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Chapter 7

     Thursday couldn't have come any sooner, Stan Marsh, master procrastinator had finally packed up his things into the Uhaul getting ready for the drive to home sweet South Park Colorado. Spike was ready to go already sitting in the passenger seat with his head sticking out the window watching Stan say goodbye to Lucile impatiently whining. With one last glance at his house Stan ran to the driver's seat to take off, Spike loved road trips. The dog was probably happier than he was being able to watch the country pass by. Something about the serenity of driving through miles and miles of nothing made Stan feel at ease, he wasn't worrying about emails he might not have read or business calls that he had to answer, meetings he had to attend, none of it. It was just him, Spike, and the peaceful Colorado wilderness.

     The peace that came with his three-hour road trip was one he could bask in endlessly, but just as all things do, it ended all too soon. Stan had 15 minutes before he would arrive in Southpark, his phone already had signal again but the raven-haired man refused to look at it until he was back in South Park after his last fifteen minutes of tranquility ran out. At times, he found himself envying his scruffy companion, his dog's life was so much simpler compared to his, Spike ran, ate, slept, and played all day. The pup rested his head on the window of Stan's truck contently with his tongue flying freely in the cool Colorado breeze, not a care in the world, what Stan wouldn't give to feel the same. Stan gave his dog a playful backscratch and went back to focusing on the road and thinking about absolutely nothing.

     His fifteen minutes finally lapsed and he stood directly in front of what he would now call home for the next few months. It was almost too much, to be back in his hometown but see how much it had changed. It was no longer simply some middle of nowhere hick-town, It was almost three times larger than he left it. There were all sorts of new buildings, and though it wasn't nearly the size of Denver it was no longer small enough to be considered a "small town" or even a "town" at all.

      And so here he stood, staring down his new apartment complex as if he were about to enter a duel, he might as well rest his hand over his right hip pretending it has a gun holster. While Stan prepared to duel his new home, Spike bolted out of the car running across the road and down the street.

     He had never done something like that before but Stan ran chasing after him terrified he'd get hurt in traffic. At this point in time, Stanley sincerely regretted taking his dog running every day in Denver because man that dog can run. By the time he finally caught up to Spike he was in the front yard of someone's house barking at their cat who seemed furious at the invasion of its space. It hissed at Spike swatting at the dog's nose from the top of the fence where he sat.

      Just as Stan was about to grab spike and drag him back to their apartment the house's door creaked open. Stan turned his head ready to apologize profusely for his dog but the little face that peaked out was none other than Elizabeth Tucker, Stan only knew that because of the neverending baby pics that Tweek shared on Facebook. Before he could say a word, Lizzy called into her house "DAD there's a weird guy on our lawn bothering Mr. Whiskers!" Stan mentally facepalmed. Of course, Spike had to choose the Tucker residence out of all the houses on the block, his "luck" was never-ending.

     The moment Stanley caught sight of the bundle of hair that could belong to none other than Craig Tucker he began to wheeze in silent laughter, after not seeing each other for over two solid years they meet at the sight of Stan's dog harassing Craig's daughter's cat. After taking a moment to compose himself he walked over to where Craig stood frowning at Spike

     "Tucker," Stan says lightheartedly as Craig raises his eyebrow in amusement allowing stan to continue "Um.. so... First of all, this was in no way intentional, Spike ran off while I was unloading the Uhaul I swear!" Craig's face didn't change a bit but he nodded at the raven-haired man to continue "Second of all, hey it's nice to see your face in person again, I know we were supposed to meet elsewhere and not to sound like a hippie or anything, but the universe has its ways of connecting people no?" Stan chortled, and with a subtle flick-off on Tucker's part, the stone-faced man brought Stan into a welcoming bro-hug and called him an idiot.