Chapter Text
Kyle had always hated the end of school, though he knew damn well that his opinion was unpopular. School ending meant summer, and even as a kid, he thought summer sucked. Melting snow, scorching heat, uncomfortable, revealing clothes, and worst of all, nothing to do. Most of the people he considered friends were going on vacations soon, and he’d be left alone in South Park, taking care of Ike or reviewing whatever lessons would appear for the next school year.
He got up and swung his legs over the side of his bed, tucking a loose strand of his hair away from his eyes. After a quick change of clothes, he’d go pick up lunch for him and Ike (although he didn’t feel all that hungry). He took a quick glimpse of himself in the mirror, grimaced, and decided that yes, he definitely wasn’t hungry.
"I’m heading out, Ike.” He said as he put on his trapper hat, and watched Ike look up from his glass of milk with a nod. “What do you want from City Wok?”
“Okay,” he replied, continuing to take small sips from his glass. “Beef.”
“Sure.”
Kyle looked at the calendar. He smiled softly, seeing the low-quality image of a dog with summer shades greet him at the top of it. Kind of reminded him of Stan, who adored dogs.
Today marked the seventh (shitty) day of summer, June twenty-seven. His mom had told him to go pick up lunch for him and Ike at City Wok, since she was away with Kyle's dad on a vacation. Kyle groaned. It was like everyone had just up and left South Park. Even Stan, who he considered his best friend, had joined his sister and parents to visit some place out of town.
City Wok was one of the restaurants in town that Kyle's parents often visited to bring home takeout, but today it was just him. The last of the snow had finally melted, and green patches of grass grew underneath the melted ice. It felt weird not seeing the white of snow on the ground everywhere, since South Park was almost always covered in it.
As Kyle pushed the door open, he was surprised to see a rather familiar (but definitely welcome) face.
Seated and on a flip phone was none other than Kenny McCormick, one of Kyle's childhood friends. If he could even call Kenny that. He spent every day hanging out with Kenny, Stan and Cartman six years ago, but only Stan Marsh had remained friends with him until high school. It was nostalgic, almost nauseatingly nostalgic, as he remembered their silly little quartet back in the fourth grade.
Looking at Kenny curiously, he frowned, noticing the pack of cigarettes shoved in his parka's pocket. What a bad influence, he thought as he laughed to himself. Kenny didn't look up from his phone as he greeted Kyle.
“Hello, welcome to City Wok. May I take your order, please?” Kenny droned tiredly, before closing his phone just as Kyle could see what was on his screen and gave him a surprised look. His bored demeanor changed as he looked up at his old friend. “Oh, shit! Hey, Kyle. Never seen you here before.”
“Yeah, didn't know you worked here,” he replied, although he heard rumors that Kenny had multiple jobs despite being only a year older than Kyle. His family wasn’t the best off, and Kyle felt horrible for joining the others to make fun of him about it as a kid. “I'll have two orders of City Beef.”
“Alrighty. Honestly, I thought you an' your folks would be on vacation. Nice to see I'll be having some company.” Kenny grinned widely, his missing tooth showing. “Wanna sit here?”
Kyle raised an eyebrow as Kenny gestured to a second chair next to his own. “Is this allowed?”
“Don't worry. My boss ain't here.” Laughed Kenny. “One sec. I'll get your order.”
As Kenny got up and opened the door to the kitchen, Kyle was surprised. They hadn't talked to each other personally in years besides some half-hearted 'hi's and 'hello's if they passed each other in the hallways, yet Kenny was acting so chummy with him. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Kyle appreciated it.
Muffled singing could be heard coming from the kitchen, which he thought was funny, but it was followed by several loud crashes. Kyle couldn't resist the urge to go inside the kitchen and check on him, but stopped in his tracks as Kenny yelled something. “I'm fine! Don't worry!”
As he sat back down with a sigh of relief, Kenny returned with his order and handed it to him with a smile.
“Thanks. And I like your singing.” Kyle teased him, a cheeky grin on his face.
“Pfft, you heard that? Goddamn it. We gotta soundproof our kitchen.” He chortled, closing the kitchen door behind him with his foot. "No problem, and we gotta catch up, dude. We haven't talked in forever."
“Oh, sure. It has been a while,” he replied.
“No customers right now, wanna get some fresh air? I could use a smoke.” Kenny said, pointing to the front door behind him with his thumb. Kyle kind of expected it, especially after seeing the box of smokes buried deep inside his jacket pocket. As usual, Kenny was a bad, bad influence.
“Oh. Yeah, that's cool with me.”
They headed out into the front of the restaurant, Kyle watching as Kenny continuously flicked his lighter until a bright flame was finally lit. It swayed in the air until he brought it to the end of his cigarette.
“Want one?” He held out the box to Kyle, who turned up his nose at the offer.
“No thanks.”
It was quiet for a while, which helped Kyle realize he and Kenny were never really close. Their friendship had always been unconventional; they hung out every day. They were there for each other when their friend group was still together, and they called themselves friends, but he had come to realize he knew nothing about Kenny. They never really had one-on-one chats a lot, nor did just the two of them hang out.
There were so many things Kyle didn’t know about Kenny, and Kenny didn’t know about Kyle. Kyle bit his lip, holding the warm paper bag close to him.
Breaking the silence, Kyle spoke. “Are we the only kids left in South Park?”
“That sounds a bit dramatic.” Kenny let out a small laugh, lighting his cigarette and taking a drag from it. “Nah, some of the girls in my class and Butters are still here. Cartman too. You could hang out with us sometime.”
“You're friends with them?” He asked, even though he knew the answer. Kenny had grown into a social butterfly, getting alone with just about everyone he met. Kyle was just a little envious of that, he had to admit. Just a little.
He shrugged in response, blowing smoke out into the warm summer breeze. “Sort of. Butters though, yeah, we're good friends. You still hang out with Stan?”
“Yeah, him and his friends. Wendy, too. I feel like a hallway friend to anyone but them, honestly.” Kyle chuckled, but Kenny frowned. “That’s one thing I miss from being a kid. It’s harder to make friends in high school.”
Besides Wendy and Stan, it was like everyone just knew him as their friends. He wasn't Kyle to them. He was more like Wendy or Stan's friend that sometimes tagged along. As shallow as it sounded, it was the bitter truth. If Kyle had to be honest, it had always bothered him, but he never really knew what he could do about it.
“Aw, I'd be your friend,” Kenny chuckled, but he laced his words with genuine kindness. "Really, though, are you serious? Always thought you were pretty fuckin' popular. Good grades, good at basketball, tall and handsome, you're like most girl's dream guy.”
He listened as Kenny listed his traits, and couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, maybe he did have good grades... But basketball? He was average at basketball at best. He wasn't tall either; compared to Craig, he looked like a midget! Maybe next to Kenny, he looked pretty tall, but girls could do way better than him.
The word handsome though, that caught him off guard. He couldn’t help but smile bashfully.
“Huh? Handsome?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“Hell yeah, dude.” Kenny said, excitement kindling behind his bright blue eyes.
“You’re just messing with me. Seriously?” Kyle rolled his eyes, watching as a sly grin crept across Kenny’s face. Son of a bitch, don’t you dare flirt.
And then, as if on cue:
“Yeah, seriously. I’d hit.” He joked (or at least, Kyle fucking hoped it was a joke).
“Huh– What the fuck, Kenny?!” Kyle shoved Kenny playfully, who laughed. Kyle kind of towered over Kenny, he had noticed, Kyle being a good six inches taller than him. He kind of found their height difference amusing, and Kenny was easier to shove this way (much to Kenny’s dismay).
“Really though. I still ain’t wrong.”
"Kenny, don't you remember that time I got voted as the ugliest boy in the whole class before?"
He took his cigarette out of his mouth, letting it sit between his thin fingers with ease. “That list was dumb as hell. We were kids. Are you insecure about it or something?” Kenny turned his head to settle a sympathetic gaze onto Kyle, chin resting in his hand. "Fuck, didn’t mean to sound rude. Sorry,"
The acrid scent of smoke filled the air as Kyle looked down at his shoes, hands stuffed in his pockets. Awkward. What was he supposed to reply to that?
Kyle took a deep breath and looked away from Kenny, who was nervously fidgeting with his hoodie’s drawstrings. Looking back at him, Kyle slowly nodded. He hated to admit it, but that ‘dumb as hell’ list kept him up at night sometimes. "I... I guess."
“Oh. You wanna talk about it?”
“Yeah. You know…”
“What?”
“Ugh, nevermind.”
Four sentences, said in a rush and simultaneously. Kenny reached out his hand to place it on Kyle’s shoulder in an attempt to reassure him that it was okay, but that seemed to do nothing for him. In fact, he flinched at the touch, too. Kenny took his hand off gently, resting it on his lap.
He gave a concerned look. “You can talk to me. Really, I’m here for you.”
“It’s fine. I’m good.” Kyle shook his head, looking at Kenny’s frown that seemed to ask him ‘are you mad at me?’. “Um, sorry.”
Besides the smoke, the air was filled with awkwardness. Kyle could feel Kenny's worried gaze on him as he tried to look away from the boy. "I’m sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
“It's alright.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“Well, I insist it’s okay, but apology accepted.”
“...” Kenny didn’t look at Kyle, pulling at his hoodie’s drawstrings abashedly.
“Uh, I’m sorry, Kenny, but I better get going already. It was nice talking, though." He excused himself, looking up from his shoes nervously as he held the City Wok paper bag close to himself. Waving, he gave an awkward smile. "See you around."
Kenny nodded. "Oh, okay. Drop by again sometime, alright?"
"Yeah, sure."
“Uh, see ya. Kyle.”
“Ike, I’m home. The food’s here.” Kyle said, unlocking the front door with a spare key he had in his pocket and taking his hat off. He set the food on the kitchen counter, taking out two plates for him and his brother. He didn’t have a goddamn clue about how to cook, but he guessed he could microwave the beef since it wasn’t as warm as it was earlier.
Right.
Earlier.
Kyle knew Kenny wasn’t dumb. He was a hundred percent sure Kenny felt horrible just for being concerned for Kyle’s wellbeing, yet here Kyle was, hands buried in his face. Of course, he had to go make the conversation awkward. Kyle never should’ve brought up that stupid list. Kenny was literally calling him handsome. He never even thanked him for that. He should have!
I’m making such a big deal about it.
Trying to get the awkward situation out of his head, Kyle heated both his and Ike’s food, crossing his arms as the microwave counted down. The machine hummed as the dish spun around and around inside of it, coming to a halt as it started beeping. The noise began to fade out as Kyle stared blankly as the word ‘end’ was displayed on the microwave’s screen.
Ike had come down from his room too, and gave Kyle a confused look. “What’s up with you?”
“Huh?”
“The microwave’s been beeping for thirty seconds.” He pointed out, prying Kyle out from his thoughts. Kyle turned to look at the microwave.
“Oh. Sorry, here.” He took the food and gave half of it to Ike, who nodded as if to say ‘thank you’ to his older brother. Kyle didn’t mean to zone out back there, and it was utterly embarrassing that he was so bothered by a short, little conversation. It wasn’t that bad, he’s had worse conversations.
His head hung low as he picked at his food mindlessly, occasionally taking tiny bites from the beef. Ike looked at him, a glint in his eye as the boy ate his own food. Just like Kenny, Ike wasn’t dumb either. In fact, Kyle considered Ike to be even smarter than he was sometimes. It was clear his little brother noticed he was acting off.
He wished it didn’t bother him so much. How he fucked up with Kenny. Kenny didn’t even seem mad. Hell, Kenny probably thought Kyle was the angry one!
Setting his spoon and fork down, Kyle gave in with a dejected sigh. “I'm not really hungry right now. Tell me if you need something.”
“Uh, before I ask for anything,” Ike said in-between chews. “What happened?”
“Nothing, I just saw an old friend at City Wok.”
“Really? Who?”
“Kenny McCormick. We used to hang out as kids.” He sighed, tucking a strand of his unruly red hair behind his ear.
“Oh. McCormick. I know him. I’m friends with his sister.” Ike said, nodding.
“Karen?”
“That’s right. She’s a nice girl,” Ike smiled, but his expression turned stern once more. “Don’t dodge my question, though. What happened?”
“Ike. Nothing happened. It was just a bit awkward. That’s it.” Kyle enunciated. Ike put his hand on Kyle’s reassuringly, but he simply stood up and huffed. Getting up from his chair and leaving Ike to eat his dinner alone, Kyle hissed. Now that was prying, not whatever Kenny was talking about earlier. He half-wished he had talked to him longer instead of running away from the awkward conversation.
He stormed off to his room and shut the door loudly out of spite, just to show Ike he was annoyed. As he locked it closed to keep anyone and everyone out, he made a beeline for his phone, eager to update Stan about what had happened.
“Ike, I’m sorry for getting ma–” Kyle stopped talking as he climbed down the stairs, stopping in his tracks at the final step. Standing before him wasn’t just Ike, but Karen and Kenny McCormick. "What the fuck?"
“Bad word!” Karen reprimanded, tugging on Kyle's shirt. He looked down to see her, a young girl who looked about Ike's age with light brown hair tied into two pigtails and hazel eyes. Kyle rubbed the back of his neck as she let go of his shirt.
“Oh, uh, sorry.”
“Huh?” Kenny turned to look at him, giving a tiny wave as he patted Karen on the head gently. “Oh, hey, Kyle. Just dropping off Karen.”
“What?”
“...Kar, didn't you tell me Ike said it was fine?”
“Uh…” Karen giggled worriedly.
Ike nervously looked at Kyle, and then at the corner of the room, and then at the ground. He sighed in defeat, while Kyle scoffed. Well, the two were busted now. Karen looked up at Kenny apologetically, begging to stay.
“Ike, you could've just asked me, you know.” He huffed, crossing his arms. “Uh, you two can stay if you want. I'm sorry for the trouble.”
“No worries. And sure, you sure you wouldn't mind?”
“It's fine. I could use the company. Again.”
Kenny smiled, pulling off his coat and helping Karen hang hers on a coat hanger. “Pfft, alright then.”
The only thing in Kyle's head was that he was never forgiving Ike for this. He didn't want to avoid Kenny, but if facing him after the awkward encounter earlier wasn't the most unbearable thing in the world, he didn't know what was. Forcing himself to put on a hospitable, warm smile, he led the McCormick siblings into the living room.
Kyle wished he had cleaned up a bit beforehand, but these were the McCormicks. He wouldn’t actually tell them, but they wouldn’t be difficult to impress. Kyle had been at a sleepover at Kenny’s before, and he still vividly remembered the dilapidated, run-down house. It was falling apart, filled with broken furniture they couldn’t afford to replace and garbage bags all over the place. They ate frozen waffles for dinner, for fuck’s sake.
While an excited Karen and Ike were sitting on the carpet chatting away, Kyle sat down next to Kenny. Kenny's eyes were fixated on Kyle, a stern expression on Kyle’s face, although he was thinking about how goddamn embarrassed he felt. Of course, he didn't let that show, and Kenny probably just thought he was pissed at him or something, judging by the slightly worried smile on his face.
“So uh, how was the food?” Kenny asked, his voice shaky compared to his usual bright and confident one.
“Good. Ike liked it, I think.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. You're a good chef.”
“Man, home economics really paid off, then.” Grinned Kenny, crossing one leg over the other. Kyle was reminded of how Kenny was the only guy in home ec, and as a kid he really wanted to laugh at him for it. But if he had to be honest, home ec did teach you some pretty important lessons. All shop class taught him was to ‘stop screwing around,’ as Mr. Adler used to say.
“What made you choose it? Over shop class?”
“There's saws and shit in shop class, right? I didn't wanna die.” He guffawed, and Kyle couldn't help but let out a small chuckle too.
“It wasn't that bad either. What was home ec like?”
“Do I have to be honest?”
Kyle shrugged. “Sure.”
“I was failing home ec. Badly. Teacher said I'd never get a rich husband.” He sighed, but it followed with weak laughter. Kyle didn't know whether to laugh at the fact that this implied Kenny wanted a rich husband, or the fact that an actual grown woman would say that to one of her students. “We'll fuckin' see, Miss Choise. We'll fuckin' see.”
“...Invite me to the wedding, okay?” Kyle smirked.
“You can be my best man,” He said, but paused. “if Butters dies or something.”
He put a hand to his heart, pretending the choice hurt him. “How cruel.”
Kenny rolled his eyes, and fired back. “Yeah? Well who'd you make your best man if you ever got married?” Ooh. He had a point.
“Well… Stan,” Kyle paused, crossing his arms. Definitely Stan. “But who knows.”
“'Who knows' indeed, I could definitely change that. You ain't free from my charm, just so you know.”
“Yeah?”
Kenny nodded, a shit-eating grin on his face that Kyle sighed at. “Haha! Oh yeah, you bet. By the end of summer, I bet you ain't gonna be super best friends with Stan anymore.” He proclaimed, a glint in his eye that made Kyle think he actually wanted to do that. "You'll be super best friends with yours truly.”
“I swear to god, Kenny, we talked for the first time in… What, six years and now you're trying to steal Stan's spot?”
“I was joking. But if you wanted, I would.”
“No thanks.” Teased Kyle, eliciting a dejected sigh from Kenny. “Really though. Imagine going on a vacation, and when you come back, your super best friend just leaves you for someone else.”
“Yeah, don't cheat on Stan. Poor guy.”
Kyle could just kick Kenny’s teeth in right now, but he resisted the urge to ruin their friendship again and resorted to just putting a hand on Kenny’s shoulder. Except not reassuringly like Kenny did earlier. Hell no.
“Huh– Cheat?” He raised an eyebrow at Kenny, whose annoyingly smug grin remained on his face even though Kyle had narrowed his eyes. “The shit that comes out of your mouth sometimes, I swear!” Kenny cast another smirk towards him, and opened his mouth to say something until Kyle shook his head frantically. “Oh god, don’t make a shit joke. No.”
“Why not? Are you actually into that?”
“You're not funny.”
“Then why are you laughing?”
“I'm not!”
Laughter filled the room, and Kyle grunted as it was Kenny’s turn to shove him. Despite being smaller than the rest of his class, he really did pack a punch– It was surprising when he felt Kenny’s hand push his shoulder. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt like a kid again. Going on ridiculous, chaotic adventures with Cartman, Stan and Kenny, without a care in the world. Simpler times. Better times.
He smiled weakly, rubbing his shoulder after Kenny had shoved him. “Ow.”
“You want me to get some ice for that? Fuck, is it gonna bruise?”
“Oh. Uh, sure. If you want, there's ice cream in the fridge."
Karen and Ike looked up from the television excitedly upon hearing the word ice cream. "Ice cream?" They said simultaneously, looking up at Kyle curiously.
Kyle nodded, a cheeky grin on his face. "Yeah, ice cream. Our servant here's gonna come get it for us."
“Damn. Okay, master Kyle.”
“Ew, we sound like we're roleplaying. Oh my god. Never call me that again.”
He bowed down to ‘master’ Kyle, trying to hold back his laughter. Kyle looked at him in complete and utter disgust, rolling his eyes as Kenny got up from the ground. “Yessir, Kyle."
Maybe summer doesn't suck so bad after all , thought Kyle. He rested his chin in his palm, a small smile on his face as he looked at Kenny scoop ice cream into four bowls for all of them. The smile faded as soon as he noticed the four bowls in his arms about to slip and crash into the ground.
"Kenny! Holy shit!" He yelled, before dashing over to Kenny, but it was too late. On the tiled kitchen floor was a colorful mix of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate, seeping in between broken shards of glass. Kenny looked at the ground in surprise and lowered his arms that were clumsily holding the bowls in shame.
"Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, crouching down to pick up the broken bowls.
Never mind, summer sucks again, he decided angrily. But at the same time, he found the situation kind of amusing.
Kyle rolled his eyes, grabbing a spare dishrag and wiping the now melted ice cream off the tiles. His ma was going to kill him and Ike. And Kenny, if she found out he was here. "I'll help you clean. Wait."
"Thanks."
He sighed. "No problem."