Ok, I figure since I am not going to be able to update very often during the week I might update as much as possible on the weekend's, so here is another chapter for your enjoyment.

Thankyou to all those who read and review, you are my guiding stars. Serious.

This is a nice long chapter so I hope you...

Enjoy!
Peeve

Chapter Five
One Breathe Away

Item One – Talk to Tweek

Tweek always leaves school fairly early, so I knew he would have to be the first item on my list. I jogged down to his locker room and quickly located him among the throng of students. It is always easier to find someone then it is to get to them in the afternoon. I attempted to push my way through the students with out much success. In the end I decided to just wait for him to come out himself.

I waited patiently by the door, wondering if maybe I should go talk to Bebe first, when suddenly he came flying out of the crowd. He skidded to a halt and shook his head.

"Hey Tweek."

"Gah!" He yelled, spinning around. He obviously hadn't noticed me when he had come out.

"Hey Tweek," I repeated "I was just wondering if I could have a word."

"Um... sure." He said

"Is everything ok?" I asked giving him the concerned look.

He looked at me as though he was slightly worried about what I was asking, "No."

"Because if there is anything, anything at all wrong, you can tell me."

"I would if there was something wrong, but everything is fine."

"It's just... you were acting a bit strange at Lunch and I was worried that-"

"I'm fine." Tweek said firmly. I had never heard him use that voice, and coming from Tweek it seemed a little bit out of place. I nodded, not wanting to upset him or get him angry. Whatever it was, it was obviously something I didn't want to deal with. I had seen the bad side of Tweek and I didn't want to provoke it again for a reason I didn't know.

"Alright then. Will I see you at the game?"

"Probably." He said "If not, I'll see you at Clyde's party."

"Yeah, see you." I said.

Item Two – Let Bebe Finish Her Story.

I quickly made my way down the hall to Bebe's locker. Bebe always hung around until pretty late so I wasn't too worried about missing her. As I had suspected, she and Wendy were talking outside of the locker-room.

"Hey Bebe... Wendy." I said

"Oh, hi. I was about to call you to see if you wanted to stay over my house." Wendy said "It will just be Bebe, Anne, you and me."

I hadn't been expecting that.

"Yeah, sure." I said with a smile, "But I'll have to pick up the boys from Rugby Practice."

Bebe and Wendy looked at each other and giggled.

"What?" I asked

"Who are you picking up?" Bebe asked

"Stan, Kyle, Clyde and Craig, I think." I said.

"Cool." Wendy said. "If you could just drop by and leave your things with us before you go pick them up, that's cool."

"Ok, see you tonight then." I said and turned and walked away. I was half way home before I realised I hadn't even asked Bebe what I had intended to. I shrugged and decided I could probably talk to her later that night anyway.

Item Three – Pick Up the Boys after Practice

Later that day, I packed my overnight bag and hauled it out to my car, a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. I put it in the boot then started up the car and drove to Wendy's. When I got there I popped the boot and got out my bag. I rang the bell and waited for someone to answer the door.

Wendy's house was one of the biggest in South Park, except perhaps Tokens, and her parents often went away from business leaving her in charge of house. She never through parties though, instead she would have the occasional sleepover like tonight. I had a feeling it was better then throwing parties.

Finally, Wendy pulled the door open and beamed at me.

"Hi Wendy, I'm just here to drop my things off." I said "They'll be finished in a few minutes."

"Ok, you can just put the stuff in my room." Wendy said closing the door behind me. Bebe waved from the floor of the lounge-room where she was sitting watching Dr Phil. I jogged upstairs and threw my bag in a corner of the room.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." I said running back outside to the car. I climbed in and started up the engine. Wendy waved as I drove off towards the football oval. When I got there the guys were already waiting for me. I pulled up and popped the boot so they could throw their bags in. I was pleased to see that they had all had showers already.

"Hi Guys." I said

"Hey Trace." They chorused

"Thanks for this Trace." Stan said.

"Shot-gun!" Clyde called.

"Remind me how old you are, Clyde?" Kyle said with a grin as he slid across the back seat into the middle.

Craig sat behind me and Stan sat behind Clyde after he closed the boot.

The drive was rather painless, thankfully. I was half-way to Craig's house when they desided to be stupid.

"Hey Trace!" Clyde said

"Yeah?"

"How fast can this thing go?"

"One hundred and thirty miles an hour." I said

I love my Impala, she is my most valuable possession, even though she can occasionally be a bit temperamental, I figure it's because my mum calls her names. She doesn't like it when you are mean to her... and she doesn't like being pushed to her limits I discovered that night.

We 'whooshed' down the highway at incredible speed and all five of us were silently urging her to go faster while yelling shouts of excitement and adrenalin. I always let myself get talked into situations like this. Always they turn out bad.

I had slowed right down to take a corner when she died. The four boys pushed her to Stan's house, where he let me have his car until Monday, when I could fix the Impala and I drove back to Wendy's house; the other boys decided they could find their own way home from Stan's.

Item Four – Survive The Night

I was let in by Wendy who seemed to notice the change in vehicle. She looked at me oddly.

"The Impala broke down." I said simply before walking into the lounge room and flopping into a chair.

"Your just in time, we were about to order pizza." Bebe said "What do you want?"

"Meat-lovers." I said.

"Alright then. I'll go order." Wendy said picking up the phone and walking out of the room.

"Is Anne not here yet?" I asked

"She's in the shower." Bebe said

"Ah ok." I said. There was a moment's silence before I continued, "So do you want to finish telling me what you were telling me this morning?"

"What?" She asked looking up.

"You know, whatever it was you were telling me about this morning." I said.

"Oh, right." She said, realisation dawning. "The thing about the girl."

"Yeah." I said

"What did we call her?"

"Sally."

"That's right." She said nodding thoughtfully. "Basically there are four guys who all like her and she doesn't know that they like her. How do I as her friend tell her about it?"

"How can she not know?" I asked with a frown.

"Well, she is this person who always worries about other people so I think she is a little bit, unable to comprehend when other people like her."

"How do you know that they like her?"

"I've seen the signs, they are quite obvious." She said "So I'm not just guessing."

"Oh..." I said thoughtfully. I wasn't really thinking about the problem at hand though; I was trying to figure out who Sally was. I had of course, assumed the story was about Bebe, but it obviously wasn't.

"Well, I guess I'd try to tell her in the abstract." I said "Like how you just told me."

"What if I've already tried that?"

"Then just tell her slowly over time." I said. "Either that or help the guys to tell her."

"I'm not you."

"I know... who is it? Maybe I could help."

"I have a feeling you can't," Bebe said. No-one had ever turned down an offer of help from me ever before.

At that moment Wendy walked back in.

"Pizza will be here in half-an-hour." She said flopping in a chair just as Anne came back downstairs.

"Now were all together we can do what we have gathered here to do." Wendy said. The other two grinning and I looked confused.

"What?" I asked.

"Make-over!" The three girls yelled.

I felt naked. They had waxed pretty much every square inch of my body which wasn't my head. My face, my arms, my stomach, my legs, my toes and... Everywhere else. I had, however, had my payback in that I got to rip the wax strips of Wendy and Bebe's legs already. Now I was preparing to rip one off Anne's leg. At that moment my phone rung and I went to answer. The caller ID said Kenny McCormack (Home).

"Hi Kenny."

"It's not Kenny, it's Kevin."

"Oh, hi Kevin. What's up?" I said tearing of the wax strip. Anne screamed.

"Is everything ok over there?"

"Yeah, were just waxing Anne's legs." I said. There was a moments silence.

"Anyway, it's Kenny. I think you should get over here."

"What is it?" I said walking out of the room, leaving Bebe and Wendy to calm Anne down. I was starting to feel worried.

"It's better if you come over. Dad's gone to the pub and Mum's in her room so you can just come in." He said

"Alright, I'll be over in a minute." I said. I hung up and shoved the phone in my pocket. I through on my jacket and headed for the front door.

"I'll be back in a little while." I said to Wendy "Don't wait up."

"Who is it?" Wendy asked. Bebe and Anne were still in the lounge room.

"Kenny. I'll be back."

Wendy just nodded and I left, closing the door behind me. I climbed into Stan's car and tried to find the right key. After inserting it and a few failed attempts to get the engine going it roared to life. I reversed, than drove down the street.

It was some time before I reached the train tracks that served as an unofficial divider between the poor community and the rest of South Park. The car shuddered slightly as I crossed and then there was Kenny's house. The only visible light seemed to be coming from a crackling TV. I parked the car, locked it then went up to the door. I took a deep breath, afraid of what I might see. I opened the door and stepped inside, closing it again behind me quietly. I silently crept towards Kenny's bedroom door. Kevin was sitting outside looking depressed.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"He won't let me in." Kevin said, not answering my question. I walked up and opened the door.

There is an unspoken rule in the poor community, there are never locks on doors so if the person in the room says you can't come in you don't go in. Not being from a poor community, I just walked in, closing the door behind me.

"Kenny?" I said, recognizing the blond curled up in the corner.

He looked up.

"Oh...shit...Trace." he said wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve. "Sorry."

I went and sat next to him, putting an arm around his waist.

"What is it Kenny?" I asked him.

"It's nothin'," he said with a sniff.

I gave him the look a reserved for people who said 'It is nothing.'

"Kenny, you can tell me." I said

He looked at me for a moment, and instead of saying anything, he lifted his shirt.

Long red cuts where all over him, and his sides were covered in bruises and welts.

"Oh my god." I said, gingerly touching one. "What happened?"

His eyes clouded over. "My dad."

"Shit Kenny." I said.

Over the past two years I had to deal with some pretty fucked up shit, but this was by far the worst. Having never dealt with anything like this before I was a little unsure what to do.

I put both my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. He began to cry sincerely, all of the torn up inner Kenny that no-one ever saw, and one I didn't ever want to see. I slipped a hand under his jacket to fell the cuts and welts in his skin. I felt tears well up in my own eyes. A little blood got on my fingers and I wiped it, unthinkingly on my pants.

"I'm sorry Trace." He said

"Don't be sorry Kenny. It isn't your fault." I said. I felt so angry and Mr McCormack for doing this to his son, I was prepared to kill him at that moment. I took deep breaths to calm myself down. I concentrated more on Kenny and the here and now. I concentrated on the pain. I cried for Kenny and he cried for himself.

It is easier to feel someone's pain when you have been through it yourself.

I nearly did cry. I always feel sorry for kids and teenagers when I hear about their child abuse.

Anyway, sorry about that.

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Peeve