Chapter Text
5 days.
it was 5 days before the prom.
stan sat near the pavement in front of the store. he was crouching, sighing a couple times and blinking ever-so slowly.
he didn’t have a partner.
what an absolute loser! he was in 6th grade, had an ex-girlfriend who was sure to never come back running for him (fortunately or unfortunately, give or take from stan honestly),
and his super best friend had replaced him with a chick already for the prom!
stan sighed as he wrapped his hand around his head, he was already feeling down and it worsened after asking kyle if they could go to prom together and finding out he was going with heidi .
what great luck he truly has.
shuffle.
stan heard the noise and looked to his right, peeking out from his knees and saw a recognisable battered up orange parka.
it was kenny.
“hey dude, what are you doing sitting out here?” his muffled voice spoke under the fabric.
“ugh, you know that prom that’s coming up this week on friday?”
“yeah?”
“well i don’t have a partner,” stan dramatically sighed out.
“oh dude, it’s fine, i don’t have one either-”
“hey wait… can’t you be my partner!?” stan had a hit of realisation, “oh please kenny! i can’t look like a loner when i go there!”
“WAIT- you want to go out with ME?! to prom?!” kenny was flabbergasted by the sudden request.
stan pulled him closer by tugging on his parka, he stared at him with pleading eyes as he reasoned with the younger.
“kenny.. come on,” he said,
“… fuck , fine jeez,” kenny gave in, almost heating up from the closeness between the two to which he wanted to smack himself for. ‘ not in front of stan ’.
“thank you kenny!” stan cheered, smiling as all of his other worries had faded away. he had jumped up from his spot that he was crying pitifully 5 seconds ago and went off on his merry way.
“what the fuck have i gotten myself into,” kenny said to himself as he physically smacked his face this time. watching as that little poofball hat bounced off into the distance.
one thing that kenny has acknowledged throughout his elementary school life is that,
he’s been attracted to stan since 5th grade, and noticed it only around the time both him and wendy broke up.
god, he is messed up.
but you know what? this small mountain town was already messed up, what more harm could happen?
kenny ruffled his hair and stood up, brushing off all the dirt and pebble on his bottom and decided to go back home. he was sure he had a blue suit hanging around somewhere, he had to have it cleaned before friday.
kenny opened the door to his house and of course, a beer bottle made its way rolling towards his foot. he kicked it slightly before closing the door and hearing the incessant screaming once again.
it’s not like they’ll notice if he just walked past, so he did just that. he goes inside his own beat-up budgeted room, and goes straight towards the closet. to say the least, it was quite broken.
he slid open the door and there were a couple racks of clothes. just different apparel for special occasions like his princess dress and his superhero outfit. he scanned further and saw his dirty blue suit.
“ aaaaawww, shit. i don’t have money for the laundromat this week, i used all my allowance,” kenny cursed, he took the suit off the rack and laid it on his bed.
“i’m sure kyle wouldn’t mind if i dropped over, right?”
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
stan made it home to his humble abode, he felt better now that he had a friend to go to the 6th grade prom with. his sister sat on the couch and stan whizzed past her right away.
‘i am not dealing with her today,’ he didn’t want his sister to ruin this small spark of happiness. and thankfully, she didn’t notice him going up to his bedroom.
“i’ve got to tell kyle,” stan said to himself, as he was walking towards his closet, one hand to open it and the other equipping his phone. while he scoured through his mountain of clothes, his phone was calling his best friend.
“hey stan,” kyle’s voice spoke through the speaker, it was on facetime so all kyle could see was from the lower perspective. basically only seeing stan in the bottom right corner, just his poofball hat.
yeah, stan threw his phone on the bed before kyle accepted the call.
“oh hey kyle! i found someone to go out with,” stan said, his face was covered in between the clothing as he was searching for a nice suit.
“cool!! who is it?” stan found a dark green suit, he wore it only a couple times and it was in great condition, lucky!
“it’s kenny,” he said as he emerged from the closet.
“kenny?!? really?! i thought you would’ve asked wendy!”
“um if i was, i wouldn’t have asked you to go to prom with me in the first place dumbass,”
“that’s gay,”
“fuck yourself, now do you think this suit is alright?” stan showed the suit from above the camera, it flopped due to gravity onto the phone screen but kyle could see it nevertheless.
“oh yeah, i’ve seen this suit before. looks good,” kyle said, his face was zoomed all the way in and his eye was the only thing the camera could see.
“nice,” stan puts the suit back into the closet, all the way to the front so he wouldn’t go searching again. stan could hear kyle’s doorbell ring and a “coming ma!” from kyle himself.
“hold on stan, i think somebody’s at the door,”
“is it cartman?” stan asked, he shut the closet door with a squeak.
“man i don’t know,” kyle’s voice was distant, away from the phone’s microphone.
some distinct voices could be heard, stan could barely recognise who it was until they got closer to kyle’s phone.
“speak of the devil, it’s kenny,” kyle laughed, he panned his phone screen to kenny who waved, one of his hands was behind him seemingly covering something.
“oh hey kenny!” stan adoringly said, waving really close to his face.
“i’m going to have to go now dude, kenny needs my help,” before stan could protest by saying he could come over too, the phone call ended with a beep. stan just eyed his phone and sighed.
“oh whatever,”
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
“thanks for letting me use your laundry machine,” kenny appreciated kyle’s help. kyle is definitely unaware of the fact kenny has a crush on his best friend, funny. actually, he’s only ever told butters.
“wait let me get this straight kenny.. you're gay?” butters asked, he was taken aback, especially since kenny is..
“i’m so fucking lost,” kenny was sitting on butter’s bed, he had his head in his hands and spilling his heart out right in front of the kid.
“your brain is but your heart isn’t,” butters said, he lifts himself off the ground and pats his friend’s back. kenny takes butter’s words internally, he was always a good friend behind the scenes.
“i guess i’ve accepted it ever since wendy and stan had that big fight.. fuck is that weird? pining over someone who just broke up with their partner?”
“nah. i think you liked him before that but you didn’t know,” butters shrugged, kenny took that into consideration.
“shit.. it’s almost our 6th year and my chest tightens so much around him, i hate it, i hate it!” kenny almost screams, he tugged on the hoodie strings. butters comforted him further.
“oh jeez louise, you’ve liked him for a year!” butters came to the conclusion. kenny huffed, he looked to the side with squinted eyes as he processed what butters said.
“hey this is our last chance, we don’t know if all of us are even going to the same high school. because you know, some of us may go to that new one down the other town.” he continued on, kenny realised it too. this prom was their last elementary school day before the holidays.
“oh shit…” kenny curled up with his head on his knee, butters had nothing to say.
“…” silence.
“i’m glad you trust me kenny, because i trust you too,” butters suddenly said, as he looked away from kenny and towards the floor.
“yeah.. thanks butters,” kenny genuinely said. the words ‘different high school’ and ‘down the other town’ swirled through his mind. butters gave him motivation and confidence (which would still plummet but that’s okay.. he’s kenny mccormick!)
“i only ever want you to be happy kenny,”
then… this year i’ll tell him!
“earth to kenny?” kyle waved his hand in front of kenny’s face. kenny snapped out of whatever memory lane he had just traveled to. kyle looked at him with a look that spoke ‘what happened?’
kenny shakes his head, brushing it off to which kyle doesn’t intervene.
“let’s go,” kyle said as he took kenny to the laundry machine stationed somewhere within the house. they both placed the suit into the washing machine and kenny just watched kyle switch on all the buttons.
whiiiirrrrr
the washing machine started playing a rhythmic tune, the orange kid started dancing to it and kyle looked at him funny.
“well was there anything else you needed?” kyle asked, they both left the room and closed the door. kyle instructed kenny to come back in a day because he’ll hang it up to dry along with their other clothes.
“nah, thanks a lot kyle,” kenny appreciated the work kyle had done for him. kyle just smiled and gave kenny a hug before sending him off home.
kenny finally accomplished one step on going towards a goal.
to be stan’s boyfriend!
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
monday - 4 days before prom
kenny and kyle stood at the bus stop. kicking the pebbles. they both wondered where the other two were.
kenny had collected the suit in the morning and had it stuffed in his bag (he just didn’t have time to go home and come out to the bus stop again).
“do you remember our old bus driver?” kyle asked, kenny faced kyle and he said ‘yeah’.
“and how she would always threaten us with the bunny?” kyle cackled at the thought, kenny reminisced about those times too. in 4th grade. he too laughed along with kyle.
they’re growing older now.
“it’s sucks to change,” kenny said, he looked down to the floor and pavement.
“yeah you’re right. but let’s enjoy our friendship a little longer!” kyle positively said, he didn’t want the both of them to feel upset about growing up.
it’ll mean they’ll spend more time when they’re older, hopefully.
the bus arrived with a shriek, alerting both the boys to get inside the yellow american school bus. they already saw stan sitting in his seat and of course kyle subconsciously made his way there.
kenny sat next down to cartman,
“dude, don’t you live in your old house? why didn’t you come to the bus stop?” kenny asked,
“i wasn’t bothered to see you guys today,” cartman spoke, but he added on “i’ll be there tomorrow though,”
“you okay man?” kenny questioned, eric brushed it off with a “yeah, why wouldn’t i be?”
“is this about the hotdog thing? let it go, it’s been two years,” kenny rolled his eyes, eric was offended and slapped his hand over his chest.
“the fuck! as if i’d share a restaurant with a poor peasant! it’s over! all of it belongs to that stupid shit!” he referred to butters who was sitting behind them.
“hey fellas,” butters gleefully said, cartman gave the stink eye and turned around quickly with his arms crossed.
“so i heard from kyle that you’ve got a prom date too? i thought you would’ve asked me, the great eric?”
“you wish fatass,” kenny laughed,
“and you know what’s worse?! kyle ” he said his name in a condescending tone, “is going out with my ex girlfriend!”
“i thought you were over her,” kenny raised an eyebrow, cartman defensively attacks back,
“yeah and you’re going out with stanley marsh you gay fuck,”
“i’m not fucking gay,” kenny crossed his arms, squinting his eyes to cartman.
“right, don’t ruin my main gay couple,” cartman said, pointing towards the other two sitting beside them across their seats.
“fuck you fatass, you hate all of us,”
“i’ve never given that impression before, how could you think of me like that?” cartman feigned his innocence.
“what do you think they’re squabbling about?” kyle asked, both stan and kyle urged their heads to look towards kenny and eric’s conversation.
“who the hell knows, hey- you know how you’re going out with heidi? what’s going on between you two?” stan stabbed his elbow into kyle’s, laughing when kyle tenses up with a flushed face at the sudden question.
“i cleared up my misunderstanding with her,” kyle fixes the green hat on his head, stan just smiles teasingly.
“you finally have a bitch?” kyle stares at him with an angered expression.
“fuck off, don’t call her a bitch,” he said, not in a vicious tone.
“woah! alright, i’ll back off,” stan surrendered, they both just laughed it off together before a new conversation started.
“where were you this morning? the bus stop?” kyle asked, clearly confused for today since he only saw kenny this morning.
“ah, sorry dude. i had something come up so i used the bus stop further down there. i promise i’ll be back with you guys at the bus stop tomorrow!” stan promised, it was just a one-time thing that had happened. he was 99% sure he’d come back to their usual bus stop.
“it’s just so.. incomplete without you,” kyle confessed, he fiddled with his fingers, sighing.
they both could hear cartman yelling at them, “it’s incomplete without me too!”
stan ignored carrman’s words. “i know. i’m so sorry guys,” he apologised once more. looking outside the window and finding the familiar pathway to the elementary school.
‘another day of this heck of a school.’
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
tuesday - 3 days before prom
it was lunch time, all the other kids were out playing as stan sat underneath a tree with kenny. the younger had just stopped by to sit next to him, he didn’t know why but he did.
“and then i slapped him back, total bitch if you ask me! steve was about to hit me again but then cartman showed up to drag me out.” stan was telling kenny a story that happened to him a week ago.
“i usually never fight but when steve said that bullshit to me, i just kicked him,”
kenny had died last week again because he fell down a sewage drain and drowned in fecal matter. he never wanted to go through that again. so that’s why he’s being told this story.
“who the fuck is steve anyway?” kenny asked, picking at his glove’s strings.
“bro, i have no fucking idea but he had beef with me,” stan rolled his eyes, he continued with his story underneath the shadiness of the tree.
“hey fellas! you seem to be enjoying your playtime under a tree, can i join?” butters familiar voice had cut through.
“oh uh sure butters,” stan said, shuffling them both over to make room for the blonde male to sit under the tree with them.
“who you guys going with for the prom? i can’t wait! i’m actually going with this fancy girl, oh shucks!” butters fawned over.
“oh uh… we’re going with each other,” stan responded, he sounded calm with it.
“oh!” butters eyed kenny for a second, giving him an encouraging smile. kenny shook his head, glaring at him with a flare of red beneath his fabric and zipper.
“you guys are.. together now?” butters asked with caution, but his face lit up.
“no! we’re going as friends,” stan panicked, he didn’t want anybody to get the wrong idea. the last thing he needs for prom is a misunderstanding between him and kenny, and everybody else.
stiingg.
“oh shucks, that’s nice too! going out with friends is a good thing,” butters clasped his hands together, nudging kenny innocently. kenny got the hint and rolled his eyes.
“i’ll tell you the context later.” he whispered to butters.
“hey kenny, wanna play ball? you can join too butters,” stan suggested, he got up quickly and dusted off his pants. they both accepted the offer (kenny with a small pat on stan’s butt, “sick dude!” stan replied as kenny had already scurried off).
stan fetched a football, the shape of dora’s hair and threw it hard towards kenny.
“oh oh! i’ve got an idea! how about we play piggy in the middle?”
“then we’d need cartman,” stan cackled.
“ay!! i heard that you fucking bitch!!” a distant voice called out, the three of them laughed silently.
“butters, just be piggy,” stan said, cackling soon afterwards after he realised what he said.
butters obediently made his way to the middle.
“okay… i’m ready,” butters had his hands outstretched and they started playing.
stan uses his head to instruct kenny to move either left or right. and he swings the football to the right where kenny stood. butters tried running for it but he had just missed it by a hair.
kenny threw it without missing a beat, stan was caught off-guard but he caught it nevertheless. butters whipped his head around, his reaction time was slow.
stan used his head once again to show kenny where he should move, butters caught on but before he could move to the right, stan ended up throwing to the left and kenny caught it once again.
“you won’t get it this time, i won’t be a piggy!” butters shouted in defiance, his eyes stared at the football that was held in kenny’s hands.
kenny throws in a whim, the football flying just over butters for that one second but a hand was outreaches and a familiar cyan fabric had caught the football. he fumbled slightly before catching it once more.
“ YESSSSS ! i’m not a piggy anymore!” butters cheered, “you are now kenny!” he giggled and moved towards kenny’s spot with a victorious smile.
kenny awed in a joking manner, he walked towards the middle and had his hands ready in the air with a determined look on his face.
“ready or not stan, here it comes!” butters yelled as the ball went across kenny. kenny started hopping backwards in hopes he’d catch the ball.
but he miscalculated.
he slipped on stan’s shoes and had fallen backwards on top of stan’s body, butters gasped as he ran over towards the two and a small crowd had a whisper fest.
“oh hamburgers!! i’m so sorry you guys,” butters apologised. the two of them groaned and kenny just melted from the tiredness, (also stan’s body was freakishly warm but he wasn’t gonna admit that he was curling into his body).
both of them finally decided to get up, kenny holding himself up first with a fumbling hand. being that close to stan was not a good problem to his heart. he hates this feeling, he only ever wanted look for a good fuck. (given his mindset).
he helped stan up and the two of them dusted their coats off.
“sorry fellas,” it wasn’t even butters fault. they looked at each other and shrugged, letting butters think whatever he thought.
‘shit, feelings are complicated’ kenny thought.
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
wednesday - 2 days before prom
when kenny said he’d tell butters the context later, he didn’t mean the next day. nevertheless, it’s the next day and butters demands for context since he left him the moment he left that playground yesterday.
“and you just avoided me the whole day,” butters accused, kenny reasoned back “i wasn’t intentionally doing it!”
“fine. but will you now tell me what happened?” butters switched the topic, letting kenny off because he could never really hold grudges. he believed the guy.
“stan just asked me to go to prom with him as friends, what’s there to say?”
“he asked you! this is a sign!”
“as friends, butters!” kenny reinstated.
“yes but, you’re making progress. he thought of you!”
kenny scoffs, “only because kyle wasn’t there for him this time. i’m just a second choice,”
“aw shucks.. it’s not too bad to be a second choice. at least you’re a choice at all!” butters optimistically reasoned.
“i’m not sure whether i feel worse or better by that statement,” kenny sighed, they were in the boy’s toilet in front of the sink as they talked to each other.
“well the problem here is that he’s too focused on.. other people. instead of asking him to make a move.. you should make a move!” butters advised, kenny let the thought sink in. he totally wasn’t making a comment about the fact kenny doesn’t have much of a presence.
“you’re right butters, i need to confess this friday or it’s all gone for the both of us,” he said with determination set in his eyes. butters cheered on, encouraging kenny once more like the hype man he was.
“now let’s get out of the bathroom, it stinks here,” kenny said, opening the bathroom door and leaving along with butters.
“hey guys- did you just get out of the bathroom together?” kyle had walked right in front of both of them.
“what’s wrong with that? i was just waiting for him,” kenny murmured, pointing to butters who was about to break character before realising kenny’s intentions.
“yeah-”
“no but don’t you use the…”
“no! this time i used the toilet!” butters denied it, waving his hands in front of kyle.
“oh… i was going to ask if you guys have seen heidi but you guys were probably in the toilets for a while,”
“no we haven’t seen her,” kenny exclaimed, waiting for kyle to leave quickly.
“that’s alright guys, see you around,” kyle had hopped off down the crowded hallway.
“whew, fuck i totally forgot you use the urinal,” kenny rubbed his temples, butters just shrugged muttering apologies the usual.
“speak of the devil!” butters yelled, he caught the attention of the boy in the poofball hat. walking over, kenny gripped onto butter’s shoulder. barely surviving kyle’s attacks, how will he survive stan’s?
“what’d you say to me?” stan quizzingly looked at butters. butters zipped his mouth, urging kenny to cover for him once more.
“we were talking about manbearpig,” kenny smoothly covered, stan’s face dropped in horror just from hearing the name.
“is it back or something?? i thought climate change wasn’t going to come back in years,”
“actually stan-” butters was cut off.
“don’t worry, it won’t be coming back for quite a while,” kenny said, wrapping his arm around stan’s shoulder to prove that everything was fine.
“alright, you wanna come and get some food with me?” stan asked, kenny lit up at the thought of grabbing some food with stan.
was this progress? perhaps!
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
thursday - a day before prom
“so how are we going to do this?” stan and kenny were sitting in the backyard of the marsh’s house. swinging their little feet up and down as they had climbed a tree. the very tree that use to have the clubhouse on it.
“well, you can just stay in your pretty little house and i’ll come by,” kenny initiated, he had a plan. well, he was honestly planning to sway mr and mrs marsh with dirt flowers and crumpled paper to wrap around it.
“what? why can’t i just come by yours?”
“it’s embarrassing, plus you’re closer to the school than i am so why would you come to mine?” kenny argued back, laying further into the branches.
“well whatever, i guess less walking for me,” stan brushed it off willingly. whatever thing kenny had in mind was surely a feeble thing… since he’s poor. he wasn’t expecting much but he’d let the younger do whatever he wanted.
even if it meant picking him up. (despite stan being older and should be the one picking him up).
“actually kenny.. were you originally going to prom?” stan curiously questioned, looking at kenny who was staring off into the distance in the sky.
“yeah.. despite the fact i was going to be partnerless, i still would’ve came and hung out with you guys,”
“am i restricting you from dancing with anybody in particular?” stan had his fair share of negative feelings and thoughts. ( seeing everything as shit took a toll on him later in his life, but he still hangs on nicely ).
“oh! no, no. in actuality, i really would rather have it with you to dance with,” kenny turns his head to look at stan, truthfulness swims around in his light blue eyes.
stan was surprised and averted his eyes, looking into the sky that kenny was just looking at mere seconds ago.
“i see, i’m glad it was you kenny. even though you could’ve gone out with a hot girl with huge tits, you still chose to be with me,” stan scratched his neck awkwardly, saying it out loud sounded weirder than it did in his head.
“i mean, even if you weren’t available.. i could’ve gone out with kyle or cartman,” kenny added on, he suddenly wanted to backtrack on his progress, he was feeling sweaty palms and nervousness within his body.
ouch. “oh, i mean yeah. but i’m not even sure if cartman could even handle being around kyle,” stan smoothly lead the conversation about their friends.
“it’ll be funny, at least there’s something that irks him real bad,” kenny chuckled, finally looking towards the cloudy sky with a shimmering sun that’s about to dip down the horizon of colorado.
“then maybe at least this year’s prom will be entertaining,” stan replied, a small laugh escaped his lips after hearing kenny’s chuckle.
“oh i’m not too sure about that, i feel like there’s something big that will happen and it won’t be just cartman’s antics,” kenny said once again, hinting to something much bigger. stan listened but with a raised eyebrow.
“having premonitions now kenny? what did you eat for breakfast this time?”
“piss cereal,” he said, leaning further onto the tree branch and closing his eyelids.
“pffft, didn’t know you could afford cereal,”
“couldn’t afford the milk though,”
stan laughed out loud, kenny joined along with him before leaning way too far back and breaking a tree branch. his arms flailed around searching for any source to grip on as he was losing balance.
stan reached his hand out to grab kenny’s right hand that seemed to be waving crazily around and pulled him closer towards himself, or at least attempting to with his strength. he’s only just strong enough to pull him up.
once he did, he didn’t realise that he had overexerted himself and suddenly they were both in a predicament where they were both squished together in the tree, the tree branches were seemingly a lot closer than before.
they were both surprised by their closeness, kenny even thought stan could probably hear his heartbeat due to how close (and loud heartbeat sounds) they are.
stan pushed kenny away quickly after some time, feeling embarrassed. kenny apologised, he cautiously leaned back and saw the fallen branch now on the ground.
the boy with the poofball hat coughed in his hand awkwardly, staring off into the distance as the silence settled in.
“right, uh, are you okay?” stan asked, realising he had literally caught the boy before he had almost injured himself.
kenny turned to face stan and genuinely said, “i’m alright,” as if he hasn’t totally gone through one thousand deaths since his birth, ‘it’s nothing new’ he thought to himself.
“we better get off this tree then, before it causes any more harm,” stan suggested, his arms held himself in place and he twisted his body around to start hugging the tree, and began climbing down.
kenny watched as the older had descended the tree and was mindlessly swinging his feet. stan arched an eyebrow as he looked up at kenny, signalling him to come down and get off the tree.
kenny slowly descended, not without the help of stan though who was outreaching his arms. kenny took the silent offer and took stan’s hand, twisting his back in an awful crunchy way. he let go of his other hand on the tree and hopped into stan’s arms.
stan had to step backwards due to the force and squeezed kenny tightly, trying to break the fall. he was thankfully still standing upright with kenny and they both let go of each other, seeing as they were both safe and in good condition.
“i think my mum’s cooking us something, let’s go inside! it’s getting chilly out here,” stan requested, bouncing down towards the door to the house without an answer from kenny.
kenny stood there, processing what had happened to the both of them. he touched the cheek of his face and his mouth opened slightly.
‘ yep, it’s definitely warm, ’
. . . . . . . 🚌 🛑
friday - prom!
it was the afternoon after school, well after everyone had spilled out like small marbles to go back home and get ready for prom .
to say the very least, pretty much everyone in 6th grade was very excited. they had waited for the entire year to have a farewell party.
but kenny? stan? no, they were both drowning in an ocean of nerves and fear.
‘i can’t believe today has come so quickly,” kenny crumpled up his blond hair, sitting on the couch of his trashed home as he moved his hand to rub his temples.
-
‘what if my suit got ruined? what if my sister poured dad’s beer all over my clothes today?’ stan was overthinking as he rushed home that day, he ran up the stairs into his room and seemingly found it untouched which was a good sign.
-
‘i should start getting ready, the prom opens around 5 and it’s already 3:30’ kenny thought to himself as he got up from the couch. he wanted to get ready early just so he could freshen up at kyle’s house (since he lived closer to him).
-
‘oh thank god,’ stan thought to himself, relieved by all the trembling thoughts about his suit being ruined or whatnot. he takes the suit off the rack and gives it a full round check. dusting off any hidden dust on it and laid it down on the bed.
-
‘what if stan doesn’t want to go with me anymore? he’s not even-’ kenny sighed at the unfortunate thought, it sounded selfish. he placed the suit down on his bed, thankfully it was in crisp condition ever since he had it cleaned at kyle’s.
-
‘shit, i haven’t even tried this suit out yet, its been quite a while,’ stan cringed, he totally forgot how old this suit was. he was just honestly hoping that it would fit like it used to. he turned towards the mirror and just put the green jacket on first. it was a little tight but he already had his iconic brown jacket on too. ‘it'll be fine,’
-
‘i also have to find flowers for his parents!’ kenny abruptly thought. he started looking for a random page in his room and just found a magazine just lying on the floor near his dresser. ‘fuck it.’ he thought as he flipped and ripped a random page off, placing it neatly near the suit on the bed.
-
‘should i wear my hat? no- that’s weird, maybe i should style my hair today,’ stan looked in the mirror, twiddling with his hair strands. ‘oh, i should definitely wash up before i do anything,’ stan decisively thought.
-
‘okay everything looks good, i need to head out to kyle’s,’ kenny was determined for today, if he was going to confess the least he should do is look good when he does. that way, maybe stan would look at him in a different light.
kenny ran out of the house, looking for kyle’s house so he could get ready. he was very sure that kyle would let him in anyway because well, kyle cares.
“oh hey dude, what are you doing here?” kyle opened the door, seeing kenny outside of his house confused him.
kenny walks inside of his house and gives him a roundabout answer, “you know, just to get ready with you, yeah,” kyle rolls his eyes and reluctantly gives him permission to use the bathroom and any product as long as he isn’t messing around.
. . . . . . .
stan had his hair styled, his suit was ironed out and he had a rose sticking out of his pocket courtesy of his mother nagging him to keep it on.
“just a hair strand mor-” “HEY TURD!! WHERE’S MY HAIR BRUSH?!” his sister yelled out and before he could comb his hair, he dropped it into the sink.
“oh shit!” he grabbed the end of the comb stick before it got lodged into the drain, which would have resulted in a slap from his sister. he quickly brushed the last strand into place, behind his ear and ran to his sister’s room.
“here, jesus fuck,” stan quietly said the last part though, shelley forcefully took the comb away and slapped his hand, rolling her eyes without thanking her sibling.
he went back to his room and checked the time once again, it was already 4:10pm.
‘oh crap, i forgot to ask kenny when he was coming.’ but he believed in kenny, he wasn’t going to be late right?
he looked in the mirror once more, checking himself out. his hair was combed neatly, he smelled pretty fresh out of the shower and he had stolen one of his sister’s face masks to look good today.
‘ am i trying too hard? ’ he thought, stressing himself out as he made weird expressions on his face, pondering more if he looked like a try-hard.
“staaan!!?” his father called from downstairs, “yeah?!” he yelled back, wondering what the hell his dad wants now. “come down quickly!!!” stan followed the instructions as he walked down the stairs.
he saw the front door open, his dad’s back covering the outside world, it was all he could see.
“what’s going on?” stan said before his father shuffled away from the front door and faced sideways, revealing the person who was at the front door. he was surprised to see kenny - and he was holding yellow flowers in a crumpled paper bag and a blue ribbon wrapped around.
“why are you both dressed so for- ohh.. shit, you guys are going together? you both swing the other way now?” his dad almost about to dig into his pockets to find his wallet.
“NO! dad! we’re not gay, we’re going as friends!!” stan defended the both of them, he didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about the both of them!
kenny ignored the remark that stan had said, pretending like his heart didn’t ache from the indirect rejection. but the least he should do, is tell stan and get over his feelings because he shouldn’t keep hurting himself by loving a guy who can’t love him back.
even if the result may be a ruined friendship, he trusts stan that even if he does confess, he’d still be friends right? a hopeless hope.
“let’s go,” stan said, snapping kenny out of his thoughts. they walked out together but before they could step out of the house, randy said one last thing.
“bring him back by nine young man,” he said (not while also snatching the flowers) and shutting the door before the both of them could even answer. stan pinched his nose, that was not like his father.
stan was too focused on his father to realise that kenny was dressed up extremely tidy, and his blonde hair wasn’t tangled or messy. he took a good look at kenny, ogling him.
kenny took notice and had a small bit of pride within himself, he put his arm around stan’s shoulder.
“what you starin’ at?” kenny smirked, stan whipped his head away, he realised he was staring at kenny for way too fucking long to be considered a friendly stare.
“the trees behind you,” he smoothly replied, if kenny knew he was lying, he stayed silent regardless.
they walked across the roads towards school, striking conversations with each other about the things they’ve done, their pet peeves, plans they should make.
“oh my god, i can see the disco lights from here,” stan said, pointing at the school the closer they went.
“let’s have some fun, this beat is sick, i wanna take a ride on your disco stick,” kenny sang, stan rolled his eyes and laughed, he really liked kenny’s humour.
upon arriving at the front of the school, there were already a couple of early kids waiting at the ‘lobby’ of the school. the gym doors weren’t exactly open yet so a lot of them hung around by sitting on the floors or leaning on the railings.
stan spotted kyle, heidi and eric all bunched up in the corner, they walked their way over and kyle made eye contact with the both of them first. he waved at the two of them.
“what’s with that flower on you?” kyle asked, pointing at the flower on his pocket.
“ugh, my mum insisted, it looks stupid doesn’t it,”
“pff yeah-“
“no!-“
kyle and cartman both looked at each other, glaring. stan watched the usual antics unfold and kenny was silent once again, slipping his arm with stan to feel more natural and as if they really were prom partners. (stan didn’t notice anyway).
“come on! stan’s flower looks stupid- like his face,” cartman stated his argument.
“it makes him look more elegant! having a flower is a nice touch to your look, not like you’ve ever worked on yours. ”
“you fucking bitch kyle!”
“guys, again?” heidi interrupted, cartman cursed under his breath as he glared at her. kyle slid his hand with heidi’s and he reassured her he wouldn’t do it again around her. (since he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t argue with cartman the entire night).
“oh kenny, how did you go with the flowers?” kyle asked, he turned his head towards kenny and eyed the way they both had their arm wrapped around each other.
“oh pfft, randy just snatched the flowers off of me,”
“my dad’s an asshole like that sometimes,” stan sighed.
“i just realised, kenny isn’t wearing his hoodie!” heidi said, surprised to see the golden clean locks of kenny’s hair. since, well, she thought his hair was going to be full of dirt and sewage water but she digressed.
“oh, well.. it’s a special occasion. might as well get laid before i leave right?” kenny joked, combing through his hair with his fingers. they chuckled along and resumed back to another conversation once again.
after 20-30 minutes or so, mr mackey had opened the gym doors and let everybody inside. he was dressed in a suit attire and had a polka dot tie.
everyone dashed inside, seeing the disco lights dance freely around the gym walls and rows of tables and tables clattered with a bunch of food and desert and there were even small seating booths.
and of course , a photoshoot for their partners.
“everybody line up! mkay, we’re going to take photos of couples first mkay?” mr mackey announced, shuffling everyone to the line being made. even pc principal and vice principal woman was there.
“man, it probably would be embarrassing if you told mr mackey you’re going alone,” kenny said, both of them snickered as they eyed cartman behind them who was giving a pissy face.
“i can fucking hear you guys,” cartman said, crossing his arms with an annoyed face. “i don’t need anybody if i’m this fucking cool ,”
they snickered amongst themselves and before they knew it, it was their turn.
“going alone stan?” mr mackey raised an eyebrow, he was honestly expecting to see him with wendy.
“oh, no kenny’s my date,” the words rolled off his tongue faster than he thought it through. well the pressure was that there were people waiting for them to hurry up so they could party.
they walked in front of the camera, a red cloth was draped behind them and contrasted with their clothes thankfully. mr mackey was confused, walking behind the camera as he started a countdown.
stan and kenny awkwardly slipped their hands together, interlocking, and smiling towards the camera as genuinely as they could.
snap!
the camera flashed and they quickly unwrapped their hands, flustered by the sting of the camera and the fact stan said ‘date’.
they walked off the photoshoot and were greeted by the dance floor and a couple of people grooving to the recent pop songs.
“let’s dance, shall we?” stan said in a british accent, offering his hand as he waited for kenny to accept the grand gesture. kenny places his hand on top of stan’s soft ones.
onto the dance floor together, waltzing on the floor together as they were sucked into their own world of whatever they were doing.
kenny had learnt dancing abroad, and he still kept that skill intact despite dying that day by being shot. but he’s so glad he kept the skill to dance, because now, he’s dancing with marsh.
slow dancing with stan .
and kenny soon realised.
‘hey. this is a perfect way to confess… literally right now.’
as they danced for a couple beats more, kenny starts digging up the courage as he tightened his grip on stan’s shoulder while they danced.
“stan..” he said slowly, watching his eyes reflect the disco ball above them. he gulped, he was confident! he is kenny mccormick!
“i’ve been in-”
SPLASH!
someone had fucking splashed some cordial juice onto the back of kenny’s IRONED blue suit. kenny almost yelped from the coldness of the liquid that ran down across his back.
stan gasped, looking from behind to see bebe who was just as surprised. she was extremely apologetic and scurried to find tissues for kenny.
“oh my god,” kenny said, he clenched his fists. this was humiliating. stan took the napkins from bebe who continuously apologised, kenny brushed it off with a toothy grin.
stan started scrubbing the back of his coat, but the drink was soaked in.
“let’s go to the bathroom, it’s too dark, i can barely see,” stan excused, dragging kenny outside the gym to find the school’s bathroom. walking inside the male’s bathroom, kenny took off the coat and watched as stan started doing things he thought he knew what he was doing.
stan took some water from the sink onto the tissues and started rubbing onto the back of kenny’s coat. but it was kind of hopeless as it seeped into the cheap material.
“ah fuck it,” stan said, he took off his own coat to kenny’s surprise. “dude! what the hell are you doing?” he asked, his eyes widening as stan came closer with his coat in hand.
“calm down, just keep this,” stan felt a sense of responsibility for the younger, stuffing kenny’s arms into his own suit jacket. stan’s jacket was a bit bigger on kenny but he didn’t mind much.
“now let’s head back,” stan said, grasping kenny’s hand as they walked out to the gym once again. unfortunately for kenny, they wouldn’t be able to dance anymore.. because the goth kids had hacked the dj’s system and played their own genre.
kenny missed his chance.
but it’s ok, he has multiple other ones! he just has to find the right window of time.
“ah, let’s just go find kyle and cartman,” kenny spoke, stan just tagged along with kenny blindly through the dance floor as they tried to find their gang once again.
once they did, they found them sitting at the booth with a couple desserts and dirty plates next to them. kyle was too busy talking with heidi as cartman was stuffing his face with his own food (which led them to believe all the desserts and dirty plates were his).
“oohh gay,” cartman said as he eyed both of their new outfits, “shut up fatass,” stan defensively said, sliding into the booth along with kenny next to cartman.
“dude can you move any further? you’re so fat you can’t even put the both of us here,” stan asked politely. cartman rolled his eyes and told him to eat a dick.
“oh kenny, were you about to say something before your drink got spilled?” stan suddenly remembered, this probably had to be the worst spot to confess so kenny counteracted.
“oh pfft, it’s nothing,” kenny said. ‘you fucking dumbass!’ he was flabbergasted by his own response. stan shrugged and brushed it off, despite being curious.
“hey, i’ve got an idea,” cartman whispered with his raspy voice. he took a plate of food as he eyed the victims surrounding him. he might as well make this prom a little more… impressionable.
he saw craig tucker hanging around with his boyfriend, tweak tweek, as well as clyde donovan about 2 metres away from them. this would be perfect, because clyde cries so loud. he never grew out of that phase.
cartman stood up, two dishes of pie from the food provided and he held them tight with three of his targets in sight. kyle took notice, but he yelled way too late.
“ STOP FATASS!- “
SPLAT! SPLAT!
“ ACK… AAAAAAHHHHHHH?!!??”
“ WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKERS DID THAT?!? ”
“ uwaaaaaaAAAAHHHH… WAHHHH..”
and all HELL broke loose, thanks to cartman. people started accusing each other, even going as far as starting a food fight in the gym.
“you fat fucker! you ruined it!” kyle screamed, his patience had run thin, and he was so so close to punching cartman in the face.
“kyle, please! let’s get out of here before we get hi-“ and heidi was hit with a cupcake that smeared down her dress. kyle burst in anger, that was the last straw before he started going ballistic.
he took a plate with smooshed chocolate cake and immediately threw it to the culprit with perfect precision. and that person ended up being craig.
“ i was aiming for cartman you idiot! ” craig yelled from across the room, the teachers were starting to panic as they tried to calm everybody down.
“wanna get out of here?” stan asked quietly, he didn’t want to raise awareness about the two of them, or else their clothes would be dirtied from food stains.
“yeah,” kenny answered with a whisper before they bolted for it. not before kenny’s bad luck caught up to him and he bumped right into tolkien, and tripped down with a silent yelp.
“kenny!” stan saw a flying cake heading straight for kenny, and oh god, he was not going to let his own suit get ruined (or what he thought he was doing out of concern).
he jumped in front of kenny, pushing him away from the flying cake. unfortunately for stan, he couldn’t move far enough away from the hit box of the cake so he took a huge hit on his shoulder. a white blouse smudged with cake.
“let’s go!! who cares, i’ll buy another one!” stan clutched onto kenny’s hand and they ran off towards the gym doors, they burst through with a punch and headed towards the outside world.
the fresh air contradicted the stuffy air from before, stan took a deep breath as he was away from the chaotic situation from before. kenny followed behind, tugging onto the jacket that belonged to stan.
“it’s almost 7,” stan said, “why don’t we look at the stars? i’m bored,” he immediately suggested, kenny shrugged, he decided to follow along with stan to watch the stars.
it felt weird to look at the stars alone with stan.
“you think there would be fireworks?” stan said, crossing the road and waiting for kenny on the other side.
“you know america, wanting to firework every second of the day,” kenny replied, he hopped across the yellow lines of the road and stepped on the concrete of the other side.
they settled onto the green fresh-cut grass in front of the school, kenny generously lending his arm for stan to lean on as stan’s arms were crossed on top of his stomach.
“i don’t know anything about stars but it’s my first time stargazing,” stan said, looking up at the white twinkles in the sky. kenny would switch back and forth from looking at the sky and to stan’s face.
“i used to stargaze, when i was mysterion,” kenny spoke up, looking back up at the sky. they saw a flare in the sky and before they knew it,
it was a meteor shower.
“look! it’s a meteor!” stan pointed towards the flying rock from afar with a tail following behind it. kenny fondly smiled at stan, staring at the way his eyes would perfectly reflect the meteor and its bright tail.
his eyes were just as mesmerising as the stars above them as of now. cliche but true.
“ahh, do you see those?” as a row of meteors continuously fell down from the sky, stan was amazed - he barely experienced one and he wouldn’t count that one house party he and his family went to.
“yeah, i see them in your eyes,” kenny responded, stan hitched his breath, slowly turning towards kenny’s direction with eyes that swam with flying meteors.
kenny breathed in once, then twice. stan was waiting for what he was saying in his mind.
“stan, i- i’d like to fuck you sideways?”
“the fuck dude?”
“SHIT, that came out wrong,”
“then what were you meant to say?”
“fuck- i like you. no- it’s not like , i love you. i’ve been in love with you since 5th grade. funny right? because you broke up with wendy that year. and i found out that i liked you. and i know.. i know you don’t swing that fucking way but, even if you don’t, i want us to stay friends regardless.”
kenny waited for a response, but he couldn’t bare looking at stan’s face so he stares at the meteor shower in the sky.
“i- i don’t know what to say man,” stan nervously said, gripping on the grass with confusion.
“you don’t have to say anything, but please, let’s stay friends if you- uh- don’t return these feelings,” kenny said, trying to avoid eye contact with the other.
“kenny, i want to believe that the thing that we have may be true. i don’t want to think the only reason why i’m dating you is because you like me or that you’re my rebound.” stan confessed, further adding onto it.
“stan, what about if you date me for one week? just one week?” kenny holds onto this hope, that if he does everything right for their first relationship, that stan may fall for him too.
“one week?”
“just one, till the end of next friday 7pm.”
“i guess, if i do barf.. then we..” stan doesn’t finish his sentence, looking up at the sky as his heart beats faster.
“then we’re together!” kenny was determined to make this young man fall for him by the end of the week.
“mmm, i hope so too,” stan said, curling further into kenny’s arm as they watched the meteor shower together.
the week started now. (also he brought him home by nine. perfect start!)