A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have reviewed/favorite/followed, I really appreciate all the feedback! Unfortunately, I've been busy lately and haven't had much time to write, thus the very late update, but I do plan to see this story through to the end (Right now, it looks as though it will be about 16-17 chapters unless I end up changing things in the current outline, so we have a lot of plot to go!). Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

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Best Friends Forever

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Chapter 3

Nothing Has Changed

..

.

I nervously raked my hand through my hair as I approached the bus stop, my heart rate considerably higher than it would be on a normal day. I don't regret my decision to go to Wendy's last night instead of hanging out with Kyle, she's my girlfriend, she should always take priority AND the sex was quite amazing. However, it took no measure of genius to tell that Kyle was more upset than he normally was about this fact. Passive aggressiveness wasn't typically his thing, but he sure was playing the 'let's ignore Stan' game something fierce last night.

At the risk of coming off like a clingy girlfriend, I sent Kyle a total of four texts yesterday throughout the day after school.

The first one was my own attempt at humor, sardonically wishing him luck with Adrian and promising that we would hang out another day. No response

The second was my own reaction to him failing to respond to the first one, apologizing for blowing him off in favor of Wendy and again promising to make it up to him. Still no response.

The third was sent later that evening when Wendy wasn't in the room, asking if he had gotten the first two texts I had sent him. Yet again, I got nothing back.

By the time I sent the fourth one, it was late that evening and I was starting to worry a bit myself. Kyle normally responds to texts from me within seconds after they were sent, save for the ones that were sent when we were both in school. This was abnormal to say the least, so I sent him another text asking him if he was okay. After all, he had gone off with that guy Adrian, who was already obviously obsessed to some degree with him. For all I know, he could have been gagged and chained in his basement by now!

He didn't respond to that one either, but any insane worry of him having been kidnapped by that annoying bastard Adrian was quickly dashed when I spotted his familiar figure, green hat and all, standing alone at the bus stop. I guess he really was just mad, not that it was any huge surprise.

Well, what do best friends do when they anger or disappoint each other? Apologize. It's not like this is the first time Kyle has gotten angry at me for something, and I've definitely been upset with him before. Doesn't change the fact that we care about each other as friends and are always able to forgive each other, our friendship would not have lasted as long as it has had that not been the case.

I sighed, tucking my hands in the pockets of my sweatshirt and approached him. "Hey dude," I greeted, mustering my best friendly smile.

He didn't look up at me, but I saw his eyebrows crease into a subtle scowl. Yep, he's definitely still mad. "Hey," he stoically replied after a moment of silence.

I sighed once again, removing my hand from my pocket and placing it on his shoulder in attempt to offer some form of amicability, noticing that he tensed slightly in response. "Look, Kyle, I'm-"

"Sup faggots," the lazy, dictating voice of Cartman interrupted. Of course, it had to be him. He approached us, glancing in-between the two of us before grinning. "Aww, am I interrupting something?"

Kyle simply closed his eyes- which I knew well enough by now indicated annoyance for him, exhaling a bulk of air through his teeth. No retort though, which was definitely unusual when Cartman was involved. I did feel bad about simultaneously leaving him with Adrian and ditching him for Wendy, but I didn't think it would bother him this much. I'll find time to talk to him later when there's less… company.

I glared at Cartman, removing my hand from Kyle's shoulder. "Cartman shut the fuck up, no one wants to hear it."

"Whoa, hey, if you two want to go make out be my guest, just don't do it in front of me," Cartman spoke casually, that arrogant grin of his still plastered on his face as he moved to stand next to Kyle. "So Jew," Cartman nudged Kyle's side. "How was your little date with Adriaaan," he drawled out the male's name.

Both Kyle and I narrowed our eyes at Cartman, and Kyle's cheeks also turned a noticeable shade of pink at this. I admit though, I was also curious as to how that went. "It wasn't a date, fatass. I was showing him around town," Kyle retorted with an obvious eye roll.

"-And we had a ton of fun," Kenny chimed as he approached the group, moving to stand next to me. "I even introduced him to that bum that sells weed near the storage units… don't think he was that interested though," he continued in a nonchalantly. "He showed us his house though, and let me tell you that guy's family is rich as fuck. Kyle here was even lucky enough to get an invitation to dinner, although I don't think that invitation extended to me. I'm so sad!" he finished in a mock pout.

I clenched my jaw at the prospect of Kyle already being invited over to this guy's house. His flirting was already blatant enough yesterday, I can't believe he thought he was at the point where he could introduce his obvious love interest to his family now. Quite frankly, I'm surprised his family would be so accepting of such a thing. You hear stories all the time of parents kicking their children out for being gay. I guess this Adrian guy was one of the lucky ones… on top of being rich too! Lucky, lucky bastard. I guess that would explain the designer clothing and styled hair, and Cartman did mention he lived next to Token. It certainly didn't cure my dislike of him; in fact it made me dislike him even a bit more. The bastard has probably never had to work for a thing in his life, and will likely have his entire college education fed to him on a silver spoon while the rest of us have to go tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

"Ooo lucky you Jew, you could bag yourself a sugar daddy," Cartman jeered tauntingly.

"'Sugar Daddy' is when a younger woman dates an older man for his money, it's not the same thing you stupid fatass," Kyle bit out irritably, brows creased into a rather nasty glare. "Besides, I already said it's not like that. Adrian has no friends in South Park yet, he's just being nice."

"Did you go? To his house I mean," I blurted out.

Kyle looked in my direction and paused for a moment before responding with a sigh. "No, I didn't."

Thank. God.

Before anything else was said, the bus arrived and the driver quickly ushered us all to get on. Kyle and I typically sat together on the bus ride over, but today, he walked right past me and took his seat behind Cartman. Kenny, who got on the bus last, glanced briefly at Kyle before shrugging and plopping down in the seat next to me.

"He's pretty pissed you know. About the whole thing with Wendy I mean," Kenny said quietly to me after the bus began to move.

I sighed; yeah, that he is. "I know dude, but what was I supposed to do? I can't exactly say no to Wendy just so I can hang out with a friend. She's my girlfriend."

Kenny shrugged again, humming quietly. "Bros before hoes, that's what I say. But then again, I don't do what you and Wendy have been doing for what? Seven years now?"

"Yeah… going on eight now. I would have thought he would be used to me putting her first by now, it's not like this is the first time this has happened," I replied. I was pretty used to Kyle getting angry at me for ditching him for Wendy, but this whole passive aggressive thing he's doing today makes patching things up even more difficult.

"Well, could just maaaybe have something to do with the fact that the side of effect of that yesterday involved leaving him stuck with a gay guy that obviously wants to get in his pants," Kenny replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, but-" I huffed out a puff of air in minor annoyance. "He could have said no. It's not like me not hanging out with him forced him spend the day with that asshole."

Kenny leaned back in his seat, casually folding his arms behind his head. "Yeah, well, you know Kyle. He'd never purposefully hurt someone's feelings like that; even if it involved doing something he didn't really want to do." He responded. It's true. Despite his short temper and lack of patience, Kyle is ultimately a very kind-hearted person. He'd do anything to help others, even people he didn't like. I still remember the time he almost drowned when trying to save Cartman's life. "Look dude, just apologize. We both know your friendship has endured much worse; after all, haven't you two been super best friends longer than you and Wendy have been dating?"

Yep, Kyle and I have been best friends since we were in preschool… almost twice as long as Wendy and I have been dating. Wow… I honestly didn't think about how long it has really been until just now. "Yeah, I plan to. It's just frustrating," I replied, raking my hand through my hair in agitation.

Kenny offered me a crooked grin. "I'm sure; maintaining relationships is hard isn't it? That's why I don't do them," he responded jokingly, clearly trying to make the situation more lighthearted. "Things will be fine though. Oh, and later, when stuff isn't all emotional, I gotta tell you about Red because man she was a minx."

I laughed lightly at this; of course Kenny would want to share all the details about his sexual escapades. It's not entirely true that Kenny doesn't maintain relationships – maybe not romantic ones, but he's friendly with well, just about everyone. He's probably the only person in the school that is universally liked. Although it is true that he doesn't have any especially close friendships. I was probably Kenny's closest friend, and we only started becoming closer because we just so happened to be the first two males in the school to lose our V-cards.

"I look forward to it," I responded with some amusement.

The bus finally arrived at the school, and the driver ushered us off just as quickly as he encouraged us to get on. I stared at the back of Kyle's head as I followed him off the bus, noticing the few lose strands of curly red hair that peaked out from underneath his hat. Now is as good of time as any to talk to him I suppose.

I took a moment to text Wendy upon getting off the bus, telling her that I wouldn't be able to meet her this morning. I promptly got back a sad-faced emoticon in response, but it seemed as though she understood. I found myself bristling slightly when I looked up and saw the familiar smug face of Adrian, a wide smile plastered on his face as he eagerly waved Kyle in his direction. I scowled at him before hurriedly moving to tap Kyle on his shoulder in attempt to get is attention. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked when he turned towards me.

His red brows creased into a subtle glare in response. "I figured you'd rather talk with Wendy. Isn't that what you always do in the mornings?" He bit out with disdain.

I exhaled a bulk of air through my teeth in minor annoyance. I wish he would just listen to me. "Look, just come with me for a moment and I'll explain."

He rolled his eyes – that same characteristic eye roll of his that was typically reserved for Cartman. "Fine."

I grabbed him by the wrist, not caring if the action appeared odd to any onlookers, and quietly led him around behind the school. I spared a glance back at Adrian, finding myself quite satisfied that that he now appeared thoroughly annoyed, an irritated scowl now in place of that shit-eating grin he was wearing before.

Upon reaching our destination, I released my grasp on Kyle's wrist. He leaned back against the brick wall of the school, defensively crossing his arms over his chest. "So, what did you want to talk about?" He asked, his tone guarded.

I sighed, awkwardly kicking a clump of snow near my feet. "I figured you would have guessed," I replied. "I wanted to apologize for ditching you for Wendy yesterday. That was a dick move on my part."

Kyle stared at me for a moment before shaking his head and exhaling harshly. "But this isn't the first time you've done that. This happens all the time Stan!" He retorted, rising anger flickering in his eyes. "It would be much easier to accept your apology if I knew that it wasn't going to just happen again!"

"Well I mean, dude, she is my girlfriend and all," I blurted out. I was a bit taken aback by his negative response; his short temper is no surprise, but it's so rarely directed at me. "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't always have a choice."

"Yes you do! You could just tell her that you already made plans with me!" Kyle exclaimed, his temper quickly escalating. "Wendy is a reasonable person, I'm sure she would understand."

It's true, Wendy is for the most part a highly reasonable person. Based on what I've observed from other relationships, she's definitely less clingy than most. But even she occasionally displays a spark of jealousy, and oddly enough it's often towards Kyle. I don't know how she'd react to me denying an offered night of sex with her in favor of playing video games with Kyle.

"Yeah… she is, but last night her parents weren't home, and I couldn't-"

"So basically, you're telling me you ditched me just so you could get your dick wet." Kyle interrupted, an annoyed sigh escaping through his teeth.

"Well, yeah, like I said, I didn't have a choice dude," I responded defensively; why does he seem so upset the fact that I had sex? "Besides, I thought friends were supposed to be happy for each other when the other gets laid."

"Yeah, well, I'm not Kenny. There are more important things in life than 'getting laid'." Kyle retorted. "I'm sick of being secondary to Wendy. It's not fair to me to make plans with me, and then go back on them in favor of Wendy," he spoke her name with spite.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Why can't he just understand? I suppose he wouldn't being a virgin, and never having had a serious girlfriend. I'm sure it is frustrating for him that I ditched him, but that's why I'm apologizing now. I just wish he understood my point of view better.

"Dude, I don't know what else to say – I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, how about we hang out tonight instead?" I offered.

He stared at me, crossing his arms defensively. "I can't tonight, I already have plans. You'd probably just ditch me again for Wendy anyways." His sarcasm was clear as day in that last remark.

Simultaneously I felt my face heat up in slight anger and a pang of hurt cascade through my chest. What right does he have to make that assumption? Does he really think that I would just up and ditch him again? Also, what plans could he possibly have made without me?

"I wouldn't do that again dude," I breathed out in frustration. "Who do you have plans with anyways?"

"Adrian," He replied simply, and I felt my stomach sink.

"What?! Seriously? You're going to hang out with him? Alone? Why?" I ungracefully sputtered out everything that was running through my head. Why the fuck would he want to hang out with Adrian alone? I thought he seemed uncomfortable around Adrian just yesterday. This makes no sense.

Kyle simply shrugged. "He's nice."

Yeah. Because he wants to get in your pants.

I know Kyle doesn't always pick up on romantic cues very well – the whole Bebe incident made that plainly obvious. But Adrian was being much, much more obvious than Bebe ever was. I would have figured that Adrian's rumored homosexuality and obvious remarks would have been enough to cue Kyle in on his intentions… apparently not.

Or maybe Kyle likes it, and actually wants this. I felt sickened just thinking about it. The very thought of Kyle and Adrian…. Ugh, it just makes me shudder. But Cartman, as much of an idiot as he is, did have a point… Kyle has never had a girlfriend, or shown much interest in girls. Maybe he is…. No, no that's ridiculous. Kyle just hasn't found the right girl yet. Yeah. That's it.

I stood there, dumbfounded, while Kyle moved to speak again. "He invited me over to have dinner with him and his family. He's a bit weird, I'll admit that, but he seems nice enough and I figured it was a good thing for me to make some new friends, so why not."

"Yeah that's because… because…" Kyle is one of the smartest kids in the school, I can't believe he's not picking up on what Adrian really wants. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't seem to form the words. How do you tell your male friend that another male is hitting on him without seeming weird? "I don't think he's a good person for you to associate with," I finally said.

Kyle visibly bristled at this. "Why? Because he's not you? I can handle myself Stan, and I can have other friends that aren't you."

"That's not what-"

"No, it is what you meant!" Kyle interrupted me. I flinched, slightly taken aback at harshness of his tone. "I have been nothing but supportive of your relationship with Wendy for the past seven years, even though it meant we didn't get to hang out as often. I didn't complain when you fucked her for the first time, and then decided to start hanging out with Kenny more without me in your own little, exclusive 'guys who have lost their V-card' club. But you, whenever I start making new friends, you never approve."

I simply stood there, mute, letting him yell at me. I didn't really know what to say. I wanted to disagree, but thinking back on it, he is sort of right. I never have liked Kyle's other friends. But Kyle always tries to hang out with people who are obviously bad news, so of course I wouldn't like that he hangs out with them.

His face was almost as red as his hair, heated from his rising anger. "When I started taking karate and became friends with Craig there, you complained. When I started hanging out with Cartman more, since he was the only one left in our group who wasn't constantly occupied with some girl, you disapproved too! Why? Why is it such a bad thing for me to have other friends?!"

I huffed out a breath of air in annoyance, pushing my hair back with my hand. Isn't it obvious why I would disapprove of them? "Cartman is an asshole. You of all people should realize this. Why would you want to hang out with someone who constantly insults you? I thought you hated him! And Craig is a bully! Don't you remember when he beat you up in grade school just because you wouldn't go along with that stupid metrosexual fad?"

"As I'm beginning to realize, people change. And not everyone for the better," he replied scathingly.

And it hurt, that comment hurt, because I know it was directed towards me. I wasn't purposefully trying to make him feel this way; I never purposefully tried to ignore him in favor of Wendy or Kenny. Despite the fact that Wendy his my girlfriend, and despite the fact that Kenny is the only other I can openly talk about sex with, Kyle is still my best friend. That hasn't changed since grade school.

I care about him as a friend. He deserves to be hanging out with better people. Not someone like Cartman who constantly insults him. Not someone like Craig who would bully him. And definitely not someone like Adrian who just wants to use him for sex.

The bell rang indicating that it was time for everyone to start heading to their respective classes. Kyle stared at me for a moment, the anger still flashing in his eyes, but I could see that there was a bit of hurt mixed in there as well. I could always notice those things with Kyle. "I'll talk to you later Stan," he bit out before turning on his heel and speeding away.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath as soon as Kyle was out of sight, violently kicking a clump of snow at the brick wall of the school building.

I stood there, staring at the splattered specks of white where the snow hit the wall. I didn't know what to feel. I was angry that he was making assumptions about me, and hurt for that very same reason; and, dare I say, I was jealous that he would rather hang out with other people than me. Specifically that asshole Adrian. Why him of all people?

He's wrong, I haven't changed. I'm still the same person. I'm still his best friend. Regardless my love life, or who else might be might friend as well, that will never change.

I just wish he would realize that.

…

Well, the rest of the day was shitty to say the least.

Sure, Kyle and I haven't been on the best of terms lately, but I don't remember the last time we had an argument this bad. It hurts. Probably more than it should. I sighed, leaning back on the cushioned leather seat of the bench press machine and tightly gripping the metal bar.

Could be worse I suppose. At least it's not leg day.

"Man, with how you've been moping around lately, I'm never going to get to update you on my adventures with lil' ol' Red." Kenny stared down at me, his slightly matted blonde bangs drooping into his eyes as he acted as my spotter, half-assed as the effort may be.

I grunted as I pushed the bar off of its hinges and carefully lowered it to my chest, opting to ignore Kenny's remark. I couldn't care less about his sexcapades with Red right now.

"You could at least give me the Wendy details from last night," Kenny spoke again, pausing for a moment before letting out a childish huff. "C'mon dude, this is supposed to be our time to share sex stories together!"

I exhaled harshly as I once again pushed the weighted bar up off of my chest, resisting the urge to throw it at Kenny, who was still awkwardly leaning over top of me. He hasn't done anything wrong, it'd be silly of me to take out my frustrations on him, but god damn I wish he would shut up. I don't want to talk about fucking sex right now.

I kind of regret inviting him to come work out with me now. He had mentioned wanting to 'bulk up' more, so being the normally nice guy I am, I invited him to come along when I go to the weight room after school. In a completely non-homosexual way, Kenny is definitely a good looking guy, but he doesn't have much in terms of muscle. He's probably the skinniest one of our group of friends, so it certainly wouldn't hurt him to come gain a little bit.

I should've guessed he would just see it as a social call to gossip about sex and porn and boobs and whatever else dirty is going through that nasty mind of his at the time – Which I normally wouldn't mind quite honestly, but with all the shit that's going on with Kyle, I'm just not into it today.

Kenny sighed, standing up straight and firmly placing his hands on his hips. "Okay fine, do you want to talk about Kyle? I can tell that you guys are still pissed at each other."

I grunted again, hoisting the bar back onto its hinges as I finished my last repetition before sitting up, grabbing a nearby towel to wipe the forming beads of sweat off of my forehead. I wouldn't necessarily say that 'pissed at each other' is the right term to use, more like Kyle is pissed at me and I'm frustrated with the fact that he's pissed at me. I'm sure the fact that Kyle's still mad at me was a dead giveaway for Kenny when we saw him in the locker room. He certainly shot me a nasty glare before he left with that fucking asshole Craig for karate.

"There's nothing really to say. Apologizing didn't work, he's still pissed at me," I replied with indifference, exhaling a bulk of air and hoisting myself up from the bench. "I'm sure he'll get over it." Honestly, I didn't feel like talking about Kyle right now either. "Anyways, it's your turn."

"Whatever dude, just seemed like it was bothering you. Either way, I'm here if you want to talk about it," Kenny replied before moving to take my place on the bench. "Okay, how do we do this?"

I chuckled lightly at this. I do have to admire Kenny's ability to know when to not push on sensitive subjects. "Well, this is your first time bench pressing, so let's start light. The bar itself is almost 40, so maybe 10 or 20 extra pounds?"

"Wha? I can do more than that! I'm sure I can at least do almost as much as you," Kenny replied with a childish whine, reminding me vaguely of Kyle's younger brother for a moment. "C'mon at least let me try."

I shrugged. Worst that can happen is he drops it on his neck and I have to rescue him. "Alright dude, go for it. I'll spot you."

"Alright!" Kenny stretched out his knuckles, causing them to emit a harsh cracking sound. "You might be the star football player. But I'm the true biggest player in the school." He flashed me a cocky grin before leaning back and firmly placing his hands on the bar. "Watch and be amazed."

I held back a laugh as he began to push the bar off of the hinges, emitting a harsh grunt and his face visibly straining. I admit, I had little faith in him being successful - newbies normally can't do this much unless they are already really athletic, but he was able to successfully push it up. He began to lower it to his chest, he's actually doing alright, maybe he can –

"Whoa!" My hands shot forward, grabbing the bar just before it hit his neck. He reached his threshold and down it went. "Told you you should start lighter," I reprimanded as I placed the bar back on its hinges.

"Yeah, whatever, we can't all be muscle-bound football players like you," Kenny huffed out indignantly as he sat back up. "All right, give me the 20 pounds."

I chuckled, a smile twinging at the corner of my mouth. "Probably the better choice." Kenny is ridiculous sometimes, at least this is taking my mind off of the whole mess with Kyle.

"Okay, round 2!" Kenny exclaimed after we finished removing the excess weight, laying back down and clutching the now-lighter bar.

"Careful!" I managed between a huff of laughter as Kenny ungracefully shoved the bar off of the hinges. "It's a better workout if you go slow."

"Yeah, yeah I got it," Kenny replied in an overly confident tone, failing to slow down his pace at all.

I simply snorted in response, opting not to correct his poor form. At least he can actually lift this one.

I jumped slightly as I heard the door to the weight room creak open, feeling the atmosphere change as another entered the room. I felt my face drop as soon as I looked up to see who it was… pretty much the last person I wanted to see right now.

"Oh, pardon me," Adrian drawled out in an overly polite tone, his accent thick. "I didn't expect anyone else to be in here."

And just when my mood was starting to improve too.

"Yeah, we come here almost every day after school." I forced an awkward smile, finding it increasingly difficult to look him in the eyes without feeling the overwhelming urge to punch him in the face.

"I was pleasantly surprised to find this school had a weight room that was open to students," Adrian spoke, rubbing the curve of one of the weights in an almost affectionate fashion. "Certainly was not expecting it considering how poor this school appears to be."

"Surprised you don't have your own weight room at that huge house of yours," Kenny piped in, sitting up and grinning.

"Ah, well you'd think, but my parents decided that that was not at the top of their priority when looking for a house, unfortunately for me," Adrian shrugged. "They wouldn't be in town often enough to use it anyways, even if we did have one."

"Huh, that must be hard for you," Kenny replied with subtle sarcasm – Adrian may not be able to pick up on it, but I certainly could. Kenny never did like it when rich people flaunted their expensive shit in front of him.

"Hmm, yes…" Adrian replied in a cautious tone… Maybe he did pick up on it. "So, why isn't Kyle here too?" Adrian continued after a long pause. "I thought you guys were… friends?"

I felt my body tense at the mention of Kyle's name. I didn't feel like talking about what happened with him to Kenny, so there's no way I want to talk about him with this asshole. "He has an after school activity he attends," I forced out awkwardly.

"Oh really? He did not mention this," Adrian replied, quirking a single eyebrow. "What activity? I may have to check it out."

"It's karate," I bit out begrudgingly through gritted teeth after a short pause.

I was half tempted to lie, but at the same time, the prospect of Adrian possibly getting beaten to a pulp by the others in the club was oddly satisfying. He certainly doesn't look like he could win any fights.

Adrian made a quiet humming sound before responding. "I will definitely have to check into this, but for now I'm here and I want to test out this weight room. Can't allow myself to start getting flabby."

Kenny stood up from the bench press machine and Adrian moved to take his place, adding more weight to the bar before laying down and clutching it. "Would one of you mind spotting me?" He asked, accent thick as ever, peering up at us from under the bar.

Ugh. Who invited him to work out with us?

I glanced at Kenny, who held up his hands in defense. "Gotta be you man, I think it was already proven I can't lift that much." He paused for a moment, glancing around. "I'm gonna go over here and check out that leg machine," he finished, pointing with his thumb towards a leg press machine at the other side of the room.

He offered me a sympathetic smile before walking away, prompting scowl from me. Why on earth did I even let him spot me if he can't even lift what Adrian is benching? I sighed, turning to face the bench.

"Going to be you then? …. Stan, is it?" Adrian asked.

"Yep. Go for it," I responded shortly.

Although I can't 100% guarantee I won't let him suffocate if that bar falls on his neck.

I watched him lift the bar and lower it to his chest with relative ease. I do have to admit, he does have some tone. Doesn't make him any less of an annoying asshole though.

And at least I can still bench more than him.

…

To Be Continued…