Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

~

“So you’ll be there?” 

“Yeah totally! I’ll see ya tonight, Stan!”

“See ya, Kyle!”

Kyle hesitates to hang up on Stan, not wanting to end their conversation. Stan decides to hang up first, making Kyle not have to choose. Kyle lets out a sigh he didn’t realize he was holding. He flops onto his bed, letting his red curls rest on his pillow. He puts an arm over his eyes, hiding his blushing face from any possible stalkers in the room. He grins, thinking of all the times he and Stan had talked. He just couldn’t get the stupid boy off his mind. They’d been super best friends for who knows how long. All they knew was that they could trust each other with everything. As best friends, of course. 

However, Kyle felt differently about Stan. There was no denying it. He had a crush on his best friend. Super best friend to be specific. Sure he had greasy hair, he was really stupid, probably an alcoholic, but he still loved him despite it all. Despite his flaws, there were things about Stan that Kyle could never get over. His goofy smile, his sense of fashion (although it was very goth, it was hot), his guitar playing abilities, and his singing voice. Oh god, his voice. It was hypnotic. He was a god at singing. He wasn’t as good in fourth grade, but he took voice lessons, and now he’s fantastic. Stan was such a music nerd. He would often come over to Kyle’s house and practice songs he’d been writing. Kyle never took his eyes off of him. He was amazing at it to say the least. Kyle could fall asleep to anything Stan played for him. He never knew which thing he should be more focused on, the music or his face. 

Kyle continued to lay there, thinking of Stan. He’d get to see him a lot tonight. Tolkien, being the gifted rich kid he is, decided to throw a senior party. A lot of their friends from elementary we’re going. They’d all stayed very close over the years, mostly because of Craig and Kenny being good smoking buddies, making their groups hang out more often. Tolkien and Kyle had stayed fairly good friends too, Kyle often ranting to Tolkien about Stan. That’s another reason Kyle wasn’t gonna miss the party. Although he usually wouldn’t like the loud noises or all the drunk people around, he felt safer because he'd know almost everyone there. Especially Stan.

Kyle picked his phone off his bedside table. He went to scroll on his phone while he waited for the time of the party to come around. He couldn’t help but look at Stan’s Instagram, scrolling through pictures of Stan, himself, and his family. Oh god, his family. Kyle didn’t even wanna think about the shitty family Stan had. His dad was the shittiest, but his mom and sister barely gave two shits. However, it always gave him an excuse to come over to Kyle’s house. Kyle groaned and put his phone back on his dresser. He slowly got up, thinking he should start getting ready. He rummaged through his closet of baggy clothes, knowing he was insecure as fuck. He didn’t exactly know how fancy he was supposed dress, so he decided to test Stan to see what he was wearing. He definitely should have texted Tolkien instead, since he’s the host, but he couldn’t just let up the opportunity to possibly see a picture of Stan in something nice. 

Kyle picked up his phone once again and opened Stan’s contact. He laughed at previous messages and photos they shared with each other. Kyle began to type.

Kyle: Hey man, what are you wearing tonight? Not sure how dressy to be.

He patiently waited for a response. He thought that Stan was also getting ready himself. He sat on his bed, staring at the text that said “Delivered”. He sighed and looked back through his closet. He’d been to a party before, so maybe he guessed it was casual. Suddenly he heard his phone make a ding sound twice. He rushed to his phone and opened up his messages. His jaw dropped.

Stan <3: nothing fancy, tolkien’s chill so i thought it was cool to wear what i usually wear

Stan <3: here’s what i’m wearing incase you want inspiration

Kyle stared at the photo of Stan. It was different from normal photo’s he had taken of himself. He’d usually do some sort of silly pose, but this one was more serious. And hot. Kyle felt his face getting hotter, not wanting to look away for a second. Kyle snapped back into reality when he saw Stan typing. He panicked, but waited for him to finish.

Stan <3: did that not help?

Kyle: No it did. Thanks man.

Stan <3: anytime, ky :)

Kyle blushed at the nickname Stan gave him. He quickly put his phone down, processing what he saw. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, soon making his way back to his closet. He found himself a baggy sweater of his favorite color and a pair of baggy jeans. A basic outfit, but it hid his hideous body. He slipped on the sweater and put on his jeans. He put on a belt to keep his jeans up. He had a fairly slim body all together, but he still wasn’t proud of it. He finished off the outfit with some jewelry. He was gay, he had to wear jewelry. When Kyle was done, he decided to take a picture of his outfit and send it to Stan. He was very self conscious, but he trusted Stan enough for him not to judge him. 

Kyle: I put together something. Do I look presentable?

Stan <3: looking good👍

Stan <3: how about you show me your face :)

Kyle scoffed and looked away from his phone, face still red as a tomato. He chuckled a bit at the compliment he received. He turned back for a moment so he could reply.

Kyle: Not a chance.

Stan <3: pleeeeease? i love your face :(

Kyle was shocked at the statement. He placed his phone down and laid on his bed, covering his face with his hands. He groaned. He didn't know why he was complimenting him like this. He almost wondered if Stan was drunk. It would explain the strange behavior. He shook away the thoughts and regained his composure. He began thinking of what to reply with.

Kyle: You’ll see me later tonight. 

Stan <3: i can’t wait that long :(

Kyle: Still no.

Stan <3: ugghh fine see you tonight

Kyle locked his phone and set it down gently and smiled. He kept thinking how much Stan wanted to see his face. However, he couldn’t shake off the thought that Stan was possibly drunk and didn’t mean any of what he said. What if he actually hated him? What if he thought he was annoying? Why would he say those things anyways? Kyle put his head in his hands and thought. He tried to push better thoughts into his head. He’d be seeing Stan today, so he could tell for himself if he was already drunk. There was one thought that stuck out in Kyle’s mind. No matter how much Stan drank daily, he’d never enter a party already drunk. He’d have to be inside first before he could do anything. That made Kyle’s nerves calmer.

He took some deep breaths before checking his phone again. It was 6:30. An hour and a half before the party. He really didn’t have much to do, so he spent the time scrolling through tiktok. He found a bunch of “use this sound and he will be obsessed with you” videos, so he recorded himself a few times for good measure. He felt almost embarrassed at himself, being so helplessly in love. 

~

Kyle checked his phone after lots of videos. He saw it was 7:45. He figured it was better to be early than late. He found his jacket hanging from his bedpost and put it on. He exited his room , making sure to close the door behind him. He tiptoed past his brother, who was watching some mindless TV show, and went through the front door. He got into his Jeep he’d gotten for his 17th birthday. Although his family probably had enough for a nicer car, he didn’t really mind having a basic teenager car. As he started to drive to Stan’s house, he couldn’t help but get butterflies in his stomach thinking of seeing Stan in person.

He arrived at Tolkien’s house at 7:56, 4 minutes before the party officially started. As he knocked on the door, he heard talking from the other side. Apparently someone else had gotten there before him. When he opened the door, Tolkien was standing there. He could see Clyde sitting on the couch on the right. Tolkien smiled as he saw Kyle.

“Hey man! Glad you could make it.” Tolkien said as he stepped aside, letting Kyle into the house.

“Of course dude! Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Kyle stepped into the house and took Tolkien’s hand to dab him up. As they walked into the house, Kyle took a seat next to Clyde on the couch. Tolkien leaned onto the couch behind him. Clyde patted Kyle on the back. 

“Hey Kyle! What’s up?” Clyde asked as he gave a smug grin. 

“Nothing much. You came pretty early, huh?” Kyle asked him right back.

“Actually I was already here playing games with Tolkien.” Clyde said, Tolkien nodded. Kyle could have sworn he saw both of their cheeks turn pink. Kyle had known both of them, especially Tolkien, long enough to know that they liked each other. They were both the “token straight friend”, but Kyle had a feeling they both wanted to be more than friends. Kyle shrugged as Tolkien made his way to the front of the couch, taking a seat next to Clyde. Tolkien took a controller on the floor and handed it to me. As he reached over, Clyde backed up a bit and stared at Tolkien’s arm. Once Kyle had the controller, Tolkien handed Clyde the other one, letting their fingers ghost over each other. Tolkien got up once Clyde had the controller.

“I’m gonna do a quick sweep through the house. Guests are coming any minute. You guys have fun.” Tolkien explained as he waved us off. He went to set a few drinks and plates out. Clyde smiled in Tolkien’s direction before turning to Kyle. He noticed Kyle had a smug look on his face. Clyde nudged him with his arm and got up to start the Nintendo. Kyle wondered why only a Ninetndo was brought out. He knew his family had enough money for at least three consoles. He questioned it too much as the screen loaded.

“I’m super good at Mario Kart. I suggest we play that so I can impress Tolkien.” Clyde whispered to Kyle. He rolled his eyes with a smile in response. He knew he’d impress Tolkien either way, but he wasn’t gonna complain about playing games. As they chose their characters and road, the doorbell rang. Kyle and Clyde turned their heads simultaneously while Tolkien made his way to the door. When he opened the door, Kenny was already walking inside. Kenny greeted everyone and sat next to Kyle, watching him play.

Everyone started to enter the party one at a time. Once Stan made it to the party, he stood behind Kyle as he played. He watched him intensely. Kyle didn’t have any clue that he was there. Once Kyle crossed the finish line, placing in 3rd, he leaned back to watch Clyde place 5th. The two joked and yelled for a bit before Stan spoke up.

“Damn,  you’re really good at this, aren't cha?” Stan asked, peeking over to get a better view of Kyle. Oh god, Kyle was pretty. His hair was so curly and poofy, he had a bunch of tiny freckles sprinkled all over his face. He really wasn’t lying when Stan said he wanted to see Kyle’s face. It was a perfect face.

Once Kyle saw Stan, his face lit up. He smiled a smug grin at him.

“I practice. How long have you been stalking me?” Kyle asked with the grin still plastered on his face. Stan wanted to say ‘for years’, but he didn’t let his impulsive thoughts win. That wasn’t true, but it wasn’t too far from the truth either. 

“I just got here like 15 minutes ago, and I’ve been watching you since then.” Stan smiled brightly, making Kyle grow butterflies in his stomach. Kyle scooched over to the left so Stan could sit down. As Stan sat down, they laughed and talked for a bit. Both of them were smiling so much, their cheeks began to burn. Neither of them really minded that much. They almost had nothing to talk about, since they knew everything about each other. Well, almost everything.

After a few seconds of awkward silence because of lack of conversation topics, Stan got up to get a drink. 

“I’m getting something to drink. Want me to get you anything?” Stan asked.

“Some water is fine.” Kyle asked shyly.

“Seriously? Water at a party? I’m getting you some punch.” Stan walked away before Kyle could protest. Kyle sighed as he leaned back into the couch. He smiled as he thought of Stan doing something for him. It seems like everything little thing Stan does makes Kyle go crazy. He always hopes and prays that he feels the same way. Kyle decided to go through his phone while he waits for Stan. His plans fail when Kenny comes to sit next to him. He looks a bit down, which is a surprise to see. 

“Hey dude, you okay?” Kyle asks Kenny.

“No. I… can’t find Butters anywhere. I promised I’d stay with him throughout the party because he was nervous, but I lost him. I’m really fucking worried that something happened to him.” Kenny put his head in his hands while resting his elbows on his knees. Kyle patted his back in an attempt to comfort him.

“Maybe he got lost in the house. I’ll help you look for him if you want.” Kyle gave a comforting smile as Kenny lifted his head. Kenny responded with a confident grin as he stood up.

“Alright, then let’s go.” Kenny said, starting to walk around the house. Kyel got up to follow him. As they walked around, Kyle glanced into the kitchen to see if Stan was there getting his drink. He saw where the punch was, but he didn’t see Stan there. He raised an eyebrow, wondering where he could have gone. He shrugged it off, thinking he got drunk somewhere else. He silently told himself to keep an eye out for Stan as well as Butters.

The two boys searched the whole house for both of their crushes. They looked in the bathrooms, guest rooms, Tolkien’s room, and outside. They looked absolutely everywhere. Neither Butters nor Stan was found. The duo traveled to the kitchen to try and get some intel, and some drinks. Kyle found the punch bowl and made himself a drink. He joined Kenny on the other side of the kitchen to talk to Craig.

“Hey uhh, weird question but have you seen Butters?” Kenny asked Craig.

“And Stan.” Kyle added. Craig gave them his usual monotone stare, but with a puzzled tint to it.

“Nope. Speaking of missing people, have any of you seen Tweek?” Craig asked them in return. Kyle and Kenny turned to each other, seeing if the other heard what he just said. It’s an understatement to say they were surprised. 

“...He’s not with you?” Kenny asked Craig. Craig gave him a ‘what do you think?’ look while holding his arms out. Kyle took a nervous sip out of his cup. Three people were missing? That’s too coincidental to be true. Craig’s case was especially peculiar. There wasn’t a moment that anyone could remember that Tweek and Craig weren’t together. It was almost like they were glued to each other. Somehow, that glue came apart.

“Tweek was here with me when we came to the party, but we got into an argument and he took off. I’m not sure he can handle being at a party by himself, especially not this one.” Craig’s face looked a bit bothered as he talked about his boyfriend. They had a very stable relationship, but they could be on opposite ends at times.

“Neither can Butters. He told me he was terrified of the party. He thought someone was gonna try and peer pressure him into doing something.” Kenny looked just as worried as Craig. He began to play with the strings of the black hoodie he was wearing. 

“All that happened to me is that Stan went to get me a drink and never came back.” Kyle looked down at his shoes, crossing his arms nervously. Kenny gave him a fainted smug grin.

“At least he tried to flirt with you before he left.” Kenny gave Kyle a nudge, trying to lighten the mood. Kyle groaned at him.

“He wasn’t flirting with me.” Kyle said with a serious tone in his voice.

“But you wish he was~” Kenny said in a sing-song tone. Kenny laughed his own joke. Even Craig gave a slight smirk at the joke. Kyle’s face started to get red and hot. His face palmed into his hand, arms still crossed on his chest. 

“Not the time to talk about this. Let’s just focus on finding the boys and getting intel.” Kyle tried to switch the subject. Kenny let out a somewhat sad sigh, having fun making fun of his friend. Obviously it was all with good intentions, and Kyle knew that. Kenny had known both Stan and Kyle for the longest. If anyone knew about their secret crushes or feelings, it was him. 

Craig and Kenny both shrugged and decided to take one more look around the house. Every corner and crevice was checked. Craig asked his friends Tolkien and Clyde if they had seen anything, to which they responded with a confused shrug and questions like ‘aren’t you and Tweek glued together?’ and ‘how did you even manage to get him off you?’. Craig decided not to waste his time getting criticized for losing his boyfriend, so he flipped them off instead. In reality, Craig felt entirely responsible and guilty for his disappearance. He hated that they fighted so much. He loved Tweek, he really did, but sometimes he was too much to handle. He felt toxic just thinking that. He decided to push the thought away and focus on the task at hand. 

The party slowly started to die down. People were black out drunk, or leaving before they got black out drunk. The three were about to sit on the couch in defeat, but found Cartman passed out on it. His feet were up on the left arm of the couch. He had an empty bottle in his left hand, which was dangling off the couch. Kyle groaned and pushed him off the couch. This caused him to wake up. He coughed before he saw Kyle, Kenny, and Craig sitting down in his spot. He scoffed as he sat up.

“Ay! What the hell do you assholes think you’re doing?!” Cartman slurred out. Tolkien came up behind them, arms crossed. He was obviously pissed at him, but honestly, who wouldn’t be.

“Get out. The party is over.” Tolkien demanded, looking down on Cartman. 

“There’s still a ton of people here! You can’t kick me out!” Cartman stated. Technically he was right. Not only were Tolkien and the three boys there, Clyde and Wendy had stayed to help clean up. Wendy was sweeping the front door and staircase, while Clyde was wiping the countertops. However, those were the absolute only people he would actually allow to be there. Tolkien knew his parents would kill him if they found out about the party. It was around 12:30 am, so they had a bit of time before his parents would arrive home at 7 am. Either way, Cartman was not allowed there in any way, shape, or form.

“I live here. I can kick anyone out.” Tolkien told him, making his way around to Cartman to remove the bottle from his hand. He struggled a bit, Cartman’s grip firm on the empty bottle. He finally retrieved it and went to put it in the recycling. Cartman tried to stand up, but he ended up falling backwards. Kyle tried to hold in a laugh, but he eventually let it escape his mouth. Cartman yelled at him, but he was soon tuned out as the others joined in the laughter. For a brief moment, everyone forgot about their missing friends. They could laugh and joke for just a moment, even though deep down, they knew what they should really be doing.

After a few minutes, the laughter died. Tolkien had finally convinced Cartman to leave, which left the others to deal with the situation at hand. Kyle took his phone out of his pocket and started to call Stan. His phone stayed pressed up to his ear for a while, letting the phone ring. When it went to voicemail, he hung up and hung his head. Kenny patted him on the back for comfort.

“Seriously, where the hell is he..?” Kyle said as he placed his head in his hands.

“Don’t worry, dude, we’ll find him. We’ll find Tweek and Butters too.” Kenny said with a comforting smile.

“...Wherever Stan is, I don’t think he’ll last. Why would he just…leave?”

“That’s actually a good question. I mean, I have a feeling I know why Tweek left, but it doesn’t seem like there was actually any real explanation for why they left.” Craig followed up. That’s when Wendy came over to the couch, setting his broom aside onto the staircase.

“You guys look like you need more resources. If you ever want some help, I’ll be right here.” Wendy added. Kyle looked up at Wendy in surprise. He wasn’t really on the best terms with Wendy, even after Stan and her broke up for good. He always had this aching feeling that he was just going to go back to her one day, but now was not the time to think about that. Since she offered to help, and Wendy is a smart girl, Kyle nodded at her suggestion.

“Thanks Wendy. I think we’ll need all the help we can get.” Kyle forced a smile. His somewhat anger towards Wendy needed to be subsided for now. Finding the boys was their ultimate goal. Suddenly, Clyde’s voice was heard from the kitchen.

“I’LL HELP TOO!” Clyde shouted, placing his rag on the counter so he could join the rest of the group. 

“I’ll be there to help you guys every step of the way!” Clyde put his hands on his hips, showing how determined he was. Tolkien gave a light chuckle, hiding it in his hand. This time, Kyle could clearly see the light blush on his face, even in the darkened room. 

“Just know that you guys have us on your side. They’re our friends, too.” Tolkien commented with a smile. A bit more hope filled each and everyone of the people in the room. It was right then and there that they knew things would get better. No matter how much time it took, they would find them

Stan.

Butters.

Tweek.

They would be found.

~

Everyone eventually returned to their own homes. Kyle’s family was already asleep at this point, so he slowly made his way to the bed. He flopped onto his bed, faced down on his pillow. He couldn’t help but try and call Stan again. He picked up his phone and pressed on his contact to call him. As the phone rang multiple times, he started to worry more. His call, once again, went to voicemail. Kyle put his phone down and his head landed on his pillow once. He tried his best not to cry, but soon his tears started to stain his pillowcase. He knew wherever Stan was, he wasn’t safe. He wouldn’t rest until he found his super best friend. His crush. His Stan.

Chapter Text

The alarm sitting on Craig’s nightstand woke him up. It took him a minute to sit up before he finally slammed his hand on it to shut it up. He let out a hard sigh and turned on his side to face his wall. He didn’t feel like crying right now, supposedly because he’d already cried all the tears he could. With Tweek missing, he was incomplete. Tweek was the sunshine Craig didn’t know he needed in his life. Whenever Tweek was freaking out, Craig would be there almost immediately. Craig could never even imagine a day without him. Somehow, that nightmarish thought became all too real.

Just to pass the time, Craig decided to scroll through his phone. He grabbed it lazily from his nightstand with his right hand. Once he unlocked it, he went to look at some of the messages he had recently sent Tweek. Some from weeks ago, some from days ago, and especially the ones from last night. He went to his favorite ones recently.

April 24rd, 2023 8:28 pm

Craig: tweek

tweek <3: huhh

Craig: i love you

tweek <3: aww i lowe you ytoo

Craig: can i come over

tweek <3: of cojuse you cna

Craig: good because i'm standing outside right now

April 30th, 2023 1:05 pm

tweek <3: where awre oyu

Craig: smoking with stan and kenny

tweek <3: stop

Craig: why

tweek <3: srtipew got out odf his caghe 

Craig: stripe is at my house

tweek <3: oh

tweek <3: will tpou cone cyuddle wiut me

Craig: i know that’s what you wanted

Craig: already omw

Yesterday 7:43 pm

tweek <3: im nit gfoinfg to thwe party 

Craig: wait why

tweek <3: im gonasn dio

Craig: you’re not gonna die

Craig: i'll be with you the whole time

tweek <3: fuck ofgf caig

tweek <3: dontr froce me

Craig: please please i promise i'll protect you

Craig: i'll come pick you up

tweek <3: fine

Yesterday 11:03 pm

Craig: tweek where are you

Craig: tweek

Craig: tweek

Craig: tweek answer me

Craig: tweek please im sorry

Craig: TWEEK

Craig: TWEEK DON'T LEAVE ME

Craig couldn’t help but start to tear up after the last few texts. They had fought that night because Tweek accused Craig of not caring about his feelings. They fought in the bathroom before Tweek stormed out. Craig tried to follow him, but lost him in the crowd of people. He searched the whole party for him with no sign. When he gave up, because he was still angry, he made his way to the kitchen to drink. He hated to think like Stan, drinking to forget the pain, but this was different. Something about this fight felt different. 

Once he had had about one drink, that’s when Kyle and Kenny told him about their situation. At the time, Craig had agreed to help, but he was losing hope. What if Tweek didn’t love him anymore? What if he never wanted Craig again? Those thoughts kept Craig glued to his bed, not motivated to even look for his boyfriend. He hesitated to even call him his boyfriend, since the fight could have been classified as a break up. Of course he wanted him back, but if he didn’t love Craig, there was no point.

Suddenly, Craig heard a knock on his door. He stayed silent for a moment, deciding not to answer. After a second knock and a moment of silence, Craig’s mom came into the room.

“Craig…” His mom began to speak, her voice sounding very sympathetic. He didn’t even face her. He just stayed laying on his side facing the wall of his bedroom.

“Craig, you can’t keep moping around like this.” His mom began to say, “Just because Tweek’s gone missing doesn’t mean you can’t get out of bed. The people of town will find him and everything will go back to normal.” He heard footsteps come closer to him. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. She rubbed his shoulder gently, but it didn’t ease any pain. His mom had no idea what he was going through. 

“Leave me alone.” He finally told her. His sleepy monotone voice was very prominent, but had a hint of annoyance in it. He didn’t really mean for it to sound bratty, but he wasn’t in the mood to correct himself.

“...Fine. I’ll have breakfast on the table when you come down. Plus, you have school tomorrow.” Craig’s mom just walked out of the room, closing the door. Craig contemplated getting out of bed and going downstairs, but he decided against it. He stayed there, lying on his side. He couldn’t shake the thought of Tweek being hurt right now. He desperately wanted to go find him, try anything to get hints or clues to his whereabouts. He wanted nothing more than to hug his boyfriend, kiss his boyfriend, cuddle his boyfriend, anything. 

His phone ringing pulled him out of his thoughts. He groaned as he picked it up. He saw that Tolkien was calling him. He decided to decline it and shut his eyes once more, dreaming about what could have happened if he wasn’t such a terrible boyfriend. His phone started to ring again, Tolkien’s number showing up once again. He sighed as he pressed the button to answer.

“...What.” Craig mumbled out into his pillow.

“Dude! Where are you? Did you not see the text Clyde sent you?” Tolkien’s voice rang from the other end of the phone. Craig groaned into his pillow once more.

“No, I didn’t. Now fuck off.” Craig was about to hang up before Tolkien started to talk again.

“Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! Don’t hang up! We need to talk.” Tolkien spat out.

“If this is about Tweek, don’t bother. I’m fine.” Craig told him.

“No, you’re not fine. Me and Clyde know better than anyone else that without Tweek, you go insane.” Tolkien stated. Craig thought about it for a minute. He didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to prove to himself that he could be someone without Tweek, but the more he stayed lying there, he kept doubting it. It was embarrassing how much he had grown to rely on Tweek. 

“No I don’t, Tolkien. Just forget it. I’ll be fine. He doesn’t want me anyways.” Craig mumbled the last bit. However, Tolkien still heard it.

“...You’re fucking kidding, dude.” Clyde’s voice was heard over the phone this time. Craig rolled his eyes. Of course Clyde was there too. Those two couldn’t stand to go a minute away from each other. Those two should just confess and stop wasting everyone’s time. Craig pushed away the useless thoughts once again.

“Of course he wants you. One dumb fight isn’t gonna ruin an 8 year relationship.” Tolkien tried to reason.

“How would you know? You’ve never been in an 8 year relationship.” Craig argued. 

“We know you and Tweek. There’s no way he’s giving up on you that easily.” Clyde told him. Craig desperately did want to believe that Tweek wanted him, but he was too low at this point. The last words Tweek ever said to him since that night were ‘You’re fucking ridiculous. I’m leaving. Fuck you, Craig’. It hurt even more that his name was the last thing he ever said to him. 

Craig was having enough of Tolkien and Clyde’s bullshit. Before they could say anything else, Craig hung up. He turned off his phone and put it on his table, covering his head with the covers when he heard the phone ring again. He groaned loudly and sat up. He decided the only way to ignore the phone call was to leave the room. He slowly swung his legs over the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes. He found his hat hanging on his bed frame. He quickly put it on his head, covering his messy bed hair. Once he got the motivation to sit up, he realized how long this day was gonna be. 

He made his way to the bathroom, splashing his face with water as soon as he got there. He felt the cold water sting on his face. It helped him wake up but it didn’t help him forget his situation. Craig found it hard to even stand. He was so drained from absolutely everything that happened. He hesitantly picked up his toothbrush to brush his teeth. The minty flavor helped him wake up. Once he had spit everything out, he heard the doorbell of his house ring. He figured it was Tolkien and Clyde, who’s attempts to get him to cheer up failed.

He made his way back to his bedroom, where he planned to stay for the rest of the day. Suddenly, he heard his mom and someone talking downstairs. God dammit, did she let them in? He figured she would call him down anyway, so he decided to see who was really at the door. As he slumped his way downstairs and was met with a surprise.

“Kyle?”

Craig looked at Kyle with wide eyes. He looked terrible. By terrible, he meant he looked like was feeling as bad about the situation as he himself was. Large eye bags, messy hair, baggy clothes, untied shoelaces. He pitied Kyle. He was technically in a similar boat as him.

“Hey Craig.” Kyle started “Can we… talk upstairs?” Kyle asked. Craig gave Kyle a puzzled look, but shrugged anyway. Craig’s mom left them alone and made her way to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Craig led Kyle to his room. Once they were in his room, Craig closed the door behind him. Kyle stood in the middle of the room. Craig sighed and sat on his bed, patting the spot beside him. Kyle nodded and sat down next to him. As soon as they sat, the air felt tense. They both knew what needed to be discussed.

“...Why are you here, Kyle? I thought you were moping about your stupid boyfriend.” Craig asked, breaking the silence. He refused to face Kyle. He didn’t even feel like talking to anyone right now.

“He’s not my boyfriend, and you know why I’m here.” Kyle responded, giving Craig a dirty look. He felt annoyed when he noticed Craig wasn’t even giving him eye contact. Kyle was given the silent treatment for a minute before Craig collected his thoughts.

“Something about the boys?” Craig asked.

“Obviously. I want you to help me look for them.” Kyle stated firmly. That’s when Craig looked up at Kyle. He hated being told the same thing over and over again. Craig gave him a dirty look, which confused Kyle.

“Why are you acting like this is such a weird thing, dude? Don’t you want to look for your boyfriend?” Kyle asked.

“Of course I want to, but he wouldn’t want me to. He doesn’t even care about me.” Craig stated. Kyle looked at Craig annoyingly.

“...You have to be fucking joking.” Kyle questioned. There it was again. Someone telling him the same thing over and over again. He started to see how much Tolkien had really influenced him.

“I told you at the party. We had a fight and he left. He doesn’t care.” Craig told him.

“That’s bullshit! You’ve got the best relationship in town! You guys have it better than anyo-” Kyle was cut off by Craig, finally looking in his direction. 

“You have NO idea what it’s like, Kyle! We get into fights all the time now! It feels like he barely loves me!” Craig shouts out. Kyle stays silent for a minute, trying to figure out what to say. He takes a deep breath.

“You don’t know until you try. If you love him, then do something about it.” Kyle tells him. That’s when Craig really took the time to think. He wants Tweek back more than anything. Maybe his friends were right, maybe he is turning into a mess because of this. He wanted Tweek more than anything else in the world. He decided to take that chance and face his fears.

“...Fine. We’ll help each other.” Craig looked softened as he looked at Kyle. Kyle smiled back and stood up, offering a hand. Craig rolled his eyes with a smile and took his hand, standing up. Kyle offered his arms out for a hug, but Craig just gave him a death stare. Kyle shrugged it off and they both walked out of Craig’s room.

“Kenny’s in on this too. He said he wouldn’t rest until he found Butters.” Kyle told Craig as they walked down the stairs. He had a bit of a realization at that moment. Things were gonna be okay. He’d have people by his side helping him. He’d be supported by people going through the same thing. Sure Craig wasn’t great with emotions, but maybe this would be his chance to open up. He would have people by his side if he ever felt the need to cry. Of course he wouldn’t cry in front of them for a while, but maybe he’d warm up to them.

But the most important thing to him was that he wasn't alone. 

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” Kyle offered him a handshake as he asked. Craig was hesitant, but he took his hand and shook it gently. He could only give a faint but grateful smile to Kyle. They let go and Kyle waved Craig off. He closed the door behind him, leaving Craig standing at his front door. He quickly processed what had just happened before walking back up to his room. He shut the door behind him and sat back where he just was on his bed. 

A million thoughts were running through his head, but he chose to focus on one thought and goal alone. He picked up his phone, only to see 12 missed calls from Tolkien. He took a deep breath in and out before pressing Tolkien’s contact to call him. It rang twice before it picked up on the other line.

“CRAIG! Dude where have you b-”

“I’m taking your advice. I’m going to find Tweek.” Craig firmly stated, not letting Tolkien question his whereabouts. The other line stayed quiet for a second, then he heard voices once again.

“...Woah. That was a quick change. Good for you though.” Tolkien stated, his smile obvious through the phone.

“Yeah! Go get your man!” Clyde’s voice suddenly appeared in the background. Craig rolled his eyes once again, this time with a smile.

“What made you change your mind? Did we finally get through your thick skull?” Tolkien asked jokingly. Craig had to think what he really wanted to say to them for a minute.

“I talked with Kyle. We’re gonna search together.” Craig told them. He thought it was better to just tell them. There was no real reason to hide. At one point, he had thought of asking Tolkien and Clyde for help, but his negative thoughts consumed him.

“I bet he’s looking for Stan mostly. He’s so obviously in love with him.” Clyde commented. This got a laugh out of Tolkien. Craig felt the situation was very ironic. He’s had to deal with their bullshit since 8th grade. Now being in his senior year, he was more than ready to spill everything to them.

“It’s a mutual thing. I guess we’re just both helping each other. Plus Kenny,” Craig added.

“Oh right, Butters is missing. Bet he’s looking for him.” Tolkien's voice had a sad tone to it. No one really wanted to talk about the disappearances. It was a touchy subject for everyone. There was a few minutes of silence between the three.

“Anyways, I’m not gonna sit on my ass anymore.” Craig told them.

“Hey, that's great man. If you need our help, let us know.” Tolkien informed Craig.

“Yeah totally! We’re right here for you.” Clyde added. Craig was grateful for the friends he has, even if he didn’t really show it. Suddenly, he heard his phone. He got a text from someone. He pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker before opening the text. It was from Kyle.

Kyle: Hey Craig! Me and Kenny are gonna have a meeting tomorrow at 3 to discuss some plans. You wanna join?

Craig thought about it for a moment. The best thing to do would be to go. All they wanted was to save the ones they loved most. There really was no reason not to go. Tolkien’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“You still there, dude?” Tolkien asked. He almost forgot he was still on a call.

“Oh yeah. I’m here. Thanks guys, but I gotta go.” Craig told them.

“Alright man, good luck. Bye.” Tolkien and Craig said their goodbyes and hung up. That left Craig to respond to Kyle’s request.

Craig: yeah i'll go

Kyle: Great! See you there!

Craig closed up his phone and flopped down on his bed. He had friends, family, a nice-ish school, all he could ever need. Except for Tweek. The one thing he wanted in his life wasn’t there anymore. He had fucked it all up. The one boy he thought he connected with, and he fucks it all up. He wipes his eyes before any tears can come out. He wasn’t going to cry about this anymore. Crying won't solve anything. Craig was gonna stop crying about him and start doing something to get him back. Whatever it would take.

Chapter Text

The day for the meeting finally came. Kenny made his way to Kyle’s house. It was a pretty far walk, but the one car his family shared was being used by his drunk dad. Plus, he didn’t mind the cold after walking through this town his whole life. He didn’t bother questioning when things went wrong. It was pointless. The town was a shitty place, and no one could change that. Somehow, he was still bothered by the fact that Butters was gone. He was the light this town needed. There was no way the town would be where it was today without him. He was just that ray of sunshine that showed through the clouds that always crowded the sky. That’s what Kenny loved most about Butters.

Once he finally arrived at Kyle’s house, he let himself in. Kyle was expecting him, and they had been friends long enough that he didn’t have to knock. Kyle had told him to meet in his bedroom, so he made his way up the stairs. Once he opened the door, he heard a Taylor Swift song blasting in his room. Kyle himself was propped up against the headboard of his bed, scrolling on his phone. Another thing Kenny noticed about Kyle was that he wasn’t smiling. He was clearly in a bad state of mind. He ignored the loud song and walked over to Kyle’s bed and sat down on the side. That’s when Kyle perked his head up to face Kenny. His eyes were a bit puffier now seeing him up closer. Kenny sighed sadly.

“Were you crying?” Kenny asked comfortingly. Kyle hesitated to talk.

“...No.” Kyle’s eyes went back down to his phone. Kenny knew he was lying. He was a complete mess. He scooched up in the bed so he could sit next to Kyle and leaned over his shoulder, peaking at what he was looking at. He wasn’t surprised to find Stan’s instagram. There were almost a million photos of Kyle and Stan doing fun things. Currently, Kyle was staring at the photo of him and Stan with ice cream in their hands. They couldn’t have been older than 15 in the photo. They both had ice cream on their mouths and faces. Anyone passing why would’ve probably thought they were dating. 

Kyle scrolled down once more. This time, he came across a photo taken a bit more recently. It was last summer and Stan’s whole group had gone to the beach. Stan held the camera while Kyle, Kenny, Butters, and Cartman stood in the background. The sun was shining brightly in the background, but that sun wasn’t the one Kenny was staring at. He couldn’t help but keep his eyes on the blonde haired boy waving in the background. His smile was brighter than anyone else's. He had a bit of un-blended sunscreen on his nose. His body was pale, but not too pale. God those blue shorts fit him so well.

“You good dude…?” Kyle asked as he looked over at Kenny. He blushed as he fell out of his trance. He scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“Y-yeah I’m good.” Kenny said nervously, his blush growing. Kyle gave him a smug look.

“Were you staring at Butters?” He asked with a grin. Kenny was a bit speechless for a second, before coming up with a comeback.

“Were you staring at Stan?” Kenny asked, returning Kyle’s grin. That’s when his face got as red as Kenny’s. He punched Kenny in the arm, making Kenny laugh. Kyle joined in for a bit, having a brief moment of peace. Once they had calmed down completely, the situation they were in hit harder than ever. The tension in the air grew. Kyle was the first to speak up.

“I kinda like how we can laugh, even after… everything.” Kyle commented. Kenny just nodded in response. He didn’t want to tell Kyle what he and Butters had been talking about recently. It really fucked up his brain.

Everyday, Kenny and Butters were getting close. They were almost as inseparable as Stan and Kyle. Almost . After a while. Kenny thought it was finally time to explain his situation of death to him. He always had the worry that Butters would overreact, or not even believe him at all. All he wanted was for someone to remember him after dying. There were times where he would go non-verbal after a really bad death. He couldn’t tell anyone about them. They’d just forget it again. Butters was the only one he had a chance of convincing. Kenny had wanted to try multiple things on Butters, but they all required him to die in front of him. He would never forgive himself if he did that to Butters. He’s learned to live with it.

Kenny started to focus more on reality now. A new Taylor Swift song was playing in the background. He wasn’t really a fan of her, but he respected her. Plus, if his best friend likes her, she must be pretty okay.

“What song is this?” Kenny asked, breaking the tension a bit. Kyle’s eyes lit up.

“This is my tears ricochet by Taylor Swift…why?” Kyle asked.

“No reason, just curious. It was blasting, so I kinda had to ask.” Kenny replied. The song itself wasn’t too bad. It really fit the sad mood that both Kyle and Kenny were feeling. Plus, Kenny wouldn’t complain about music at a time like this.

Kenny decided to take out his phone and scroll a bit on his own. They were both waiting for Craig to arrive so they could discuss plans for finding the boys. They told him to come at 3:00, but Kenny arrived at 2:40 because he’s Kenny. Plus, they had a feeling they were gonna need to talk a bit by themselves without Craig there. Not that they weren’t close with Craig, they just were closer with each other.

The two sat in silence as a bunch of random Taylor Swift songs played in the background. Everytime he asked, it was always a pretty strange but creative title. Like “Sweet Nothing”, “Sad Beautiful Tragic”, and “tis the damn season”. They honestly impressed him. One thing Kenny noticed about them was that they were all very sad. Kyle must have already made a playlist for himself, because of course he did. The only thing Kyle loves more than Stan is music. Stan was the one who made him broaden his music taste, so maybe he didn’t love music more than Stan. Jeez, what a simp. Kenny ignored the hypocrisy of that statement.

After getting lost in their own thoughts for a while, the doorbell rang. Kenny waved off Kyle, letting him calm down for a bit, and went to get the door. He walked down the stairs and opened the door to see Craig. His eyes widened at the sight. He never saw him look worse than this ever. He almost looked as bad as Kyle did. Hell, he could describe him with the same attributes as Kyle. Messy hair, eye bags, baggy clothes, redshot eyes, everything. The one thing that distinguished them was Craig’s obviously annoyed stare that stuck with him. Craig and Kenny stood there in the doorway, just staring at each other. Kenny decided to break the silence.

“Uhhh, come in. Kyle’s upstairs.” Kenny moved out of the way to let Craig in. The latter stayed silent as he walked up the stairs, Kenny following behind him. Once Craig stepped into Kyle’s room, he groaned.

“Is this Taylor Swift?” Craig commented on the music. Kyle looked up in shock and annoyance at Craig’s question.

“Yeah, it is. Got a problem?” Kyle asked sternly.

“I guess not, let's just start thinking.” Craig went to sit on Kyle’s bed, Kenny following after him. They made a triangle on the, all of them sitting criss cross. The three sat in silence, wondering how to bring up the elephant in the room. Craig fidgeted nervously in his seat, nervous to share his thoughts with the people who stole $100 from him. He wasn’t exactly pressed on that anymore, but he always used the excuse when he was mad at any of them.

“Hey, how about we start with retracing our steps and remembering what happened that night?” Kyle suggested, being the brains of the group. Kenny and Craig looked at each other and nodded.

“Right, good idea. Let’s tell each of our sides of the story, and we’ll go from there.” Kenny added. The group nodded their heads in agreement. 

“Okay then I’ll start. I was playing video games against Clyde and when I was done, Stan came up behind me. He offered to get me some punch, and I didn’t say no, so he took off to get me some. I never saw him after that.” Kyle explained. Kenny and Craig thought for a minute. That’s when Kenny had an epiphany.

“Wait, hold up. Craig, weren’t you in the kitchen during the party? If Stan was going to get punch, wouldn’t he have to go to the kitchen? Which means YOU WOULD’VE SAW-” Kenny asked, but Craig interrupted his thoughts.

“I wasn’t in the kitchen the whole time. I was in the crowd with Tweek for most of it, but he took me into the bathroom to…y’know, talk. We were in there for about 10 minutes until Tweek stormed out and I followed him. I thought he went to the kitchen, but he wasn’t there. I just stayed there for a bit until you guys came. I never saw Stan.” Craig explained. Kyle and Kenny were a bit shocked about how much he’d told them. It was a lot more than he ever told anyone that wasn’t Tweek ever. Kyle and Kenny gave each other a look of realization, which turned into sadness for Kyle. Right now, he had no leads to where Stan had gone. Neither did any of the boys. 

“So we’re right back where we started…” Kenny said in defeat.

“No…no we’re not. If Stan went to the kitchen, and you said Tweek was heading to the kitchen. Does that mean the two saw each other?” Kyle questioned. The three thought about it for a minute. It was possible, or so they thought. 

“No, they couldn’t have. I went out as soon as Tweek got out. I would’ve seen Stan.” Craig pointed out. Kyle groaned and put his head in his hands.

“FUCK! Dude, how the hell are we supposed to do this?” Kyle complained. Kenny simply patted him on his back. It was really the only way of comforting people that he knew. He wasn’t very good at comforting people at all. However, Kyle still appreciated the gesture. 

Other ideas were thrown out there, most of them shut down by Kyle or Craig’s logical thinking. It’s like the three had been thrown into complete madness. Reckless acts like threatening others, hacking the FBI, and many other weird ideas all thrown out. Most of them came from Kenny’s mouth. They all argued over who actually was making the most sense when it came to the plan. They also argued over whose plan was the most doable, and whose plan was the most legal. It all seemed stupid, it all seemed hopeless. Almost at once, they began to come to their senses. Craig spoke up.

“What if…what if Tolkien has cameras in his house. If he does, do you think we could check those to see where they went?” Craig calmly asked, toning down the previous madness. The other two boys looked in Craig’s direction like he was crazy. As they came down from their mad high, they thought for a minute to consider Craig’s proposal.

“It…wouldn’t hurt to check.” Kenny said. It was probably the best solution they had yet.

“I don’t doubt that he’s rich enough to have cameras in his house, but it was pretty crowded. You think we’d be able to see them?” Kyle didn’t want to doubt Craig’s judgment, but they were starting to feel hopeless. He didn’t want another useless idea being thrown around that wouldn’t be possible. However, this was different.

“I’m gonna call him. He said tell him when we needed help.” Craig explained as he picked up his phone and unlocked it. He pressed on Tolkien’s contact and the phone started ringing. It rang four times before it picked up, which was a bit suspicious to Craig but he didn’t say anything.

“O-oh hey Craig! You okay man?” Tolkien asked, sounding super suspicious. His voice was shaking a bit, making it obvious something was off.

“I should be asking you the same thing. You sound nervous.” Craig commented. Kyle and Kenny looked at him with confusion, but he just shrugged in response.

“N-nah I’m fine man! W-why’d you call?” Tolkien asked, his voice still sounding shooken up.

“Uhhh…oh right. I have a question. Do you have cameras in your house?” Craig asked, getting right to the point.

“...In some places. Why?” Tolkien was now the suspicious one. Craig’s face lit up a bit as Tolkien responded. Kyle and Kenny understood what that meant, which made their faces light up as well. Kyle even let out a sigh of relief. 

“We wanna see if we can see any footage from the  party that night. We’ll see if any three of them show up on the cameras.” Craig informed him. He heard some shuffling on the other side of the phone, which confused him. It lasted for about 2 minutes before there was silence.

“Oh yeah that’s a good idea. I’ll uh, I’ll check with my dad to see if there’s any leftover footage.” Tolkien told him. Craig gave the other boys a thumbs up, which the boys in question high fived in response.

“Alright, thanks. We’ll come over in a bit to check it.” Craig said.

“W-Wait! You don’t have to do that! I-I’ll just send what I fi-” Tolkien started to protest, when Craig interrupted him.

“No, you sound super suspicious right now. We’re coming over.” Craig said, hanging up before Tolkien could say anything. The boys stared at each other in silence.

“Soooo he has footage?” Kenny asked, mostly confirming based on Craig’s reactions.

“He has cameras, he’s checking right now to see if there’s footage. We should go over there to see it for ourselves. Plus, Tolkien sounded like something else was happening over there, and I’m curious.” Craig informed them. They both shrugged in acknowledgment. All of them got up at once so they could head out and go to Tolkien’s. They packed up their stuff and started to head out of Kyle’s room and down the stairs. They decided to take Kyle’s car since they would be coming back anyways. Kyle went in the driver's seat and Kenny yelled out ‘SHOTGUN’ before taking the seat next to Kyle. Craig in the middle in the back. Craig picked up his phone and sent Tolkien a message.

Craig: were on our way

Tolkien: Okay give me a few minutes

Craig continued to be suspicious of him. What could he possibly be doing? He sounded so unsure and nervous over the phone, and now he’s saying to give him a few minutes? What was he doing, jacking off? Since Clyde himself exists, it wouldn’t shock him if he was. Craig didn’t really want to have those thoughts anymore, so he focused on the task at hand. Getting that camera footage.

Kyle pulled his car into the driveway of Tolkien’s house, or should he say mansion. It wasn’t exactly a mansion, but it was definitely one of, if not, the most expensive house in the town. Kenny was the first to rush out of the car to awe at the house. Kyle and Craig followed soon after.

“Woooah. Y’know even after being here more than once, I still cannot stop staring at this gorgeous house.” Kenny said as he did what he said, staring in shock. Kyle patted him on the back as he walked.

“You say that every time.” Kyle says as he leads Kenny closer to the house. Craig follows closely behind them, wanting to catch anything Tolkien might be doing. They made their way to the front steps and knocked on the door, waiting for a response. Craig, who’d been suspicious from the start, noticed it took exactly 10 seconds for Tolkien to answer the door. Maybe he was crazy, maybe he was overthinking, but when Tweek was missing. He was never at ease.

“Hey guys…uhh come on in.” Tolkien smiled and said. Kyle and Kenny walked right in, but Craig took a minute to take in what Tolkien looked like. Slightly sweaty, out of breath, definite fake smile, his pants were pretty loose too. Oh . Oh wait.

“...Were you jacking off?” Craig’s voice got lower as he asked. Tolkien looked shocked and mad.

“...The fuck?” Was all Tolkien could think to respond with.

“I may not talk to you a lot, but I know you. You were jacking off to something about Clyde, weren’t you?” Craig responded, crossing his arms. Tolkien was speechless.

“Dude, what the fuck? Why would I-” Tolkien started to argue before Craig interrupted him.
“Yes you did, and frankly I don’t care, so just get us that camera footage and let's move on.” Craig left without saying a word. He found Kyle and Kenny sitting on the couch, worriedly talking to each other. However, Tolkien wasn’t done. He pulled Craig back by his shirt collar and him around to face him. His face filled with…embarrassment. He let go of Craig's collar and whispered so only Craig could hear him.

“...You won’t tell anyone about this. Absolutely no one . Got it?” Tolkien confirmed, anger prominent in his voice. Craig let out a chuckle. Of course he was right.

“As long as we get our footage, your secret's safe with me.” Craig explained to him. Tolkien wiped off some of the sweat on his face, but still looked nervous.

“I-I…I’ll try my best.” Tolkien told him, nervously making his way to the couch, Craig following behind him. Technically he wasn’t exactly nervous, he was still coming down from his high. 

The two sat next to Kyle and Kenny, who were already sitting on the couch. Tolkien took a pillow next to him and placed it in his lap. Craig let out a subtle chuckle. Tolkien pulled out a laptop that was on the coffee table, placed it onto the pillow in his lap, and he began to log in.

“My dad helped me find our camera system and get it up on this computer. It keeps footage of the last five days, so all I gotta find is the one from 2 days ago.” Tolkien told them as he began to click on a few things. Kyle and Kenny smiled.

“Thanks so much man, I honestly don’t know what we would have done without this.” Kyle thanked him. 

“No problem. I know you’re in love with Stan, and you’re my friends, so it’s the least I can do.” Tolkien smugly responded. Kyle’s face went beat red and Kenny started to laugh.

“Fuck off, dude.” Kyle mumbled, so it was hard to hear through Kenny’s laughs. Tolkien rolled his eyes with a smile as he began to click on the security cameras for May 2nd.

“What time do you think they went missing?” Tolkien asked, searching through the footage of the whole day.

“It’s hard to say…maybe like 10:00? That’s about when I think I lost Butters.” Kenny guessed.

“Yeah I guess so. I have no idea what time it was when I saw Stan.” Kyle added. 

Tolkien placed the video marker at 10:00 pm. Everything looked as normal as they thought it could be. The view came from the corner of the living room. On the left was a small glimpse of the kitchen, a full view of the couch and front door, a small view of the staircase, and the dining room table on the right. The three boys leaned over to get a good view of the computer.

One of the most notable things they could see was Kyle and Clyde playing Mario Kart on the couch. Tolkien stood behind the two. On the right near the staircase, Tweek and Craig were seen talking. Well, it was more Craig comforting Tweek. Wendy, Bebe, and Heidi were sitting at the dining room table, probably gossiping. The rest of the people were having conversation or drinking, or both.

Finally something interesting happened. Stan walked into the house. Kyle’s eyes lit up as he leaned in even closer. The first thing he did was look over at Kyle. His face lit up almost as brightly as Kyle’s did just then. He leaned against the back of the couch. Everyone except for Kyle, ironically, noticed that Stan wasn’t even paying attention to the game. He was staring at Kyle. This went on for about 20 more minutes. Then, in the corner near the staircase, Tweek was seen grabbing Craig’s wrist and taking him to the bathroom. They disappeared into the bathroom, becoming out of view.

“Damn, he was really mad at you.” Kenny commented., his intention being kind.

“Not now.” Craig shot back at him. Kenny put his hands up in surrender and continued to watch the video.

The next noticeable thing to happen was Kenny and Butters coming into view for the kitchen. Kenny had a red cup in his left hand, while the other was holding Butters hand. The latter looked very nervous. The two began to have a conversation, which could not be made out from the loud music and crowded noise. 

“I think this was when Butters told me he wanted to leave. We had been there for a while and things were getting pretty rowdy.” Kenny informed them. The video continued to play and Kenny had placed a hand on Butters shoulder. Suddenly, a crowd of boys started to move in between them. This separated Keeny from Butters.

“Yeah! That’s when those assholes came and pushed Butters away!” Kenny realized. He leaned in closer wanting to know what happened to him when he was pushed aside. Butters was pushed by a crowd of people to a drinking area. He looked absolutely terrified. A few boys offered him a drink, but he put his hands in front of him and shook his head. That was when something unexpected happened.

The four boys watched as some person in all black clothes slipped a hand around his waist and lured him away from the camera out of few, Butters not resisting at all. The Kenny in the video was seen searching and looking through the crowd for Butters. The Kenny in real life watched the scene in horror and anger. 

“TOLKIEN! REWIND THAT!” Kenny shouted, which Tolkien immediately followed. He went back 2 minutes in the video and slowed it down. The four watched as their fears came true, watching the same cloaked person put their hand around Butters waist and take him out of view. This filled Kenny with rage.

“Who the fuck is that…?” Kyle asked, voice filled with worry.

“I don’t care who it is, they look like our best bet on where they went.” Kenny sneered through his teeth.
“So are you suggesting they got kidnapped?” Craig questioned, confirming what he was already thinking

“Obviously. Now let’s watch.” Kenny said, almost as monotone as Craig had been the entire time.

Tolkien rewinded the video slowly to see where the person came from. At first they were just some person in the crowd, nervously just walking around not talking to anyone, but they had to come from somewhere. They were eventually an hour back into the video and saw where the person was first seen. They didn’t even come from the front door, which was where every single person was seen entering. This person came from upstairs. The boys watched the scene in horror, especially Tolkien. How did they get into his house? Was this someone in his family?

“Dude…they came from upstairs. Did they break in or…?” Kyle asked nervously.

“There’s no way…this house is too secure…” Tolkien stated, but he wasn’t very confident about it. They kept watching the person in the video. The person's head turned to look at everyone in the room, possibly looking for a victim. At one point, they took a look in the pocket of their pants. They all looked closely to try and see what it was, but it wasn’t in frame. This went on for some time, so Tolkien skipped forward in the video. That’s when it went back to Stan walking in and standing behind Kyle. Tolkien skipped forward a bit more to when Kyle noticed Stan and had their conversation. He let it play by itself when Stan started to walk away. Kenny noticed that this was happening at the same time as the person was taking Butters away, but kept quiet. Kyle stared at Stan as he walked away. 

“Whatchu lookin at, Kyle?” Kenny asked jokingly as he snickered.

“Not the time, Kenny.” Kyle stated firmly, hiding his blush in his hand.

The two boys finished their argument and faced back to the screen. They followed Stan with their eyes as he walked to the kitchen as he said he would. A few minutes passed and the person was back from wherever they went. However, Butters was not with them. This almost confirmed all of the kidnapping allegations. Stan came back into view with the red cup of what was assumed to be punch, just as expected. 

Suddenly, a shocking sight occurred. The same black clothes person came back to do the same thing that happened to Butters. They slung their hand around Stan’s waist and tried to pull him away. Unlike Butters, Stan wouldn’t give into whatever the hell was going on. He pushed them away and started to yell at them. That’s when they found out what was in the person's pocket. A syringe. They pulled it out subtly and quickly jabbed it into Stan’s neck. Kyle let out an audible gasp.

The whole was almost hidden, considering the crowd and the dark clothes the kidnapper and many others were wearing. Stan didn’t collapse, but his eyes went half lidded. At Least it didn’t make him pass out. He was then gullible enough to have the person keep his hand on his waist and lead him to the same place they took Butters. That’s when Tolkien realized an important fact.

“Wait, this guy has been taking people out the back door. That’s the exact place off camera where they were taking them.” Tolkien pointed out. 

“Do you have cameras in the backyard?” Craig asked.

“Only one. Not sure how much it will capture.” Tolkien stated worriedly. He switched the to the outside camera and moved it to the time they were just at. Just as they had thought, the person and Stan walked through the backyard. He picked up Stan’s body, which seemed to be on the brink of collapsing, and threw it over the fence. Kyle let out a loud gasp, almost sounding like a cry for help.

“What the fuck. What the actual fuck.” Kenny spoke up. They watched as the person followed Stan, climbing over the fence. They were fairly tall, so it wasn’t hard. Kyle couldn’t stand it anymore. He stood up abruptly and started to run over to the fence. Kenny could tell he was upset. He pitied his friend, but he had an empathetic understanding of his feelings. They all watched as Kyle swung open the door to the backyard and began to go to where they had just watched the person and Stan. Kenny sighed.

“He’s lost his mind, but I don’t blame him.” Kenny explains.

“I don’t either. I feel bad for him, not that I don’t feel bad for you guys, but he…he’s definitely not taking this well.” Tolkien sympathized. Kenny smiled at Tolkien’s attempts to comfort them. They watched as Kyle came back into the house, arms crossed and looking down. He sat back down in his original spot and leaned back on the couch. The three boys all gave each other worried glances.

“...Did you find anything?” Craig asked Kyle.

“...No.” Kyle responded in a low tone. The guys decided to not press on him anymore. They knew he was under enough stress, especially Kenny. They continued to watch the footage, searching for the position of the remaining blonde haired boy. They went back to the living room video and found where Craig and Tweek were standing by the stairs. They watched again as Craig was led to the bathroom by Tweek. They skipped forward to where Tweek was seen running out of the bathroom.

He slipped into the crowd and seemed to be headed towards the kitchen. Suddenly, he twitched and fell over out of view. It seemed no one even noticed, which made the Craig watching the video’s blood boil. It soon showed Craig running out of the bathroom, looking for Tweek. That’s when the black clothes person made an appearance once again. They went to where Tweek had fallen and picked him up, putting an arm around his waist once again to help him walk. The person once again took out another syringe and jabbed it into Tweek’s neck, slowly making him drowsy. Craig wasn’t happy to say the least.

“WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT DOES THAT BITCH THINK THEY’RE DOING?!” Craig stood up and yelled. He clenched his fists tightly, trying not to rage out on anything. However, without Tweek there by his side, it seemed impossible. He collapsed back onto the couch and through his head back, pounding a fist onto the seat. As the video kept playing, it showed them bringing Tweek to the same place they took the other two. This confirmed every single thought made throughout the whole footage.

The boys were kidnapped.

But by who?

Chapter Text

The boys stared at the screen, not sure what to say. There were so many questions running around everyone's heads. They were kidnapped? By who? Who was the person in the black clothing? Was it someone they knew? What was in the syringe? These were all questions that the boys were determined to find the answer to.

“So…what do we do now?” Kyle asked, less confident than he was before. They all thought for a minute, considering  what would be the safest and most logical option. It was hard to think logically. Everyone had the same goal in mind, and some were more desperate than others.

“Well if we’re assuming they kidnapped the three of them, he must have taken them somewhere…using something.” Kenny commented. The three immediately knew what Kenny was talking about. They had to have a car. Tolkien switched the cameras to their front porch steps. However, there were no cars whatsoever. They skipped through the whole video, but there wasn’t a single car. The boys were dumbfounded. They had somewhat of a lead, but if they never found out where this person went, they were done for.

“Uuuughhh, this sucks…” Kyle hung his head in his hands. Everyone in the room was feeling down, empathizing with Kyle. He really didn’t know what he’d do without his super best friend. The boy that had been with him since they were toddlers. Right now didn’t seem like the time to lose something so important.

“Maybe we’re dealing with someone smarter than we think. There’s a possibility there was a car parked on the other side of the street away from view.” Tolkien said.

“Then how are we supposed to know what the car looks like, or even the license plate?!” Craig questioned, complaining that this wasn’t moving as fast as he’d hoped. 

“Wait, if the person escaped by hopping the fence, maybe they left footprints through the snow?” Kenny suggested. They all gave each other a look before rushing off the couch and towards the backdoor. Tolkien opened the gate for them and they tiptoed towards where the person hopped the fence, trying not to leave any further footprints in the snow.

As they moved forward and closer to the spot, Kyle was the first to speak up.

“Dude! You were right! Look!” Kyle shouted as he pointed to the ground. Low and behold, there were footprints left in the snow. They were covered up a bit because of the light snow that had fallen the night before, but they were still visible to the naked eyed. Craig took out his phone and took a picture of it just in case it got destroyed. Tolkien and Kenny both decided to crouch above the footprints to get a better look.

“You think there’s anybody we know with this footprint?” Kenny asked.

“The shoes look pretty big. You think it’s Cartman?” Craig suggested, being sarcastic.

“You wouldn’t be hearing from him in a day if it was him.” Kyle stated, being anything but sarcastic.

“Wait guys, there’s a trail.” Tolkien pointed and his finger followed the trail of footprints leading to the other side of the road. Kenny and Tolkien stood up and began to watch the trail as it continued, Kyle and Craig following behind. They walked between different yards all the way to the sidewalk. There were a few footprints that passed the sidewalk leading to the streets. That’s where the footprints stopped.

“I guess we can assume that’s where they got into the car. Any DNA we can collect?” Kyle asked, already searching the area for anything. The boys quickly looked around the curb and other places for anything out of place. Any type of identification, DNA, or piece of clothing. As they searched, Kyle found something important.

“Guys…check this out.” Kyle spoke out as he picked up a piece of hair. The hair was as black as night, confirming its owner.

“Is that…Stan’s hair?” Craig asked, walking over to Kyle to get a better look.

“Looks like it…” Kyle’s face fell into a frown as he looked at the piece of hair, missing his loved one. 

“Oh hey I found something too.” Kenny spoke up as he walked back to the group, holding a similar piece of hair. This time, it was brown. That made everyone confused. None of the boys who were kidnapped had brown hair. Butters and Tweek both had blonde hair while Stan had jet black hair. So what did this mean?

“This hair is brown…none of them have brown hair.” Tolkien points out. That’s when their thoughts all start to sync. This is the hair of the kidnapper.

“Hey, we have one piece of evidence, definitely better than nothing.” Kenny tried to keep the group optimistic. Kyle’s mind, however, went somewhere else.

“Y’know, Cartman’s hair is also brown-” Kyle started to say, but Kenny put a finger to his lips.

“Don’t start that. We have no evidence that it’s him specifically. You can’t pin this all on him just because you hate him.” Kenny states, being logically reasonable. Kyle rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the jet black piece of hair in his own hand. Meanwhile, the other three examined the piece of brown hair. It wasn’t long by any means, so they assumed it was a guy.

“We should take this to the police station. They’ll know what to do.” Kyle suggested. The others nodded in agreement and started to walk back to the house. The fact they finally had something to go off of gave them a sense of hope. Once they arrived back at the house, Tolkien started to walk back to the front door.

“Where are you going, dude? I thought we were gonna take Kyle’s car to the station?” Kenny questioned. Tolkien looked back to the rest of the group.

“I’m gonna let you guys take this case. I think you guys got it handled. You’ve got more of a reason to search anyways.” Tolkien said as he gave the last sentence a wink. He stepped into his own house, leaving the others standing in the driveway. They all gave each other a look, then shrugged and hopped into the car as they were before. Kyle drove with Kenny in shotgun, Craig hanging in the back. 

The car ride there was silent, no words necessary to understand their situation. Kyle wasn’t usually a reckless driver, as he was always a goody two shoes, but this time he drove all the way up to the speed limit. A bunch of emotions took over him at once. Rage, guilt, worriedness, and a bunch of others. It made him behave recklessly. Kenny, his best friend, definitely noticed this. No one knew about his crush on Stan better than him. That’s why he didn’t comment on Kyle’s selfish behavior.

They eventually arrived at the station, determination in their eyes. They parked in a nearby parking lot and had to walk a short distance to get there. They walked into the building, only to be met by a familiar but unexpected face. It made Kyle take a step back.

“Wendy…?” Craig said. The girl in question turned around, interrupting the conversation she was having with the person at the front desk. Her face filled with surprise soon turned to a friendly smile.

“Oh hey guys! I have a feeling I know why you’re here.” Wendy said as he placed a hand on her hip. Kyle couldn’t help but feel guilty. How could she get here before they did? Did she have a piece of evidence? What did she have? How did she find it earlier than them? The three walked up to Wendy to find answers to their questions.

“You’re here for the disappearances, right? Specifically Stan’s?” Kenny asked, almost interrogating her. Wendy put her hands up in defense.

“N-not just Stan, all of them. They’re all my friends, after all” Wendy replied. Kyle crossed his arms, not believing it. However, the other three nodded in understanding. They walked up to the counter to see what Wendy was doing, Kyle following slowly behind. They watched as Wendy held up a photo on her phone of a slightly blurry, but readable license plate. All of the boy's jaws dropped in shock.

“YOU GOT A LICENSE PLATE?! HOW?!” Kyle yelled. Wendy was taken aback by Kyle’s sudden force, as well as the others.

“Well yeah, there were a few cars parked behind Tolkien’s house that night, so I took some photos. I took multiple photos of different license plates because I was suspicious.” Wendy stated. It was true Wendy was a bit smarter than the rest of them, except for Kyle. They were rivals in multiple ways. They were academic rivals, fashion rivals, but mostly love rivals. Wendy being Stan’s ex made things very awkward between the two. They had been relatively nice to each other, but now that Wendy was trying to find Stan, Kyle felt jealous. Extremely jealous. 

“Well that’s great! We have a piece of hair that wasn’t from any of the other boys, so we took it.” Kenny said as he took out the piece of hair he had kept with him. Wendy gestured to the front desk lady, offering to give it to her. He gave the piece of hair to her and she squeezed it tight, making sure not to drop it.

“I’ll send this to the back. We’ll see if we can put this with any of these license plates.” The lady said as she moved away from the desk, leaving the four on their own. There was an awkward silence between them all, considering Kyle’s recent outburst. Speaking of Kyle, he still had his arms crossed and was on the opposite side of the room as Wendy. She noticed the weird tension between them and decided to be the one to break the ice. Wendy walked over to Kyle and got closer to whisper to him.

“Hey, can we talk in private over there?” Wendy asked in a whisper. Kyle tried his best not to roll his eyes and sighed. All he did was nod. He followed Wendy to a corner of the room. Craig and Kenny didn’t question anything and they started a conversation. Once they were face to face, Wendy broke the awkward silence between them.

“Okay, why are you acting all weird towards me?” Wendy questioned, putting both of her hands on her hips. Kyle’s arms were still crossed against his chest as he stared down at Wendy. He stayed silent for a few moments, thinking of the most logical thing to say. Still, the words came up like vomit.

“Why are you trying to find Stan?” Kyle questioned in a serious tone. Wendy scoffed as she looked up at him in shock.

“Why wouldn’t I? He’s my friend and I-” Wendy tried to explain herself, but Kyle interrupted her. Oh no, more word vomit.

“Are you sure he’s your friend ?! Everything you say and do for him sounds like you still love him!” Kyle almost shouted. He really didn’t understand how loud he actually was. It was loud enough for Craig and Kenny to turn their heads. Wendy kept staring at him in disbelief. Kyle didn’t even realize the accusations he was throwing out came from his heart and not his brain. Definitely not his brain.

“Are you kidding me, Kyle? You’re seriously going crazy right now. I’m telling you right now, I don’t love him like that.” Wendy stated firmly. Kyle’s intense stare only increased as Wendy spoke, his eyes like daggers. 

“I don’t believe that. You took pictures of license plates because he was gone? Yeah, that’s your frie-” Kyle began to argue, but was interrupted by Wendy. Karma really is a bitch.

"How about you shut up and just admit that you’re jealous!” Wendy shouted. That made Kyle shut up. However, his mouth disobeyed, letting his jaw drop to the floor. He stuttered a bit before making out a word.

“W-what?” 

“You’re jealous that I dated Stan! You’re mad that I got to him before you and now you think I still love him!” Wendy got up close and personal to shout in his face. What’s worse was that she was right. Kyle was jealous. Everything Wendy said was true. He didn’t want to admit it. He wasn’t that desperate, or weak. Kyle knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted Stan to be his and only his. It was selfish, totally selfish, but it was the truth. Wendy backed away from Kyle, realizing what she had said.

“I’m sorry, that came out harsher than expected. I do mean what I said. I don’t love Stan like that anymore. I’m just trying to help.” Wendy states in a calmer tone then before. She looks up at Kyle with sympathy. She knows this is hurting him, so maybe going easy on him is better than forcing everything down his throat. Kyle takes a few deep breaths to calm down and makes eye contact with Wendy.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for accusing you of that. I’m just- just worked up I guess. I should have just thanked you and moved on.” Kyle admitted. They both knew he was definitely in the wrong, but Wendy really didn’t blame him. Love did that to people, and if it didn’t, you probably weren't doing it right. She flashed a reassuring smile his way.

“It’s fine. If it makes you feel better, I’m interested in someone else right now.” Wendy looked away, a slight blush appearing on her face. Kyle, blinded by rage for the whole day, had no idea who she was talking about. Nonetheless, it didn’t matter. At least she wouldn’t be touching his Stan. Kyle let out a sigh of relief, thanking the gods that they had made up. They were about to continue their discussion when the lady at the front desk came back. 

The two made their way to the desk along with Craig and Kenny. All their eyes were trained on the lady, waiting for the response. She typed a few things on her computer before she faced back to the group.

“We connected a piece of hair and one of the license plates to one person. His name is Hugo Castro.” The lady told them. None of them knew anyone named that. They wondered if they were even from South Park. 

“...How much information about them are you able to give?” Craig asked hesitantly but firmly. There’s no way this guy would be getting away with this on anyone's watch. They needed as much info as they could.

“Well he’s 28 years old, and he lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.” The lady at the front desk told them. The boy's jaws dropped in shock.

“Fort Collins?! That’s like a hundred miles away!” Kyle shouted in shock.

“Yes, 146 miles to be exact. It’s about a 2 hour and 46 minute drive from here.” The lady said calmly. This wasn’t really a place to be screaming anyways, so her soft tone of voice helped everyone calm down. They all stared at her blankly, then stared at each other. They had a lead, They had something they could use. 

“Okay then what are we waiting for? Let’s drive!” Kenny spoke out. The others nodded and thanked the lady at the desk. They walked out with the information in their mind and their hands.

“Hey, before we do anything we might regret, let’s figure out how we’re gonna find the place they’re at.” Wendy said, being the hard rock brain of the group. The others nodded.

“Agree. Let’s meet at Kyle’s place, since the three of us were there just a bit ago.” Craig mentioned. The boys went back to their own car while Wendy went to the one she came in. They drove down the road back to Kyle’s house, Wendy following closely behind. The car rides were both silent, no words needed to understand their determination.

The group eventually arrived at the house. Wendy parked her car behind Kyle’s and they walked into the house. Kyle leads them up to his bedroom and lets them take a seat on his bed. Kyle took the chair from his desk and moved it to infront of the bed. Silence grew in the room as they thought of what to do. 

“Here’s what I was thinking,” Wendy started to say. “We don’t know the exact location of this person or the boys, but what we can do is ask around. When we get to Fort Collins, we’ll ask around to see if any kidnappers have been caught or reported recently.” Wendy told them. It took a bit, but they all eventually nodded. They trusted Wendy’s judgment, even Kyle.

“Yeah…that could work.” Kyle said.

“Seems like our best bet.” Craig added.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s meet tomorrow in the morning, maybe around 9, and drive there. Is it okay if we meet here again, Kyle?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah it’s fine.” Kyle replied. That’s when Kenny came up with an idea.

“What if we had a sleepover? Like when we were kids!” Kenny said excitedly.

“Yeah no. My parents would never allow a girl to sleep over, even at 18.” Kyle replied.

“No no it’s fine. I can leave. I’ll come back in the morning. See you tomorrow” Wendy said, already standing up to leave. As she went to walk out of the room, Kyle spoke out.

“Wait Wendy!” Kyle shouted. Wendy’s head spun around to look at Kyle. He looked a bit surprised himself that he spoke out, but nonetheless he had something to say.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kyle. We’ve got the same goal. See ya.” Wendy said as she gave a warm smile. She turned her back and went out the door, closing it behind her. When he knew she was gone, Kyle let out a sight and hung his head. Kyle stood up and sat down where Wendy just was, flopped onto the bed. His sigh was followed by a groan. Craig and Kenny looked at each other awkwardly.

“So uhh, you staying over?” Kenny asked.

“...Yeah sure.” Craig replied, pulling out his phone. The boys both confirmed with their parents that they would be staying at Kyle's house that night. They got a switch of clothes and a few extra things sent to his house so they could be comfortable that night.

They had now switched positions. Kyle and Kenny were up against the headboard of Kyle’s bed, scrolling on their phones. Craig was sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed, also scrolling on his phone. They had been waiting for some food they ordered to arrive. For now, they kept to themself. It wasn’t long until the pizza arrived. Kyle quickly excused himself so he could take the box. Once he was back in the room with the pizza, he placed it on the bed, forcing Craig to join them on the bed. Once they took their own slices, Kenny spoke up.

“Hey uhh…can I vent for a sec?” Kenny asked in a soft tone. Kyle nodded and Craig shrugged, which Kenny took as a yes.

“So uhh…for some reason, I feel like Butters disappearing was my fau-” before Kenny could finish, Craig covered his mouth with his hand. Kenny gave a muffled ‘hey, what the fuck?’. Craig took his hand off before speaking.

“No offense Kenny, but that’s kinda what we’re all feeling right now. Let me tell you that it’s not your fault in the slightest. There’s no way you could have predicted this, so just let it go. At least you’re doing something about this. No ones gonna blame you for trying to fix something.” Craig’s smart words resonated within him. This was the first time he’d ever heard Craig say something as sentimental as this. It made Kenny smile.

“Wow…thanks…didn’t know I needed that until now.” Kenny told Craig with a smile. Craig just nodded, going back to his less than enthusiastic persona. They continued to eat pizza on the bed and talk for a bit, ignoring any sensitive topics. Kyle had put on some Taylor Swift songs, which Kenny and Craig groaned at. They eventually settled on watching some mindless television to pass the time.

Before they knew it, the time was 12:30 am. All of them were pretty tired, so they decided they should get at least a bit of sleep before their big day. Kyle slept in his own bed, while Kenny slept in a few blankets at the foot of his bed. Craig took some other blankets and slept on the side of Kyle’s bed. They all told each other goodnight before they all fell into slumber.

The three were woken up at around 1:30 am by Kenny’s phone ringing. Kenny rubbed his eyes as he sat up, Kyle and Craig waking up shortly after.

“Huh…? What’s going on…?” Craig asked, half asleep. Kenny picked up his phone to see who was calling. It was a random number he didn’t recognize, but it had a very similar area code to theirs.

“Who the fuck would be calling you at 2 am?” Kyle asked in an annoyed tone.

“It’s a random number. Should I answer it?” Kenny asked the boys. The two other boys shrugged. Kenny took this opportunity and answered.

“Hello?” Kenny put the phone to his ear as he spoke. He could hear faint crying from the other end of the line. Kenny stayed silent in confusion, but it was soon filled with fear.

“K-ken…Ken i-is that you..?” The voice on the other line spoke up. Kenny’s eyes widened in shock. 

“...Butters?”

Chapter Text

“...Butters?”

The boys who were watching Kenny’s phone call rushed over to him as he said Butters name. Craig and Kyle sat on opposite sides of the still as a statue Kenny. It almost looked like he was going to cry. He took the phone down from his ear and put it on speaker.

“Ken I…I-I can’t do this anymore…p-please help me…” Butters whispered through the phone, little sobs slipping through his voice. He sounded absolutely broken. He’s been hurt, and Kenny knows it.

“Butters where are you? Did they hurt you?” Kenny whispered, predicting that the kidnappers could be nearby and overhear their conversation. Kenny’s heart was beating rapidly. He couldn’t believe he was actually talking to Butters after all this time of not hearing or seeing him.

“T-they…yeah they hurt me p-pretty bad…” was all Butters could say before breaking out into sobs. Kenny’s heart shattered. He couldn’t believe all of this was happening. He just wanted to have Butters in his arms, protecting him from anything or anyone else that tries to hurt him. Right now, though, he knew he needed to stay strong for him. 

“Butters…take some deep breaths, okay?” Kenny asked calmly. The other boys next to him leaned it. Butters does as he says and takes some deep breaths. He sobs come to a stop as he takes control of himself again.

“O-okay…I’m okay now…I think.” Butters tells him, still in a soft whisper. Kenny himself takes a deep breath, trying to be careful with his next words.

“Okay good. So…can you tell us what happened?” Kenny asked as nicely as possible. He really didn’t want to ask something that might be a sensitive topic for him, but this was crucial information.

“W-well, um, I remember being taken out of that party by someone. I-I don’t remember what they looked like. They threw me in a car a-and then they b-blindfolded me.” Butters recalled. All the boys looked at each other in horror. Butters continued.

“Once I could see again, I was in a chair in a really d-dirty place, maybe like a basement o-or something. They told me I was good looking a-and I should be putting my body to work. So t-they took me to a private room and they…they started to t…touch me…” Butters explained. That’s when Kenny started to fill with rage. They put their hands on him. They put their dirty, nasty, rotten hands on precious Butters. He didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t deserve this. Kenny felt like he was gonna vomit. Kyle even noticed he was shaking, so he put a hand on his shoulder. The other line filled up with crying once again. Kenny just hung his head, trying to process the new information. He knew Butters would need to stop crying in order to tell him what else was happening. 

“Leo-... Butters I-I…I’m so sorry… I promise I’m going to find you…I swear on my life.” Kenny said ironically, tears threatening to pour from his eyes. Kenny would do anything to get that boy out of there, but it seemed almost impossible. He tried his absolute hardest to push any negative thoughts out of his head to focus on Butters. That’s when a thought came to him. He rapidly tapped Craig on the shoulder.

“Craig! Write this number down! We can use this as evidence!” Kenny explained. Craig immediately pulled out his phone and copied the number into his phone, naming the contact he made ‘Butters?’. Butters on the other side sniffled.

“T-this phone isn’t mine…it’s one of the bad guys…I can’t stay on it for much longer…” Butters confessed. Kenny panicked and stood up. He made it to the doorway before turning around and waving his hand towards himself, encouraging Kyle and Craig to follow him. The two boys on the ground gave each other a look and got up to follow Kenny. The trio ran outside to Kyle’s car, which the owner opened with his keys. Before Kyle could get into the driver's seat, Kenny stole it from him. He gave Kyle a glare and closed the door. Kyle sighed, knowing Kenny wasn’t thinking straight, so he gave in and went in shotgun.

“Kenny, it’s still 2:00 in the fucking morning. Can’t we-” Craig started to ask before Kenny interrupted him.

“I DON’T CARE! BUTTERS NEEDS US!” Kenny started the car and pulled it out of the driveway. Kyle took the phone from Kenny so he could concentrate on driving. As he began to drive, Butters spoke up again.

“W-where are you fellas going?” Butters asked in a whisper. 

“Hell if we know, Kenny forced us in the car and now he’s driving at least 20 miles over the speed limit.” Craig commented from the back. 

“I’m driving us to the police station. They can track the number and we can drive to Butters location.” Kenny told them. Craig sighed, and held back the urge to roll his eyes. Yes he was concerned as hell, but the lengths Kenny will go for Butters made him want to puke. He was surprised the two weren’t a couple yet.

“O-okay…tell Kenny to drive safely…and please hurry…” Butters replied softly. Kenny’s heart broke completely, as if it wasn’t broken already. He wiped his tears as he continued to drive them to the police station.

When they arrived, Kenny got out of the car as quickly as possible, not even bothering to lock it. Kyle yelled something at him that he couldn’t care enough to pay attention to. He just ran and ran until he reached the doors. Somehow, at 2:15 am, they were open. You never know when someone has an emergency. Kenny charged in and as soon as he approached the desk, he slammed his hands on it and looked up at the front desk lady from before. She seemed annoyed and shocked all at once.

“We need a call tracked!” Kenny practically yelled at her. Kyle ran up to him, trying to give him the phone and a piece of his mind. Craig walked briskly behind. Kyle handed Kenny the phone as calmly as possible, but the latter instead grabbed it and put it on the desk. It showed Butters number still on the phone. The lady at the desk kept a stern gaze on Kenny.

“Alright then, what’s the number?” the lady asked. Craig passed the lady the paper he had written the number on. She looked at it for a minute before hanging up the phone. Kenny audibly gasped and was probably about to jump the women, but Kyle moved his arm in front of Kenny before he could move. When Kenny looked over at Kyle, the latter just gave him a glance, meaning to look back over to the lady at the desk. She took out the station's phone and typed the number in and the phone began to ring. 

“They have to call the number itself to find it.” Kyle whispered, an annoyed tone coming out of his mouth. Kenny let out a big sigh and his previously tense muscles relaxed.

The phone rang and rang and rang until it was picked up once again. Kenny tapped his foot and bit on a string of his hoodie anxiously. He would do anything to her Butters voice again. The lady began to calm down the boy on the other line. She put the phone down on the counter and put it on speaker, typing something on her computer with her now free hands. Kenny failed to restrain himself and leaned over the counter, staring the phone down.

“Butters just hang on! We’re coming to get you!” Kenny tried to reassure the blonde boy. All he heard from the other side was a small ‘mhm’, which made Kenny’s heart melt. As soon as the lady's typing stopped, she looked at the boy’s present.

“The phone call is leading to an apartment in Fort Collins.” She gives the street name and the name of the apartments. She was about to hang up, but Kenny pulled the phone towards him. 

“Leo we did it! We found you! You’re gonna be okay!” Kenny shouted happily into the phone. The other line became a mix of sniffling and laughing.

As soon as she’s done, Kyle and Kenny look at each other with a sparkle in their eyes and a wide smile on their lips. They give each other a high-five, a really high high-five. Craig just gives a small smirk. Kenny then places his head and his hands on the front desk.

“Thank you! Thank you so much for all of this!” Kenny muffled as he kept his head lowered.

“Right, right, now go find your people. I’m clocking out.” The lady lightly pushed the phone closer to the boys and walked to the back. Kenny raised his head, taking his phone back and walking out. Instead of slouching, he was now skipping to the front door. Kyle smiled with his arms crossed, as well as Craig.

“Don’t you guys understand how great this is?! This is the best lead yet! Leo, you have NO idea how hap-'' Kenny cut himself off when he heard screaming from the other line. Butters scream. He stopped in his tracks as he heard pleas and cries.

“N-NO PLEASE! I-I-I’M SORRY! PLEASE DON’T- NOO! AAAAGHH!” The other line suddenly hung up, leaving the other boys speechless. Kenny almost dropped his phone before Kyle took it out of his hands. 

“...Shit.” Kyle said. Kenny stared at the ground, silent. Craig tugged at his clothes nervously. Kyle, becoming the leader, began to walk back to the car. 

“Uh, where are you going?” Craig asked.

“Back to the car. I keep telling you guys that moping around isn’t helping. If Butters needs help, then that’s what we gotta do. We have the information we need. Why are we just sitting here?!” Kyle’s tone went from calm to angry. This happened more often than he’d liked it to. Still, it made Kenny perk his head up.

“Look, I’m sorry Kyle! Maybe I’m just a little bit on edge because the light of my life is getting fucked over by some GROSS OLD MEN AND PROBABLY GETTING BEATEN UP AS WE SPEAK!” Kenny explained as he walked up to Kyle and put a finger to his face. The red haired boy held his hands up in defense. Kenny took some deep breaths as Kyle put a hand on his shoulder. He gave Kenny a faint smile, which gave Kenny a realization.

“I…shit…sorry, I don’t know what that was. I-I’ll just get in the car.” Kenny shuffled out of Kyle’s grip as he got into the passenger's seat of Kyle’s car. Craig and Kyle shared a glance of pity before joining him. Craig hopped into the back, while Kyle got into the driver's seat and started the car. As Kyle began to drive, he tried to get Kenny back on track.

“It’s already 2:30. Let’s get as much sleep as possible before Wendy comes over.” Kyle reminded them. Kenny and Craig both silently nodded. Kyle sighed, trying to keep himself calm. He knew he needed to be the stable one while they did all this. It wasn’t easy for any of them, and he knew that too, but he still felt a shit ton of pressure to be the rock that kept them at bay.

They arrived at Kyle’s house. Kyle read the clock in his car as 3:09 am before getting out and locking it. The three slumped back up to Kyle’s room, careful not to wake up Kyle’s family in the process. The door to his room gently closes as the boys resume their sleeping positions. Kyle climbed back into his own bed, Kenny slept at the foot of the bed, while Craig slept on the side. However, the only one who could really sleep was Craig. The other two had their eyes and their minds wide open. 

Kenny had one of the most obvious things on his mind. Butters. No matter how much anyone said it, he couldn’t help but blame himself. It was selfish, but it’s how he felt. He totally could have prevented this. Just because some boys knocked Butters out of the way doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have stopped them. It was insane how much Kenny wanted him. They were total opposites. Butters was like sunshine, the warmth of summer that shone down on him all the time. Kenny was a cold and freezing winter that is just a pain in the ass to deal with. The comparison made him want to rip his skin apart. He never deserved that angel.

Kyle could only think about his own personal angel. Stan. That boy had been through hell and 

back because of his family. The one thing Kyle wanted to be for Stan is a home. Not anything like the house he lives in, just a home. He had been there every single time Stan needed him. He stopped caring how terrible Stan was at staying healthy a while ago. Now, right now, this was the worst thing to ever happen to Kyle. He hated how his morals always got in the way of what he actually wanted most. If he had lost all self control at that moment, he’d be speeding all the way to Fort Collins by now. 

An alarm went off on Kyle’s phone, marking it to be 8 am. Kenny let out a groan that was louder than intended. His body decided to fall asleep around 4 am, so he was running on 4-5 hours of sleep. Kyle, with his tangled curly hair, woke up like a princess. He stretched up to the sky, running on 4 straight hours of sleep. Ironically, Craig did not wake up, and would eventually be running on 6 hours of sleep. 

After a bit of motivation from Kyle, the two awake boys decided to get ready for Wendy’s arrival. They walked into the bathroom and started to brush their teeth. That’s when Kenny decided to ask a question.

“...What do you think they’re all doing right now?” Kenny asked. Kyle brushed his teeth for a bit before spitting into the sink.

“I’d rather not think about it right now.” Kyle responded, washing out his mouth and walking back into his room. Kenny followed. They were greeted by Craig sitting on the bed, scrolling on his phone.

“I’m not driving.” is all Craig said as they walked in. They simultaneously rolled their eyes, but still joined Craig on the bed. All of them slept in their clothes, and knew they probably would have to get their hands dirty for something, so dressing up was irrelevant. There was a moment of solemn silence between the boys. This was the first time these three had hung out with just themselves. Kyle and Kenny had had many adventures in the past, but Craig was rarely even near them. It was starting to set in that they would be spending a lot of time together. The clock on Kyle’s nightstand changed to 9:00. Almost simultaneously, the doorbell rang. They all shared a knowing glance.

“She doesn’t waste a second, does she?” Craig asked rhetorically.

After Craigs sarcastic comment, Kenny and the others headed downstairs to meet Wendy. Kyle was combing his hair still, with no effect. Craig was putting in little to no effort walking. Kenny decided he should be the one to open the door. None of Kyle’s family was awake yet, so the red haired boy decided to leave a note for them so they didn’t worry. Kenny’s hand finally reached the knob and he swung it open. He felt the cold breeze of his home town, and saw the black haired girl waiting for them. Her face was sympathetically smiley until she saw how awful the boys looked in their distorted states.

“Jeez. Rough night?” Wendy asked, already aware of the answer.

“You could say that. Now let's get going.” Kenny nodded as he and Craig walked out the door. Wendy decided to take a peek inside. Kyle was sitting at the coffee table, silently writing on a sticky note. She carefully made her way over to him and leaned over the couch.

“Hi Kyle.” Wendy’s sympathetic smile came back. Kyle turned around and gave no emotion to her.

“Hi Wendy. I’m almost done. Just a sec.” Kyle turned back around and kept writing, ignoring her. Wendy peeked over more to see he wasn’t even writing words anymore. He was making little doodles of stars and hearts. She chuckled and walked around the left side of the couch to sit next to them. She read the sentences on the note.

‘I’m going to be gone for a bit. We’re on a mission. I’ll keep you updated.

         Love, Kyle’

Wendy sighed and she looked back up at Kyle. She grabbed his wrist before he doodled over his own writing. Without thinking, he tugged it back forcefully and gave her a stern glare. He relaxed as she realized what her intentions were. He wasn’t the best at that, but he was learning.

“Come on. Let’s get going. We have absolutely no time to waste anymore.” Wendy said, being a little more stern with him. Kyle knew the one person he loved more than anything was slowly being taken away from him. Doing nothing means he wouldn’t be good enough for him. Kyle stood up and ran out the door. Wendy smiled at him.

Kenny was honking the horn profusely, probably waking up Kyle’s family and the neighbors. Kyle ran up to the driver's door and opened it, crossing his arms while looking at Kenny. The latter threw his hands up off the wheel. 

“My bad, dude. Sorry that someone took forever to get out here. Some boyfriend you are.” Kenny rolled his eyes as he spoke to Kyle.

“Kenny, you know Stan’s not my-” Kyle started, Kenny looked back with a smug look.

“I never said who~” Kenny teased while Kyle’s face grew red. Kyle walked away and into the back seat next to Craig. Wendy had already placed herself in shotgun. They were just about ready to leave.

“So about that apartment, you guys still have that address?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah we do…but on the way, we gotta tell you what happened last night.” Kenny said.

And so their journey began. A 2 and a half hour car ride to an apartment they had never been to before, nor did they know what it looked like. Wendy, being the smart girl she was, packed things they may need. Water, snacks, money, the essentials. After hearing the news about Butter last night, Wendy was shocked. However, she was glad they had more evidence. They all had their own separate goals, but they had one thing in common. They had to get there before it was too late.

Chapter Text

The room was dark. All the windows were barred up and covered with cardboard. The place was small and basically empty. Except for the fluorescent lighting that was currently turned off, a bottle of water, and Tweek Tweak. He was mostly recognizable, but noticeable differences. Instead of entirely pale, his skin was slightly covered in black and blue marks. Dried blood hangs from his mouth. His hair was knotted in unimaginable ways. His shirt was completely unbuttoned. He had only boxers on, no pants. He had socks on, but no shoes. He sat on the carpeted floor with his hands tied to a thick pool behind him. There wasn’t a speck of hope in his eyes. It had only been 48 hours since he’d been here and he was already drained of any luck of being found. He prayed every night that Craig was okay, but cried every night when he remembered when he last saw him. If he could go back, he would have never gotten mad.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. A platinum blonde haired man walked in with a grin. Twee lifted his head and opened his eyes. To the bright light. Suddenly, the lights above were turned off. This made Tweek’s eyes squint shut.

“Hey baby. You seem lonely. You want another friend?” he asked rhetorically. He smirked at his own joke. Then, from behind the door, another figure emerged. The person was thrown into the room so quickly, Tweek didn’t have time to see who it was. The door shut with a slam. The person was laying on the ground, now beginning to cry. That’s when Tweek got a closer look. Short blonde hair, small figure. It was none other than Butters Stotch. The boy called himself and looked up at Tweek.

His face was red and wet with tears. He was bruised everywhere, head to toe. Way worse than Tweek. His hair couldn't get tangled easily, so it wasn’t too messy. He had just his boxers on and nothing else. Tweek felt incredibly bad for him, wishing he could untie himself and hug Butters. He was a pure soul that only had bad things happen to him. Butters recomposed himself slowly and sat up, hugging his legs to his chest against the wall. The two sat in silence for a moment until Tweek spoke up.

“...What happened…?” He asked, but not planning to push him to talk. Butters tried to speak, but he sobbed as soon as he opened his mouth.

“T-they f-found me…I d-did a-a bad thing…a-and they… t-they touched m-me…and it hurt…” Butters was now sobbing. He couldn’t get any real words out. Tweek just stared at him in disbelief. 2 days ago they were in South Park, Colorado with their friends, having some drinks and laughing. Now they were here, going through this torment for who knows how long. Butters eventually calmed down, sniffed and wiped his tears, and looked back up at Tweek.

“Where’s Stan…?” Butters asked hesitantly. 

“I…I don’t know…they took him somewhere.” Tweek responded. He genuinely had no idea about Stan and where he was. He’d been in this room since the day he was brought here, never once being brought out. It was suspicious to them both that Stan was the only one brought out. Where was Stan? What was he doing? Why just him? The blonde boys sat in silence as they pondered any possibilities. Tweek kept his boyfriend in the back of his mind. Maybe he’d see him again soon, if ever.

~

The rescue trio plus Wendy continued to drive through the mountains to get to Fort Collins. There wasn’t much to see other than clouds, mountains, grass, and a few animals roaming around. None of the nearby food joints looked appealing, so Wendy suggested waiting till they get to Denver and stopping somewhere there. 

Everyone seemed to be minding their business. Kenny was driving and listening to some 70’s music on the radio. Wendy was double checking the evidence white listening to her own music. Craig was staring out the window with his head in his palm. Kyle was looking through his phone, finding middle school pictures of himself and Stan. Man, Stan looked really stupid with braces. It’s what made Craig and Stan had to tell apart from each other, them both having braces and black hair. Stan was always the cuter one in Kyle’s opinion. 

He found a video of Stan in 7th grade performing at their school's talent show. Kyle had snuck a video of him playing I See the Light from Tangled on his guitar while he sang. He said he didn’t care if it was from a kids movie because it was a good song. The only thing Kyle didn’t like about it was Wendy was singing the girl part. She was pretty good at singing. Never as good as Stan. He zoomed into Stan while watching the video. The lighting from above made his hair shine. His eyes were the clearest shade of blue he’d ever seen. He was smiling ear to ear. There wasn’t anything about Stan that didn’t catch Kyle’s eye.

Kyle scrolled 2 years later to their freshman year homecoming. None of them had dates at the time other than Tweek and Craig. Stan and Wendy had broken up for good in mid 8th grade. Kyle’s feelings had been well developed by then. In the homecoming photo, the group was Kenny, Butters, Kyle, Stan, Eric (somehow), Clyde, Tolkien, Tweek, and Craig. This was just a photo of the boys. Wendy and other girls had been there too and taken their own photo, but Kyle didn’t save those ones. He didn’t care for girls. However, he did save some of the silly photos they took.

Craig and Kenny had done a piggyback ride photo, with Kenny on Craigs back while they both flipped off the camera. In another photo, Clyde and Tolkien wore sunglasses as they crossed their arms with their backs together. Kyle and Kenny did a pretend kiss photo, puckering their lips, holding each other's faces, and closing their eyes, but never touching each other's lips. No one else would have agreed to do this since other than Tweek and Craig, these two were the only openly gay guys in the group. Kenny did a photo with Butters, holding him in a bridal style. Kenny was in a lot of photos, mainly because he was close with everyone. Kyle and Tolkien took a photo of themselves doing a fake proposal, with Tolkien on his knees for Kyle. All these photos brought back great memories, but one stood out to him.

Stan and Kyle took one with themselves, making a heart with their connecting hands. This photo was put on almost everyone's instagram, setting off rumors of them dating. Both boys were constantly asked in the hallway about their sexualities. This only mattered to him because he didn’t know if Stan had felt the same about him. Things were awkward between them for about a week after homecoming. Although he loved the photo, the things that came with it would haunt him forever. Kyle’s thoughts were interrupted by Wendy.

“We’re pulling up to a gas station. We still have about 2 hours left.” Wendy explained. 

“You’ve got the money girl, I’m going in to get a snack. Pass me a buck or two, would ya?” Kenny asked as he pulled in, parked, and held out his palm for Wendy. She rolled her eyes in response.

“I’ll let it pass since money is tight for you.” She handed him a five dollar bill and he smiled. The two both got out of the car, Kenny headed to the store while Wendy headed to the gas pump. Kyle looked over to Craig sitting next to him. He’s fallen asleep on the window. Kyle didn’t want to be waiting here, but they needed gas. Kyle was an impatient person. One more minute here and he’d take the wheel himself. He should have when they first got together. This was his car after all. 

Wendy finished putting gas in the tank and claimed her spot in the car back. She let out a huge sigh as she checked her phone. There had been a question in Kyle’s mind that just had to be asked. If he didn’t, he would probably explode.

“Hey Wendy, can I ask a quick question?” Kyle looks at her. Wendy turned her head with a slight surprised look on her face.

“Uh sure, what’s up?” She replied

“In 8th grade, when you and Stan broke up, who broke up with who?” Kyle asked. Wendy took another deep breath. 

“He broke up with me. He told me he just wasn’t interested in me anymore. I figured he’d come back in a month, but months went by and he seemed fine. He became a totally different person. Like something, or someone, completely changed his mind about me.” Wendy gave a lengthy explanation. It’s like she’d wanted to tell people her side of the story for so long, but never got the chance. 

“Weird.” Kyle replied dryly. Not even Kyle could understand what changed his mind. Late Elementary and early Middle School were the prime time for those two. He knew that since Kyle couldn’t stand seeing them together anymore. Before anybody could say anything else, Kenny hopped back into the driver's seat with a bag of Takis and a Monster Energy drink.

“Alright guys, let's get back on the road!” Kenny exclaimed.

“Really? A Monster Energy? Those things are incredibly unhealthy.” Kyle commented, reminding everyone he was the dad of the group, since Wendy was taking on the role as the mom.

“Hey! If I’m gonna drive, I’m gonna need to stay awake.” Kenny argued, looking behind his seat to Kyle. The redhead in response rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, and who’s car is this?” Kyle asked. Kenny was about to speak, but thought about and rolled his eyes.

“Do you wanna drive…?” Kenny asked.

“Yes I do.” Kyle replied.

The two opened their respective doors and switched positions. Kenny sat behind Kyle who was now in his rightful position. Kenny stole his snacks from the front seat. He opened the bag of Takis and was about to offer Craig one, but the boy in question was already fast asleep. Kenny gave a ‘more for me’ look and started to eat like nobody was there. 

“Hey Kenny, don’t make a mess in my car. Technically it’s not even mine, it’s my moms but I use it more than her. She’d kill me if she saw crumbs on it.” Kyle explained. Kenny sighed and complied. Kyle started the engine and then started to make their way back on the road. 2 more hours of driving ahead of them. 2 hours before they were to find out the truth about this situation.

~

“Stanley, move your right leg out a bit. You gotta be in a W position, not an N.” A blonde guy was standing behind a guy with a camera, telling Stan what to do. They all stood in a white room with lots of lights and things to reflect off of. Stan struggled as he tried to do what he was told, but he wasn’t flexible in the slightest. All he wanted was to not be hurt again. He placed his hands in front of him while trying to put his legs into a W pose. It proved difficult when the bleach blonde boy came over and moved his legs forcefully. Stan winced in pain and shut his eyes tight, but dealt with it.

“You’re being difficult, Stanley. If you don’t do this, then no dinner for you. You'll need to lose some of this weight anyways.” He poked Stan’s open stomach. Stan felt like crying. He was insanely insecure about his weight. He held it in. That would be another spank or slap on the cheek. He thought only about staying in that position.

“Stanley, keep your head up and pout. They wanna see your pretty face.” the blonde boy said. Stan did as he was told. A light flashed brightly in Stan’s face and then went away.

“Okay, that’s a good shot, I think we can be done for the day.” as the blonde boy waved the camera guy away, Stan fell onto his face out of the position. He was so sick and tired of this. He was being used. He was being selled. All he wanted was his friends back, maybe his family back, but mostly his Kyle. He slowly sat himself into a criss-cross applesauce position. His head was tilted down, but his chin was lifted up, only to be met by the blonde boy.

“You did good today, Stanley. Here, have this.” The blonde boy praised him. He reached behind his back and handed him a granola bar. It’s first thing he’d eaten since yesterday. Stan snatched it out of his hands and ripped it open. He was about to bite into it. But the blonde boy snatched it away again.

“Hey, no crumbs on my set. If you’re gonna eat it, eat it in the house.” He helped Stan get up, but left him to walk by himself once he was standing. Stan felt embarrassed, wearing only some kinky pink underwear. He had nothing to contact anyone with. No phone, no watch, nothing. He was stuck. It was torture, mentally and physically. He couldn’t stand another day like this. He stumbled slowly out of the white room and into a large hallway. He found the bleach blonde boy and followed him outside to the lobby of the big building. There, he was given a black robe to put on by a lady in a black suit and hair in a bun. He was escorted to a large black SUV. The backseat door was opened for him and he hopped in. 

To most people, Stan’s new life seemed like a dream. To him, it was a nightmare. Cameras flashing in your face, people looking at your naked body. Sure he was treated like royalty on set, but behind the scenes he was scolded. Not only that, they used his full name. Stanley. Not Stan. It made him feel like nothing. It felt like his parents were telling him off for not washing the dishes. Instead, they were telling him off for not having his ass out far enough. Stan’s biggest question was why. Why was this happening? He didn’t understand at all. 

Stan felt like he was about to cry, but took some deep breaths. In and out. In and out. In and…

“Stanley! Get your ass out! We’re here.” The bleach blonde was standing outside his window yelling. Stan opened his door. He followed the bleach blonde as he walked to wherever he was supposed to go. He wasn’t really paying attention. He only knew he walked up a single flight of stairs, the place smelled of cigarettes, and the bleach blonde’s black roots were starting to grow back.

Bleach blonde opened the door like a gentleman for Stan. He in return showed no emotions to it. Back into the apartment they were. Two other men were sitting on the couch, obviously drunk. Stan didn’t have the effort to roll his eyes. Bleach blonde handed Stan his granola bar back. 

“Sit down and eat like a good boy, won’t you?” The bleach blonde moved Stan’s chin so the two were face to face. The former grinned, the latter did not. Stan took the granola and walked to the kitchen. There, he sat and thought. There were so many things he knew, but also things he didn’t know. He knew where Butters and Tweek were. He knew what happened while he was gone. But he didn’t know where Kyle was. Stan was losing himself. He didn’t want to. That’s when Stan got an idea. He stood up and walked to bleach blonde, who was sitting on the couch with the others.

“Umm…Henry, can I go into the back room?” Stan asked quietly. Henry looked at him confused. He combed his bleach blonde hair back with his hand.

“I guess. Don’t dirty yourself in there, you have to be back at the studio in an hour.” Henry said. Stan’s face lit up for the first time in awhile. He nodded his head as a thank you. He quickly scuttered over to the back of the apartment where a small room resided. He gently opened the door to find two blonde boys sitting on the floor, looking like hell. The two perked up after seeing Stan.

“STAN! You’re back!” Tweek exclaimed. Stan came to sit down with the two. Butters was quiet. He was happy to see Stan, but couldn’t bring himself to express it. That is until Stan pulled out his granola bar and split it into 2 parts.

“Here, take this. You need this more than I do.” Stan explained. The two were about to take their respective parts, but Butters hesitated.

“W-wait, you’re not gonna have some?” Butters asked wearily, his voice in a whisper. Stan shakes his head.

“Henry told me I need to lose weight anyways. Don’t wanna get beaten up.” Stan said. Tweek looked at each other in worry. If Tweek didn’t have his hands tied behind his back at the moment, he’d shove that part of the granola bar right into his mouth. If he couldn’t do it himself, he’d ask someone else.

“Butters, let’s just split our halves in two and give those to Stan. That would be fa-” Tweek suggests, but Stan cuts him off. Stan begins to whisper.

“No you guys. I know when and where I can get food tonight. Yeah maybe I need a bite or two so my stomach doesn’t grumble during shooting, but I’ll live.” Stan says in a hushed tone. The other boys understand and nod. They sit in a comfortable silence. After being kidnapped for more than 24 hours, they started to bond in their misery. They didn’t feel weird around each other. After a bit, Tweek spoke up.

“Hey Butters, what happened last night? Why weren’t you here?” Tweek asked. Butters eyes went wide. He looked away from the other two to process his thoughts.

“W-well…they got drunk last night a-and fell asleep. T-they forgot to lock me up so I-I took one of their phones and ran outside. I memorized Kenny’s number in case of emergencies, so I called him a-” Stan interrupted him.

“Wait wait wait wait. You CALLED KENNY?!” Stan looked at Butters like he was crazy. Butters just nodded in reply. Stan was beyond shocked.

“H-he’s coming for us. Him, Craig, Kyle W-” both other boys interrupted him this time.

“CRAIG?!” Tweek exclaimed.

“KYLE?!” Stan exclaimed.

“Y-yeah. I don’t know where they are right now, but I think they’re on their way.” Butters explained.

“How did they even find us?” Tweek asked.

“W-well they tracked the number on the phone. I don’t know how that led to the location, b-but I’m glad they’re looking for us.” Butter gave all the information he knew. Tweek and Stan were processing everything. Tweek didn’t understand Craig coming to save him. Weren’t they fighting? Tweek promised himself that as soon as Craig came here, he’d apologize to him. Stan on the other hand was just glad and relieved Kyle was gonna be there. He wanted to be with him so bad, in more ways than one. 

“...Are you sure you can still handle this, Stan?” Butters asked concerningly.

“I’ll be fine. If the boys are on their way, then we won’t be here for much longer. I trust them.” Stan said with confidence. Maybe a little too much confidence. Really he just didn’t want to worry the others. On the inside, he was terrified. What if something happens to them? What would they do then? Stan tried to push those thoughts away, but it was hard. But he would be strong. For Tweek. For Butters. For Kyle.

Chapter Text

“Are we there yet?” Kenny complains from the backseat. He now regrets giving Kyle the car, even though it belongs to his family. He’d finished his chips almost half an hour ago. They had made it to Denver. It was a much busier place than the mountains they had seen for the first half of the trip.

“No we’re not, we’re not even in Fort Collins yet.” Kyle replied. The ride had been mostly peaceful and quiet. However, the tension was slowly rising. Eventually they would be there. They’d be in Fort Collins at this random apartment. Who knows who or what could be there. The farther Kyle drove, the closer they were to the inevitable.

“Ugghhh god this is taking forever. Why are you driving under the speed limit? There’s no cops here, dude.” Kenny complained.

“Kenny can you just be quiet? I’m trying to concentrate while I’m already on edge.” Kyle asked. He wasn’t gonna tell anyone, but he was tired. Tired of everyone and everything. Kenny was being annoying. Wendy was complaining about his driving. Craig wasn’t really annoying him, but his lack of doing anything also somehow annoyed him. He knows the only real reason he’s like this is the stress of their entire situation, but everything else just tipped him in the wrong way.

“You wanted to drive, Kyle. It’s not my problem you can’t handle it. By the way, does anyone have a phone charger? Mine’s at 10%.” Kenny said nonchalantly. That was the last straw for Kyle.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, KENNY! NO ONE GIVES A SHIT! JUST DEAL WITH IT!” Kyle yelled. His anger affected his driving. The car started to drift a bit. He was going 70 now instead of 50. The change in attitude woke Craig up and made Wendy more alert.

“Kyle, please. You’re on the highway, calm do-” Wendy turned to look at Kyle and spoke to him with a gentle tone. Kyle’s face grew hot with anger. He turned to face Wendy.

“NO! I WON’T! I’M DONE WITH EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING! YOU GUYS ARE SO UNGRATEFUL AND HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I-” Kyle’s eyes never go back on the road. He doesn’t even notice how far he’s drifting to the right. Wendy notices this and tries to take the wheel, but Kyle slaps her hand. They keep fighting over the wheel, which freaks Kenny and Craig out. Craig grabs his seatbelt while Kenny curls up in a ball.

“Kyle calm down! We’re gonna-” Wendy argues.
“JUST SHUT UP, WENDY! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! WE’RE FINE!” Kyle yells. He swerves very far right. Wendy gasps as she looks ahead. The miles keep going up. 70. 75. 82. Wendy can’t take it. Suddenly, just in front, the silhouette of a white SUV comes into their line of sight.

“KYLE WATCH OUT!” Wendy shouts.

“WHA-”

A loud smash is heard.

~

The world seemed foggy. It was hard to see. The area was crowded and hot. Kyle slowly opened his eyes.The wiped his face of smoke and debris. He combed his hair down with his hands, realizing he had lost his hat. He looked around once he had adjusted to his surroundings. That’s when he saw the aftermath. 

The front end of Kyle’s mom’s car was unrecognizable. The hood of the car had been half blown off. The lights had been partially knocked off of the front. The right side of the car had been slightly damaged as well. Smoke came from the broken off hood. Kyle sat on the highway, watching cars on the other side pass by. He had little to no emotion on his face. He couldn’t even cry. He could only stare. 

He looked off to his right. In the distance, he saw Kenny lying on his stomach. A small but noticeable pool of blood was trailing out of his cheek and other places. Kyle couldn’t believe his eyes. His instincts led him to stand up. His legs were wobbly, but he eventually got to his feet. He ran to Kenny and fell to his knees. He shook his friend, the tears finally falling from his eyes.

“Kenny…! Kenny Kenny please wake up! KENNY!” Kyle cried out. He lifted Kenny's chin to see his face. The boy's eyes were closed, but his right eye had a bruise forming over it. Kyle panicked. His breath started to get heavy. He grabbed Kenny’s shoulder and tried to get him to sit up on his own.

“Kenny! Kenny, listen to me! Please wake up!” Kyle shook him again. He wiped away his tears and sniffed. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He’d blurred out the past 30 minutes of today from his memory. He heard footsteps coming from his left. He turned his head. Craig, with a partially torn black jacket, messy hair, and cut across his chin came over to Kyle. He stood over him. Kyle looked up in defeat.

“You bastard.” Craig said, using his usual monotone voice. Kyle’s eyes widened. He knew exactly what Craig was talking about.

“Craig I’m sore-” Kyle tried to apologize, but Craig interrupted him.

“No you’re not. You’ve gotta get your shit together. In the beginning, you were the one telling me to calm down and just go save Tweek. Now look at you. Killing your friends because you can’t handle it.” Craig explained. Kyle’s heart sank down to his stomach.

“...But nobody’s dead. Everyone’s alive…right?” Kyle started to sweat. He looked back at Kenny. His eyes were still closed. Kyle places his hand on Kenny’s neck. After a few seconds, he felt it. A beat.

“H-he’s got a pulse! He’s still alive!” Kyle swung his head back around to Craig. 

“Don’t you see, Craig? Everyone’s fine!”

“KYLE BROFLOVSKI!” 

The boys heard a yelling in the distance behind Craig. They looked over their shoulders. Another figure was approaching in the distance. One with long black hair and blood all over.

“Kyle Broflovski…you’ve gotta be FUCKING KIDDING ME!” Wendy walked over, limping on her right leg. They all stood still as they watched her. As she got closer, they noticed her right hand was covered in a torn off part of her sweater. It hit them finally. Her pinky finger nail was gone. 

“You ASSHOLE! You just HAD TO GET US IN A CAR CRASH! DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW STUPID YOU’VE BEEN!?” Wendy yelled at Kyle. She was eventually close enough to him to where they could see each other clearly. Her footsteps became stomps. Before he knew it, Wendy’s hand was being slapped across Kyle’s face. It left a mark on his cheek. Kyle touched it and felt the sting of it. Ironically, it stopped his tears from falling. He looked at Wendy, not talking and barely breathing. She began to cry. 

“You don’t even realize the damage you’ve done. You’ve ruined everything.” Wendy balled up her fists and walked away. She disappeared behind what was left of their car.

 If there weren't police sirens, wind, and other cars surrounding them, they would be sitting in complete silence. Those police sirens came closer and closer to them. As they saw the red and blue lights pull over to the side, many people came over to them. Kyle tuned them out and just sat there to think and reflect. It was his fault. He did this. His reckless behavior and out of place thinking led them to the worst case scenario. He would be arrested. His mom would be furious. Most of all, the lost boys would never be saved. They failed. And it was Kyle’s fault. He heard commotion around him. He felt an arm wrapping around him. It took him out of his trance.

“Sir, sir what is your name?” The officer asked. Kyle blinked twice as his words came out in stumbles.

“K-kyle. Kyle Broflovski.” He responded quietly. The officer said a few more words to him that he couldn't make out. He glanced back up at where Kenny was, but he was moved. Looking a bit farther, he saw Kenny on top of some white blanket with a few people surrounding him. He assumed, and hoped, that he was getting treated. If he had killed one of his best friends, he would never forgive himself. He looked to his left. He saw another officer having a conversation with Wendy. At this point, he knew he was going to jail. 

The officer with him helped him to his feet. He was placed onto a stretcher and told to lay down. He didn’t understand why. He felt fine, although possibly numb. He looked down at his chest. He lifted his shirt with what little strength he had. On his chest was a large bruise with a few cuts on it. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the pain he was now experiencing. He guessed looking at it made him aware. Before he knew it, the world went dark. Only one thing remained on his mind.

“I’m sorry, Stan…” He whispered.

~

“How much longer?!”

“Just a few minutes, ma’am. He hasn’t lost as much blood as we had thought. He’ll recover in no time.”

A bright white light appeared in Kyle’s vision as he awoke. He blinked many times to adjust. He tried to become present in the moment. The bed felt surprisingly comfortable. Some of his body felt numb and he couldn’t move it. He was able to adjust his eyes to the light. He was in a hospital, he knew that for sure. He recognized a lot of the equipment placed around him, since he planned to go to medical school. He saw two figures standing in front of him. One he recognized, one he didn’t recognize. They were having a conversation.

“Where are the others?!”

“They’re in their own separate rooms. Mr. McCormick is in the room just to the left if you want to see him. Mr. Tucker just had bandages and a check up, so he’s waiting in the lobby.”

“How is he?”

“He’s fine, Miss. His injuries weren’t as bad as any of yours. As bad as it sounds, it’s very lucky you only lost a pinky nail.”

“Right. Thank you for all you’ve done. Please…make sure Kyle’s okay.”

“We will do all we can”

“Oh look, look! He’s waking up!

Kyle found Wendy and the doctor standing at the foot of his head. He looked a bit surprised to see Wendy at all, after all she said to him. He tried to sit up, but was tugged back by lots of wires and tubes.

“What’s all this…?” Kyle asked wearily. Wendy tried to get closer to the bed, but the doctor blocked her. She looked a bit angry. The doctor turned to face Kyle. 

“It’s all right, Mr. Broflovski. You were out for only half an hour. You’ll be okay as soon as we run a few more tests.” the doctor said in a comforting manner. 

“What..?” Kyle felt fine. He didn’t think he needed to spend another second here. He should be out there finding a way to get to the boys. Instead, he was trapped here because he was stupid. 

“Doctor McKenna, please let him go. We have somewhere we need to be immediately.” Wendy argues politely. She was a master at getting her way most of the time because she was so polite. It was time for her to prove that.

“Ma’am I’m sorry bu-”

“Do you know that my dad is the Secretary of Health and Human Services? Working for the president? Do you even know my name?” Wendy argued. She was arguing with complete lies, but if it got them out of there, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. 

“Ma’am I don’t know your name, but-”
“My name is Wendy Bercerra, daughter of Xavier Bercerra. So either I can call my dad to get this situated, or you can let us go. And if this gets too far, he won’t hesitate to take this up with the President.” Wendy began to get a bit condescending. He seemed to believe her lie, backing up as she slowly moved closer to him. Kyle thought some god up there gave them a miracle.

“Right right ummm, I’ll see what I can do.” the doctor excused himself out of the room, probably looking for a higher authority. Wendy sighed in relief and walked over to the side of Kyle’s bed, Her face turned annoyed again.

“I’m still mad at you for almost killing us, but… we still need you. If you pull something like this again, I’m leaving you on the streets.” Wendy scolded him. Kyle sighed in relief. Wendy began to undo all of the useless tubes. Kyle sat up.

“I haven’t been myself lately. I know I’m a shitty person. I haven’t been trying to improve, but I will now.” Kyle admitted as he looked up at Wendy. His expression was completely genuine. This was Kyle’s worst nightmare, admitting he was wrong. The fact he was doing it now meant something was about to change. Out of all the crazy things he’d experienced as a kid, this is somehow what truly led him to basically losing his mind. 

“Thanks. Let’s get the others and find a way to get the fuck outta here.” Wendy gave a more encouraging smile. Kyle knew she was incredibly mad on the inside still, but he was glad she wasn’t yelling at him. Wendy helped him get out of bed. He was having chest pains, but he would thug it out. When he got up and looked down, he noticed Wendy’s leg was wrapped in gauze. It hit him how much his actions affected everyone. He held in his tears, since crying here would be pointless.

The two walked out of the hospital in a hurry. They stopped by Kenny’s room to see what was up. When they opened the door, Kenny was sitting there in the room. Other than the wounds on his body, he seemed relatively fine. He looked up when he heard the door opening. His face dropped when he saw Kyle.

“Oh…um, hi guys.” Kenny said. It was awkward, but Kyle was determined to make it the opposite. Kyle walked into the room while Wendy stayed outside to keep guard. Kenny panicked a bit on the inside and scooted away. Kyle took a deep sigh to compose himself. He stood next to Kenny’s bed, the boy on the bed slowly keeping a fair distance.

“Kenny I…I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry. I’m not myself. I’m losing my mind. I promise from now on I’ll try and be a decent person.” Kyle confessed. Kenny just stared at him. He was confused about what to do. He wanted to forgive him, but he also almost died. Again. On the other hand, this was Kyle. He didn’t lie very often. He’d known him for basically his whole life. They were best friends. This was a test on morality he wasn’t ready for. 

Kenny looked at Kyle and sighed. 

“I don’t forgive you.”

“...Wait, what?”

Kyle stood in front of Kenny speechless. The two shared an uncomfortable silence. Kenny stared at him with unwavering eyes. That was until he burst out laughing. 

“HAHAHA! I’m kidding dude. Yeah I’m mad as hell, but I’ll forgive you. This doesn’t mean I trust you, it just means we’re not…not friends.” Kenny crossed his arms as he explained the situation to Kyle. This just made the redhead even more confused. Kenny was a confusing guy. Kyle let out yet another sigh. He felt he’d soon have no more air left to sigh. Kyle lended out a hand for Kenny with a small smile, but Kenny ignored it and kept walking. Kyle stood and watched him walk to the door. When Kenny reached the door, he turned around.

“Well asshole, what are you waiting for? Time to kick some ass and save some ass.” Kenny smiled.

The three walked out of the hospital room through the hallways. They made their way to the waiting room. There, they found Craig sitting on his phone. He had patches on his chin and face. His shirt was slightly torn and his jacket was in his lap. He had a wrap around his left knee. He looked up once he saw the others surrounding him, with Kyle.

“What’s he doing here?” Craig said in his usual tone, with a hint of annoyance. Kyle took his usual breath.

“Listen, I'm sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry, a million times I’m sorry. I promise I never wanted anything bad to happen. I’ll let you guys be in charge this time. Let’s just get going.” Kyle explained. Craig rolled his eyes in response. He stood up and pointed a finger at Kyle’s chest, which led the boy to flinch in pain. 

“Yeah no, I’m not buying it. You think we’re going to just forgive you after that? You crashed your car, our ride.” Craig argued. He stood his ground while giving Kyle a nasty stare. Wendy walked forward, putting an arm in front of him for protection. A few people began to stare.

“Craig, I know how you feel. Yes we’re all mad at him, but we all have the same goal. You’re telling me you wouldn’t have-” Wendy was interrupted by Craig.

“I wouldn’t have crashed our car because I’m so crazy and desperate? No I wouldn’t. I think I have a big enough brain to understand how to get my head straight. If you want to have him around, fine. I won’t do it then.” Craig started to walk out of the hospital. Wendy and Kenny ran after him while Kyle trailed behind. They walked and shouted out insults until they hit the sidewalk next to the road. Wendy let out a frustrated yell. 

“GOD why are you so difficult?! You obviously don’t have a big enough brain if you can’t see the stick up your ass!” Wendy shouted. This made Craig stop in his tracks and turn around.

“Oh I’M the one who has a stick up their ass?! Look right there! You’re standing in front of the guy who attempted MURDER!” Craig yelled to them. Kyle’s stomach dropped. Was he almost a murderer? Is that what they thought of him? He felt like crying. He wanted to cry. He didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Did he even take his meds this morning? He wouldn’t be able to blame it on that anyways. The damage was done, literally.

“You’re so sensitive, Craig! You think he was TRYING to kill us? You think he’d crash the car on PURPOSE?!” Wendy kept walking, but Craig kept trying to get away from her. Kenny looked behind to see how Kyle was doing. Kyle looked terrified. He didn’t like the sight of one of his best friends in fear. After all that happened, he just couldn’t hate him. It wasn’t in his bones. He walked over to Kyle and stood there. 

The eye contact created a sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia that took them back. At one point, they were just nine year olds, fucking around and having fun. They had their ups and downs, but they always came back for each other. Kenny was the one Kyle went to for all his Stan troubles, Cartman troubles, just troubles in general. Kyle was the rational one who got Kenny out of dumb situations. Kenny would never understand where that boy went. He just wanted his best friend back.

Kenny, with all the empathy in his heart, embraced Kyle. For a while, it was one sided. That was until he felt the warmth of Kyle’s arms. He started to hear the sniffles from his nose, and soon the sobs from his mouth. Kyle let it all out onto Kenny. He was there. He was his rock, his boulder, supporting him. He always had been.

After what had felt like hours, they let go. Kenny placed his hands on Kyle’s shoulders. The redhead looked up. Kyle’s face was all puffy and red. He wiped his tears away from his own face.

“Kenny…I-I’m sorry. I-I swear I don’t know what…what happened.” Kyle said through his tears.

“It’s okay, Kyle. I forgive you.” Kenny responded.

“...Why?” Kyle asked.

“Because you’re my best friend, and that’s what we do. Whoever was driving that car, that wasn’t the real you. I know you. We’re gonna fix this, okay dude?” Kenny dropped his hands, but left one out for Kyle to dap up. Kyle gave a weak smile, but gave him what he wanted. The two finished their talk and turned around to see what was happening with Wendy and Craig. Whatever it was, it didn’t look good. They were a bit far up the road, so Kenny gestured to Kyle to follow him. 

As they ran, they saw Craig and Wendy arguing at the end of the block. Craig eventually turned and kept walking on the sidewalk. Wendy tried to get his attention, but he wouldn’t listen.

“Craig Tucker, get back here!” Wendy shouted to him. He flipped her off in response, not even caring to look at her. Once Kenny and Kyle caught up to them, he had an idea. Kenny went a bit ahead of Wendy and ran up close behind Craig. 

“I don’t think Tweek would like being without his boyfriend.” Kenny stated. To his shock, this affected Craig in the wrong way. Almost like he hit a nerve. Craig turned around, his face now red with anger.

“TWEEK DOESN’T WANT ME ANYMORE, OKAY?! WE HAD AN ARGUMENT DURING THE PARTY AND NOW HE’S GONE!” Craigs voice began to crack as tears welled up in his eyes. Everyone else stood still in total shock. This was the most emotion Craig had shown to them up to this point. Kyle had been through this stupid spiel before. He decided to be the one to walk up ahead next. 

“You know that’s not true. You don’t want it to be true, so stop putting this stupid fantasy in your he-” Kyle’s heartfelt argument was interrupted by Craigs punch to the face. Kyle fell to the ground, a blue bruise already forming on his nose. Kenny and Wendy huddled around him. Craig looked down on them menacingly. 

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, BASTARD!” Craig yelled. He started to run away. After that encounter, no one wanted to chase after him. They all just stared as his silhouette got smaller and smaller until it was gone. Craig was gone.

“Now what do we do?” Kyle asked worriedly. He was met with silence. Kenny and him looked to Wendy for some kind of hope. She seemed to always know what to do now. She noticed this. Wendy tried to think. She tried as hard as she could. It all seemed hopeless. Wendy involuntarily started trembling.

“I…I don’t know.”