A Twist of Fate

Morning

Craig's face was still red as he changed his clothes. He had already given Kenny some of his older stuff to wear and sent him down stairs, but all he could think about was how perfectly the blonde fit in his arms. He hadn't expect to wake up cuddling, the kid like he was his favorite fucking stuffed animal.
Thankfully Kenny hadn't been weird about it.
He didn't even mention it when they awkwardly slid out of bed.
Craig shook his head.
No this was Kenny.
Kenny who until yesterday had been one of the four kids he's couldn't stand. He couldn't let himself start to get sentimental just because the kid was really cute under that hood
or that they liked all the same bands
or because of the way he smiled at stripes and it showed off his cute dimples.
Ugh
Craig jammed his blue chullo hat over his hair and made his way down stairs.
Kenny was carefully braiding Karen's hair while tricia watched with jealous eyes.
The blonde seemed to notice this and smiled at her "Do you want your hair braided today too Tricia?" Tricias eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically.
Kenny then proceeded to arrange her hair the same way as  Karen's.
Craig was surprised his usually stoic and rude little sister sat so still.
The smile on her face made his heart happy. Kenny definitely couldn't be as bad of a guy as he had thought he was before.
Craig slid into the kitchen throwing Kenny's and Karen's washed clothes and jackets on the chair
"Morning dork"
Tricia chimmed happily
She hopped off the chair she had been sitting on heading to the bathroom to admire Kenny's handy work.  Karen held on to Kenny by the end of his shirt and waved shyly at Craig with a smile.
"Thank you" she said sheepishly
Kenny grinned at him
"Thanks dude!"
Craig felt his face split into a smile
It had been awhile since his place had been so lively.
"No problem dude, can you get the bowls and stuff down while I get stuff ready?"
He couldn't help but give the other boy a quick once over while he sat the table.
He liked the way Kenny looked in his clothes.
Black jeans and a simple  tee shirt really did him justice compared to the usual onslaught of orange.
Craig poured cereal and milk into each bowl and filled the cups with apple juice. Tricia grabbed a couple of bananas and split them up. The four of them settled into breakfast cheerfully. It was simple, but it felt warm and right. Something they had been lacking since their parents started to stay out of the house most days. They mostly they talked about school and some show that the girls really liked, Something Karen said made Tricia laugh so hard milk came out her nose. Which made them all laugh until their sides hurt.
'I could get used to this ' Craig thought wistfully

———————————-

Stan was looking around nervously. "He's usually here by now"
"We've still got a few minutes until the bus his here, he's probably just running late." Kyle said squinting his eyes in the direction of Kenny's house
" Maybe he can't afford to go to school anymore"  cartman said
Kyle smacked cartman in the back
"Shut it fat boy." "Yeah fat ass, You need to leave Kenny alone about that shit you know he can't help it and he's probably still upset."
"Fiiiiine" cartman said  rolling his eyes
The three of them kept looking back toward Kenny's house but he never came.
The bus pulled up and opened its door. They piled in and moved to their usual seats.
" Do you think he's sick?" Kyle asked sounding concerned
"I hope not" Stan said pulling his backpack onto his lap.
  They were mostly silent until cartman
Stood up suddenly staring out the window.
"Oh My God" he screeched
"What!?" Stan asked moving to see what he was making a big deal over
"That faggot!" Cartman said stunned
Kyle peered over cartman shoulder just in time to see Kenny getting on the bus with Craig Tucker.
Cartman turned around and grabbed Stan and Kyle shaking them.
"That faggot kidnapped our poor boy"
Stan and Kyle were too stunned to put up much of a fight. The three boys had never seen Craig say anything to Kenny aside from pop flipping his middle finger and insulting him along with the rest of them.
"What the fuck"
Stan said staring at the seat where Craig had sat down with Kenny. Craig handed Kenny a one side of his headphones and they leaned in over Craig's phone talking about something they couldn't quite hear.
"Oh god that's so gay" cartman whispered loudly
"Why is he with Craig of all people?" Kyle asked leaning back in the seat
Stan frowned "We will just have to ask him at school, I'm sure he has a good explanation"  he said looking back over at the odd duo who were now talking with Clyde and token.
"He better have a damn good explanation" cartman said crossing his arms and glaring out the window