Love is Abuse (Kyle x Cartman)

Part 11

Saturday, 5:35 pm

Stan awoke on his couch with a slight headache. He winced as he pressed his palms against the couch and propped himself up. Distracting himself from the piercing sensation in his brain, he stretched and checked his phone. The screen lit up, revealing 3 more missed calls from Cartman, the last one being only six minutes ago.

Sighing with minor guilt at the way he had abandoned his best friend in his time of weakness, he called Cartman back expecting to be cursed out the second he picked up.

The ringing on the other line stopped.

"Stan," Cartman answered, blatantly irritated.

"Hey Cartman..."

"You know, I understood your reaction at first, but this is just ridiculous! You got a whole lotta fucking nerve to just go home without even checking up on Kyle at least."

Stan was silent.

"Kyle was practically dying."

A heavy tear formed in the inside corner of Stan's burning eyes. He closed his eyes and lowered his head as his throat suddenly became choked up.

"Kyle was devastated when you left. And Kenny was super pissed. You just made yourself a whole bunch of enemies..."

Stan still sat silent.

Cartman continued as his tone became progressively less angry. "...All because you couldn't tolerate the fact that he actually loves somebody, Stan."

Stan remained silent in a defeated slouch, a tear or two now trickling down his face. He could barely hold the phone up to his ear anymore.

"And somebody loves him, too."

Stan sniffled and said, "It was just... unexpected. And... you guys hate each other. I just- He never told me, and when I saw you guys, I found it weird..."

"That's not a reason to abandon your friend in his time of need! What are you gonna do, just spend the rest of your life ignoring your best friend just because he did something 'weird?'"

Stan felt like weeping with guilt. He attempted to choke back the knot in his throat so Cartman wouldn't know he was crying but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

"That's a dick move right there. If you're not gonna apologize for me, at least apologize for Kyle's sake."

Stan straightened up. "Cartman, are you actually in love with Kyle?"

Attempting to find a way to not come off as unmanly, Cartman stuttered, "Uh...yeah, it's just-"

"Cartman, you asshole, if you're using Kyle or brainwashing him or something, I will make your life hell, you fat piece of shit," he spat.

"Stan, calm the fuck down. I love him, yes, jesus. We're together. You can ask him yourself."

"...You don't sound too sure. This whole situation's not right."

Cartman sighed with annoyance. "Believe what you want, Stan. I'm tired of your fucking intolerance."

And with that, Cartman hung up angrily.

Meanwhile, on Cartman's side of the line, Kyle watched him fiercely push the 'end call' button.

Kyle sat up from his hospital bed, looked at Cartman somberly, and asked, "What's wrong? Is Stan still against?"

Cartman turned and walked towards Kyle. "He's not against it. He's just 'weirded out,'" he explained with air quotes.

Kenny, along with Craig and Token who visited later in the day, had left about an hour ago but Cartman wanted to physically stay by Kyle's side as often as he could. He walked over to Kyle's bed and sat at the edge by his feet. Kyle shot a playful smile at Cartman and patted a section of the bed next to him-a plea for him to scoot closer.

Cartman inched closer towards Kyle's body and put his hand tenderly on his arm, trying to avoid touching the IV needles taped to Kyle's arm.

Cartman asked, "What time does visitation end?"

"'Visitation?' You make it sound like prison."

He waved a hand dismissively. "You know what I mean."

"I'm thinking 6, because that's when they serve dinner."

Cartman checked the time. It was 5:47.

"I should go anyways. My mom's gonna bust my balls considering I haven't been in touch with her since the accident."

"Okay," said Kyle, disheartened as he looked up at Cartman's glossy dark eyes.

"I promise I'll be back the earliest I can tomorrow," he said as he rose up and pecked Kyle on the forehead. "Good night, Kahl."

Kyle pulled Cartman close and held him there, cheek against cheek. The same thoughts were rambling through each other's heads. They knew that their secret would be harder to contain among the four boys. They didn't think Stan or Kenny would spread the news around, but they knew now that if they slipped up in public again, it would be sudden death.

After a few moments of each other's embrace, Kyle felt a warm trail of liquid trickle down his chin, a tear. But it wasn't his. He separated from Cartman and glared at him sympathetically. Cartman attempted to look away with his watery eyes but ended up staring back at Kyle.

"I'm sorry," he said through tears.

The scene struck Kyle as odd. Cartman was the type of person who would never dare cry, but the fact that he was this open to Kyle made Kyle feel the happiest he'd ever been.

"Cartman, don't be sorry. I love you."

"I love you," he responded as he kissed Kyle once again and languidly headed out the door, looking back and smiling a somber but sincere smile before finally leaving.

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In the back of the taxi on the way home from the hospital that day, Cartman rested his throbbing head against the window. His mind wandered in several different places at a time. His main concern was always Kyle. He could not process the amount of guilt he felt for putting Kyle in that kind of danger. Seeing him vulnerable in that hospital bed with needles in his arms and stitches in his head couldn't help but bring tears to Cartman's eyes. He grew red with anger just thinking about it.

The next concern was his mother's reaction. He had not been home for days and did not even want to think about how she would respond when Cartman informed her on what he did to his car and what he did to Kyle. He'd never seen his mother angry, but he wondered if that cycle would be broken after today. Suddenly, Cartman dreaded returning home.