Devil-May-Care [Bunny Love Story]

【Chapter Twelve】

"What is that?" asked Mrs. Stotch, pointedly staring out of the window at our creation during dinnertime. I nearly choked on my food, trying my best not to laugh at this. Maybe we should have destroyed it before coming inside. I guess there was nothing we could do about it now, since she had already seen the ugly thing.

Butters tensed up. "I-it's a snowman.."

"A snowman?" Mrs. Stotch scoffed and turned back to us, but she seemed to calm down after seeing that I was there. "Well, it's certainly not the worst one I've seen."

I chuckled and Butters gave her a slightly confused look before going back to his food. I had finished about half of my own when I looked over to his parents. "Would if be okay if I took the rest home with me?" I asked.

Mr. Stotch looked over and shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"Sure, sweetie. I'll be right back," said his mother, taking my plate and walking into the kitchen.

"You're leaving right now?" asked Butters.

I nodded, "Yeah. It's getting late," I told him, glancing out the window. I didn't want to leave Karen home alone for too long.

"All right," smiled Butters, standing up just as Mrs. Stotch came back. My food had been transferred to a paper plate and was covered in plastic wrap. "I'm going to walk him to the porch, i-if that's okay."

His parents nodded and I took my dinner, turning around and heading for the door. Butters followed close behind.

"H-hey, Ken?" he asked once we were at the porch. He stared down at his feet and rubbed his knuckles together nervously.

I raised an eyebrow and looked over at him. "Yeah?"

"Umm..." He glanced up at me before staring back down at his feet. "I-I was just.. you know.. Um.. wondering if.. You wanted t-to, uh.."

I smiled encouragingly to him and ruffled his hair. "It's okay, Butters. Just spit it out."

"Oh, geez..." he said, blushing lightly now. "I was w-wondering if you wanted to go on.. a date with me?" I froze, my heart pounding.

A date. This was good, right? It meant that he liked me in that way and wanted to get romantically involved.. Like we haven't been kissing and holding hands already. Still, this was it. If I declined, I owed Cartman a hundred dollars. If I accepted, I'm one step closer to owning a hundred dollars.. and breaking a heart.

"I'd love to," I said, giving him the biggest grin I could muster despite the vicious game of tug-a-war going on inside me.

Butters was, to say the least, ecstatic by my response. He was obviously more prepared for rejection than acceptance and he hugged me. "Thanks a ton, Kenny! How about Friday?" he asked, pulling away.

"Sounds great," I nodded, trying to keep my expression relaxed and happy. We said our goodbyes and I headed home, the weight of regret and guilt pushing down on my already heavy shoulders. This just flat out sucked for me.

■ ■ ■

On Wednesday, I spent lunch hour with Cartman, Stan, and Kyle. I had just finished explaining to Cartman that Butters and I were going on a date Friday night and Cartman was enduring a series of hysterical laughter while Kyle and Stan gave me a questionable look.

"You're seriously going through with this?" asked Kyle.

I sighed and shrugged, "I mean, yeah. I already made the deal, I'm not owing Cartman one hundred dollars!"

"Dude, just break your promise to Cartman," said Stan.

"Hey! I'm right here, you know!" Cartman interrupted, having finally gotten over his girly giggling fit.

Kyle and Stan exchanged looks before Kyle spoke up again. "Seriously, Butters is super nice."

"Way too nice," chimed in Stan.

"Sure, he can be annoying, but that's no reason to use him," Kyle tried to explain.

I shook my head, "You guys don't get it."

"What're we not getting?" Kyle asked, growing somewhat impatient and irritated by this point. "Are we not getting how much you just don't give a shit about Butters?!"

"Whoa dude, calm down," Stan said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, no, no. You guys really don't get it. Our friend Kenny here is super poor," Cartman said. "He needs the money, I need my entertainment. It works out perfectly!"

I rolled my eyes and looked away, because that wasn't it either. Okay, maybe it was a big part of it.. but I really did care about Butters. I wanted to go on this date with him, because the only reason I'd ever feel stressed around Butters is Cartman's fault. The blonde has always been my friend and now that I'm starting to think of him as a little bit more, I feel that he's mending my heart without even doing anything. Just being around him makes me feel lighter.

"That still doesn't give him the right!" cried Kyle.

"You know, I agree with Kyle on this one," Stan said, taking his hand away from his best friend's shoulder. "Kenny, are you sure you're willing to do this?"

I looked him dead in the eyes. "Yes."

Stan looked worried while Kyle seemed somewhat pissed so I just ignored them for the rest of lunch. They really just didn't understand, but then again how were they supposed to know if I didn't tell them? It's not a matter of money anymore; I'm starting to really like Butters Stotch. This whole thing turned out to be pretty counterproductive. I know he asked me out and all, but was he falling in love with me the same way I'm falling for him? I'm not sure whether I wanted him to or not. I looked over at Cartman and began to think of ways out of this..That's when I realized something. Cartman never said that I couldn't be with Butters after gaining the money.

I smirked and enjoyed the rest of my day as if life ran as smoothly as it did in some sort of chick flick. As if everything was going to be okay.