Chaos Returns

Broken and Found

     "Oh, great. Now you've done it, Keeny. You've gone and made Butters go emo."

     Kenny whipped his head around to face Eric, furious. "Shut the fuck up, fattass!" he snapped, leaping up from his spot. He had to catch her before she did something stupid. Or, more accurately, before he made things worse.

     Ignoring Eric's indignant huffing, he whipped out of the room and down the stairs. God damn it, how could he have been so stupid? This was her one chance to get away from her parents for a little while, and he fucking ruined it. That's all he's ever done. He can't do anything without messing it up. A true McCormick through and through.

     He stepped cautiously up to the front door, peeking out the peephole. She was sitting on the front step, her head in her hands. Another wave of guilt washed over him and he slowly opened the door. She didn't look up.

     "Butters..?" he called carefully, wincing when he heard the muffled sniffling coming from her direction. She made a wet sort of cough and sloppily wiped her nose.

     "Go away," she said, her voice cracking. Kenny took another step so he was fully out the door, and closed it behind him.

     "Butters, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," he told her. At that, she went silent. Kenny felt his breath still.

     "They ALWAYS say that," she growled. Then, she raised her head, her body starting to shake. "DO YA KNOW HOW TIRED A' THIS SHIT I AM!?"

     Kenny's eyes widened and he stepped back when she finally turned to face him. Or, it was they now, judging by their messily re-tied laces. Kenny's heart twinged. Their face was red, blotchy, and adorned by glossy trails of snot and tears, but their expression was irate. They went on.

     "We didn't mean it Butters! We're sorry Butters! Just come on out and play so we don't have ta feel bad about bein' a dick anymore!" they imitated, laughing in a sick way Kenny didn't like. "Then it happens over, and over, and over, and over. Well guess what? I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE."

     Kenny tentatively reached out a hand to touch Butters' shoulder, but it was viciously slapped away.

     "NO! Don't ya get it? Just leave me alone already!" they snarled. Their head lowered as they turned away from Kenny. "I thought you were different. I guess I was wrong about that too."

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

     "So? What the hell is wrong with you two?" Kyle exploded. He glared at the two boys in front of him, fury boiling beneath his skin. Why the fuck had they been hiding things from him? It's not like he'd been friends with them since they were in diapers or anything, right??!

     Stan looked at him with those big sad eyes he has when someone gets pissed at him, and inexplicably, that made Kyle angrier.

     "Dude, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you," he deflated. Kyle threw his hands up in the air.

     "Oh, thank G-d! You WANTED to tell me! I guess that's supposed to make me feel better, huh?" he snarled. Stan cringed.

     "I mean.. Yeah?"

     Kyle tugged his hair in an attempt to not flip his shit, nearly pulling it out of his skull.

     "WELL IT DOESN'T!!" he shouted. Stan's face spasmed, and all at once, he looked almost as angry as Kyle.

     "Look, I was trying to do you a favor, Kyle!" he snapped. "You didn't want to read the rest of that poetry for a reason. I was just trying to keep you from finding shit out about Kenny from Cartman of all people!"

     Cartman's expression turned from intense interest to chalked-up aggravation. "Ay! What the hell's that supposed to mean?" he retorted. They both ignored him.

     "Well if you'd stopped and thought about it for two fucking seconds, you'd realize that lying to me was not the way to do that!" Kyle shot back. Stan squeezed his eyes shut and groaned, clenching his fists seemingly in an effort to control his temper.

     "I did! I was just trying to stay out of it and keep Cartman out of your face at first. But then he-" Stan paused, thinking about what he was about to say. "Uh... well he kinda got me to change my mind," he finished sheepishly, the anger draining from his tone. Kyle stared at him, then at Cartman, then back at Stan. He felt like his brain was about to explode.

     "So Cartman managed to convince you to join him in his dumbassary," he said, deadpan. Stan's eyes fell, a silent assent.

     "Oh, nah. This is totally weak. Screw you guys, I'm goin' home," Cartman said, standing up and pointing towards the door before walking out. Kyle rolled his eyes, calming down a couple degrees. That stupid fuck was probably going to get downstairs, realize he couldn't go home, and end up standing in Stan's kitchen raiding the fridge. He brought his attention back to the boy in front of him and sighed.

     "Look, Stan. Thanks for trying to keep me out of Kenny's private business. You were right. I didn't want to hear that unless it was directly from him," he admitted. Stan lifted his head. "Just- next time, maybe don't give in to one of Cartman's stupid matchmaker schemes?"

     Stan smiled. "Yeah, I didn't exactly mean to. He just gets so... persuasive, you know?" Stan chuckled. Kyle rolled his eyes.

     "Oh don't even get me started," he grumbled. "Remember when he managed to somehow convince me that it was ethical to exploit cocaine-addicted babies for cash?"

     Stan fell back on the bed, dragging his hand over his face to conceal the second-hand embarrassment. "How was I supposed to forget?" he despaired. Kyle snickered, and soon, they were both laying on their backs, laughing too hard to breath

     Kyle gasped for air, his laughter slowly petering out. He let out a contented sigh and turned his head to look at Stan, who had done the same. Their noses were inches apart, and Stan giggled, looking at something above Kyle's eyes. He frowned, his hand instinctively going up to where Stan was looking.

     "What, is there something on my face?" he asked. Stan nodded, holding a hand over his mouth to poorly conceal a smirk.

     "Yeah, it's just some dirt. Probably from the barn," he snickered. Kyle attempted to wipe it off.

     "Did I get it?" he asked. Stan shook his head.

     "A bit to the left, no. Up a bit. Nope. Still not gone." He rolled his eyes. "Here, just let me get it."

     Kyle stiffened as Stan reached over to brush his left temple. He felt a sort of warm static where Stan's fingers were touching, and frowned. Something... was familiar about this. Where did he recognize this feeling from?

     Stan pulled his hand away and grinned, turning Kyle's brain to mush. He stared into the boy's blue eyes, trying to decipher what was buzzing around in his head. Then, as Stan's smile faded slightly, and his gaze flitted quickly down to Kyle's lips for half a second, it hit him.

     Oh. Oh. What the fuck?