More Than Friends

Stark's Pond

*Warning* extra fluffy chapter ahead

Stan

Stan was surprised he remembered the way to Stark's Pond, but he did. Staring out at the pond, memories flooded his mind. A frozen pond and the sound of children's laughter as they skated around, attempting to play hockey. He shook his head and smiled, continuing on his way around the pond. Lost in thought and staring at his feet, he didn't notice the person in front of him until they slammed into each other, the other person falling backwards. "Oh shit, I'm sor-" Stan trailed off as he looked down at the boy sprawled out on the ground. He was met with the sight of a green ushanka sat atop curly red hair, and an equally red face. Stan struggled to formulate a sentence as his former best friend grumbled to himself irritably. "Kyle" Stan breathed out, voice barely above a whisper. He watched Kyle's head jerk up, and all the color drain from his face as he realized who was standing in front of him. "St-Stan." Kyle's eyes were wide with shock. Stan extended his hand out to help him up. Grabbing his hand, Kyle heaved himself up, immediately pulling Stan into a tight hug. Stan wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in his shoulder. He felt Kyle squeeze tighter, clinging to him. Stan's chest tightened and he teared up, choking back a sob. Kyle pulled away, looking at him. "Dude, are you crying?" Stan sniffed and wiped his face on his sleeve. "Maybe." He shrugged, face red. "Well don't, or I'll start and we'll both be a mess." Kyle's voice wavered and Stan saw that his eyes were glossy. Stan grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets, studying the boy in front of him. He was a couple inches taller than Stan now, but still thin and lean, whereas Stan was slightly stockier now from all the farm work. His hair was also longer and the curls slightly looser. Stan shook himself from his reverie as Kyle took a deep breath, and bent down to pick up his phone where it had fallen on the ground. Tucking it in his pocket, he looked back at Stan. "Dude, I can't believe you're here! Did you move back?" Stan smiled, nodding, "Yeah, my dad's in jail, mom sold the farm, and we even bought our old house back." Kyle grinned at him, eyes sparkling. "Dude this is awesome! I missed you." Stan nudged Kyle with his shoulder. "Dude me too." They both walked a little ways until they found a bench and sat down. "Dude, I should text Kenny.
He's gonna be stoked" Kyle
pulled his phone from his coat pocket. "Um, actually he knows already." Kyle looked at him quizzically. "My mom ordered pizza for dinner." Kyle nodded emphatically, cutting him off. "Yeah he's been working at Shakey's for a year now. As soon as he turned 17 he got legally emancipated. He even has his own place now. Karen's there too." Stan leaned back and sighed. "I've missed so much." Kyle patted his shoulder sympathetically, then looked at his phone, frowning. "I can't believe he didn't text me." Stan rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish look on his face. "Um I might've asked him not to." Kyle raised an eyebrow at him. Stan pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. "I wasn't sure how you'd feel about me being back. Hell I half thought you'd all hate me." Kyle looked at him incredulously. "Stan I love you, but you're stupid." Stan felt his face heat up and his heart started racing. Dude what the hell. Chill out. Not wanting to think about why those words affected him, he shoved it to the back of his mind. Stan shrugged looking at his feet, "Gee, thanks." Kyle rolled his eyes. "Dude I didn't mean it like that." Stan glanced at him, a smile tugging at his lips." Yeah I know." Kyle shook his head laughing. "I missed this." Stan grinned at him, standing up. "You wanna come over?" "Dude, Seriously? Hell yes I do" Stan smiled at Kyle's enthusiasm. "I gotta call my mom first" Kyle unlocked his phone, not noticing the sour look on Stan's face. Placing the phone to his ear, he waited for his mom to answer. Stan waited patiently as he listened to Kyle tell his mom he was staying over at Kenny's. Stan gave Kyle a pointed look, as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. "Dude, let's not get into that right now." Stan nodded and started walking back in the direction of his house. They walked along quietly for a few minutes, before Kyle tugged on his sleeve. "Should we let your mom know I'm coming over?" Stan chuckled. "Maybe. She probably won't care though." He pulled his phone out, found his mom's contact icon, and hit call. It rang twice before she picked up. "Hi honey." "Hey mom, I ran into Kyle at Starks Pond, can he stay over tonight?" Stan rushed out, all in one breath. "Of course Stan. Kyle's always welcome here" "Thanks mom." Stan hung up, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "She said it's fine." They continued on in the direction of his house talking about everything that had changed or stayed the same in town in the last six years. Soon they were standing in front of Stan's front door. Twisting the knob and pushing the door open, Stan called out to the empty front room, "Hey mom, I'm home!" Kyle slipped inside behind him and closed the door. Stan's mom came into the front room from the kitchen. Spotting Kyle, her face lit up and she bee lined towards him, pulling him into a tight hug. Kyle laughed, hugging her back. She pulled away and looked him up and down. "Oh my gosh look at you So grown up! I think you might be taller than Stanley." Stan rolled his eyes. "Mom stop smothering him, jeeze"!
She narrowed her eyes at him, but let Kyle go. "What's with all the noise?!" Shelly stood in the kitchen doorway, hand on her hip. "Oh, hi Shelly." Kyle smiled at her nervously. He was surprised when she smiled back. "Hi Kyle." She turned to look at her mom. "I'm gonna go unpack my room some more." She looked back at Stan and Kyle and narrowed her eyes. "Don't be too loud down here." Stan rolled his eyes. "We won't jeez!" Their mom shook her head and retreated to the kitchen. Shelly headed up the stairs, then stopped halfway up. "Stan, I put your extra inhaler on the t.v. stand." She looked at him pointedly. "Ok mom, thanks" He said sarcastically. She glared at him and disappeared to her room. Stan turned to look at Kyle. "So what do you want to do?" Kyle shrugged then sat on the edge of the couch. "I'm honestly fine with talking for now, if that's ok." Stan nodded, smiling. "Yeah dude, that's fine with me." He turned towards the kitchen, stopping in the doorway. "I'm gonna grab a soda, you want one?" Kyle nodded,"Sure." Stan grabbed two cans from the fridge heading back to the front room. Sitting them on the table in front of the couch, he sat down and kicked his shoes off, getting comfortable. Kyle followed suit, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged, sitting sideways so he was facing Stan. Stan leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Ok shoot, what do you wanna know?" Kyle launched into a barrage of questions. They spent the next two hours talking about everything, starting from the last day of school six years ago. Stan glossed over any mention of the crushing depression he'd dealt with since then and Kyle avoided the subject of his mom not wanting their family to associate with Stan's anymore. They were talking about Cartman's latest exploit, when Stan's mom poked her head in. "Hey I'm going to bed. You boy's need anything?" Stan tipped his head back to look at her. "No mom, we're good." "Alright guys good night. Love you." They both told her good night as she made her way up the stairs. Stan turned to look at Kyle. "You wanna watch a movie?" Kyle nodded, "Sure." Stan dug around in a box labeled MOVIES until he found what he was looking for, holding it up for Kyle to see. "The Princess Bride?!" Kyle snorted out a laugh, grinning. Stan chuckled as he remembered the first time they watched it. It had been shortly after Kenny and Butters had come back from Hawaii. They had all come over to Stan's for a sleepover, Kyle, Kenny, Butters, and Cartman. Butters had brought the movie, insisting it was good. Twenty minutes into the movie Cartman said Kenny looked like Wesley, sending Kyle and Stan into fits of laughter as they spent the rest of the movie teasing Kenny that he was Wesley and Butters was his Princess Buttercup. Stan shook his head, still smiling to himself and slipped the dvd in the player. Grabbing the remote he flopped back on the couch as the movie started. Settling back against the couch he pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged. Kyle shifted, tucking his feet up under him, which moved him closer to Stan. Stan felt his heart start racing as he felt the heat emanating from Kyle's body. Turning back to look at the screen, he tried to focus on the movie instead of the red head next to him. An hour into the movie he felt a soft pressure on his shoulder and warmth along his side. He glanced down to see Kyle fast asleep against him. His face flushed as he studied the sleeping boy. Ugh why do I feel like this. His stomach was in knots and he felt hot. Groaning, he tried to watch the rest of the movie, hyper aware of the warm body against his. When the movie ended he reached for the remote, jostling Kyle in the process. The redhead sat up quickly, his hat slipping off, curls falling over his face. Pushing his hair back he peered at Stan sleepily. "Shit dude, I'm sorry." He gestured to Stan's shoulder. Stan shrugged, "It's fine dude." Kyle glanced down, then groaned. "Ugh I think I drooled on you." He covered his face in embarrassment. "Gross, dude." Stan teased, laughing. Kyle shoved him playfully, glaring at him. "C'mon, we should probably go to bed." Stan stood up and held his hand out. Kyle grabbed it and pulled himself off the couch. "Shit. I didn't even think about anything to sleep in." Kyle sighed in annoyance. Stan grabbed Kyle's hat from the couch, handing it to him. "You can borrow something of mine." Kyle nodded, and they made their way upstairs. Pushing the door to his room open, Stan pushed boxes away, clearing a path to the bed. He turned around to see Kyle standing in the doorway, eyes faraway, lost in thought. Stan walked over to him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Ky? You ok?" Kyle shook his head, smiling softly at him, "Yeah. Lot of memories here, you know?" Stan nodded in understanding, smiling, "Yeah." He crossed the room to his dresser, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, and tossed them to Kyle. "You remember where the bathroom is?" Kyle nodded and slipped out the door, closing it softly behind him. While he was gone, Stan changed into his own t-shirt and shorts, before turning to stare awkwardly at the bed. Shit. He started to panic, not realizing Kyle had re-entered the room until he stood next to him. Stan felt a warm hand on his shoulder. "Stan? You ok?" Kyle looked at him in concern. Taking a deep breath, Stan nodded. "Yeah dude, Fine. Um you can take the bed if you want. I'm good with the floor." Kyle raised an eyebrow at him. "Or we could both sleep on the bed. We did it all the time as kids." Stan struggled to keep his face neutral, as he nodded. He'd never been more happy that is mom had bought him a queen size bed. "Sure" He looked up to see Kyle peering at him quizzically. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if it was weird or not." Stan shrugged awkwardly. Kyle giggled, "Not any weirder than me drooling all over you earlier." Stan laughed and climbed into bed, Kyle crawling in next to him. They both lay there quietly, a foot of space between them, when Kyle spoke softly. "Stan? I'm really glad you're back." Stan turned his head to look at his best friend. "Me too, Kyle, me too." They smiled at each other, then stared back at the ceiling. Stan lay there listening to Kyles breathing as it evened out. Stan closed his eyes, trying not to think about the sleeping boy next to him. What the hell is wrong with me? He groaned quietly and squeezed his eyes shut tighter, praying for sleep to take him. Eventually the quiet sound of Kyle's breathing lulled him to sleep.

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Stan woke sometime later to the feeling of a warm body pressed against his side and an arm thrown over his chest. He squinted over at Kyle, his sleeping form illuminated by the moonlight streaming in the window. His face was pushed against Stan's shoulder, his curly hair spilled across his face. Stan resisted the urge to run his hand through the messy strands. Instead he watched the redhead sleep and wondered why this felt so... right. Pushing that thought aside, he reveled in the sense of comfort he felt from his best friend snuggled against him. Well, until he realised he had to pee. Dammit! As gently as he could, he slid Kyle's arm over, and started to scoot away. He stopped when he felt Kyle's hand grab his shirt. He looked over to see his best friend peering at him groggily through his hair, "St- Stan" His voice wavered as he tried to focus his eyes. "Shh, it's ok Ky, I'm just going to the bathroom." Kyle flopped back against his pillow. "You better come back." He grumbled sleepily. Stan smiled to himself and hurried to the bathroom. When he finished, he scrubbed his hands extra good, remembering how Kyle felt about that. He padded quietly back to his room and crawled back in bed, careful not to squish Kyle. As he settled back against his pillows, he felt Kyle slide over and snuggle against him, once again throwing his arm over Stan's chest. Giving in, Stan slid his arm under Kyle's shoulders and pulled him closer until he was nestled against his chest. He ran his free hand through the redheads' soft curls. This isn't gay, right?...right? His thoughts were cut short as he felt Kyle's hand grip his t-shirt as he shifted in his sleep. Stan smiled as he drifted off to sleep, his hand still buried in Kyle's hair.

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Author's Note:
Omg 2500 words! I hope everyone enjoyed this super fluffy chapter. As always feel free to leave comments and check out my other story, Coming Home.