AN: First story in almost six years! Hope you guys enjoy this! Also, Cartman being out of character isn't a writing mistake, I promise, it's for the story and will be developed as the story progresses!

POV: Eric

His fingers tapped mindlessly against the porcelain sink as he stared at himself in the mirror, water dripping from his chin, and he began to wonder if he should even go. But his mother insisted, and after everything that they had been through over summer break, the least he could do was oblige her wishes.

Damn her. Nobody even wants to see me anyways.

It was going to be weird seeing everyone again after so many months of no contact, but that bandaid had to be pulled eventually, he thought, so why not now? Best to get it over with.

Pushing himself back upright, he wrapped a towel loosely around his waist and made his way into the bedroom where he had meticulously laid out his clothes and shoes, his backpack, and various other things he might need for the day, and let out a sigh before he finished drying himself.

The cool autumn air rushing in through his open window felt fantastic, and all he could do was think. Well, overthink, actually. That was something new he picked up right at the end of junior year, and boy did he hate it. Sometimes, he missed the old days of not giving a shit, but here he was, wondering if anyone would actually be excited to see him again. But as he pulled his clothes on, he pushed those thoughts away and made his way downstairs.

"I have cereal if you want some, poopykins!" Liane had announced to her son as she heard his footsteps on the stairs. There used to be a time when he would hate being called those ridiculous names, but he knew she meant well, so he thought nothing of it.

Approaching the kitchen, he watched with a small smile as his mother scrubbed away at the last of the dishes from last night's dinner. They had only been back for a few days at that point, so his mom went all out for dinner to celebrate Eric starting his last year of school.

"I'm alright Mom, I made me a bite to eat before you woke up." He stepped over to her, placing a reassuring hand on her back.

She let out a sigh of relief and used a small towel to dry her hands before turning to look at her son. Offering up a smile, she nodded, ruffled his hair a bit and dashed into the living room.

"Here, it's a small present to commemorate this important day!" She was beaming, handing over a small box, and it genuinely made him happy to see her in such a good mood.

Taking the small box into his hands, he rubbed his thumb across the black cardboard lid before pulling it off to see what was inside. His lip quivered a bit when he finally saw what it was. It was Uncle Bob's watch.

They had spent a month and a half staying with Uncle Bob during the summer, and over that period of time, Eric and his uncle were inseparable, going out to the movies, playing video games, and generally just having a good time. Where most people in his life never did anything out of the goodness of their heart, Bob was different. He helped encourage Eric to go about the journey of discovery and change that he had eventually gone on that summer, and the youngest Cartman would be forever grateful.

To break the silence, Liane had wiped a tear from her son's face, brought upon by the memory of his uncle. "I had just gotten it in the mail yesterday. He wanted you to have it." Trailing off, she too wiped a few tears that stained her cheeks. "I know you miss him. I do too."

Putting that watch on, he would wear it with pride so he would never forget his now deceased uncle.

"Let's get this show on the road." He needed to change the subject for his own sake, not wanting to go to school a teary eyed mess.

After a short drive that consisted of small talk between the boy and his mother, they had arrived at the high school, and a sense of dread washed over Eric. He knew that he would have to just go and deal with this head on, but that nagging voice in the back of his head that constantly filled his mind with thoughts of self doubt came back, and he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Mom, can we just go ho-" He was cut off before he could even finish speaking by his mother who had only shook her head. "Yeah, I know."

There was no getting out of this, no matter how much he wished that he could. So after placing a small kiss on his mother's cheek, he stepped out of the car and slung his backpack over his right shoulder before marching into the school like a soldier on a mission.

The hallways were packed to the brim with students he knew, and those he didn't, all talking about their various adventures they had gotten into over their three month break, but their voices slowly began to fade as he saw his three friends standing by their lockers, smiling and laughing.

What am I worrying about? I never cared what they thought about me before. This isn't any different.

Approaching his locker Cartman threw his bag down and tried his best not to engage in conversation first. If he waited on them to talk, he wouldn't worry as much, but as the minutes passed and they hadn't spoken a word, he began to feel sick to his stomach that his friends really didn't care.

That was until one of them spoke up.

"Holy shit, Cartman. That you?" An incredulous voice asked from the other side of Eric's locker door.

Slamming the door closed, he turned to face the black haired boy he had been friends with for as long as he could remember. "Yeah Stan," his voice cracked a bit but he tried to hide it, "It's me."

He had offered up a sarcastic shrug before he leaned down to pick his bad back up.

Stan, Kyle, and Cartman all looked at each other with disbelief in their eyes.

"You look incredible, dude. Summer break must've been great for you." Stan could barely recognize his friend; the kid who was always manipulative and crude, the one they made fun of for being a fat ass their whole lives. Now here Cartman was, still bigger than the rest of them, but now he was more muscle than anything else, and a bit taller than all of them too.

The red haired boy offered a knowing look to the kid who used to antagonize him everyday, and gave him an apologetic half smile. "I guess we can't call you lard ass anymore, huh?" Kyle had joked that made the four of them chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, you're looking real sexy now, Lard Ass." The ever crude Kenny joked as he gave Cartman a bear hug.

Even though he didn't deserve it, these three kids always stood by him, and he knew he appreciated it more than they would ever realize, he just hoped that there was some way he could make amends for how he treated them all those years.

But before he could even think to open his mouth, they all started talking about how their summers went, with Stan regaling them all with his tale of hope he and Wendy broke up, but decided to remain friends, and how he was able to bag a college freshman when he and his family were in California.

Kyle told everyone about how he spent a lot of his summer over in Europe and Israel, a point that Cartman joked about for obvious reasons. But instead of taking it as an insult, Kyle retorted back and they all laughed together like how they used to,

Like when they were kids, pretending to be superheroes.

AN: If it's not already apparent, this is inspired by CupcakeGumdrop3's fantastic fic 'When Do I Get Out Of Here?' on Ao3, but also my yearning to get back to writing after an almost six year hiatus. So given that it's been so long, I'm absolutely positive that this story will be riddled with errors (either grammatically, punctually, or maybe the characters seem ooc), but I'm hoping that as it goes on, those errors wills start to fade away. Anyhow, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.