Eric's POV

I stretch my limbs, and feel my hand touching a matted mop of hair. I look over my side and see the familiar curly, red hair. I look around and quickly remember what happened last night. I feel a bit strange, and I realize that I did fall asleep in my jeans last night. I look over my shoulder again, and chuckle a bit to myself at the irony of the whole situation. Here I am, laying shirtless with the Jew.

I want to go back to sleep, but I know how behind I am with getting the house ready. I made some progress last night, but it was hard to get much done with I knew I needed to check on Kyle. I love making my special version of frappacinos, and I thought he might like trying it, too. I'm glad that he did.

I get out of bed and make breakfast. The time on the oven reads 8:14. I bet the Jew is exhausted. I think I'll go ahead and go to the gym and get it over with while he's still sleeping.

It probably wasn't quite the hook up he was searching for, but I meant it when I said I wanted to take things slow. I want to prove myself to him. I want him to know that I see potential in this relationship... or whatever it is. I guess we technically haven't discussed labels yet. I'm somewhat surprised he hasn't brought it up yet. Then again, maybe the potential of it makes him nervous. I know his past relationships have been shitty.

We'll talk about it when the time comes.

I ditch yesterday's clothes to throw on sweatpants and a t-shirt. After readying myself, I leave a note for the Jew since I don't want to wake him and then I head out. If I'm lucky, I'll make it back before Kyle even wakes up.

Car keys in hand, I head to out and get in my car. The drive is pretty short, since everything in South Park is pretty close together. When I arrive, I head for the elliptical machines first. I pop in my earbuds and put on something upbeat to get me in the mood to work out.

.

.

My workout was fine, as usual. I decide to go head back ASAP and shower at my place. Once I'm there, I quietly open the door to my room and see the Jew is still fast asleep.

Good.

I jump in the shower and get out with a towel wrapped around my waist. There's a certain t-shirt in my dresser that I was thinking about wearing today, so I'm looking for it now. I'm not the most organized guy in the world, so it's taking me a minute since I never bother to fold any of my damn clothes.

"M-mmmm..."

I hear a groggy moan behind me.

I turn around and see the Jew ran a hand through his messy Jew-fro.

"C-Cartman...?"

He sits up, rubbing his bleary-eyes and staring at me. "Did you just shower?"

"Yeah, hey," I say. "Good morning. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't," he promises, still watching me. He gives me a lewd smile and then wiggles his eyebrows at me. It reminds me of the way Kenny used to act and I can't help but chuckle. "So," he starts again, "I should probably head out, huh?"

"I won't kick you out," I say, "but I've got a few things I need to do. I'll call you later, though."

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah, of course," I say surely. "But do you know what I think you should do today?"

"Make that appointment?" he ventures.

I nod my head at him. "Exactly."

He lets out a loud, whiny sigh and stares down at his hands. "Fine."

He stretches and slowly gets out of bed and searches for his clothes that were tossed by the bed last night. Once he's dressed, I walk him to the door and kiss him goodbye. Fucking Jew better make an appointment today, or else I will seriously reconsider our "relationship" or whatever. I can't help somebody who can't help themselves.

.

.

Once I'm dressed and I snack on something- as well as bringing a few snacks with me- I head back to my old house. Almost done with this place... Finally.

All that's left is myum's room. I bring a bunch of empty boxes and get started. Lots of perfume, lots of clothes, and a shit-ton of shoes, not to mention purses. She spent so much money on designer purses and I never understood it. I'll probably donate a good bit of this shit to Goodwill.

I may as well. I have no use for any of it. My cross-dressing days are long over.

I get to work and try to power through. By the time I'm finished, it's early in the evening. I pack up the remaining boxes into my car and then drive back to my apartment.

I leave the boxes in the car for now. I'll drop them off somewhere tomorrow.

I head inside and decide to make myself something to eat. I rummage through the fridge and get out a few ingredients to make a sandwich. Simple and easy.

After eating, I decide to call Kyle, but I don't. Instead, I just head next door. I knock before simply letting myself in.

"Kyle?!" I call.

Nothing.

"Kahl!" I yell again, closing the door behind me.

I hear some movement coming from his bedroom and I can't tell if it's the movements of Kyle or Kyle and someone else. My heart sinks and I feel sick. If it IS someone else in there, I'm going to be really fucking pissed.

"Kahl?" I decide to open his bedroom door. I see the Jew in silky emerald PJ's and his hair is wet. He's flossing his teeth.

"Oh, hi," he turns around from the full body mirror, pulling the dental floss out of his mouth. "Please, make yourself at home," he chuckles facetiously.

"WhatEVER, Kahl," I wave my hand. "I'm not the asshole leaving my front door unlocked."

"Yeah, yeah," he shakes it off. "What's going on Fatass?"

"Ay! I'm not-"

"I mean, what's going on, Eric?" He corrects himself.

The way he says my name sounds soft and I catch myself before I say anything. Did he really just call me by my first name?

"W... What did you just call me, Jew?"

"That's your name, isn't it?" He nonchalantly goes back to flossing. He walks back into the bathroom and disposes of the floss. I stand there, not sure what to think.

Eric... It sounds so beautiful when he says it.

What am I thinking?! Now I'm acting gay.

I let out a sigh and then just decide to shrug things off. "Yeah, whatever."

He raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn't pry. "Get some work done?"

"Yeah," I say.

He drops the floss in the garbage and then says, "That's good. What's up?"

I shrug. "Just thought I'd drop by."

He smiles at that. "All right. What do you feel like doing?"

I shrug again. "Whatever."

I can feel myself growing possessive over him and we haven't even really discussed what our relationship is.

"Something on your mind?" he pries.

"Not really," I insist.

I don't want to act all clingy and shit. I want him to be the one to start that conversation. I don't want to make the first move… but then again, maybe he wants me to.

He nods for me to follow him into the kitchen. Inside, he opens the fridge and asks, "Want anything?"

"Water is fine," I say.

So, he gets me a glass before getting himself one and then we turn into the living room.

"Did you make your appointment?" I ask.

He looks sheepish. "No…"

I let out an impatient sigh. "Want me to do it for you?"

"No," he says in a mumble.

"Will you do it?"

"Eventually…"

I let out another impatient sigh. "Kyle, come on… Don't you want to know why you're always feeling so messed up?"

He purses his lips and glances down at the cup in his hands. "Honestly, I don't even know if I want to find out. I know it'll make things easier, but… I'm hesitant. What if it's something really bad?"

"Then you'll work on fixing it," I say simply, though it's not so simple.

"I want you to make an appointment tomorrow, Kahl," I say in an authoritative tone.

"I will," he answers seriously. "I promise this time."

"After all," I start. "I can't be getting serious with someone who's not bettering themselves,"

Oh shit. Did I just say that?

The Jew's eyes widen. "We're getting serious?" he asks, his face completely solemn.

"What I meant was," I stumble, searching for the words. "Like, seriously dating. Yah know."

Shit. I really fucked up.

"I do want to better myself, Cartman, and I will."

I'm a bit disappointed, hearing him go back to using my last name and not my first name.

"'Kay, Jew," I say. "Just making sure."

"But is that what this is?" he asks and he motions his hands when he says 'this'.

"What what is?" I ask.

"Us!" he says, a bit frustrated. Then I watch him turn red. "I mean, whatever it is that 'we' are."

"What do you want us to be?" I question. "Be honest."

"Well… I want us to be exclusive," he mumbles, flushing even deeper.

I feel satisfied with that. "Then, Kahl, do me the honour of being my boyfriend or whatever?"

"Romance me with small talk," he snorts. "But okay."

I smile, humoured. "Then I guess that takes care of that."

He leans forward, pecking me on the lips. When he draws back, he's smiling, too. I guess he feels as good about this as I do. Hopefully he'll continue to take it seriously. I want to be with him, but I won't be able to if he doesn't take his problems seriously. And there's still this nagging feeling I keep getting, something that's causing me to worry about him cheating on me. I don't know what the fuck I'd do if he did a thing like that. I think I'd need to know why he felt the need to cheat, then we'd go from there.

"Eric?" he says my first name.

"Hm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothin'," I insist.

"Liar," he accuses with a warm smile on his face.

"It's stupid really," I try to persuade him to change the subject, but now I know that I'm failing like a certified dumbass.

"C'mooooooon," he nudges. He decides to poke me in the side and I jump, embarrassed that I'm fairly ticklish. I try to get him back but again, he crosses his arm, making it hard for me to have access to his side.

"Okay, Jew, Christ!" I say, laughing. "I was just thinking, it's been a while since my last... Relationship." It feels weird, saying that word.

"Oh yeah?" The redhead seems interested. "How long?"

I screw my face, trying to recall exactly when the last relationship ended. "A little over a year, I think."

"I guess that is a while," he says. "But I think it's been longer for me,"

"But you've had all those suitors," I smile. He does not crack a smile.

"But all of them were for getting my fix. None of them meant anything to me, you know that."

I nod, trying to understand. Still, a part of me feels disgusted when I even try to venture a guess into how many random guys he's fucked within, say, the last year. So, I decide to ask, even though I'll probably regret it. "How many were there?" I pry.

He wrinkles his nose. "Honestly, I can't even count them."

"Shit," I murmur. "How do you feel about it?"

"Bad," he admits. "I mean, I pretend not to… but there's nothing gratifying about letting everyone in. It's like I don't even know how to say no sometimes."

"People probably know that and take advantage of you," I point out.

"Probably," he agrees, letting out a breath, "but sometimes it feels like I NEED sex. Like, if I don't have sex it's all I'll think about until I finally have an orgasm. Then I can do other things, but the feeling eventually comes back and it's like this vicious cycle. Sex, work, sex, work…"

"Yeah," I murmur. "That's hypersexuality."

"Hm," he muses. "I guess I can't cry about it, though. I'm the one who can't say no."

I roll my eyes at him. "You can't blame yourself…"

But, honestly, I don't know how his encounters go. I don't know if he can say he was assaulted. Even if he could, I don't think he wants to. It's probably easier that way. It's easier for him to believe that it was all okay, even if he feels like total garbage.

"Have you been tested?" I realize the words are out of mouth before I thoroughly thought it through. I am concerned about myself, but I don't want to come of judgey.

"Not recently," the redhead says, sulking. "I know, I need to." He finishes my thoughts before I can.

"I'll go with you, if you want," I offer. "It's coming up on a year for me too."

Am I being too overbearing? I want him to know that I'm with him on this and that he's not alone, but I don't want him to think that I'm being his babysitter or guardian. Really, I just want to be a positive influence for the Jew. That's all.

The redhead's eyes widen, someone shocked. "Really? You would do that?"

I nod. "Sure. It's not that big of a deal, Kahl."

Kyle pulls on his left sleeve. "I mean, I know you're busy with trying to sell the house and everything..."

"Well, this stuff is important, too," I reason simply.

"I doubt I have anything," Kyle murmurs, "but I guess I can't be sure. Sometimes the symptoms don't show."

"True," I say. "Have you ever had anything?" I vaguely remember him mentioning he did a while back, but I didn't urge for more details.

He shifts uncomfortably. "Well… yeah, but it's gone now…"

"Okay," I respond, choosing not to pry. Clearly it's touchy for him, though I'm not judging him for it. "So, you have a couple things that need to be taken care of."

"Yeah," he sighs. "The appointment and this."

I nod my head. "Don't stress out, though."

He smiles faintly. "Easy for you to say."

And I guess he's right. Kyle's experiences and my experiences are both wholeheartedly separate and uniquely different.

"Tell you what," I start. "Why don't we just put everything on the shelf for now for tonight and enjoy ourselves, and then tomorrow you make two appointments? One for a counsellor and the other for the doctor. You need to make it as soon as possible so I can also make an appointment around the same time as you do." The redhead winces, and I don't back down. "I'm holding you to it this time, Kahl."

"Okay," he says, but he doesn't look excited. He leans forwards and drinks his water.

"Besides, you've been putting off the counsellor for far too long," I add.

"Yeah, I know." He sighs. "I guess I want to deny the fact that I'm crazy. But it's pretty fucking obvious I am. I just don't want to do all this. I don't want to face my fears and be responsible."

"Hey," I say softly and I grab his left hand. "You're not alone. I'm here no matter what."

Shit, did I just say that? Or better yet, do I really mean that? Am I ready to be with him no matter what he has, physically or mentally?