Notes: Thank you for the reviews so far

"I'm telling you guys, Kyle is in total denial" Stan said to his friends. Token, Craig, Tweek and Kenny. They were all waiting in Stan's living room for Kyle to show so they could play in teams on the new call of duty game, since Stan was the only one that had it thus far.

"It's been like, four weeks" Craig replied in his usual bland tone

"He could be in denial forever!" Tweek said, twitching and pulling on his hair for dramatic effect.

Craig placed a hand on his shoulder "Calm down hun"

"But what if he never accepts it? Like- ever!"

Craig looked at Stan and then back at Tweek "He'll totally go into depression"

"Dude!" Stan's eyes widened for a moment before sinking into a frown "Kyle won't fall into depression"

"That's what Clyde's dad did. He never accepted the loss of his wife. Now he's depressed"

"Clyde's dad isn't depressed. He's probably trying to pick up a woman at the wine bar as we speak. Kenny saw him with a woman just last week"

"It's true" Kenny confirmed

"Oh" Craig said. He honestly didn't care really, he just wanted to play COD

"Besides. Cartman and Kyle weren't exactly friends. He's not going to fall depressed over this. He's just hung up on this whole faking shit"

Token then spoke "My Mum said that there are five stages of grieving"

"K. Let's hear them" Stan said, unsure if he even wanted to

"Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally. Acceptance"

Tweek threw his arms out "Geez, that's a lot of stages man"

Kenny looked at Stan and said "Kyle must be in stage one or two"

Stan looked down at his living room floor "It does make sense. But, if it were true; does that mean we've already accepted it?"

The group remained quiet for a moment, had they already accepted Eric Cartman's death? It had seemed like a long time ago now. They didn't even realise they had accepted it until just now. "I just wanted to play COD. Now I'm bummed out" Craig said, trying to accept Tweek's arm on his shoulders in what he assumed was comfort.

"No" Stan lightly pounded a fist on his palm "We're not doing this. Guilty is not an option. Just because of what happened, doesn't mean we can't enjoy the rest of our summer right?" Stan's forming smile faded when the rest of his friends remained quiet. "Right?" he sighed and sunk in his chair.

"What are we going to do about Kyle?" Kenny asked, just to break the awkward silence that had suddenly formed around them.

"I don't know. Token might be right, Kyle might be just going through the stages. We have to be there for him when he-"

"Hey dudes!" they all heard Kyle call out as the front door opened and then closed again. Kyle pratically ran up to them. "I got my controller. I'm ready to play COD" Kyle noticed the tension in the room. "What's going on? What were you guys talking about?"

"Erm. Nothing really, just-"

Craig then pointed at Stan "Stan was saying how you and Kyle could beat anyone at COD"

"I was? I mean, yeah I was"

"Then Token got all defensive and said he scored over a hundred head shots"

"Ok, I think he gets it"

"Of course me and Tweek are the best defense, you couldn't beat anyone without us"

"Craig!"

"What?"

"He gets it dude. Shut the hell up"

Craig frowned and then flipped him off

"Yeah you too. Butt wipe"

Kyle merely laughed as he began to set up his controller to Stan's console. "Stan isn't lying either. Remember when we totally thrashed everyone? You guys wouldn't believe it. We were on such a high that day" Kyle laughed again whilst he continued to make sure his controller worked. "I remember, cause Cartman was all like-" Kyle then froze, his hands still. "Like-"

Everyone glanced at each other, Stan got up from the couch. "Kyle?"

Kyle put his controller on the floor and said "Excuse me" as he then left the room.

They watched him walk out "Crap" Stan then quickly followed after his friend into the kitchen.

The rest of his friends proceeded to glare at Craig, as if he was completely to blame. Even Tweek was giving him a hard time, and he usually always sided with him. "You guys can't blame that on me. You'd have rather told Kyle that we think he's going through stages of bereavement and he'll most likely fall into depression? No, of course you wouldn't. None of you were coming up with a fake conversation. You guys suck, not my fault"

Their eyes roamed awkwardly toward different spots of the room. Obviously not knowing how to counter their friend's blunt words.

Stan stood in the kitchen, watching Kyle fumble around in his fridge. "Kyle? You ok dude? You sorta blanked mid-sentence in there"

"I'm cool Stan. I just figured we could use refreshments. Saying the fatass's name reminded me. Go figure huh? It's too bad he's so hung up on waiting around for me to admit something that I never will. He's missing out on some cool shit"

"Ye-ah. But if the cab didn't explode he'd be at his Grandma's by now anyway"

Kyle handed Stan a tray of soda's, completely ignoring what Stan had just said. It's like he had selective hearing. He wondered for a moment. Counting off in his head the five stages of what Token had said. Denial, anger, bargaining... just what the hell did bargaining mean anyway? He made a mental note to look it up online later. The sound of clicking fingers snapped him out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

"Dude. Go take those into the living room" Kyle laughed "What were thinking about so hard?"

"Ya know. Planning our COD strategy"

"Stan, I'm not stupid" at first Stan thought he'd been busted until Kyle then said "We both know I'm the best strategy planner, there's no way I'm gonna let you do it" Stan breathed a sigh of relief and took the tray of drinks and snacks into the living room.

"He ok?" Kenny asked, taking a soda as soon as Stan put down the tray on the floor.

"Seems completely fine"

"Seems?" Token asked

"At least on the outside"

Kyle soon came back into the living room "Ok guys. Let's play COD!"

"Finally" Craig sighed

"Just to clarify the teams. Me and Stan. Craig and Tweek. Kenny and Token?"

Everyone replied with a 'Yup'

"Let's do this" Stan said with a smile. They sat down comfortably in their pairs and just as Stan was about to set up the first map. They heard some sort of ringtone. "Shit. Hold on guys, that's my phone"

"Just ignore it" Kenny suggested

"Nah I can't. Mum said she was going to check in on me. If I don't answer she'll freak on me"

"Then hurry up and answer so we can play" Kyle said

"All right all right geez" Stan touched the answer button on his phone and held it close to his ear. "Hello? Yeah Mom, just hanging with the guys, we're about to play COD. She did?" They watched Stan's facial expression change from neutral, to thoughtful and then to a look of sadness within thirty seconds. "Yeah. ok...sure Mom" Stan disconnected the phone and his hand slowly descended to his side.

"What's up?" Token asked

"My mom said that ms Cartman called her and asked her if we could go over. She wants us to go through all of Cartman's room and decide what we should do with all the stuff. She said that his Mom is having a pretty hard time and figures we're the best ones for the job"

Kyle rolled his eyes, no one saw that so he put his controller down and stood up. "You're actually going?"

"Yeah dude. I said I would. It must be hard otherwise she wouldn't have asked us right?"

"Fine. I'll come with you. If only to prove once and for all that this is a set up"

"Whatever you say Kyle"

"I'll help too" Token said

"Me too" said Kenny

"We will too. Come on Craig" Tweek said.

They all headed for the front door. Leaving Craig sitting on the couch staring at a now blank tv screen. He sighed at it before finally getting up to follow his friends. "God damn it"

The boys soon reached the door of their friend's house. Nobody made any attempts to knock or open the door. "Well?" Kyle said, waiting for them

"It's been a while..." Stan said slowly, still staring at the door.

"Oh forgodsake" Kyle frowned and knocked on the door, a little more forceful then necessary. The door opened and Liane was standing there in her usual attire, her eyes were slightly red and puffy; obvious signs she'd been crying.

"Oh. Hello boys. Come on in"

"Hi ms Cartman" Stan greeted as he and the rest of his friends walked into the house.

Liane shut the door and sniffled into a tissue before she spoke. "Thank you for coming. I couldn't bring myself to even begin sorting out Eric's room. It felt a little too soon. But the doctor said it's the best way to move on"

"I guess so. We'll get started right away" Kyle said hastily,

Stan then grabbed his arm before he could go anywhere. "You shouldn't move on until you're ready. I mean, just because some doctor tells you to. If keeping Cartman's things helps you do that then you should"

"You really think so?" Liane said, tilting her head to the side

"Of course"

"Yeah but, Maybe he's right. If you continue to keep all his stuff; you'll never get rid of anything and then you'll never move on" Kyle said. The others watched the two sided argument go back and forth, they were pretty sure the two didn't have Liane's best interest in mind. Kyle wanted to clear Eric's room in hopes of finally proving his theory right. Stan wanted her to keep his stuff so he didn't have to spend the whole day doing so and not get to do what he had originally planned. Well, they were about 70% sure on that one.

Craig realising what their intentions were spoke up "I agree with Stan. You should do it when you're ready"

Kenny, not wanting to piss Kyle off more then he clearly seemed to be said "Kyle's right" he placed his hand on her knee "It's time"

"What? Kenny!" Stan was sure Kenny would be on his side. He wasn't exactly sure why though. He did catch the smug smirk on his friend Kyle's face, he knew Kyle's reasons. But he couldn't be mad at him. Kyle had a small relapse of judgement back at his house. He knew it. Even if it was only for a few seconds. He had seen it, as plain as day; they all had.

"What do you think Tweek?" Craig asked

Tweek was showing signs of being majorly uncomfortable. He pulled at his hair in his usual freak out manor. "No! That's way too much pressure man!"

Craig sighed, he should have known that would happen. He really had to stop putting him in that situation.

Token, feeling like he was the only neutral one in the group said "What do you want to do ms Cartman?" Token's question slammed into them like a train. They'd been so busy trying to convince Liane for their own benefits, they hadn't stopped to think what she was feeling. They looked at each other in saddened guilt.

"If I don't do this now. I guess I never will. I knew I could count on you boys. Since you were Eric's good friends"

"Yeah. Sure" Stan said quickly. He wouldn't have exactly called them good friends. But what were you when you'd been through as much as they all had? That had to count for something. Friends maybe?

"You boys can keep anything you feel you'd like as a memory"

"Ms Cartman, I think it'd be much easier for all of us. If we just boxed everything up and gave it to needy children and charities" Kyle suggested.

Everyone stared in horror, of all the things to suggest in the world. Eric Cartman would never, ever give his stuff to charity.

Stan almost wanted to laugh, he probably would have, if not for the situation.

Kenny was sweating with the sudden pressure of keeping in his giggles.

Tweek twitched and grunted. They can't give away Cartman's stuff to charity! He'd haunt us for the rest of our lives! Oh man.

Craig looked at Tweek, he was pretty sure he could hear his thoughts they were so damn loud. He didn't overly care what they did, anything they did seemed wrong to him. But he didn't want to get scolded again by his friends so he decided he'd just keep his mouth shut this time.

"I don't think Eric would have liked that Kyle. He was a bit- erm...on the selfish side...at times"

Kyle gave a mock shocked expression "No! Really?"

Stan nudged him hard in the ribs "Stop being a dick" he whispered

Kyle nudged him back "I'm not being a dick. You're being a dick"

"If it'll make it easier on you, I suppose it would be best"

"It is. I mean, it will" Kyle stammered over his words

"Thank you boys. Eric always said you guys were assholes. But I suppose he did like to overreact a lot" the boys looked on in shock. Liane looked so serious when she said it. They wasn't sure how to reply.

"Erm. Thanks?" Stan finally replied

Liane then sighed and choked up again "I'll be In the kitchen if you need me. You'll find a lot of empty boxes upstairs all ready in my Eric's room"

"We'll be sure to go through it all with complete respect" Token said as he frowned at his friends "Won't we?"

They shuffled their feet uncomfortably before replying in unison "Of course. Yeah"

Liane then left them at the bottom of the stairs and made her way into the kitchen. "Ok, lets get this over with" Stan said as he stepped onto the first step. It felt like the longest trudge of his life, it seemed like the stairs were getting longer with every small stride he took. He'd heard of a neverending corridor, but a neverending staircase? It wasn't until Kyle pushed him forward that he realised.

"Dude, what the hell is taking so long? Hurry up" He hadn't even started climbing the stairs. Oh. Perfect. He was spacing again. He checked this time, ok, they were definitely moving now.

They all stood in the doorway of Eric's room. It felt wrong, just standing there. Being there, knowing he never could again.

"Ok Cartman! We're clearing out all your stuff!" Kyle shouted into the room. They looked at him and then waited for nothing to happen. "We're giving it all to charities!" Kyle waited some more. "Needy children are going to get everything you own!" when Kyle realised nothing was going to happen, he saw that his friends were staring at him. He frowned and then said "We should all take a section each" as he was the first one to enter the room completely. The rest soon followed him and reluctantly started to take a section of the room.

It was four in the afternoon. By now they had boxed up all of Eric's clothes and forgotten toys from his closet. They'd binned what they had deemed as 'pointless keeping'. All that remained was his computer, whatever was in his desk draws and the stuff under his bed. Kyle took it upon himself to clear out the stuff from the under the bed. He pulled out a box and lifted the lid up. He smiled when he pulled out a book with a lock. "Guys check it out. We should totally go through this"

Stan looked up for a moment "Dude That's his diary. Don't be an asshole" he said as he started checking the desk draws.

"Yeah. You should just throw it away" Token said

"But-" Kyle sighed in annoyance before turning around. He glanced back over his shoulder, he then shoved the diary in his coat while they weren't looking. He then smiled when he found the key in the box and shoved that in his pocket.

"Guys look" Stan then said as he pulled a red folder out from the bottom draw.

"What is it?" Craig asked as everyone except Kyle stopped what they were doing and crowded behind Stan.

"I think it's a photo album"

"Right. Like Cartman is that sentimental" Kyle said as he rolled his eyes with a snorted laugh

Stan opened the first page "Dude. It really is a photo album"

Kyle whipped round and quickly made his way over to them. He looked over Kenny's shoulder to confirm it was true. "No way"

Stan began to flip through the pages. There were quite a few of the four of them, messing around and playing. Some were grouped photos of their other friends. They laughed at two of the photo's, which were of Kyle; trying to block the lens. Clearly not wishing to be photographed by Eric of all people. As they skipped to the end, there were class photos. Right from preschool to the fourth grade. "Wow. I wasn't expecting to see that in here"

"Me either" Kenny replied

"Guess he was less heartless then we thought" Craig said

"We should give that to his mom" Tweek said

"Good idea" Stan replied and placed it to one side.

They stood back in the door way, the room now void of anything except for the bed. Boxes lay stacked in the hallway landing. No trace that their friend Eric Cartman was ever there. Stan held the photo album in his left hand, his right hovering over the door handle. "Goodbye dude" he said as he shut the door.

Kyle couldn't do anything apart from place his hand on Stan's shoulder. He felt it was a moment that he shouldn't voice his opinions; it really did seem like it should be the final closing chapter. (pardon the pun lol) Kyle resisted rolling his eyes again and followed Stan and the others downstairs. He was damn sure his fat friend was going to come out of his hiding spot right then. You're really going out of your way this time, aren't you Cartman?

The boys made their way into the kitchen. "We're all done ms Cartman" Token said

Liane turned around and held out a plate "Would you like some of this powered donut pancake surprise? It was one of Eric's favourites"

They shared awkward glances. Soon realising she had obviously been cooking the entire time they were up there. There was plates of food covering the kitchen counter tops. They all came to the same idea. It was definitely time for them to leave. "No thanks. We erm, we have to go now" Stan spoke, his friends unable to find any words to form. Liane placed the plate on one of the few gaps remaining

"All righty then"

"We found this in Cartman's room. It's a photo album, we thought you might like to keep it"

"I can't thank you enough boys. Are you sure you don't want some dessert?"

"We got dinner waiting at home so..."

"Take care now" Token said quickly. They all hurried out of the house just as quick and shut the door behind them before letting out the surprised breath they'd been holding.

"Well, that was incredibly freaky" Kyle admitted

"I think she's in the depressed stage" Kenny said before Stan punched him on the arm

"Kenny! Shh"

Kyle tilted his head "What?"

"Nothing" Stan began to steer Kyle in the direction of his house. "Let's go and play COD now. There's still a lot of time left"

"Actually. I promised my Mum I'd be home for dinner" Kyle stretched his arms up, faking a yawn. "And all that clearing out stuff has made me tired. Let's play tomorrow"

"But- whose going to be my partner in crime?"

"You'll figure something out. I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Kyle walked the opposite way and they watched him disappear around the corner.

"Dammit. Well there's no point in me playing if Kyle isn't. I'll see you guys tomorrow. We can play then" Stan then left

The four remaining looked at each other "This won't be any fun now. I think I'll wait until tomorrow, see ya guys" Token said and then he too left.

Now there was an odd number again. Kenny merely stared at his two other friends and left without a word.

Craig and Tweek looked at each other. Craig could see the other boy's head ticking over. "You wanna leave too don't you?" Tweek just gave him an innocent smile, then gave him an awkward hug and left. Craig sighed, placed his hands in his pockets and began to make his way home.

After spending time with his family, eating dinner and watching tv in the living room. He was finally alone, everyone else had retired to bed and the house was quiet. Kyle sat crossed legged on his bed, the only light coming from his bedside lamp. The diary sat on the top of his covers in front of him. When he first found the diary he couldn't wait to see what kind of embarrassing things could be in there. Now that he was alone, he stared at the book with hesitation. He thought back to the photo album, wondering if maybe, just maybe he should respect Eric's privacy. His fingers drummed on his knees. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what was written in there. Given how mentally screwed up his friend could be. Kyle frowned at the diary and then said "Ah screw it" he picked up the key and unlocked the pad lock tossing both to one side as he opened the first page. I HATE KYLE was written on the very first page. He turned to the second, third, fourth. He seemed to get angrier with every page until he finally filtered through them. I HATE KYLE I HATE KYLE I HATE KYLE. On every single damn fucking page. Kyle yelled and threw the book at his far wall. "God damn it!"

NOTES: I'm sorry if it seemed like this chapter dragged a bit. I was trying to lighten up the mood a little. I hope this was an ok chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. :)

Just to clarify, I've not really played COD before. I would have gone into more depth of them playing the game but I wouldn't know how. I figured it'd be funnier that they never even got to play it. Plus I didn't want to steer away from the storyline too much :)