The night progressed, as did the noisy storm outside. Kyle and Stan were sitting on Kyle's couch that sat a few feet away from the T.V., against the wall. All the lights were off, but the lights illuminating from the television made the steam rising from the hot chocolate visible. Kyle's eyes were still heavy and as much as he wished he could fight the urge, he closed them as this old black and white vampire film did not scare him. Stan jumped when the black-haired Dracula-look-alike popped out from behind the wall. Stan then stated bluntly,

"She's a dumb bitch…I mean…her brother told her that vampires lived there. I mean…do you need a lot more foreshadowing than that? I hope she does die. That'd teach her a goddamn lesson."

When he did not receive a reply from Kyle, he turned over to see his young friend sleeping. He smiled; his expression was peaceful and innocent. Stan chuckled, though…because Kyle had always been pure. He never did anything gruesome like the other boys. Never said anything perverted, never thought of anything unmentionable while parents were present. Never did anything of consequence.

So he could never love me.

Stan shook his head at the thought. Why would he think of something like that? It's not as if he loved Kyle. I mean, of course he loved Kyle, but he didn't love Kyle. He could never love Kyle like that…

That's okay, though, cause he could never love you back.

His brain spoke the truth, though. If Kyle did nothing of consequence, he would never make a radical decision like coming out and saying he was gay, much less say that he's gay for Stan. N-not that Stan wanted him to say anything of the nature. Kyle muttered something, breathed deeply and asked, "W-what did I miss?"

Stan replied, "Nothing. Dumb-Bitch is dead. Her Whore-Friend is going into the house to find her now."

Stan almost felt sorry for the actresses which had earned these offensive nicknames between him and Kyle. Kyle chuckled and told with a broad smile, "Dumb-Bitch really was a dumb bitch. She should've listened to her brother."

Stan laughed, "I thought the same thing."

"Great minds think alike." Kyle replied

Stan smirked, "You're the great mind here, Kye…I'm not as smart as you."

Kyle blushed before stammering, "N-no, that's not true, Stan. And even if it were, I'm a book-worm, and you're an amazing athlete. You'll always be stronger than me, and much more socially accepted."

Stan smiled and asked weakly, "You really think I'm a good athlete, Kye?"

Kyle cocked an eyebrow at him and Stan wanted to cover his mouth or possibly put a gun in it. It was the girliest thing he could have said. He never questioned his athleticism…

"Uhm…Stan…are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…I'm fine…I'm…"

"…Stan…you've been acting weird around me all week…is there something you want to talk about?" Kyle kindly offered

"N-No…I mean…well…no…there's nothing. It's nothing."

Kyle clearly did not believe him, and Stan knew Kyle knew him well enough to recognize when Stan was lying. The lightening and thunder cracked loudly and the television screen turned black; the lights from the kitchen turned off as well and Kyle shrieked, drawing closer to Stan instinctively. Stan blushed when he felt Kyle grow close to him under the blanket. Stan had his back to the arm of the couch, his legs open; Kyle had fallen into his lap, his curls leaking onto Stan's chest. As the lightening cracked again, Stan reached forward in the pitch darkness of the room and gripped Kyle's head to his chest.

He heard Kyle muttered, "Uhm…Stan?"

"Shut up."

Kyle blushed bashfully against Stan. It almost scared Kyle how forceful Stan sounded…was he angry?

"Stan…did I do something wrong?"

Stan flustered, wishing he could let the butterflies escape his stomach. He looked away and decided to be strong and try to tell Kyle something. He was going to try and be like Kyle. To tell him something silently. To send a message completely through actions. Stan, though, didn't know how to show someone, "I have a dirty day-dream about you in Math and I've been waking up with wood every morning cause you're in my regular dreams too; oh yeah, and my subconscious keeps telling me I'm in love with you"

So he decided to try and show Kyle affection.

"No." Stan murmured as he twisted his fingers more deeply into Kyle's curls and pulled him closer to his chest, leaned his head down onto Kyle's and repeated, "No…you haven't done anything wrong."

"Then…why are you-"

"Don't."

Kyle was immediately silenced. Stan began…

"I…" Stan dug his hands more deeply into the labyrinth of Kyle's silk, "I just…don't know what I'm going through lately…so…I needed this…I just…I just wanted to know what you felt like."

By the end of Stan's statement, his heart was pumping loud and fast, nearly painfully, and he knew Kyle could hear and probably feel it. Stan knew that Kyle was smart, smart in fact, to decipher that Stan was experimenting with sexuality. Why else would he want to know how he felt? Unless Stan was experimenting with cannibalism. Kyle found that highly unlikely, though. Stan's hands were twitching restlessly when he felt Kyle rise and rest his cheek in the crook of Stan's neck. Kyle's warm, soft skin calm Stan's nerves as Kyle whimpered,

"Then don't hesitate, Stan. I know you, and you never have to explain yourself to me. You know I'll always care about you, and when you're confused, I am too. If you wanted me to hug you, dude, no matter how gay it is, I'll hug you."

Stan felt Kyle's hands move from the tight space between Kyle's chest and his own to his back, around to his shoulders and grip. Stan's chest tingled with reassurance and content as Kyle announced softly, "We've got some candles for the menorah under the television cabinet, we can light the menorah for something."

Stan chuckled, tightening his hold around Kyle's frame before replying, "You're such a Jew."

Kyle smiled against Stan's collarbone before telling him, "Shut up, loser."

Kyle rose off of Stan, to Stan's disappointment and wandered in the dark for a while before finding his way to the television. He knelt down and let his hand clumsily search for the small box in which he could find his candles; it took him a good six minutes, but he eventually found them beside the menorah and lighter in his cabinet. He settled the menorah on the table that sat in front of the sofa and began shoving the candles in their holders. Stan joined him on the floor, the blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he sat on his knees, watching Kyle's skilled speed in lighting the candles. Kyle jokingly recited the Hebrew prayer for Hanukah once all of the candles were lit.

Stan smirked and told Kyle, "Don't do that, dude…it freaks me out."

Kyle smiled, "…what freaks you out?"

Stan chuckled as he replied, "You're good at being a Jew and stuff."

Kyle laughed hysterically, telling Stan, "I've never heard you say anything as retarded as that, dude."

Stan shrugged, "I do what I do."

Kyle smiled before his shoulders spastically shot up. Stan asked curiously, "…what was that?"

Kyle responded bashfully, "Eh…nothing, just got the chills."

Stan rose his arm across the menorah to Kyle's shoulder and threw the blanket over him. The blanket, however, was not as long as Stan had thought and brought him closer to his Jewish friend. Stan looked up to Kyle now; the candles' flames illuminated his face with a glowing gold, causing his complexion to call attention to his flustered freckles. Stan was too fascinated with the golden center of Kyle's jade eyes to notice how he was growing closer to Kyle. Kyle's eyes followed Stan's; Kyle realized he was the only one here who noticed Stan's advancements and Kyle was not about to make Stan stop.

After all, he had just told Stan that he should do…whatever he wanted to.

Kyle's mind instantaneously produced perverse images of what Stan would do if he could "do whatever he wanted to with Kyle". The menorah's candles glowing against them, creating dramatic shadows against them as Stan's lips slowly approached Kyle's. Kyle shut his eyes tightly, more nervous than he had ever been. The very tips of their lips were touching, their noses beginning to fit against each other when the television shot back on, scaring them both out of their wits. The phone rang and Kyle immediately picked it up from the table, clicked a button and asked exasperated, "YES?...I mean…yes?"

…

"Yeah, we're fine…"

…

"…three days?!"

…

"…do we have enough food for Stan to stay here three days?"

…

"Kay, bye Mom."

Kyle looked to Stan apologetically and Stan swallowed his heart.

"You…might be here for a while, Stan."

"Yeah…I heard."