"Hey man, I was wondering when I'd find you." Stan Marsh stood in front of him, eyes puffy from crying, but still bright nonetheless. His grin made Kyle feel warm inside, and he looked away from the slightly shorter boy.
"Yeah... hey. Uhhh how are you y'know feeling...?" Stan raised an eyebrow at Kyle's awkward wording. He turned his head to the left and spoke.
"Well, it's not great but you made me feel a lot better...Thanks dude." Dude. Kyle repeated the word in his head. It was a stark reminder that the only place he would take in Stan's life was as his best friend. Nothing more.
"No problem." He faked a smile and Stan returned it. They began talking again and it felt normal. Stan asked if Kyle wanted to come over and play guitar hero and Kyle accepted happily. It was like how they used to talk, when everything was fine. No girls, no Wendy. No one el-
"Stan Marsh? Is that you?" A blonde boy spoke from behind the two and Stan slowly turned to see the speaker. His eyes widened in surprise and recognition and Kyle couldn't help but glare at the newcomer. Stan immediately left Kyle's side to hug the man close. Kyle looked away as if it was a private moment, something he shouldn't have seen.
"God, Gary it's been forever, man." He smiled at the boy who smiled toothily back. His perfect pearly whites shining under the bright lights. He had bright blue eyes that were almost luminous. His stature was almost creepily straight, a vast difference from Stan's who was constantly hunched over. Kyle had vaguely remembered Gary from elementary school and frowned at the memory of him and Stan getting along so well.
The two slowly started drifting away from Kyle and he took it as a sign to leave. He went into the kitchen where Bebe, Tolkien, and Clyde were still talking. He walked up to Bebe and she glanced at him, noticing his upset demeanor.
"What's wrong Ky?" She put her hand on his shoulder and he shook his head. Tolkien paused his discussion with Bebe to listen. She stared at Kyle with a questioning glance and a tilt towards Tolkien. A silent ask if he wanted Tolkien to stay. He nodded back. Tolkien was a good enough friend. He wouldn't judge him.
"It's just... Stan. Like always." Tolkien raised his eyebrow, understanding flashing across his face. "All he talks about is Wendy, and just when I catch him not talking about her, he gets dragged away by some guy he talked to in like third grade. I can't get a break." he sighs defeatedly and Bebe hugs him. Tolkien tries to comfort him too, rubbing circles into his back. He straightened his back then, looking Bebe in the eyes.
"Fuck, I don't even know if he likes guys..." Bebe hummed in response, she twirled one of her blond curls in between her fingers.
"I'm sure he does, Kyle. He said he was questioning a lot in 10th grade. He even thought of experimenting with guys." Hope glimmered in Kyle's eyes and Tolkien agreed.
"Yeahh dude, you just gotta like... like uhh kiss him or something. He's tooootally into you." Clyde spoke up in a drunken slur, pointing at Kyle while he leaned on the edge of the countertop. Kyle had forgotten the other boy was there and flushed bright at his words, shaking his head aggressively, too flustered to say anything.
"Shut it Clyde." Bebe punched Clyde in the arm which caused him to stumble a little. Tolkien snickered and Kyle laughed along with him, giddy at all of the attention.
Suddenly, Bebe stopped in her tracks, her eyes went wide, staring at something behind Kyle. The rest of them paused, glancing at her in confusion.
"Bebe? What's wrong?" Kyle asked, his eyebrows furrowing. She snapped back into the conversation and smiled wearily. Tolkien glanced over her shoulder and his mouth widened slightly. Bebe nudged him in the side and he straightened his back to look at Kyle, nervousness spilling all across his face.
"Bebe, c'mon, what's wrong?..." he slowly turned around to look at the thing behind him but Bebe spoke up suddenly. Kyle heard whispers around him from other party goers.
"Nothing! Nothing's wrong, I just thought I saw something." She stuttered out, her smile still plastered on her face. Kyle looked to his other friend.
"Tolkien? What is it?" Tolkien shuffled around in place, not speaking. Kyle tried to turn around but Bebe tried distracting him again.
"Bebe! Just let me look!" He jerked his head around to see what the commotion was and his jaw slackened.
