Chapter Text
The last few notes of their final song played, the crowd cheering, calling for an encore as the band met Stan and Bebe at center stage and bowing one last time, they were opening for a bigger band who was set to go on after them.
They were only intended to open for the Denver show but after the show they’d been asked to open for a few more shows, which lead to more shows and even more till the very last one.
Crimson Dawn had started to make a name for themselves and they hadn’t even graduated high school yet, in fact their senior year started in only a few weeks.
It was the final show of the American leg of the tour and their final stop before going home to Colorado, they were exhausted, Stan was ready to relax for a few days before making the long ride home from California.
Getting off stage, he was pulled into a tight hug by his best friend who had followed him on tour, attending every show because he couldn’t and wouldn’t miss it for the world “I can’t believe it's over already” Kyle mumbled into Stan’s shoulder before being pulled to the dressing rooms by the bleached blond boy.
Laughing happily, Stan locked them in his dressing room and grabbed Kyle's face gently, pressing him against the door, kissing him and Kyle couldn’t remember the last time that Stan had looked so happy till he got to perform in front of a crowd then kiss his super best friend in the dressing rooms afterwards.
It was their secret and no one suspected them, except for Wendy who walked in on them making out in Stan and Kyle’s hotel room a week into the tour and slowly backed out of the room undetected, she confronted them later that night after rehearsal.
They weren’t dating, they both made that clear but they were both unsure about the relationship they both shared and in fact Wendy had found it impressive that they did such a good job hiding the fact that they were friends with benefits.
Especially when it was clear that the two of them wanted something more.
Breaking away the kiss, Kyle hummed “you think we can wait till after the concert? Last time we did it after your set we almost got caught” he whispered watching as Stan’s ears turned pink, nodding when he leaned down, connecting his lips with Kyle’s neck adding to the abundance of hickey’s already left by Stan from the last 3 months that Wendy had to cover every day.
A soft knock broke the pair apart, Stan out of habit covered Kyle’s mouth with his hand.
“It’s Wendy” the voice said causing both boys to relax and Stan to drop his hand from Kyle's mouth, unlocking the door, he opened it revealing the shorter dark haired girl with a small bag in her hands and invited her in closing and locking the door behind her “Stan give Kyle’s neck a break, I can only go through so much concealer before Bebe or Marjorine get suspicious which by the way, they already think that we’re fucking or something with how much I am in your rooms”
With a bashful smile, Kyle looked up to give Wendy the access to cover the new blemish “which speaking of people being in others rooms a suspiciously long time, Marj said that we are needed on stage at the end of the concert so try to not look like you just got done making out when we go out there” she teased, looking over at Stan whose face was now beat red “I also had to cover a hickey on Marj’s neck this morning, thankfully she had her own concealer because-” another knock interrupted the conversation they’d been having.
Finishing up and placing her stuff in her bag she smiled sweetly “who is it?” Stan asked, placing a hand on Kyle’s thigh “Marjorine, can I steal Wendy? Bebe said she saw her come in here” and with a sigh Wendy walked over to the door, flipping both boys off before slipping out of the room.
—
Stan loved waking up beside Kyle because it reminded him of home, of his childhood. He would wake up holding his hand every morning, even if they’d fallen asleep hugging each other and he always wondered how it had worked.
If they did it in their unconscious state or if one of them woke up and intertwined their fingers together with no memory of it.
But Stan loved it and if anyone asked him what his favorite part of the tour was outside of the performances, he’d say this… but he’d probably lie and say something about having his best friend with him at every show watching from the side lines.
Because this was a part of their secret and no one could know.
“Good morning stupid” Kyle hummed, disconnecting their hands from each other so he could prop his head up in his hands and look down at him “what's the plan today?” he reminded the boy that the tour was over and they had a few days to screw around before they started their journey back to colorado.
Stan thought for a few moments, Kyle brushing strands of hair away from his eyes “why don’t we get breakfast with the band then fuck around and find out where the day takes us” he suggested placing his hand onto Kyles which rested on his cheek.
The action leads to a soft lengthy kiss, which turns into a heated make out session.
Distracted in one another they failed to hear someone knocking or the door opening “I. knew. It” the voice caused them to break apart, looking at the figure with horror filled eyes as they had been caught for the second time “I knew it! After the Seattle show I knew it!” Kenny exclaimed, quietly as he closed the door, fully walking into the room.
Maybe they hadn’t been as subtle as they had thought.
Sensing the tension as he stared at his two best friends he gave them his signature smile “I won’t tell anyone! Not even Marj- who by the way is totally into me–” Kyle rolled his eyes and relaxed “you have my word though you two are totally obvious it is a wonder how the girls don’t know, I figure Wendy already knows because Marj told me she has gone through so much concealer while on tour” Kyle blushed, sinking into the sheets to hide the collection of hickey’s he had acquired the last three months.
“I have to know though, when, how and what even” Kenny sat down, finally done rambling his curious eyes begging for answers and sending support.
Stan glanced down at Kyle momentarily letting a smile play his lips before speaking “after the first Denver show, I made the first move, a week later Wendy walked in on us making out–thankfully fully clothed–and that's basically it” he gave him a awkward yet teasing smile, laughing when his face fell.
“Are you two dating or what?” Kenny threw his hands up, standing back on his feet and Kyle sat up fully shaking his head almost hesitantly as if he didn’t want to say no “just friends! Or well, not just friends… we’re kind of friends with benefits I guess” he looked over at stan who with hand quotations repeated the phrase “kind of friends with benefits” before getting hit with a pillow.
Kennys eyes widened and he bit back his teasing smile when he saw Kyle’s neck and chest “I don’t know, Marsh you seem to really want Kyle” he shot the two a wink before making his way to the door “no wonder Wendy went through so much makeup, I saw the one in seattle and-”
“Wait wait what did you mean when you said you knew it after the seattle show” Kyle brought up glancing over at Stan who was currently trying to find his boxers in the mess of clothes on the floor, his ears red when he slipped them on, announcing he was going to take a shower.
Standing in the doorway with his hand on the door handle, “I noticed Stan looked a lot happier, I thought that he was getting laid or something but then I saw you two sneaking around in the hotel when we were in seattle, I followed you guys down to the pool and saw how you two looked at each other” there was a small pause Kenny watched Kyle’s reaction carefully “friends with benefits don’t look at each other like that”
Kyle looked away awkwardly “do you like Stan?” Kenny asked suddenly, already knowing the answer as he had only been suspecting it since they were kids, Kyle opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out “I won’t tell anyone, not even Marj” walking over to the bed, Kenny held his pinky out for him.
Hooking their pinkies together in a pinky promise Kyle took a deep breath and nodded “to be honest–” he chuckled and looked up at the ceiling “it is so much more than that, at first I thought it was a stupid crush until we were at Starks Pond when we were 13, we had both snuck out because Stan and Wendy had broken up for the last time because Wendy started suspecting that he was gay, spoiler alert, he isn’t gay, he’s bi which we all know by now but the same night I told him I was gay and how I realized I was definitely into guys without actually telling him who I was talking about” he saw Kenny shake his head with a smile.
“you were talking about him weren’t you?” Kenny asked, holding Kyle’s hand “Stan, I mean, you were talking about him” slowly nodding, Kyle found himself looking up at the dirty blond who still held a smile on his face.
They didn’t know that standing just out of view was Stan, who had forgotten his phone and heard the entire conversation between the two, “of course I was talking about him” Stan held his breath “Kenny I knew I was gay since I was like 10 or 11, you were the first person I told because I had no idea how Stan would’ve reacted, especially if he found out that he was my uh…” Kyle paused looking back up at the ceiling.
“Your gay awakening”
A faint blush formed on Kyle's face “yeah… that… he probably would’ve freaked, I never told anyone about my feelings for Stan, minus Wendy but that was because she found out on her own after she joined the band”
Stan leaned against the wall, covering his face with his hands “I couldn’t lose my best friend because of my stupid crush on him… surprise it isn’t just a stupid crush, I actually love him” frozen in place Stan went cold.
He stopped listening and slowly walked into the bathroom again, calling for Kyle to bring him his phone, he didn’t want him to know he had been listening the whole time.
He leaned against the bathroom counter, listening to the muffled goodbye’s of Kenny and Kyle hit his ears, a knock ripped him from his thoughts.
“It’s unlocked” Stan yelled, the bathroom door slowly opened and Kyle poked his head in cautiously, an action which made Stan smile as he looked fondly at Kyle whose curly hair was covering his eyes “would it be weird to ask you to join me?” Kyle smiled, letting a single chuckle leave his lips as he entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him and shaking his head.
Approaching the bleach blond male, Kyle looked down at him and for the first time Stan saw the true way that Kyle looked at him, silently cursing at himself for not realizing the obvious, Stan pulled down the taller male by his neck and connected their lips for a few short moments, smiling when they separated.
—
“Where are you two going?” Bebe asked when she saw Kyle and Stan in the lobby of their hotel, she was on her phone most likely texting Clyde or Heidi, she pretended to not see them drop their once connected hands when she looked up at them with curious eyes.
Clearly struggling to answer her question as they didn’t want anyone from the band following them they both shrugged and Bebe seemingly understood as she looked back down at her phone and biting back a smile “ok, be back by 6 we are doing dinner all together apparently, Marjorine’s idea apparently she has something she wants to announce to the band” she typed away on her phone, glancing up at the two who looked at her with teasing looks.
“Oh shut up, I miss my boyfriend, something you two wouldn’t understand” she said not implying anything and missing the panicked looks on both boys faces “you two don’t have significant others waiting for you back in south park or at all actually” they relaxed.
She looked back up at them with a soft smile “well, enjoy your day guys” she turned on her heel before giving them a small wave and walking towards the pool area.
—
“Stan, you have a whole fanbase on twitter, look!” Kyle said showing his screen to the boy, who was in the middle of an intense game of pac-man, Stan glanced over for a second cringing at the cringey usernames and flower crown edit profile photos “you and Wendy have been getting shipped though, who's gonna tell them that she's a lesbian” with that Stan got a game over, looking over at the red head.
“They’re shipping us? We’ve just got off tour, literally no one knew us before this, minus the people who have been following us on youtube, and we don’t have a label or any albums and suddenly we’re the next big thing” Stan groaned, grabbing Kyle's wrist and pulling him to the photobooth, pulling the curtain aside and sitting down.
“Fangirls Stan” Kyle answered sarcastically “you should see Kenny’s fanbase even they think something is up between him and Marj, especially after the stunt they pulled during one of the first shows, I mean it went viral” Kyle leaned his head back against the wall of the booth and turned to fully face the boy next to him.
“Wait what stunt?” Stan didn’t remember much from the beginning of the tour with how out of it he had been but still Kyle was shocked that he hadn’t known what had happened especially since it had been one of the reasons the group was gaining popularity despite not even having released any music officially yet “dude tell me you’re kidding”
Stan stared blankly forward at him, telling him that he was not in fact joking and without a second thought, Kyle began to pull the video up.
At first the video had seemed normal, they were in the middle of one of their covers from that nights set performing like usual but the video was singled in on Kenny in particular as he stood beside Marjorine occasionally bumping into her.
For the first 30 seconds Stan watched in confusion, it had seemed almost completely normal until the end of the song, when Kenny and Marjorine had their foreheads resting against each others, something he had remembered seeing as a brief appearance of himself and Bebe had snuck into the frame looking at the pair, completely unfazed.
Stan’s eyes widened though when he watched Kenny leave a chaste kiss on Marjoines lips just as Stan turned around and started talking to the crowd “holy shit dude” he simply said after the video ended and Kyle nodded.
“There is another video from the same show, after your guys’s set was over someone in the crowd caught them kissing without realizing it” he said as he put his phone back into his pocket “after the first video started gaining traction people started making compilations of their interactions on stage and the bands youtube videos also because Marj is open about being trans they got more attention, it was this weird thing and it jump started the whole like ‘lets ship the band together’ thing that's happening, like you and Wendy and being shipped and you and Bebe are too”
Shocked and still confused, Stan nodded trying to understand the situation “why don’t they ship us together” Kyle’s face flushed red at the question, looking down at his hands “I’m not apart of the band Stan, plus I think the fangirls would lose their shit if they found out you swung both ways, I mean a few people apparently ship you and Kenny so there's that”
“I don’t give a shit what fangirls think Kyle, besides–” Stan placed a hand on Kyle's cheek “I prefer fanboys anyways” he deadpanned, eyes bouncing between his eyes and lips, shocked Kyle smiled “you do?” he asked stupidly and Stan responded with a nod.
“Oh yeah, but there is one fanboy I especially like a lot” he hushed, before leaning away from him “he’s the sweetest person ever despite his temper and he has the prettiest hair” he moved his hand from his cheek to his hair, wrapping a finger around his curl.
“Though he hates his hair and used to hide it when we were kids” he scooted closer to him, noticing how flustered he was and he moved his hand back to his cheek “I love it, I know its a pain to manage but it's one of my favorite things about him”
Kyle huffed, closing his eyes at the comments “to me it sounds like you love him”.
“I think I do” he froze and slowly opened his eyes to look at the boy ahead of him.
He had a thousand thoughts running through his head at that moment, he had no idea how to respond to him as his mouth now hung open without realizing until he felt it be pushed shut while Stan chuckled at his reaction before he pulled him forward and pressed his mouth to his.