**Bit of a turning point in the story this one, had no idea I was going to write this bit before I did, so might be a while as I work out what I'm going to write in the next chapter. Enjoy :)**
A sudden gust of wind was what awoke Kyle, as he shivered and his eyes suddenly opened. The thin sheets only covered the bottom half of his body, with his chest still exposed. The only warmth came from the still sleeping Kenny lying next to him, with his arm still stretched around Kyle's waist and his smoky breath blowing softly on Kyle's cheek. His stomach felt sticky and as he rubbed his hand against it, white flakes fell off onto the bedspread. There was also a sweet salty taste in his mouth: Kenny's jizz. He grinned. Was this it? Were he and Kenny now… together?
Kyle's heart fluttered at the prospect of it. He and Kenny had shared some moments of pure love, pure compassion and now he was sure, more than he had ever been at any other moment in his life that this was the way it was meant to be. He reached back for the bottle of water that lay on Kenny's bedside cabinet, but as he did, his eyes were caught by the open window, showing a dark night sky and a gleaming moon. At the sight of this, Kyle sprung from the bed in a panic, leaving Kenny's arm to flop back onto the bed. He had completely forgotten the fact that his mom would want him to be home before nightfall and now at – gasp – 22:00, she would be having an absolute fit. He gathered his clothes, which were strewn around the room, hastily got back into them and then ran out of the room. Brushing aside Mrs McCormick's offers of another drink and informing her that Kenny was going to bed, he walked out onto the deserted street and began towards home, at a quick jog.
However, Kyle had never been good at running, due to a slight obsession with chocolate, so even before reaching the train track, his speed had been reduced to merely a quick walk. He would have to think up some cover story, something about losing track of the time and getting caught up in the blizzard. Yes, that would do. His mom would still be angry, but if he walked in shivering, hopefully she'd feel sorry for him and he wouldn't be punished. The thought of telling her the truth didn't even cross Kyle's mind, as even just mentioning Kenny would start his mom off again, saying how Kyle would be led astray if he spent time with 'that boy'.
Even though he had stopped running, the journey back to his house seemed much quicker than usual and in what seemed like no time at all, Kyle was standing in the back garden, staring up at the windows. To his relief, Kyle could see no lights on at all, meaning that everyone was already in bed and hadn't even thought to look in on him. Kyle calmly climbed the big tree at the side of the house, then jumped onto his window ledge, lifted the latch and slipped inside.
The darkness was even more absolute in his bedroom than it had been outside and Kyle merely stood silently by the window while his eyes adjusted. Yet suddenly he yelped and seemed to cower in shock, as a figure rose from a seat in the corner and turned to face the window. It was his mom.
"So," she said calmly, but Kyle could hear the hidden venom in her voice, "you think it's alright to arrive back home at this time of night?"
"I… I got held up," Kyle spluttered helplessly, for the moment he had opened his mouth, his mom had begun to shout.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU KYLE BROFLOVSKI! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO TRUST YOU NOW, BUT THEN YOU DON'T TURN UP UNTIL 3 HOURS AFTER YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE BACK AND WHAT SHOULD I THINK? YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED FOR ALL I KNOW! AND DO YOU CARE? YEAH, YOU'RE PROBABLY JUST OUT WITH YOUR MATES AND NOT SPARING ONE THOUGHT FOR YOUR DEAR OLD MOTHER, WHO ONLY HAS YOUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART. I'M VERY ASHAMED OF YOU KYLE!"
She paused for a moment, her face red. There was no sound from the rest of the house and Kyle assumed that Ike was merely feigning sleep, just to prevent his mother from turning on him as well. Kyle stared at the carpet.
"Well, I feel some sort of punishment is in order," his mother continued, her voice calmer now. Then she added, "You're grounded for 3 weeks."
On hearing the word 'grounded', Kyle looked up from the floor and stared at his mother, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"Grounded," he gasped, "But you can't ground me! I'm 15!"
His mom stared at him. "I'm your mother!" she said simply, "And I can do whatever the hell I like!" And with that, she turned and left, slamming the door ferociously behind her.
Kyle continued to stare at the spot where his mother had been. "Grounded…" he whispered again under his breath, and then collapsed on the bed, close to tears, bitter hatred filling him once more. What had he done to deserve this? Things had finally started to happen with Kenny and now it was going to be three weeks before they could get together again. Kyle pulled the pillow tightly around his head, as he wept silently. It was all just too much.
Much later, Stan lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, truly alone. The mere fact was that it had to come sooner or later, he'd known it for years. But why did it feel so goddamn awful? They had been so different, no matter how much he had pretended otherwise and yes, there had been arguments, but he would have never have thought that it would go this far. They had to break up, he saw that now. Yet maybe, if he had realised that an hour ago, it could have been different.
His left arm was still wrapped around the body that had now turned cold, his right still clutching her neck. She had always been the dominant one. But he had proved it. He could be dominant too.
Turning to the side, Stan closed Wendy's eyes with the index and middle finger of his right hand, and then planted a soft kiss on the lips that still seemed to scream out in fear.
What the fuck was he supposed to do now?