Author's Note: I really love the song, "All I Ask of You," too. I especially love playing it on the piano. It has such a gorgeous melody. And beautiful lyrics. *heart melts*
Because I Love You
Chapter Six: All I Ask of You
Two weeks. Two. Goddamn. Weeks.
It had been a full two weeks since Cartman and Wendy slept together. They hadn't talked about that night since it happened. In fact, they had barely talked at all since that night. Wendy was purposely distancing herself from Cartman, for whatever reasons, he had no idea. She wouldn't tell him, obviously, and the fact that she was avoiding him so much was driving him absolutely fucking crazy. He ran a hand through his hair, absentmindedly pulling at it and most likely ripping a few strands right out. He anxiously paced back and forth, muttering obscenities to himself and stomping on the wet snow that covered the ground. He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt his cell phone vibrate against his thigh. He reached into his pants pocket and took the phone out. He didn't even bother looking at the screen as he already knew who was calling him.
"Kahl!" Cartman shouted, his voice coming out as a mixture of both slight relief and blatant annoyance. "Where the fuck are you, Jew?"
"Right behind you, fatass," came Kyle's voice that echoed into the phone, causing Cartman to nearly jump ten feet in the air.
"Jesus motherfucking Christ!" he screamed, putting a hand over his chest to calm down his rapid heartbeat. He whipped himself around, and sure enough, he saw Kyle, standing there with a pompous grin on his face. Cartman snarled, his body acting out of sheer anger as he grabbed Kyle with both hands by his jacket collar, hoping to choke the Jew.
"You sneaky little Jew rat!" he spat in Kyle's face, shaking him violently back and forth. "Don't fucking sneak up on me like that again or I'll–"
He suddenly cut off his own sentence, his eyes widening in utter shock and disbelief when he saw that there was someone standing a few feet behind Kyle. A certain tall, skinny, blonde-haired, blue-eyed dude with an arched eyebrow and an enormous fucking smirk on his face.
"The...fuck?" Cartman said slowly, staring right at the blonde while still tightly clutching Kyle's jacket collar. "...Kinny?"
Kenny nodded, taking a few hesitant steps closer to them.
"That's right, dude. It's me," he said in a playful tone. "I'd give you a hug, but...shit, if that's how you fucking greet people..." He gestured with his hand at the sight in front of him. "...then, I think I'm gonna fucking pass, man."
Cartman glared at Kyle, who merely gave him a smirk.
"Oh, Jesus...are you two gonna make out?" Kenny asked.
They both looked away from one another to stare right at Kenny with matching blank looks on their faces.
"...What?" Kenny asked.
Cartman rolled his eyes, finally letting go of Kyle, much to the Jewish boy's tremendous relief.
"So. Ken," Cartman said sort of awkwardly. He cleared his throat. "Long time no see, man."
"Yep," Kenny said with a lazy nod of his head. "Did ya miss me?" He paused, waiting for an answer, and when he didn't get one, he decided to change the subject. "Oh, by the way, man, I'm totally diggin' that beard you got there. Makes you look kinda hot."
Cartman looked up at the dark sky, inhaling deeply and letting out a long sigh as he shook his head back and forth.
"Wow, after all these fucking years...you're still such a goddamn homo, aren't you, Kinny?" he asked mockingly.
Kenny grinned, clearly not offended by the insult.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, flicking his wrist nonchalantly. "Come here, fatass."
Cartman looked back down again, having very little time to react as Kenny suddenly stepped right in front of him and wrapped both of his arms around his back. The larger man flinched a little, but after a moment, he cautiously wrapped his own arms around Kenny, patting his shoulder a bit. Kyle just stood there next to them, watching his friends as they shared an awkward yet warm hug. In the middle of a dark alley.
'Wow, this isn't gay at all...' Kyle sarcastically commented to himself, resisting the urge to laugh.
"Damn," Kenny said as he started to pull away from Cartman. "You got fucking buff, dude. The chicks must be all over you."
Cartman blinked. "Um..." he started, only to trail off, instead deciding to direct his attention back to Kyle. "Why's he here, Kahl?"
Kyle shrugged. "I dunno, dude. He missed you."
Cartman glanced back at Kenny, who simply smiled at him in that sickly sweet, totally gay way. Cartman couldn't help but smirk then.
"Yeah, well...I don't blame you, Kinny," he said, purposely coming off as the smug bastard they both knew and loved oh so much. "After all, I am super fucking awesome...how could you not miss me?"
Kyle rolled his eyes, letting out a small laugh nonetheless.
"All right, Cartman, enough of this bullshit," he said, starting to get fed up. "Why'd you want me to come so badly?"
"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" Kenny randomly screamed, causing both Kyle and Cartman to sharply turn their heads to gawk at their perverted friend.
Cartman put a hand on Kenny's shoulder, giving it a strong squeeze.
"Oh, God, I totally fucking missed you, too, Kinny," he said with a faint chuckle in his voice.
"I knew it, baby," Kenny said, winking at him mischievously.
"And Kahl," Cartman said, removing his hand from Kenny's shoulder, "I need your help."
"Well, I kind of figured that," Kyle said in a condescending tone.
Cartman purposely ignored the bitchy attitude in Kyle's voice, deciding instead to just cut right to the chase.
"Look, I..." he paused, frantically searching for the right way to ask it. "I need your help with..." He stopped again, this time shooting a dirty look at Kenny, who promptly held up his hands and started slowly backing away.
"Hey, hey, I get it, man," Kenny said hastily. "I'll just be...waiting over here..."
Cartman waited impatiently for Kenny to round the corner of the large theater building and disappear before he turned back to Kyle.
"I need your help with Wendy," he said in a quiet voice, just in case Kenny was still standing close by and secretly eavesdropping on them. Which he probably was, but there was nothing Cartman could really do about that.
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not in the mood for this. Still, he'd driven all the way from South Park, so there was really no point of backing out of it now.
"Fine, dude, what do you want me to do?" he asked.
Cartman looked a little taken aback then.
"Well, I need you to, like...talk to Wendy for me, or...something," he muttered, awkwardly diverting his gaze from Kyle. He was feeling really embarrassed now for some reason, and having to ask Kyle this favor was only making it worse.
Kyle raised an eyebrow.
"Uh..." he said with obvious confusion in his voice, "...about what?"
"Just..." Cartman began, still avoiding Kyle's gaze by staring at the snow-covered ground. He could feel his face heating up, and he was just hoping that the darkness was making it less noticeable. He took a deep breath and continued, "I don't know, Jew." He finally looked up at Kyle again. "Just...ask her why she won't fucking talk to me. I'm seriously, it's really pissing me off."
Kyle blinked, his expression unreadable. "You mean...ever since you two..."
"Yes," Cartman answered quickly, still not wanting Kenny to overhear them. Unfortunately, though, it didn't work, because all of a sudden, he heard the distant sound of that all too familiar irritating voice.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kenny screamed. Cartman groaned under his breath, the word 'Fuuuuuuuck!' screaming in his mind. He turned his head to see Kenny running back over to them. The blonde stopped to catch his breath before looking right at Cartman, who already knew what Kenny was going to ask before he even said it.
"You fucked Wendy?"
He sounded both shocked and amazed, and Cartman wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
"Uh..." the brunette started. Shit, if his blush wasn't noticeable before, then it definitely was now.
"Yes, dude," Kyle answered for him. "Two weeks ago. Right, fatass?"
Cartman glanced over at Kyle, his mouth now parted open in surprise. "R-Right."
"Holy shit," Kenny said in amazement. "I can't fucking believe this! This is...this is huge, man."
"That's what she said," Kyle said quietly, a smile on his face.
"I mean, wow," Kenny went on, completely missing Kyle's remark, "I guess all I can say is...it's about fucking time."
Cartman scowled at that comment.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" he asked in a suspicious tone.
"Oh, yeah," Kyle intervened, "he knows you like Wendy, too."
"What?" Cartman practically shrieked, his eyes widening. His pupils started rapidly darting back and forth between Kyle and Kenny until they finally settled on Kyle. "Goddammit, Kahl, you fucking ratted me out to Kinny?"
"No, no," Kenny quickly spoke up, since he knew Kyle would most likely kick his ass if he didn't tell Cartman the truth right now. "Kyle didn't tell me anything," he assured him. "I figured it out myself, dude. Honest."
Cartman stared at Kenny in silence, his eyes narrowed. He stayed like that for a moment before letting out a long, exasperated sigh.
"God, I hate you guys..." he said as he sighed, shaking his head slightly.
"We love you, too," Kenny said sweetly.
Kyle shook his head, grinning over how ridiculous his friends were.
"All right, Cartman," he said, catching the larger man's attention again. "I'll talk to Wendy for you."
Cartman blinked, surprised that Kyle was actually willing to help him, just like that, without much of a fight. He tried his best not to smile, since he knew it would just make him look like a total pussy, but he was finding it extremely difficult, and ended up smiling anyway.
"Thanks, Kahl," he said, sincerely meaning it, probably for the first time in his entire life. "I fucking owe you one, Jew. Seriously."
Kyle smiled back, completely ignoring the snickering that was coming from Kenny.
"Wendy?"
The raven-haired woman was in her dressing room, sitting in the chair in front of her vanity and putting on her makeup. When she heard the knock on her door, she twisted the cap on the mascara she was using and carefully set it down on the marble vanity.
"Come in," she said, running a hand through her hair while gazing at herself in the mirror. She turned around just as the door was opening, and as the person walked in to reveal himself, she froze for a moment, surprised to see who it was. "Kyle?"
"Yeah," he said, closing the door behind him. "Hey, Wendy."
"Hey, Kyle," she greeted a bit warily. "Um...wow, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"
Kyle slowly walked over to her, stopping when he reached the vanity. He leaned his back against it and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Let's just say...someone sent me," he said as nonchalantly as he could.
Wendy blinked at him curiously, purposely staying silent for a moment. She wasn't fooled by him for a second. She knew who exactly who that someone was.
"Okay..." she said finally, sounding extremely cautious now. She quickly decided that she was definitely going to keep her guard up for the rest of this conversation. "So...why exactly did this 'someone' send you here?"
Unfortunately for Wendy, though, Kyle wasn't easily fooled, either. He easily picked up on what she was doing.
"All right, let's not dance around the fucking subject here," Kyle said rashly, catching Wendy off guard. "Cartman sent me here. You know that. He wanted me to talk to you about..."
The redhead trailed off then, suddenly getting distracted by someone else walking into Wendy's dressing room. Wendy furrowed her eyebrows and looked behind her. She smiled when she saw who it was.
"Oh, hey, Bebe," she said, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. 'Perfect timing.'
Of course Wendy knew about Kyle's crush on Bebe. Everyone knew. Except Bebe, obviously.
"Hey, Kyle, what are you doing here?" Bebe asked, smiling brightly as she walked over to him.
Kyle visibly tensed up as she approached him. His eyes grew a little wider, and his crossed arms tightened against his body.
"I, uh...I was just talking to...uh..."
"Wendy," the dark-haired woman answered for him, unable to hide the smirk on her face.
"Oh," Bebe said. "Well, if you guys are busy, I can just come back after you're done talking or something..."
"No, no, no," Wendy said quickly as she finally got up from her chair. "You two stay here and talk. I've got somewhere I need to be now, anyway."
Kyle looked at Wendy, his mouth parted, as though he were about to say something, but he stayed silent.
"I'll see you guys later," Wendy said, grabbing her purse and walking over to the coat rack to get her jacket. She was almost out the door when she stopped and added in a suggestive tone, "Have fun."
She was out the door before either of them could say anything. They looked at each other, Bebe with a smile on her face, Kyle with a slight blush adorned on his.
"Um," he said, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his sides. He nervously gripped the vanity behind him with both of his hands, drumming his fingers against the drawers. Bebe smiled wider, a soft giggle escaping her lips.
"Come on," she said as she reached out and gently grabbed one of Kyle's hands. He didn't say a word as she pulled him out of the room, leading him to her own dressing room.
"Are you keeping your eyes closed?" Stan asked, his red-gloved hand tightly wrapped around Wendy's bare hand. He was slowly making his way up the cold cement flight of stairs that led to the roof of the theater building, purposely taking his time to make sure Wendy didn't trip and fall. He heard her let out a laugh behind him.
"I am!" she said, her voice filled with excitement.
"Good," Stan said, smiling.
They continued walking up the stairs, Wendy's excitement growing more and more with each step. She heard a door open and was instantly hit with a strong, chilly gust of wind that blew against her face. She shivered at the breeze and grinned wider, already knowing where they were, but still feeling excited.
"Okay," Stan said as he carefully let go of Wendy's hand. "You can open your eyes now."
She did, her eyes slowly fluttering open and then immediately widening in amazement.
"Wow," Wendy marveled, gazing longingly at the scenery before her. They were indeed on the roof of the building. It was open and empty, aside from a large gray statue of a praying angel that sat right in the middle of the square rooftop. She looked up at the night sky, dark blue and scattered with stars that stretched out in all directions. Her eyes fell back down to look at Stan. "It's beautiful."
Stan grinned, but he said nothing as he reached for Wendy's hand again, taking it in his own and leading her towards the statue. They both sat down on the flat circular edge of it, turning to look at each other, but still neither one of them saying anything. Finally, though, Wendy let out a sigh, deciding to break the silence.
"Look, Stan, there's..." she hesitated, "there's something really important I need to tell you. And you're probably gonna totally fucking hate me for it, but–"
"Oh, God," Stan suddenly interrupted, already sounding disappointed. Wendy gave him a confused look.
"What?" she asked curiously.
Stan blinked, as though he didn't even realize he'd just interrupted her.
"No, no, it's nothing," he said quickly, but Wendy knew he was lying, and she let him know that by giving him a different look, a more annoyed, impatient-looking one. Stan easily recognized the look and let out a sigh.
"It's just..." he began, but he wasn't really sure how to continue, so he just stopped there, now trying to figure out how to say what it was he wanted to say. Wendy just kept staring at him, but his eyes were no longer fixed on her. Instead, they were looking down at the ground as he became lost in his own thoughts. God, there was so much he wanted to say to her. So much he wanted to let her know and get off his chest. He just didn't know how the hell to say any of it, and it was definitely starting to make him feel a little frustrated.
Or a lot frustrated.
"Fuck, Wendy," he muttered out of his sudden deep frustration. He glanced up at her again. She was looking more confused than ever, with her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth parted, but he didn't think anything of it. He simply asked in an almost angry tone, "Don't you get it?"
"Get what, Stan?" she asked in an equally frustrated tone.
Stan let out the loudest sigh of annoyance, simultaneously rolling his blue eyes. He literally had no idea where the fuck to even begin, so instead of wasting his time trying to tell her how he felt about her, he decided it would be a whole lot easier to just show her. So he quickly let go of her hand and reached up, taking her face in both of his hands. He then pulled her forward, kissing her full on the lips.
This wasn't a warm, gentle kiss, like the many they'd shared in the past. This was a much angrier kiss, one that was based on unexpressed hurt and frustration that had built up over the years, ever since the two of them broke up and slowly began drifting apart. It was full of passion, and Wendy found herself melting right into it, kissing him back with just as much intensity. They were both expressing their need for each other in this kiss. Not want, but actual, physical, heart-aching need, something much too powerful for either of them to even realize just how strong that need was.
After a while, Stan abruptly pulled away, panting loudly and staring right at Wendy with his wide blue eyes. She stared right back at him, her brown eyes even wider than before.
"Wow," she said quietly, still trying to catch her breath.
His gloved fingers that had been caressing her cheeks slowly slid themselves into her hair. He felt like his heart was about to explode at any given moment, and he knew he had to say what was on his mind now before it was too late. With all the confidence he had, he finally opened his mouth and said it in a calm, serious voice.
"I love you, Wendy."
As soon as the words left his lips, Wendy's beautiful brown eyes started to fill with tears. And before she could even attempt to stop herself from crying, the glistening tears had already escaped, rolling uncontrollably down her cheeks.
"I-I love you too, Stan," she said, her voice sounding broken up and heavy with emotion.
She tangled her own fingers into his jet black hair and pulled him in for another kiss. It was a much deeper, slower kiss this time around, one that Stan gladly returned, one that was quickly bringing back all of their former intimate emotions all at once.
And the whole time Wendy was kissing him, there was a voice in the back of her mind that was screaming at her to tell him, tell him, tell him, TELL HIM!
But it only made her want to cry harder and kiss him longer, because she just couldn't do it. She couldn't deal with the pain and guilt of having to break Stan's heart by telling him that she fucking betrayed him like that, and worse, that she'd been lying to him this entire time. She just couldn't handle it. She knew it was selfish on her part, because she was protecting her own feelings, but really...
It was because she was afraid.
They slowly broke apart, savoring the warmness that lingered on their lips. Stan removed his hands from Wendy's hair and stuffed them into his coat pockets. Wendy let go of him as well, using her index finger to wipe away the last few remaining tears from her eyes. They were both silent for a few seconds when Stan suddenly cleared his throat.
"You really love me?" he asked.
Wendy was a bit confused by the question, and she just stared at him silently for a few more seconds before slowly and sheepishly nodding her head. The smile he gave her after that was probably one of the cutest ones she'd ever seen from him, and it just made her feel a lot better.
"So...would you do anything for me then?"
Wendy blinked, feeling even more confused by that question than the previous one. She slowly nodded again.
"Okay," Stan said, shuffling his feet a bit, but still keeping his hands inside his pockets. "Will you do something for me then?"
"Uh...sure," Wendy answered, now wondering where he was going with all of these questions.
Stan slowly rose to his feet for a moment, only to kneel back down in front of her.
On one knee.
"Oh my God," Wendy said without even realizing it. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe, her heart now beating extremely fast inside her chest. "What are you doing?"
But Stan didn't answer her question. Instead, he pulled out a diamond ring from his pocket, looked her right in the eyes, and asked a question of his own.
"Wendy, will you marry me?"