Chapter Twenty-Nine - Ghosts of the Past.

Both girls had the torches on their phones switched on as the light led them on their final lap around the football field. Wendy and Bebe had chosen to escape the loud giggles and sleepover like atmosphere of their cabin for a precious few minutes to share some sort of gossip of their own. Well, it wasn't so much 'gossip' as it was simply deflecting their respective boy drama off on one another.

"I honestly just don't get why you're dragging it out so long," Bebe continued along, "You're just as stubborn as each other. Haven't you both suffered enough by now?"

Sighing to herself, Wendy stuffed her free hand into the pocket of her jacket as she held her phone at the ground in front of her, "It's not like he's trying any harder, either. I don't even know what he wants," she mused, quickly changing the subject, "Besides, you can't talk. You still haven't spoken to Kyle since this morning."

"That's different," Bebe argued, "Kyle made it perfectly clear how he feels. He doesn't want a girlfriend anytime soon. Whether it's me or not."

Glancing out of the corner of her eye and up at her best friend, Wendy felt her heart splinter in sadness. As much as the dark haired girl may have still been annoyed with Kyle, she knew there was no way that he meant for his words to hurt Bebe or put a stop to how their relationship together was building. He just had a stupid brain snap – that's all it was. Surely Bebe could find it within her to give him another chance.

"So you can really switch off your feelings for the person you lost your virginity to?" Wendy probed, "Just like that?"

"Speak for yourself, girl," Bebe instantly hit back, "At least I'm not in love with the guy."

As gentle as Bebe's tone may have been, her words certainly left the impression she was aiming for. The two girls shared a silent glance for a moment as Wendy sensed some uncomfortable butterflies flutter in her stomach.

The teenager knew she owed it to her relationship to take her own advice when it came to her and Stan. They had fought plenty of times before over the past nine years, but seeing as this was the first bump in the road they had come across since getting back together, it felt sort of scary. She wanted more than anything to just drop the whole thing and revert back to the pure happiness they had shared over the past two weeks.

But did Stan feel the same way? Wendy wasn't sure.

As the girls re-approached the main camp site and their path became much more lit by the lights of the first block of cabins, Wendy shoved her phone back in her pocket, watching as Bebe did the same.

"I just…" Wendy stuttered, hesitating, "I just want Stan to understand why what he did was so hurtful. I know how sorry he must be, and I'd forgive him in a heartbeat, but…" she sighed, "…he just doesn't seem to care too much right now."

Wendy's words stung in Bebe's chest. How could they not? It killed the blonde girl to see her friend this upset, especially when Bebe knew that Stan would be feeling just as horrible, too. The young couple were utterly made for one another, they weren't supposed to be apart like this. Wendy and Stan needed each other.

But before Bebe was able to express any of this to her best friend, two pairs of heavy footsteps unexpectedly snuck up on her and Wendy. Quickly following this, an arrogant tone of voice suddenly boomed into the dark night, bringing all other conversation to a dramatic halt.

"Well, would you look at this? I knew I recognised that timid, little voice."

In a moment that made Wendy's life flash before her eyes, the voice brought her the absolute closest she would ever come to having a genuine heart attack.

Her face was a blank and emotionless slate as she stared up in disbelief at the features casting their evil gaze down upon her. The sharp jawline, the jagged blonde locks and the mud-coloured, hazel eyes came together to create a face that Wendy only ever saw in her nightmares. She was unable to express a single sound as she fearfully backed into the side wall of the cabin they all happened to be stood by. A cabin that was all the way at the very back of the camp ground, no less. There was nowhere for Wendy to escape to.

Bebe's eyes suddenly widened and her jaw dropped straight to the floor. She had heard enough stories and seen enough photos from Wendy's past two years to know exactly who was suddenly standing before them.

"Shit," she murmured through gritted teeth, stepping in front of Wendy. She reached back and took a protective grasp on her best friend's wrist as the blonde girl nervously cleared her throat, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Projecting a mocking expression of surprise and bewilderment, the tall boy with the dark blonde hair stared at his cohort and then back at the girls, "Uh, I'm here to play football for my school, what else would I be doing?"

Each word he spoke was only making the entire situation seem even more terrifyingly real for Wendy. She was teetering on the edge of a panic attack, but the lump of severe anxiousness jammed in her throat was preventing any rapid breaths from escaping her.

Bebe held her shoulders back, trying as desperately as she could to keep the fearless expression in her voice, "Well, we're here to cheer for ours, so if you don't mind – "

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a second," the boy cut in, manoeuvring himself to block the girls' path, "I figured you might be here to cheer – I was just curious to see if Wendy had actually picked it up again when I spotted South Park amongst the team sheets. Surely you have a second or two to hang out and catch up?"

The sarcasm in his voice was as vile as the smirk on his face as he went on.

"C'mon, Wendy, I haven't seen you since you went running all the way back into the mountains with your tail between your legs."

The petrified teenage girl was still unable to speak a single word, causing the second boy to chuckle to himself, nudging his friend.

"She doesn't seem to wanna' talk to you, dude."

As the tanned boy with curly surfer locks took a step forward, he distracted Bebe just long enough for the taller of the pair to steal an opportunity and leap towards Wendy. He firmly placed his hand up against the side of the cabin right by Wendy's head, making sure she couldn't wriggle away and run off anywhere.

The raven haired beauty shuddered and gasped under her breath as he spoke again.

"Yeah, what's wrong, Wendy? Aren't you happy to see me?" he snarled, raising a cocky eyebrow, "Then again, I can just look at the photo on my phone and see you anytime I want, can't I?"

As these words completely punctured her heart and deflated her spirits, and the boy ran a sickening thumb down the side of her face, Wendy finally snapped.

Swatting his had away from her face and shoving him back with all the force she could muster, Wendy felt like her lungs were on fire as she screamed, "Get the fuck away from me, Griffin!"

The sound of his name leaving her lips almost made Wendy's chest cave in. It was the one name that she was certain she would never have to speak again. And yet, as she fearfully glanced back up at Griffin's face, Wendy quickly discovered that merely speaking of him couldn't hurt her anywhere near as much as it hurt to be seeing him right now.

He was the one ghost from her life in Malibu that Wendy thought she would never again come face to face with. But now, here Griffin was, standing alongside one of his friends and teammates that she instantly, recognised, too. His name was Connor, and he was someone who had always rubbed Wendy the wrong way, even when she and Griffin had been living in their illusion of happiness.

But if all that wasn't bad enough, her ex-boyfriend was suddenly looking extremely unimpressed with how Wendy had reacted to his arrival. "Well, that's a hostile side I haven't seen in a while," he mused, brushing himself off where Wendy had pushed him. The bullying Malibu native seemed to be hesitating his next move while his ex-girlfriend was still staring at him in pure terror.

All of a sudden, Griffin glanced to his curly-haired companion with a subtle gesture towards Bebe. Instantly taking the hint, Connor held his arm straight out, completely blocking off Bebe from Wendy as Griffin made a beeline for her again.

"Wendy!" Bebe cried, scared out of her mind for her best friend as the intimidating figure crept back up on her and pressed both of her shoulders against the wall.

Wendy's complexion was the most horrified shade of white as Griffin grinned down at her in anticipation of his foul intentions. Keeping her pinned up against the cabin with one hand, he brought his other down to the zipper of her jacket, making one, daring tug at it.

"Come on, Wendy," he repeated with a quiet tone of sarcasm, "How's about one more time for old time's sake?"

Cringing inwardly as she sensed a guilty shame creep over every single inch of her skin, Wendy finally allowed a helpless whimper to slide from her lips. The sound of her zipper coming down even further was utterly torturous to her ears. Griffin's hands on her arms and her shoulders created a sickening sensation that consumed her entire core as she eventually snapped her eyes tightly shut. She simply couldn't bear to look at him. Instead, she tried with all her might to picture the gentle and caring face of the love of her life, but deep down, Wendy knew it was no use.

She couldn't believe this was happening to her all over again.

Right as she had completely braced herself for whatever may have been about to happen to her, in the very next second, Wendy felt all of Griffin's pressure being viciously ripped away and then heard a loud thump echoing from right beside her.

Confused and not totally certain of what was going on, the young girl daringly peeked out of the corner of one eye. And then, both of her brown orbs flew open as Wendy felt her heart skip a dozen more beats.

"Stan…"

The sight of Stan pinning Griffin up against the wall by the neck with his hands fiercely clutching his collar left Wendy unsure of how to react. While her eyes had been timidly closed, her boyfriend had come absolutely rocketing down the hill from the main camp ground – near enough sprinting for his life with Kyle closely in tow. The force at which he had torn Griffin off of Wendy had surprised even Stan as he threw him into the wall.

The Jewish boy had certainly been surprised, too, as he had immediately dashed to Bebe's side. Through all the confusion and hysteria, Kyle was doing the best job he could of comforting the blonde girl and keeping the second Malibu boy out of the scuffle between Stan and Griffin. A scuffle that only seemed to be firing up more and more on Stan's part.

Wendy may have never described her ex-boyfriend to Stan before, and she may have never shown him any pictures, either. But he didn't need any confirmation from anyone. He knew exactly who this piece of garbage was that had his claws sunk into Wendy. Stan knew it was Griffin.

"Do you feel like a man pushing a woman around and using her for her body like that?" he snarled, tightening his grip on Griffin's collar with each word.

Griffin chuckled at the heat in Stan's breath, "How's about a head's up next time, dude?" he asked sarcastically, "What's this, Wendy? New boyfriend already?"

"Old boyfriend and current boyfriend," Stan corrected through gritted teeth.

Griffin remained unmoved, and certainly unthreatened by Stan, "Oh? So this is the guy you were probably thinking about all those times you were going down on me?"

In a devastating bolt of fresh anger, Stan sensed Griffin's callous words spark a fire behind his eyes. He instantly brought his arm back and balled his hand up into a fist, only to have it caught by Kyle as the red-head finally stepped in and completely pulled his friend off of the tall, blonde aggressor.

"Dude," he simply warned him, dragging Stan back to his side and trying to ease him as best he could.

Kyle may have still had no idea what was going on, and he certainly didn't know who this loser was or what he had done to Wendy and Stan. But despite all this, what Kyle did know was that he was more than prepared to stick by Stan's side and back up his best friend any way necessary. Especially if either of the two jerks opposite him even thought about intimidating Bebe again.

Tearing himself out of his friend's grip, Stan quickly glanced over to Wendy. Her face was still as white as a sheet as she zipped her jacket back up and crossed her arms over her chest. The raven haired beauty sniffled to herself a few times, clearly trying to hold back tears. The sight made Stan shoot absolute daggers at Griffin.

Placing one foot forward, Stan pointed a threatening finger towards Wendy's ex and his sidekick. He wasn't done just yet, "Haven't you done enough over the last few months without following her all the way here and causing even more shit, you fucking asshole!"

"How the fuck was I supposed to know she was going to be here? Her, or your pathetic, little, redneck school?" Griffin snapped back with a laugh.

"Well, now you do," Stan growled, "So stay the fuck away from her."

The attempted warnings from the young quarterback only made the two older boys laugh and shake their heads as Connor nudged Griffin, "Well, hey, if his little girlfriend is off limits, we still have the hot, feisty blonde over here."

Kyle's entire body shuddered.

In an unexplainable fit of rage, he managed to keep his cool just long enough to gently grab Bebe's arm and tug her towards him, before he shot his fiery vision to Griffin and Connor. Kyle didn't even begin to know what he was saying as his instincts impulsively took over and he shot thunder from his lungs at the boys opposite him.

"Fuck off you pieces of shit – she is my girlfriend!"

The second that the final word left his mouth, Kyle stuttered over his own tongue and stared down at Bebe with wide eyes. Did he seriously just say what he thought he just said? The pure confusion in Bebe's expression that was glancing back at him certainly answered Kyle's question as he remained nervously silent.

Bebe hesitated for a moment while her heart regained its regular pace and she gently pulled her arm out of Kyle's grasp. Holding her gaze straight back at him, the blonde cheerleader was just as quiet as she repeated the sentence she had just heard a couple of times in her head.

And then, the faintest smile crossed Bebe's lips.

Kyle gulped, "Uh…"

The awkward silence between them must have flown by a hell of a lot quicker than how it felt, because before Kyle could offer any kind of explanation or say anything more, Stan's furious voice sprang back to life.

"I don't care how long we all have to stay at this camp ground together," he recommenced, staring Griffin dead in the eye, "I don't want you to even look at her, let alone put your filthy fucking hands on her again – on either of them," he spat, gesturing to Bebe, too, "Got it?"

The furious adrenalin coursing through his veins was unstoppable as Stan waited for Griffin to answer him. As the older boy flicked his vision between the two of them, Griffin was still chuckling in amusement. It was sickly fulfilling for him to see just how much torturous control he still had over Wendy's life, and it was certainly interesting to bear witness to Stan's commendable attempts at trying to stop him.

But as far as Griffin was concerned, he would always be the one to win in any argument or contest –whether it be a physical altercation or a game of wits. Pulling his mobile phone out of his jeans, Griffin revealed what he believed to be his pocket aces and smirked, "Whatever, kiddo. I don't need to actually look at her when I can just have my own private viewing."

The very last of Stan's cool and collected patience fell apart into a thousand pieces as he lunged at Griffin. The mere thought of the photograph he had saved on the tiny, mobile device lit an absolute fire under the quarterback. And in that moment, Stan wanted nothing more than to smash the phone to bits, and then quite possibly smash Griffin's face in, too.

Stan was only inches away from him when Wendy suddenly gasped at what her boyfriend was about to try and do. Diving in front of him, the teenage girl held one hand up and pushed Stan back before wrapping both her arms around his waist, "Stan, stop!"

Bringing himself to a rapid halt, Stan gawked down at Wendy in utter disbelief as he forced himself out of her grasp, "What do you mean 'Stan stop'?!"

Raising an intrigued eyebrow, Griffin released a loud, obnoxious laugh from his lungs as he shook his head at Wendy and Stan. Was this really the perfect relationship that Wendy had left Malibu to run back to?

"Well, it looks like you two have enough issues without me making anything worse," he spoke cynically. He finally nudged Connor and took a first step back towards the centre of the camp, but not before staring back at Wendy and narrowing his eyes, "Cya' round, Wendy."

The tone of fake sincerity that was drowning his voice made Wendy's whole body freeze over as she shuddered. The dark haired girl struggled to find a moment where she had ever felt more conflicted than how she did in that moment. While she was incredibly relieved to see Griffin finally walking away – not to mention thankful that nothing awful had happened to her – Wendy couldn't bring herself to shake the obvious emotions of complete desolation to have seen him again.

And aside from all that, Wendy still had one other boy that needed to be dealt with. One who didn't seem to be too thrilled with her or with life in general at that particular moment.

Turning back around to face Stan, Wendy didn't let herself falter at the anger in his features. Watching on from where he still stood close by, Kyle gulped and took one step away from Bebe's side, "Stan – "

"Are you trying to make me look like a fucking idiot?" the teenage boy suddenly shrieked, cutting off Kyle and glaring at Wendy.

Her retort was immediate, "I'm trying to stop you from getting your ass kicked, is what I'm doing."

Stan rolled his eyes, "It's my job to protect you, Wendy, not the other way round."

"Griffin is older and taller and stronger than you, Stan," Wendy argued, "He's not worth starting a fight over!"

Scoffing in complete disbelief, Stan threw his arms out to the side and sensed his voice creep up in volume, "He started it by having the guts to put his hands on you!"

"That doesn't mean you need to get into a punch up with him!"

Groaning out loud through frustrated teeth, Stan clasped his hands over the back of his head and walked around in a circle, kicking his feet through the dirt has he tried to console himself.

Why the hell did it seem like he could never do anything right? When he ignored Wendy and kept things from her – he got in trouble. When he was actually there for her and basically putting his neck on the line for her safety – he got in trouble. Was there no middle ground, was there no pleasing her?

These were the irritating thoughts that suffocated his mind as Kyle and Bebe continued to helplessly watch the confrontation unfold. The both of them were probably just as pissed off – if not more so – than Stan and Wendy actually were at the reality that this ridiculous fight was still ongoing. The two respective best friends of the young couple absolutely couldn't believe that this was the first time Stan and Wendy had properly spoken to each other all day, and still, all they were doing was arguing.

But Wendy, on the other hand, was suddenly feeling much less sympathetic. She had just fallen back into the recurring cycle of the most terrifying experience of her entire life, and to be completely honest, Stan hadn't exactly done much to calm her soul and restore her spirits.

"I don't need an overly-aggressive, meat-head, asshole jock of a boyfriend, Stan," she announced, letting the filter from her brain to her mouth slip all over again, "I've been there and done that, remember?"

The teenage boy's pacing came to a screeching halt as Stan whipped his head around and stared wide-eyed at Wendy. She was sort of confused by his rapid approach and how offended he suddenly seemed. All she had meant to say was that she didn't need Stan starting fights and putting himself in danger on her behalf. She didn't want him getting in trouble, and she especially didn't want him to ever get hurt.

But no matter the true implications behind her words, it couldn't necessarily be guaranteed that the intended message would be sent and received. And as Kyle and Bebe swapped a nervous expression, as well – Wendy was quickly about to find out that Stan had certainly taken her words in the complete opposite way.

He stayed frozen for a second or two longer, before the quarterback suddenly marched over to his girlfriend, towering over her with an almighty grimace on his face, "Are you seriously comparing me to that piece of shit right now?"

Wendy could only gaze up at him blankly for a moment, swallowing a tense lump in her throat as her eyes climbed to the great heights that Stan was standing above her. Soon enough, though, Wendy simply frowned and slowly shook her head. It clearly wasn't going to be worth arguing with him anymore.

Carefully, the teenage girl licked her lips, "I just wanted you to be the bigger person and walk away."

With a roll of his eyes, Stan released a cynical chuckle, "Oh, well, great advice, Wendy. Actually, that's so great that I think I'm gonna' use it right now."

And on that note, as Stan only held his glance against Wendy for a second more, he spun around on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets, angrily stomping his way back towards his cabin.

The raven haired cheerleader grinded her teeth together, raising her voice to ensure he would hear her, "Grow up, Stanley!"

After this one, final explosion, a harsh silence overcame the bottom of the camp ground. Kyle looked up to where Stan was still barely visible as he continued to storm off. The red-head cringed at everything he just heard fire back and forth between the young couple. He shook his head, still failing to piece each of the circumstances together.

At this thought, Kyle groaned. The only thing worse than watching Stan and Wendy deteriorate right before his eyes was knowing that he was now the one who would have to deal with all of Stan's backlash.

"Goddamn it..." he muttered. He was just about to dash back up the hill and after his best friend, when all of a sudden, Kyle stopped himself.

Timidly glancing over his shoulder, Kyle's eyes met Bebe's.

The blonde cheerleader smiled at him. Despite all the statements and insults that had resonated in that short period of time, the only thing that still echoed to Bebe was the way in which Kyle had defended her. And the specific words he had confidently blasted at Griffin and Connor.

Bebe waited to see if Kyle would say anything more to her, but, of course, they both soon accepted that maybe now just wasn't the best time.

The teenage boy's next sentence stuttered out with a nervous and apologetic tone, "Uh... s-so are you, um – "

"We're fine," Bebe cut him off, saving his awkward embarrassment with a gentle smile, "We're good, we're right behind you."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kyle simply nodded his head. He absolutely did not want Bebe spending any more time out in the darkness by herself – or even Wendy, for that matter. He shot the beautiful, blonde girl one more affectionate grin before Kyle reluctantly turned around and dashed after Stan.

Each of Stan's steps were frustratingly heavy as he prolonged his furious march back to his and Kyle's room. He abruptly rolled his eyes as he heard his best friend approach him, calling out his name.

"Stan!" Kyle yelled, "Dude!"

Quickly catching up to him, Kyle raked his hand out and grabbed Stan's shoulder, forcing his best friend around on the spot, "Now will you please tell me what the hell this is all about?"

Both boys were frozen for a short instant, staring at each other. Kyle was determined to finally find out just what had been causing so much furious drama in Stan and Wendy's relationship, but Stan was equally as certain that he would still refuse to utter a single word.

Kyle viciously huffed out with a heated shake of his head as Stan remained speechless and strolled away again. Keeping up with his pace, however, Kyle wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet.

He daringly licked his lips, taking a second to carefully consider his next words, "That guy... that Griffin dude... he's obviously Wendy's ex, or something, right?" the Jewish boy could already see that he was earning a reaction from his best friend, "...What did he do to her?"

An impulsive shudder ricocheted over every inch of Stan's skin. He folded his arms over his chest, his lips still stubbornly pursed together.

Kyle impatiently heaved his shoulders. He supposed he was finally beginning to understand why Wendy was constantly getting so angry at him.

"C'mon, Stan, Jesus Christ!"

Digging his toes into the dirt, Stan snapped. If this was what Kyle really wanted, he wasn't going have the luxury of a sugar-coated story.

"He sent a naked photo of her around the entire school!" the quarterback thundered. The words were painfully splintering in his throat as Stan forced down a sob.

The shock laid out on Kyle's face personified the emotion of the whole ordeal, but sadly, Stan still wasn't finished. He subtly glanced away from his best friend to flick away one, solitary tear.

"And that was shortly after he held her down on his bed and tried to force her to have sex with him."

The confession felt absolutely horrendous to utter out loud. Stan felt as if doing so was only breathing life and truth into the reality of it all. And quite frankly, his body and his mind just couldn't bear to think about it and accept it any longer.

Dwelling in the horrified silence that he had been thrown into, Kyle merely stared at Stan, finally allowing his best friend to scurry back to his cabin undisturbed. Kyle's jaw was left hanging open. He peeked over his shoulder back down the hill where he could see Wendy and Bebe following close behind him. That was the real reason Wendy had come back to South Park – that's what had happened to her?

Kyle cringed, feeling his heart ache in misery. Why hadn't Stan or Bebe ever told him? Maybe if they had, the Jewish boy would never have judged Wendy so harshly.

Kyle never would have been such a jerk to her.

The teenage boy wanted to punch himself. Although, on second thoughts, Kyle suddenly wasn't so sure if he wanted to punch himself, or punch Stan even more. His longest friend had certainly done a pretty deplorable job of mending his relationship with his girlfriend – and on top of all that, Stan had just walked away from Wendy.

Walked away from her when Griffin was still lurking out there somewhere, and would continue to do so for the entire length of the weekend in Phoenix.

Clearly, all the danger and the drama was still far, far from over.

"Shit..."

Another five days past, another new chapter uploaded! :) Just a side note, if I ever do start to slow down the littlest bit, please don't freak out too much! I do have a pretty solid writing system down at the moment in terms of time, so there should never be more than two weeks between new chapters. Which I think is pretty good, right? :)

ANYWAY, moving along here, I know many people were looking forward to Stan and Griffin's ultimate meeting to see Stan kick some arse, but I guess it just didn't turn out that way... You're all just gonna' have to wait and see what happens from here, I suppose! ;)

Like, will Stan and Wendy ever stop fighting? Who knows. Anyone have any predictions?

Please keep up with your generous reviews! I really appreciate each and every one of them :)

Till next time guys,

Reneyyyyyyyyyyy x