Imperfection

Chapter 1

Eric Theodore Cartman had never been the kind of guy to show that he cared about anything... or anyone for that matter, with the exception of himself. It wasn't a secret that he was a greedy, manipulative bastard who liked to knock others down in order to allow himself to get what he wants. It was definitely worse when he was a child. He was nothing but a spoiled little brat, but now at the age of sixteen, Cartman had changed... A bit. He still mostly thought about himself and his own needs and how things would benefit him in the long run, however the large teenager had also developed feelings for someone other than himself.

The boy he actually cared for was none other than Kyle Broflovski. The boy that he had bullied since they were in preschool. But it wasn't until Cartman had started puberty where his negative thoughts towards the boy began to change. He found himself only ripping on the young Jewish boy to try and hide his true feelings for Kyle. It wasn't long before Kenny found out, and knowing Kenny and his big mouth, spread the word around town. Soon, everyone knew that Cartman was gay (and very few people were surprised). However, they were surprised to find that the red-headed teenager was also gay, and furthermore shared feelings for Cartman.

It was like some sappy love-story. The two teenagers, once arch-rivals were in love. But the two boys didn't let it look like an episode of some stupid teen soap opera; instead they continued to throw insults at each other, got in fights and made up with a pleasuring night of sex.

Cartman was happy. He was happy to have someone who cared about him as much as he cared about himself. And Kyle was happy too, at least, he was happy to have Cartman in his life. He wasn't happy, however with himself. He hated the way he looked. He hated his flabby arms, bulging stomach and thunder thighs. The truth was of course, that Kyle wasn't actually fat, he just saw himself that way. His appearance in the mirror only showed him an illusion of himself as a plumpy, overweight, red-headed atrocity.

Of course, no one knew of Kyle's illness. He was good at keeping secrets. He managed to binge and purge without anyone knowing. Not his mother, his father, Ike, Stan, Kenny or even Cartman. His worst fear was Cartman finding out. His parents, he could handle. Stan and Kenny would also understand... But, Cartman, he wouldn't understand. He wouldn't want to be with Kyle anymore, he wouldn't want to make love to a freak.

And nothing prepared Kyle for the day that Cartman would eventually find out.

***

It was a crisp October night when the four boys gathered together at Cartman's house to mess around and play video games. Kyle watched his best friend, Stan from across the room as he prepared to take another toke from the bong in his hand. Stan blinked several times in an attempt to clear the tears that formed as he tried to suppress a coughing fit.

Kyle snuggled into Cartman on the couch next to him, only to be shoved away by the boy whose eyes were fixated on the TV in front of him.

"Don't be such a fag."

Kyle rolled his eyes and pulled away from his boyfriend, disappointed at the lack of affection. Kenny noticed the sad look on the red-head's face.

"You should be nicer to your boyfriend, Cartman."

"I'm nice to him; I just don't feel like being all cuddly right now."

Kyle sighed and turned to watch the TV when he was startled by the sound of the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Kenny exclaimed excitedly, jumping out of his seat.

It wasn't long before he returned and placed numerous take-out boxes on the coffee table in front of him with the words "City Wok" written in bold black letters.

"Sweet dude!" Stan said as he got up to help himself to some Chinese food.

As the three other boys began to dig in, Kyle just sat there hoping that his friends wouldn't notice his refusal to eat. Unfortunately for Kyle, they noticed.

"Are you going to eat something, dude?"

Kyle shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

He noticed Cartman raise his eyebrows. "You haven't eaten anything today."

"That's not true. I had a big lunch."

Cartman frowned. "No you didn't, Kyle. I've been with you all day."

Kyle's face turned red as he realized that he was caught in a lie. He really didn't want to eat... He couldn't eat. He had been trying so hard to keep up his weight down, and he was doing really well, it just wasn't enough yet. Just a few more pounds and he'd be happy...

It was hard for him to lie to his friends and family. He always had to say "I had a big meal" or "I'm not hungry" and it was true, he wasn't hungry. In fact, the mere thought of food caused waves of nausea to overcome him. But, sometimes he couldn't escape his constant lying, just like the current predicament he found himself in.

"Kyle?"

He looked up to notice all three of the boys were staring at him.

"I-uh-I guess I can have a bite or two."

He reluctantly grabbed a box with some chicken-fried noodles. He slowly chewed the substance and forcefully swallowed, the thought of the food entering his stomach making him feel sick. He continued to try and force some more food into him before he couldn't take it anymore. He looked around the room and noticed that the three other boys weren't paying attention to him. He quickly excused himself out of the room and made his way towards the bathroom down the hall.

Kyle shut the door and turned the sink on so that the running water would drown out the sound of him retching. He kneeled over the edge of the toilet and carefully stuck his index finger towards the back of his throat, triggering his gag reflex and allowing a mass of vomit to flood out of his nearly-empty stomach and into the porcelain bowl in front of him. His throat burned as he realized that the vomit was almost all stomach-acid as he hadn't eaten anything besides the noodles. He continued to puke in an attempt to rid his body of the unnecessary sustenance he had provided himself with.

As he finished up and flushed his embarrassment away, he nearly fainted as he turned around to see an angered-stricken Eric Cartman staring back at him in the bathroom doorway.

"What the fuck?"