Halo

20- The Bridge -20

(TW: Implied/referenced self harm, it's also talked about but not in detail)

Kenny sat on a bridge. He was thinking. Thinking long and hard about everything. He had to at some point.

He had stayed on that hill until almost dawn, he then walked a little ways away from West park and into the outskirts of South park. There, he took a seat on a bridge. It overlooked a river and thick Forrest around it. It was around the area the overgrown 'South Park welcomes you!' sign was. He dangled his legs over the edge, swinging them back and fourth. Kenny sighed, he didn't know what to do. He had already wasted his time trying to tell them he was immortal once, and they had forgotten the next day, so what was the point. Shivers ran down his spine at the thought of getting older and having to live with this thing. He hated every inch of himself, as evident by the mistake he made. He hated this thing, whatever it was. It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fucking fair.

Why'd he have to get stuck with this? Why didn't his deadbeat parents suffer the consequences? It was their fault! Was was he the one that they had to put this on!? Although, it wouldn't be any fucking better if his siblings had this curse. He wanted to be normal. His eyes filled with tears. He just wanted to be a normal kid. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! This shouldn't have happened! He wanted to kick his dads ass so badly. He wanted revenge on the man that ruined his life. And what was stopping him? The law, probably. Everyone would hate him. He couldn't escape this fucking loop and it was hell. This was their goddamn fault. He was damn near hurling himself off the ledge out of frustration.

But alas, it didn't really matter so what was the point? God, somebody needed to stop smashing bottles on the street. It was giving him nasty ideas.

"You come here often?" He heard a nasally voice say behind him. Kenny jumped out of his skin, whipping around to see Craig deadpanning him as usual, cigarettes and a tote bag in hand. "God, you scared the shit out of me!" He said. Craig chuckled dryly "What are you doing here?" Kenny asked. Craig shrugged, tossing his bag lightly on the ground before hopping up next to Kenny. "Just fancied a walk, really. Why are you out here?" Craig asked. Kenny sighed "Same as you."

Craig paused "You don't seem very sure about that, McCormick." Kenny stayed silent for a moment before chuckling lightly "I am, promise." Craig hummed before turning his head to the view.

"Hey, so, why are you really here?" Craig asked. Kenny sighed "Well, I wanted a walk, but I also needed to think." He said. Craig nodded "Think about what?" "Y'know, stuff..." Kenny replied. "Stuff like?" Craig asked. Kenny laughed "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Craig glanced over at him "Shoot, I'll believe you." Craig said "You and those guys have seen too much crazy shit for me to doubt anything you say at this point. Nothing can be more unbelievable than a Barbra Streisand mech destroying our town, or giant guinea pigs startling people because Peruvian flute bands kept them away." Craig said. Kenny laughed again "You've got a point there, but still, it's something you just wouldn't get. And plus, you wouldn't remember it anyway." He replied. Craig hummed "I see. Well, if you ever wanna talk about it, I'm right next to you." He replied.

"I cut myself." Kenny said eventually. Craig gasped softly and tensed, looking over at him. "You... You what?" He asked, dropping his stoic expression for a moment. Kenny looked back at him, with a tired expression. Craig remained silent before his eyes filled with tears. "Woah, C-Craig-" Kenny said before being interrupted by Craig hugging him tightly. "Kenny... Please stop. Stop. It's not the right answer." Craig said. Kenny stared blankly ahead, surprised at the sudden shift in personality in the stoic boy. He wasn't really sure what he expected.

Craig tried to calm himself before pulling back and putting a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "Please, don't do that anymore. Kenny, I care about you. A lot. I don't want to see you do this to yourself." He said. Kenny frowned. "Did you... do anything?" Craig asked, silently dreading asking. Kenny shrugged and nodded "Did you take care of it?" Craig asked. "Nope." Kenny replied. Craig sighed and frowned "Let me see."

Kenny sighed and rolled up his sleeve, turning his gaze away to look at the river again. Craig frowned, pulling out some medical supplies and starting to clean the area. "Why'd you do this?" Craig asked. Kenny chuckled "A better question is where the fuck did you get those meds." Craig smiled at the joke "I like to be prepared. Thanks for lightening the mood, I don't like crying." He replied. Kenny smiled "You're welcome. I don't like crying either. I... saw you have cigarettes..?" Kenny said slowly. Craig sighed and reached down into his bag. "Go to town, McCormick." Craig said, handing him the box. "Thanks dude. Do you have a lighter on you?" Kenny asked. Craig pulled one out of his pocket "Always." He replied. Kenny smiled gratefully and lit a cigarette, taking a drag with a sigh of contentment.

"What's your silence like?" The noirette asked, pulling Kenny's sleeve down again. "What?" Kenny said, turning around. Craig paused and then giggled "Oh, jeez, that probably sounded stupid. Let me explain." "Please do." Kenny replied. "You know silence, right? Silence is when everything is quiet, when people stop talking and when you pause whatever is playing in the background. Everything goes quiet, everything is silent. But, silence isn't really the absence of sound. I mean, sure, in some cases it can be, but most of the time, silence is just when everyone stops talking, but the room isn't really quiet. There's ambiance. For me, my silence in my room when I'm trying to sleep is the ticking of my clock, and the cars occasionally passing by. Sometimes it's the rain pattering on my roof, or the wind batting tree branches against my window. And sometimes it's birds chirping or water flowing, or even breathing from other people or yourself." Craig explained.

Kenny listened patiently, enjoying not having to keep up conversation and just listen for once. Granted, it's not like he wasn't good at it, but he enjoyed a change of pace every once and a while. That's why he liked hanging out with Craig, Craig could ramble, and Kenny could listen.

"Tweek and I were talking about it and I just blanked and assumed you knew what I meant." He said, chuckling. Kenny smiled back "Nah, I do that sometimes. But, if you're so very curious, my silence... is.... Hm, lemme think about that." Kenny muttered. "My silence is... Hm. It's- uh- it varies. Sometimes it's rain or wind, like you said. But other times it's.. maybe, water dripping through the roof, landing in a bucket. Or the trains going by, making bits of ceiling fall on me." He said, chuckling. "Or, sometimes it's fighting, or crying, or things being thrown at my door. Glass bottles being smashed outside, or inside sometimes. But eventually it all just fades into the background." Kenny explained.

Craig frowned "Yeah, I get that sometimes. Parents fighting sucks." "Yeah." Kenny replied.

The two sat on the bridge in silence, taking a moment to mentally recharge for once. And it was just what they needed.