wish we didn't have to go to school tomorrow."

"I know," Wendy agreed with a giggle, "But, then again, it'll probably be the most enjoyable school day I've had in two years."

As nonchalant as her tone may have been, Stan felt a queasy sensation in his stomach at Wendy's joke. He hated thinking about everything that happened to her while she had been away, and every mention of Malibu that had slipped from his friends' lips over the course of that weekend had only made the feeling so much worse.

Nervously clearing his throat, Stan felt his smile slightly fade, "I hope the guys weren't being too unbearable," he started, "Ya' know, with all the shit they were asking you. About your old school."

Instantly, Wendy shook her head, "It wasn't a big deal."

Her hasty reply made Stan furrow his brow, "Well, okay, but the more people talk about it the more – "

"So stop talking about it," Wendy sharply cut in. By now, her arms were folded uncomfortably against her chest. Stan could simply sense the heated change in her demeanour, and it sent a wave of concern rushing throughout his core.

"Sorry," he offered, "It just worries me to think about it. You went through so much, and then especially with Griffin – "

"Stan," Wendy spat once more, visibly cringing at the name of her ex-boyfriend. The venom accompanying the single word that left her lips made Stan shudder. He froze, glancing at her apologetically as her face soon began to soften.

"I just…" she stuttered, "I just really don't want to talk about any of it, okay?"

For a second or two, Stan was utterly confused about where this panic had emerged from and when these tall walls surrounding Wendy had seemingly been built. But as he gave himself a few quiet moments, it all began to slowly piece together in his mind.

Two nights ago when they had confessed absolutely everything to one another and then eventually got back together, Stan had worn his heart completely on his sleeve. He didn't hold back a single detail about the torturous past two years. Anything that Wendy asked, Stan had answered. And on first presumption, the dark haired boy may have thought that he would receive the same courtesy from his girlfriend. But there was one very important fact that Stan had been overlooking.

All of his personal trials and tribulations had occurred a long, long time ago now. But Wendy's were still painstakingly fresh.

Stan had been given the time to recover and move on and become comfortable with talking about everything. But Wendy's photo and been sent around her school – and worse, she had been assaulted – only four or five months ago. The fear was still horribly real and new. Her wounds were yet to heal. So, of course she was going to struggle with any kind of a discussion. Even if it was with Stan.

Keeping all these thoughts in the front of his mind, Stan sighed. He wouldn't mention Malibu or Griffin again. Not until Wendy was ready.

"Okay," he finally answered her, "Anything you say. I'll do anything for you, just give me the word."

Staring down into her lap, Wendy allowed Stan's words to cycle across her mind. She wasn't mad or upset with him. She never could be, and she knew none of what she was feeling was his fault. Wendy was just thankful that she had Stan to lean on whenever she needed him. Especially since after what he had just said to her, he was seemingly now at her every beck and call.

Glimpsing up to lock her eyes with his, Wendy smirked, "Kiss me?"

Smiling down at her, more than happy to oblige, Stan tilted Wendy's chin up and pressed his lips into hers. Both of their senses were immediately engulfed with the presence of one another. Stan grinned at the taste of Wendy's lip gloss against his mouth, and Wendy simply melted at the all too familiar scent of Stan.

Soon enough, she began craving the taste of him, too, delicately opening her mouth and inviting him to join her in yet another passionate battle. Within milliseconds, Stan was there, brushing his tongue against Wendy's before they tangled together and joined in an intricate dance. As the kiss deepened further still, Wendy expelled the tiniest possible moan. Clutching onto the baggy sleeves of his jacket to keep her balance where she was still sat on the arm of the lounge, Wendy wrapped her legs around Stan's hips as he stood before her.

Almost forgetting every single minute detail of where they were and the entire situation they were caught in, Stan went to thrust his body into Wendy's until a sudden distraction stunned him. Shooting his eyes wide open, Stan gulped as his phone vibrated.

And the immense guilt immediately overtook him.

"Wendy."

Just as she went to pull him down over the couch arm and on top of her, Wendy screeched to an abrupt stop at the sound of her name and the unwelcome sensation of her boyfriend ceasing their kiss.

"Wendy," he repeated, "Just… wait."

Feeling her whole body shudder, Wendy swallowed a chunk of nervousness as she detached herself from Stan and timidly looked up at him, "What's wrong?"

The sadness in her voice hit him like a tonne of bricks, "Nothing," he immediately answered, "Nothing, it's just…"

Trailing off, Stan looked to the clock that hung on the living room wall, relieved to find what time it was.

"It's just, my Uncle Jimbo will be back from the airport soon with my parents," he responded half-heartedly.

The disappointment that crossed Wendy's face was instant, "You don't think you're gonna' tell them tonight?"

Keeping a tight squeeze of her hand, Stan shook his head, "Nah. I'll just let them recover from their trip. I don't wanna' stress 'em out as soon as they get home," he joked, forcing a small laugh to try and ease his girlfriend's apprehension, "I'll tell them as soon as I get home from school tomorrow afternoon."

Slowly, Wendy nodded her head. It was hard for her to imagine ever having to keep their relationship a secret from anyone. Obviously they were still very young, but in nine years of knowing each other, Stan and Wendy had gone through things and learnt from serious experiences that some couples never even face in a lifetime. But she understood why Stan had to do what he had to do. And besides, if it was ultimately going to be better for their relationship – both with each other and with their families – then Wendy was all for it.

"Do you think they'll be okay with it?" she asked, smiling as Stan immediately nodded his head.

"Well, they're gonna' have to be."

Her grin grew as she reached up and wrapped her arms around Stan's neck, pecking him on the lips as another cheerful thought crossed her mind, "I'm so excited to show you off at school tomorrow in front of everyone."

As contagious as the joy spread across her face may have been, Stan suddenly felt a suffocating sense of remorse overwhelm his whole body.

This was why he wished that they didn't have to go to school the next day. He knew how Wendy felt, and a very, very large part of him did feel exactly the same way. There was nothing he wanted more than to be able to walk through the big, glass double doors of the school, holding Wendy's hand and announcing to all of their friends that he had finally got his girl back. But there was somebody else in the equation that needed to be considered.

Gulping in extreme nervousness, Stan cleared his throat, looking Wendy in the eye.

"Um… actually, about that… like, I'll still come pick you up in the morning," he began, rambling like an idiot, "But, uh… do you think maybe tomorrow we could just keep the P.D.A. to a minimum?"

Immediately, Wendy fell to a harsh quiet. She felt a tight vice grip at her heart as she frowned in confusion, "Why?"

In that moment, Stan was terrified. He had absolutely no idea how Wendy was about to react. Was she going to be upset him, sad even? Would she flip out, would she march out of his house slamming the door behind her?

Whatever might happen, Stan thought to himself, it couldn't be anywhere near as bad as the result if he decided to keep being slightly dishonest to her. So now it was time to tell the real truth.

"I need to talk to Darcy."

It was like waiting on a knife's edge as Stan held a deep breath in, desperate to know what Wendy was thinking and what she was going to say next. The teenage boy braced himself, ready to be yelled at and preparing the most logical and truthful explanation that his brain could possibly muster.

And yet, after a few moments, all that Wendy could do was remain silent. She had resisted a nervous tremor at the sound of Darcy's name. The last images that Wendy had of the auburn haired girl were the ones of her kissing Stan. It was these same images that had abruptly sprung to the teenage girl's mind, stirring up all of her insecurities in her stomach and making her think the worst.

Okay, so perhaps Wendy knew that Stan hadn't meant that he was going to go running straight back to Darcy as soon as they got to school. She wasn't stupid. She was just easily antagonised at the mere idea of some other girl trying to snatch her boyfriend away. Her boyfriend that she had only just won back, no less.

But, then again, Wendy knew that she had to bring herself to some level of understanding. Just as she had with the road bump of Stan's parents. It didn't mean that their lives and their relationship were going to be ruined. So, as she slowly nodded her head and offered a small, accepting smile, Wendy swallowed her pride.

Stan's eyes widened. He wasn't sure whether to keep pushing his luck any further, but he figured he could at least tie up the loose ends of his revelation.

"I need to end everything with her properly," he went on, shuddering at the thought.

The whole circumstance was definitely going to be a difficult thing to explain, and Stan certainly wasn't looking forward to it. But, as had already been discovered, he and Wendy couldn't hide forever. And quite frankly, Stan wasn't going to make her hide any longer than she had to. No amount of saving face was worth more to him than keeping her happy.

"We were never officially together, so technically, I haven't cheated on her or anything…"

Jesus, it sucked having to be a decent guy.

"…but she still deserves to hear an explanation from me."

Stan's bed felt a little less warm that night.

As he lay under the blankets, typing on his mobile phone, the dark haired boy smiled at his 'good night' text to Wendy. His girlfriend had left soon after their talk that afternoon, and luckily so as Stan's parents had arrived home about fifteen minutes later. Now the teenager was just about to fall asleep before he would wake up the next morning, sneak off to pick up Wendy from her house and then head to school together.

Stan thought about what he had managed to tell Wendy about Darcy that afternoon. He may not have necessarily revealed everything regarding her constant badgering of him that weekend, but Stan sort of just figured it wasn't reason enough to cause Wendy anymore stress. After all, once their confrontation was over and done with, Stan had already planned to simply delete Darcy's number and then never talk of her to Wendy again. Surely things didn't need to be any more complicated than that. What Wendy didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Right?

Shaking his head to try and relieve it of its tense ache, Stan simply sighed, pushing all of his worries to the back of his mind. More than anything else, he was certainly in need of a good night's sleep, so as he smiled once more and hit 'send' on his text to Wendy, the teenage boy quickly decided to forget about all of his anxiousness until the morning.

Placing his phone down on his bed side table, Stan leant over to flick off the lamp. Although, just as he almost reached it, the dark haired boy jumped at the sudden sound of a voice booming across the house.

"Stanley!"

Instantly, Stan frowned.

"Yeah?"

This was strange. It was almost ten-thirty, and despite how much he suspected that his mother would have long been in bed by now, the loud noise of Sharon's voice was undeniable. Not only that, but she sounded angry. And she was using Stan's full name, so she definitely had to be angry. What the hell had he done?

Just as the teenager was asking himself all of these question, Sharon suddenly appeared in the doorway to his room. What she was holding onto made Stan's heart freeze.

In her right hand, Sharon was holding a hair brush and a tube of lip gloss. Wendy's hairbrush and tube of lip gloss, which she had obviously left behind in the bathroom and forgotten to take home with her.

The look of fury on Sharon's face was terrifying, "Anything you wanna' tell me?"

Stan gulped. He wondered why his mother appeared so irate. Those two items could belong to absolutely any girl in the world. Keeping this in mind, Stan took a deep breath, managing to force out a lie, "Um… you should have assumed that I would've invited Darcy over while – "

"Oh, and has Darcy dyed her hair recently?"

Stan was dumbfounded as he examined the long locks of black hair entwined in the hairbrush. Crap. That's how Sharon knew to be so furious.

"No," he mumbled, not quite ready to admit defeat just yet, "But last time I checked, my hair – "

"Was not eight inches long," Sharon cut him off again, pulling out one of the long, wavy locks from the teeth of the brush. As dark as it was, there was no way that hair belonged to Stan, "Start talking. Now."

Stan could all but feel the colour completely drain from his face. His mouth was agape but there was absolutely not a single sound escaping him. His mind was full to the brink with beautiful images of Wendy, but in the blink of an eye, they had all been dulled by the intimidating thought that his mother had now found out about it all for herself.

Again, the teenage boy gulped. There was no wriggling his way out of this one now.

" … Okay, we got back together."

Sharon immediately saw red, "Stanley!"

"Mum, just let me explain – "

"Explain what?" Sharon continued to snipe, "Explain why you thought you were somehow going to be able to get away with all this and keep your relationship with her hidden from me?"

"No, Mum, I wasn't ever going to try and hide it," Stan desperately tried to say, leaning forward on the edge of his bed, "I was going to tell you, just not tonight. I thought you'd wanna' relax after the weekend, then I was gonna' tell you."

"Oh, yeah? And how's that plan working out for you?" Sharon challenged, rolling straight onward, "Do you honestly think I'm going to allow you to see her?"

For a split second, the hint of a threat from his mother made Stan's blood boil. But he soon forced it to subside – he knew he absolutely needed to keep his cool. If he even thought about raising his voice back to Sharon, he could kiss goodbye any chance of he and Wendy ever going back to complete normality.

"Mum, I know I've let you down," Stan confessed, taking a deep breath as he watched his mother soften at his admission, "But it's not as bad as you think it is. She never meant to really hurt me, not on purpose."

"Oh, please, Stanley – "

"I'm serious," he sniped over her, "I gave her the chance to explain herself, which is more than you can say right now."

The lick of bravery that crossed his tongue made both of them fall to a sharp silence. Gazing up at his mother, Stan understood that he couldn't really blame her all that much. Sharon had every right to be wary of Wendy, but she also needed to trust that her son knew what he was doing. Or at least give him the chance to prove it.

"She's been through… a lot," Stan went on, trying to resist the feelings of dismay at the thought of what Wendy suffered through, "Maybe even more than me."

The severe tenseness that had consumed every single inch of Sharon's core slowly continued to leave her as she stared at Stan. She could see a number of different emotions that seemed to be overwhelming her son. There was a delighted brightness that twinkled in his eye each time he referred to Wendy, as well as an obvious sadness at whatever he was attempting to tell her, and a sense of trepidation at the thought of doing just that. But underneath all of it, all that Sharon could truly see was nothing else but her little boy.

All she wanted to do was protect him. But the more she continued to prod at him, the more that Stan seemed to show her that maybe he didn't need that much of her protection anymore. She sensed her shoulders slouch back and the stubbornness vanish from her face as she subtly hinted at Stan to go on.

The teenage boy drew another breath.

"Just… let me try and explain it all to you."

Where to begin?

"Please?"

Hello lovely loyal readers!

Wow, three weeks since my last chapter! In that case, I'll keep this brief - what did you all think of this chapter? Please leave me a review and let me know, I truly appreciate it, and I promise I'll try not to make it so long until my next chapter is up! The next chapter, where Stan and Wendy will go to school and try to sort their little mess out... ;)

Till next time guys,

Reneyyyyyyyyyyyyy x