Okay. So this is it. The last of the last. There's no more after this. Kyle's version will officially be done with in this chapter. I won't waste your time with small talk; I'll save that for the end. I really hope you enjoy this one! ;D I put a lot of effort into getting it done, and did everything in my power to make it as great as I possibly could. Though some parts still seem a little rushed to me...

Enjoy!

Due to his miraculous recovery from the fight with Craig yesterday (though we know who to thank for that), Eric is being released from the hospital today. The doctors are all shocked. They claim that it definitely is a miracle that someone recovered so quickly from the kind of stab wound he had. Then again, strange and unexpected things do happen in this town, and most of the doctors here at Hell's Pass don't really know much of anything.

So, because of this, we're both going home. Not 'going our separate ways' home, oh no. That would just be stupid. I mean, my two options here for that are what? Either go home to a mother that will lock me away for what I'm guessing is now three years (at the very least), or go home with my boyfriend who I know will take care of me in every way possible. Sorry, but I'm just not up for that first option today.

"What's on your mind?" Eric asks as he punches me lightly on the shoulder, the both of us on our way to his house.

"Hunh?" I blink, his punch drawing me out of my thoughts. I look up at him to see a smirk on his face, and I involuntarily smile back. "Oh. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Of course, being the bastard that he is sometimes, he doesn't let it go. "No, really. Tell me."

I shake my head in denial. "Seriously, it's not that important, Cartman." I can't help but let out a small chuckle.

To this he smirks again, which has me slightly confused. That is, until I hear what he says next. "Call me 'Eric.'" He folds his arms across his chest like it's some sort of command. I simply laugh at this.

"What, is that a rule now or something?"

"That's right." He says seriously, nodding his head. I roll my eyes in return, but thankfully he doesn't see this. "We're together now, so you have to call me by my first name." This he says in a snobbish tone, causing me become the slightest bit irritated. What he adds after that sets me off. "Bitch."

I snarl at this, crossing my own arms across my chest. "I'm not going to do it if you're going to call me that." I mutter, glaring at him darkly.

The look he gives me in return is one of slight shock. Most likely because I'm not following his rules. Again, most of this is some sick, twisted game of his. He's such a fucking kid. "But it's true, Kyle!" he whines, saying it like it's the simplest thing in the world. "Because we're together now, you're my bitch, and that means I get to call you just that! I'm only stating the truth."

For that he gets a kick in the shin. A hard kick. "Just because we're dating doesn't mean that I'm your bitch!" I shout, forgetting completely that there are probably people around who can hear us. "Who died and made you the alpha male?!"

Anger flashes across his face as he rubs his shin gingerly, his eyes looking up at me for once. "That is not something for you to joke about, Kyle!" he barks, standing up carefully to look down on me again. "Kenny died so that we could be together like he promised we would! Don't take his sacrifice lightly! That's just being a douchebag!"

Oh my god. My boyfriend is such. A fucking. Idiot.

I tell him just that. "You're a fucking idiot." I mutter, shaking my head and pinching my nose in something well beyond frustration. My anger level is at its highest peak once again. "That," my voice rises significantly, "Is not what I meant! It was just a fucking expression, you moron!!!"

Before I let my eyes wander over his face to see his expression, I turn around and stomp off down the sidewalk, ignoring the strange glances from the people I pass by. It's nothing new, after all. And I know that the front door of his house is probably locked, and that I'm going to have to wait for him to get there and unlock is before I can go inside. But I don't care right now. I just... I don't care. I probably pissed him off anyway, so he won't be there to unlock the door when I get there, and that means I'll have to stand out in the cold and wait for him-

"I'm sorry." All of a sudden, I feel a pair of warm arms wrap around my waist, pulling me snug into an even warmer body.

I sigh, closing my eyes in further irritation. Looks like I didn't piss him off. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. "Eric, there are people watching us." I ground out lowly through my teeth. "Let go."

He chuckles behind me, nuzzling his nose against my neck. I shiver in return, mentally cursing myself for doing so. "That didn't stop you from shouting at me before, now did it?" I can feel him smirk against my neck.

I simply roll my eyes at this, not bothering to push him away as he hugs me tighter against him. "That's because I wasn't thinking, okay? I'm sorry. Please, just let go-"

"I love you."

At this, I instantly freeze over, feeling a lump form in my throat. My head feels like it's spinning, and I fear that my knees are about to give. I would hate to fall on the ground. Of course... Eric does have a pretty good grip on me. And he just said... Oh my god... I feel like I'm going to fucking faint or throw up or... I don't know what. He just said...

"I... love you, too." I don't know how in the hell I managed to whisper those words out of my mouth, but I did. Somehow, I did. Today's just full of miracles, isn't it?

And somehow, I can feel Cartman, or rather Eric beaming behind me. His joy is proven to me even more when he lifts me up like a feather, hugging me tighter than before; if that's even possible. Again, I make no move to push him away or to protest against him doing this, and that's mainly because I'm still in a trance-like shock from those three little words he said to me. Though... I suppose they're not really that little, are they?

"I'm so amazed!" he laughs, spinning me around in his arms before planting me back on the ground. He better not let go because if he does, I'll fall right down. "I wasn't expecting you to say it so soon! You're such a good little Jew!" At this he hugs me against him again, mushing my cheek against his chest. I'm getting the feeling that he's halfway treating this like a joke, halfway not. And knowing him... that's probably the case.

I finally snap out of shock, and manage to punch him in the side, though not as hard as when I kicked him awhile ago. "Shut up! Can you just take me home?! People are fucking watching us, you dunce!" I snarl, casting my eyes warily from side to side and behind me as best as I can. Sure enough, we're getting all kinds of funny stares from across the street. Now I'm just waiting for them all to rush over here to get a closer look. Maybe even get a stick or something and try to break us apart, since this isn't the most normal looking thing in the world. Even for South Park. It's just not normal.

"Fine." he sighs in defeat, pulling away from me. Either the stares have gotten to him, too, or he doesn't want to risk me getting mad at him again. Whatever the reason, he takes me by the arm, and starts to walk briskly down the sidewalk again. I'm irked to see that his house is just a few yards away. We could have been in there the whole time, doing this whole lovey-dovey crap, completely avoiding the stares of all these people-

Aw, fuck it. As my dear boyfriend would say: Who cares what they think? We can do whatever we want, regardless of their judgment. And maybe... maybe that's what he was trying to do by making us stand out there; making me go through that. Perhaps he knew that his house was just right there, and set up that whole little act just to get me to see that. To teach me a lesson; that lesson more specifically. Though I don't exactly credit him for being that crafty, he does come up with some pretty good schemes sometimes. I should probably give him more credit. Of course... he could have just done it to get a good laugh. That's not unlike him, either.

I don't know what to think. I should just stop that; over thinking things. It never gets me anywhere anyway. And when I get myself into that little world, I always miss things-

"Are you coming in, or do you just want to stand out there and freeze to death?"

Just like that. Dammit.

"Yeah, yeah..." I mutter, scowling as I make my way past him and the door, and into the living room. I can't believe I did that again. That's something that I really need to stop doing.

"What's the matter with you?" he chuckles, closing the door softly behind him. As he walks by me and into the kitchen, he pats my back softly, causing me to sigh and give a small smile in response.

"Nothing, Eric." I say sweetly, sitting down on the couch. Just as I'm getting comfortable, setting the pillows in the right place and all, there's a knock on the front door. I don't make a move to answer it, though. That's something for Eric to do. After all, I'm the guest here.

Of course, I'm silly to think that. Eric's a lazy bastard, and won't do something if it isn't convenient for him. When the second and third knocks are heard, he calls out from the kitchen, "Kyle, are you fucking deaf! Answer the door!"

I hate him so much sometimes. Grumbling to myself, I get up off the couch and shuffle my way to the door. It hasn't crossed my mind until now that I should possibly be wondering who in the hell this could be. Chances are it's that mob of people I was thinking about earlier. The handful of people that were giving us those crazy stares who came along with their brothers, sisters, and cousins to see if what they really witnessed is true. 'Kyle Broflovski and Eric Cartman? No way!' 'I thought they hated each other!' 'No kidding! I would have expected them to rip each others' heads off before they ever started to think about dating each other!' Ugh, what a pain.

To my surprise, the people, or rather person I'm greeted by at the door isn't the mob I was envisioning. In fact, I wasn't expecting him to show up here at all. He's one of the last people I would have expected to see here.

"Hey, Kyle." Ike says with a smile. "What's up?"

Because I'm so shocked to see him, I gasp in surprise. "Ike!" I reply happily, "What are you doing here?!"

"That's the question I should be asking you." he frowns, crossing his arms.

I frown in return, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. "Oh yeah... about that." I chuckle, slapping myself mentally. Who knows what Ike's going to think about this. I know he was the one who helped me out with this and all, but there's still the fact that I haven't been home in what seems like forever. I solved the issue with Eric, but there's still one that I continue to run from. My mom. And I can already tell that he's a little bit disappointed with me because of that.

"Kyle, why haven't you come home yet?" he sighs, looking at me with pleading eyes. "Mom's almost going insane because we don't know where in the hell you are."

When he mentions this, I decide to turn the tables a bit on him. "Well, you obviously know." I say a little bitterly, though I don't really mean to.

He pauses for a second, looking away from me. "I had a pretty good idea."

After that, a brief silence falls between us before I decide to speak up again. "Look, Ike..." I start, not really knowing where to go with it, "A lot of stuff has been happening to me lately. I can't exactly go home because... well, I know mom will probably kill me."

"That's not true!" Ike barks a little loudly, stomping his foot childishly on the ground. "Kyle, she's more worried than angry! What did I tell you about running from your problems?"

Ah. I knew that was coming. What does he have to be such a sharp kid?

"I know, I know." I roll my eyes, acting like a stuck-up, teenage girl. "I guess I just... I don't know. I don't know." Shaking my head, I turn around to make my way to the couch, but bump into something before I can take my first step. Looking up, I see Eric staring down at me with a serious look on his face, and then only thing I can think now is how in the heck I didn't notice him standing behind me.

"Your brother's right." he says, taking a sip from the drink in his hand. "You need to face her before this gets any worse."

Great. Now it's two against one. "Since when are you the one to give advice like that?" I scoff, crossing my arms. There's no way I'm going to let him be right this time. Not again. There has to be someway to convince the both of them that I shouldn't go see her. Though... I know deep down that they're both right.

"Since I started caring about you, idiot. I already told you I love you; I don't want to have to say it again." He frowns, grabbing my arm and pulling me out the door past Ike. "Now, let's go do the right thing," he starts dragging me down the street, "And go talk to her."

"Eric, stop it!" I yell, trying to tug my arm out of his grasp. My effort is in vain, though. In response, he only pulls me harder, the two of us probably looking like complete idiots.

"No. Now stop being a bitch, and just come on."

"Goddammit, Eric, if you don't let go, I swear I'll...!" Well, I'm not sure what I'll do, but it'll be something he won't like.

Suddenly, Eric is stopped by someone pulling on his arm. I smirk at the irony, also half surprised that he actually stopped. "Cartman, let go of him. We can't just force him to go." Ike says calmly.

He scowls in return. "Of course we can. It's called 'dragging.'"

Ike shakes his head in irritation. "That's not what I meant. You can force him there physically, yes, but you can't prepare him mentally. That's something that he has to do on his own. Give him a little time."

"Smart ass..." Eric grumbles, letting go of my arm roughly. I blink and give him a look, brushing my arm off absentmindedly. Seriously, what has gotten into him now? Why is he so adamant about me talking to her? I would ask, but I'm afraid that I might step on a land mine. Him exploding on me is the last thing I want.

But time? Do I really need time to think this through? I already told myself that I should stop thinking about things so much. I know Ike knows me well, seeing as he's my brother and all, but he hasn't really been around me in the past few months. At least, not enough to see me change. I'd like to think that I've changed just a little bit, at least in terms of trying to get rid of my old habits. Most of it has been influenced by Eric, and whether that's a good thing or a bad thing doesn't matter. It's always good to try something new, and maybe I should just attack this thing head-on like he would. Confront my mother without worrying about it at all so I can get it over with.

Yeah. That's what I'll do.

"Look, guys..." I start, looking at them both. They in return look back at me, breaking their glares at each other. "You're both right. I... need to stop running from her. It's not going to solve itself, right? And Ike..." I look specifically at him, "I don't really think I need time before I do this. I'll just end up convincing myself to put it off, if not convincing myself to never do it at all. I just need to go now and get it over with."

They're both silent for a second. Ike smiles at me, nodding his head. "That's fine with me. Whatever you're most comfortable with, Kyle. It doesn't matter how you do it."

"Well, I'm not comfortable doing it at all." I say, turning around to walk down the street. "I just know it needs to be done." And the quicker it's done, the better. I can't guarantee that I'm going to repair my relationship with my mom, but nothing will happen if I don't try.

Eric and Ike follow me without a word.

"Okay." I let out a deep breath, placing my hand on the doorknob. "Here I go. Wish me luck, guys."

"We're coming in with you, you know." Ike reminds me. "I think you're going to need a little bit of back-up."

I freeze at this, turning around to look at him with widened eyes. "Don't tell me it's that bad?"

He shrugs in response, not really making me feel any better. "Well, no it's not, but you never know. You know our mom. She's pretty hard to convince sometimes."

That's definitely true. And that's something I know all too well. "Yeah, yeah..." I mumble, turning back around to face the door. I take in another deep breath and let it out, swallowing nothing because my mouth has gone completely dry. "Just don't butt in when it's not necessary. I can handle this without your help. Unless you really feel the need to say something, don't." I turn one last time to look at Eric since I'm expecting him to be the one that rule should apply to. "Okay, Eric?"

He gives me a light smirk, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I got it."

Nodding back to him, I let out another breath and turn the knob. "Okay. Here I go..." I whisper, opening the door completely. I peek inside, and when I see no one in the living room, I walk in. Glancing around, I call out for my mom, feeling a shiver run down my spine as I do so. "Mom? Mom, you here?"

Almost instantly, I hear a call back, a billowing tone that belongs to none other than her. "Kyle?" I hear some pounding upstairs, and figure that she's running down the hall. Sure enough, she appears at the top of the stairs a few seconds later, shocked to see me. However, that shock soon turns to a look of slight anger when she looks down at me. It's anything but worried, like Ike claimed it would be.

I am so getting him for this later.

"Kyle, where in the world have you been?!" she shouts, rushing down the stairs as quickly as she can. She looks over me critically, checking to see if I'm okay. At least she's showing concern. That's a little better than I was expecting. Still, she's looking pretty furious, so I better keep my guard up. "And where in the world is your tracker?!" Ugh, of course she has to ask about that. "Do I have to start following you to school each day to make sure you're actually in it?! I called seven times yesterday, and all seven times they said that you were not there! You've been taught better than that, Kyle! A Broflovski does not skip school, let alone run away from home! You're going to be grounded for-"

"Mom, stop!!!" I shout. Amazingly, she stops her rant. "I can explain! There's been a lot of things going on lately, and I-"

"I would like to see you try, mister!" she cuts in, putting her hands on her hips. "What reason could you possibly have for leaving home for almost three months?!"

I pause, temporarily stunned at her intense vivacity. However, I quickly recover, trying to counter her in a way that will convince her to hear me out. "Look, if you'll just sit down and listen-"

I don't get very far as she cuts in again. "Listen?! Listen?!" she barks, throwing her arms up in the air. "What if what you tell me is a complete lie?! Kyle, you've become such a rebel that I don't know if I should trust you anymore!"

This makes me freeze in my tracks. It feels like my whole world had come crushing down on me, and I have no way to pick up the pieces. Doesn't... doesn't trust me? Is that how she really feels? She really thinks that she can't... No way. That can't be true. What are you supposed to do when your own mother doesn't trust you? I can't believe that-

Before I can finish that thought, I'm pulled forward by Eric. I begin to think that he's beginning to think that I'm fighting a losing battle here, and wants to get me out of here, until he smashes his lips against mine. Probably the stupidest thing he's done yet. I tell him to not step in unless it's absolutely necessary, and what does he do? He steps in. Not only that, but he kisses me. Right in front of my own mother, who right now is completely furious at me, and doesn't need to be provoked any further. Way to poke the bear, Eric.

I am so fucking dead.

"What what what?!!!" My mom shrieks. My stomach plummets as I hear her shout, and I immediately push myself away from Eric. I give him a look even though he isn't looking at me, and see that he looks quite satisfied. This pisses me off even more. Does he think this is a joke?!

"Get back with reality." he says, looking at my mom with narrowed eyes. "Like it or not, your son's changed, and there's nothing you can do about it. He's not a rebel, and he has a perfectly good reason why he was gone for so long. Mainly because he was afraid to come back to this prison you call a home." he spits. I look from him to my mom, and notice that she's just standing there, making no move to cut in. She's just... taking it. Everything that I was meaning to say, Eric's saying for me. And she's... actually listening. I can only hope that she hears him out all the way. "Maybe before you ask him why he's misbehaving so badly, you should ask yourself whether you're being a mother... or a tyrant."

A long, deadly silence follows that, and I have to close my eyes. I can't bear to see my mother's reaction. I just can't. Chances are that she'll blow up completely, and go on a rampage. Something that I'm not looking forward to. As much as I love Eric for doing that, I don't think it was the best thing to do.

"I," I hear her begin, in a slow, low voice, "...young man, am not a tyrant!" Her voice has risen, and I expect the absolute worst. "I am only doing what is right for my children!" I hear the stomp of a foot and cringe slightly.

"That doesn't mean you constantly monitor their every move, and treat them like inmates!" Eric counters back.

My mom narrows her eyes at him, placing her hands on her hips once again. "I'm sure you would know all about being in a prison." She spits condescendingly. I gulp, open my eyes, and brace myself for the brawl that's about to go down between my boyfriend and my mother. Only one will come out the winner, and that won't be without the cost of a lot of blood. Oh god...

"Why..." Eric growls, his anger clearly rising, "You bitch!" Oh no. Here it comes...

Just as Eric is going to lash out at my mother, Ike steps in between the two of them. "Stop it!" he shouts, holding his arms out at his sides. "Please, stop it you two! You're acting like you're five years old!"

I see Eric stop and relax back into a standing position, but the tension is still there. Same with my mom. Miraculously, though, they've listened to Ike. The both of them stand there and wait from him to continue, as do I. When he's convinced that they've cooled down enough, he goes on.

"Look, mom." He addresses her, again in a pleading way. "You gotta understand. There are some things that you can't control. Kyle's almost eighteen years old." He points at me. "Only a few more months and he'll be an adult. He's growing into his own person, and whether he's becoming the person you want him to be or not shouldn't matter to you. You need to be there for him as a mom first; a provider; a nurturer. Enjoy the last few months you have with him as a child because he'll be gone before you know it. Accept him as he is, and don't judge. He's your son first and foremost, and you should love him regardless of who he's become."

Another long, stifling silence falls in the room, and I choose to look away at the ground. Again, I fear the worst. Knowing my mom, she'll probably just blow Ike's speech off, as well-spoken as it was, and go back to trying to punish me. Even though it would be really nice if she opens her eyes, and actually sees that Ike is completely right, I don't expect it to-

Suddenly, I hear a long sigh from my mother, followed by a, "I suppose... you are right, Ike."

Wait. Did I just hear that right?

I look back up to see her hugging him in what I guess is a thank you. She's smiling with the slightest glint of tears in her eyes, and I must say that I'm utterly shocked. Guess I had her all wrong. Maybe I've been away from home too long. It's like... I don't know her as well as I used to. Or perhaps... she's changing herself.

She walks over to me, pauses for a second, then pulls me into a hug as well. I blink, but am quick to hug her back, not daring to ruin this moment while I have it. "Kyle, I was wrong." she says, pulling back to look at me. "I was blinded by... everything that was going on. I was too caught up in trying to keep track of you that I forgot that I'm your mother. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, mom." I say rather happily, glad to see everything finally falling into place. I hug her again quickly. "Really, I was wrong to run away without telling you. Like Eric said... I was scared to come back because I knew you would be furious at me."

"I know, bubbe." she hugs back, smiling at me sadly as we break apart again. "And I realize now that some of my punishments were a little extreme. I'm still a little angry that you left without telling me, but I won't punish you for it this time. You're almost an adult, and I need to start treating you like one."

A large sigh of relief finally leaves my lips as I smile back at her. My mind is still trying to process the fact that this is all really happening. I'm about to pinch myself just to make sure that this isn't just a dream. But I suppose this is something I can believe. Like I said, I like to think that I've changed. I think maybe she has, too. When she says that she believes she should start treating me like an adult, I can only say one thing in return:

"Thank you, mom."

A few days have passed since the incident with my mother, and though we're on good terms now, I convinced her that I'd rather stay with Eric than go back home. It was tough, but she finally accepted the fact that we are in fact together. Now, like Eric said, we just have to convince the rest of the town.

"No, no. You can't crawl out of the bag. You have to wait until we get home." Today's Eric's birthday, and I'm having a little trouble keeping his present hidden because, well... it's alive. A cat to be exact. A typical present to give to someone who's old pet died. He was devastated to hear that Mr. Kitty had passed while he was gone. And I know just how much he loved Mr. Kitty, so I decided to get him a new one. There's no guarantee that he'll even like it, but I have a feeling he will. I think under that hard shell, there's a big softie; he's bound to fall in love with this new cat sooner or later.

I finally reach his house, struggling to open the door while keeping the kitten out of sight. It's a tough thing to do. However, I manage, closing the door behind me with my foot. Eric is sitting on the couch, watching TV as usual. When he hears me step in, he smiles, immediately getting up to greet me.

"Hey, you." he says softly, kissing me on the lips.

I kiss back, greeting him in return. "Hey. Happy birthday." I look down at the bag in my hands, then back up at him. "I got you a present."

He feigns a look of shock, causing me to roll my eyes. "A present? For me? Oh, Kyle, you shouldn't have!" I cringe as a tiny mewl sounds from the bag. Damn cat won't shut up.

"Oh, I know how much you love presents." I scoff, walking over to sit down on the couch. "You can't fool me."

"What is it?" he asks eagerly, sitting down next to me. Another meow is heard, and I give up. Opening the bag, I prompt him to look.

"See for yourself." I smile, closing my eyes proudly. However, I wasn't exactly expecting the damn thing to jump out of the fucking bag. When I feel the bag rustle violently, I open my eyes. It's too late. The cat is already bounding across the room, and heading for the open window. Jesus Christ...

I leap up to chase it, hearing Eric call out behind me. He's chuckling. "Looks like you let the cat out of the bag too early, huh, Kyle!?"

I ignore his joke, and poke my head out the window, just in time to see the cat scramble its way up the tree. Goddammit. Why did this have to happen? I run back over to the front door, Eric beating me there, and trot outside to the tree the cat went up. It looks down at us and meows, its tail swishing in what I take as it celebrating a victory. Cocky bastard...

"Hey, fellas! What's goin' on?" I look up to see Butters heading towards us, waving cheerily. I wave back briefly before looking back up at the cat, thinking of some way to get it down. I guess I could climb the tree...

"Hey, Butters." Eric says with what sounds like a smirk in his tone. "Kyle got me a present. Isn't it nice?" I look over at him to see, of course that smirk on his face, and his finger pointing up at the cat. I snarl, punching him on the shoulder harshly.

"Shut up, and help me figure out how to get the damned thing down."

"Oh, that's cool, Kyle!" Butters says happily, looking up at the cat as well. "But you really should get him down soon. Wuh-he might get lonely up there." Oh, but I'm sure the cat likes its space. That's probably the reason it took off in the first place. "Anyway, I got you a present, too, Eric!" Eric takes the present, a typical wrapped box. "I-I hope you like it!"

"Thanks, Butters." he says, putting it under his arm. "I'll open it later. First I gotta help bitchy here get this cat down."

Before I can punch the crap out of him for that, he walks off, probably looking for a ladder. At least he's finally making himself useful. Feeling too awkward standing here with Butters, I continue to look up at the cat instead of trying to start a conversation with him. Not that it matters because he starts one up anyway.

"So, everything finally goin' okay?" he asks softly, his voice having lost that cheery, happy-go-lucky tone. It's now replaced with a more serious one.

I blink and look over at him, nodding my head with a small smile. "Yeah. Finally. Craig's in jail, my mom and I are on good terms again, and Eric and I are together. I don't know if it can get any better than this."

He blinks at the mention of Craig, tilting his head to the side. I look at him curiously, figuring that he;s about to say something. "Did I ever tell you why Craig acted like he did?"

Now that's a shocker. A complete... and total shocker. "You knew?!!!" I shout, causing him to jump in place. Don't tell me that's what he said, Please tell me that's not what he said. If he knew this whole fucking time...!

"Wuh-yeah. I-I guess I kinda forgot." he says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry." He beams at me, not acting scared in the least.

"That's... fine." I say, looking at him cautiously. "But tell me what the deal was. What in the hell was wrong with him?"

Butters sighs and looks down at his shirt, fiddling with it between his fingers. "He kinda.... well, he kinda liked you. Well, h-he kinda liked all the boys in our grade. Girls, too. H-He was more than bi-curious. More like... tri-curious, or somethin'. A-and he was super sore b-because of what your mom started. Since he was bein' watched so often, his parents would know what he was doin' during school, and he decided to take it out on you because he was gettin' in trouble for it. It was too much for him to deal with the restrictions his parents were givin' him, so he just snapped."

I take this all in as he finishes, nodding my head. Should have guessed that. Everyone's different, I guess, and it only takes so much to push someone over the limit. I just never expected Craig to ever snap. He always seemed so calm. Pissed off a lot of times since he gave everyone and their brother the finger, but calm, too.

A sigh is soon heard, followed by the crunching of snow. "Butters, shouldn't you be getting home or something?" I hear Eric say behind me. We both turn around to face him. He's come back with a ladder, which immediately reminds me of the cat still sitting in the tree.

"O-oh, right!" Butters jumps, trotting off. "I-I should! I should have been home ten minutes ago! Oh hamburgers, my dad is gonna kill me!" He yelps, running off down the street towards his house. I watch him run off for a second, turning back to Eric and giving him a questioning look.

"You just said that to get rid of him, didn't you?"

He merely shrugs, setting the ladder securely against the side of the house. "And what if I did? I only left to get this ladder so that I wouldn't have to stand here and listen to his non-stop chatter. I can get onto that branch from my bedroom window."

"You are such an asshole." I scowl, tugging on his sleeve as he moves to walk back into the house. "And no, you are not going to do that. I'm not letting you fall. You might break your leg."

"And no, I'm not listening to you, dear." he smiles, pecking me on the cheek. "Trust me. I've done it plenty of times before, and I haven't fallen once."

"Sure you haven't." I roll my eyes, following him inside. "I'm going with you anyway. If you do happen to slip, I'll at least be there to try and catch you."

"Aren't you so sweet." he says in a more sarcastic tone than anything, trotting up the stairs. I roll my eyes again and follow him up, walking into his room just as he's opening the window. He better hurry up and get this done soon. It's getting late, and the sun's starting to set.

I watch him like a hawk as he places one foot on the sill, hoisting himself up and putting that same foot out onto the tree branch. Feeling that he's not going to make it at all, I trot up behind him, carefully placing my hands around his waist so as not to scare him. He doesn't react to that, so I suppose it's fine with him. Amazingly, with the support of tree branches above him, he makes it onto the branch without faltering at all. I breathe a sigh of relief, something he hears and chuckles at.

"Oh, it wasn't that hard. Here, try it for yourself." He holds his hand out to me, a confident smirk on his face.

I in return shake my head deliberately, crossing my arms across my chest. "No way." I say, backing up a bit.

He rolls his eyes and inches forward on the branch, scaring me a bit. Fearing again that the branch is going to break under his weight, and ultimately cause him to fall, I reach forward to grab onto him just in case.

Bad idea. He reaches forward as well, grabbing onto my arm and yanking me forward. In an effort to save myself, I land one foot on the branch outside. This of course, gives him even more advantage to pull me out. He's sat down on the branch, so he's completely supported, making it easier for him to lift me out and plant me down in front of him. It doesn't help that I'm light as a feather to him, either.

My heart is pounding in my chest as a result of my struggle. I take a moment to catch my breath before I turn around to scold him. "You asshole! Don't do that ever again!" My face is probably beet red from anger and a little bit of something else.

He chuckles heartily, hugging me around my waist and pecking my cheek in a playful manner. "Oh, shut up. You're fine. See?" He pats me on the back, irritating me even more. I swat at him, trying to get him to stop, but he only laughs harder. Again, everything's a fucking game to him, I swear...

Something rustles in the tree, and it's then that I remember the very reason we came up here in the first place. I glance down only to see a gray, fluffy creature sliding itself down the trunk, landing on its feet, and bounding off behind the house.

Great. Just fucking great.

I sigh in defeat, leaning back against Eric and closing my eyes. "I should have figured that would happen." I groan, slapping a hand to my forehead. Eric chuckles again behind me, his body shaking slightly as he laughs.

"Don't worry about it." He says softly, rubbing my shoulder in comfort. A small smile forms on my face as he does this. "We'll try to find it tomorrow. And if we don't, who cares? It's just a cat."

At this I frown, opening my eyes and looking at the intense colors of the setting sun in front of me."Yeah, I know. But I got that as a present for you. I hate to see it run off. I thought of it as something special to give you."

His hand moves down to my arm, rubbing it up and down, his other arm wrapped around my waist. "Oh, it's not that special. Honestly, I'd rather be sitting here with you than looking for a damned cat that won't stay put. That's more special to me."

I turn to look at him, seeing him smiling brightly at me. His brilliant smile is enhanced by the sun reflecting on his face, and that only serves to bring just as bright a smile out of me. Turning my body around completely, I chuckle at him before wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug, burying my face into his chest.

"Aren't you so sweet?" I whisper, a warm feeling washing over me as he holds me close against him. I feel his nose pressed against my head as he hugs me tighter, his hands rubbing my back softly.

"I try." he whispers back with a soft laugh, pulling me back gently and leading my face up for a kiss. I chuckle and close my eyes, waiting for our lips to meet-

Wait... What's that?

I swear... I can hear a voice, but... Nah. I must be hearing things. No one's out here except us. I shrug it off as nothing and return my thoughts to Eric, but in the next few seconds as our lips press together, I still can't help but think I'm hearing someone's voice saying:

"Cartman and Kyle sitting in a tree..."

There you have it. For real this time. It's kind of sad seeing this fic coming to a close. At least, it is for me. I truly enjoyed every minute of writing this (even the parts that I got stuck XD), and I must say to each and everyone of you who read this story that I truly appreciate your support. You made the experience so much more fun, and the outcome so much more worthwhile. Thank you so much for sticking with it! And if you have the time to drop some feedback by, please do so. Now that the story's finally finished, I would like to hear what you thought of it, and if I did any kind of justice to the fandom at all. After all, this is my first Kyman story, and any suggestions for improvement are truly appreciated.

So yeah. Like I said before, look forward to Cartman's version of this story. I'll try to start it as soon as I can. Thank you all so much again, and happy holidays! I hope you all have a wonderful break (if you have some time off XD). I love you all, and I'll see you soon!

And three guesses as to who's speaking that last line. ;D

Until next time,

-Soul Flash