HELLO! Thank you SO much for the glowing reviews! Yes, this is a very emotional story because it is based off of a true story. The holidays are hard for me so continuing to work on this story and get feedback from you all is immensely therapeutic and healing. There's not a ton of action in this chapter but it's just setting up to where shit's about to get real…. Trust me.

As always, please read and REVIEW!

The Jew was still drinking.

I mean, he tried to hide it from me and everything, but I knew.

Whenever I was in the kitchen or common area, and he came in with groceries, he would wear an almost pained expression.

Of course he's pissed that I'm here, I thought. Now he has to bring in his liquor later.

Because of the weird way he was acting, one day I took the nail that I use to get into his room and checked for myself while he was away at class.

Although no longer displayed on the top of his bookshelf, he still had plenty of it- in his closet, under his bed, in the back of his dresser…

And of course his fridge was packed with cold beer.

One night I was studying late- I mean, later than normal. It was 1:00 a.m. on a Sunday night and the Poor-boy and the Kike decided to finally come back in. Lately, Kyle really has been trying to not make much noise, but I could still hear him and his heavy footsteps, his slurred words, and his stifled laughs.

When you've known someone for this long, it's really hard for them to hide anything from you.

But I was good. I never brought up the topic of alcohol, nor did I confront the redhead about his drinking. Now, it has been very tempting to let him know that I will never, EVER go out of my way to help him get out of jail again, but a part of me doesn't feel like bringing that shit up.

After that night on the patio where he cried on my shoulder over missing his little brother, I guess I didn't have the heart to be such a dick to him anymore.

So instead, I chose to focus more on my classes as opposed to Kyle.

Of course, since we are roommates, we still saw each other, at least once a day. And ya know what? I kept it cordial. I wasn't blowing him off like I was awhile ago.

But I kept our conversations casual, really only talking about boring roommate shit, or I just made my usual racist jokes, or I made gay jokes about Butters.

A part of me doesn't want to be as close to the Jew as I know I already am.

I mean, he shouldn't be fucking drinking by all means, but fuck! He did lose Ike out of nowhere. I had no answer for me when he asked me why it happened, and I would not have an answer if he were to ask me how to deal with his pain. But there's gotta be something out there better than fucking booze….

Maybe the study abroad to Quebec is just what he needs.

MONDAY

"As you know Eric, you're getting down to the bottom of your math classics," Dr. Grithen explained to me. He turned his monitor to me, even though it still looked like there was a glare from this angle, sitting across his desk.

"Hold on, I'm printing it out." He said as I heard his printer doing just that.

"Soooooo are you saying I'm going to graduate soon?" I asked, getting excited.

He nodded slightly. "If you keep going the rate you're going, yes."

"How so?"

"Maybe another year."

"Meh."

Wasn't really soon enough, for me.

"But here's what I was going to say about your math classes Eric,"

I sat there and looked at the older man, raising an eyebrow.

"Next semester we are adding more statistic classes," He smiled. "So you can keep taking the same type of classes, or you can take statistic classes."

I couldn't hide the dumb-as-fuck-but-so-fucking-happy-so-you-can-eat-shit-I-don't-care-what-you-think grin on my face.

"So there's going to be a major offered in stats?" I asked.

"Not quite," Dr. Grithen answered. "At least, not within the timeframe that you're looking at to graduate. But, what you maybe interested in is in getting a B.S. in math applied statistics,"

"Yeeeaah!" I said. "Kick-ass!"

My advisor with messy, pepper-gray hair chuckled. "I knew you would like that," He said with pride.

He grabbed the fresh, warm sheet of paper from his printer and placed it in front of me, and used his pen as a pointer as he talked.

"So, instead of the usual math classes we were planning for you to take in the fall, I'm suggesting that you take "Stochastic Processes" as well as a class we just added called "Game Theory", which focuses on games and the probability of winning. This class is especially helpful for gambling,"

"I'm all in, Dr. Grithen!"

"I'm fairly sure you're getting all A's this semester, and I think you're going to have a fun semester this fall, Eric."

THAT AFTERNOON

I opened up the door to Dorm Suite 505 as I heard nothing but laughter and chatter from the Redhead and the Fag, and it was coming from the Redhead's room.

After I opened my door and dropped my backpack off in my room, I had to go in the Jew's room. I had to know why they were having such a gheyy time.

As I walked in I saw that Butters was sitting down at Kyle's desk while Kyle was standing up by his bed, holding a new, silk button down shirt in hand to his chest, as if trying to get the fag's opinion. I also noted how he had a ton of new clothes sprawled out on his bed, all still with the price tags on them.

When they saw me, they got quiet and their expressions both dropped.

"Ya know if you two are secretly butt-buddies I'm totally kewl with that," I said.

"No Fatass," The Jew sighed.

"Hi Eric! Kyle and I just got back from the mall!" The blonde announced excitedly.

"Very good, Butters!" I smiled. "Now was this your first date with Kahl, or has this been going on for a while?"

"Knock it off, Cartmen!" The Jew said, wadding up the nice shirt he was holding and throwing it on the bed. "We just went shopping for me to get new clothes before I left the country."

I stared at my convoluted roommate. "Aaaaand you did this because….?"

Kyle sighed, more exaggeratingly this time. "Because I want to look good during the study abroad, Cartman! I plan to take a lot of pictures."

"Ooooooh, I see what it is!" I said, as if I just had a huge 'eureka' moment.

"You're planning to lose your virginity to a sexy French Canadian during this study abroad, arentcha, Jew?!"

I playfully elbowed the Jew in his side as I winked multiple times. The Kike pushed me back and rolled his eyes.

Butters continued to sit there staring at us. He raised an eyebrow. "Virginity…?"

I continue to play-fight with the Kike. "Nothing Butters. You'll understand someday…. Maybe."

I was having a lot of fun trying to stab the Jew in his sides and him moving around to guard his sides and his constant bitching. I was mocking his bitching in a high-pitch, feminine voice. I was so wrapped up in this that Butters' voice caught me off-guard.

"Oh, hamburgers!" He said as he stood up from the chair.

"I'm going to be late for my storytelling class!"

"You better hurry, Butters! You wouldn't want to miss the challenging material in that class," I joked. The Jew stifled a chuckle.

"I-I gotta go, fellas!" The blonde said as he hurried past us and ran into is his room to grab his backpack. He was moving so fast that it felt like half a nano-second later when he had his backpack on and was locking his door.

"Bye Butters," The redhead said.

And then just like that, we both heard the front door open and close.

"Seriously Fatass, I'm done with your homoerotic poking fetish," He said in a tone that sounded truly tired.

"Okay, okay…" I pouted. I walked over to the desk chair, where Butters was sitting seconds ago.

The redhead continued to stand, as his gaze drifted to his bed with all the shit-ton of new shirts and pants laid out on his bed.

"Did Butters pick this all out?" I asked.

"No," the Jew shook his head. "It was give and take. He wasn't much help, though. He pretty much liked everything that I liked."

I rolled my eyes. "Go figure,"

"But it was fun," Kyle added. "Actually, it was the most fun I've had in…. A while."

The Jew stood still, feeling awkward.

"You'll have fun in Quebec, Kahl." I said reassuringly. "When are you leaving again?"

"Next week," He said as he moved some clothed over so he could sit down on his bed, facing me.

"Holy fuck," I exclaimed.

"Yeah," Kyle's tone agreed. "It's pretty fucking soon."

"You ready?"

"Wardrobe-wise I am," He smiled.

"But I don't know. I mean, I guess I'm ready. The insulin Dr. Brown has got me on seems to be working fine. Also, I went ahead and did my community service, the MADD Panel, my alcoholic evaluation as well my DUI school like my lawyer suggested. She didn't have any problems pushing the court date back," He played with his hands. "So I guess I'm ready."

The last part of his sentence was full of doubt. There was a long and thick silence that lingered in the room.

"Sure, Kahl. You're probably ready," Normally I'm great at bullshitting, but I could hear the glaring doubt in my voice too.

The Kike laughed. "You're such an asshole," He said.

"I'm trying to be supportive, KAHL!"

"Yeah well, you suck at it." He chuckled.

"Well, fuck you, KAHL!" I yelled.

Kyle snorted. "Ya know, sometimes I resent you, Cartman."

I laughed. "Believe me Jew, the feeling is mutual!"

"No I mean seriously," He said. "Sometimes I resent the fact that you know me so well. And… You've seen me down. Really down. Like, at my lowest lows." He glanced at me, his eyes vulnerable and full of hurt.

"I really wish you had never seen me at my worse," He said. "I wish no one knew those things about me. Especially not you,"

"What the fuck, Kike?!" I asked, kinda put-off. "What, you think I secretly snuck some pictures when you were cutting yourself, or when you found out about Ike? You think I'm going to blackmail your freckled ass? Fuck that shit, Kahl! Maybe when we were little, yeah, but I'm way to busy to do that kind of shit now," I explained.

He shook his head.

"No, it's not that," He said.

"Then just what IS it, Kahl?!"

"I don't know…." He played with the edges of his sleeves around his hands.

"I guess I just feel like, maybe if you didn't know about all that shit- so like maybe if no one knew- then maybe I could more easily pretend that all that shit doesn't exist,"

"But all that shit does exist, Kahl." I said.

My roommate didn't respond.

"Can you try to promise me something, Jew?"

"What Cartman?"

"When you're in Quebec, can you at least try not to drink much? I mean, just try."

He was quiet for a minute. "… Sure Cartman. I can try," again, his voice was filled with doubt.

"But I still want to have fun," He added.

"And I hope you have fun, Kahl." I said.

"I really do."