A/N: Well guys...It's been a lot of fun! All of the conflicts had fixed themselves in this chapter, and I don't think it would be wise to try and force a few more chapters out! I hope everyone has enjoyed it!

Thanks for all of the love!

-Forthelore

Chapter 14

January 26th

Eric was feeling pretty on top of the world—finally. Kyle hadn't officially asked him out, but hey, he had a damn good make out session with him. It would have lead to more, but Kyle was still a virgin prude that didn't plan to let it get much past a hot make out.

And Eric was okay with that.

The only thing that could make it better was confronting Kenny and having it all turn out okay.

Lucky for him, Kenny had the same idea. The blonde waited for him on the front steps of the school. His hands twiddled nervously as he paced back and forth. Even from afar, Eric could tell that something was up. His blue eyes kept glancing up nervously at the parking lot; seeking out the brunette.

"Hey," Eric hummed quietly stepping up to the orange parka. Kenny nearly jumped out of his skin. His pallor had gone almost translucent.

"Hey," Kenny whispered glancing around anxiously.

Kenny had never been an anxious person. He had never sat around and twiddled his thumbs biting his lip as if he didn't know what to say or do. The blonde had always been as bright as the sun; shining in a brilliancy that had always blinded the brunette. It gave him anxiety to think that maybe the sun Kenny had always been, was crashing and burning. That was not something that Eric could deal with.

"You okay?" Eric grunted making sure to keep his face neutral and as unemotional as possible. Kenny always reacted better when he thought he was talking a board. Eric could understand. The blonde had never been an open book, no matter how much people thought otherwise. They could claim to know Kenny better than he knew himself, but they would always be surprised when Kenny was self destructive, or self depreciating.

Eric knew though. He understood better than anyone how it felt for people to assume they knew you. He had lived that profile for so long, that Eric began to believe what people were saying. Kenny had been there for his blow up—had pulled him up from his own ashes and helped him rebuild himself.

Kenny had kissed him, and it had made things awkward. But, by the looks of it, the blonde wanted to explain it. He looked like he wanted to make up and explain, and Eric owed him no less than an ear to listen.

"About the other day…." Kenny sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. All of his anxiety rested in his tense shoulders and his wandering feet. "About..."

"Calm down," Eric grabbed his friend by the shoulders and tugged him into a hug. "It's okay. I get it."

"I..you do?" Kenny glanced up. He had his lip pinned between his teeth. "Because...I...I panicked. You looked so sad and confused and..."

"And you wanted to help me by fixing it. I know," Eric nodded his head softly. His hand patted the blonde's back, probably a little harder than it should. But Kenny needed it. He needed that confirmation that he hadn't done anything to cause Eric to hate him.

And Eric would offer him that small comfort whenever he needed it.

"I...So we're cool? We're still friends?"

"Of course, dude." Eric snorted rolling his eyes. "I'm not gonna hate you just because I gave you a boner. Have you seen me? I'm damn fine."

This time Kenny laughed. It was the type of laugh that caused him to throw his head back, and his shoulders to shake. It was the kind of laugh that meant all of the anxiety and stress he had bundled up was released. The kind of laugh that made him more radiant and sunny than he had been. Eric would do anything to keep Kenny like that. The blonde deserved it.

"Shut the hell up," Kenny clapped Eric on his shoulder before breathing deeply to calm himself. "For real though, thanks."

"No problem." Eric nodded draping his arm over the blonde's shoulder. "Now lets get inside before the bell rings. I don't want to be late. I've missed enough school this month."

Even lunch went smoothly. Kyle had eased into the seat beside him and slipped his hand, secretively, into Eric's while he put food into his mouth. Kenny had kicked his shin with the worlds widest, shit eating grin. Eric simply rolled his eyes, squeezing Kyle's hand twice before digging into his own food.

And it was good.

Everything, for once in quite a long time, was good.

A lot had changed, and probably for the better. Kyle had an inkling of just who Eric really was. Hell, they weren't exactly dating, but they weren't exactly not dating either. They'd figure it out. If Kyle just wanted a fuck toy, well...Eric would be happy to do that for him too. Who wouldn't?

Kenny was back on track with who he was and where he needed to be. It had been one of the biggest reliefs of Eric's life. Even if he wouldn't admit that he was pretty damned worried about his friend. But that was par the course when one had to play the world's biggest asshole.

But the best part, was that he was happy.

And that was something that he hadn't been in a very long time.