Chapter Text
It had been a small while since Bradley last saw Camp New Grace.
From his own knowledge, after his near attempted suicide, it was getting shut down. Which was nice... He supposed. That didn’t really change anything for all those kids that died. They were still dead. That didn’t change the sheer amount he had to endure, the pressure that still felt present. The effect that Camp had on him would never leave.
That was besides the point, Bradley’s parents thought it would change something if they moved. ‘Problem fixed, right? We’re in a more accepting town. We don’t hate you. Our homophobic ways are over. ‘ ..Or something. That was fine. Despite his fears, Bradley enjoyed adventure.
A small town, near where he had previously lived, also in Colorado. It was normally pretty packed down, new people appearing and then leaving, or sometimes dying under strange circumstances. South Park was, as the news portrayed it, fucking wild.
The family had unpacked their stuff at this point, and Bradley was immediately told, ‘go make some gay friends, gay son.’ Or something like that. Mr and Mrs Clark were really trying to push the narrative that they were accepting of Bradley. It changed nothing .
It was really cold, around 3 feet of snow coated the sidewalks; shockingly, Bradley didn’t exactly have any clothes suited for this sort of weather. His long-sleeved shirts were actually pretty thin material-wise. The one thing he had was a coat, and the zip was broken.
So, trudging through the snow, Bradley was expected to find someone to hang out with. It would be good to make friends. It was just that.. He probably seemed like a really weird kid to everyone else.
Bradley rubbed his arms, the temperature didn’t accompany his weight well. He was always pretty thin compared to everyone else.
He just walked around, trying to find areas where he could properly walk to wander around in. Waiting for someone to strike up a conversation with him , of all people someone could chat with, probably wasn’t very effective.
But it worked.
“ Hey Bradley!.. What’re you doing in South Park? “ The voice sounded extremely familiar. Whoever the kid was, he sounded southern , which was definitely strange for Colorado. Still, it was definitely something he had heard before.
When Bradley turned to look at the kid, memories hit him harder than the freezing air around him. It was Butters Stotch, who was his accountabili-buddy for some time at Camp New Grace. Butters had quite a notable appearance, he had rosy cheeks and a scar across one of his eyes; he was most likely blind in one eye, seeing as its iris was far paler than the other. He didn’t seem to be wearing too many layers either, strangely.
Bradley didn’t forget him, but he apparently forgot his voice . Which was weird, his main memories of him were all about things he said. Things he said that made him basically crush on Butters.
Bradley looked both ways before crossing the street, quickly walking across. “ Oh, h-hey, Butters, I didn’t think I’d see you.. Here . “ Butters’s dad had shown up after Butters little.. Speech.. Thing during Bradley’s breakdown, he seemed kind of harsh.
“ I didn’t think you’d recognise me! “ He smiled. Warmly. “ I heard they’re actually shutting down camp! “
“ ..Mhm. Yeah. It.. It is. “
“ ..Y’know, at camp, I didn’t realise what bi-curious even meant! But I think I think I know now! “ He seemed pretty proud, “ It’s like.. Not being sure if you like..uh.. “ Butters put a finger on his chin, trying to remember what he had read online. “ Two genders! That’s it, right? “
“ Yeah.. I guess. “
“ I think I might be bi-curious! “
His instincts were to just repeat a bible verse. The amount he had to resist spitting one out was ridiculous. “ ..Okay. “
They talked for a while. Whenever Bradley responded a little awkwardly, Butters somehow knew how to either change the subject or how he could reply. Well, now Bradley knew about the kids he should and shouldn’t talk to. Which was.. Pretty good.
“ Hey Bradley, d’ya wanna go somewhere sometime? I know there’s an amusement park nearby! “ Even before Bradley could think about what kind of option would be his go-to, Butters started talking again. “ Two of my pals gave me two entrance tickets, they fell out and they haven’t asked for them back.. And I know you’re really nice, Bradley! “
“ ..Uh… Sure. I’ll tell my.. P-parents. Later. “
“ Alright! ..Could you give me your number? So I can message you later? “
“ Sure.. It’s.. “ He recalled it. From memory. He nearly zoned out, and next thing he knew, the two were waving goodbye to each other.
Why? Why did he let the conversation last longer than he should have? Bradley was told to go make a friend. He technically didn’t. He stood there and talked to someone he knew he had some kind of feelings for for around half an hour.
What feelings did he even have for Butters? Well, it was really hard to explain for him; seeing as Butters claiming that he ‘like-liked’ Bradley back at Camp caused his spiral. He still liked Butters though, or even loved him, if one were to be dramatic. Then, after all that, he had helped Bradley. His speech single-handedly made him think about living . It made him want to live . He realised all that terrible bullshit that Camp New Grace had done.
Now he was in a safe condition, yes, he still had trauma, but Butters had inadvertently made life better for him.
If he wanted to be even more dramatic, Butters was somewhat like an angel. Yeah, the whole incident at Camp definitely made Bradley consider his religious faith, but that was the only comparison he could make. Even down to his blonde hair and blue eyes.. Unless we were talking about biblically accurate ones, then most certainly not.
Now he had to plan a trip to an amusement park. Meaning he had to tell his parents. Great.