The big day...

Stan was a little concerned for his friend. "You sure you're alight dude?"

"I'm fine."

Kyle didn't look fine. He looked like he was about to lose his breakfast from nerves. Not that Stan blamed him—it was his wedding day. In a few hours, he was going to be married. "If you wanna go barf, do it before we leave for the church. I mean, I know I'm the barf-guy between us, but you look..."

Kyle shook his head, and turned back to knotting his tie in Stan's mirror. He'd been woken up early, almost force-fed breakfast by his mother, and kicked out so he wouldn't see the bride before the ceremony. He could handle a little nervous nausea.

"So ready to go promise to love Vicki forever?" Stan asked, latching on to another topic, hoping to get more than two words out of Kyle at a time.

Green eyes narrowed at him in the mirror. "That's not part of the wedding, dude."

"Did you write your own vows?"

"No."

"Then it's part of the wedding."

"Well, no one actually means it."

He felt like saying 'Kenny and Vicki would have meant it.' but held back. That would be just cruel, and Stan didn't want to be that. But he knew that Father Maxi was going to have them say the standard vows 'Do you, (name), take (name), to be your wife/husband, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?' and he hated that they were both going to lie. Hated more that everyone knew they were lying, and yet would probably never get divorced because Kyle and Vicki were exactly the type to stay together because they were too stubborn about proving everyone wrong.

"If I marry Wendy, I'm gonna mean it." Stan said instead.

Kyle yanked his tie tight. "Good for you, Stan. I'm gonna lie, but at least I'm doing it for a good reason. And I'm gonna be married to my best friend, raising a beautiful daughter with her. Maybe not a fairy tale ending, but better than letting Vicki go through this shit alone."

"I know. And if it couldn't be Kenny who marries Vicki...I'm glad it's you."

"You'd think she was your sister or something."

Stan shrugged. "She's more like a sister than Shelley."

"That's because Shelley's a bitch." Kyle reminded him. "Remember how she used to smack us around as kids?"

He remembered. Back when they'd been young, and always having some sort of adventure, and had holes in their memories because they didn't know yet that Kenny died. He remembered when people had said 'Stan and Kyle' in one breath, like they were one person, they were that close. "I'm sorry we're not really Super Best Friends anymore, dude."

"I'm sorry too, Stan."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ If someone said three years from now, you'd be long gone ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Gerald could see that his soon-to-be daughter-in-law wasn't half as happy as she should have been on her wedding day. "Wanna talk about it, Vicki?"

She turned away from her reflection in the mirror. "It's okay, Gerald."

It obviously wasn't okay. Vicki looked beautiful in a Grecian style wedding gown that was all pleats and flowing fabric that skimmed over the roundness that was Kennedy. But behind the subtle make-up there was an emptiness in her smile, and a sadness in her eyes. She was hurting, and she didn't want them to see how much. "You know, it's not too late to change your mind."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because even I know you don't really want to marry Kyle."

Vicki shrugged. "We're good together."

He knew that much. Everyone in South Park knew about Kyle and Vicki's one time hook up. Sheila had blown a gasket when she learned it had been under her roof. But Gerald also knew that being good together physically didn't mean you could live together. At least, not without resentment and bad feelings.

"You're not great together. Not the way you and—"

"You don't need to say it. In fact, if I hear one more person say something along the lines of 'you and Kyle aren't you and Kenny' I think I will scream."

He would have thought she was being sarcastic, but with pregnant women you never knew. He'd found that out when Sheila had been pregnant with Kyle. "Okay, I won't say it. But not only do you know it's true, but you also know there's still time to call off the wedding. And none of us will blame you for doing it."

For someone who looked like they were about to run away, Vicki was pretty stubborn. "I told Kyle I'd marry him; I'm not going back on that promise. There have been too many broken promises as it is."

Gerald knew a lost cause when he saw one. "Okay. Then let's get you to the church before Sheila starts thinking I've run away with the bride. Between you and me, she's almost as paranoid as that Tweek kid."

"Tweek's just borderline psychotic. Carol's a whole other kind of animal."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ I'd stand up and punch them out, 'cause they're all wrong, and- ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Kenny had never felt so stiff in his life. It was the same sensation as when your foot fell asleep—all over his body. Cracking open his eyes, he winced against the sun shining through the window and shut them tight. Shit that was bright. One thing he had noticed, was that he was in his old room at his mom's house. That was kinda odd. But maybe Vicki was staying with her. He knew he'd taken a bit more time coming back...

"KENNY?"

His eyes flew back open at his mother's scream. She was standing in the doorway, clutching the vacuum, pale and shaking, and staring at him like he was a ghost. "Mom, what the fuck?"

"You were dead!"

No shit. Fuck, he remembered every moment of those thugs bashing his head into the pavement. "Yeah... how long was I gone, a week?"

She shook her head, and hesitantly came to kneel at the side of his bed, and ran a trembling hand down the side of his face, like she was making sure he was real. "Three months. We buried you. I can't believe I remember buryin' you, Kenny..."

Three months? Anything could have happened in three months. Vicki could have gone back to Arizona, she could have lost the baby, she could have died— "Where's Vicki?"

His mom didn't seem to hear his question. "Kenny, I remember! I never remember you dyin'; Vicki's the only one who ever does. But I remember...I remember puttin' my baby boy in the ground, and watchin' Vicki say goodbye to the man she loved, and now—"

She broke off suddenly, and Kenny felt cold dread settle in his chest. "Mom, what's happened to Vicki?"

"She started livin' with the Broflovskis and then Kyle asked her to marry him. She told him yes, and they decided to just go on with the weddin' everyone was already plannin'. They—they're at the church now."

They were at the church, they were about to get married, and he'd just woken up from being dead...

"SHIT, I'VE GOTTA GO!"

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ That last kiss I'll cherish, until we meet again ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Vicki didn't even hear the wedding march starting up, she just started walking when Gerald did. Almost the entire town was there to watch her marry Kyle—to get up in front of them all and say she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And she was going to lie, because all she really wanted was to be marrying her true love today...

Gerald must have noticed her tears through her veil, because he squeezed her hand comfortingly, before handing her off to Kyle, and Father Maxi started up. "We are gathered here today, to join these two young people in marriage..."

Kyle was smiling at her nervously, green eyes alight behind his fringe of copper curls. He was happy; happy to be marrying her, and she wasn't. She wanted it to be Kenny holding her hands, and smiling at her, laughter dancing in those clear blue eyes that were etched into her heart. But instead, she was miserable on her wedding day.

"...Now if anyone should know of any reason why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Father Maxi paused, and for one heart-stopping moment, Vicki thought maybe someone—anyone—would stand up and object. Butters, or Bebe, or Craig, Clyde, Millie, Jason, anyone. Anyone to say that Kenny—only Kenny— was her true love, and that she'd never be happy with Kyle. Anyone to save her; to stop her...

"If there are no objections, we shall move on to the vows." Father Maxi continued. "Do you, Kyle, take Vicki to be your wife, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

Kyle's smile didn't falter. "I do."

"Do you, Vicki, take Kyle to be your husband, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

"I—" The word caught in her throat. "I..." She could feel everyone's eyes on her. All of them expecting her to smile, and lie, and say the words that meant that she'd abandoned her heart. "I..."

He'd finally stopped smiling. "Vicki?"

She tried again. "I..."

Now Father Maxi was looking confused and concerned. "Victoria?"

"I..." Kenny was dead.

"I..." Kenny was never coming back.

"I..." Kenny was—

"WAIT!"

The doors to the church had flung open, and there was Kenny; orange hoodie, and faded jeans, and golden hair, and blue eyes. "Kenny..."

Running up to the front of the church, Kenny took her hands from Kyle. "I object! Because the bride is the girl I love, and she's carrying our baby, and I'm never gonna leave them again."

Vicki had no words. With one hand, she lifted her veil. She knew that despite the tear tracks still shining on her face, she was smiling wide enough for the entire town to see. Before crashing her lips into his.

"YEAH KENNY!" Craig hollered from the back of the crowd, and the whole town began to cheer as they broke the kiss, and Kenny rested his forehead against hers. "God told me that was the last time I'd leave you." He whispered. "Now, I'm all yours, for the rest of our lives."

He stepped back, and then Vicki remembered where she was; at the altar, with Kyle, and Father Maxi about to marry them. But it was Kyle she was concerned with. Kyle, who looked nowhere near as devastated as she'd expected. "Ky—"

"No way could I ask you to choose me over Kenny." He turned to the priest. "Father Maxi, I think you'd better start over, with another groom."

Kenny's eyes widened alarmingly. "But Kyle—!"

"You were supposed to be getting married today anyways, dude."

Stepping down, he pushed them both up in front of Father Maxi. "Do we even have a marriage certificate?" Kenny asked.

"They didn't shred it. Linda gave it to me, and I had Sheila bring it. I was planning on writing 'Goodbye' on it before signing the other one." It had seemed so stupid at the time too.

Father Maxi cleared his throat. "We are very blessed today, to witness the reunion, and marriage, of these two young people. Despite the hardships they've faced, they have never stopped loving each other, together or apart. Now, if anyoneknows a reason why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever, and I mean forever, hold your peace."

Who in their right mind would object? Father Maxi looked relieved when no one said a word. "Do you, Kenny, take Vicki to be your wife, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you, Vicki, take Kenny to be your husband, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

No hesitation. This was all she'd ever wanted. "I do."

Father Maxi smiled. "Then I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

My darling... who knew?

Kenny always comes back.