Author's Note: This is probably one of the chapters I put most, if not all, of my emotions into. This was one of my favorites to write. I didn't have to edit this one so I decided to post it. I managed to finish my essay so I also figured I needed a celebratory post. Just one more English paper, and three more tests and I am officially done with school for the summer! Wootage.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: White as Snow
Kyle groaned in annoyance when he checked his phone. It was 3:30 in the morning and he saw Stan's kitchen light on from his window. Damn his internal alarm. He yawned and stared up at his ceiling before turning to face the other person in his bed. Except there was no one there.
"Dammit," he grumbled sleepily.
Somehow, his mother saw fit that Kyle and Kenny sleep in Kyle's room while Ike and Karen share Ike's room. He wasn't quite sure if he saw the logic in that decision, for multiple reasons, yet they didn't argue. Kenny and Kyle shared his bed just like the had when they were younger. There weren't too many problems with that. Sometimes Kyle would end up sleeping on the floor because Kenny would move around too much but other than that Kenny was a normal sleeper. Except the fact he liked to cuddle. The first morning he woke up resting on Kyle's arm he screamed and kicked Kyle off of the bed and then immediately felt bad when Kyle bruised his tailbone. Kyle jokingly told him he did that so he wouldn't be the only one in butt pain; that had made Kenny laugh.
But as they shared the same bed they got used to each others' habits in a platonic way. Kenny liked to hold him. Kyle tossed and turned. Kenny snored a little and talked in his sleep. Kyle also talked in his sleep and wondered if they would ever carry on a sleep conversation. Kenny liked bundling up in a bunch of blankets. Kyle liked having one foot out of the blankets because he was too hot. Kenny liked to talk until he passed out. Kyle liked to think. Usually that one ended with Kenny pretending Kyle was listening as he told him the truly obscure thoughts that ran through his mind. And sometimes, Kyle would listen until his last barely intelligible final murmur. It made Kyle appreciate their close friendship as well as the fact Stan was practically a lump in bed who did not move or make a single sound except snore when he had a cold. It made Kenny appreciate Kyle for putting up with him.
Except now as Kyle stumbled to his door, woozy from his sleeping pill and muscle relaxer, looking for Kenny, he was worried he'd done something stupid. He yawned and quietly tip-toed down the hall to Ike's room. He flashed his phone in the room and found them both sharing the same bed as well. He remembered they had placed a pillow between them yet it was now on the floor and Karen was snuggled against his brother. He smiled gently and silently closed the door. It was innocent; he had seen them, plus Ruby, all share a bed nearly every time they stayed the night.
The bathroom was empty and his parent's door was always locked; he was very thankful for that. There were no lights on downstairs and all of the rooms were empty. He sighed heavily and hurried down the basement stairs. He rolled his eyes when checking every single room and found no one.
That meant Kenny was outside. Kyle groaned at the thought of his best friend being a sleepwalker.
He ran up the stairs and grabbed his keys as he disarmed their home security and unlocked the door. He shut it quietly behind him and shivered.
It was snowing and he had gone out barefoot, he cursed himself at his stupidity. It wasn't a light snow, either. The air was heavy with the smell of coldness and precipitation. The white flakes fell heavily from the clear winter sky and there was already a layer on the ground that nearly measured six inches. "Kenny?" Kyle called quietly, quietly cursing as he ran across the frozen ground. His feet burned from the cold as he ran to his backyard in nothing but his Terrance and Phillip pajama pants and Stan's middle school football jersey. "Jesus fucking Christ, dude!" Kyle exclaimed as he found Kenny standing barefoot and shirtless in the snow as he stared up at the sky. "Are you awake?!"
"Yeah." Kenny replied in a soft tone, "I couldn't sleep. You kept moaning and I figured I should leave before you and Stan got too serious." Kyle blushed and caught Kenny's slight smirk.
"Yeah, well you... kick me."
"Sorry," Kyle rolled his eyes; there was no reason for him to be sorry. About anything. But he swore he heard that word more times from him the past few days than anyone else.
"You need to get inside, you're gonna catch a cold." He was practically dancing to avoid his feet being frozen. Kenny seemed to be immune to the cold, except he shivered and he folded his arms over his chest.
"I just... can I tell you something stupid?" Kenny asked, running a hand through his sleep-mussed hair before covering his chest again. Kyle nodded and Kenny turned to him. "When I was little... my mom would wake me up during the first snow. She said her favorite out of like Santa and the Easter Bunny and stuff was Jack Frost because she liked the way the bare trees and grass looked when frosted over. And she'd always wake me up and we'd just watch the snow fall no matter what time and catch snow flakes on our tongues. 'Cause she was still just a kid so she got excited about snow just as much as us. We always said snow on Christmas was our present to each other 'cause it was festive and we'd go out and have snowball fights and make snowmen... usually mom and dad were on a team and Kev, Karen and I were on the other. We didn't really have presents but we had time, y'know? Time together to just have fun and be kids. It was like our break. We did it every year, no matter what. Even if she was high or even if I was sick, we'd just watch the snow fall. It was our thing." Kenny murmured, turning to Kyle who had hung on to his every word. It was a beautifully tragic story, because he had seen the ending. But this made Kenny smile as he looked up at the sky and stuck out his tongue. He stayed like that, looking extremely dorky, for the longest time, until he finally caught a snowflake and closed his eyes.
"Do you think she's here?" Kyle asked Kenny seriously. He looked taken aback for a moment, but nodded.
"I know she is. I feel her all the time. This," he gestured to the snow, "is a sign, I just know it. She's watching over me, she hasn't forgotten about us." His teeth were chattering now and Kyle took his arm; he felt warm but his skin was lined with goose pimples.
He didn't want to break up this moment because he knew how Kenny felt about symbolism; he had told him all about his views that were really quite Romantic. That was one of Kenny's rambles he actually paid attention to. There was one about a marshmallow bunny he didn't quite know the ending too, however. But he was too afraid to ask about that one.
"The sky's beautiful in the winter. So clear, everything is so sharp and you can just feel it. I sound like I'm fucking high, I know." he laughed a little and Kyle smiled. He wanted to hear him laugh; he wanted him to feel better.
Over the week of recuperation, time with his brother and sister as well as Kyle's family seemed to help. Kenny seemed most excited about the fact that the Broflovskis had a game night and that now he was a part of it. He and Kevin had also watched "Fight Club" together, which was now going to be their thing, apparently. Kyle just liked the fact his brother was finally stepping up. Sometimes it didn't seem like Kenny had been hurt at all. But Kyle heard his whimpers in the night. He felt him jerk and he heard him cry. Those were the nights he prayed his fake sleep was realistic enough.
"Kinda, but we really should go in. I can make you some cocoa." Kenny shrugged.
"You're right though, Jesus, I'm like naked out here." Kyle rolled his eyes and put his arm over Kenny's shoulder as they walked back to his house through the snow.
"D'you wanna make a snowman or something tomorrow? Or go sled... maybe not sledding," Kenny snorted and Kyle smiled a little. They jumped as a door shut and they heard someone run over across the yard. Kyle laughed out loud as he saw Stan in nothing but boxers and a ribbed tank top.
"Jesus, it's 3:30 in the morning, what the hell are you guys doing?" he asked, laughing as he looked over his best friends. They all looked as if they had just woken up; Stan for his nightly water, Kyle due to his internal alarm and Kenny because he was Kenny.
"I couldn't sleep," he replied, teeth chattering a little, "so I came out to watch the snow." Stan gave him an odd look and turned to Kyle who nodded.
"And I woke up because of you," he grumbled, causing the black haired boy to smirk. "And then my space heater was gone," he nudged Kenny who jerked a little but smiled softly at his new nickname. "So I had to go find him."
They shivered and watched the snow fall a little more. A bitter wind caused Kenny's body to start wracking from the cold and Kyle took off the jersey.
"You are going to be so sick," Kyle told him as Kenny quickly put on the garment. "I'm taking the nomad inside. Are you gonna run this morning?" Stan shrugged his shoulders.
"Any chance of a snow day?" Both Kyle and Kenny laughed out loud at that. "Hey, no fair, Kenny, you still have two days!" Kenny shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, you'll have a snow day. I'm sure of it. Mom'll work her magic." Stan furrowed his eyebrows curiously and Kenny just smiled a little to himself. Kyle mouthed, "I'll explain later." He nodded slowly.
"Well, I'm gonna go back to bed at least for another two hours. You two are fucking crazy," he kissed Kyle on the lips briefly and opened his arms to Kenny. The blonde looked apprehensive but hugged him momentarily. "Jesus, he is a fucking space heater." Kenny smiled and patted Stan's head.
"G'night, Stan," Kenny said in that quiet voice he had kept over the week. Kyle squeezed his hand and waved before running up his front porch with Kenny following close behind.
They were greeted with hot air and Kyle felt tears in his eyes as his feet prickled from the blood rush. He stamped his feet a little bit, then turned to Kenny, who looked completely frozen.
"D'you want hot cocoa?" Kenny shrugged, then shook his head. He pulled off Stan's jersey and gave it back to Kyle, who was internally grateful to have one of his most prized possessions back. Some of Kenny's bruises had faded to dark greens and yellows and his nose was hardly swollen anymore. His eyes was still swollen with dark hues of purple and red. Kyle swore it was the first time he had seen him in such good condition, and even then he had to laugh because he knew how wrong he was. "Do you actually think we'll have a snow day?"
"Maybe." he turned his head up to the ceiling. "Mom? Stan and Kyle want a snow day and I'm too tired to do the snow dance but I'm wearing my pajamas inside out so... tell Jack Frost to get on it." Kyle laughed quietly, gently, because it seemed like such an innocent thing to do. But as he looked down he realized Kenny's old plaid flannel pajama pats were, in fact, inside out and backwards; he shook his head. "I take my snow seriously." The straight face made Kyle burst out laughing and Kenny grinned toothily.
They quietly walked up the stairs. Kenny was leading this time, apparently he had night vision, and sneaked back into Kyle's room. "Hey, Ky?" The redhead heard the small voice that reminded him of when they were all eight years younger.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for letting me and Karen stay here. And for standing out in the snow with me. I'm sorry I woke you." Kenny mumbled as he laid down on the inside of the bed. He turned on his side to face Kyle and laid his head on the pillow.
"Dude, it's nothing. And... I get why you were out there, you and your mom were really close." Kenny nodded and closed his eyes.
"Things would be different if she were here, I know it. She was trying to kick the rock. She was going to. And Kevin said she was talking about moving out with us kids... maybe Kevin would be in college or somethin'. Karen's on the right track though. Karen's gonna make it."
"What about you?" Kyle asked, "you've got a lot going for you." Kenny hummed and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'd be better..." Kenny trailed off. Kyle turned to face him.
"Better how?" he asked, yet sighed heavily as he heard his deep breathing. Kyle pulled another blanket over Kenny and wriggled a little closer to him so they could both warm up faster.
It felt like ten minutes had passed when Kenny and Kyle were rudely woken up by someone barging into the room. Kyle gasped and lifted his head, Kenny opened his eyes but didn't want to move.
"We have a snow day!" Stan cried excitedly, "the county roads drifted over!" Kyle laughed and looked outside his window. South Park was completely covered in a heavy, thick blanket of crystal snow. "Were you two cuddling?"
"No..." Kenny grumbled awkwardly, turning over with a wince as he took over Kyle's bed. The redhead smiled at his boyfriend, and shrugged his shoulders. Stan sighed and yawned loudly as he crawled onto the other side of Kenny and laid in the blankets. Kenny felt wary at first, but both Stan and Kyle had their hands above the blankets and he settled slightly.
"Remember when we used to do this all the time?" Stan asked, Kyle and Kenny nodded. "We were the coolest."
"That's probably what made us all not straight." Kyle remarked, Kenny smiled softly and closed his eyes. He was extremely warm now that Stan was there. He'd just doze for a few more minutes.
"He's got the right idea," Stan murmured to Kyle as they heard Kenny's slight snore. "He's been okay?" Kyle nodded and looked down at Kenny who appeared to be in pain. He rested his head on the pillow and Stan followed suit.
"Yeah, great in some ways not so good in others," Kyle replied, yawning, "you have your alarm set?" Stan nodded and they both settled on either side of Kenny. They held hands, and after a few minutes of silence, Stan turned to Kyle.
"Was last night a dream or did that actually happen?"
"It actually happened, I think he's getting a cold."
"When does he not?" They both chuckled a little and glanced to Kenny who was sleeping soundly. "So was he sleepwalking?" Kyle shook his head.
"No, he told me this story and I feel like that's the first time he's really connected since... she died, really..." Kyle trailed off, shaking his head, "but he said there was snow 'cause he thought it was a sign from his mom. I mean, he could be right, it's not unheard of." Stan shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little.
"I think he's the only one of us who really believes anymore," Stan mumbled, "in God, I mean." Kyle was silent for a brief moment, then nodded. "And all that kinda stuff." There was a brief pause before he continue, "I wonder what's gonna happen to all of us. I mean, this is our second to last year together. What if we-"
"No it's not, dude!" Kyle exclaimed, "No matter where we all end up in college and shit it's not like we're never gonna talk. 'specially to Kenny and Butters, they're like brothers."
"So, we're all like one incestuous gay brotherhood?"
"Not incest, that's gross. But kinda." They both snickered and Kenny turned and rested his head on Stan. He looked at Kyle worriedly and the redhead smiled. "He cuddles. But do not tell him." The black-haired boy nodded and absentmindedly combed his hand through Kenny's hair. It seemed like the right thing to do.
"I wanna go into music production I think. I don't want to be a physical therapist." Stan mumbled, "but I'm afraid to tell my parents." Kyle scoffed and shot him a pointed look, "shut up, I know I've told them more important things..."
"Well, do what you wanna do. I told my dad I'm not going to be a lawyer. At first he was upset but then I told him I wanted to go into medicine so he was okay." Stan rolled his eyes and laughed a little at Kyle. "Butters wants to go into theatre and acting... but he's been looking at business 'cause of his parents." Stan rolled his eyes.
"But he's so good... God, I fucking hate his parents, they should seriously fuck off," Kyle nodded and looked at Kenny who was breathing heavily against Stan. "They just need to like... fucking go back to Hawaii and leave Butters here." Kyle burst out laughing and nodded.
"I wonder what this one wants to do?" Kyle mumbled as he pointed down to Kenny. Stan shrugged his shoulders.
"Probably hasn't thought of it, probably doesn't think he has opportunity." The redhead rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "He can sing though, he can go into performing arts."
"Graphic design."
They both heard him mumble sleepily as he pulled away from Stan. He rubbed his eyes and yawned as he buried his head in the pillow. "If I could I'd go into graphic design."
"Since when?" Kenny scoffed and nodded in the pillow.
"Can someone get my backpack? I would but I'm the yummy cream filling of a gay sandwich." Kyle rolled his eyes and grabbed the torn army green bag from across the room. He watched as Kenny turned and leaned against the headrest as he opened his bag. "Since you're all so curious about my future," he grumbled with a small smile, "I made these for you. I just forgot to give them to you. You can look at my other work, too." He opened a ripped orange folder and rifled through the documents. He pulled out four pictures, the ones he had shown Butters upon his return to school, and they both stared in shock.
"Whoa."
"That's us." Kenny nodded.
"It's a sketch and then I'll use this program at school to color them in to make it digital. Or I'll just draw on the program. I've got all these things I've done and... I dunno. If I got into a school I'd do this for a living. Except not, because that'd be an art degree."
"Why not do both?" Kenny looked to Kyle with a raised eyebrow. He laid back down as they examined his pieces.
"Too much school, too much money, not enough ambition," Kenny mumbled, closing his eyes as he curled up next to Kyle.
"These are really good," Stan murmured to his boyfriend, who nodded at the various style of photos and pieces. "Kenny, these are awesome." He mumbled something and threw his arm over Stan. "Dick." He rolled his eyes as Kenny poked him and soon his arm went limp as he fell back asleep. His fingers clutched the fabric of his shirt, causing the raven-haired boy to smile tenderly.
"But we're all always gonna be together, no matter what. We should all go to school together." Stan nodded and put the folder back in Kenny's backpack as Kyle laid down.
"Yeah. We could live in the same res halls and room together, or well, you and me and them in another." Kyle nodded sleepily with his eyes closed. "Or- even better! We could get an apartment together. And we could carpool and take turns cleaning and cooking and..." he trailed off as he drifted to sleep.
They slept through Stan's alarms and Ike and Karen let them sleep when they walked in to see if they were aware of school being canceled. It wasn't up until about 10:30 when someone barreled up the stairs that they woke up. And even then-
"Guys! Guys!" Cartman yelled, bursting through Kyle's door. "We gotta- oh Jesus, it's a fucking orgy in here." he grumbled. "GUYS!"
Stan jumped and lifted his head off of Kenny's chest. He looked down sheepishly and saw Kenny and Kyle had their foreheads pressed together. He yawned and sat up, then gently shook Kyle. The redhead moaned and opened his eyes to Kenny's closed lids mere centimeters from him. He blushed and slowly pulled away slowly as he tried not to wake him.
"Finally, Jesus your gay is making the room stink."
"Didn't smell 'til you got here," Kyle replied, "what are you doing in my room, anyway?"
"Craig has declared war. Stark's Pond, the ultimate snowball fight and sled race. There's $200 at stake, guys. We haven't done this in years! Come on!" Stan and Kyle looked at each other. He had a very good point.
"Kenny? Kenny, wake up."
"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes," Cartman said sarcastically as Kenny jumped and looked around the room with shifting eyes. Kenny blinked and settled on Cartman. "Where the fuck have you been?"
"Around." Kenny yawned, "what's going on?"
"Snowball war and sled race."
"Nah, you guys go ahead." Cartman scoffed and looked at Kenny incredulously.
"Don't go all faggy on me, dude. You've got the best arm out of all of us!" Kenny shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not feeling good," Stan stood up and nodded.
"Yeah, you can stay if you want. We'll be ready in two minutes, dude," he said to Cartman, who scoffed.
"No, c'mon Kinny. You can't wuss out."
"Cartman, stop," Kyle warned him, Kenny covered his head with the blankets and Kyle glanced at him cautiously before grabbing his clothes off of his desk.
"What the fuck is wrong with him?" He asked Stan as he stepped forward; the raven-haired boy remained silent as he grabbed some of his sleepover clothes from Kyle's dresser. "Guys?"
"Nothing, just... leave it be," but when Kyle looked at the chubby teen he actually looked a little worried. He always knew Kenny and him had a weird relationship. For awhile they were best friends, until Cartman started being, well, Cartman, and Kenny found friendship with Butters. Kyle shuddered; he didn't want to know what would have happened if Kenny and Butters never became friends. But he knew the difference between manipulative worry and genuine worry, and by the look on his face he looked concerned.
"Kinny? Come on, you love to sled." The lump in the bed remained silent and Cartman scoffed, "he's not dying, is he?" Stan shook his head. "Then get the fuck outta bed, lazy ass!" Cartman shoved Kenny, who recoiled and threw out a fist from under the sheets.
"Don't touch me!" Kenny shouted and curled in on himself. Kyle sighed heavily and the brown haired boy looked shaken. Kyle sat on the bed and heard quiet footsteps pad up the stairs. He pulled the blankets down from Kenny's face and showed him his hand before putting it on his back.
"Shit." Cartman said as he took a step back, breathing now under control from nearly having the shit scared out of him, "what the fuck?"
Karen pushed passed him and looked at Kyle.
"What happened?"
"Cartman. It's fine," Kyle said.
"No, it's not." the stocky boy replied, "something's wrong with Kinny. You gotta fix him. Shit, was, was that gay-ass fucking assembly about him? Kinny, what the fuck happened?" Karen hugged her brother as he trembled from under the blankets.
"Eric, stop, please." She told him, running her hand through his hair. "Kenny's fine, he just... he got hurt last week and he's just dealing with that."
"How?"
"It... it's nothing," Stan said, patting Cartman's shoulder, "c'mon, we can't-"
"Kinny, what happened?!" Cartman was at the side of the bed now, and Kenny looked up at him and blinked slowly. "You can tell me, if you want. I promise I won't laugh." Kyle rolled his eyes. Sadly, he highly doubted that.
"Don't worry about it, we just-"
"I was raped," Kenny murmured, watching Cartman's face twitch and finally scowl. Stan and Kyle looked to each other; it was the first time he admitted what happened.
"Guys don't get... oh." Cartman grew silent and looked at Kenny. "Why?"
"Good question."
"No, why would someone do that? To you, I mean. You're always willing to do that kinda shit and why would they do that to..." Kyle looked at his friend in mild shock. Kenny shrugged his shoulders.
"'Cause that's just life, I guess."
"Why can't you go play, though? I mean, you can still play. No one knows. I won't tell, I swear." The redhead felt a twinge at the innocence in Cartman's words. All he wanted was for the boy he considered to be his best friend to go out and play. Just like little kids. Sometimes he wondered if Cartman really was just an emotionally damaged little boy, deep down under the layers of hate and cruelty and fat.
"You're not gonna tell?" Kenny asked quietly, Cartman shook his head.
"No, dude! That's... shit. You were raped? Only in fucking South Park. Only to fucking you." Cartman turned and Kyle looked away when seeing him conspicuously wipe his eyes. "But everyone's been wondering where you've been. We figured you got arrested or some shit. But... everyone'll be real excited to see you so you should join us."
"I can't, Eric." Stan felt his throat grow dry when Kenny said his name. He swore Kenny had said it before, he didn't know why this scene felt so familiar. But it made him feel sick. Cartman was so naive sometimes. It didn't make sense. Cartman was a sociopath, he shouldn't be having emotions right now.
"Why? You got raped you didn't get impaled."
"That's kind of what rape is..." Kyle grumbled, shaking his head.
"I had surgery." Kenny explained wearily, "and I hurt."
"Why'd you have surgery? I mean, that's... kind of extreme for getting your dick used."
"It wasn't my dick, Cartman." Kenny groaned, tears welling in his eyes as Cartman looked at him with a twitching eye.
"But that'd be..." his eyes widened, "they didn't rape your asshole..." Kenny buried his head in the pillow and his shoulders shook. "No, no one does that. They don't... why would you need surgery?"
"Eric, please?" Karen begged, yet he shook his head.
"I don't fucking get it!" He shouted, causing Stan and Kyle to jump. "He's one of my best friends and I'm just finding out he was raped up the butt? The fuck, you guys? Why didn't you tell me? I don't fucking get it because he's Kinny and he... why can't he just play with us? Why did he have to have surgery?"
"Th-they..." Kenny whimpered through the pillow, "with a broken bottle. They..."
"Oh fuck. No fucking way. They can do that? Kinny, you're not serious. Please...?" Kenny raised his head from the pillow. "Who the fuck did this to you?!" He was shaking with anger now and Kyle felt nausea churn his stomach. "I'll fucking kill 'em. I'm so fucking pissed at you," he glared at Stan and Kyle, "for keeping this from me."
"We just..."
"No, fuck you guys!" He shouted, "I'm going home. No, fuck that. I'm goin' to Stark's Pond. You assholes stay the fuck away from me. Except Kinny. But fuck you. Seriously."
Kyle and Stan sighed as they watched Cartman leave the room. Kenny was trembling and Karen held his hand.
"Did you really just tell Cartman?" Karen nodded and looked to Kenny who now sat up and wiped his eyes.
"I trust him. Why don't... we should go. I want to. Need to," Kyle looked at him curiously, "snowball war. We should totally go." Stan nodded slowly.
"Are you sure you're up for that?" He asked as Kenny got out of bed. He nodded and hid his wince as he looked through the few clothes he had; he chose a plain green long sleeve shirt and Kevin's old jeans.
"Normally, we'd already be on our way. Kyle would be arguing with Cartman, you'd be pinching your nose, and I'd be following behind contemplating the sanity of my friends."
"Is that what you're thinking?" Kenny smirked.
"More or less." He replied, cringing as he buckled his belt tightly around his waist. "I say, we go and kick those guys' asses. Just like when we were little. I mean, we can't leave lard ass to do it on his own, can we?" Stan and Kyle grinned and the blonde turned to Karen. "D'you wanna come?" She shrugged her shoulders, then shook her head.
"I'm gonna head over to Ruby's with Ike. But we can do something later?"
"Snowmen," Kyle said out loud, Kenny looked at him in surprise, "we're gonna make snowmen and hot cocoa." Karen grinned and ran out of the room.
Before they left Kyle's house, Kenny stopped. He told them to wait a moment, and he ran upstairs, into Ike's room. He found his orange parka hanging on the bed post and he smiled, grabbed his coat, and hurried down the stairs.
"Where are the others?" Craig asked at Stark's Pond. They had already built a mega fort and were now making a surplus supply of snowballs. Cartman sighed heavily and shrugged his shoulders.
"We forfeit." He grumbled, eyes lowering. Wendy snapped her head to look at him and shook her head.
"No we don't! What the hell?" She asked, running over with Bebe. "They aren't coming?"
"No." Cartman murmured and kicked at the snow. "Fuck this, fuck you guys." He hissed, squeezing his eyes shut as he trudged through the snow. He felt an arm on his shoulder and he continued to walk away.
"What happened?" Wendy asked, Cartman gave her a sneer and kept his brisk pace. "Something happened."
"You know, all those fucking years I thought those assholes were my friends. But they don't give a shit. They're so fucking... Jewy." Wendy sighed and watched as the boisterous boy in front of her started to pace. "I mean, who keeps something huge from someone who's supposed to be one of your best friends? Fucking assholes." Wendy pinned her long raven hair in a pony tail and turned him around. He looked down on her yet avoided eye contact.
"What happened?"
"So much shit that I can't fucking wrap my head around. Why does shit happen to good people?" Wendy shrugged her shoulders, "give me an answer!"
"Because it's a way to grow from experience, you can't look at something as good or bad so much as learning-"
"So you're telling me getting raped by a broken fucking bottle is a fucking learning experience?!" Cartmam hissed in a whisper, then quickly shut his mouth. Wendy's jaw went slack as she gazed at the brunette in confusion.
"What? Who said anything about...?"
"Hypothetically speaking, that's what you're saying?" He covered but she shook his head.
"Who got raped?" She whispered, Cartman shook his head and shrugged his shoulders before turning around and running. Wendy pounced on him and knocked him into the snow; all eyes were on them now. "What are you talking about?!"
"I can't. Normally I'd be spreading this shit like AIDs in Africa but-"
"Is it Butters? Is that who the assembly was about? He's been so distant lately..."
"No, not fucking Butters!"
"Then who?! Stan? Kyle? Eric, please... I can help. I... I wasn't ever... but I know someone who was. And they could help whoever you're talking about."
"God, if Kyle got fucking raped he'd fucking deserve it. I'm getting tired of his Messiah complex."
"It was Stan? Oh my God..."
"It wasn't Stan!" Cartman hissed, "now get the fuck off me, I can't feel my ass." Wendy righted herself and offered a hand to Eric. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him in confusion.
"If it wasn't Stan then who..." she trailed off and her eyes widened in realization, "oh my God." Cartman felt his blood boil, he shouldn't have said anything. This was the only thing he had ever wanted to keep from people.
"Hey guys!" The two looked up to the hill and saw an orange parka with legs slowly walk up to them. Kyle and Stan followed behind. Cartman heard the opposing team cheer as Kenny stumbled down the hill. No one thought anything as Stan and Kyle grabbed him. "Game on!" Wendy looked at the brown haired boy and as he turned away she touched his shoulder.
"Kenny?" She whispered, his eyes lowered and he turned away as he walked up to the blonde who had his hood down for the first time in years, he swore. He wore a stocking cap on his head though.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Cartman asked, "you should be... I thought you weren't coming."
"And miss out on kicking Craig's ass?!" He shouted down to his classmates, grinning as the boy in the blue chullo flipped him off with a knowing smirk. "Nah, wouldn't miss that for the world."
"Kenny!" Token cried, "where the hell have you been? We thought you fucking died!" He laughed a barking laugh, one that chilled Wendy's blood, and he shook his head.
"I've been over there!" He said back, causing everyone to snicker, even Cartman, who shoved him a little. Kenny flinched and instinctively put his arms up but lowered them almost immediately. "Is that what you call a fucking fort? Have you seen my house? That's a mother fuckin' fort!" He yelled to the opposing team, who quickly went back to work. Stan and Kyle approached and Kenny smirked.
"Are you sure you're up for this?" Stan asked as they huddled. Kenny nodded and coughed into his sleeve. Wendy saw him grimace and wanted to ask if he was okay. He caught her staring and she quickly looked down with a blush.
"I'm glad you're okay, I've... been worried," she was all she could muster. Kenny shrugged and smiled softly.
"Never better, Wendy-bird."
As the two groups began war upon each other, someone walking down the sidewalk heard screams from down by the pond. Butters looked up from the asphalt and grimaced. There were all of his friends, playing just like they had when they were younger. Except this time they had invited him. He was the one to decline the invitation. He sighed heavily and continued on home with tears in his eyes. As soon as he closed the front door he ran up to the bathroom.
He could puke his hurt away. It's how he got through the day.
As he heaved he couldn't help but smile. Kenny had looked happy... that's all he wanted.