Chapter 1: The Once Small Mountain Town

Author: CrennyLover101

Pairing: Kenny/Craig, Stan/Kyle

Rating: T for offensive language, drug usage (will up the content rating to M for later chapters -there will be mentions of violent graphic parts and sexual scenes)

Author's Note: This is my first time writing a fanfic ever, so don't be too mean to me in the comments pls :') I did write a bunch before, but I never posted the stories because I didn't think they were good enough. But anyways, hope you guys enjoy and make sure you R&R! It helps me write more.

Disclaimer: South Park is owned by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I do not own South Park or any of the references made in this series.

Everything was just great in Kenny McCormick's life. He had a tough past - with dying everyday and all that - especially with his friends and close loved ones not remembering him. How did he get away from his past, you ask? Well, it had to do with Kenny dancing around with the devil in order to get what he wanted. Now, he lived a peaceful life in Denver, going to UC Colorado and finally working towards his dream career.

Peaceful? South Park? Do those two words even belong in one fucking sentence? I guess time will tell.

—

(Kenny's POV)

The blonde-haired, cerulean eyed boy woke up with a start. To his dismay, it was his alarm clock that blasted an instrumental version of Careless Whisper by George Michael and Wham. Kenny groaned at the noise that interrupted his peaceful slumber and blinked the grogginess in his eyes away to grab his smartphone. The time read 11:50 am.

"SHIT!" Kenny screamed, and rolled over his dorm bed so far from shock, that he fell over from the top bunk onto the floor. His roommate made some disgruntled noises before loud snores erupted from his wide open mouth again. Oops, that was a little too loud. Kenny thought, worried that he had woken up his brunette-haired dorm mate.

It was the first day of Kenny's spring break at Colorado State University, and he had planned to meet his friends Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski after not seeing each other for a while. Life had kept the trio busy, especially now that they were all in different universities, working towards their dream careers as well. It was almost like yesterday that they were still in high school, fucking around and playing pranks on their neighbors and classmates - causing strife and chaos wherever they went. Seemingly, they have all matured as adults, and have left their pasts behind them to become normal law-abiding citizens.

…Today was the day that Kenny was going to meet up with his long-time high school friends for a long-awaited brunch.

Kenny got up and brushed himself off the floor, patting down any specks of dust that might have gotten on his clothes. I better get ready, Kenny thought, as he quietly tip-toed over to his dresser to retrieve some clothes, socks, and accessories. I'll get ready in the bathroom so he doesn't wake up.

Along with the things he grabbed, he grabbed his duffel bag which contained his phone, wallet, keys, and other essentials in case he didn't have time to go back to his dorm room. Lastly, before heading to the bathroom, he shoved his toothbrush in his mouth. The university bathroom was a shared bathroom located outside of Kenny's dorm room, but he had to take a walk down a long, winding hallway to get there. It was a wonder that there was no shit or piss on the walls from people not being able to hold it in getting there.

Kenny walked to the door with all belongings on hand and opened the door quietly so as not to disturb his roommate, and closed the door behind him to begin his journey to getting ready. It was going to be a looooooooong drive to South Park from where he currently was.

—

"...You're five minutes late, dipshit." Stan jokingly said, as Kenny sprinted up towards the two waiting at a breakfast club-styled restaurant. It was a cute, quaint little restaurant tucked away in the downtown area of South Park, where City Wok had closed down previously. The place was definitely pleasing to the eyes, compared to their last competitor (if they could even call it one). Morning glories and other types of flowers adorned the outside of the restaurant's columns, vines wrapped around each one. Kyle and Stan stood underneath the arch entrance to the restaurant, the former tapping his foot almost impatiently.

Kenny puffed and took a deep breath in, tuckered out from sprinting before saying, "Well so-rry~ If I could be completely honest, someone took a shit bomb inside the bathroom, so I had to hold my damn breath the whole time while I brushed. I had to tell him to floss his ass too so the smell would go away." Kenny straightened up and showed them his pearly whites, his hands confidently on his hips. The two men standing in front of him sputtered before evolving into raucous laughter.

I'm glad that things are still the same even after so long, Kenny thought to himself while laughing, and the trio headed inside to greet each other. A waitress greeted them inside, and the three took their seats at a window booth overlooking the outside patio of the restaurant. The sun shone brightly on the three, and their afterglow almost looked like they were the spotlight of the restaurant.

"Anyways, how have you guys been doing? I feel like we haven't hung out in forever," Kyle sat down next to Stan and twirled one of his index fingers around his ginger red curls. "And before you start, Kenny, I don't wanna know about all the people you've fucked while at university."

Kenny had a shit-eating grin on his face before starting, "Well, to respond to that… I've actually been sober from dating, alcohol, and drugs for the past couple of years. "

Stan and Kyle's mouths visibly dislocated from their faces upon hearing that.

"WHAT!?" The whole restaurant turned around to look at them, which made them flushed and settle down in their seats, whispering. "...wait what… THE Kenny, sober from dating, sex, and all that?"

Kenny leaned forward and whispered quietly with a smile on his face, before cupping the side of his mouth, "It's been 3 years, 2 months, and 15 days. I counted."

"Damn," Stan muttered under his breath and turned to meet bewildered eyes with Kyle, "I..I never thought I'd see the day."

Kyle then spoke up, "Wait, wait, wait. What caused this–"

"...Ahem," A perky, high-pitched voice out of nowhere seemingly spoke up and made themselves clear in the room, making the three men turn to look in their direction. It was Bebe. "Are you 3 done introducing yourselves yet? What drinks would you like to get started?"

Apparently, Bebe was standing there the whole time their conversation started and carried on, but they were ignoring her the WHOLE time. Another oops.

Stan scratched the back of his head, "...I'll have a Dr. Pepper. Also, hey Bebe! Haven't seen you in a while."

Bebe sent a fake smile and a glare in Stan's direction, "Yeah, I've been standing here for a whole 3 minutes and you guys all but ignored me."

Kyle uncomfortably chuckled, "I'll have lemon water, please. And sorry about that Bebe, we really didn't see you there. We were just really excited to see each other because we've all been at university. This is our first group outing in years."

Bebe smirked almost devilishly before setting off her wild response, "Yeah, and where is that fatass that usually hangs out with you guys? I don't see him around anywhere."

There was a thick silence that hung heavy in the room. The trio had not seen, heard of, or talked about the said fatass in years. After highschool, Cartman disappeared, without a trace. The trio did the best they could to find him and even filed multiple police reports about him, but after a long while of the police searching, they declared that the fatass was dead and the case was presumed cold. Cartman's mom was distraught from the whole incident, so much so that she moved out of South Park, and no one knows where she had gone, either.

Kenny cleared his throat and changed the prompt quickly, "I'll take a root beer float, thank you very much, Bebe."

Bebe scoffed and clicked her tongue before muttering under her breath, Whatever. "Here is your guys' menus, let me know when you're done sucking each other's dicks over here or whatever."

She slapped three menus in a stack in front of them before promptly taking her leave. The three stared at each other in silence, finally remembering what had happened before they all separated and left for university. They still kept in touch as much as they could over online Discord calls, but for the most part, they never brought up the past or what had happened. It was still a wound healing over time for all of them.

It was silent for a while before Kyle started up the conversation again, "So? How's university going for you guys? I'm going to be completely frank with you all, taking care of kids has been a massive kick to my confidence. They really know how to put you in your place."

Stan leaned back in his chair before folding his arms behind his head, "Well…I've got news for you guys. Sorry to keep it in for so long. I dropped out of university, and now I'm training to be a police officer."

"Hey, congrats dude!" Kenny beamed at him, giving him a right hand thumbs up. Stan was always the most athletic one out of them all in the group - in high school, he was the most popular quarterback in the football team. Now, he is properly putting his athletic skills to use by quarterback tackling criminals in the street. Now THAT is a proper show of pride and honor.

"Yeah, Stan told me a while back, but we wanted to wait until we met in person to tell you so we could have drinks over it. Buuuuuuuut, I guess now you're sober?" Kyle leaned on his right hand, with a questioning look on his face at Kenny.

"Yeah. I just thought I'd clean my act up and start acting like the good big brother I am, just as a role model for my little sister, Karen. I think it's time that she has someone to really look up to and respect."

"Silly goose. Karen has always looked up to you and respected you. You just need to notice it more often."

"Hmm…well, if that's so, then I'm giving her an even bigger reason to look up to me. I'm gonna make my little sister proud." Kenny smiled softly, thinking about his little sister. She was a senior in high school now, not far off from graduating and finally pursuing a career like Kenny was. Unfortunately, even though Kenny was able to move out of their crappy little crack house in South Park; Karen was still living there with their parents. Kenny would call and text her often, sometimes daily, just to check on her to see if she was okay. He didn't trust his parents to take care of her, but he also knew that Karen is almost old enough to take care of herself now. She isn't the young, frail and little girl she used to be anymore. At that thought, Kenny smiled to himself again. Maybe he'd make a visit to her later, before heading back to his dorm at University of Colorado.

The trio did some more talking and catching up, before Bebe stopped by their table again to ask what food they finally wanted to order. For the rest of the afternoon, Kenny was basking in the warm glory and happiness from the accompaniment of his longtime friends. Next, he'd stop by his house to visit Karen. He'd be happy to see Karen, but he dreaded the thought of seeing his parents. After Kenny made the mature decision to save up money and apply for scholarships to university, they had begged him to donate any remaining finances towards helping them survive. Kenny gritted his teeth and his fists clenched. This was his money, his financial aid for school, and yet they were still entitled into thinking that his money belonged to them.

Ultimately, they weren't in the best relationship at this point. But at least he still has his younger sister, who supports and encourages him in whatever Kenny does.

—

The trio's lunch carried on for a little while longer before Stan got a message from his mom and dad asking him to come over for a little get-together and that he should bring Kyle along. Kenny chuckled at the fact that his parents had been so inviting when they found out that Stan and Kyle were an actual couple now. On the other hand, for Kenny's parents? Oh boy, it was another story.

"Well troops, it was nice hanging out with you guys for lunch. You guys are on spring break right now, right?" Kenny questioned as he arched an eyebrow in their direction.

Kyle and Stan both nodded their heads in agreement before Stan spoke up, "Yeah, well…Kyle is actually on spring break right now. I, on the other hand, had to schedule and plan a vacation in advance so I could get away from the academy." Stan chuckled confidently before saying, "...In the meantime, we'll be staying at my house for the rest of the week-"

"-not having really loud gay sex, of course." Kenny intervened with a grin on his face before poking Stan in the side.

Kenny pulled away before Stan could sucker punch him in the arm and laughed away a tear, "Yeah, yeah, let me know how that goes, lovebirds. I'll see you around then? Let me know when you guys wanna hang out again this week."

"Sure!" The couple both chimed in unison before turning on foot and heading towards their car, which was a blue Toyota SUV. It shined in the light of the sun, really reflecting the colors of Kenny's orange signature parka in its reflection. He waved and they waved back in their tinted car as they pulled out of their parking space finally, heading in the opposite direction.

He stood alone in the parking lot now, in front of the restaurant that was decorated heavily with sunshine and flowers. Kenny sighed heavily and kicked a bare stone that laid around his feet, Now, it's time to meet my parents.

He headed towards his Nissan Altima and unlocked the door with his car keys, before sitting inside the driver's seat. All of a sudden, his head and his heart felt heavy with pressure - a resistance. There was something in the back of his head that was telling him to do anything BUT visit his parents and sister. If anything, he would be there more for his sister to visit her. Wait, was she even out of school yet? Kenny checked the time on watch, located on his left wrist. It read, 1:48pm.

Hmm, I guess I should shoot her a text first before blasting the damn door down, Kenny thought to himself and pulled out his smartphone.

(Kenny's Phone)

Kenny: Hey Karen, you home yet? I just got to South Park and was gonna stay over there for a bit

Kenny: smiley face

It wasn't long before Karen shot him a few texts back.

Karen: I'm at a track meet rn but I'll be home in a few

Karen: I don't think there's anything in the fridge but make yourself comfy ig

Karen: Actually, didja wanna come by and watch me at track? We can grab some food nearby the school after I'm done

Karen: smiley face

She sounded so calm and collected in her text messages, but Kenny already knew that she was far from being composed. She was probably ecstatic to see her brother again. They had been that close. Kenny chuckled at her last message, seeing that she was mocking him for his previous texts earlier.

Kenny: Yea, I'll see you in a bit then.

He put his phone down and turned his key into the ignition to make his way over to Karen's meetup point. It was a place all too familiar to him - Jim Davis High School.