Chapter Text
Stan woke up feeling confused and disoriented. He didn’t remember falling asleep, yet here he was at Kyle's house lying next to him. He sat up with a groan holding his head. He must have woken up Kyle, or maybe he had already been awake because the next thing he knew Kyle had his arms wrapped around him, resting his head on his shoulder.
“G’morning,” Kyle murmured sleepily.
“Morning.”
“Is everything okay? You look like you’re in pain, do you have a headache?”
“Kyle, do you remember anything from last night?”
The redhead was quiet before responding, “Now that you mention it, I don’t.”
“Neither do I. Last thing I remember an earthquake I think and…”
‘Too late…it’s fine. I’ll be okay…’
Stan gasped in pain and could vaguely hear Kyle ask something in a concerned tone as memories of a certain blonde flooded his mind. These memories weren’t just from the past couple of weeks either but from years and years ago. This mental assault seemed to go on for hours as clip after clip of Stan’s life up until that point played out before him like a movie, except now Kenny was in them.
When it finally subsided Kyle was holding his face with both hands a concerned look on his face.
“Stan, are you okay? You just got this really far-off look in your eyes.”
Stan sat there stunned overwhelmed by whatever the fuck just happened in his head.
“I-”
‘I’m surprised it took you this long to figure out.’
“Kenny!” Stan suddenly shouted. Kyle jumped, “What are you-” Kyle stopped mid-sentence when he suddenly got a headache. Just like Stan, he got a far-off look in his eyes as years of memories suddenly poured into his brain. When it was over he was left gasping and confused.
“What just happened? Wha- oh my god! This past couple of weeks I had forgotten who Kenny was! It was like I never met him!”
Stan nodded, “Same thing happened to me. D-did he die last night?”
Kyle grabbed fistfuls of his hair, “Last thing I remember was holding Kenny and then…”
Stan stood up and grabbed his coat which had been discarded on the floor near the bed, “Theirs only one way to find out, come on!”
You’d think defeating a demon and saving the world would guarantee someone a place in heaven. However, this is not the case, and because Kenny was not a Mormon when he regain consciousness he was met with the fiery fields of Hell.
“About time you woke up.”
Kenny looked over a saw Damien reading a book not too far away from where he was laying on the ground.
“Hey Damien. Nice to see you too.”
“Fuck off.”
Kenny sat up and looked around wondering how long he’d be in Hell this time. Then he remembered he wasn't going back. He was actually dead permanently.
‘But…I fought so hard…I can’t leave them, Stan, Kyle, Karen….’
Damien looked up from his book and saw Kenny looking like he was on the verge of tears.
“Are…you okay?”
“I was killed by an immortal, only an immortal can kill another immortal which means I'm stuck here. I’ll never get to see Karen grow up. And Stan and Kyle, I’ll never see them again.”
Damien looked confused before he seemed to have a realization. He turned to the blonde and asked him what was the last thing he remembered before waking up in Hell.
“I…Kyle and Stans crying faces,” He grimaced. How could he forget? Those images of utter heartbreak would forever be burned into his mind. They truly cared about him and now he was gone forever.
“That explains it.”
Now it was Kenny’s turn to be confused, “Explains what?”
“You’re not dead stupid. At least not for much longer.”
“What are you talking about? An immortal killed me, I can’t go back!”
“Look sometimes I get bored down here so after my trip to the human world I heard what was going on and decided to take a look for myself-”
“Wait, so you were in South Park? Dude some goth kids found a book that belongs in Hell. That’s how they were able to summon ManBearPig! Did you plant in there on purpose?”
Damien rolled his eyes, “Don’t get your parka in a bunch. No, I did not put it there on purpose. I was actually taking it back to Hell after it somehow ended up in the mortal realm. It must have fallen out of my bag. Anyways, as I was watching the death, destruction, and chaos and saw you dying for what felt like the millionth time I saw Kyle and Stan kiss you. Stan on your cheek, and Kyle your forehead.” Damien paused hoping Kenny would realize what this meant so he didn’t have to keep talking. Kenny just looked even more confused so he begrudgingly continued, “They kissed you right before you died, meaning the curse was reversed-”
“Great, so everyone remembered who I was but now I’m stuck here!”
“Will you let me finish you blonde twit! Because they kissed you before you died the curse was broken meaning the day came to a sudden and abrupt end. Some might not even remember yesterday while others may. Because they kissed you and broke the spell before you died a blow dealt by an immortal isn't what killed you. As to why you're still dead regardless you probably had some underlying problem not related to the immortal that killed him
Kenny thought really hard trying to figure out what could have killed him when he thought of how hadn't exactly been taking care of himself. He was so focused on trying to get things back to normal that he ignored basic bodily functions. He was usually only catching a couple of hours of sleep in a gutter somewhere every couple of nights and not eating regularly. These things thinking back are probably what ended up killing him. His body just gave up.
“So does that mean Kyle and Stan might not remember me dying in their arms?”
“No. They’ll remember that. It looked pretty traumatic. Most people will remember forgetting you existed for a while though.”
Kenny suddenly felt exhausted. It was the same feeling he got just before he woke up in his bed after being killed. He had never been so glad to feel so tired before. Damien was right, he was really going back!
“Looks like I’ll have to arrange ANOTHER trip to the surface world,” The prince spoke. He sounded annoyed and to be honest, Kenny couldn’t tell if he was joking or being genuine.
“When you visit be sure to let me know this time, okay Damien? I’ll be sure to show you a good time,” Kenny said with a playful wink.
“Fuck off blonde boy,” The prince said without missing a beat. That was the last thing Kenny heard before darkness enveloped him once more.
He woke up in his room to screaming just outside his bedroom door immediately followed by the impact of a small body slamming into him.
“Kenny! I’m so sorry I forgot about you!” Karen cried into his chest. Kenny sat up and wrapped his arms around the child sitting on his lap, “Karen! I missed you so much!”
“What happened to you? Why couldn’t I remember?”
“I’ll explain everything later. Just know that I’m okay now. Everything okay.”
“But what if I forget about you again? What if you disappear again?” Karen hiccuped, “I don’t want to forget!”
Kenny ran a hand through his little sister's hair in hopes of calming her down, “You won't forget me again, I promise and if you do I’ll just have to make you remember again. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you at the time but I made sure a dear friend of mine was looking after you.”
Karen’s face suddenly lit up with recognition and excitement, “You’re friends with my guardian angel?!”
Before Kenny could say anything else there was frantic knocking at the front door. “Who could that be?” Karen asked. Kenny didn’t answer though he had a feeling he knew who it was. He walked downstairs, his little sister in tow towards the door. On his way there the frantic knocking continued, getting louder and more persistent with each passing second.
“Damn it! Somebody open up already.”
Just as he thought. That impatient voice belonged to none other than Kyle. Upon opening the door Kenny was practically tackled to the ground by an extremely pissed-off redhead.
“You fucking asshole!”
“Kyle! There are children present,” Kenny teased. He knew now wasn’t the time but he couldn’t help it. Kyle was so fun to get riled up.
“How dare you almost get yourself killed-”
Kenny had to stop himself from correcting him.
“-and why didn’t I remember you for the past couple of weeks?!”
Before Kenny could answer his question Kyle hugged him tight, “I’m just so glad you’re okay. Never scare me like that again.” He whispered in his ear.
“Kyle,” Kenny whispered while hugging him back. The two stayed like that for a moment before Kyle helped him back on his feet. He didn’t have much time to regain his balance because he was immediately pinned to the wall by Stan, who also took this opportunity to kiss him like his life depended on it.
The sudden kiss took Kenny by surprise, causing him to let out a rather embarrassing squeaking sound before returning the kiss. When they finally separated both teens were staring at each other, rosy-cheeked and out of breath.
“That’s one way to welcome someone back,” Kenny said in between pants. Stan hugged Kenny as if afraid he’d disappear again.
“I missed you too,” Stan said, trying to his blush in the crook of his boyfriend's neck.
“I’ll just leave you three alone for a bit.”
Kenny choked on his own spit. He had totally forgotten Karen was there!
“I can’t believe we just made out in front of my little sister!” Kenny exclaimed while facepalming. Stan looked equally as mortified while Kyle barked out a laugh.
“We should probably go to your room in case someone else walks in the house,” Stan suggested.
“Good idea,” Said Kenny. The last thing he needed was his parents walking in drunk while he had his boyfriends over.
Once the three had settled down in Kenny’s room Kyle began speaking.
“Kenny, do you remember the past few weeks?”
“Yeah, everybody in my life completely forgot I existed. I remembered them but...”
“Kenny," Stan started, "We’re so sorry-"
Kenny placed a hand on his and cut him off, “It wasn’t your guys' fault. To make a long story short somebody who had a grudge against me decided to cast a spell to make everyone forget I existed, including you two.” He had left the part about it activating after he died since he was still trying to figure out a way to tell his boyfriends he couldn't stay dead without sounding crazy.
“That must have been really hard on you,” Said Kyle. He was sitting on the other side of Kenny and was holding his other hand, tracing patterns on the back of it with his thumb.
“I won’t lie, it was and it really sucked being a stranger to everyone I cared about. Having to start from scratch getting to know people who I've known my whole life. The only way to reverse the curse was to obtain true love's kiss. Since you guys fell in love with Mysterion first it didn’t count, so I decided to introduce you guys to me without the mask.”
“So that’s why you suddenly started going to school, speaking of which you have a lot of catching up to do mister, and don’t think I don’t remember you not paying attention in the classes we had together,” Kyle scolded. Despite his tone, it was easy to tell he was only half-serious.
“Come on Kyle, can’t your lectures wait? We just got our boyfriend back, after all, we should at least try to make it up to him,” Stan argued pulling Kenny closer to him. the blonde could feel Stan's hot breath on his neck causing him to shiver.
“G-guys you really don’t have to…” Kenny trailed off blushing from all the attention he was receiving from two of the people he loved most in the world. They really knew how to turn the normally sex-confident Kenny McCormick into a lovestruck mess.
Suddenly Kyle swooped in and stole a kiss from Kenny's lips, “Don’t care, we’re doing this anyway,” He said with a smirk. His voice gave no room for argument and Kenny loved it.
And for the first time in what felt like months, Kenny felt truly at peace.