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Kenny ran his hand through Karen’s hair soothingly as she wailed into his shoulder, something Kenny hasn’t done since Karen was much younger. But even now, when Karen is 13 and her hair chopped significantly shorter than it was when she was a kid, Kenny still held her tightly, supporting her in any way she needed.
“It’s okay, Karen,” Kenny cooed, pulling his sister away from his shoulder (which was surely stained with tears and boogers), wiping her wet cheeks with his thumbs to get rid of any stray tears. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
To be honest, Kenny couldn’t even remember the name of the last boy Karen had been dating. Johnny? Scottie? Kenny couldn’t keep all of Karen’s friends straight no matter how hard he tried. It was tough keeping up with Karen’s seemingly constant stream of word vomit, unloading every detail of each day Kenny had missed while he was away from South Park. He was more inclined to leave Karen alone with their parents now that they had finally managed to hold down a stable job and get clean (for the most part), so Kenny sought out better-paying jobs in different cities.
“So much fucking time!” Karen sniffed loudly, sucking up the trail of snot that was leaking out of her nose. “I can’t believe I was so stupid. Six freaking months!”
Kenny wanted to laugh at Karen taking a six-month middle school relationship so seriously, but he knew that that wasn’t what Karen needed right now. He opted for a stern expression than a smirk, before scolding her, “Stop cursing, it’s a bad habit.”
“But it’s how I feel, Ken!” She looked up at Kenny, her expression pulled into an intense fury, her face beat red from crying and anger. Before it all softened again, her eyes screwing shut. She clutched her chest, where her heart lay behind her ribs, and slumped back into Kenny. He wrapped his arm around her again, brushing his rough fingers through her pixie cut once more.
“God, I feel like I’m dying…” Karen whined dramatically, turning her head into Kenny’s chest, wiping her tears on his black t-shirt.
Kenny frowned at that. “You aren’t going to die, Karen,” he said, trying not to let his tone turn sour. “Look at me.”
He hooked Karen’s chin, making her look up at him gently. “You’re going to be okay. It isn’t the end of the world, it may feel like it, I know it does, but you’re going to be okay. But you can’t sulk around, and be mad at yourself or him forever. You’re so damn strong, Karen, and you’re gonna come back swinging stronger than you ever have before.”
He gave her a gentle smile, wiping more arad tears away. “And Donnie is--”
“Robbie.”
“--Robbie is gonna feel sorry he ever fucked with you.”
For a moment, they stared at each other, but it was soon broken by Karen breaking into a fit of giggles.
“Yeah, he sure fucking will.”
“Language.”
Karen just rolled her eyes, a smile gracing her face. They pulled apart, Karen scrubbing her face harshly. “God, I need chocolate.”
Kenny got up from the bed they were sitting on, looking around the room that was once his that had been completely transformed into a proper room for Karen. He searched for tissues, but when he found none, he picked up an old t-shirt that was lying on the floor. He held it up to Karen’s face and commanded: “Blow.”
“Gross,” Karen drawled out, but she obliged and blew her nose into the shirt, the sound of snot escaping loud.
Kenny just hummed a chuckle. “We can go get you some chocolate. Whatever you want, Kare bear.”
Karen groaned. “Stop calling me that, Ken, you sound like my mom.”
“I am your mom. You just cried into my shoulder for twenty minutes over a boy who dumped you. My shirt is soaking, dude.”
Karen giggled again, before standing up, taking Kenny’s hand in hers, just like she did when she was six.
“Can I get those Lindt truffle things? But, like, 20 packages of them?”
Kenny just laughed and nodded his head in response.