"Gaiety is often the reckless ripple over depths of despair." - Edwin Hubbel Chapin
A day had passed without fail, bringing a chapter to a close, and opening a new one. Life was strange that way.
When Kyle threw that sugar shaker, it caused a ripple effect that altered the relationships in both Kyle and Eric's life, though it didn't appear imminent.
Haley had taken an early day off after the union meeting, meaning that she didn't hear of the incident until the next day. It had started like any other, with her greeting trusted and familiar employees at Eric's headquarters.
"Did Mr. Cartman get those papers yet?" she lazily inquired, not really looking at the fresh faced secretary by Eric's private office. The woman wore sharp and dark clothing, enticing visitors with her air of professionalism, but all of that lacked now. The woman, named Emily, fidgeted with the weight of the question.
Sensing withheld information, finally Haley looked away from her coffee mug.
"Y-you don't know, Ms. Haley?"
"Know what?" she had snapped, frustrated that something happened that she wasn't aware of, and that lowly Emily knew it before her. Emily wasn't worth the dirt underneath her high heels, how could she be? And yet here she was, begging for leftover scraps from her subordinate. It was enough for her to loose her cool facade, and boil with envy and shame.
"He's in the hospital. Some lunatic threw something at his face yesterday, I hear he has a broken nose."
"Wha..."
Emily continued on talking, "I'm sure he'll be fine, but everyone is shaken up by the event. It's kind of crazy, just imagine if it were a gun or something. Not that I..."
Haley couldn't hear the rest of the tumbling words, her mind shut down with the first sentence. She barely recognized the feel of the mug slipping from her grasp, warmed porcelain falling slowly to the ground where it sent scorching liquid flying. It shattered into a galaxy of potential weapons, the type that could have been used on Eric yesterday.
That teasing smirk of his flashed within her thoughts, taunting at the glimpse of being lost. She stepped away from the puddle, shoes crunching against the glass as she numbly walked towards the exit. If she heard Emily calling after her, confused and frightened, she didn't listen or care. Already her cell was out, sending a wave of texts and calls.
Eric snorted, leaning back to avoid the fuzzy red fabric shoved into his face. But no matter where he tried to adjust himself on the cot, those beady eyes seemed to follow his every move.
"Will you cut it out!" he warned, raising a fist.
"But Eric, I luv' you!"
Again it was pressed into his personal bubble, hard little plastic nose smacking his bruised cheek with an attempted kiss.
"Kenny" he growled, batting the teddy bear away from him; Kenny was determined, and he shifted out of the way with a smirk. In his hand was the teddy bear that he had bought at the hospital's gift shop, which had scarlet fur and a lop sided grin. It held a large heart to its chest with stout arms, which had the words, "I can't BEAR to see you hurt" stitched on.
Eric hoped that it'd burn in the deepest pits of hell, but until its untimely demise, Eric endured the bear's praise and kisses. And Kenny loved every minute of it. Each time Eric moved away, Kenny crooned even louder so the whole floor could hear.
A couple of nurses had come in to see what the fuss was about, and at the sight of Eric's pout and Kenny's grin, they had begun to take pictures. It had gotten to the point where the blonde told everyone about how they were lovers, and when Kenny was being harassed by some homophobic assholes, Eric had defended him. And as a consequence he was horribly disfigured.
"Hey! I'm not disfigured!" Eric shouted.
Kenny ignored him, whispering "He's so brave" to a particularly attractive nurse. And of course they ate it all up. The only bright side to the whole thing was the extra chocolate pudding cups Eric got, but that was it.
"How long do I have to stay here?" he had groaned once again, and the answer was the same as the other fifteen times.
"Two more hours for observation."
"Why?"
"Might have a concussion." Kenny shrugged, reaching over Eric's bed to snatch a baby carrot from the brunette's lunch. "You know you should eat something."
"Eat this garbage? No thank you."
Kenny leaned forward to pat the glaring man's knee, "But it's good for your eye sight."
"No it's not," Eric sniffed, "that's a fucking myth that idiots still think is true. Just like reading in a dimmed room will damage your eyes. Utter bullshit."
The room's door swung open, "That's what I was thinking."
Eric's attitude deepened into a murky sense of despair, topped off with a dash of humiliation.
Kyle rolled over, bringing himself closer to the comfort of his bed, and its blankets. Mr. Michaels had been gracious enough to give him a day off before his new start, something that he said would make Kyle's head clear up and ready to take on the fight once more.
Just as Kyle was opening his eyes against the current of streaming light, a buzz demanded attention from somewhere to the left. Still wrapped in the lounging attitude of just waking up, Kyle blindly searched for his cell on the bed stand.
Most of them were from Stan, some from Kenny and one from Eric. He went straight to Stan's, not even bothering to glance at the brunette's.
Hey, man. Where are u?
We took Cartman to a hospital on Queen street, u know, the one that has a jukebox for the older ppl?
U can come over, Cartman doesn't care.
Look man, are u alright?
I don't know or care what u two talked about, Cartman won't talk about it either, but u can't let stuff like that get to u.
We talked to a police officer, don't worry. No charges.
Okay, whatever, man. Just message me when u get these or feel like it. We're all worrying over here.
Kyle sighed, feeling bad for Stan. He never wanted this, only a evening with the four of them together again. And Cartman had ruined everything, like always.
I'm sorry about what happened, Stan. You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine. Tell Kenny I'm sorry too, but sometimes HE just gets under my skin. You know how it is. I hope things weren't ruined for you. Maybe we can try again? Something like the boat thing we did. But without all of the awkwardness.
He hit send and scrolled back down to his inbox, opening up Kenny's messages.
Not gonna lie, u fucked Cartman up. Pretty intense. i wonder who tops, lol.
Dont worry, i wont tell Stan. ;)
We are having fun at the hospital, wish u were here. xxooo
Underneath was a photo Kenny had sent, it was Eric's face looking unimpressed as a red teddy bear with a cheesy line was pressed against his face. The other one was of Kenny in the frame, trying to kiss Cartman's cheek. It was slightly blurry, but that was because of the sudden movement of Eric smacking him.
Kyle squinted, bringing his cell closer to study Eric's wounds. His nose was taped off, showing that it was broken. And he had gauze on one cheek, and bandages in random places where the glass struck him.
Kenny, have you been drinking? Whatever you think has happened between us, I'll assure you, it doesn't exist. I could never be in relationship with Eric Cartman. But I am sorry about what happened to YOU, maybe we could try to hang out again. You, Stan, and myself. How does that sound?
After sending his reply, Kyle didn't even bother trying to read the last unread message in his inbox. Shutting his cell off, he tossed it to the other side of the bed, and covered his eyes with an arm.
Kenny hopped onto the ground, sauntering over to the figure standing in the door frame.
"Hello, I'm Kenny. And you are?" he raised a hand to shake Haley's but she ignored it, instead walking passed him and straight to Eric's bed.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm filled to the brim with chocolate pudding, but good."
"..You have to go the washroom?"
Eric rubbed at his face, "No, Haley. I meant literal chocolate pudding, not shit."
Haley flushed, mouth opening to form a tiny 'o'.
Suddenly Kenny was beside Haley, "But I can fill you up if y-"
"Take a walk, Kenny!" Eric snapped. Kenny rose his hands up in front of him, frowning at the sullen mood of the other man.
"Chill, Cartman. I'll leave you two alone." But he didn't leave without winking at his fellow blonde. When everything was silent and still, Haley placed herself on the edge of Eric's bed, crossing one shapely leg over another.
"What happened?"
Eric shifted himself, looking away, "Nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing" she whispered, reaching out to touch the softness of his cheek. He leaned away, and the action had her chest squeezing painfully.
"Well it is! I don't want to talk about it, so either get me coffee or leave!" he snapped.
Haley flinched, "If that's what you want..." She climbed off the bed, and heading out of the room and into the hallway. She was certain that she saw a coffee machine a bit further down, but her thoughts weren't really on the drink. Any other time she would have fought him on it, but that expression he had...
Even if he said he was okay, it was obvious that he wasn't. He had dark circles under his eyes from lacking much needed sleep, and his overall injuries didn't make him look any better. But Haley doubted if anyone could have tape to cover their broken nose and band aids, and still appear fashionable. Eric looked like he was chewed and spit out.
On the other side of things, Eric had recognized the stress lines and pale face of someone who worried. The large and selfish part of Eric relished in the attention, as it felt nice to actually have someone worry for his well-being for once. But a deep hidden part of him, blocked and muted by his malice, was repulsed by the way he treated Haley. Honestly he was attempting to take Kenny's words to heart, and he really did want to talk about...things...But it wasn't easy, and Eric was terrified. How on God's green earth was he supposed to explain how he felt without ripping her head off?
And for once, it did bother him. The fact that he slowly realized that he enjoyed their banter, and for once felt he had something akin to a friend. And not a minion. Don't get him wrong, she was still that, but at least she was tolerable. Sometimes...
If he was anyone else he would have consulted a parent or guardian, but since he seemed to lack in that field, Eric was fucking screwed.
"Fuck me..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
Surprise, surprise. Haley smiled at the familiar and skinny body hovering near the coffee machine. From what her research had stated, Kenny McCormick had an active sex life, and spent a lot of his money on getting drunk and partying. And if either of those things involved women, the money in his banking account shrank to almost nothing.
So when she approached him, it was apparent that Kenny found no harm in a little flirting. But what she didn't expect was the distraught expression on his face, he was more affected by this than he was letting on. As soon as the sound of footsteps entered his ears, he donned the familiar smile of someone who was used to having a good time, and turned her way.
"Well look who it is! What, couldn't get enough of me, sweetheart?"
Haley couldn't help the small smile that flickered across her lips, "Unfortunately no. Mr. Cartman needs some coffee in his system."
"Wow, I can remember when Mr. Cartman was just Cartman. So tell me, how is it working for money-bags?"
She fished some change from the purse that hung from her shoulder, "It has it's ups and downs. The cons are his mood and how he switches from being as sweet as sugar, to having you look over your shoulder when you're going home."
"Then why stay?"
"The money makes things easy to forget, not to mention the benefits are terrific. He plays things fair when it comes to his workers, he shows...a sense of courtesy. But he also shows us the side of him that has us fearful, how he can be so ruthless and cold with the competition. It makes you reluctant to turn against him."
"What about you. Why do you stay?"
She fumbled with her coins before she slid them into the slot, "I...I don't know. The money is always nice, but I stay for..." She sighed.
She was ever so thankful at how patient Kenny was, waiting until she found the correct words.
"When I started out, Mr. Cartman found me in a bad place. It was where he got the tools to be so cunning in the business world, and instead of crushing me down like everyone else, he took me in. Or as much as he could. For once I was given a shot at the life I wanted. It hasn't been so simple and carefree, multiple times I thought he was going to kill me, but he always dragged himself away. I guess...I want to prove myself, and show him that I'm someone that he can fully trust."
"And you think he doesn't?"
Haley shook her head, frustration and sadness causing tears to blur the corners of her eyes. Angrily she wiped them away.
"No, and today was proof enough. Emily told me some lunatic tried to blind Er-Mr. Cartman, so I rushed over here like a bat out of hell. And look what I get! Nothing! The stubborn idiot won't even tell me what happened, not even after...I..."
"Lunatic!?" Kenny laughed, "No wonder why you're pissed, haha."
She swung her attention back to him, "I hardly see how this is funny."
"Cause it wasn't some lunatic."
"It...It wasn't?"
"Of course not! See the four of us, Stan, Cartman, Kyle, and myself were at some coffee house and Stan and I had to go get the drinks, right?"
"Right." Haley mumbled, inwardly vicious at the mention of Kyle's name.
"And while we're there we hear this sound, so we look over. And can you guess what we saw? Kyle and Cartman arguing over something. They've done this since we were tots, so it wasn't a big deal. But the kicker is when Cartman said something, and Kyle grabbed one of those glass cylinders with sugar in it, and threw that sucker at Cartman's face! Haha, can you believ- A-Are you okay, you're looking kinda pale...?"
Haley shook from her spot, barely managing to say, "Kyle's the one that hurt Eric?"
"Yeah...? Um, are you sure you're okay? Maybe I should get a nurse or som-"
She held a hand up, "It's alright. Everything is fine. Can you do me a favour?"
"Sure...?"
"Give Mr. Cartman his coffee, he likes a lot of sugar and milk. Not cream." She spun on her heel, sprinting towards the closest exit.
Kenny stood there in silence, gaping at the assistant's hurried departure.
"What the fuck did I say?"
Discretely he breathed on his hand, checking his breath before he shook his head, and grabbed Eric's scalding coffee. "Chicks, who can understand them."