p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"strongChapter 13/strong/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"January 24supth/sup Con'D/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Eric sat in silence as Kyle sped down the twists and turns of some road that Eric hadn't memorized. His finger tapped at the steering wheel as he stared ahead. He was still obviously pissed. His lips pursed angrily as he glared at the road—Eric was sure that had the pavement been a person, they would have gone up in flames./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Yet, Eric couldn't turn his eyes off the redhead. There was something about the way that his face still splotchy from the bursting of small vessels in his face. Or the way his eyes were still flickering with a deep seated rage for something that probably should have been solved with sitting down and actually talking./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Oh wait./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"They had tried that./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Eric sighed and glanced out the side window to watch the trees pass instead./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""He didn't hit her," Kyle hissed, his fingers wrapped tighter around the wheel. "That was me. She pissed me off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""You shouldn't hit a woman," Eric bristled. Rarely would he stand up for anyone. At least not in front of a group of his peers. And yet.../p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Then I guess it's a good thing she isn't a woman," Kyle growled back. He turned the wheel sharply, pulling the truck off to the side of a road. "She's a bitch who can't handle someone else being happy."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Sounds familiar enough," Eric grunted throwing his door open. He climbed out, eyes glancing over the seemingly endless sea of trees; pines, spruces, leafless oaks, cedar. It would have been any nature loving hippies dream. In its own sense, it was beautiful. To Eric Cartman, it was proof of his entrapment. No one left South Park, and there was a reason. How could they? How could they manage to find their way out of a town that was surrounded by trees that looked so damn similar?/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Cartman," Kyle sighed brushing a hand over his face. "I didn't..."He walked around the truck and leaned against the hood. The engine underneath sizzled and hissed with released heat and energy. "I didn't bring you out here so we could fight about what is right or wrong about what happened. Because you were just as wrong as I was."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""It doesn't fucking matter. It's done. You're a woman hitter, don't let it stain your perfect reputation." The brunette crossed his arms over his chest. If he looked like a child he didn't particularly care. He could be a damned petulant brat for what it was worth. If it got his point across, then he was not above it./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Cartman," Kyle hissed. His red curls bristled on end as if he preparing for an attack. Hell, if Eric had the energy, he probably would have been revving for some more fist on face action. With everything that he had bottled up—rather unhealthily—the tension was getting really close to bubbling over. Hell, Eric could already feel the bubbles sliding up his throat and oozing out of his pores./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I don't want to fight," Kyle sighed softly. He closed his eyes, and let his hands drop to his waist. His shoulders slumped forward, and everything about him screamed defeat. "I'm actually really tired of fighting, if I'm honest with myself."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""You're tired of fighting? So what? Why does that matter to me?" Play it selfishly. That's what he expects. That's what he deserves, because Eric had tried to be selfless with him. He had done his part of keeping Kyle safe from himself and from others./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Because, you fucking fatass!" Kyle snapped turning to glare at him. Or at least, he had intially meant to. But there was something about Eric's face. Something there that meant Eric wasn't actually looking for a fight. He was pretending to be an asshole because that's exactly what the redhead expected. "Because...I..."He brushed his hand through his hair and worried his lip. He was fighting for the right words to say./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Because you don't know how to feel?" The brunette sighed moving to stand beside the man who had driven them to the middle of a mountain when they could have gone to anywhere in South Park. "Because you've got so much resting on you that you're afraid? Guess what Broflovski...You're not the only one."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I know..."Kyle nodded solemnly. "I know...I've been selfish...but..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""But nothing. You have to accept it," Eric sighed and pushed himself against the truck. The pressure of the metal on his back eased some of his anxiety. "Or else you can't move on. You'll be trapped in this endless circle."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Like you?" Kyle turned pursing his lips. He placed himself in front of the brunette. "You kissed me that day...and when I kissed you back you shoved me."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I did what was best." Eric clenched his jaw and stared forward. If he didn't look into those intoxicating eyes, then he wouldn't fall. He wouldn't cave in to the intense desire to see them closed in a pleasure that he knew he could bring./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""How do you know what's best in a situation that involves two people?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Because, Broflovski...You're supposed to hate me with a burning passion because I'm an asshole."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I hated you with a burning passion because you were an asshole. And then Kenny started opening up his stupid mouth, and telling me that you're not. He told me that someone else had drugged me at the party and probably would have had a hell of a lot of fun if you hadn't got him."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""And we come back to that," A pressure headache was starting to form behind his eyes. He was walking in circles and picking up the pace. He'd get nowhere if he let the conversation continue, and he's get there pretty damn fast and exhausted. "It was a fluke."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Was it though? Because I've been watching you Eric," Kyle leaned in as if he could intimidate the larger boy into a submissive state. "And you're not what everyone thinks. I've gone back and thought about a lot of the stupid shit you did in elementary school, and in junior high, and when we were freshman. And I noticed something..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"The pressure built. The pain was starting to split his head. It jabbed into his brain with a finality. This conversation was going to be the end of him. He wanted to end it. His heart was beating too fast. His blood pressure was starting to sky rocket./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I noticed that you're not an asshole. You just wanted attention." Kyle shoved a finger into his chest. Instead of pulling it back, to shove it back again, he left it. Instead of shoving it through his chest and straight into his heart, Kyle rested his entire hand on his chest. "You just..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I love you." Eric spat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Oh there it goes./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"His heart stopped in his chest./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"One./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Two./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Three./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Four./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Nope he was still alive. What the fuck Death? If someone's heart stops, that should automatically mean they're dead./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Kyle floundered for a moment. He drowned under the weight of what was said, but he regained his posture rather quickly. Certainly, faster than Cartman was gathering himself./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"But fuck it./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"He could be a mess for once in his life./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"It was too exhausting always being put together, held tight only with a thing strand of floss. Pull it too tight, and it'd slice his skin and make him bleed. Loosen it, and the cavities would sink in. Eventually, he'd break down like a tooth and dissolve into nothing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Like he was currently doing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""You what?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I'm not saying it again."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Eric...I..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Shut the fuck up."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""No, you shut the fuck up! You don't get to just blurt shit like that!" Kyle threw his hands up nearly losing his balance in the process. Out of instinct, Eric reached out and tugged the redhead snug against his chest. It was only meant to stop him from falling. It was only...Oh fuck it. Eric kissed Kyle...again./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"January 24supth/sup Con'D/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Eric sat in silence as Kyle sped down the twists and turns of some road that Eric hadn't memorized. His finger tapped at the steering wheel as he stared ahead. He was still obviously pissed. His lips pursed angrily as he glared at the road—Eric was sure that had the pavement been a person, they would have gone up in flames./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Yet, Eric couldn't turn his eyes off the redhead. There was something about the way that his face still splotchy from the bursting of small vessels in his face. Or the way his eyes were still flickering with a deep seated rage for something that probably should have been solved with sitting down and actually talking./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Oh wait./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"They had tried that./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Eric sighed and glanced out the side window to watch the trees pass instead./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""He didn't hit her," Kyle hissed, his fingers wrapped tighter around the wheel. "That was me. She pissed me off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""You shouldn't hit a woman," Eric bristled. Rarely would he stand up for anyone. At least not in front of a group of his peers. And yet.../p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Then I guess it's a good thing she isn't a woman," Kyle growled back. He turned the wheel sharply, pulling the truck off to the side of a road. "She's a bitch who can't handle someone else being happy."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Sounds familiar enough," Eric grunted throwing his door open. He climbed out, eyes glancing over the seemingly endless sea of trees; pines, spruces, leafless oaks, cedar. It would have been any nature loving hippies dream. In its own sense, it was beautiful. To Eric Cartman, it was proof of his entrapment. No one left South Park, and there was a reason. How could they? How could they manage to find their way out of a town that was surrounded by trees that looked so damn similar?/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Cartman," Kyle sighed brushing a hand over his face. "I didn't..."He walked around the truck and leaned against the hood. The engine underneath sizzled and hissed with released heat and energy. "I didn't bring you out here so we could fight about what is right or wrong about what happened. Because you were just as wrong as I was."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""It doesn't fucking matter. It's done. You're a woman hitter, don't let it stain your perfect reputation." The brunette crossed his arms over his chest. If he looked like a child he didn't particularly care. He could be a damned petulant brat for what it was worth. If it got his point across, then he was not above it./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Cartman," Kyle hissed. His red curls bristled on end as if he preparing for an attack. Hell, if Eric had the energy, he probably would have been revving for some more fist on face action. With everything that he had bottled up—rather unhealthily—the tension was getting really close to bubbling over. Hell, Eric could already feel the bubbles sliding up his throat and oozing out of his pores./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I don't want to fight," Kyle sighed softly. He closed his eyes, and let his hands drop to his waist. His shoulders slumped forward, and everything about him screamed defeat. "I'm actually really tired of fighting, if I'm honest with myself."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""You're tired of fighting? So what? Why does that matter to me?" Play it selfishly. That's what he expects. That's what he deserves, because Eric had tried to be selfless with him. He had done his part of keeping Kyle safe from himself and from others./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Because, you fucking fatass!" Kyle snapped turning to glare at him. Or at least, he had intially meant to. But there was something about Eric's face. Something there that meant Eric wasn't actually looking for a fight. He was pretending to be an asshole because that's exactly what the redhead expected. "Because...I..."He brushed his hand through his hair and worried his lip. He was fighting for the right words to say./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Because you don't know how to feel?" The brunette sighed moving to stand beside the man who had driven them to the middle of a mountain when they could have gone to anywhere in South Park. "Because you've got so much resting on you that you're afraid? Guess what Broflovski...You're not the only one."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I know..."Kyle nodded solemnly. "I know...I've been selfish...but..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""But nothing. You have to accept it," Eric sighed and pushed himself against the truck. The pressure of the metal on his back eased some of his anxiety. "Or else you can't move on. You'll be trapped in this endless circle."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Like you?" Kyle turned pursing his lips. He placed himself in front of the brunette. "You kissed me that day...and when I kissed you back you shoved me."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I did what was best." Eric clenched his jaw and stared forward. If he didn't look into those intoxicating eyes, then he wouldn't fall. He wouldn't cave in to the intense desire to see them closed in a pleasure that he knew he could bring./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""How do you know what's best in a situation that involves two people?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Because, Broflovski...You're supposed to hate me with a burning passion because I'm an asshole."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I hated you with a burning passion because you were an asshole. And then Kenny started opening up his stupid mouth, and telling me that you're not. He told me that someone else had drugged me at the party and probably would have had a hell of a lot of fun if you hadn't got him."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""And we come back to that," A pressure headache was starting to form behind his eyes. He was walking in circles and picking up the pace. He'd get nowhere if he let the conversation continue, and he's get there pretty damn fast and exhausted. "It was a fluke."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Was it though? Because I've been watching you Eric," Kyle leaned in as if he could intimidate the larger boy into a submissive state. "And you're not what everyone thinks. I've gone back and thought about a lot of the stupid shit you did in elementary school, and in junior high, and when we were freshman. And I noticed something..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"The pressure built. The pain was starting to split his head. It jabbed into his brain with a finality. This conversation was going to be the end of him. He wanted to end it. His heart was beating too fast. His blood pressure was starting to sky rocket./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I noticed that you're not an asshole. You just wanted attention." Kyle shoved a finger into his chest. Instead of pulling it back, to shove it back again, he left it. Instead of shoving it through his chest and straight into his heart, Kyle rested his entire hand on his chest. "You just..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I love you." Eric spat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Oh there it goes./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"His heart stopped in his chest./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"One./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Two./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Three./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Four./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Nope he was still alive. What the fuck Death? If someone's heart stops, that should automatically mean they're dead./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Kyle floundered for a moment. He drowned under the weight of what was said, but he regained his posture rather quickly. Certainly, faster than Cartman was gathering himself./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"But fuck it./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"He could be a mess for once in his life./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"It was too exhausting always being put together, held tight only with a thing strand of floss. Pull it too tight, and it'd slice his skin and make him bleed. Loosen it, and the cavities would sink in. Eventually, he'd break down like a tooth and dissolve into nothing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;"Like he was currently doing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""You what?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""I'm not saying it again."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Eric...I..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""Shut the fuck up."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal;""No, you shut the fuck up! You don't get to just blurt shit like that!" Kyle threw his hands up nearly losing his balance in the process. Out of instinct, Eric reached out and tugged the redhead snug against his chest. It was only meant to stop him from falling. It was only...Oh fuck it. Eric kissed Kyle...again./p