South Park Stories (One Shots)

Lifesaver Part 2

           Fluff/Friendship
         
       Written in Stan's POV
     

I wake up to the feel of Kyle's breath against the back of my neck. He's snuggled up behind me, his arm wrapped tightly around my waist, like he's afraid I'll disappear.
I shift slightly, trying to get comfortable and Kyle pulls me tighter against him.
I smile to myself and give up trying to get comfortable.
Instead I lay there quietly, even though my head is killing me and my body aches. I deserve it though.
Kyle shifts behind me and groans. "What time is it?"
I shrug, wincing at the stiffness in my shoulders. He sits up and rubs his eyes, then crawls off the bed and digs through his coat pockets.
I watch as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. Shit.
I sit up quickly and bury my face in my hands, groaning. My phone was still in my coat when I fell in the pond. I feel the bed dip and Kyle rests his hand on my leg. "Stan?"
I look up at him and smile wryly.
"My phone was in my pocket last night."
His eyes widen and he turns to look at my discarded clothes from last night. "Oh, fuck."
I nod. My sentiments exactly.
"Do you need to call your mom?"
I nod and Kyle hands me his phone. The time reads 10:23 and I sigh in relief. My dad's most likely still in bed. I dial the home number and my mom picks up. "Hello?"
"Hey mom."
"Stanley?" Her voice is puzzled.
I roll my eyes. Figures. She didn't even realize I was missing.
I give her a brief rundown of what's going on, giving her the non suicidal version. She just sighs and says she'll take care of the truck, and to come home whenever I'm ready. I feel a brief flash of guilt, but I shove it down. She's not blameless in any of this either.
I hang up and hand Kyle back his phone. Before he can say anything, his door swings open and his brother is standing in the doorway.
"Mom told me to tell you guys to come down for breakfast."
Kyle glares at Ike. "Have you ever heard of knocking?"
Ike just shrugs and walks away.
We stand up and I groan, joints stiff. Kyle shoots me a worried look and I shrug. "I'm okay."
As if my body is determined to make me a liar, I start to shiver.
Kyle frowns and grabs a sweater off his desk chair, handing it to me. Next he digs a pair of socks out of his dresser and hands me those as well. I put both the sweater and the socks on and follow Kyle downstairs.

When we get to the kitchen, we're met with the smell of pancakes. My mouth waters as I try to remember the last time I had pancakes.
I follow Kyle to the table and we both sit down across from Ike, who's busy on his phone.
Kyle's mom looks over at us, her gaze coming to rest on me, a worried frown settling on her face. "You don't look so good Stanley."
I shrug, uncomfortable with the attention. "I'm fine."
She makes a noncommittal noise and puts a plate of pancakes in front of us, then Ike, telling him to put his phone away. He rolls his eyes when she turns around, but puts his phone down.

I eat slowly, not entirely used to eating this much food anymore.
Between the alcohol and the depression, I forget to eat a lot.
I can feel Kyle and his mom watching me, but I keep my eyes on my plate.
When we're finished with breakfast, Kyle's mom whisks our plates away and brushes off our offer to help clean up.
"You know it's been awhile since we've seen you Stanley. Maybe you'd like to stay the rest of the weekend? The boys don't have school Monday."
I nod gratefully, relieved I don't have to go home yet. "That sounds nice."
She smiles and moves over to the sink, starting on the dishes.
Kyle gets up from the table and grabs my hand, pulling me towards the stairs. "We're going back upstairs mom."
She waves us off and I follow Kyle back to his room.
He closes the door and flops down on his bed, grinning at me excitedly. His happiness is infectious and I find myself smiling back.
"Dude, it's been forever since you stayed over."
I nod, thinking back to the last time I stayed over. I'm pretty sure it was the summer after fifth grade. After that we mostly hung out at school. I lived too far outside of town to see each other more than that. And once I turned twelve my dad decided I needed more responsibility and gave me even more chores.
And after I turned sixteen, I didn't even get to hang out at school.
Naturally me and my friends drifted apart a little. We still texted each other, but that was about it.

I sit down next to Kyle, his smile fading at my mood change.
Good going dummy.
I try to smile again, but Kyle's not buying it. He scoots closer and puts his hand on my shoulder.
"Talk to me. What's going on in there?"
"I'm fine Kyle."
"You're obviously not. You can tell me, I can handle it."
I snort derisively, raising an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, like you handled it when I first found out I had depression."
I watch as hurt flashes across his face, then guilt, and finally anger. He moves his hand from my shoulder and crosses his arms.
"I was nine, Stan."
Underneath the anger, I can still hear the hurt in his tone.
You ruin everything, don't you dumbass.
I bury my face in my hands, whispering. "I know, I'm sorry."
I feel his hand on my leg. "I'm sorry too."
I shake my head and look up at him. "You don't have anything to be sorry for Kyle. You're right, you were just a kid. I'm the one who's sorry. I should've never put that on you."
"You were too." He says quietly.
I look at him, lost. "What?"
"A kid. You were just a kid too. And you went through that alone. I am sorry for that."
I shrug. "That's life though, isn't it?"
He grabs my hand and squeezes lightly. "It doesn't have to be. You don't have to be alone."
I feel my eyes sting at the sincerity in his voice. I blink furiously, pushing my emotions down before speaking. "I don't want you to worry about me. You have your own life to live."
"Will you stop!" I jerk my head up at the anger in his voice. His eyes are bright green fire.
"For fuck's sake Stan, let someone love you. Let someone actually care about you."
My heart beats loudly and my brain gets stuck on two words.
"Love, huh?" I tease, smiling slightly.
He rolls his eyes. "Of course I love you idiot, you're my best friend."
I'm grinning now. "Love you too Ky Ky."
"Don't be an ass." He glares at me, but I can tell he's trying not to smile.
I feel an odd sense of something wash over me as I look at him.
Wait, am I actually….. happy?
I look down at where our hands are still joined, and realize I do in fact, feel slightly happy.
Maybe life isn't so bad after all.

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Hey I know this was a little short at 1250 words, but that's because I'm really enjoying writing it, so I'm going to turn it into a short story. So if you're interested in reading more, keep an eye out. Peace ✌️😁