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"You heard me!" Cartman yelled. "I don't want your dirty jew ass near me Kyle!"
"Fine, fatass it's not like I care! Get fucking lost!" Kyle snapped back.
"Yeah, it's not like we want to be friends with you. We never have!" Stan joined.
"Stan, shut your faggot mounth." Cartman cursed. "Don't call me a fucking faggot!" Stan lunged at Cartman, but Cartman dodged the attack, causing Stan to faceplant into the mud that surrounded Stark's Pond. "Stan!" Kyle exclaimed as he ran up to his best friend.
Kenny could only watch in terror as Cartman kicked Kyle in the side, making him land on top of Stan. "Awe look you guys really are fags." Cartman teased. Kyle turned his head up to Cartman. His face was red and filled with rage, but pain had too much of a stronghold on him, he couldn't fight back.
Kenny had witnessed and been part of many fights in the friend group before, but this one was very different. Usually they'd lay off of each other eventually. Usually Cartman would lose. But there he was, standing. What could Kenny do? What would anyone do? Then he caught Kyle's eyes. They were helpless. They seared into Kenny like that fiery flames of hell were being shot directly at him. He had to do something.
"C'mon Kenny, let's leave these two homos be." Cartman snided. That sentence finally filled Kenny with the rage he needed. "Excuse me?" He glared at Cartman, with the most hardening, sickening, horror inducing glare he had ever given a person. Cartman looked back in confusion. "C'mon Kenny, you really still wanna be friends with these queeros?"
Kenny stomped towards Cartman. Pure anger was the only thing that clouded his brain. "What makes you think you're so special?"
Cartman put his hands up. "Kenny…"
"You are nothing but a homophobic, racist, sexist PUSSY LICKER!"
Kenny finally had enough of this shit.
Before anyone could process anything Cartman laid on the ground. Multiple bruises scoured his face, his nose bleeding. Was he unconscious, dead, perhaps just too weak to move? Kenny hoped he was dead.
How did it come to this? Well perhaps this anger had always been stored inside of Kenny whenever Cartman would open his mouth. Everything he says is to just hurt other people. Even his closest friends. Despite that Kenny valued their friendship. He might even say he cared for and loved Cartman at some point. Whatever those feelings of friendship and comradery were in the past, it was probably all a facade. A fake feeling he held onto just so didn't lose a friend. But Kenny stopped caring. He knew who he loved, and Cartman was not one of those people.
He turned to help Kyle and Stan up. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't know what to do. I've never seen you guys fight like that before. I was just-"
Kenny was caught off by Stan and Kyle putting their arms around him. He breathed and closed his eyes. He loves them. More than anything in the universe. He truly did. Once he took the time to realize that it was easy to see how much he didn't love Cartman. Stan was always with him through tough situations. He was always real, and wasn't afraid to do what he thought was right. Kyle was the same, but more comforting. He remembered back in the fourth grade when Stan moved away to live at the farm. Sure they still would hang out, but it was more difficult, especially during the summer time. But he still had Kyle through all that. He remembers the nights when he'd sneak off to Kyle's house and they'd both reminisce on random things, and sometimes they'd vent to each other. He'd fall asleep in bed next to him, sometimes in each other's embrace. Then, whenever Stan could, he'd join them in those unofficial sleepovers. They never told Cartman about them. They didn't have to.
Stan unraveled himself from the embrace. He walked over to Cartman and leaned down to check his pulse.
"He's alive." Stan announced. "Let's leave him out here. He can wake himself up." Kyle said dryly. Stan looked reluctant, but ultimately he knew Cartman deserved it.
The three boys walked out of the park. The air seemed mellow, as if there were things left unsaid. "It's getting late, let's crash at my place." Kyle offered. Kenny almost sighed in relief. After an ordeal like that, he couldn't bear to be separated from his friends.
Friends. Kenny was weirdly stumped at the word. Could his love for Stan and Kyle really just be friendship? What was he thinking, of course it was. Right? Kenny decided not to think about it anymore.
Once the boys entered Kyle's house, it didn't seem like anyone was home. "My parents aren't home, they're taking Ike to the mall to get him new pants." Kyle explained. You guys wanna play Call of Du-"
"Is Cartman really not our friend anymore? Like we're all agreeing to never hang with him again?" Stan interrupted. "Of course dude. After that I hope I never see that fucker again." Kyle responded. "Yeah dude fuck him." Kenny added. "Thank God." Stan praised.
"I'm just tired, can we go to bed?" Kenny asked. "Alright," Kyle said, not having to be too convinced to sleep. Stan yawned in agreement, so they all descended the stairs to Kyle's room and suddenly Kenny was reminded of those sleepovers again. How they'd all lay together. Cuddled snuggly on the bed. Sometimes he'd be the last person awake. He'd stare into the closed eyes of whoever was next to him. If he was in the middle, he would take turns looking at both of them. Looking at his friends sleeping was somehow calming. Alluring in a way. He could stare into the details of their faces. His friends. Friends.
"C'mere Ken, you can be in the middle." Stan and Kyle were already in bed, Stan patting the spot between him and Kyle. Kenny gingerly crawled in the bed, his earlier thoughts about love eating up at him. How though? How could I love two people like that at the same time? Why am I just figuring this out now?
He couldn't wrap his head around it. Maybe he was just tired. But that could just be an excuse for him not to do something about it. For the second time that day Kenny laid still. Another difficult situation he was too scared to handle.
His breath hitched as Stan's arms snaked around his waist. "You okay, bro?" Stan whispered into Kenny's ear, earning a shiver from the blonde. Usually this act would calm Kenny, but this was not a usual day. Kenny didn't know if he should hide these new found feelings, or not. But one thing he learned today is that keeping your feelings bottled up isn't worth it. If he'd admit to hating Cartman earlier, he and his friends wouldn't have faced so much hardship. However Kenny stayed silent.
"You can tell us anything." Kyle said, turning toward Kenny and joining Stan in the hug. Kenny was beet red and his heart felt like it would pulsate out of his chest. I-I know…" he finally spoke. "I just don't know how to say it, but I…" He gulped. "I love you guys…like a lot." Kenny sat up a bit, causing Stan and Kyle to break off their clasps.
"We love you too, Ken-"
"NO," Kenny loudly interrupting Stan. "I love you two. Like love. Like not platonically?" Kenny tried to hold back the underlying feeling of utter rejection he believed he was about to feel. But Stan and Kyle just looked at each other with unreadable expressions. "Kenny, we have something to tell you." Kyle confessed. Stan nodded. Kyle sighed as he continued. "Me and Stan have been dating for a while now,"
Kenny was taken aback. No wonder Cartman was calling them fags, he probably prided the knowledge out of one of them and decided to tease them about it. But what did this have to do with his confession? Did he somehow ruin the relationship? Kenny decided to not dwell on that thought, and instead kept listening to Kyle. "The other night, Stan drove to my house after hanging out with you. He confessed that he thought he might be catching feelings for you."
"It was after we played one on one at the Basketball court on Friday." Stan clarified. "We were alone and I realized how pretty…you were…" Stan's voice trailed off as his face reddened. Kenny was too stunned to speak, hell, he couldn't even think. "When he told me," Kyle started again, "I agreed with him. About how captivating you were, and how kind you are and all that cringey love junk so-"
"What he's trying to say," Stan took over, "is that we…love you too. The not platonic kind." Stan's lips curved into a slight smile.
Kenny's body felt like jello, luckily he was sitting and not standing or else his face would be on the ground. "Really?" His voice was squeaky and breathy as the word slipped from his mouth. Honestly, it was a stupid question. Why would they say those things if they didn't mean them? They aren't those types of people. But still, Kenny couldn't believe it. Maybe after all the shit God threw at him today, he finally earned a little piece of heaven. "Of course." Kyle said.
Kenny let himself collapse back onto Stan and Kyle, squeezing them as tight as possible as if they would slip out of his grasp. "Thank you." Was all he could mutter out before breaking into tears. Probably the happiest tears he's ever cried.
"Oh Ken, we love you so much." Stan whispered. He stroked the back of Kenny's head. "I love you too." The blonde said, this time it was much easier. "I promise us three will never be apart, okay?" Kyle whispered.
Silence fell over the three boys as they all dozed off. Not an awkward or an uneasy silence. This silence was lovely and calm. All their legs tangled together, their faces pressed into each other's necks. Kenny listened to the gradually slowing breath of his friends as they fell aslumber. No, not friends. They were much more than that. They were Stan and Kyle. The people he loved and would spend the rest of his life with him. Calling them boyfriends felt like an understatement. They were just them, and that's all Kenny needed them to be.