"So, what do you want for dinner?" Stan asked.
"Hmm... you just want to go get McDonald's or something? I've already cooked breakfast and lunch." Kyle said.
"As I said earlier, you didn't have to cook lunch."
"I wanted you to try my enchiladas."
Stan reminisced the delicious food Kyle had prepared. "Best enchiladas I'd ever had. Dude is there anything you can't cook?"
"I don't know how to cook shrimp."
Stan and Kyle were down in the basement playing on the family's video game set. Well, more like Stan was. Kyle sat on the couch and watched him.
Kyle suddenly groaned and put a hand to his head.
"What's wrong?" Stan asked as he put away his controller.
"Can we stop by my house on the way? I have to drink something."
"I have water upstairs."
"No, dude. Like... blood. I'm getting lightheaded."
"Oh.." Stan said. He thought for a moment before hesitantly holding out his wrist.
"What the heck are you doing?" Kyle asked.
"Here, I'm offering my blood." Stan said nervously.
"Dude, I said I don't drink from humans directly, remember? I don't know where you or your blood has been." Kyle said.
Stan gladly put his arm down and sighed in relief.
The two went back upstairs and put on their shoes.
"You got your beanie?" Kyle asked.
"Yes? Why? Is my hair a mess again?" Stan said and laughed.
"No, dude. I want to show you a trick me and my brother came up with." Kyle said.
Stan held up his hat and put it on, eager to see what Kyle has to offer.
"So, the sun is still up. I can't go outside, right?" The red head asked. Stan, confused, nodded his head.
"Watch this, and try not to move." Kyle said and Stan immediately became nervous.
Kyle took on the form of a small red bag again, flying into the air and swooping around the living room.
Stan jumped as Kyle went straight for his head, and yelped in surprise when he landed on his forehead. Stan felt the fuzzy little creature crawl underneath his hat.
Stan ran to the mirror beside the front door. Kyle's small, adorable furry face poked out of the front of the beanie.
"Now, I can go outside without burning to death! Isn't it great?" Kyle exclaimed happily. His voice was a pitch higher than normal due to his small vocal cords.
Stan laughed as Kyle burrowed himself back into the hat and nuzzled into his hair.
"Is this why you wanted to wash my hair so bad?" Stan asked.
"This was a reason why. Come on, let's go get food." Kyle said beneath the hat.
Stan grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone before walking out. He looked up and saw the sun was begging to set. He got into his truck and started the engine.
"Sorry about the mess. I haven't had time to wash my truck in a while because of school." Stan explained and took off down the road.
"Alright, can you tell me where to go?" Stan asked. He felt Kyle shift on top of his head to poke his small head out again.
"Just keep going straight for a bit." Kyle responded.
He giggled. "This is just like Ratatouille, except I'm a bat and you're driving instead of cooking."
Stan laughed in agreement.
Kyle's house wasn't but a few streets away. His house was definitely nicer than Stan's.
Stan looked in the driveway and could only see a nice white car in the driveway. Stan exited his truck and felt Kyle shift under his hat again.
"Nice ride." Stan said.
"Yeah, it's my dad's old car. He has a nicer one in the garage." Kyle explained as Stan walked up the stairs to the front door. "There's a key in the flower pot."
Stan quickly found the hidden object and opened the front door to an empty, clean house. Once they were inside Kyle swooped out of Stan's hat and reformed in the main entrance. He stretched happily and looked around.
"Doesn't smell like there's any vampires around here, but they definitely have been. Let's be quick." Kyle said and walked to the kitchen.
Stan followed behind slowly, taking in the beautiful scenery of the well-decorated home. It was extremely dark since every window had large, thick velvet curtains covering the outside. Once he entered the kitchen, he saw Kyle rummaging through the fridge.
"If you're queasy around blood I suggest you don't watch." Kyle suggested and pulled out a large pitcher of red liquid. He set it down on the counter and grabbed a glass from a cabinet.
Stan's stomach churned at the sight of the pitcher and sat at the table, looking at anything besides Kyle and the container full of blood.
He heard the glass being filled. "Alright, I haven't had blood in a good twelve hours... so that's two cups.." he heard Kyle mumble under his breath.
"So, um... where do you guys get the blood from?" Stan asked, trying to distract himself. He glanced over at Kyle who was bringing the blood-filled cup to his mouth.
"From the blood bank in town. That's where every half vampire gets it from. We know it's not full of diseases and locally sourced." Kyle said and downed the glass. Stan shuttered and looked away quickly.
"Are you queasy around blood?" Kyle asked, noticing his odd behavior. He reached for the pitcher and poured another glass.
"Not exactly. A little blood doesn't scare me but it's just the fact that there's an entire pitcher of blood in front of me that's unsettling me. Like, that was inside someone at one point, and now you're here drinking it." Stan explained, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah, it's a little weird, but I need it to survive. If there were a vegan option I would take it in a heartbeat, but sadly we don't get those liberties. We need so much from blood that we don't produce ourselves." Kyle explained and drank the second glass.
He put the pitcher back in the fridge and washed the bloody glass out in the sink. Stan turned around with relief.
"Alright, let's go get some of my stuff." Kyle said and began to walk out of the room. Stan once again followed quickly. They went upstairs, which was just as regal as the bottom of the house, and entered a room not too far down the hall.
Kyle opened the door to reveal a very clean, neat bedroom. Stan looked around.
"Wow, your room is so nice." He commented. The walls were painted a cozy dark green and all his furniture were made out of a dark colored wood that made the room resemble a forest. White curtains adorned the windows, making the room even darker than the rest of the house. The only thing creating light in the room was a small pink salt lamp lit up on a desk.
"You can turn the light on light, I know you humans can't see as well as I can." Kyle said and scrounged the bottom of his closet for a bag.
Stan flipped the light switch and continued to admire the room. "Dude, your entire house is just gorgeous. Every room looks like something out of Pinterest or something like that."
"Thanks, me and my family have a lot of time to make it gorgeous. I'm pretty much stuck inside all day, so when I'm not sleeping I'm cleaning or organizing." Kyle explained and set down a blue duffel bag on the neatly-made bed. "Although Ike doesn't clean. His room is a mess I refuse to help."
"Is there anything you need me to grab?" Stan asked.
"Grab my laptop, charger, and mouse please. My phone charger by my bed would also be useful." Kyle said. He opened the door to his bathroom. Stan moved quickly and grabbed all the items the redhead requested. He opened the bag and placed them gently inside.
Stan placed a hand on the matching green comforter covering the bed, and was surprised at how soft the bed was. He sat down and eventually laid down on the bed, engulfed by the comfort of the queen-sized bed.
Kyle walked back in and laughed. "What are you doing?" He said and walked over to the bed.
"Dude, your bed is so comfy." Stan said.
"Well maybe when this whole ordeal blows over we can sleep over here one night." Kyle said and began placing his hair products and diffuser into the bag. He then turned to his closet.
Stan's face heated up again to the thought of them sharing a bed. He watched as the taller boy began to throw pieces of clothing into his arm and carry all of them back to the duffel bag. He folded them neatly and began placing them in the bag as well.
"Speaking of, when do you think this whole thing is going to end?" Stan asked.
Kyle sighed. "I have no idea. Probably until my parents get back with Ike from summer camp. That's a month from now. Speaking of, where are your parents?"
"They're on a... month long trip around the U.S." Stan said and came to realization.
"So both our parents are gone, many states away for a month and the only parental figure we have is at work all day. That just makes this situation all the more dangerous." Kyle said.
"Well that certainly gives us a lot of time to hang out." Stan said, trying to lighten the conversation.
Kyle smiled. "It sure does. Looks like I'm stuck with you for a long time." He stepped back from the bed.
"Alright, computer, clothes, hair stuff, toothbrush... one more thing." Kyle said and zipped up the bag. He threw it on his shoulder and opened the door.
"Where we going?" Stan asked, sad to leave the comfort of the bed.
"I need to get blood packets." Key explained as the descended the stairs.
"Oh. Is that, like, portable food for you?" Stan asked as they entered the kitchen once more. Kyle opened the freezer door and began grabbing a couple of red packets from the freezer. He put them in the bag and zipped it up again.
"Yeah. I only need to feed once a day. They're super easy to carry around." Kyle explained. "Can you carry the bag? There's still light outside."
Stan nodded and grabbed the bag. "Is it too heavy?" Kyle asked.
"Nah, my school backpack is heavier than this." Stan said and watched as Kyle turned back into his bat form and once again cuddled into Stan's hair.
"Speaking of, I wanted to ask you something." Kyle said as they stepped out of the gorgeous home. Stan locked the door back and put the key where he found it.
"What's school like?" Kyle asked as Stan put the bag down in his backseat. He got into the driver seat and turned on the engine.
"It's... um... how do I put this... a living hell." Stan said with sarcasm in his tone.
"Really? I've always wanted to go to school. Being around all those people, the socialization, the schoolwork.. it sounds like heaven to me." Kyle swooned.
"Are you a nerd or something?" Stan joked.
"You could say that. I did online school with Tweek and Marjorine. It wasn't all that fun but at least the work kept me entertained for a bit."
"Entertained? Entertained! Dude, schoolwork makes me want to chop off my head!"
"What makes it so bad? Are you dumb or something?" Kyle remarked on the same tone Stan used earlier.
"Probably. I just don't understand it. It's so hard, I don't even know how I passed middle school."
"Sounds rough, buddy." Kyle said. "What classes are you taking?"
"Chemistry, Algebra II, and English Four, I think? Those are the hardest. I also have a carpentry class, weightlifting, and then two free periods." Stan explained.
"Really? That kind of schedule is giving you trouble? And you don't even know what English class you're taking? We certainly have some work to do." Kyle said.
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"I'm going to help you."
"Aren't you taking these classes too? We should be in the same year, right?"
"Yeah, we should, but I'm way ahead of you. Believe it or not, I'm technically already graduated."
Stan's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Me, Tweek, and Marjorine went ahead and did all of our schoolwork nonstop last summer and got all of it done. We got our diplomas from the school board not too long ago. We're done." Kyle explained. "You still want my help?"
"No, I don't want it. I need it!" Stan exclaimed.
Kyle poked his little face out again and giggled. "I'm down for that. I want to see what an actual school system has to offer."
At that moment, the sun had now gone below the tree line, casting the town in a faint darkness. Kyle crawled out of Stan's beanie and turned back into a human, sitting in the passenger seat and buckling up.
"Oh, look at the sunset." Kyle said, admiring the sky. "It looks so warm."
Stan looked on the horizon and glanced at the warm yellows and oranges before putting his eyes back on the road. "Do you like sunsets?"
"I love them. Sunrises too. They're so pretty and colorful. It just gives me a glimpse of something I could never see during the day." Kyle explained.
"It's just weird to think.. you've never felt the sun before, haven't you?" Stan asked.
"Oh, I've felt the sun before, alright. It burned the ever living daylights out of me. But the warmth I felt on my skin afterwards was so good, I almost did it again."
"So the sun's your guilty pleasure, huh?"
"Definitely. I'd do anything to just spend one day in the sun." Kyle sighed. "You have no idea just how lucky you have it, Stan."
Stan really couldn't think of a response. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"I'm sorry, I get carried away with this subject. Where were we going? McDonald's?" Kyle responded with a weak smile on his face.
"Oh, yeah. I also know I great place we can go eat." Stan said.
It was very dark outside by the time they arrived to Stan's so called "spot."
"Starks Pond? Oh, I've been here before." Kyle said and opened the bag of food.
Stan parked his truck and turned off his headlights, leaving only the light from Stan's radio to illuminate the two boys.
"Here's your burger." Kyle said and handed Stan the wrapped sandwich. He placed out napkins in the inner console and put their fries on top.
"Kyle, why do you make everything so neat?" Stan asked as he took a bite from his burger.
"OCD. It's a vampire thing. Lots of us have it." Kyle said and opened his burger as well.
The two ate in silence except for the rock music quietly playing through the speakers.
"So, tell me, what's school really like. Not the schoolwork, actual school. The people, the teachers, the social tree, the drama...what's it like?" Kyle asked.
"Well, it's certainly full of drama. Everyone in my school is either a liar or a gossip. Except for a few people, like Kenny. But he has his own faults that don't make him perfect either. Everyone has dirt on another person, everyone backstabs one another, you just never know who's your real friend until shit hits the fan." Stan explained.
"What's the dirt on you?" Kyle asked.
"The fact that I've gone back to the same girl probably over fifty times already. I still have more stuff to say about that whole situation."
"You can tell me. Who am I gonna tell, the moon?"
"Gosh, dude. I used to be head over heels for my ex. She was perfect, and for the most part, she still is. She's got gorgeous, long black hair, pretty brown eyes, a heart-shaped face, she is literally the most beautiful girl in my grade. It's just... the breaking up, the fights, the lies she spreads.. I've lost feelings for her. Like I said earlier, I'm tired and I want to move on. I just don't know how."
"Then just move on. You go to school with plenty of other teenagers, don't you?"
"That's the thing. Because of what she told everyone else about me, no one else will date me. She's got the whole school thinking I'm a depressed, dumb alcoholic who won't treat anyone right."
"Ouch."
"That's why I want to find someone like you said. Who'll love me for who I am." Stan couldn't help but blush.
"What about outside of school? College is just around the corner as well, you could find someone there." Kyle asked.
"There aren't that many people outside of school, especially in a town as small as this." Stan said. His heart began racing.
He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat.
"To be honest, I think I found someone who I like more than her." Stan said.
"Oh, you have? That's great! Does she go to school?" Stan jumped at the mention of "she."
"Not ...anymore..." Stan caught himself.
"If you want, I can help you. I can be your wingman!" Kyle exclaimed happily.
Stan laughed. "I'd love that. You and Kenny combined together could probably set me up on a great date."
"I bet we could. So what's Kenny like? You talk about him a lot." Kyle asked.
"Oh boy.. Kenny is a lot of things. First of all, he's my childhood best friend and we've pretty much have done everything together. He's done okay in school, definitely better than me. He's a happy-go-lucky person and he's pretty funny too. But not the 'making jokes' kinda funny. He's the unpredictable kind." Stan explained.
Kyle laughed softly. "Give me an example."
"Okay, my favorite thing he's done was our freshman year. A boy from our class, Cartman, had told a teacher that Kenny was smoking weed in the bathroom during lunch, which he kinda was. So, he made me wait in the bathroom the next day until Cartman went in, and I had to text him when. I though Kenny was just going to jump him like he would do with anyone else. No. Eventually, Cartman went into the bathroom and I texted Kenny. A minute later and Kenny ran into the bathroom with a lit firecracker and threw it on the stall where Cartman was. Me and the boy I was with, Craig, were dying of laughter as Cartman screamed like a pig and Kenny ran out as fast he could. He still got suspended for a week, though." Stan reminisced, laughing at the memory.
Kyle was laughing too. "He sounds like a loose canon."
"He is. Kenny's your typical neighborhood redneck. He loves partying and, you know, doing the deed." Stan hinted.
"Oh, he's horny?" Kyle asked.
"Very. He started getting people to pay him for his services not to long ago."
"Like a prostitute?"
"Exactly, but I don't blame him. His family is the poorest in the town, and he and his brother pay for everything. Kenny would do anything for money, but for a good reason."
"Oh wow. Sounds like he has it rough."
"He does, but he doesn't let that bother him. He's still the optimistic go-getter and will always be in my eyes."
Stan finished his food and sipped on his drink. "So tell me, what are your friends like?"
"I'll start with Tweek." Kyle began.
"First of all, that is a very weird name." Stan said.
"Oh, if you think his first name is weird, guess what his last name is."
"Please don't tell me it's also Tweek." Stan joked.
"...at least it's spelled differently."
"No way, dude."
"Yeah, his legal name is Tweek Tweak. He hates his parents for that one. But, he certainly lives up to his name. He's super anxious and stressed out about nearly everything. He's the reason I check my phone every hour or so; he's making sure I haven't been kidnapped. But he's really kind and cares about anyone he meets. He works at his parents coffee shop, Tweak Bros, I'm sure you've heard of it."
"Oh yeah. That coffee is super addicting, I can only drink a little or I'll go overboard on it for weeks." Stan added.
"Tweek is the embodiment of a coffee addiction. He works the night shifts there since he can't go out in the sun like me. He has all of the powers I have except he has hypnosis and his strength is a bit more powerful than mine."
Kyle took a break from talking to drink.
"He sounds very interesting to say the least." Stan said.
"Then there's Marjorine. She is the sweetest person I've ever met in my entire life. She's the embodiment of anything and everything feminine in this world. She's like a little ray of sunshine. Marjorine has had the most character development out of anyone I've ever met. Oh!" Kyle stopped suddenly.
"What is it?" Stan asked.
"This was probably the first thing I should have said. Marjorine is trans." Kyle explained.
"Trans? As in transgender?"
"Yeah. But you'd never believe it if we told you she's actually a boy. She has the most feminine body shape and face. She's had a rough life, and I'm telling you this because I trust you, okay?"
Stan nodded.
"Marjorine's parents used to be extremely strict and abusive. They'd ground her... well at that time it was him... over nothing. It wasn't until about four years ago that she decided she wanted to start dressing up as a girl. She wasn't comfortable as a boy, and I don't blame her. Her parents flipped out, and me and Tweek were there for it. For the first time, Marj actually stood up for herself and told them off. I don't think I've ever heard anyone so mad in their entire life. I think they realized that the power they once held over her was fading, so they stepped down and let her do what she wanted. After about a year of Marjorine existing, they realized how wrong they were and accepted her as their daughter instead of their son. They've been super supportive and kind ever since, but her dad is still a little protective of her."
Stan listened and nodded. "Wow."
"Yeah. You also wanted to know why I started taking care of myself better? Me and Tweek helped Marj with everything during her transition. We looked up routines for hair, skin, and nails, we learned to shave properly, I learned how to fix hair for her, we did so much for her and it just stuck."
"So you learned how to take care of yourself for her? That's really sweet of you."
"It's the least I could've done for her. It was a rough time, I'm glad it's all over now." Kyle said and leaned back in his seat.
"I really do love them like family."
Stan could do nothing but smile.
"He's so sweet and kind. And cute. He is just...perfection." Stan thought. He prayed mind reading wasn't a vampiric power Kyle hadn't told him about.
"I think I have a crush on him."