Best summer ever?

by thedollars666

It was going to be the best summer ever. Kyle had wonderful plans for his friends. He had learned that Eric Cartman was going away for the whole two months. And a summer with No Cartman meant Everything to Kyle and his other friends. But something tragic takes place on the very first day of Summer, causing the best summer ever, to become the very worst.

4. When I see you again

NOTES: The next chapter is up, thanks again for reviewing and letting me know that you're enjoying the story. I'm unsure how well the last chapter went, I hope it was ok for you guys. Anyways, here's the next one! Enjoy

I really wanted to make it so that Chef was still alive. There was so much going on in the funeral part that I realised I hadn't wrote him in yet. Just clarifying that he isn't dead in this story :)

#It's been a long day, without you my friend#

Kyle stirred to the sound of what could only be music coming from his alarm clock radio. Call him old fashioned, he knew most kids just woke up to their ipods. He preferred it this way, it seemed to suit him better. He lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling.

#I'll tell you all about it when I see you again#

The boy sighed, letting the words of the song playing wash over him. He frowned as he sat up and shut the radio off. He couldn't deal with that sort of depressing music today. He'd had a good summer, really, he had. He'd spent most of his time with Stan and Kenny, they'd get together with the other group of their friends once a week. Of course, he knew they were trying to take his mind off of a certain someone. He knew they were getting pretty tired of his constant bitching about Eric faking his death. He'd stopped, eventually; about a week after they'd cleared their friend's room.

He figured his friends were glad that he'd finally stopped, it wasn't doing anyone any good. Whether he still wasn't convinced or not, Kyle had given up trying to be; if only so he could at least try and enjoy the rest of his summer.

He got up from the bed and rummaged through his draws for clothes. It was the first day back at school, that always sucked. But this time, he knew it was going to suck way more then any normal first day. Kyle knew. Of course he knew, he wasn't stupid. Even he could realise when he was wrong. He hadn't admitted it, he just couldn't admit it. Because admitting it would make it true now wouldn't it?

"Kyle! Are you up? You don't wanna be late on the first day back!" he heard his mother call from downstairs.

He rolled his eyes before replying "Yeah ma! I'm almost ready!"

He made his way into the bathroom and shut the doo r behind him.

Once he was done, he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen where Ike was already eating his chocolate hoops. Kyle sat down at the table just as his Mum placed two waffles in front of him. Kyle immediately poured a generous amount of syrup over them and dug in. He was almost on his second waffle Don't forget about me Kahl Kyle startled so much that he dropped his fork on the floor and almost fell out of his chair. Sheila turned around from making eggs, his dad stared over at him from his newspaper. "What happened? Are you ok Kyle?" his mother asked him, obvious concern written on her face.

"Um yeah – I-I'm fine. I just realised, I guess I'm not as hungry as I thought" Kyle jumped off the chair and quickly grabbed his bag from beside him off the floor and started toward the archway of the kitchen. "I'm just gonna head to school, I don't wanna be late. See you guys!"

"But Kyle-" Sheila began before she realised he was gone "Oh. Never mind"

"It'll be a tough day for him I should expect" his dad said as he flicked to the next page of his paper.

"Oy. My poor little bauby"

Kyle walked toward the bus stop, he smiled when he saw Stan and Kenny already there. He began to slow the closer he got to them, his heart almost plunged when he noticed how much of a gap there was between his two friends. It was obvious they couldn't bring themselves to close the gap by just standing next to each other.

It was going to be weird the first week, without Eric there to bitch at them or rip on them. They wouldn't get into half as much trouble as they used to when he was around. Huh Kyle thought things might actually be normal from now on. He stood next to Stan, on the left side, like he usually did. Ever so slightly glancing at the empty space. "Hey dudes"

"Hey Kyle, ready for the first day back?" Stan and Kenny caught him looking at the gap, where their friend once stood. Kyle quickly looked to the front, he had no hope of covering that up. "I hope we don't get homework right away. That would suck so hard"

"I know right? But I don't think the teacher is that bad, better then Garrison anyways"

"Well, at least Garrison was honest, brutally honest, but still"

"I guess that's true. But at least we don't get as much homework"

"That is always a bonus"

Kenny laughed with his friends and casually stepped closer to Stan "No you can't!" Kenny froze and they stared at him in shock.

"Kyle?"

"I just-I mean. Don't, at-at least not yet ok?"

Kenny moved slowly back to his spot, he shared a look with Stan. That one moment, they had come to the same conclusion. Kyle had finally begun to realise the truth. Eric Cartman was gone.

The bus stopped outside of the school and all the kids filed off begrudingly. No one liked coming back to school after such a long break. The three boys were almost the last to head into the building. To their right however, they spotted a bench; they were sure it hadn't been there before. Walking up to it, they came to notice it was a memorial bench. A grey plaque with a gold rim was nailed to the top. In gold writing read:

REST IN PEACE

WE'LL MISS YOU

ERIC THEODORE CARTMAN

"Whoa dude" Stan said "Talk about hitting you with reality on the first day back"

"Yeah" Kenny replied frowning at the bench

"Stan?" Kyle started

"Yeah?"

"He's never coming back is he?"

Stan looked at his best friend, the rest of them had passed this side of mourning. Kyle had taken so long to finally accept the truth, that he was delayed in this. But he'd be there for him regardless, it seemed to have hurt Kyle; hit him in a different way. Maybe he was upset that he'd been wrong? Wishing for once that he hadn't been. Stan didn't reply to Kyle, and thankfully the ginger haired boy didn't seem to care. The two made their way into the building, leaving Kenny still staring at the bench.

"I never get a fucking bench!" he groaned and then huffed as he too entered the school.

"Ok students. Welcome back to school, you can all take your seats" Mrs Nelson greeted them as her students entered her classroom. She wrote a few key history sentences on the board while they all took their normal seats. "Now I realise this first day back might especially feel a little strange to some of you" The three friends share glances at each other while their other friends merely stared down at their desks. "Because of this, I won't be pushing you too much; we'll begin light. Just to ease you back in"

"Phew, thank god dude" Stan whispered, Kenny and Kyle nod in agreement

"Mr Mackey also wanted me to let you know that he'll be available all day encase any of you want to talk" she walked behind her desk and removed a text book from her draw and set it down in front of her. "Ok, before we begin; we've got a new student joining us. Please make him feel welcome" as if on cue the door opened. Kyle sat upright, half expecting Eric to come through, with that openly loud laugh of his. Telling everyone how much they were so fucking gullible. Especially Kahl. But that didn't happen of course. Instead, a slim half cast kid with dark short hair came in. He wore a blue coat and black trousers with a red scarf lazily around his neck. Kyle slouched In disappointment, he was seriously going to lose his mind by the end of this day.

The kid introduced himself as Levi Inesh and he was told to then take a seat. Kyle watched as Levi made his way over and sat in the empty seat inbetween him and Stan. He looked over and smiled at Kyle, who was glaring at him by now. "Hello. What's your name?"

Kyle didn't answer him, at least not the immediate question. Instead he whispered "You can't sit there"

"Why not?"

"Because I just said you can't butthole"

"But it's an empty seat, it's the only empty seat actually"

Stan turned when he caught the whispered argument, he then leaned over "Our friend used to sit there is all new kid"

"Oh, is he absent then? I'll make sure I move seats when he comes back"

Stan slapped his forehead, Kyle's eyes grew wide with anger and he yelled "Don't fucking sit there!"

There was a gasp from the rest of the students as all eyes were now on Kyle

"Holy. Fuck" Kenny mumbled

"Kyle!" the teacher called him out, Kyle came down from his sudden outburst. Covering his mouth with both gloved hands. "Is there a problem young man?"

"N-no. I'm ok"

"Kyle, if this is about-"

"No! No, it's cool Mrs Nelson. He can sit there" Kyle didn't know what the hell came over him. First the bus stop, now this. "Sorry dude" he then said more quietly as the startled new boy sat back down again.

Lunch seemed to take a long time to reach them, but they finally made their way into the noisy crowded room of the cafeteria. Almost everyone seemed to have more or less forgotten the incident that had occurred at the beginning of the day. Much to Kyle's relief, except now Stan and Kenny constantly kept staring at him, watching him. As if waiting to see when he was going to snap next; damn them bastards.

The boys made their way to the front of the lunch line. Greeted by their adult friend and school Chef. "Hey Chef" they greeted as usual in unison, although a little more solemn.

"Hello there children" he said, almost mimicking their tone. "How's it going?"

"Bad" they replied

He didn't need to ask 'why bad' "Yeah. I know children. I know. How Ya'll holding up on your first day back?"

"Ok I guess" Stan said as they waited for their food.

"Kyle already yelled at the new kid" Kenny piped in, he actually found it pretty funny.

"Dude!"

"Yeah. I heard about that. What happened?"

"No big deal. I had a moment of- I had a moment. I'm good now" Kyle explained rather poorly.

"You can't fucking sit there!" Kenny mimicked his friend with a laugh

"Shut up Kenny!" he followed after Kenny as they grabbed their trays and went to find their seats.

Chef looked back at Stan "Kyle sort of freaked out a little when the new kid sat in the seat Cartman used to sit in. He'll be fine" Stan quickly relayed, grabbed his own try of food and then rushed off to find his friends.

Chef stared after him "Damn. Those crackers will be the death of me"

The bell rang. Signalling the end of the school day. The students were relieved they'd made it through once again. The halls became flooded with kids as they rushed to get to their lockers, grab their bags and practically run from the building.

Kyle was in the middle of opening his locker when Stan and Kenny made their way toward him. They'd been the last to leave their lesson so the halls were quiet now. "Hey Kyle" Stan greeted, leaning against the locker next to his friend's. "Me and Kenny are heading to whistling Willie's, you coming?"

Kyle stopped turning the dial on his locker to address his friends. "Actually guys. I need to be somewhere. There's something I need to do"

As if they didn't already know. Stan smiled lightly; placing a hand on his shoulder for a couple of seconds. "You sure you don't wanna come?"

"Nah. It's cool. I think it's time, ya know?"

"Yeah. Well, you know when to find us"

"Sure dude, thanks"

"Bye bye" Kenny's muffled farewell came about cheerfully. He was getting free food, who wouldn't be cheerful?

Kyle smiled, letting out a small laugh and continued to open his locker. Once opened, he reached in to pull his bag out, slinging it over one shoulder. Just as he was about to close it again, he caught the photo that stuck on the inside of the door. It was their fourth grade class photo. Kyle had stuck the photo in there after they'd broken all of Eric's devices and practically forced him to quit twitter. No one really ever noticed it, and now he'd have a more plausable excuse, if only to himself, rather then feeling guilty. "I'll tell you all about it when I see you again" Kyle sang quietly and then shut the door. He exited the school, taking a quick glance at the memorial bench before pressing play on his ipod and drowning out any other noise as he placed both earpieces in.

# It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again
(Hey)

Damn, who knew?
All the planes we flew
Good things we've been through
That I'll be standing right here talking to you
'Bout another path
I know we loved to hit the road and laugh
But something told me that it wouldn't last
Had to switch up
Look at things different, see the bigger picture
Those were the days
Hard work forever pays
Now I see you in a better place (see you in a better place)

Uh
How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gon' be with me for the last ride

It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again (I see you again)
We've come a long way (yeah, we came a long way) from where we began (you know we started)
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again (let me tell you)
When I see you again

(Aah oh, aah oh
Wooooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Yeah

First you both go out your way
And the vibe is feeling strong
And what's small turn to a friendship
A friendship turn to a bond
And that bond will never be broken
The love will never get lost (and the love will never get lost)
And when brotherhood come first
Then the line will never be crossed
Established it on our own
When that line had to be drawn
And that line is what we reach
So remember me when I'm gone (remember me when I'm gone)

How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gon' be with me for the last ride

So let the light guide your way, yeah
Hold every memory as you go
And every road you take, will always lead you home, home

It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

(Aah oh)
(Uh)
(Aah oh)
(Yeah)
(Wooooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Ya, ya)
When I see you again
(Uh)
See you again
(Wooooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Yeah, yeah, uh-huh)
When I see you again #

"Hey Cartman" Kyle said as he stood on the green grass, staring at the grey slab of his friend's tombstone. "Been a while huh?" Kyle placed his hands in his pockets. Half of him thought this was completely ridiculous. The other half felt it necessary, he knew himself he needed this. "I yelled at a half cast kid today. Cursed him out just because he sat in your god damn empty seat" Kyle laughed. "You'd have probably applauded me. Kenny thought the whole thing was totally hilairious. I thought the kid was going to crap his pants" his hands came out of his pockets again, he just didn't know what to do with them; let alone himself. "You know I didn't believe it. At least not for a long time. I kept telling everyone that this was fake, that you were just doing this shit to fuck with my head. Like you always do"

"I guess today was the last proof I needed" Kyle placed a box of cheesy poofs on the ground. "You weren't at school today" His voice began to crack. "I know now that you won't be ever again" Kyle sank to his knees. Tears now falling silently down his face. "It fucking sucks ok? I miss you...I admit it. I miss you and it fucking sucks!" Kyle buried his face in his hands. Crying silently. He was alone, so who cared? This was inevitable in the end, he knew it; it was only a matter of time.

"Ha! I told you so Kahl" Kyle's head shot up from his hands. Was it him, or was that way too real to be a voice in his head? He was almost too scared to look round behind him. He stood up first, almost shakily. When he turned round, he nearly fell backwards. Who should be standing there, but Eric fucking Cartman. Kyle couldn't believe his eyes, they were still damp from his tears. He had to blink a couple of times, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Cartman?"

"Miss me?" Eric smirked lightly

"Jesus Christ dude! You're alive! You're actually alive" not exactly what he was expecting. Eric almost couldn't move as Kyle grabbed his shoulders in a happy manner. It was then he realised Kyle was too upset to actually grasp what was going on. Kyle stared for a second, falling silent. He then saw the other boy's smirk deepen and reality kicked him hard. Kyle let go of his shoulders, his hands falling to his sides. "Have you been alive, all this time?"

Eric snorted, was he serious? "Well I didn't just crawl out of the fucking ground Kahl!"

Then anger set in motion in Kyle's eyes, his fists clenched. "You fucking son of a bitch" he couldn't even yell. He was too angry to yell.

"You admitted it. You missed me, I told you so Jew"

Nevermind, he was not too angry. Kyle launched himself at Eric, grabbing fists full of his red coat. "Do you have any idea what you fucking you did!? Are you out of your mind!?"

"Whoa Kyle. Calm down" Eric began to think maybe, just maybe he'd gone too far this time.

"Calm down!? Everyone in south park thinks you're dead!" Kyle's hands left Eric as they flailed about "Your Mum watched your coffin go into the fucking Earth! Do you not even care the slightest bit about that!? Our friends dedicated a song to you!"

"Yeah I saw. That was pretty fucking sweet"

Kyle could only stare at him in disbelief, then the anger came back. "You were there!? At your own funeral!? You don't see a problem with that!?" his fists were back.

Eric tried to shake him off "Kyle listen!"

"This is by far the very worst thing you have ever done! I actually believed that you would never go this far, in the end"

Eric calmed almost instantly for a moment "Really? The very worst?"

Kyle was about ready to burst a vain "You faked your own death!"

"Sort of"

This could not be happening right? Someone could not be that fucking cruel and that fucking stupid. "Sort of? How can you sort of fake your own death!?" when an answer didn't come straight away Kyle walked away. "I'm going to tell everyone exactly the truth and I hope you get shunned and get your ass kicked. Because I swear to god I will be the one laughing and telling everyone I told you so"

Eric ran after him, making a grab for his hand. "Kyle wait!"

"Fuck off fatass. You are on your own! Not even your mum will defend you" Eric grabbed Kyle's coat but the jewish boy yanked himself free.

"Kyle I swear, just hear me out! Let me explain"

"You don't get to play victim Cartman! And why the hell would I listen to you!"

Eric stopped "Because no one will listen to you!" Then Kyle suddenly stopped, without turning round. "You spent a long time trying to convince them I wasn't dead right?" Kyle turned to face him then. "Two months is a long time. Everyone knows you've accepted it now, at least that's what I'm guessing; I'm a little sketchy on what's actually happened. But I can put enough together to make a good theory"

"You're fucking unbelievable"

"If you go down and start running your Jew mouth off about me faking it again. I'll just disappear. I've done it once already"

"I hate you. I hate you with every tiny little fibre in my fucking body. You sadistic asshole"

"As long as you hear me out first"

Kyle glared at him for a long moment. Eric didn't deserve to be heard. But he was just found mourning and shedding tears by that very person. If only to keep a shred of his dignity, Kyle took a calm breath before replying "You have thirty minutes"

Eric sighed in relief, hiding a smirk. "Ok. Here's what happened..."