Stan found himself sitting across from his dad, eating burgers that were just a little bit burnt. It was quiet, but not at all pleasant.
After a few awkward bites of his lunch, Randy finally broke the silence. "Stanley… You have been hiding some things from me and your mother… I can understand that. We all have our secrets…" Some more then others.
Stan looked up at his dad from behind a soda and thought to himself, but…?
"But," There it was. "You should know better then to get yourself into trouble like that. I mean… There's a time and a place Stan." Randy gave his son a quizzical look. "Do you know what I mean?"
Stan nodded and dipped a fry in ketchup. He wondered how long this little talk could go on without himself actually saying anything.
"Son…" Mr. Marsh started in that tone that was filled with exhaustion. "You and Kyle… you've been so close, since before anything else. I wouldn't muck up a friendship like that just because of…" He strained for the right word. God, this was difficult. "An incident like this one."
That sounded promising to Stan. Now he started paying attention.
"I don't want to ruin your friendship," Randy said again. "So… I'm not going to be the bad guy and say that you can never see Kyle again. But, son, if you're going to do stuff like that with your friends," There it was again. Geez, you'd think Stan was humping everyone in school. "Then at least don't make a big scene out of it. Keep it 'on the down low' I suppose."
Dad, you are old. But at least you aren't a jerk. "Ok, Dad." Stan finally said, trying not to sound too cheerful. Well, there was one obstacle out of the way. Now only one hundred more to go.
"Dad… is mom ok? She seemed really disappointed." Stan frowned at that. He didn't want his mom to be upset about this.
"You're mother's going to be fine. Just… give her a little time. She's a bit shocked, is all." Randy tried his best to give a reassuring smile, but it just came out as nervous.
"Eat your burger Stan."
---
Kyle spent the rest of the day in his room. His parents could be heard as faint mumbles downstairs, not that he was really listening. He spent the time that he was just laying on his bed, deep in thought.
Of course the best word to describe how he felt was confused. And a little frustrated. He really didn't know what to do now. He supposed in a logical sense, he just needed to talk to his parents.
Which was his biggest phobia.
Kyle sighed and turned over, burying himself in blankets. This was… just horrible. He didn't really know what to think. Or who to blame.
Tap.
He didn't want it to be Stan's fault. He'd only done it to get Kyle out of an even bigger mess.
Tap.
Stan… Kyle wondered how Stan was doing right now.
Tap.
"For the love of-" Kyle got up and opened his window. "WHAT?"
Eric Cartman glared at Kyle from down below, and threw another pebble, which bounced off of his glasses. "Come on."
Kyle dodged the next pebble and it landed somewhere on his bed. "Cartman? What the hell?"
Eric threw another pebble, which hit Kyle in the cheek, hard. "I could ask you the same thing. But later. Come on."
Kyle glared at Eric, rubbing the spot on his cheek. "'Come on' what? I'm not going with you anywhere."
"So you'd rather stay here and wallow in your emo?" Eric deadpanned.
Kyle paused and thought about it. He could hear his parents a little bit clearer now, and knew they were coming up.
"Ok. Yeah, sure. Let's go."
Cartman grinned. Won again. "Climb down and we'll head to my place."