Chapter Text
Sunny days in South Park Octobers are few and far in between. Usually, the cold bites at Kyle’s cheeks and everyone is wrapped up in scarves to protect themselves from the sharp winds and early snows.
When the sun does come out, Stan and Kyle take advantage of it every time, driving down to Stark’s Pond to enjoy the rare but comfortable warmth the sun brings. They’d been doing it since middle school at the suggestion of their mothers when they’d usually spend all day inside playing some video game.
It’s become somewhat of a tradition for them, something Kyle looks forward to eagerly. They never even do much but kiss and sometimes fall asleep in the grass and wade in the pond if it gets too hot.
Kyle likes to complain about the mosquitos, there are many and they always seem to flock to him, never even flying within an inch of Stan. Truthfully, he’ll gladly take a hundred mosquito bites if it meant he got more of these days with Stan, not that he’d tell him.
He’ll take the mosquitos any day because October brings them closer and closer to finals week in November, therefore pushing Stan and Kyle further and further apart since they have to spend so much time studying. Well, Kyle does. He’s intent on keeping his grades up as much as possible, keeping his perfect GPA still perfect so he can get into the college he wants. Not that he knows what college that is, but it makes thinking about it less stressful
Stark’s Pond has quickly become one of Kyle’s favourite places. It’s filled with childhood memories, mostly good unlike the other places in town, and it feels like one of the only places he can go to get some peace and quiet. It’s where he and Stan find themselves on a Saturday afternoon, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the cool breeze.
Stan is laying in the grass wearing his worn down red hoodie that Kyle got him for Christmas when they started dating way back in freshman year. His hair, which has gotten so long it nearly brushes past his eyes, is ruffled by the wind, the bleach blond tips, grown out from when he dyed it a few months prior, lifting with the breeze and falling back into his eyes.
Kyle lays on his stomach, propped up on his elbows and looking down at Stan. He wears Stan’s hat, and even though it’s probably mushing down the hair under it and making it matted and flat, Kyle finds that he doesn’t mind. He kind of likes wearing Stan’s stuff, whether it’s his hat or his old band t shirts or anything, really. It sort of marks him as Stan’s , and even though Kyle’s taller by a few inches, Stan is bigger and his hoodies are a little oversized on Kyle, making him feel like he’s wrapped up in a blanket.
He always ends up stealing Stan’s clothes, acting clueless when Stan finds them in Kyle’s closet, but he knows Stan doesn’t actually mind. He always gives them back, anyways, freshly washed when they no longer smell of Stan- cigarettes and the faint scent of lavender from the laundry detergent Stan uses.
Kyle smiles fondly down at him, his fingers tracing the outline of Stan’s cleft chin before dusting across his lips and up to his straight nose, feeling the few light freckles on the bridge of it beneath the pads of his fingers like tiny spots of paint. He leans down and presses a soft kiss to the space between Stan’s thin eyebrows, smiling when he hears Stan laugh softly underneath him.
“It’s getting kind of windy,” Stan says when he pulls away, and Kyle nods, looking up at the dark clouds that gather in the sky.
“I’m surprised it stayed warm for this long,” Kyle says, sighing and looking back down at Stan. He combs his fingers gently through Stan’s hair, detangling some of the knots. “Do we wanna go back home before it starts to rain?”
Stan thinks for a moment and then shakes his head. “I like when it rains. Don’t you?”
Kyle stares at him deadpanned, his hand falling to the grass beside Stan’s face. “Dude, we’re gonna freeze our asses off. It’s supposed to get crazy cold.”
“So?” Stan says, grinning. “Then we can go back home and you can make us hot chocolate and we can make out under the covers and warm up, no biggie.”
Kyle raises an eyebrow. “
No biggie?
Who says I’m gonna make hot chocolate? I can’t even
drink
that stuff, it’s loaded with sugar.”
“Well you can make
me
hot chocolate.” Stan reaches up to take Kyle’s face and brings it down for a kiss. It’s a little awkward because Kyle’s head is turned completely the wrong way and Stan ends up missing his mouth completely, making Kyle laugh.
“Make it yourself, I’m not your mom,” Kyle says, but he can’t help but smile more when Stan kisses him again, for real this time, making Kyle’s heart flutter in his chest.
They stay like that for a while, Stan peppering Kyle’s face with kisses, on his nose, his cheek bones, his forehead, everywhere until Kyle snorts with laughter and tells him to dial it down.
Stan gasps in mock distress, putting a hand over his heart. “Dial it down? I see you barely once a week, and you want me to dial it down? ” His voice is light hearted and the corners of his mouth quirk up in a smile, but Kyle can tell he’s still a little hurt by the fact that they see each other so little.
“One month, Stan,” Kyle says. “And then we’ll be on Winter break and you can dial it up as much as you want.”
“You might regret saying that,” Stan says, gently pulling on one of Kyle’s curls and letting it go so it bounces back into place. “I am going to dial it so far up, you’re gonna wish you only saw me once a week.”
Kyle rolls his eyes, smiling. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“It so is,” Stan says, and it’s not lighthearted this time. He really believes it.
Kyle sighs and brushes an eyelash off of Stan’s cheek. “I’d never get sick of you, Stanley. I mean, we’ve been best friends since fucking kindergarten. Even when things got a little rough, I came back, didn’t I?”
He remembers it all too well. Way back in the fourth grade when Stan started drinking for the first time- something Kyle didn’t find out about until years later. He always regretted it, the way he treated Stan then. He still regrets it, something Stan is well aware of.
Stan nods, smiling again but it doesn’t fully reach his eyes. “I know you’ll stay, Ky,” Stan says, the nickname making Kyle’s stomach flip. He pulls Kyle in for another kiss, letting it linger this time, and Kyle sighs into it.
“One month,” Kyle says when they break apart, and he leaves the rest unsaid but shares a look with Stan and he knows Stan understands. One month and you’ll dial it up and it’ll make me want to stay with you even more.