Mended Hearts.

Part III.

About a week had passed since Wendy and her family had finally moved back from Tampa to the podunk little mountain town in the middle of Colorado and had started a new chapter in their lives, with them slowly, but surely adapting to their old lives in South Park after all those years they had been away – as well as swapping their holiday visits to the town and visits whenever the teenage girl would have a school break for a now more, and perhaps, permanent stay.

With their new house now being halfway furnished and made to look a bit cozier than it was when they had first moved in, both Wendy and her parents had been feeling much more relaxed due to having one less thing to worry about and now being able to focus on doing as much things as they possibly could before even more important plans would have to come to fruition; especially Sean and Vanessa starting their respective new jobs and their daughter enrolling into a completely new high school.

And with herself being unsurprisingly busy and running a ton of errands with her parents, Wendy hadn't been able to properly catch up with everyone with who she had been on good terms, apart from her closest friends that were obviously very excited to have her back in town and delighted about finally getting to see her every single day now – especially considering the fact that summer break had been nearly coming to its end and the beginning of new school year had been approaching with each passing day, so it wasn't a complete shocker that the dark haired girl wanted to spend as much time with her friends as she possibly could.

Therefore, an invitation from her best friend for some well-needed girl time was definitely something Wendy just couldn't force herself to turn down, so she decided to spend the penultimate Friday of summer break over at the blonde teenager's house and make the most out of it.

The excitement she had been barely able to contain was most notable in the speed in which she had told her parents about going over to Bebe's house, grabbing the keys of her mom's car and driving off in the direction of a very familiar red house that belonged to the Stevens family.

And as soon as she parked the car and honked the horn to announce her arrival, the teenage girl flashed her best friend a hundred watt smile upon seeing dash through the front door. She stepped onto the pavement and swiftly shut the car door behind her, eventually locking it and making a beeline for Bebe's house.

''Told ya' that we will get to hang out this week.'', Wendy said with a cheeky smile, before being pulled into a tight hug by the blonde teen. She nearly felt herself being suffocated by the seemingly unbreakable grip Bebe had on her, although she quickly felt the latter pulling away and reciprocating the grin she wore on her face. ''Would you mind not choking me to death though? I know you've missed me quite a lot, but jeez.''

Finally letting the raven haired girl out of the iron grip she had formed around her, Bebe smiled gently at her longest and closest friend. ''I know, I know! I'm just super excited to finally have you over at my place! I feel like we haven't hung out properly since you moved back.''

''Well, we finally will!'', Wendy responded. ''We have a lot of things to talk about and catch up on!''

And with those words, the two girls continued their pleasant chatter all the way towards the porch of Bebe's house, where they decided to chill out and talk about everything and anything. The hanging out was made even better by Bebe's mother Karen, who kindly offered to serve two bowls of her tasty homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream and two lemonades for the inseparable best friend duo.

They went on to talk about a lot of different things that had happened in their lives over the past several months, especially about the reaction Bebe had when Wendy had announced that she would move back to South Park in what had been at the time only a few months away – being forced to put the mobile phone away from her ear as her longest friend had continued to squeal in pure happiness on the other end of the line.

But still, seeing her best friend and the rest of her closest friends in flesh had definitely been something Wendy had looked forward to for months and months.

Just like the raven haired girl sitting in the porch swing chair opposite of hers, Bebe Stevens hadn't changed that much over the years, but had still gone through her own fair share of typical puberty ups and downs – though she had still maintained her image as one of the most beautiful girls in all of South Park High School and had become quite self-confident about her looks, but definitely not to the extent the smug bastard of her ex-boyfriend had gone out to become.

Although she had an apparent reputation for being someone who would rather spend their time in school doing anything but related to school work and paying attention in class, Bebe was well aware of that and didn't necessarily want to be noted as the real life version of the quintessential dumb blonde stereotype. She wasn't as intelligent as the likes of Heidi or Wendy, but she was still smart in her own regard, regularly getting good grades and excelling at subjects she found more interesting than something like Algebra or History.

Relationships-wise, she hadn't gone out to be a serial dater like many of her peers thought she would eventually become, but after a string of breakups and reconciliations with Clyde Donovan, Bebe decided to take a more casual approach towards dating – eventually forming a 'friends with benefits' type of relationship with the other notorious blonde in their high school, Kenny McCormick.

The soon-to-be Junior cheer captain and still one of the poorest kids in school hadn't really given their 'relationship' a go until the two of them ended up playing seven minutes in heaven at Craig Tucker's sixteenth birthday party. They weren't necessarily a couple in the traditional sense, as they were more like a pair of teenagers who just happened to love spending time in each other's company and not being interested in anyone else at the moment.

Since ending their relationship somewhere in eighth grade and subsequently forgetting about him, Bebe had gotten painfully aware of Clyde's persistent attempts at trying to win her heart again and them becoming a power couple just like they had been all throughout the seventh and eighth grade. She would mostly ignore the dumb jock whenever he tried speaking to her, and ended up making him cry like a little child in the process.

And nearly three years after their final breakup, the blonde teenage girl still found herself groaning at the mere mention of her ex-boyfriend's name.

''So wait, Clyde's still been trying to win you back?'', Wendy laughed as she took a big sip of her lemonade, allowing the refreshing liquid to trickle down her throat.

''Ugh, of course he has been!'', Bebe confirmed, rolling her emerald green eyes in sheer annoyance. ''Even though I see him flirting with someone new all the damn time! I guess he just can't comprehend the fact that him flirting with other girls doesn't bother me at all.''

''Agreed. I wouldn't necessarily threat to beat him up, but I would definitely tell him to stay the fuck away from me.''

''Yeah.'', the blonde girl replied, before a sudden thought popped into the forefront of her mind and made her go further with the conversation about her and her best friend's exes, being very familiar with the state in which the friendship between her best friend and her ex-boyfriend had been for nearly six and a half years now.

''Speaking about our ex-boyfriends, have you managed to see Stan by any chance?''

''Huh, what?'', Wendy responded, being slightly taken aback by her best friend's question, although she had sort of expected Bebe to ask her about her raven haired counterpart at any given moment – especially given the fact that the topic of their conversation had indeed been about their ex-boyfriends.

''Well, since we are talking about our exes, I thought it would be okay if I ask you about Stan. You know, he is your ex.'', Bebe explained. ''So, did you see him?"

"Yeah, I did.'', the dark haired teenage girl confirmed. ''But that was only because his mom invited my mom and me over to their place. To be honest, I didn't even know that he was going to be there.''

''So, what were you guys talking about?''

''Nothing too special, honestly. We really didn't get to catch up much because he had to leave very soon after that and didn't have time to talk with me further. Not that I'm complaining about it, as I'm sure we will get to catch up eventually.''

''You know, I'm actually glad that there's no bad blood between you guys.''

''Yeah, I know.'', Wendy smiled with a slight glimmer in her eye, which caused Bebe to smirk at her best friend. ''I guess this proved once again that we can indeed be friends and not be awkward around each other just because we used to date for such a long time.''

''So Wends, do you have anything planned for Saturday?", Bebe said, changing the topic of their conversation suddenly.

"Uh, well, not really at the moment.'', the raven haired girl said as she gulped down the remainder of her lemonade. ''Why do you ask?"

"Well, there's gonna' be a party this weekend and I was wondering if you would maybe like to come with us?''

"Another party? Jeez, how many parties can you guys have?", Wendy replied, reminding her best friend about all the apparently crazy parties the rambunctious bunch of teenagers from South Park had been throwing over the course of summer break – especially when their parents had gone out of town and had left them without any adult supervision.

"Hey, it's still summer break and school doesn't start for one more week, so there is absolutely no way in hell we are gonna' waste any precious time sitting inside our houses while the weather is still perfect and hot.", Bebe argued, smirking cheekily at her best friend. ''And besides, you still haven't answered my question.''

''Bebe, I'm not really in the mood for going to the parties right now.''

"Wends, you just have to go. This could be your welcome-back party of sorts!''

"I would love to, but we just moved and I've barely unpacked. I also have to help my parents with setting everything up, go to school and finish some administrative crap about switching schools. All in all, you know that I'm busy."

"Well, a little bit of party has never hurt anyone!"

"Yeah, it would maybe hurt someone who just moved back and has a shit ton of things to do."

"Please, do it for me? I kept my mouth shut about you moving back just like you told me to do, so I guess you can at least do this for me?"

Hanging her head back with a groan, Wendy smiled at her best friend and pulled her into a snuggly hug. "Okay, fine! Since you insist this much about me going to this party, can you at least tell me where it is and when it will be?"

"Tomorrow night at Stark's Pond.''

''Stark's Pond out of all places? I don't think that place is necessarily the best one for drinking and holding some crazy parties.''

"Well, that's been a tradition since our Freshman year! Basically, we all get to meet up at Stark's Pond the weekend before the start of the new school year. We pretty much just hang out, eat and drink a little bit!"

''Okay, thanks for clarifying it.'', Wendy replied. ''I guess I could ask my parents if they can lend me a car for the night.''

"No, you don't have to worry about that! I'll come and pick you up, and it won't be a problem since I'll have to pick up Red and Heidi as well."

"They are coming too? Oh goodie.''

''Well yeah, most of our closest friends will be there!'', Bebe said. ''And I'm sure we could also organize a kick-ass welcome-back party for you.''

Simply nodding her head in agreement, Wendy grinned at her best friend and pulled her into yet another hug. ''That would be great. Thanks for being such an amazing friend throughout all these eleven years we've known each other.''

Pulling away from the raven haired girl, Bebe grinned back at her. ''Don't even mention it!''

Come Saturday night, Wendy had been sitting on the bed in her new bedroom for the past hour or so, being surrounded by various articles of clothing and in the midst of picking out what was she going to wear to the party; which sort of frustrated her to no end, since she had never been the one to fuss too much about her appearance.

After trying out several more outfits and finally deciding not to fumble with her looks too much, Wendy put on a slightly oversized white t-shirt and tucked it into her high-waisted shorts with ripped hem, before slipping on her white sneakers and tying her hair into a high ponytail.

Since the weather had still been pleasantly warm for the middle of August, especially given the geographical location of South Park and the entire Rocky Mountains, the teenage girl opted to walk to the Stark's Pond instead of calling Bebe to pick her up. She just wanted to enjoy possibly the last remnants of warm weather the town would get to see before the inevitably cold and gloomy fall season would take over and cause the weather to go to shit for the next six months or so.

The ten minute hike Wendy had from her new house to the pond was nice and chill, so she brought her headphones along with her and allowed her mind to be shrouded in all sorts of thoughts, feeling even more relaxed about the fact that she would get to see people with whom she had grown up.

Reaching closer and closer to her destination, Wendy was suddenly broken out of her thoughts and brought back to reality by the familiar voices of two people bickering in the distance.

''Well Kahl, I know that I should've probably told you so earlier, but it is so obvious that Jew-rats like you don't know how build a fucking campfire.''

''Cartman, I swear to God if you don't stop being an antisemitic retard, I will start hucking rocks at you. At least I know that I won't be able to miss the target, since your fat ass makes hitting the target way easier.''

''Ay, stop calling me fat! I'm not fat, just big-boned!''

''Ugh, just go fuck yourself. I'm gonna' go take a leak and find Kenny so that we can finally set up this goddamned campfire.''

Wendy snorted to herself, as it wasn't that hard to recognize the voices of the two teenagers wrapped in their own usual arguing.

One of them was obviously belonging to her long-time friend and one of South Park High School's biggest brainiacs, Kyle Broflovski.

The second voice wasn't hard to recognize either, as the obnoxious voice belonged to the very same person who simply reeked of obnoxiousness; albeit not as much as when they were little kids – the one and only, Eric Theodore Cartman.

Cartman, compared to what a little psychopath he used to be when they were kids, had definitely mellowed out throughout the years – mostly due to his mother Liane finally growing a spine and stopping with spoiling her son so much, and with the help of a good therapist. And finally, it actually seemed like Cartman had managed to clean up his act and become more normal.

Well, at least normal for someone who had committed so many fucked up things in their childhood and who had been on a good way towards becoming a slightly better person.

Appearance-wise, the brunette teenager had still been the fattest member of his group of friends, but with puberty doing its thing and him getting taller, all that fat had managed to get distributed more evenly; making him look less like a ball of dough he used to be. He had also started attending both soccer and basketball practices on a regular basis, shredding even more of his body fat.

And much to the surprise of just about everyone, Cartman had also been the one with the longest running relationship in his entire group of friends – as he and Heidi had reconciled somewhere in between seventh and eighth grade, much to the chagrin of just about everyone in their group of friends.

Secretly wanting to play along with Kyle's merciless teasing of Cartman, Wendy plugged the earphones out of her ears and shoved them in the back pocket of her shorts, before walking up to the slightly pudgy teenager and tapping him gently on the shoulder.

"Eric."

Turning around on the spot, Cartman's azure blue eyes widened in pure surprise upon seeing Wendy standing right in front of him. He smirked cheekily at her, before parting his lips to speak and greeting the ravenette in a way only he knew how to.

''Hoe."

"I swear to God, if you call me like that one more time, I'm gonna' shove your ass down your throat.", she laughed, slapping the heftier brunette teenager on his arm. ''But hey, it's good to see you!''

''Ay, I'm just keeping the tradition alive.'', Cartman replied, eventually high fiving Wendy. ''I guess you're moving back for good this time, eh?''

''Well, duh.''

Contrary to how they had treated each other before her move, over the years both Cartman and Wendy had eventually put their differences aside and started being more cordial with one another, mostly due to his therapist doing wonders for him and actually making him a less abhorrent human being than he used to be. They had grown a bit closer over the years, keeping things more civil this time around.

Wendy eventually sat down on an old log and exchanged pleasantries with her closest friends, as well as with both Cartman and Kyle, all while she was patiently listening to everything her peers had been up to since they had all last seen each other and had hung out properly like a group. She was sipping on her cold bottle of beer and laughing her ears off when the two long-time frenemies ended up arguing once again, with Kyle this time threatening to shove a marshmallow stick up fatass' colossal rear end.

And despite her enjoying the company of her friends and finally catching up with them, there was one person with whom Wendy was yet to talk that evening.

Her ex-boyfriend Stan.

Sure, she and Stan had greeted each other earlier that evening and made some small talk, before eventually going their separate ways and being tasked with different party-prepping duties, but Wendy still felt kind of weird about their conversation not lasting any further. And while she wanted to walk up to her ex-boyfriend and strike up a further chit-chat, she immediately shoved that idea to the furthest part of her brain possible.

And much to her surprise, the conversation her ex-boyfriend and Kenny were having in close proximity was enough of a reason for not going forward with the idea of talking to the dark haired teenager.

"So, Melissa's not coming?", Kenny asked as he leaned against the wooden gazebo, smoking the last remnants of his cigarette and throwing it into the Stark's Pond.

"No, she's been feeling a bit under the weather.", Stan replied as he sent a quick text message and shoved the phone inside the pocket of his jeans.

"Dude, it's the middle of August.", the blonde boy snorted, catching the attention of his long-time friend. ''You're still buying into whatever crap she's saying?''

"Hey, that's what she said.", the ravenette teenager argued. ''There's no reason why I shouldn't trust her, okay?''

''Really? Even after all the crap she put you through over the spring break, you still trust her?''

''Well, she's been more honest and upfront ever since.''

''Fine, if you say so.''

Rolling his eyes in pure annoyance, Stan's eyes widened slightly as he felt his phone buzzing. He then reached for his phone and widened his blue eyes, reading the text message he had just received.

''Hey, I just got a text from Mel asking me if I would like to see her later tonight.''

''Seriously?'', Kyle suddenly chimed in. ''You're ditching us for her again?''

''Well, I'm obviously not. I haven't even made plans to see her tonight, and she knows that I'm with you guys here.''

''I don't want to sound like a total dick Stan, but you've spent the last two weeks hanging out with her almost every single day. I think you can spend time with your best friends for a change, alright?''

Not wanting to listen to the conversation between Stan and Kyle, Wendy simply tuned herself out of their own exchange and decided to not listen to something that was related to her ex-boyfriend hanging out with other girls and to something that would most likely peak her curiosity.

''So, who's that mysterious Melissa girl?'', the teenage girl asked Red Tucker, who was sitting right next to her cousin Craig and his long-time boyfriend, Tweek Tweak.

"Oh, you don't know, do you?'', the red-haired girl smirked. ''She's Stan's girlfriend. They've been dating for quite a while actually."

''Girlfriend?''

''Well, duh.''

''Interesting.''

''Nope, not really. He's whipped as shit.'', Red snorted, taking a sip from her beer can.

''What makes you think that?'', Wendy replied. ''It doesn't really seem like it.''

''I don't know, but this isn't the first time that this has happened. I mean, what kind of a guy would ditch his best friends for a girl?''

"Him, apparently.'', the raven haired girl said, before realizing what the heck she had just blurted out. ''I mean, I don't know or even care about the ins and outs of their relationship, but I would never imagine him being that kind of a guy.''

Watching her vibrant-haired friend simply shrug her shoulders in response, Wendy decided to focus her train of thought on something else and definitely away from thoughts of her ex-boyfriend's apparent girlfriend.

But little did she know that the thought of her ex-boyfriend dating someone else would eventually weasel its way into her mind.

No matter whether she liked it or not, and no matter how much she would try to convince herself that that thought wasn't going to be at least partially present in the forefront of her mind.

Hello guys!

I didn't expect to put up a new chapter this early, but here we are! I sort of lived up to my promise of delivering at least two updates a month, and I'm quite satisfied with the fact that I managed to do it. :)

Speaking about this chapter, are we liking the little plot twist of Stan having a girlfriend? I already had this planned out when I was writing out the storyline, so don't get your panties in a twist, m'kay? I do plan for Wendy to have a love interest of her own, but he will be introduced a bit later in the story.

Stan having a girlfriend will definitely be a big part of this fanfic. I haven't given you much information on her so far (besides her name, obviously), but the next chapter will focus more on Stan and his shenanigans, and not as much on his ex-girlfriend.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you all next time! xo