I hope people are enjoying this story. I'd really like people to review so that I know what you guys think. I like having feedback, and it keeps me wanting to write. So, please review?

Disclaimer: the poll still stands (since nobody reviewed last chapter). Until then, I'll play it safe and keep the disclaimer up. I do not own South Park or its characters. However, I may own a pizza shop, but you will never know where or if I'm lying or not, muahahahaha!

Enjoy!

Because You're Always There

Chapter Two

"I… I don't think we can let you in," the teacher stammered slightly as we presented our tickets. "I mean, don't we have… rules against this?"

"This is the prom, isn't it?" I asked, haughtily, putting my hands on my hips. "This is supposed to be the best night or our teenage lives. And you're going to deny us it?"

"Stan," Kyle mumbled, tugging at my arm. "Maybe he's right. Maybe we should just leave it. I'm sure we can just go out to eat or something."

"We paid for our tickets, we should be allowed in!" I growled at both of them. A crowd had started to gather around us; the whispers were deafening as they flooded over us. Kenny stood with his date like a barrier, sort of like a body guard to keep the crowds at bay. Everyone knew he'd have no problem fighting anyone if they got too close.

"Yeah, but… the rules," the teacher started again, playing nervously with his hands. This was ridiculous! Here we were, preparing for this night just like any other couple would, stressing and paying all the money, in cash no less… here, ten feet from the door, and this guy wouldn't let us in! Well, I wasn't having any of it!

"We already talked it over with the Principle," I explained, trying to keep myself as calm as possible. "He said the same thing about there being rules. But we proved him wrong. Our school doesn't say anything about two males going to prom together. It's just that no one's challenged it before. Everyone has always thought it was just forbidden. Well it isn't! So let us in!"

"Stan, lower your voice," Kyle mumbled, clinging to me timidly. I'd never seen him this nervous before. It wasn't like him. "I don't think we should push it. I have a bad feeling about tonight, I already told you that."

I pulled him closer and smoothed out his thick, red hair soothingly. I adjusted my tie and cleared my throat, presenting our admissions right in the teacher's face. "Here are our tickets," I spat. "We're going in. If you want to stop us, then go ahead and try. But we're going in."

I tucked the two slips of paper into the awe struck man's coat pocket and brushed past him, holding on to Kyle with all my might. I may have sounded confident, but I was scared as hell that the teacher would stop us. I felt my breath go ragged as I pushed the door open and guided Kyle through. Building up all the gumption I had left, I turned around for one last glare toward the gaggle of teens behind us. They all took a step back in fear and I saw Kenny chuckle under his breath. Satisfied, I turned back around and shut the door behind us.

"We made it!" Kyle shouted over the booming music, his face bright and smiling.

"I told you," I scolded, jabbing him playfully. "I'd get us in. And look, I did!"

"Seventy dollars each," Kyle mused, smoothing out his tux. "And they don't refund tickets. My wallet wouldn't have been able to recover from such a blow!" We both laughed at our mutual poverty. At first spending every dime we made over the summer on this prom seemed like a really stupid idea. But now that we were there… we couldn't be happier.

I leaned over my boyfriend's head and kissed him pertly on the lips. He blushed and shoved me away. "So many people," he murmured, his eyes darting across the room.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Wouldn't want to make them all jealous, would we?"

"Stop it," Kyle joked, hitting me across the shoulder. "So… now that we're here… what do we do?"

"Dance, what else, stupid?" I grinned. How cute he looked in the raving room, the pulsating beams of light surrounding Kyle in brief bursts of illumination.

"I don't dance," he countered, his white teeth showing through his embarrassed smile. Even in this light I could see his face growing redder.

"Then what was all that practicing for?" I turned and tried to lead him into the sea of swaying bodies, but he let go of my hand and ran for a table piled with things I couldn't make out, propped against the wall. "Kyle!" I called, thinking his nervousness had gotten the best of him.

"Stan," he echoed my name back to me. He turned around from the table to face me, grinning ear to ear and held up a bouquet. "You forgot your flowers!"

"What?" I called, barely able to hear him from so far away.

"You forgot your flowers, Stan!"

"For…got?" I asked, looking up, my head clouded and dazed.

"Forgot, forgot, forgot," Kyle mocked, tapping my head with his fist. "You forgot to water your flowers again, dummy!" I gazed out toward the white walls of my hospital room. Another day dream. They were becoming more and more frequent now a days.

My eyes finally fell onto the bone dry vase and the wilting flowers within. "I thought I asked you to water them for me," I challenged, staring down Kyle with as serious a face as I could muster.

He returned the looked, only ten times more successfully. "And I thought I told you," he countered, his hands resting behind his back. "That you won't learn how to take care of anything if I always do it for you. If you're so hell bent on keeping these things, then you'd better water them!"

Kyle pointed towards the bouquet, their petals dim and grey. "Can't you see, Stan? They're dead already. Maybe you should just let go." That last sentence rang through my soul like a tolling bell, and I clenched my hands into fists.

"I'm not letting them go!" I shouted angrily. "I thought of all people, you, Kyle would be able to understand what those flowers meant to me!"

"Okay," Kyle replied, softly, a fragile smile spreading over his lips. "I understand." There was a slight pause as each of us calmed down and Kyle's normal demeanor eventually returned. He simpered again and said, "I have something that might cheer you up." He reached around the doorway outside into the hallway and brought back out a wicker basket.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You bet!" Kyle answered, throwing off the tea towel covering the basket. "Ta da! Fresh baked bread!"

I extended my hands and took hold of the warm loaf that was about the size of a small Frisbee and nearly squealed with excitement. "Oh my god, Kyle, you're so amazing!" I complemented, my mouth running a mile a minute. "We don't ever get anything this nice at the cafeteria, you just made my day and – hey… wait."

"W-what is it?" Kyle asked, bringing his hands instinctively in front of his face as if to block from an attack. "Is something wrong? There can't be, I worked so hard on it!" I slowly lifted my head and leered at Kyle with all my will power.

"This isn't made of potatoes, is it?"

There was about a minute of awkward silence before Kyle let out a sigh. "First off, that's called latke… and second of all, no you asshole! I'm not that big of a Jew."

"Can you blame me for trying to be careful?" I reprimanded, taking a piece of the non-potato bread in my hand and popping it deftly in my mouth. Kyle jumped up onto the bed and got to his knees, his legs spread out so that mine were in-between his. He lowered his back and splayed his hands onto the mattress so that his face was mere inches from my blushing cheeks.

"I think you seriously under appreciate the Jewish lifestyle," he mumbled, and I felt the heat of his minty breath tingle the end of my nose. "The instant you get out of this hospital, I'm going to make you the most authentic Jew meal to ever grace your horribly misguided eyes. Complete with latke, matzo, Gefilte fish, and maybe even some borscht if you behave well…. It'll be sure to put any hamburger or hotdog to shame."

"I don't know…" I mused, brushing my hand through his thick, red hair, both of us keeping our faces adamant and unchanging. "It looks to me like I have plenty of authentic Jew right in front of me. One that I could eat everyday of my life."

"You're a fucking tease," Kyle smirked, nipping my bottom lip before sitting up again.

"Let's go eat this somewhere else," I yawned. "I'm tired of being in this bed." The red headed beauty in front of me looked shocked as I wriggled my way out from underneath him. I placed my bare feet on the cold tile and felt a shiver course through my veins. After the initial icy blast, I eventually got used to the feeling and turned around to ask if Kyle was coming or not.

"Should you be out of bed?" he asked, truly concerned.

"Kyle, I've been able to walk fine for about six months now," I explained, my hands on my hips. "Seriously, I have no idea why I'm still in this hospital."

Kyle slinked from the bed and onto the floor, his eyes worried and sad. He pursed his lips in thought and held his hands behind his back, just like he always did. "Well…" he started, tilting his head cutely. "At least wear some slippers or something. I don't want you getting sick."

After applying some socks, the two of us left for the courtyard down on the first floor of the building. It was possibly the most spectacular part of the entire hospital. It resembled a green house what with its glass walls and warm atmosphere; plant life sprouting from the very soil, unhindered by the weather.

As we walked through the halls, I saw Jim talking to a man in a denim uniform, an equipment belt strapped snuggly to his stout form. I figure he had to be a plumber or something of that occupation. Jim stole his attention away for a second to nod in my general direction, silently acknowledging my existence.

"I won't be able to fix it for a few days," the plumber guy was saying, just loud enough for me to hear. "Until then the grate stays off, you hear?"

"I understand what you're trying to tell me," Jim growled in a low voice, seemingly very annoyed. "But I don't think you understand. You know what kind of place this is! We have people who-" He stopped and looked at me again, his eyes narrowing. He took the other man by the shoulder and turned their backs to me, so I could no longer hear them.

Kyle called my name and my curiosity was immediately shattered. I shrugged off the scene that was before me and returned to Kyle's side. But not before my eyes laid momentarily on an open vent on the ground next to the plumber. It looked to me as if it led to the outside….

"Have you been eating?" Kyle asked as he stood in front the glass door that opened up to the courtyard.

"Besides what you bring me?" I asked, rhetorically. "Yeah, but only late at night. Abigail stays here all night, and when I wake up, she's always in the cafeteria and makes me something to eat. For some reason I always get hungry late at night."

"Midnight meals are never good for you, you know," Kyle countered, glaring at me. "Maybe I should stop bringing you things so that you eat when you're supposed to."

"Nah, I wouldn't want that," I laughed. "Aren't we gonna go in?"

"Could you possibly be a gentleman for once an open the door for your boyfriend?" Kyle shot back, grinning. I shook my head and pulled open the courtyard's door, bowing low in mock servant hood. Kyle returned the joke by walking triumphantly through, and if I hadn't known any better, I could have sworn he was royalty.