Mended Hearts.
Part X.
Novembers in everyone's favorite little podunk mountain town always brought the characteristically shitty fall weather along with it, accompanied by lower temperatures and the very first thick sheets of snow that would most likely remain intact for the next five months or so, but also bringing the warm and cozy vibes of the Thanksgiving season that was just around the corner.
Although the students of South Park High School had long gotten used to having a really busy school schedule and being swamped with numerous school-related things they had to do, the more the finals' month was drawing closer, the more they felt themselves becoming nervous over how the whole thing would turn out to be – some more, and some less.
And even though Fridays usually signaled the end of yet another fairly mundane week in South Park High School, it wasn't exactly unsurprising that a lot of students had been waiting for the dreaded school bell to ring and allow them to finally be free for the weekend – but much to the chagrin of quite a lot of them, the final school bell ring of the week was still three periods away.
The students who found themselves sitting in Mrs. Ackridge's eleventh grade History class hadn't really been spared from the usually demanding tempo of her class, since the group project she had come up with for them almost two and a half months ago was slowly but surely coming to its end now, which also added even more unnecessary worries to students who had already started to worry about how their final exams would go in December.
For the best friend duo of Tweek Tweak and Wendy Testaburger, the fact that their shifts in Tweek Bros coffee shop were now slightly less demanding than they had been over the past couple of weeks, it meant that they had some well-needed additional time when it came to finishing their own parts for the History class project and to catch up on any of their school work left remaining – and given the fact that the finals' month was now approaching rapidly, both teenagers came to conclusion that they really didn't want to fool themselves anymore by thinking they could easily balance between school and pulling eight hour shifts nearly every other day.
''Guys.'', Red suddenly spoke up, catching the attention of all her group project buddies. ''If you all want to, we can organize a group video chat a bit later this evening and finally finish this goddamned project. I know that I would like to do it.''
''Ngh, I don't know if we will be able to do it.'', Tweek replied as he glanced over at his boyfriend, who had his signature, 'I don't give two shits' look on his face and sat comfortably in the seat next to the twitchy blonde teen. ''We've already made plans for tonight, right Craig?''
''Yeah, Tweek's coming over for dinner.'', Craig confirmed in his typically monotone voice, before flashing a devious smirk at his vibrant-haired cousin. ''Sorry Becca.''
The redhead responded with a simple roll of her eyes and a complimentary middle finger directed towards her cousin, who didn't hesitate to return the favor with the very same gusto. ''Okay, since these two are most likely out of question, what about the rest of you?''
''I honestly wouldn't mind it.'', Heidi responded. While she initially was a part of the group that consisted of Kyle, Kenny, Clyde and Bebe, she made a swift decision to switch groups when neither she nor her former group project members could all really be on the same page when it came to picking out the topic of their project, despite her at least wanting to pair up with Kyle and work alongside him. ''And what about you Wends? You in for tonight?''
''Well, that sounds great and all, but I won't be able to make it. Sorry guys, but I've kinda' already made plans for tonight.'', Wendy explained with a shrug and an apologetic grin on her face, not really wanting to give any more details about what her arrangements for the evening were – but the subtlety in the raven haired beauty's response definitely didn't stop two out of her three closest friends trying to prod her even further and to get some more information about the plans she had made.
She had already dropped hints about the possibility of going on a date with David to her friends, but she just wasn't sure when exactly they would go out, especially given their both equally busy schedules and the fact that Wendy had been feeling really worn out after working virtually every single day after school over the past two weeks.
''Plans, huh?'', Red smirked as rested her chin against her hand, being obviously invested into what Wendy's plans for the evening were. ''So, did David finally ask you out?''
Deciding not to give an answer to her friend's question, Wendy instead shrugged her shoulders in response and smirked, trying her best to hide the faint blush that had formed on her cheeks upon the mention of her crush's name.
''Good for you.'', Heidi said enthusiastically. ''You better give us the details!''
Teasingly rolling her eyes, the dark haired girl couldn't really help herself but smile at her friends' words of encouragement and hopes of her date going well tonight. ''Fine, I will.''
And while the three girls were wrapped up in their own conversation and had seemingly forgotten about the idea Red had suggested earlier, the only remaining member of the group who was yet to give his own input on the idea, was Stan.
The teenage boy was only passively listening to the conversations between his friends, focusing more on finishing his own part of the project in order to finally get it off his back – mostly because he wanted to put his focus back onto the ongoing football season and other things he found more interesting than working on some lame History class project.
Truth to be told, Stan thought that being in the same group as his ex-girlfriend would stir up even more unnecessary drama in his current relationship, but he was more than pleasantly surprised to notice that Melissa had now been seemingly chill about the whole situation and hadn't complained about it all that much – but more importantly, he hoped that that would be the case from now on.
Although he wasn't that invested in the conversation happening between his female friends, Stan's interest suddenly got piqued when Wendy mentioned going on a date with David.
He groaned inwardly and rolled his blue eyes at the mere mention of his ex-girlfriend's new love interest, predominantly because he hadn't really been the biggest fan of David to begin with, and the feelings seemed to have been mutual for quite a while actually – and for a pretty damn good reason.
While Stan had interacted with David probably only a handful of times in the whole five years of the latter living in South Park, he didn't really have the nicest things to say about the brunette teenage boy and often preferred to ignore him whenever they would get to be in close proximity to each other.
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Stan disliked David was the certain streak of arrogance he had and that he would try to conceal it as a joke, as well as the snide little remarks he would often throw at both Kyle and Tolkien. Since the two of them were widely regarded to be one of the best players on the school's basketball team, it wasn't all that surprising that it seriously went on David's nerves – and while he definitely was a talented basketball player and could easily get himself a full basketball scholarship for a college in his home state of Texas, he couldn't really stand the fact that there wasn't just one guy considered to be a better basketball player than him, but two at the same time.
Although David thought he could get away with sometimes jokingly refering to himself as the 'greatest fucking basketball talent this school's ever had', a lot of people knew that he indeed was taking himself very seriously and that he was willing to go quite far to prove that he was a better basketball player than both Kyle and Tolkien – getting into verbal arguments with them over such things on more than one occasion, which almost lead to several physical altercations and needing the intervention of both Stan and Kenny to separate their best friend away from David.
But despite his sometimes arrogant behavior and obnoxious attitude that could easily rival Cartman's, there was one even bigger reason why David wasn't exactly a favorite in Stan's books – the fact that he and Melissa used to be friends with benefits and her not admitting this to Stan even after they started dating, which in return caused him to have trust issues with his girlfriend for quite a while.
Stan didn't really care too much about the fact that his ex-girlfriend was going on a date with someone else, but more about the fact that the very same guy she was going on a date with tonight, was one of the biggest reasons why his and Melissa's relationship had been put to the test during the spring break earlier in the year.
''Earth to Stan?''
Jumping in his seat a little, the dark haired teenager was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by none other than Wendy, who raised a curious eyebrow at him and laughed gently at the sight of him being so zoned out.
''Yeah?''
''You okay?''
''I guess.'', he replied, deciding to come up with a quick lie and not really reveal what he had been thinking about. ''Just feeling a little tired, that's it.''
''Honestly, same.'', Wendy admitted, exchanging an understanding look with her ex-boyfriend. ''Just don't fall asleep in the class, because I'm sure Mrs. Ackridge will gladly send you to the detention for doing that.''
''Yeah, yeah, gladly noted.'', he replied with a shake of his head, before straightening himself up and trying to re-focus on the possible plans of finishing the group project later in the evening.
Although Stan wasn't really willing to admit it, he knew that his ex-girlfriend could do so much better than David.
Much, much better.
"Fuck!", Wendy cursed to herself as she felt the scorching hot tip of her curling iron press against the skin of her finger, wiggling it in the air in order to subside the sudden stinging sensation.
The teenage girl was putting the finishing touches to both her hair and makeup after what had been a fairly long process of getting ready for her long-awaited date with David – as evident by various makeup items sprawled across her vanity and several hair styling tools plugged into the wall socket.
Wendy honestly thought she would be damned if she didn't say that she was really excited and giddy for her date, especially since she and David had discussed about going on a date pretty much ever since the homecoming dance took place, but just hadn't gotten around to doing it earlier because of their equally busy schedules.
And since they weren't going on a date anywhere super fancy and the weather outside had been relatively shitty all day long, she decided to go for something that was a good mixture of comfort and style – a camel-colored sweater, a pair of black skinny jeans and her favorite black ankle boots.
Looking herself up and down in the mirror one last time and feeling satisfied with her overall appearance, Wendy walked over to her bed and sat down. She then grabbed her phone to check out whether she had gotten any more messages from David, and huffed out in slight frustration over the fact that she hadn't received any. However, there were several text messages from her friends wishing her good luck on her date and to spill the details once she would come home, which in return caused her to smile like an idiot and be incredibly grateful over the fact that she had such a supportive and loving group of friends rooting for her – especially when it came to her love life and potentially entering a serious relationship after what had been literal years.
Wendy, knowing that she didn't have too much time left until David would come over and pick her up, quickly reached down for her other ankle boot and slipped it on, but not before hearing her mother's voice coming from the living room downstairs and causing her to turn her head in the direction of the bedroom door.
''Wendy, there's someone waiting for you downstairs!''
Feeling excited over the fact that David had arrived and was now waiting for her in the living room downstairs, Wendy hastily threw her coat on and grabbed her handbag from the bed. Giving herself one more glance in the mirror before leaving her room and walking out, she responded to her mother. ''Is it David? You know, the guy who dropped me off home last week.''
''Yeah!''
''Alright, I'll be down right away.''
Wendy started walking down the stairs, and felt her heart skipping about a dozen beats as she saw David standing in the living room with that handsome smirk of his and holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers – lilacs.
''Hi.'', she said, flashing the teenage boy a shy grin.
''Well, hello to you too.'', David replied in his typically charming tone as Wendy walked up to him and stood on her tiptoes to hug him. He immediately reciprocated the hug, nuzzling his face into her hair and trying his best not to damage the beautiful flowers he had bought for her.
Pulling away from Wendy, the brunette teen handed the bouquet over and gave her one of his dazzling grins. ''These are for you.''
''Oh my, these are so beautiful…'', the noirette said as she inhaled the beautiful, fresh scent of her favorite flowers. ''How did you know that lilacs are my favorite?''
''Stroke of luck, I guess?'', David responded with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
''Wendy.''
The two teenagers jumped a little bit at the voice of Wendy's father Sean, who was sitting in his favorite spot on the couch and was eyeing the two of them carefully.
''Yes, dad?'', Wendy replied, noticing that her dad's stern facial expression had worn off and was now replaced by a subtle smile.
''Have fun and be safe.'', Sean said, before locking eyes with David's, who seemed to be kind of uncomfortable and uneasy about the way his potential girlfriend's father was looking at him right now. ''And David, Wendy's curfew is twelve PM because it's not a school night. I hope you will keep that in mind and abide by it.''
''Y-yes, sir! Of course.''
The grin present on Sean's face was more than enough to ease David's nerves and to help him feel a little less stressed after what had been the second conversation he had with Wendy's parents.
''Alright kids, now go and have fun!''
''Thanks dad, we will.'', Wendy offered her parents a small wave as she grabbed David by the sleeve of his jacket and walked with him outside of her house. He also waved back to Wendy's parents, feeling a lot more at ease over the fact that his second interaction with them had gone on to be much better than he had originally thought it would be.
''Alone at last.'', David said, causing Wendy's cheeks to flush a faint shade of red.
''Yeah.''
Extending his hand out to her, the two teenagers then began walking towards David's dark blue Chevrolet, which was parked a little bit further away from the Testaburger residence – giving him an ideal opportunity to pull Wendy into a tight hug again and inhale the scent of her gorgeous black locks.
"I thought we could go to this nice little restaurant, Nueva Familia.", David said as he pulled away from Wendy and unlocked his car once they got close to it. ''My friend's parents own it, and the food is actually pretty damn good.''
"David Rodríguez's parents?"
"You know him?"
"Of course. We were together in the same class in elementary school.", Wendy revealed as she sat in the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. "Small world, isn't it?"
''Yeah, it really is.'', David laughed gently as he roared the car engine to life and slowly began driving out of Wendy's street towards the main town road.
The car ride towards South Park's most famous Mexican restaurant was filled by the pleasant chatter between two teenagers and them singing along to the music coming from some random radio station. They also exchanged occasional loving glances, definitely feeling glad that they were finally on a date and would get to spend some quality time together.
Stepping inside the Nueva Familia restaurant, neither Wendy nor David were surprised to see that it was nearly full and that finding an empty table for two would be a bit challenging, but a really nice waiter immediately came to their aid and led them to a table that was situated in the far left corner of the restaurant.
They spent a few more minutes indulging themselves in a delightful chit-chat with each other, before another waiter got to their table and took their drink and food orders.
''So, you used to live in South Park before?'', David asked.
''Yeah, I lived in South Park up until my parents got new jobs in Tampa, so we moved before I was about to start sixth grade. We lived there with my maternal grandma, but she sadly passed away a couple of years ago.'', Wendy explained. ''And then we moved back here nearly five months ago.''
''Interesting. It seems like both of us have moved around the country.''
''Well, that's how life goes sometimes. You don't really have any say in it and just have to suck it up, and somehow find a way to make-do with your new living situation. Been there and done it twice already, and will do it again when college comes around.''
''Tell me about it.'', the teenage boy chuckled in response. ''Moved from Houston to Austin when I wasn't even two years old, and then moved from Austin to here after my parents got divorced. So yeah, I totally get you when it comes to being frustrated about moving.''
"Oh, so you haven't lived here for that long?"
"I moved here in seventh grade with my mom and step-dad.''
''Well, I moved away in sixth grade. I don't really recall ever seeing you hang out with any of my friends.''
''Err, let's just say that I don't really hang out with them.'', David admitted. ''I have my own group of friends that I've been hanging out with since middle school. I'm not friends with that many people outside of my friend group, so I like to keep my circle small.''
''Do you have any siblings?''
''Yeah, two step-brothers from my mom's new marriage. You?''
''Nope, I've been an only kid my entire life.''
''Boyfriends?'', David asked with a cheeky smile on his face.
''I've only had two so far.'', Wendy replied, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy over the question her love interest had asked her. She, however, chose to play it cool and reciprocate the cheeky smile David had on his face. ''I had one when I was still living in South Park, and one during my Sophomore year of high school.''
After their drinks and delicious food had gotten served, Wendy and David's date then went on to be as smooth as possible, with two teenagers talking about various topics, getting to know one another a bit more, cracking jokes along the way and simply having a genuinely good time in each other's company.
Said good time in each other's company extended even further, as David offered to walk Wendy towards her doorstep and use it as an opportunity to spend a little more time with her. He also hoped he would finally get to tell her something that had been on his mind for quite a while, and that she would hopefully react positively to it.
''I had a really nice time with you. Thanks.'', the noirette admitted, stepping on her tiptoes and planting a tender kiss on David's cheek.
''Want me to walk you to the front door?'', he offered. ''It's not even eleven thirty PM, so I don't think your parents will freak out about you not being home on time.''
''Oh, does someone want to spend a little more time with me?'', Wendy teased. ''I'm very flattered, obviously.''
''Duh.''
''Jerk.'', the teenage girl laughed, wrapping her arm around David's bicep. ''But yeah, I would like you to spend some more time with me.''
"Well, in that case.'', David replied as he took a step closer towards Wendy, suddenly interlocking his own hands with hers. ''There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while.''
''What is it?'', she quizzed, feeling her cheeks flush a deep shade of red.
''Wendy, I really, really like you. I didn't think it would even be possible to fall for someone this hard in less than two months, but here we are, I guess.'', he admitted with a chuckle. ''You're an amazing girl – kind, smart as hell, funny and beautiful.''
''I think the same as you do.'', Wendy replied as she felt her heart thumping against her ribcage. ''I've liked you for quite some time too, and I've hoped you would feel the same way.''
"In that case, and now that everything's pretty crystal clear, do you wanna' be my girlfriend?"
Feeling the most amusing grin spread on her face, it didn't take long for Wendy to fling both arms around David's neck and press her lips against his for the very first time. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest, but the butterflies in her stomach probably fluttered even more at the feeling of her crush reciprocating the kiss just as eagerly.
Instead of responding verbally to him, Wendy decided for her actions to speak louder than any words and show David that she indeed wanted to be his girlfriend.
Their first kiss was cute, sweet and totally filled to the brim with feelings they had for each other.
But oh boy, it also made them glad that things had definitely fallen into place that faithful Thursday afternoon when they had accidentally walked into each other and crossed paths for the very first time.
Somewhere on the completely opposite end of South Park and even further away from the Testaburger residence, Stan was now laying down comfortably on his bed and was watching some random compilation videos on YouTube that Kenny had sent into their group chat.
It was nearly twelve PM, and the raven haired boy had finished the group call with his eleventh grade History classmates about half an hour ago, as well as managing to bring the dreaded project to its end – with everyone having high hopes that their teacher's weird standards would be satisfied and that she wouldn't be a cheapskate when it came to giving her students really good grades for the work and effort they had put into the two-month long project.
Although Stan could admit that he had been having a relatively peaceful and productive evening, there had also been one tiny thought still unwillingly present at the forefront of his mind and had occasionally nagged him – the fact that the thoughts of his ex-girlfriend being on a date with someone he couldn't really stand had somehow managed to weasel their way inside his mind.
Huffing out in frustration and in order to get himself somehow distracted from the annoying thoughts plaguing his mind, Stan closed the YouTube app and fired up his Instagram to see whether he had something even remotely interesting on his feed. Refreshing the page, Stan noticed that Wendy had just posted a new Instagram story and was currently active.
He chewed on his bottom lip tentatively, feeling curious about what his ex-girlfriend had just posted. Contemplating on whether he should simply close the app and return to watching YouTube videos, Stan simply shrugged his shoulders and clicked on her newest Instagram story – only to be met with an Instagram story of Wendy holding someone's hand and complimentary heart emojis sprinkled across the picture.
Obviously, it didn't take Stan that long to figure out that it was David in that Instagram story, but what caught him off guard was the sudden strange sensation coursing through his veins.
He really wasn't sure why he was thinking about his ex-girlfriend's new relationship, when he himself was in a relationship that had been getting on a good track lately and that hadn't shown any signs of stopping that positive improvement.
Letting out a groan that somehow must've been loud enough for someone else to hear, Stan's bedroom door suddenly opened and revealed his mother standing in the doorway – donning her usual kind, yet worrisome facial expression.
''Stanley, sweetie, are you okay?'', Sharon said as she stepped inside her youngest child's bedroom, closing the door behind her and walking over to Stan's bed.
"Yeah mom, I'm fine.''
''You don't seem to be.'', the older brunette woman pointed out, brushing some of the messy raven locks away from her son's forehead. ''That groan was pretty loud, I gotta' admit it.''
''Well, I've just been thinking about some stuff lately."
''What things, honey?''
''My relationship mostly.''
''What about it?'', Sharon inquiried. ''Are you and Melissa having problems again?''
''Not really.''
''Stanley, I know that it's really none of my business and that I should probably keep my nose out of it, but I can easily tell when you're having relationship problems and when you're feeling really down in the dumps about it.''
''Look, Mel and I had quite a big fight several weeks ago.'', Stan admitted with a sad sigh as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. ''It wasn't great at all, so I decided to stand my ground for once and tell her she should fix her attitude and stop treating me like dogshit.''
''And while things between us have been relatively good again, I don't wanna' fall for that false sense of security again. She acts all lovey-dovey again, showers me with affection and tells me she loves me all the time. I really appreciate those things, but I can't really be sure if she truly means those words and if she has truly changed for good. You know, I've fallen for that false sense of security once and she hurt me quite badly with her actions.''
''This whole back and forth shit has been really fucking me up.'', the teenage boy confessed further.
''Oh Stan…'', Sharon said as she wrapped her arms around her son and began to stroke his hair comfortingly. ''I've told you this many times, but I will say it again – if she makes you unhappy, then break up with her.''
Snorting cynically at his mother's choice of words, Stan shook his head in slight disbelief and plopped himself back onto the comfortable bed spread. He ran a hand down the side of his face dejectedly and let out a faint groan again. ''It's always been easier said than done with her. Always has, and always will be. But, I'm not gonna' break up with her if things between us continue to improve.''
''You've done it once before, but have never told me exactly why.''
''Mom, only Kyle and Kenny know exactly what happened between me and Melissa during the spring break. The rest, not so much.''
''Okay, so tell me now.'', Sharon said. ''I know it's probably complicated, but I will listen to you.''
''Hm, where do I even begin with it?''
Hello beautiful people, I'm finally back!
I honestly would've put the new chapter up way sooner, but since I've started working at another job and had to study for a pretty important exam (which I passed, thankfully), there just hasn't been a lot of time to work on Mended Hearts and other fanfics I hope to eventually post. School and two part-time student jobs just take up a good chunk of my time, so updating and writing new fanfics hasn't really been that high up on my list of priorities. Not to mention that my update schedule has been really inconsistent lately and sometimes makes me feel quite shitty about not being able to update the story when I say I will.
Luckily, all the remaining chapters have a rough outline done, which will greatly help me with posting them on a more frequent basis and hopefully still keep you invested into this story!
Next chapter is going to explain what exactly happened between Stan and Melissa during the spring break, and why he still has a hard time believing her sometimes. Plus, Wendy and David's newly-formed relationship will also get explored further.
I can also assure you that with this story now reaching its halfway point, things will definitely get spicier in the upcoming chapters and will potentially push Stan and Wendy closer to each other than before. :)