I DO NOT OWN SOUTH PARK!

Kenny arched his back and moaned loudly. The fingers on his hips tightened their hold and the mans rhythm faltered. A few thrusts later and the man pulled out of him. The usual routine of wipe off, zip up, and go followed. When the man was gone, Kenny sat up and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He glanced at the clock. It was 5:30. He had half an hour before he would have people crowded into his apartment. He took a quick shower and got dressed in his least tattered and faded clothes. He straightened his cot, threw away the garbage from his lunch, and emptied his trash can. When he was done he sat on his couch. The apartment was clean. He didn't have enough to make it messy. He stood again and turned on the radio. He turned down the volume until it was just background noise.

When the knock finally came, Kenny was standing in his bathroom making sure the tile over his hiding hole was in tight. He took a breath, and walked to the door. He opened it to find Kyle and his mother standing with arms full of presents. Blushing, he stepped back and opened the door.

"Where should we put these, dear?"

"Erm, the table or the counter I guess. No where else to put them really." He watched as Kyle moved to the dining area and put a big present on the floor and a small one on the table.

"Knock, knock." Kenny turned to find Stan, Cartman, and their mothers standing in the door. He backed up and watched them all walk in. Cartman turned towards him and sneered with disgust at his home. Kenny felt his face flame with embarrassment and slowly sat on his cot, folding his hands in his lap.

"Kyle, dear, why don't you run down to the car and get the rest of the stuff."

"Okay. Kenny, you mind giving me a hand real quick?"

Kenny looked up at Kyle, who was motioning towards the door with his head. "Yeh, okay."

"Kyle, don't make Kenny help you. This party is for him."

"It's okay. I don't mind." He followed Kyle out of the apartment and down the stairs. He turned the corner towards the parking lot and pulled up short because Kyle was stopped just around the turn.

"Don't pay any attention to Cartman, Kenny. Don't let him make you feel bad for your place being small. I think it's a great place."

"If Cartman had to live by himself he would probably die in a week cause no one was there to cook for him."

Kyle snorted a laugh and gave Kenny's arm a squeeze before turning around and opening the trunk of his mothers car. It was full of food and a cake. "Mom went overboard on buying food for the party. I think she did it so she could make sure you had plenty of leftovers." He turned with two buckets of KFC chicken in his hands to find Kenny blushing furiously. "I'm sorry about this. I really am. But we are only trying to give you a hand. We're your friends, Kenny. Friends help each other."

"Friends don't rely on friends for things that they need. They rely on their friends for support and friendship." He took the food Kyle handed him until his arms were loaded. "I don't want people to give me things, Kyle. I've never had anything given to me and I'm proud of that. I like working to make my own way. Even if what I'm doing to make money isn't something I'm proud of."

Kyle tucked a case of soda under one arm and lifted a cake out of the trunk. After he closed it, he turned to Kenny. "There is no shame in letting your friends help. We are giving you gifts to congratulate you on living on your own. Take the things. Use them to help you live a little better. Having them will save you some money. Because you wont need to buy those thing now. So the money you would have spent on them can be spent on something more important. Like food. Or your bills. Maybe you can have a little extra money to have some fun once in a while."

Kenny blushed again and looked down at Kyle. "Thank you. For doing this."

"You're welcome."

"Let me repay you."

"You have no need to pay me for anything."

"That's not what I meant." Kenny looked down at his feet. "Will you go out with me? For dinner or something?"

Kyle looked up and smiled. "Really?"

"Yeh. Just dinner or something. As long as Cartman doesn't stuff his face, which I wouldn't doubt, what's left over of this food should feed me for the week. I'll have some extra money." Kenny shifted uncomfortably. "As long as you don't ask how I made it."

"Kenny. I don't like what you do to make money. But I don't think any less of you for it. You were forced into it. It's what you know, so you are still doing it. There isn't much you could do to make enough to support yourself. At least not until you're 18. So I don't think any less of you." Kyle took a breath and gave Kenny a smile. "I love you, Kenny. That's not going to change." He didn't wait for an answer, just turned and went back up the stairs to put the cake and soda in the fridge.

Kenny followed Kyle upstairs and put the bags of food on the counter. His chest felt lighter then it had in weeks. Kyle loved him. He could put up with Cartman being a dick and people giving him stuff he couldn't afford on his own as long as Kyle said that to him again before he left.

Over the next hour and a half, Kenny opened gifts. He was touched by the pillows and the comforter Stan gave him, he had a feeling Kyle helped him pick it out to make sure he got one that would keep him warm. From Stan's mother, he got a small set of pots and pans and a set of tableware. From Kyle's mother, he got a complete set of dishes, kitchen towels, and bath towels. From Cartman's mother, he got a nice area rug, a rug for the bathroom, a new shower curtain, a slipcover for his couch, and a set of food storage containers. Cartman gave him the box set of Terrance and Phillip DVDs and a basket full of snacks. What touched him most was from Kyle. A TV with a build in DVD player and 12 movies. Kyle knew how much he wanted his own TV. And all of the movies were ones the two of them had watched together at Kyle's house and Kenny had enjoyed.

They eat together, Cartman's mother made sure Cartman had only one plate of food. Then they had cake and ice cream. By the time everyone was ready to go, Kenny couldn't remember having a better time. Even Cartman whining about wanting to go home so he didn't miss his favorite shows couldn't bring him down. Finally everyone was gone but Kyle and his mother. Kyle was helping Kenny set up his new TV and his mom was cleaning up the garbage and washing his new dishes so they were clean when he wanted to use them.

By the time she finished, Kenny and Kyle were sitting on the couch watching one of the movies. "Kyle, dear, it's time to go. I'm sure Kenny wants to get some sleep before school tomorrow."

Kyle sighed and looked back at his mother. "Go ahead down to the car, mom. I'll grab these garbage bags and take them down."

"Alright. Don't be to long now."

The woman left and Kyle turned to smile at Kenny. "I have one more gift for you." He reached into his pocket and took out a small box. Blushing as red as his hair, he handed it to Kenny.

Kenny took the box and opened it gently. Inside was a ring. Kenny looked up at Kyle and felt his face flush. "What's this?"

"I saw it when I went to the mall this morning. It made me think of you. And I wanted to give you something special. Something you could wear and think of me. If you wanted to." He took the ring from the box and slid it onto Kenny's hand. He smiled. "It fits. Do you like it?"

The ring was a simple silver band with three small blue stone set into it. "I love it. You really shouldn't have, Kyle."

"Of course I should have. I love you, Kenny."

Kenny stood and moved to the dresser. He set the box on top of it and spun the ring around his finger. "I love you, too, Kyle. You really shouldn't have done this."

"Why not?"

Kenny turned tear filled eyes to his best friend. "Because it's special. It means a lot to me that you would think of me like this. But when I walk through a store I think about you, too. I see something and I think it would look beautiful on you. But I can never get you anything special. I can never just walk into a store and randomly see something I want to give you and buy it. And I want to, Kyle. I want to be able to do that. But I cant. And I never will." He closed his eyes and pulled the ring from his finger. He put it into the box and closed the lid. With shaking hands, he handed it back to Kyle. "You keep it. You keep it until the day comes that I can buy you something special, too. Please do that for me."

Kyle stood and put his hand on Kenny's face. "If that's what you want. I can do that. You will be able to buy special things someday, Kenny. I know you will. You may not have much, but you are smart and you are driven. I know you can do it."

Kenny leaned forward until his forehead rested against the other boys. "I love you. I really do. So much." He took Kyle's face in his hands and very gently touched their lips together. He pulled back and let his fingers trace Kyle's jaw. "You should go. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Okay." Kyle put the box back into his pocket and turned to the door. He picked up the trash bag that was set against the counter by the door. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked back at Kenny. "I love you, too, you know. When you love someone, it doesn't matter if you buy them special things. All that matter is that you let that person know that they are special to you. You are special to me. You don't need to buy me anything to prove to me that you think I'm special, too. But I know how much it means to you, to be able to get me something special to show your love. So I can wait for you to wear my gift. I'll wait until I can wear yours, too."

Kenny closed his eyes and felt his chest tighten again as the door closed behind Kyle. What was he doing? What was he doing allowing this love for Kyle to grow? He knew it was wrong. He knew that Kyle deserved so much more then a whore. But he couldn't help himself. Kyle was the one of only two people that actually treated him like a real person. That actually saw past the ratty clothes that were two sizes to big and the poor hair cut and the dirty fingernails. Who really saw him. And he deserved so much more. But Kenny loved him so much. He couldn't help wanting to be the one who deserved a guy like Kyle.