Hey guys, I couldn't wait for 5 reviews to put up the next chapter. But I'm hoping that you all like this one. (psst if you squint hard enough there is slight Style and more to come if I feel like it). Next chapter will be uploaded at 6 reviews.
By the time to two friends arrived at Stan's house, the air was already swirling with cold snow, and the wind blew it around making it hard to see. The two shivered violently as they entered the house, and dusted off their winter jackets. Kyle shrugged off the last bit of snow from his shoulder and frowned, rubbing his arms for warmth. Stan shut the door tightly, and a few stray flakes of snow still managed to drift inside.
"Mom, I'm home!" Stan shouted to whoever would hear. He tossed his backpack on the floor and kicked off his boots. "I brought Kyle with me too, if that's fine!"
Stan's mother came out of the kitchen.
"Oh no you don't mister," she frowned, clearly irritated. She pointed to the mud-and-snow combination boots on the floor, which had already created a puddle where they had been thrown. "Those need to be in the garage. And the back pack upstairs in your bedroom."
She noticed Kyle and smiled. "Hello sweetie. Make yourself at home. I'll call your mother and let her know you're here."
Kyle returned her smile politely. "Thanks Mrs. Marsh. I know my mom will be worried sick if she doesn't know I'm here."
Stan grumbled and proceeded to carry out his mother's requests. After the chores were taken care of, Kyle followed Stan to his room. "Why do you have to be such a suck up, dude…?" Stan complained as he threw himself on the bed. Kyle blinked.
"Whatcha mean?" he inquired, looking at his friend. He cocked his head to one side.
Stan shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Never mind… it was a rhetorical question." he grumbled.
Suddenly a few short raps sounded on the bedroom door. "Kyle, I'm here to bring you some clothes, bubbie." a hard Jersey accent said beyond the closed door. Kyle's mother stood in the threshold as she opened the door.
"Kyle, bubbie. The blizzard outside is getting worse by the minute. You may have to stay here at Stan's house instead of him meeting you at ours." The boy's mother patted her son on the head. Kyle grumbled at her motherly gesture.
"Ok mom. That's fine. Did you at least bring my Denver Bronco's shirt?" Kyle looked up at her expectantly.
"Yes I did hun." She pulled out the requested shirt from the duffel bag and showed it to him.
"Sweet! Thanks mom." Kyle smiled at his mother.
"No problem, sweetie. Now I'll go tell Sharon about the new arrangement and I'm sure she'll be ok with it." Sheila handed her son the bag. "Now you two have fun and don't stay up too late." And with that said, she left the room. She shut the door behind her.
Stan suddenly began to fidget nervously and sighed.
Clearly something is on his mind. Thought Kyle as his friend looked around the room, occasionally glancing at a drawer by his bed. It had only been about a month since the two friends had gotten together again just by themselves, everything slowly piecing back to how it was before Stan's cynical phase.
"Stan? You alright, dude?" Kyle placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in comfort, which made the raven-haired boy jolt back to reality.
"Y-yeah, sorry. I was just thinking of something." Stan blinked as his vision refocused.
Stan couldn't let himself be dragged into… that… again. For Kyle. Things were finally looking up for him again, hell, he was with his best friend, alone for the night, watching the Broncos game. Life couldn't get any better than this.
Stan took off his winter coat, and pulled on a Denver Broncos hoodie in place of it. It was gray with the logo on the front, with the words "Denver Broncos" underneath. Nice and warm.
"Hey, I'm going to make some hot coco, you want some?" Stan offered, turning towards the door.
"Sure, that sounds great." Kyle answered, smiling. "I'm going to change into my Broncos shirt while you do that, if that's alright."
"Sure."
Stan left the room and closed the door behind him so Kyle could change.
Kyle slipped on his favorite Denver Broncos shirt and smoothed it out. It was his lucky shirt, and by tradition he always wore it when a Broncos game was on. He then pulled on his jacket for more warmth, but kept it unzipped.
Kyle turned his attention to Stan's bedside table, a drawer slightly ajar. He frowned. Stan had been glancing at it earlier. Worry clouded Kyle's mind, the thoughts swirling in his brain.
No, he wouldn't still have it. Kyle's conscious echoed, but in his right mind he knew something was wrong.
Glancing at Stan's closed door and listening for footsteps, Kyle crept closer to the bedside table. He peeked into the open drawer, some t-shirts covering a cylindrical shape. Kyle furrowed his brows.
No.
He moved the shirts away, revealing a bottle. "Jameson" was written on the label, and the glass was stained green and gave off a sheen in the bedside lamp light.
Stan, please tell me you still haven't been doing this to yourself.
A knock on the door.
"Kyle?" came a voice. "My parents and your mom just left for the game. You almost done in there, dude?"
"U-uhh, yeah, just give me a second!" Kyle replied back, hastily shoving the bottle back into the drawer.
I can't let Stan do this to himself anymore. After the game I'll confront him about it.
Kyle left the drawer like it was and proceeded to open the door. Stan stood in the threshold, holding two mugs of hot coco. "Here you go, dude." Stan smiled, handing Kyle the hot beverage.
"Thanks." Kyle returned the smile. He shrugged off what he just saw in the drawer and put on a worry-free attitude.
"Now let's go watch that game, huh?" Stan grinned, halfway down the stairs.
Kyle followed after his friend.
"I made popcorn too." Stan sat a tub of popcorn down on the couch. He plopped next to it and switched on the TV, browsing through the channels for the correct station. Kyle sat next to him, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth.
"We're going to be ten dollars richer tomorrow, Stan. Cartman's going to cough it up big time." Kyle broke the ice as Stan was clicking quickly through the many channels.
"Oh yeah, dude. He's going to eat his words. That stupid fat ass doesn't know what he's talking about when he says the Broncos will lose."
"Finally," Stan sighed. "Found the channel."
There was a click as the TV shut itself off.
"Shit…" Stan cursed, pressing the on and off button on the remote. Then the entire house shut down. The lights flickered once before everything was swallowed into blackness.
Stan and Kyle both groaned in annoyance. Stan hopped off of the couch and drew back the curtains and peered outside. "Dude, it's a total white out. Come check it out."
Kyle removed himself from the couch and stood beside Stan. "Dude, you're totally right."
The wind howled as snow swirled helplessly about.
"I'm going to go find a flashlight or some candles. Do you have your iPhone?" Stan asked, and Kyle nodded. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and pressed the button, illuminating the room a little. The home lock screen was of a picture of him and Stan, grinning and sitting at a table at their favorite restaurant, Casa Bonita. It was Kyle's birthday at the time (well, the aftermath, after Cartman ruined it, just Stan and Kyle went the next day trying to make up for it), and that was almost a year ago.
The shadows played on Stan's face and he smiled. "You still have that picture as your background, dude?" he laughed a little, punching Kyle playfully on the arm.
"It's my favorite picture, man."
Stan's smile grew wider. "Mine too."
Stan moved off to find some candles and a flashlight, opening every drawer in the kitchen until there was an "Ahah!".
He pulled out a lighter and several tea light candles, setting them around the coffee table in front of the couch. He lit them one by one; the dancing flames making everything look eerie.
"Couldn't find a flashlight, but these'll do." Stan explained, lighting the last candle.
"Well, guess we won't find out who wins until tomorrow." Kyle slumped disappointedly down onto the couch, resting his hand on his chin. Stan plopped down next to him.
"It's alright, buddy. Maybe the power will come back on. We just gotta wait it out."
Hope you all liked this one. Please leave a review if you liked and want more. It helps me gain the motivation to write more chapters. Every review helps. Thanks for reading.