Written for Orange-Hood-McCormick on Tumblr! :)

Jealousy:

Stan shifted lower in his seat, pencil lightly tapping the notebook laying on the desk in front of him. The teacher prattled on in the front of the classroom, clock behind her head ticking slowly. Stan watched the clock with rapt attention, the teacher's voice just an echo in his mind. Tapping the pencil a bit faster, he felt a poke in his side, glancing over he saw an irate Kyle.

"Stop that," he demanded, gesturing to the pencil.

He nodded in response, rolling his eyes once the other went back to his own note-taking. Pencil now stilled, he was about to actually try to listen to the teacher when he saw blond hair from the corner of his eye. Eyes moved toward the source, finding a hoodless Kenny sprawled out on his desk-not even attempting to at least appear to be listening to the teacher's lecture.

It wasn't odd to find Kenny not caring in class, it was odd to see him hoodless. Stan found himself turning his head to see the cause of the state, his eyes looking at the other's own. They were looking in his direction. Furrowing an eyebrow at that, he tried to follow the blond's direct line of sight, ending at Kyle. Kenny looked away, Stan quirking an eyebrow at the suddenness.

"Stan?"

He found Kyle staring at him with a worried expression on his face, "Dude you okay?" Kyle asked. "You look dazed…"

He nodded in response, Kyle shrugged once and went back to his notes. Why was he looking at Kyle? He tapped his pencil again, ignoring Kyle's exaggerated sigh at the action. The clock ticked. Eyes darted to it, only two minutes had passed since he last checked.

The lecture stopped, the teacher turning off the smart board. He sighed, leaning back even more in his desk chair. Feet tapped the tile beneath him, the pencil lifting to his mouth. Biting the end, he stared at the board. Talking broke out amongst the room as the teacher called a student out to pass out homework. It was Kenny. He looked to the blond as said-teen pulled himself up impassively.

"You didn't write anything?"

He groaned at the words, "Kye, please, don't lecture me…" he begged, letting himself fall onto his desk in a way that almost completely mimicked Kenny.

"I have to since you constantly ask me for my own notes then go and don't even try to study them an-"

"Dude, it's fine, I just won't ask you for notes anymore." He heard Kyle curse under his breath about stupidity and knew he would get the notes later tonight if only so Kyle could have a clear conscious.

A shadow fell over them, causing him to tilt his head upwards. Kenny held out two papers gesturing him to take it. He raised an eyebrow at Kyle's anger and turned to Stan, "Something wrong?" Kenny asked, an edge to his tone.

Stan took his and Kyle's papers from the hand, placing them on his desk without even looking at them. "Nothing, Kye just going a little insane since finals are coming up."

"I'm not fucking insane, Stanley!"

"Fine, he's going nerdy." Stan commented, not even looking at the boy beside him.

"Are you proud of that comeback? Like, really proud?" Kyle took his paper from Stan's desk, "Don't think for a second that I'm going to help you with this tonight."

Stan rolled his eyes, knowing he would anyway, "Like I want or need your help anyway."

Kenny cleared his throat, "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

Stan shook his head, "Not at all."

"Seems like it…"

Stan gave a confused look at that, "Dude, we do that shit all the time. You okay?"

Kenny sighed, hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Nothing, dude, just been a weird day."

He watched as the hand fell back to place, wanting to ask why the other took off his parka hood. It was…different. His mouth felt dry. "Wanna talk about it, I don't think the teacher's watching-or caring for that matter."

Kenny's eyes darted to Kyle then back to Stan, "No, I'm good."

Stan shrugged, "Whatever, dude."

At lunch, Stan took his normal spot next to Kyle, sitting adjacent to Kenny and in front of Cartman. As Cartman ragged on Kenny for being poor, he watched the blond gulp down his usual bologna sandwich. He had put his hood up again, hiding most of his face from the world. Stan finished his own tray, leaving about half. He scooted it back, "Want the rest, I'm done." he asked nonchalantly. Kenny's eyes met his-Stan looked away, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

His tray was taken, Cartman laughing about some stupid joke he made. He half-listened to Kyle's rant about Cartman's prejudice, hand holding head, elbow meeting table. In his peripheral vision he saw Kenny peek up in their direction. His eyebrows met, not understanding it. He might just be actually listening to the fight… That would be the first in a long time. But since when does he care about Kyle and Cartman's fights? He thought back to the other's staring in class, Is he just listening to Kyle?

He looked to the table, finding his stomach protesting what he'd just eaten. Stupid cafeteria food…

The next day passed the same as the ones before it, boringly. The same fights, the rants, the teacher's speeches. Once home, he kicked off his shoes, going to play Gamesphere before the gang's get-together. "Stan, is that you?" he heard his mother call.

"Yeah, mom, just got home, football practice ended later than it was supposed to. Some douche-" he ignored his mother's call of outrage at the language, "thought it'd be fun to plant a stink bomb in the locker room. Whole team had to pay for it."

He found his way to the living room, finding Kyle already there. He nodded at the boy as said-teen looked up at him from his textbook. Turning on the system, he sat on the edge of the couch, next to the middle-seated Kyle. "You're seriously doing homework right now?" he asked, picking up the controller from the end table.

He could feel Kyle roll his eyes at the words, "Dude, you know my bitch of a mom wasn't going to let me come until I promised her I'd do my work."

"Just lie and say you did it anyway." he pressed 'play' when it came up on the screen.

"She's in PMS bitch mode, dude, I'm not messing with that."

Nodding in understanding, he heard a knock on the front door, "Come in!" he yelled, too lazy and sore to get up from his position. Kenny walked in shortly after, bundled in his usual parka.

"Am I late?" he asked, voice muffled. Stan glanced over, seeing the blond's eyes looking in Kyle's direction.

"Early, I think, did we even set a time?"

"Hell if I know," Kenny replied. The blond walked to the couch, stopping by the space next to Kyle. He sat there, shifting into a comfortable position.

Stan wanted to ask why he didn't choose an end seat, but thought it a weird thing to ask. Maybe he just wants to bug Kyle or something… He shifted again, feeling aggravated for some reason. Why would he want to bug Kyle? He keeps looking at him too… His eyes moved, watching Kenny's own as they glanced between Kyle and the television. He paused his movement in his game. Why Kyle?

Kenny picked up his own controller while Stan went back to the main menu. They chose a co-op round. He could see Kenny moving with his controller, unconsciously bumping into the redhead next to him. He felt a sting of an unknown emotion push through him.

Annoyed, he killed the other almost immediately after the game started for the third time. "Dude, what the Hell, I'm on your team!" Kenny said, groaning at the loss of his player.

Oh my God, I killed Kenny… He shook his head, "Sorry, thought you were the enemy," he replied simply, tone showing he really didn't care either way.

Kenny lowered his voice, "Did I do something to you?"

"I said I was sorry!" Stan said, "Not like I killed you for real or something!"

Kenny bowed his head, placing his controller in the space next to him, "Whatever dude, I'm done playing."

"Already?" he asked. He ignored the bigger sting striking through his skin.

For the next week, Kenny hadn't talked to him much. Stan wasn't sure if it was from the game or if the other was just mad at him for something he didn't mean to do. Either way, he still caught the blond looking in Kyle's direction in class, during lunch…He'd even began to sit next to the redhead when Stan drove them to school, not arguing for the front seat with Cartman like he usually did.

Stan found himself getting annoyed easier as time passed, going off on his friends more than once. On one such afternoon, Kyle stomped off, telling him to go fuck himself after he accused the redhead of acting like his mother-a fucking bitch.

He winced at the words, knowing it'd come back to haunt him later. He just-couldn't find a way to stop. Every time he saw them, they just seemed to be together more often and it just…bugged him. He wasn't even sure why it was happening, which is probably why he couldn't stand it so much. The school was emptying now. Slamming his locker shut, he went to football practice.

The coach pulled him out of the practice game not even half-way in, saying he was off his game. Growling under his breath at the accusation, he wiped any excess sweat from his forehead with his arm. He found his water bottle and gulped it down, eyes settling on the stands in his line of sight. Kenny… The blond in question sat in a middle row, arms crossed his chest. What's he doing here?

Shaking his head, he left to the locker rooms, not seeing the blond stand from his spot and head in the same direction. Peeling off his uniform, he heard a throat being cleared behind him. Turning quickly, his eyes met Kenny's. "K-Ken? What're you doing here?"

Kenny took a deep breath, pushing himself from the locker room door on which he had leaned. "Dude, we need to talk."

"What about?"

"Your fucking attitude for one." Kenny said, pulling down his hood. "What the Hell is wrong with you?" he asked.

He found the words slipping from his mouth of their own accord, forming words he hadn't thought of prior, "What's with you and Kyle?"

That stopped the other. Kenny raised a brow, "What?"

"You heard me, what the fuck are you and Kye doing together? You're always sitting with him, looking at him… I don't get it, are you trying to get in his pants or something?" Then, "Did you already?"

A pause, then, "Wait, so you're…dating Kyle then?" Kenny asked, voice cracking some with the words.

That took him off-guard, "Sick, dude, no!" he answered. He felt sick at the thought, "He's like a fucking brother to me! It's you who's fucking in love with him!"

Another pause. Just as he was about to ask him what he meant, Kenny's face morphed from it's confused state into one of joy. A few laughs escaped the blond, "Me, and Kyle?" The laughter continued, growing in volume.

Stan bit his lip, feeling suddenly embarrassed by the entire situation. "Well, what are you doing then? He's supposed to be my fucking best friend and now you two are always near each other and it's fucking weird, okay?"

Kenny took a few breaths to calm himself, stepping toward Stan with a smile on his face. "You don't like Kyle and I together then?"

"No, I don't." Stan replied, feeling further confused. "He's like a brother to me and-and…" He didn't have an "and" to that, he didn't even know why he was so bothered by it.

"You two hang out a lot together, don't you?"

"Of course we do, we have since forever…" Stan responded slowly, mind trying to process where Kenny was getting with this.

Kenny stopped, body now in front of Stan's own. Stan looked into his eyes, feeling nervous now. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wasn't looking at Kyle?" he breathed.

Before Stan could register what Kenny meant, lips pressed against his own. Eyes widened, body still. Hands gripped his sides, pulling them forward, making him stumble closer yet to the other. It felt so…amazing. He stifled a moan right before Kenny pulled out of the kiss. He felt numb, unsure. "Wait…What…" His heart was beating so hard it hurt, nerves jolting through his body, he was shaking and he knew it.

Kenny smiled, a thumb rubbing the hip in hand, "I was looking at you, dumbass." he admitted calmly. The confession sent a tiny unsure trill through his heart.

"But, Kyle-"

"Is always near you."

"I don't…What?"

Kenny laughed again, letting his forehead drop to meet Stan's chest, "I fucking like you, you idiot. I was staring at you."

"You sit next to hi-"

"Not like there was a spot next to you."

"In the car-"

"I thought you were mad at me after figuring it out."

"Oh." Stan said, not knowing what else to say. The gears in his mind turned, jolting to the conclusions Kenny offered. He unconsciously let his head fall on top of the blond's. He thought back to his feelings, to the mass confusion. Was all that because he was…jealous? "And…You thought this because?"

"I thought you were defending your honor and you guys' relationship or some shit like that."

The gears turned again, jolting, "You thought I was dating Kyle?" Kenny nodded against his chest.

Suddenly, he felt his own laughter bubble within him.