Chapter Text
30 minutes till Stan leaves
Stan and Kyle laid in Kyle’s bed, Kyle resting his head on Stan’s bare chest while Stan played with his hair, his eyes closed as he hummed knowing that they should probably be downstairs with their friends as Stan was leaving in less than an hour.
Instead Kyle took it all in, the feeling of him playing with his hair, his scent. Kyle leaned up and rested his head next to Stans which caused him to open his eyes and look at the ginger. Kyle knew he’d miss the feeling of comfort and security he got with Stan but he’d never in a million years keep him from achieving his dream.
“We should probably get dressed” he’d whisper leaning into Stan’s touch even more “not this second but here soon” Stan nodded before leaning in, pressing his lips against Kyle’s and moving to hover above him, forcing Kyle on his back and pushing him further into the mattress beneath them.
He broke away for a second before moving down to kiss underneath his jaw, Kyle moaned softly when someone knocked on the door causing them both to separate with slight panic and put distance between them “are you two decent?” it was Wendy, the couple exchanged an awkward glance “not… not exactly” Kyle responded grabbing his clothes that Stan handed him from the floor, sleeping his boxers on from under his comforter “give us a second” Stan added following after Kyle’s actions.
Stan grabbed Kyle’s hoodie he’d been wearing earlier, slipping it on and handing Kyle his own hoodie “you can come in” Kyle announced buttoning his pants and fixing Stan’s hair to make it look less messy as the door opened, revealing Wendy who wore a slightly oversized purple hoodie which made the sleeves go over her hands “Kenny wanted me to check if you two were alive, neither of you answered your texts” she said leaning against the door frame.
“Clearly you two we’re busy” she coughed awkwardly, teasing them “well, I’ll leave you two alone, we got to leave in like-” she pulled her phone out and looked at the time “20 minutes so finish up” she said, shutting the door behind her as she walked away.
The mention of the time made Kyle’s face drop as he stared at the door. Stan noticed this as he looked over at the ginger, Kyle watched him frown slightly from the corner of his eye “I wish I could go with you” he whispered, finally saying what he’d wished to say all along as his eyes brimmed with tears “I know I’ll be with you again after graduation and that I’ll see you before that but I still wish I could go with you” he looked at Stan who looked like he was holding back tears.
“I know baby” the use of the pet name breaks his heart “I wish you could come with me but you’ll see us again during winter break okay?” he scoots closer to the boy, resting his hand on his shoulder “and thats in a few weeks plus on the bright side, we can call and shit, I promise to call you when we get to the hotel and when Kenny takes over driving” he let a gentle, sincere smile form on his face “promise”
Kyle nodded and leaned in to hug him “you better keep that promise Marsh”
“Trust me, I will” he whispered before standing up, pulling Kyle with him.
“Well, shall we regroup before we… you know” Stan shrugged slightly knowing that Kyle knew what he’d been trying to say as he nodded, slipping Stan's hoodie on, the hood covering the visible hickeys on his neck.
As they walked past Ike’s door, Kyle stopped “you better say goodbye to Ike before you leave or he’ll kill you” he grabbed Stan’s arm in order to stop him while his other hand grabbed the door handle, he opened the door and coughed to get Ike’s attention so he could pause his game.
Ike turned around and immediately knew why they were in the room. “Is it time?” he asked quietly, his voice cracking slightly and Kyle nodded reluctantly, glancing to his side at Stan sadly “unfortunately” he whispered unsure if Ike even heard him, he heard the sound of Ike’s headset hitting the desk and suddenly Ike was hugging Stan like he didn’t want him to leave either.
“Send me a signed copy of your albums asshole” Ike’s voice was muffled but it didn’t stop Stan from laughing and ruffling his hair “I’ll keep that in mind” he wanted to cry and it was obvious.
The 3 of them walked down the stairs, to meet everyone else in the living room their friends and family had come to send them off and Kyle wondered if this was the first time all of them had gotten together like this, even Cartman came to send off his former best friends.
“Hey man” Stan said to the larger male, who looked like he’d been trying to toughen out the tears that were clearly threatening to leave his eyes, Kyle assumed it was tears of jealousy and not out sadness, Eric looked over and sighed “thanks for coming” he said, holding his fist out for a fist bump.
He didn’t leave him hanging, giving him a fist bump “yeah yeah, Clyde said that if I didn’t come and say goodbye I’d regret it and he isn’t wrong” he admits shocking both Kyle and Stan as they both wondered if he’d been replaced with a nice version of himself “plus I wanted to see the jew cry” Kyle relaxed visibly but flipped off the brunette.
They weren’t close anymore, they hadn’t been since freshman year and they grew apart, while Kyle, Stan and Kenny got closer and spent more time together, Eric chose to stay inside and play video games all day and it was clear that they had different paths in life.
“Can I ask you a favor?” Stan said, his arm now around Kyle’s shoulder as he hesitated, Eric nodded looking curiously at the couple “don’t say anything online about Kyle and I being in a relationship, he isn’t ready to be out like that” he said, remembering something Kyle had told him a few nights prior.
He waited for Eric to get offended or to argue but he didn’t instead he nodded “alright, I can do that” clearly he’d seen the shocked looks on both Stan and Kyle’s faces because he laughed “I know I’m an asshole but I would never out someone on purpose, what I did to Marjorine was a complete accident you both know that” he said regret and guilt surfacing on his face and in his voice.
It had been an accident, a terrible one that Eric had proved time and time again he felt bad about because everytime someone brought it up he’d defend her, he’d correct someone who used the wrong pronouns or dead named her. He’d proved that yes he was an arrogant asshole and an overall horrible person but he felt bad about his mistakes and was slowly trying to be a better person.
Kenny walked over to them unexpectedly “glad to see you two are done fucking eachother in time to say goodbye to our friends” the blond joked, winking at them which earned a gag from Eric as he excused himself to walk over to his step-brother. Kenny watched him walk away, a neutral expression on his face as he did, not so secretly cursing at him in his mind “you know I forgot that pc principal is like.. Marj’s legal guardian technically because she was seventeen still when her bio parents left her, she told me that if she gets adopted by him and strong women officially then her last name will be Marjorine Charles which is so… strange to think of” he said looking over at his girlfriend who was chatting with her legal guardians.
Kyle looked at Kenny with amusement when he realized why he’d come over to them rather than staying with the girl who usually was glued to his hip “you’re scared to face them aren’t you?” Kyle teased, laughing when he saw Kenny’s face turn pink and him fall speechless.
He laughed even more when Marjorine skipped over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him away, Kyle looked back at Stan to see his reaction but instead saw that he had pulled his phone out and looked at the time, they had less than 10 minutes together and Kyle swore he saw Stan’s heartbreak on his face, something about the way his eyes looked so sad gave it away.
Acting like he didn’t see, Kyle grabbed his hand and pulled him to say goodbye to his sister and mom. No one knew that Shelly was coming to see her brother and it was times like these when Kyle knew that Stan was happy that she decided to stay in state rather than go out of state for college.
Kyle never left his side, instead he latched onto him like he would disappear into thin air.
Then came his goodbye, he felt the tears come as they walked outside, his hand in Stan’s.
He didn’t want to let go, he knew once he did he’d be gone and that he’d watch as his boyfriend and his friends who he’d known his whole life would be gone even if it wasn’t forever, his grip on Stans hand tightened, he didn’t want to say goodbye, not yet.
Everyone said their goodbyes to them, everyone cried a little or a lot as they hugged them. They wished them goodluck, told them to kick ass or to send copies of albums, the occasional ‘don’t forget me when your famous’ was said but Kyle wondered if they’d already forgotten, their popularity online wasn’t what he’d call fame but he remembered his friends being stopped by fans, people who followed them on social media and attended their shows.
Kyle just hoped that if they did forget, they wouldn’t forget him.
When it came time for Kyle to say his final goodbyes, he saved Stan for last. Hugging Marjorine and Kenny he cracked a sad smile, one that was made it painfully obvious that he was breaking on the inside “keep in touch, I’ll see you guys in a few weeks I promise” he said, he sucked at goodbyes because he never knew what to say even tho he had so much to say “I’ll miss you guys” almost as if Kyle’s words were the final trigger, Kenny began to cry.
Marjorine put a hand on Kenny’s shoulder, comforting him silently “we’ll miss you too Kyle, remember this isn’t goodbye forever” she said almost as if she sensed the longing dread inside of him, to him it felt like it would be forever “it’s okay to cry” she told Kenny before Kyle went in to hug him again, feeling overcome with emotion as the moment he dreaded was here.
He said goodbye to Wendy and Bebe, though it was short as Bebe emotionally comforted her crying boyfriend and Wendy comforted Bebe so he turned around and within the second that he looked at Stan he was a goner.
Warm tears left his eyes as he walked over to him, basically collapsing in his arms as he cried, he didn’t want to cry in front of him, he wanted to be strong and send him off happy he was finally getting to live his dream as it came true. Truth was he was happy getting to watch his life long best friend finally get to experience his dream in full but as his boyfriend, he couldn’t watch him go without the feeling of his heart being ripped out of his chest.
“Baby” Stan whispered as he hugged him, holding him tightly as if he didn’t want to let go “look at me” he hooked grabbed his chin lifting it “don’t cry” Kyle looked at him, allowing Stan to kiss him gently, helping him calm down a little bit as he breathed slowly, putting all focus on Stan, his eyes holding the fear he felt.
Kyle let him wipe away his tears knowing he wouldn’t be able to do so later on “I-I’m sorry” he shakily breathed, embarrassed “I didn’t expect to-” he cut himself off when he saw the softness in Stan’s expression as he shook his head “I’m going to miss you” he whispered, honestly.
Pulling him back in for a hug, Stan rested his chin on his shoulder “I know” he held him tighter and tightly Kyle closed his eyes, wishing that this would be a dream and that he’d wake up next to him “I’ll miss you too, trust me I will” Stan ran his hand up and down his back, breathing shakily “but you’ll be out in a few weeks, you’ll get to see me in a few weeks and everything will be okay” he leaned back, smiling sadly at his boyfriend before gently grabbing his face again.
Silently nodding, Kyle copied his smile “I love you, okay?” he tried whispering, his voice cracking before leaning up, kissing Kyle again before he started crying again, neither of them wanting to separate from each other yet despite knowing they’d have to “I love you too”
With one last hug Stan would walk to his truck and get into the driver side and secretly Kyle hoped that the truck would get them there safely as he followed him “hey, I’ll call you when Kenny takes over driving okay?” Kyle nodded and held out his pinky for him, yes he still believed in pinky promises and no he wasn’t ashamed.
“I’d like that a lot” he said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door.
And one last time Stan reached up and grabbed the back of Kyle’s neck, pulling him down so he could kiss him knowing he wouldn’t be able to do so until he came to visit during the holiday break. It was a quick kiss and when they broke the kiss Kyle stepped back “I’ll be rooting for you” he paused for a second, a little more genuinity forming in his smile “always”
He held on strong as he waved to them “well, it’s time” Stan said looking back at the small crowd of friends and family gathering on the front lawn who had given them privacy to let Kyle say goodbye, he waved to his sister, mother and uncles before turning back to Kyle “I know I said it already but I love you” he said as he began to back out of the driveway not before Kyle quietly said it back, telling his friends goodbye.
With teary eyes, Kyle watched as his friends and his boyfriend disappeared around a corner before eventually breaking down into tears when everyone else either went back inside or left, moving on while he stayed there.
Standing at the end of his driveway feeling like he had no other choice but to stay there forever.