Disclaimer: South Park doesn't have to suffer being owned by me.
Author's Note: Okay, so I had this chapter written earlier, and was just waiting to put it up, but I edited the whole thing!! Oh, and everyone has to thank Raigo for his suggestions, the story would have sucked pretty badly if I hadn't been reminded of character traits :)
Midnight Dream: Chapter Three
"Cartman, pay attention!" The sharp command was given by Kyle Broflovski, who was attempting to think of ideas for presenting their project. "Aw, don't be so hard on him." Kyle's brother Ike was sitting in the back of the room, trying to help them. "I would be bored, too, if this was my project…actually, I am bored. When's lunch?" Kyle glared at his brother, but gave up and laughed. He was hungry too, they had been thinking nonstop for hours and they still had no ideas. "I guess now. Cartman, for the last time, wake up!" Cartman finally looked up. He couldn't believe he had practically fallen asleep in Kyle's room. He never usually slept in front of people, it gave them too much of an opportunity to hurt him. He just felt kind of…safe, in the Broflovski household. Maybe it was because they were such a close family, something he was unaccustomed to but always had secretly wished for. Or maybe it was because Ike and Kyle were possibly the only two people in town who would never take advantage of him, Ike because he was one of Cartman's real friends, and Kyle just because he was really nice.
Actually, he wasn't so sure that he would consider Ike as his friend, although Ike had declared to him just a few days ago that he was indeed his friend. Cartman couldn't figure out exactly why anyone would want to be his friend. He might have been in denial about his weight for years, but he always admitted to himself that he was an asshole. He saw this trait in a positive light, although he was aware that most people hated him for it. It wasn't that he wasn't a good person – somewhere deep, deep, inside him – but people knew to stay away from Eric Cartman, unless you wanted to risk pissing him off and end up eating your parents. Ike didn't seem to be too phased by it, though…unless he didn't know. Yes, that must be it, he wasn't aware of the dangers of being his friend. Well, Cartman certainly wasn't going to say anything. After all, it wasn't his fault if the kid ignored the warnings.
Cartman was jarred out of his thoughts by a loud "ouch!" It looked like Kyle had fallen down the stairs…people don't normally lay down on staircases, do they? Cartman smirked as he pushed past him. Ike, however, leaned over Kyle. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, Ike, I'm fine, promise. Just scared myself, that's all." Ike nodded and moved to help him up, and then they both headed for the kitchen. Cartman slid into his chair first, and Kyle chose to sit across from him. Ike sat between Kyle and Cartman, grinning at both of them. "Ike, why are you always so happy?" Kyle grumbled. "Because I can be!" Ike shot at him cheerfully. "Life is short, Kyle, are you going to spend your whole life complaining about the people who actually want to enjoy it?" Kyle glared at his little brother. Sometimes he was so smart it made him sick. "If life is so short, we would be able to spend it however we want. Which means you can be happy, and Kyle can be sulky." At those words, both boys looked at Cartman in surprise. Since when was he the voice of reason? "Thanks, Cartman…we'll remember that," Ike started saying slowly, breaking out into a grin as he finished the sentence. Cartman grinned back, and Kyle felt a surge of jealousy. Ike was his brother, not Cartman's! And Cartman is not capable of caring about people! So what was his deal with Ike? What did he want from him?
When Cartman left the house later, Kyle decided to have a talk with his brother. "Ike, why are you friends with Cartman now?" "Well…I don't know, but we're friends anyway." "I don't like you being so nice to him." "So you want me to be mean to him?" Ike looked confused and a little hurt. "I should have phrased that differently," Kyle told him. "What I meant to say was, I don't like him being so nice to you." Ike sighed. Either Kyle was jealous or concerned, or possibly both."Listen, Ike," Kyle tried again. "Sometimes I don't even think Cartman's human. He's mean and downright evil! He's manipulative, and he's only nice to people when he can get something out of it. You're going to get hurt, Ike." Oh, so that was it. He was concerned about Ike's well-being…and probably slightly jealous of the friendship. "I can take care of myself, I'm not a little kid," Ike told him. He knew all the low tricks Cartman had pulled on people in the past, and while it bothered him because of the way he had been raised, it didn't bother him too much because he knew he could handle it. Besides, he had been looking for a friend for a long time. Someone to understand him, to understand all his problems.
Ike didn't have the great life everyone assumed he did. His parents cared about him a lot, but he thought they cared just a little too much. He never really had a moment to himself, he was always near someone in the family. So his home life became one big lie. He couldn't tell them what was going on at school, he just had to find something to be happy about – usually his grades – and focus on that, pretending it was all he cared about. Maybe there wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't started school early. But none of the kids really liked it that the youngest boy in their class was smarter than them. He tried not to show it, but he couldn't help it. He had a reputation for being a genius, and it seemed to follow him wherever he went. It started out with everyone pretending to be his friend…he figured out later it was because they would get a good reputation with the teachers, and they would also copy his homework whenever he turned his back. After that, Ike had stopped believing people would ever want to be his friend. The few true friends he could have had were scared away by his anti-social behavior. And now Ike had finally gotten his wish: that everyone would just ignore him. He was a nobody in school, and it was so shameful. He thought it was what he wanted, but that was because he had no idea how much worse it would really be. He guessed that some things, you just have to learn the hard way.
"Ike, are you paying attention?" Kyle almost screamed at his brother. Ike winced. He must have gotten his temper from their mom, because she was the only other person who could look that angry. "I was telling you to not be friends with him. Okay?" "No, it's not okay!" Ike wasn't smiling now. He was glaring at his older brother. "I can make my own decisions!" "Not if you make bad ones!" Kyle retorted. "I'm supposed to look out for you, so I'm telling you not to be friends with him!" Ike had had enough of this argument. "Well, I'm sorry, then. I know you're trying to look out for me, and I suppose I do appreciate it. But Eric is my best friend, so you'll just have to live with it!" /he stormed up the stairs and into his room. "Ike! You get back down here right now!" But even though Ike heard him, he had no intention of going back downstairs. He was going to go make a phone call.
Cartman sat on the bench near Stark's Pond and shivered. He was waiting for Ike, who had told him to meet him there in half an hour. He was lucky Cartman really didn't have anything better to do. He checked his watch and then sighed. He had only been waiting there for five minutes. It felt like a lot longer, though. Presently, he saw Ike come from the direction of his house and wave at him. He half-waved back, even though his hand felt frozen. "Ike, where have you been?" Cartman demanded. He wasn't really too angry, just a little irritable…but he did have a reputation to keep up. "Sorry, I've never sneaked out before, it's a lot harder than it looks." "Well, geez, Ike, it's not that hard." Cartman tried to sound annoyed, but he thought he probably failed because he was actually impressed. He was impressed because Ike was eleven and had never snuck out of his house before…but he was also impressed because he had the guts to sneak out at all. "Hey, I said sorry!" Ike sat down next to Cartman. "So, I wanted to tell you something," he said. "I would hope so," Cartman said, glaring. "Otherwise I wouldn't have left the warmth of my house." Ike smiled at him, he knew it was pretty cold outside, he just didn't mind it as much. "I told Kyle you were my best friend," Ike said unexpectedly. Cartman looked at him. "Am I?" he asked softly. "Well…sure. I don't really have too many other friends." Cartman nodded, he could understand that perfectly. And he could understand why Ike didn't have too many friends. Intelligence is and probably always will be something that's laughed at in school, at least until you get to college. Also, his Canadian background was a perfect excuse to make fun of him – Cartman probably would, if he wasn't afraid of hurting Ike's feelings. He wasn't sure why he cared in the first place, but the fact remained that he did, and he couldn't ignore it. "I know how you feel. School sucks." Ike looked confused. "No, not school, just the people in my class." "Exactly," Cartman pointed out. "School." Ike sighed. He knew that he was also weird for his love of school. Other kids were always finding excuses not to attend, but Ike would probably be there even if he really was sick. "So…will you be my best friend?" he asked Cartman nervously. Cartman glanced at him suspiciously. "Ah, what the hell," he decided. "Thanks, Eric!" Ike said, throwing his arms around his new best friend. Cartman shoved him off. "Get off me, fag! I don't do hugs. And most of my friends call me 'Cartman'" he pointed out. "Okay," Ike said, agreeable as always, even though he looked a bit hurt. "I feel a lot better now that I'm not lying to Kyle!" he walked back towards his house. Cartman rolled his eyes. Ugh, honesty, he thought. Then he realized that he had just agreed to be a Jew's best friend. "Aw, goddamnit!"
Author's Note: So, their relationship should be starting at the end of the next chapter, unless I end up writing too much, but then I'll put it in the chapter after that instead. Let me know if you think I've paced it too fast. I don't think so because the story is supposed to mainly focus on their relationship and how people accept it and all that. Can't really do that if there's no relationship to speak of. But I'm always open to suggestions!!