Chapter Text
A week had gone by since the fateful night he had found Butters sitting outside his house, cold and scared. And every day since then had been pure and utter torture. Kenny had gone to school every day, hoping with every fiber in his being that he would see the wide eyed boy, sitting at his desk with a big smile on his face. As if nothing in the world could ever get to him. But that time hadn't come yet. And in a way, Kenny was grateful, and maybe even a little relieved. Though he would never admit it, even the thought of Butters acting as if he was okay rubbed Kenny the wrong way. How was any of this okay?? How was he even able to get up in the morning? Yes, it was agonizing and scary that he hadn't seen Butters in so long, but something told Kenny that it would be even worse if Butters showed up to school the way he had looked on that night.
The weekend had been the worst though. Kenny hadn't left the house once. Something inside him screamed to go to Butters' house, to knock on the door and beg him to leave. To tell him that it wasn't safe fore to stay where he was right now, no matter how much he had convinced himself it was. But her never ended up doing it. He'd stayed in bed, feeling sorry for himself, instead of the person who really needed sympathy right now. Maybe that's why things hadn't turned out so great.
Maybe it was karma.
Butters did eventually show up to school. It was a Wednesday morning, and Kenny walked into his first class of the day with the same tired, defeated expression he had been carrying every other day that week. His eye bags were a dark black colour, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. He never did get proper sleep, his mind never stopped thinking. If even one thing had bothered him that day, it would take hours to even relax enough to consider sleep. But with everything going on right now, he was lucky to get on or two hours a night. He constantly felt like death.
His mood was quick to change though when his eyes landed on a certain blonde boy, sitting at the back of the class. Butters. And he looked even worse than he had only a few days ago. He had lost a scary amount of weight, which made Kenny wonder how much the boy was eating on a daily basis. Not to mention the bruises on his face had hardly healed, making it even more obvious how malnourished Butters actually was. Even with the smile on his face, his eyes couldn't seem to open fully, as if he was constantly on the verge of collapsing. Kenny wouldn't have been surprised if Butters fell over right now.
Cartman, Kyle and Stan sat with him, laughing and shouting at each other. Every time on of them would raise their voice, or move a body part a little faster than normal, Butters would jump slightly, and go quiet. He didn't look happy at all. In all honesty, he looked extremely uncomfortable. He looked as if he was about to explode into a puddle of tears. Kenny seemed to be the only person who noticed this though, or maybe the only one who cared.
He wasn't going to go over at first. Sure, it was annoying to see Butters hang out with probably the worst group of people in the entire school, especially when it was so painfully obvious they had probably dragged him over there so they had someone to rip on who wouldn't fight back. But it was none of Kenny's business really. Butters let himself be convinced to sit with them. There was nothing Kenny could do about that. So, he opted to sit by himself in the back of the class, keeping a close eye on the group.
Things had seemed fine at first. There had been a couple times Kenny had wanted to go over and drag Butters back to where he was sitting, but had held himself back for obvious reasons. But apart from those few times, things seemed okay. The boys seemed pretty calm today.
That was until Butters made a stupid joke about flying monkeys. It had been completely unrelated to the topic they had been on, and honestly, wasn't even that funny. It had been the pure randomness that had made Kenny want to laugh. All the amusement left his face though when Stan punched Butters hard on the arm. "Shut the fuck up you actual retard." he said with a wide, mean smile on his face, earning a laugh from Cartman. And while Kyle, who had been leaning on Stan, pulled away and began telling him off, that had been the last straw.
Kenny stood up, letting his chair hit the wall with a loud bang. He walked over to their little circle, putting on a small, very fake smile as his did so. He tried not to feel too bad when Butters smile visibly deflated at the sight of him. It had been a clear fake one anyway. Kenny didn't understand why it upset him so much. "Sup guys" He said, his voice a little rough, but clear as day. Yes, Kenny still wore his orange parka, though it was slightly newer than the one he would use as a kid. He had hit a huge growth spurt at 11 and had to replace almost all his clothes. the only difference between this one and his last one, was that he had removed the mouth guard. He had gotten sick of people constantly complaining that they couldn't understand a thing he said. The only reason he had ever kept that damn mouth piece on in the first place was so that people couldn't SEE his mouth. Now, he opted for smaller smiles, and tried not to laugh as much as he used to. As long as people never mentioned...it, he would he fine. Kenny decided to sit on the one free desk beside Butters, ruffling his hair as he did so, as if he was giving him an extra greeting, letting him know that he was only there foe him.
He was almost worried Butters would act the same way he did towards Stan's touch, but it was quite the opposite. The boy leaned into it.
And when Kenny pulled away, he looked almost...disappointed? It made Kenny sick to think about why Butters was so quick to accept any kind of positive physical touch.
After that, things were pretty tame for a while. Kyle had started up a very awkward, but clearly trying his best, conversation with Kenny. Mostly catching him up on everything the group had done in the past few weeks. Kenny liked Kyle in a way. Or more so, he admired him more than anything. He was down to earth, wasn't a total piece of shit, and was never afraid to stand up for himself or other people if need be. He just couldn't understand why he would stay friends with such assholes. Why he would go out of his way to defend them when they were almost always in the wrong. It eventually became sickening. The worst part of it all, he was DATING one of them. It was actually the main reason they had fallen out. Kenny was able to move on, and Kyle wasn't. It was quite sad really. But here they were now, talking to each other as if nothing had ever happened. It was clear though that Kyle was a little uncomfortable. He wasn't and idiot after all. Kenny would rarely speak to the group anymore, and only did if he had to. So why now?
"Hey dude," Kyle started, his voice lowering slightly so that they were the only two listening. "Why'd you come over and sit with us? I know you don't like- hate us or anything, but this is kinda unlike you"
Kenny only shrugged, pulling the hood off his coat and shaking out his hair slightly. "Came to keep your shithead boyfriend in check. Something you should really be doing. What's up with that by the way? You've gone kinda soft on him."
Kyle's face dropped slightly. He didn't answer. He didn't even shrug. He just looked away with a sour expression.
maybe in a different universe, one where they were still friends, one when Kenny slightly gave a shit about this group, one where he didn't already have someone to worry about, he would have pressed on the topic, he would have been slightly concerned. But they weren't living in that universe. They were living in a universe where these shitheads abandoned him when he needed them the most. And for that, he would never, ever give a shit about what was going on in their personal lives. Kyle was wrong about one thing. Kenny in all honesty, really did hate these guys.
Everything was a blur after that. Kenny was already pissed at this point, the conversation with Kyle bringing back some unwanted memories. But things only seemed to get a whole lot worse when he brought his attention back to Butters. He had been so preoccupied with Kyle, Kenny hadn't noticed Stan had moved. He was now sitting on the opposite side of the boy, leaning in so that they were only a couple inches away from each other.
"You really seemed to like it when Kenny touched you, Butters. How come you always pull away when I do stuff like that? We've done worse." Stan's eyes were narrow as he spoke, his smile seeming to widen at Butters uncomfortable squirming. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact at all costs, but Stan just wouldn't stop staring him down.
"Or maybe you've grown sick of waiting around. You want someone new to wrap around your finger. Someone new to manipulate. Just like you did to me. Don't forget Butters. You made me cheat on my boyfriend. You're lucky we even let you sit here with us." And again, Butters didn't answer. He nervously looked around the room, worried that maybe someone heard what Stan had said. of course, it didn't like anyone had. Everyone just kept on chatting to the people beside them, probably taking advantage of what was appearing to be a free class.
Stan's smile fell slightly at Butters silence, as if he needed to get a reaction out of the boy to feel accomplished. He rolled his eyes in frustration. "You can stay as silent as you want Butters. But there's no changing the fact you're a dirty whore. It's pathetic what's you're doing really. You think Kenny doesn't know? You think he isn't disgusted just by looking at you-"
His little rant was cut off by the sound of someone's fist slamming down on their desk. He and Butters both looked over to where the noise had come from, Butters looking a lot more terrified than Stan did.
"Lay off, Marsh. Quit being a dick for your own enjoyment." Kenny stared at Stan with probably the dirtiest look he had ever given anyone. His hands were balled into fists, and his knuckles were white.
The entire room had gone quiet, everyone's eyes were on Stan and Kenny, silently wondering how far this was gonna go. All that could be heard was the sound of Butters panicked breathing
Stan only scoffed, the look on his face making it obvious that this had been exactly the reaction he had wanted.
Kenny didn't even care. There was no way in hell he was going to let someone, especially Stan Marsh, talk that way to someone who clearly didn't deserve it.
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think I'm being an ass? All I'm doing here is telling Butters what's what. So leave it be Kenny. Maybe go back to crying about your mom. Stop acting so fucking high and mighty when your own family couldn't stay in one piece. You're a fucking loser, and clearly the only reason you're protecting Butters is to get you filthy, broke hands all over him-"
Kenny can't remember when exactly he had made his way over to Stan, and he definitely didn't remember punching Stan in the fucking face. The force of the hit knocked him off his seat, his head meeting the floor with a sickening crack. It in should have ended there. Kenny had gotten his point across, and there was no reason to get in more trouble. After that first punch though, it was hard to stop.
He was on top of Stan now, his fist making contact with the boys face, over and over and over and over and over-
Everyone was screaming. Most were cheering Kenny on, while others were begging him to stop.
It was an ugly sight after all. Not everyone wanted to see something like this go down. Especially in a classroom.
Stan was silent. He had tried to get Kenny off him on the first few punches, his hands wrapping around the arm that held his shirt in place. But he had gone limp now. His arms had fallen to his sides and his eyes had rolled into the back of his head. It was around this time, people stopped cheering for him. It didn't seem as funny anymore. Stan's face was dripping in blood, and Kenny's knee dug into his ribs like his life depended on it. There was no telling when he would stop, and it didn't seem as though he would unless someone made him.
It took a few more minutes, but a teacher was finally called into the room. Kenny had to be forcefully pulled off Stan's bloody, still body. He didn't fight back at all, letting himself be dragged away. He didn't feel any guilt as looked around the room. Kyle was frozen in shock, his hands shaking slightly as he stared down at his unconscious boyfriend. Still, he felt nothing.
Cartman seemed to be the only person in the room still smiling. Of course he found this amusing. Still though, Kenny felt nothing.
Only when he was being walked out of the classroom, did his eyes land on Butters. He was sitting in the very back corner of the classroom, his eyes wide and full of fear. He stared back at Kenny for a moment, but quickly looked away, his expression changing into something Kenny couldn't quite understand. But it didn't matter either way. The fear in Butters' eyes had been enough to send him over the edge. All the guilt came crashing down at once, Not even an ounce of it was for Stan though. He had hoped that today would be the day he and Butters would have been able to have a proper conversation about what had happed that night. But he had fucked it up, and probably made the blonde dislike him even more.
It was late into the evening by the time Kenny was allowed to leave the school premises. The police had been called and he had been forced to talk to them for a while. They acted more worried than anything, asking if his home life was okay, and if he was doing well mentally. It made his blood boil. He had done it because he was mad. There didn't have to be another reason, and the absolutely wasn't one. He hated Stan, and he had for a long while now. it was only a matter of time before something like this happened anyway.
His dad, who hadn't been able to go over due to work, had given him a call, basically reassuring Kenny that there was no way Stan's family would press charges. Randy was too dull to even consider it.
It did help Kenny calm down slightly, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something even worse was going down.
His suspicion was proven right as he left the principals office. It was nearing 8 pm. He was exhausted, and knew tomorrow would be even worse. Right now, he just wanted to go home and smoke a joint. Everything was less stressful when he was high. But the sight of someone sitting on the floor just outside the office caught his attention.
"Butters?" he asked, approaching the boy with cautious steps. "What are you doing here? Do you not realize how late it is?"
The small boy laughed nervously, nodding. "Y-yeah I-I know, Kenny" he started, his voice shaking slightly. It was obvious from his swollen eyes that he had been crying. "B-but apparently someone told a t-teacher that I had uh, something t-to do with the-..fight. But you don't have to worry! M-my parents will be here any second to g-get me outta this mess."
Kenny could practically feel the fear in Butters voice. It sounded so suffocating, as if it was making it harder for him to breath.
Kenny didn't even have to press further to know what was going to happen, but he spoke up anyway. "If they get here, and they take you home, I wont see you again for a while, right?"
Betters had pulled his legs up to his stomach and rested his head in his knees. Kenny could hear his low, muffled sobs, like he was trying to use his legs as away to hide himself. "And I was just ungrounded too.." he mumbled, jumping slightly as he felt someone touch his shoulder. He looked up, and there was Kenny staring right back at him with a hand outstretched.
"Then don't go home." Kenny offered, a small grin forming on his face. "Come with me. I can hide you away from everyone. I promise I wont let anyone find you until you want to be found."
Butters gave him a very hesitant look. One full of fear and doubt. He didn't really understand what Kenny's words meant. He had never heard something so daring, yet comforting come out of someone's mouth before. But it made him feel strangely safe. It made him feel as though for once in his life, he was in control of what happened next.
So, with a deep breath, and before he could change his mind, Butters took Kenny's hand with a small smile. He couldn't help but giggle as Kenny laughed, hoisting them both up to their feet, and leading them out of the school building.
A part of Butters was still scared, worried of what would happen if his parents ever found out he was hiding over at Kenny's. They were already disappointed in him enough, and he really hated to add on to that.
But with Kenny's hand in his, and the exiting feeling of freedom still pumping through his system, Butters was able to set aside that worry, and enjoy the moment here in front of him. For so long he was sure that it was him, and only him against the world. But now here he was, running through the empty streets of South Park with a boy he barely knew, laughing and shouting as if they were the only two people in the universe. In this moment, here with Kenny, Butters felt free.
And it was fucking amazing.