Kenny can't help but to smile at those five words. 'Butters is back in town' honestly, that's really good news. Kenny and Butters have had this thing for as long as he can remember. In High School everyone would bully the fuck out of Butters, and Kenny would always be there to back him up, No matter who the bully was. Kenny has always, always had a soft spot for Butters. Well sure, the guy pissed him off sometimes with his constant happiness and sun shine smiles all the fucking time, but really he was just such a goddamn nice kid, and there's no way Kenny could ever hate him.

A few years back, before they had even graduated high school, Butters just up and left out of nowhere. His parents were so fucking pissed it was unbelievable, Butters had taken most of his clothes and ran away in the middle of the night, and honestly Kenny can't blame him for a second. His parents used to treat him like shit, they'd call him useless and worthless when he'd get an A minus on an exam. They'd ground him for weeks on end just because he didn't wash a cup he was using earlier in the day. If you ask Kenny that's fucking stupid. As much as he missed Butters and his stupid grin he was glad he finally got away from him parents.

"Wait, shit, where's he staying? Not with his parents oh God" Kenny finds himself asking out loud, running his hands through his rough, shaggy hair. If Butters has gone back to his parents Kenny will fucking drag him out and he can… fuck, he can live in Kenny's truck with him.

"Kenny, you live in a fucking truck. I think that he's all right staying with his parents until he gets a job." Stan retorts, and starts chuckling for no apparent reason. That boy is high as a motherfucker. Until he gets a job Kenny says to himself, thinking over and over again. If Stan says that, that means that Butters isn't planning to leave. Maybe Kenny will have his best friend again. Maybe Kenny will be able to feel like he's truly wanted again, just like Butters always made him feel.

Kenny is shaking again, and he's not sure whether it's because he only had one drag of the joint and his body is already aching for more, or whether he's so fucking excited to see butters again, but all he knows is that his hands are shaking to fuck and he has a big, dopey grin on his face.

He lights up the joint, smoking it in what he's sure is record time (he might check that later) and darts up Stan's stairs, calling out behind him "I'm off to go see him, we can chill later dude!" to which Stan simply hums in response, he's way too smacked out to do much else.

The world feels much lighter all around him, and he will not deny that there's a certain bounce in his step that he hasn't felt in a long time. He doesn't know why seeing Butters has made him this happy, but he isn't gonna question it. He almost walks straight past the Stotch's house and instantly turns on his heel, coming to a complete stop. He realizes he looks like shit, fuck he probably smells like he just crawled up someone's ass and died.

He looks in a silver car's rear-view mirror, His dirty blonde hair is all knotted and messy, and his face is basically just skin and bones. He has the world's largest bags under his eyes which are very purple around the outside and almost look like he's been punched in both eyes. Kenny knows he's attractive – if you look past the dirt and the fact he hasn't showered in a few weeks (Kinda hard to shower when you live in a truck) then he has a nice squared jaw and blue eyes and he'd totally have the hots for himself, but he's pretty sure that's incest or some shit.

After taking a deep, happy breath (can breathing be happy? Kenny's pretty sure it can be) he slowly walks up to the Stotch's front door and does a joyful, rhythmic knock. He wasn't expecting Butters to answer, It's always Linda who answers the door, and yet Kenny is still disappointed it isn't him. "Linda he-" Kenny gets cut off by Linda's stern voice. "What do you want Kenneth?" Okay, guess he better just say it then, apparently Linda has no time for small talk.

"Um, can you tell Butters I'm here? I wanna see him, please." Kenny asks politely, putting on his best smile for Linda. If it wasn't for the fact that he gets a new set of teeth every time he dies, he's certain they would be yellow and cracked and fucking disgusting, but luckily they're pearly white and look good when he smiles.

His smile however, is cut from his face when Linda simply says "Go away." and tries to close the door in Kenny's face. Unluckily for Linda Kenny is determined as all hell to see Butters today, and he sticks his foot out just in time to stop the door. It hurts like hell to have a door slammed shut on your foot, especially when your only shoes are some beat up converse he got out of the church donation bin.

"Butters! Butters, Hey, It's Kenny, come downstairs please I want to see you!" he finds himself shouting pretty damn loudly, craning his neck to see if Butters is coming down the stairs. He starts to panic when Butters doesn't come down instantly, all smiles and happiness like he used to. "BUTTERS! ARE YOU IN THERE?" Kenny all but screams, and he's pretty sure he sounds like a crazy man but he wants to see his best friend, he wants to know where he's been, he wants to ask him how awesome it was to finally get out of this shithole.

"Kenneth. Get off my property or I will call the police to remove you." Kenny doesn't even acknowledge Linda's words as he sees a sleepy Butters making his way down the stairs, yawning with his hand over his mouth. His eyes widens when he sees Kenny, and a huge smile is planted onto his face. "o-oh boy! Hey there Ken! Y-you here to see me?" Butters asks, stammering over his words and looking straight at Kenny.

Kenny can't seem to do anything but nod- Butters looks so different but in a good way. All of his baby fat is gone from his face and his light blonde hair has grown quite a bit, and it now falls down to below his jaw. His jaw is a lot sharper than it used to be and fuck, he's tall. He's taller than Kenny, and Kenny is pretty damn tall. But his eyes…somethings not right in his eyes, They are still the amazing shade of blue that they always have been but at the same time they seem dimmer.

"Ken? Did 'ya hear me?" He hears Butters say timidly, giving Kenny a weird look with his brows furrowed. "What? Shit sorry." He replies – guess he was too busy looking at his face to hear whatever he was saying. "I-I said 'Do 'ya wanna come up to my room?' you dingus" Butters tells him, grinning. By now Linda has already pissed off and is probably shouting at Stephen about how 'dirty' Kenny is. Or many he's just a bit paranoid.

Kenny smiles as he follows Butters up to his room, a route he hasn't taken in a very long time.

Okay so, I decided to post the second chapter early because i feel like more people will look at it if it has another chapter. I guess.

If you want to see more, please leave a review so that I am filled with determination!

-Erik xo

(Chapter title is Life on Mars by the deceased and amazing David Bowie. RIP)