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The text was simple: "Can me n Karen cme ovr 4 da wknd?"
But the real message behind it was frantic.
Kenny didn't have time to see if he'd gotten a reply, he was grabbing his crying little sister's jacket and shoving it over her shoulders, stuffing his wallet into his own pocket as the yelling of his parents got louder, closer to his room. He slid out his room and onto the snowy ground first, then lifted Karen and carried her as fast as he could through a shortcut through the forest.
Even Kenny had to agree, his brother Kevin had made a pretty stupid decision. Most parents would ground their kids for a while and they'd never do it again. Unfortunately, those weren't their parents. He decided not to dwell on it any longer as he saw the streetlights over the tall trees, and began walking on the sidewalks, still not letting his sister's bare feet walk on the cold ground. Kenny fumbled for his phone, patting all his pockets of his ratty parka and his pants, and he cursed under his breath when he realized that he must've dropped it on his way over, but it was getting too dark for him to go looking for it now.
He set Karen down when they neared the Broflovski house, and he wiped the tear streaks from her face with a small smile. "It's gonna be alright, Karen. Mrs. Broflovski is gonna take care of us for a few days." He assured her as they walked to the front door, hand in hand. Kenny was never one to show up uninvited, but it was too cold to stay outside and getting too late to ask anyone else. He knocked with his free hand and was quickly ushered in with shrill remarks about being out in the cold by Mrs. Broflovski, and Kenny took a deep breath of the smell of dinner and warmth.
Kenny stood there a little awkwardly as he shed off his parka and removed his snowy shoes, wiggling his bare toes into the fresh clean carpets. he smiled as his little sister was given a fluffy blanket and a plate a warm food that he didn't really recognize but it smelled like heaven. He was about to go sit down with her and watch some TV when a red head of curls came down the stairs, and Kenny sighed gently as he followed the other back up.
"Look, man, I didn't mean to drop in like this-"
As soon as the two rounded the corner that opened up to the long hall, however, Kyle buried his face into Kenny's warm chest and wrapped his long, freckled arms around him, shaking his head to get the other to hush. Joined together at waist and hip, they walked towards Kyle's room, bumping into the side table in the hall and almost knocking a case that Kyle almost didn't catch. Kenny's back hit the door with a thump and they both fumbled with the knob it turned and Kyle could maneuver them to lay on his bed. They say there in the quiet for a while, with Kyle's head gently rising and falling as Kenny took slow, deep breaths. The tired blonde was almost fully asleep when Kyle finally opened his mouth, and cast his bright green eyes up at him.
"Last time you stayed for the weekend..." He began, but was quickly cut off by Kenny sitting up on his elbows to look down at him.
"I promise- nothing like that's happened. Look, my brother did something stupid- go figure, right? Well my parents got him from school pretty much before third period was over, and had been drinking at home ever since. So you can imagine how sloshed they were once /I/ got home. Said that we wouldn't just learn by seeing Kev's mistake. Then they started to fight about how they were gonna do that." Kenny stopped to clear this throat and run a hand over Kyle's soft curls, pressing his fingers in until he could feel the tightly-wound curls near his scalp.
"My mom wanted to give us all the punishment so we would all suffer. Dad wanted... Hell, I can't remember what he wanted, but it must've been extreme since mom started to yell about it. I guess they reached some kind of middle ground, 'cause before I knew it, they were both coming towards my room.
Karen was in my room of course, crying her eyes out. She always gets like that when mom and dad start to yell... Anyway, I tugged on her jacket as fast as I could and grabbed my own and rushed out after I sent that text. I didn't even get to see if you replied, my phones somewhere in the forest. I just..." The blonde sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face, casting his eyes down to meet Kyle's. "Didn't think anywhere else would have a bed for my sister."
Poor Kyle had to laugh a little at that as he climbed over his boyfriend and kissed his lips, rough and chapped from running in the cold. "You're always welcome here. You and Karen. My mom adores your sister and knows that I'll take care of you." He hummed gently as he slid off to grab Kenny some dry pajamas and a towel in case he wanted to shower. Which was probably going to be a yes, since the McCormicks haven't really paid their water bill in months and the city sent them their last red note before they were going to shut it off completely. Kenny smiled warmly at his boyfriend and he began to strip right there on the warm bed, taking the towel with a soft kiss to the other's forehead. "Be back in five," He promised, and he gently shut the bathroom door behind him.
Kenny sighed as he felt the warm spray against his face and his chest, letting the hot water steam up and warm him even more. "God, I love Kyle," He said aloud as he used the good-smelling soap to scrub his body clean. "I love him and I sure as hell don't deserve him." The words seemed to echo in the quiet shower as he rinsed out his greasy hair and turned the water off, stepping out in front of the full length mirror.
Kenny despised this mirror. Not that it was a bad mirror or anything, it was always clean and streak free, and had a delicate floral pattern around the glass. The circumstances that they would meet and the reflection he'd see is what fueled the disdain. He dropped the gold towel that had been tied loose around his waist and stared at the healing bruise on his hip, the purplish-yellow a stark contrast from the rest of his lanky, pale body. He grazed his fingertips over the jagged keloid on his left side when his dad had smashed and thrown a beer bottle and it "accidentally" hit him in the side during an argument. He shuddered at the thought and covered his body with the warm pajamas instead, and he opened up the bathroom door, sighing as the steam rushed out to the room.
Kyle was sitting on his bed, trying to finish up his homework. He glanced up from the textbook when the knob to the bathroom jiggled and Kenny stepped out with a bright smile.
"Hey babe." The blonde greeted and plopped on the bed with him, resting his head on his shoulder.
"Ky, it's the weekend. Do your homework later." Kyle let out a little grumble under his breath, something about Kenny always doing homework at the last moment or not at all, but he complied, stuffing the book back into his bag and laying back against the pillow.
Kenny situated himself around the other, until they were both comfortably spooning, with Kenny's face pressed into Kyle's shoulder, their hands clasped in front of them both. "I love you." Kenny mumbled into his ear, letting his eyes slide shut as he licked his chapped lips. Kyle mumbled his reply but it was lost into the pillow as the grip on his hand softened.
Kenny sat there for a while as Kyle's breath began to slowly even out. It would be a crime to wake him up when he was so close to going to sleep, but it was getting late and the house was going quiet. Ken leaned back up to his ear and shifted his hand away, warranting a soft whine and Kyle's eyes slowly opening. "I gotta kiss my sister goodnight." The blonde said softly as he slid from the warm bed and stood.
"Be back in a minute. Go to sleep."
Kenny began the seemingly long walk down the hall to the guest room, where Mrs. Broflovski was just stepping out. "Kenny," She greeted, her voice still as shrill, but it seemed to be at a lower volume which Kenny was thankful for. He really didn't want to try to sleep with a headache. "It's Adorable how much you care for your sister, she was just asking for you. I'll be in my room if you need me." She opened the door a little for him to go through and he thanked her quietly as he slipped in and felt for the light switch.
He decided not to turn flip it, and instead used the moonlight coming from the window behind the bed and the little sliver of light from the hall as sources of light. Kenny took cautious steps to the bed, in case she had just fallen asleep, but began to walk normally when he saw two hazel orbs blinking at him and the body shifting over for him to sit.
The bed was much too big for her, almost looking to swallow her whole, but at least he didn't have to worry about her getting cold during the night. He sat down on the little space provided and brushed her hair back.
His hand was damp afterwards, Mrs. Broflovski must have given her a bath after dinner.
Karen leaned over to hug Kenny tight and she buried her fists into the back of his shirt to keep herself from crying. "Don't worry, kiddo," Kenny gathered her into his lap and hugged her as close as he could, playing with the little braid on her back.
"Mrs. Broflovski is right across from your room, and I'm right down the hall. Do you wanna sleep with me and Kyle tonight?"
He got a tiny little shake of the head in reply, and Karen pulled back to look at Kenny's face. He was always so comforting, with his warm smile and bright eyes, and he never ever raised his voice at her. For that, she was probably the most thankful.
"Goodnight Kenny." She said softly and pulled him down to give him a hug around the neck and a kiss on his cheek. Kenny placed her back in bed with the covers over her. "Goodnight, Karen. Sweet dreams." He gave his sister one final kiss on the forehead and looked at her in the doorway for a few moments before he walked back down the hall.
Kyle's snoring could be heard from outside the bedroom door, and Kenny pushed it open painfully slow so it wouldn't squeak so loud and wake him up. He slid his shirt over his head (Kyle's room was kept much warmer than what he was used to) and slid back onto his side of the bed, but didn't curl up to Kyle in fear he would wake him up again. He laid there, on his back, as he stared up at the moonlight casting stripes along the dull ceiling. The little thumps and noisy blowing of the house's heating gave some noise over the soft ringing in his ears as he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
But that wasn't helping him get to sleep at all.
So he turned his head to gaze over at Kyle. The redhead's face was soft and lax, mouth parted ever so slightly and a little drool was gathering at the edge of the pillow. Kenny snorted as a particularly loud snore came from the other and he pulled the blankets up over their bodies.
He truly loved Kyle, even when he wasn't even trying.
Kenny still didn't feel comfortable enough to sleep, and he could feel the pure dread and anxiousness from the situation he was in begin to grow, his chest was beginning to grow heavy. He shifted quickly to cover his mouth when a sob threatened to come out. Crying would have felt amazing, it would take some of the fear out the situation and might tire him out enough for him to get some sleep. But he was a loud crier, he didn't want to wake Kyle up and cause any alarm.
It didn't matter, he needed to cry and he needed to do it now.
He slowly lifted himself from the bed, bit by bit, and breathed a sigh of relief when Kyle kept right on snoring. Kenny crept his way to the bathroom and shut the door, hesitating for a moment before he turned the lock. He put the lid of the seat down and let out his first loud sob, hands moving to grip at the pyjama pants. He hated when he got like this, he could cry himself hoarse in a matter of minutes and he'd always scold himself for not doing in sooner. Then he would get rid of the blotchy red patches on his face and his sunken red eyes and everything would be back to normal.
But sitting here, crying on the toilet in Kyle's bathroom? He'd sunk to a whole new low.
Right on cue, the blonde's tears had began to dry up and his little hiccups subsided, and he could finally pick himself up from his seat and splash his face with cold water. He didn't bother to look at himself for too long in the dreaded mirror, and made sure he opened the toilet again and shut the light off before going back to laying by Kyle.
Sleep felt much easier now, and Kyle had turned to face the other way now, giving Kenny a little window to cuddle into him. He got nothing but a little snort in response, and he nuzzled into his shoulder with a deep sigh.
Maybe. Just maybe he could talk to Kyle about it.
He let his eyes flutter shut and he rested his head back against the pillow, giving Kyle's hand a tight squeeze.
It would just have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, all he needed to do was sleep.