Eric loved being the center of attention. Throughout the years, he had determined that the best way to do so was to be an asshole. To everyone. It was a fail-proof plan, really. It also served his other desire to promote himself as a heartless bastard, who wasn't hurt by the constant insults flung his way each and every day. However, as of late he felt uncomfortable with himself. After his breakdown in front of Kyle the previous weekend, he felt a bit awkward around his nemesis. He wasn't sure if he should continue to be a complete asshole or to act differently than before. Kyle had broken their boundaries by admitting that he considered Cartman a friend. In some weird unexplainable way, Eric felt as if he could be a little more trusting in the Jew. Also, he wasn't sure he wanted to push Kyle away. The thought of having someone willing to say that they were his friend was comforting. Even Kenny never admitted to being a friend to Eric. Cartman often pretended that this didn't bother him.

To make things worse, Kyle and Stan were fighting. Usually, Cartman would use this opportunity to rip on Kyle relentlessly, basking in the knowledge that Kyle felt like shit. However, for some reason it bothered Cartman that someone else had the power to make Kyle feel miserable.

If anyone was going to torment the Jew, it would be Cartman.

"K. See you guys later!"

Kenny sighed. "Shit."

"What the fuck did you say to him?" Cartman asked, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning slightly.

"Well, I was demanding why he was acting like such a girl, and then I accused him of being attracted to Kyle."

Cartman snorted. "That probably wouldn't be far from the truth."

"Yeah, but it was definitely not the right thing to say. He was pissed." They started walking toward their next classes.

"Of course it pissed him off – he's stuck in the closet so far that he'll probably never find his way out."

Kenny sighed again, obviously exasperated. "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with him."

"Screw that asshole."

"It's not that easy to write someone off like that."

"Yes it is."

Kenny rolled his eyes. "You know it isn't."

"Whatever. Later, poor boy." They had reached Cartman's classroom first.

"Bye Fatass." Kenny quickly retreated down the hallway.

"Hey! I'm not fat!" Cartman shouted, his voice echoing down the hallway. "Fucking asshole," he muttered, entering the classroom and preparing himself for a long day.

-.-.-.-.-.

He wasn't sure why he came here. In fact, he was pretty sure it was a bad idea. It was possibly the worst idea he had ever had. He shoved his hands in his coat pockets, anxiously rocking on the balls of his feet as he considered his options. He should just leave. He should go back home, sit on the couch, and eat some Cheesy Poofs. Every nerve in his body warned him to turn back.

Yet there was a part of him telling him to just suck it up and go inside.

He huffed loudly, considering his options one more time before shaking his head. No. Even though this went against every rule he had created back in preschool, he knew that it was time to try something new. He was pretty sure that it would blow up in his face; however, he was willing to give it a shot, just this once.

He silently cursed himself for being so nervous about entering a stupid video store. He pushed the door open, hearing the bell clink as he entered cautiously. He immediately spotted Kyle. The other boy was on the opposite side of the counter, leaning over it and reading a magazine. He had his cheek resting in his palm as he casually flipped the pages, glancing up at the sound of the bell. Cartman could tell that he was surprised to see Cartman there.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey Jew."

Kyle blinked a few moments, obviously still soaking in the fact that Cartman was there. "Hey. What brings you here?"

Damnit, why did the Jew have to be so nosey?

"Because I felt like it, that's why."

Kyle stared at him for another second before grinning. This time it was Cartman's turn to be surprised. "Cool! My manager left me alone today for the first time, and I'm bored out of my fucking mind."

Cartman raised an elbow, coming closer to the counter and leaning casually on it. Was Kyle actually happy to see him? "Not too many people come in here, I take it?"

"No, not really. Did you ever see other people in here whenever we'd come to rent movies?"

"That's probably because people have better things to do with their time than rent movies."

Kyle laughed. "This is South Park, Cartman. No one has better things to do, except drink. I think it's because the selection is shit."

Cartman snorted in response. "That's true. Most of the movies here suck."

"Yep. So I've been killing time by reading this magazine I brought."

"I'm surprised you're not doing homework."

Kyle shrugged. "I'm too preoccupied with this whole Stan fiasco to focus on school. Besides, even if I don't do it this weekend, it's not like it's going to hurt my grades that much."

"You have no idea how weird it is for you to say that."

"What, admitting to you that I'm having a hard time with something or that I'm not doing homework?"

"Both."

Kyle smiled, and Cartman nervously looked away. He wasn't used to Kyle responding that way when he said something. It made him feel strange and awkward at the same time.

"Here, check out this article I've been reading about the sequel to Dragon Age. It looks sweet." Kyle turned the magazine so that Cartman could look at it. "I wasn't really digging the whole idea of not being able to create your own character, but it looks like it will still be fun. Plus, you get to customize him a bit, which is cool. You can even play as a girl. I'm starting to get excited about it."

"These screen caps look cool…" Cartman mused, reading over the article. Kyle crossed his arms and settled his chin on top of them, allowing Cartman to read. They stayed silent while Cartman studied the review. "I don't know," he said after reading the article. "These reviews can sometimes make me expect too much from a game, and when I actually play it, I feel let down."

"Shit, I know what you mean!" Kyle raised his head from where it was resting on his arms. "I've been disappointed a lot with games lately. But this one looks pretty promising. I don't know. I think I'm going to try to not to get my hopes up too much, but… I really did enjoy the last one."

"Yeah, that game was pretty sweet. I didn't like how you had to get people to like you to get bonuses and shit. And I hated it when they'd leave your party if you pissed them off too much."

"Well, in this one you can piss them off as much as you want," Kyle laughed. "See?" He leaned forward, flipping the page. Cartman could faintly smell fabric softener and strawberries. "Look. It says you don't have to worry about approval ratings as much in this version."

"What? So I can treat people like shit and they'll still stick around?"

"Sounds like it."

"Sweet."

Kyle snorted. "If only real life was like that."

"Real life is like that. You guys stuck around me all this time."

Kyle shrugged, brushing his hair out of his face. "More like you stuck around with us," he replied, glancing at Cartman with a playful smirk.

"Whatever," Cartman muttered. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

"So does that mean we're your friends or your enemies?" Kyle asked, an innocent look flashing across his face.

"Why don't you figure it out yourself?"

Kyle studied him with a thoughtful look, and Cartman stared back at him, his eyebrow quirked. However, they continued to stare at each other for a long moment, which made Cartman rather uncomfortable. He had always avoided looking people directly in the eyes for long periods of time, mostly because he didn't want them to figure out what he was thinking or feeling. Moreover, it made him feel awkward being around Kyle, especially after last weekend. They hadn't talked about it, and Cartman was thankful for that. However, Cartman wasn't able to judge where they stood with each other anymore. Something had definitely changed with their relationship, and Cartman was still trying to figure out the new rules and whether he would play by them or not.

Kyle bit his lower lip as a slow smile crept on his face. He then broke their stare, looking away while shaking his head slightly. Cartman was thankful the awkward moment had passed. He swallowed, vaguely wondering why his throat felt so dry.

Kyle straightened up, grabbing the magazine from the counter and tossing it in his bag. He then made his way around the counter. "Let's put in a movie or something. What do you want to watch?"

"Something not lame."

"That might be hard to find in here."

"Whatever, you were the one who picked this place to work."

"It seemed easy enough; plus, I figured I could do homework when it was slow. I didn't realize it was THIS slow." He wandered the comedy section, considering the titles on the shelves with a small frown on his face. "Help me, Cartman."

Cartman snorted. "How about porn?"

Kyle sighed, turning around to look at him from across the store. "I have a feeling we like completely different things in that area, Cartman. Besides, what if a customer walks in?"

"Why do you always have to be such a pussy?"

"I'm not being a pussy. I just want to keep my job is all."

"Pussy."

Cartman could faintly hear the low growl that escaped Kyle's throat. "Am not. Well, if we end up putting in a porno, we have to pick something good."

"What defines good?"

"Something I'd like."

"Hell no."

"Hell yes. Either we watch that or no porno."

"That's fucking lame."

Kyle shrugged, turning back to the shelves. Cartman hated it when Kyle won their arguments. He loudly sighed and finally joined Kyle by the comedy section.

"Fine, you stupid Jew, have it your way."

Kyle glanced at him, smirking a bit, but luckily didn't rub it in. After searching for a few more moments, Kyle finally suggested, "How about Team America?"

"Fuck yeah."

Kyle grinned, snatching the DVD from the shelves.

"This isn't really a big step below porn."

"Yeah, but it's enough."

"I still think you're a pussy."

"I'm much less of a pussy than you think."

As Cartman tried to figure out what the hell that meant, Kyle quickly placed the DVD in the store's DVD player. After messing around with the controls for a few seconds, the TVs throughout the store started playing the movie. Kyle gracefully put his hands behind him on the counter and hopped up so that he could sit. He flashed a grin over in Cartman's direction.

"Care to join me?"

Cartman came up to the counter, and it took him a couple of tries to get up. He felt a bit embarrassed, but Kyle thankfully didn't comment.

-.-.-.-.-.

It didn't take them long to decide it was a good idea to steal a bag of popcorn, pop it in the microwave in the break room, and begin eating. After that, it was only a matter of time before they opened up a soda each and shared a bag of Twizzlers. When it was time to close up, Kyle locked the front door and turned off the lights, but they continued to watch the movie. They had moved to the floor, their backs to the counter and legs splayed before them.

"I can't believe no one came in tonight," Kyle mused.

"Yeah, you would have been so bored if I hadn't come along."

"Whatever. I wouldn't have stolen this stuff if you weren't here."

Cartman snorted. "You would have broken down eventually. Besides, someone has to eat all of this food."

"Still." Kyle took a swig of his soda. "I would have put up a better fight if it wasn't for you."

"Bitch bitch bitch. That's all you do."

"I'm glad you came, though. I think I would have gone insane, otherwise."

Cartman almost choked on his own soda. "What is with you lately?" he exclaimed without thinking.

"What?"

"Nevermind."

Kyle glanced at him, and Cartman could feel his stare even in the dark. It only took Kyle a moment to realize what he had meant. "Oh."

Cartman didn't say anything, but instead kept his eyes glued on the screen in front of them.

"I don't know. I just… realized that it's stupid to pretend that I hate you, when I clearly don't."

"You pretended pretty well."

Kyle snorted. "So did you, but I didn't completely fall for it. And neither did you for that matter."

Cartman didn't reply, so they fell into silence for a few moments. Cartman continued to stare at the screen, but he wasn't paying attention to the movie anymore. Instead, he felt strangely aware of Kyle's presence and the deafening silence stretching between them.

He wasn't sure why he said it. It was probably because it was dark, and they were alone. Or that Kyle was fighting with Stan, and Eric felt bad about it. It could have also been because they had been getting along strangely well as of late, or more likely, the fact that Cartman was tired of pretending, and felt like he could trust Kyle, at least just this once. The only thing he was sure of was that he was willing to take this chance. His voice sounded strangely small when he finally spoke.

"I… really don't hate you."

Kyle remained silent, and Cartman knew instinctively that it was because Kyle knew that he wasn't finished with his quiet confession. Cartman took a shaky breath in before continuing.

"I just don't… I've always… It's just…." He sighed, exasperated. He couldn't say the words, not that he knew what he wanted to say in the first place.

"I know." Kyle quietly encouraged.

"Do you?"

Cartman could see Kyle nod his head out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah. I do. Because… I feel the same way."

Cartman wasn't exactly sure what Kyle was saying, considering Cartman had no idea how he felt about the situation. "Care to enlighten me?"

Kyle chuckled softly. "Why don't you figure it out yourself?" he responded quietly but playfully.

"Hey! Don't use my own words against me."

"Can't help it. It's just so easy to. Oh! I love this song!"

With that, the tension had subsided. Although Cartman still felt confused, he knew that he wasn't alone and that somehow made him feel better about the whole situation.