Tap tap tap.

Not tonight.

Tap. Tap tap.

Please, not tonight.

Tap.

…

Marjorine Scotch's window slowly creaked open, the only illumination being a single dim nightlight on, with pillows piled along the bottom of the door, hiding her dirty secret from her parents.

Literally. Her "dirty secret" sat perilously on a tree, just able to reach far enough to tap on the window. Kenny McCormick, former South Park Elementary classmate, previous secret admirer, now budding romance, smiled softly at Marjorine's grumpy expression.

"C'mon, you know you're happy to see me." Kenny smirked at Marjorine, expecting a blush or subtle grin in return, but was confused by the continued knuckle-bashing she constantly used as a way to de-stress.

"You… you really can't be here tonight, Kenny." Marjorine whispered, not daring to look in his eyes, her own still darting to the door, scanning signs of life from her parents. "My-My parents grounded me again—" Kenny interrupted her with a groan. Not at Marjorine, but at her shitty parents. Kenny was no stranger to bad parental figures - his own were probably fucked off somewhere doing all sorts right now - but Marjorine's were a different breed. She'd be lucky to get away with breathing too loudly in that house.

"Honestly, Marj', I don't think you're ever not grounded." The statement was delivered with a chuckle, but both of them knew it had more than a hint of truth to it. "When was the last time we went out - properly, out? Not walking around aimlessly in the middle of the night." Kenny regretted the words as they spilled out of his mouth, but he was frustrated. More than frustrated, actually - Kenny was really starting to despise Marjorine's folks.

"Well, they've got good reason… they-they've got a good excuse this time." Marjorine mumbled the end of her sentence, weighing up what to say next.

"They found some nail polish in my wardrobe"

Kenny's face went white.

"They-They don't know about the- y'know- the-the trans stuff. They just think it's gay, which is, y'know, not good, but—"

"You've gotta get out of here, Marjorine."

Not like they hadn't weighed up this option before: Kenny lifts Marjorine down the tree like a noble knight returning with his reward, they run as fast they possibly can back to Kenny's house, grab his dad's keys, as much money as possible, and just drive away from South Park forever.

"Go somewhere where the grass is greener?" Marjorine chuckled. It was a phrase Kenny had claimed was super poignant when he said it. Then he slept off his high and realised how corny it was. More recently, it's started becoming more relevant than ever. "You know why we can't do that, Ken."

"I'll take Karen with us. One happy family."

"Unlike what's happen' over here?"

"Yeah. Yeah. You can't stay here, Marj'." Kenny's heart ached for her. They both wanted nothing more than to leave, but both knew they could have nothing more than this; a horrible situation where Marjorine has to be a boy and Kenny has to be a boy at her window.

"I know… but-but they'd go insane without me." Marjorine recalled floating down a river in a car, sent to drown as her mother's coping mechanism. As much as she despised her parents for the misery they put her through, she couldn't help but feel a bond between them all. Like shards out of a cracked plate - alone, they were useless, but if put back together in just the right way…

"Marj'. Scotch. Marjorine. " Kenny finally had her attention. "This can't last. It won't last. You know how bad they are for you—"

"They're still my family. McCormick." He'd really gotten under her skin with that one. "They haven't hurt me, so-"

"This is hurting you!" Kenny cringed internally at how loud he'd gotten - god forbid Marjorine's parents actually heard him. "Keeping you locked up in here, forcing you into the closet- I mean, this all started because of some fucking nail polish!"

"Well I can't just let them fall apart without me, ok?" Marjorine bit back. "I know I'll be better off without them, a-and I will once I can move out— what are you doin'?"

Kenny pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly brought his hand down his face. Frustration. "Marj', they're not going to let you move out."

Dead silence.

"What?"

"If you let them keep you until you're 18, then they'll ground you until you're 21. Then they'll keep you locked down until 23. Then 25. Marjorine, baby, they're abusing you. Whether it's because they think they're putting God in you, o-or they just do it because they're fucked in the head, it's two sides of the same coin: you have to get out of here." Kenny looked like a puppy begging for food, praying at Marjorine's doorstep that what he was saying would get through to her.

Marjorine stared at Kenny for a few moments.

"Oh, so all of a sudden you're the Scotch family expert?"

"Marj', don't do this—"

"No, y-y-you think you know everything there is to my family, but you ain't even met them!"

"They'd kill me if I tried."

Marjorine faltered. That one hit a little deeper. If Kenny shows up at the front door, he's either the evil gay boyfriend, or somehow the blame for 'poisoning her mind'.

"We just have to take things a little slower than most." God, what was she doing?

"We shouldn't have to!"

"Well maybe that's just the hand we've been dealt, Ken! Maybe my parents are quite a bit stricter than yours!"

"Don't bring up my—"

"Why, because—"

"Marjorine."

"B-Because they—"

"Marjorine Scotch."

"Because they're fucked off somewhere doin' all sorts right now? Leavin' you alone with Karen to feed?"

Now it was Kenny's turn to stare at Marjorine for a few moments.

How this had blown up into a full argument like this? Why was she so dead set on defending her parents? Why did she feel the need to throw his parents under the bus just to prove she has to stay here? Kenny's head spun as he looked into Marjorine's eyes, noticing his peripheral vision start to blur as—

"K-Ken, I'm sorry, I-I-I didn't mean to—"

Fuck.

"I'm gonna go home." Kenny's voice cracked as he announced his departure. Even after what she said, he still wished more than anything that she'd beg to climb through the window and join him on a mad rush out of town, but that was a conversation for another day, it seems.

"No please, Kenny— baby wait, I didn't—"

A light flicked on. Both teenagers froze.

Arguments evaporate into ash. Who cares. The landing light is on and footsteps are approaching.

And Kenny's falling from the tree.

Pushed by Marjorine. Not her fault. Not her choice. Kenny's survived worse, though he lands awkwardly on his arm and has to stifle a squeak of pain as his thinning parka makes contact with the thinner layer of snow coating the ground. No time to feel it though, the adrenaline forces him up and as close to the wall as possible, trying to hide in a shadow as his head cranes up, simultaneously listening through Marjorine's window.

"Butters? Why are you still awake?'

"O-Oh, I-I just woke up—"

"Butters, why is your window open?"

"I swear, I-I just wanted a breeze-"

Kenny cringed at every mention of that name. Not like it was some well-guarded secret around town, but he still hated hearing it. He wanted nothing more than to run up the tree, fly through the window and scream at them, shout at them, tell them her name and make them suffer for everything they had done.—

"You're grounded for another week. Go back to sleep. Now."

A window click allows Kenny to let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. Their conversation was over for the night, but far from a chapter closed. His left arm sent shockwaves of pain through his nervous system with every movement, but from Kenny's point of view, the pain may as well be his heart, aching for Marjorine and her situation.

Kenny began the trudge back to his home.

What should be their home.

God, she needed to get out of that house.