Once I am instead my car I pull out my phone to call Kenny. I am happy when he answers on the first ring.
"What's happening! You excited that your lover is in town for the next couple of months."
"Kenny, seriously, not right now. I wanted to ask you did you hang out with Kyle a lot before he left?" I decide to get straight to the point. Despite my happy moment with Kyle he seemed more upset than usual.
"As much as I could. You know my work hours are all over the place."
"I know. I mean he just got here and him and Catherine are fighting. I mean dude it was so bad I actually thought Kyle was going to put his hands on her."
"Kyle would never do that but she must have pissed him off. I have never seen him yell at her. What happened?"
"She found some kind of papers that Kyle didn't want her to see."
"Does it have to do with you and Kyle?"
"Hell no, I would have told you if we were outed. She started screaming at him about his contract and what not. He was about to start crying, the whole thing was just awful." I can hear Kenny sigh. "What? What do you know that you are not telling me?"
"I didn't tell you everything. I mean I was hoping Kyle got better but maybe he didn't."
"Spit it out Kenny!" I said getting closer to my home.
"Kyle had depression man. I am not talking about the him being depressed after you stopped talking to him either. He was diagnosed with depression. Catherine doesn't know about that. Kyle didn't want her to know since they had only been dating a few months. He was afraid it would scare her off."
"How bad of a depression are we talking here?"
"I can't say too much. It would probably be best to hear it from him. I am sure that accident was not an accident. It's the main reason I told you to continue being with him besides the fact that I know you love him and he loves you. I actually think you are the one piece that is keeping him grounded." My heart becomes heavy. Knowing that me not talking to him had him wanting to kill himself makes me feel ill. I am the reason Kyle went back to his deep state of depression. "I mean he was taking medicine but nothing too strong." I think back to all the pills I had to grab for him back at the house. Those pills were out in the open. How could Catherine not see all of those pills?
"Oh my god,"
"Don't panic Stan. This started way before you even came into the picture. This is not your fault. He was struggling to hang on. I think it's the main reason why he wanted to rekindle your friendship but I guess he wanted more than that."
"And no one else knows about this?" I ask.
"No one," replied Kenny.
"Sad thing is I convinced him to patch things up with Catherine. I mean she looked upset, he was upset. I mean he does have to live with this woman."
"You are a much bigger man than me," replied Kenny. "I would have been trying to convince him to end the marriage."
"He is getting to that point on his own," I replied turning into my drive way. "I mean like I said they appear to be fighting a lot. I think he is tired of her bossing him around. I am surprised he didn't get annoyed sooner."
"He was too busy trying to get well," replied Kenny. "It probably helped that he has been sleeping with you too."
"We do more than sleep with each other," I say defiantly getting out of my car. I unlock my door heading into my kitchen once I am sure my front door is locked and closed. You can never be too careful.
"I know, I am just stating the obvious," I continue to talk to Kenny as I prepare dinner for Kyle and I. We are going to need to have a serious talk. The least I can do is butter him up with food and wine. I have everything ready to go. I sit down on sofa getting comfortable and ready to work on my new series. I decided to write stories of adventures I went on with Kenny, Cartman and Kyle when we were kids. I know it sounds corny but man we went through some serious shit as kids.
I decide to write about the satellite that came out of Cartman's ass. I still don't fully understand that but I learned living here sometimes it is best not to ask questions. I am getting into the story when I hear the doorbell. I don't look out the door because I know it is Kyle.
"Smells good in here," said Kyle walking inside. Once the door is closed and locked he palms my face kissing me. I feel myself blushing because he always treats me as if we new lovers every time I see him.
"Kyle," I say into the kiss. "I cooked dinner for us, healthy dinner at that." Kyle pulls out of the kiss.
"Wonderful! I am sure Catherine is in search for a chef for our time here in South Park." Kyle walks over to the kitchen and sees the food has been plated and his wine waiting for him. "I could get use to this." I laughed joining him at the table I barely eat at all as I am too busy focuses on how I am going to bring things up. Once we are settled in I ask him about his wife.
"So how was your talk with Catherine?" I asked.
"It went okay," replied Kyle grabbing his wine glass. "I mean she told me she was sorry for snooping and she wouldn't tell anyone. She even let me see her phone which I don't trust. She could have easily deleted anything she didn't want me to see."
"At least you are headed in the right direction,"
"Yeah maybe," sighed Kyle. "You know your author name was not creative at all."
"How so?" I ask amused trying not to get distracted.
"Marshall Broflovski," says Kyle. "You know how rare it is for anyone to have the last name Broflovski. How did you come up with the name?"
I finish chewing a bite of my salmon before responding. "I used my last name but turned it into something that sounded like a first name." I blush slightly I am sure since my face feels warm. "I wanted to feel closer to you in some way so I used your last name." Kyle smiled.
"I love that," I clear my throat before continuing.
"I spoke with Kenny today," I say as I cut into the salmon for another bite. I am starting to feel sick. I don't know how to word this.
"How is Kenny?" asked Kyle digging into his food.
"He is fine. He was explaining to me you had some depression last year," I can see Kyle's face become red. "Please don't be mad at him, I asked him. I was really worried about you." Kyle shakes his head before drinking some wine.
"It's hard for me to talk about," he explained. "I am a professional basketball player. What do I have to be depressed about."
"Lots of things," I suggest. "I mean not everyone is made to be in that kind of environment." Kyle takes a deep breath looking down at his plate.
"I hate it," he admits. "I thought I would be happy but I'm not. After I missed the winning shot and my team started to treat me like shit. I just lost it. Catherine and I had only been together 5 or 6 months. I felt like I had no reason to be happy. She helped me through most of it. Something still felt missing." Kyle looks at me and I can only assume that he is talking about me. I look away feeling uncomfortable although deep down I know he is talking about me.
"You should do what makes you happy Kyle. I don't know what that is for you but that is what you should do." Kyle looks thoughtful.
"You don't view me any differently?"
"No," I replied. "I mean I knew something was off since we started talking again. You weren't that good at hiding it. The only thing that scares me is that you tried to kill yourself that day in the car."
"I had a moment of weakness," explained Kyle. "It was a really rough week. We weren't talking. Nothing felt right, everything felt wrong." I can't relate to what he is saying but a tiny part of me can.
"Well everything is getting better now, right?" I asked. Kyle smiled.
"Now I am back here in South Park, yes. I just need to ensure Catherine stays happy." All I can think about is him fucking her and giving her money to make her happy. I decide not to voice that opinion. We finish dinner somewhat quietly. Kyle is trying to figure out when he can get back over to see me. I advise him to go home tonight. He doesn't want to of course, he wants to stay with me. I can't send him back smelling like sex so I blow him and send him on his way. After what I heard tonight it really is his best interest to divorce Catherine.