Hey
Have you ever noticed how close our houses are?
Sent at 3:07 AM

Dude what t he fuck
Sent at 3:09 AM

I had to walk home right
Sent at 3:09 AM

Go to sleep
Sent at 3:09 AM

And I saw that I was walking down a familiar road
I chose one I didn't usually take but still I swore to god I've taken it before
Sent at 3:09 AM

Are you usually this talkative this early?
I didn't even know you lived on the same planet until a week ago.
Goodnight.
Sent at 3:10 AM

Dude
We live on the same fucking street
Sent at 3:10AM

Nice try
I know everyone in my neighborhood
Sent at 3:10 AM

Past the train tracks
Sent at 3:10 AM

oh
OH 
Sent at 3:14 AM

ThAT's what I sa id
I can't believe we never ran into each other
Sent at 3:14 AM

I don't go outside much
Sent at 3:14 AM

That's sad
Anyways that's all I wanted you to know
Sent at 3:14 AM

You woke me up to tell me that we're both idiots?
Sent at 3:14 AM

Yes
Do you have your ringer on?
Sent at 3:14 AM

Unfortunately
Sent at 3:15 AM

Why
Sent at 3:15 AM

Why do you have YOUR ringer on?
Sent at 3:16 AM

How could you possibly know that
Sent at 3:16 AM

Answer the question
Mcquarmeck
Sent at 3:16 AM

It's McCormick
Sent at 3:16 AM

McCormick
More like
Sent at 3:16 AM

Pause

Dick
Sent at 3:17 AM

McCor-dick?
Sent at 3:17 AM

Just answer the question
Sent at 3:19 AM

yes I do
It's because my friends are idiots
Who get in trouble while I sleep
What's your excuse?
Sent at 3:19 AM

I
Sent at 3:19 AM

Pause

Don't
Sent at 3:21 AM

Pause

It was an accident
Sent at 3:25 AM

Okay?
Sent at 3:25 AM

Goodnight, Kenny
Sent at 3:26 AM

________

When Kenny's shift ended early that day, he immediately walked home. He didn't even make it to his room, collapsing on the empty couch in the living room.

He wanted to finally get some sleep.

Ding

His phone buzzed, and it took a lot of force just to get him to look at the screen.

Haha thsi is you
Sent at 11:57 AM

Attachment Sent at 11:57 AM

The picture sent brightened his mood quickly, even if it was just a picture of a monkey.

No u
Sent at 11:59 AM

Oh great
You're alive
Are you free tonight
Sent at 11:59 AM

Kenny's heart skipped a beat.

Yes
Of course
What's up?
Sent at 11:59 AM

I need you to do a huge favor for me
Sent at 11:59 AM

Okay?
Sent at 12:00 PM

My family is
Inviting some of the neighbors for dinner
Because they're celebrating soemthing??
And I wanted to know if you could come too
Sent at the 12:01 PM

Oh
Sent at 12:01 PM

I just need to know if you'll be there too
Sent at 12:01

Can I bring my sister?
Sent at 12:01 PM

Pause

Yes
Of course
Does she like animals?
Oh and you both should dress nice
If you can
Or want to
Sent at 12:03 PM

Yeah she likes animals
And I'll try my best?
Sent at 12:03 PM

Thank you so much
If you change your mind tell me ASAP
Sent at 12:03 PM

Wait what fucking time do I have to be there
Sent at 12:03 PM

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
7
Or later
Everyone's actually eating at 8
Sent at 12:04 PM

I'll be there
Sent at 12:04 PM

Thank you
Sent at 12:04 PM

_________

Kenny tried his best to dress fancy, or formally. The best outfits he owned were a few dresses (that he was never going to wear in public, and especially not around Stan) and one suit that he'd worn to his 8th-grade graduation. It was bright blue, slightly torn, and pretty much the exact opposite of his sister's outfit.

Ever since Karen joined the goth kid's clan, she's been insisting on dressing in all black and spending a little too much time on her makeup. He really tried his best to support her, being his sister and all, but sometimes he contemplated telling her to stop it when getting ready took too much time.

This was one of those times. After getting ready for what felt like the longest time, Karen finally stepped out of the shitty bathroom.

"Ready?" He asked, smiling a little.

"I guess."

"Remember, no smoking. Try and act a little nice to Stan."

Karen grunted.

"It's only for a small amount of time, then you could go on and hang out with... the other kids."

"I'm 14, I'm not a fucking kid anymore."

"Also please watch your language. Or, just swear really quietly."

"Conformist bitch." She muttered, quietly.

"Come on, let's go.".

Despite it being so close, Kenny held hands with his sister as they walked over to Stan's house, making sure that she wouldn't get hurt just in case a car decided to drive on the sidewalk.

When they approached, he let go of Karen's hand, letting her pound on the door as hard as she could.

Stan was the one who answered the door. Upon realizing that Kenny was at the door, his neutral expression had changed into one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen.

"You made it!"

"Yeah, and I brought my sister, too."

The look on his face was priceless. Kenny remembered making a face similar to that when he found out that his sister wanted to be a goth kid, dressing up in black outfits and drinking coffee until they were jittery. He wasn't really on board with it at first, but as time passed and Kenny realized that the people that she hung out with weren't as bad as he thought, he stopped caring.

"Karen, this is-"

"Raven?"

He froze.

"Raven?" Kenny repeated, looking between the two of them.

His expression didn't change much. His cheeks puffed out, and he clasped his hands together anxiously.

"Nice to see that you both could make it- my name's Stan."

"Yeah, I know who you are." She muttered.

"Then you'd know that I go by Stan, nothing else."

"Whatever." She scoffed.

"I'm sorry- you two met?" Kenny asked to break the tension.

Karen smiled.

"Aw, yeah. Raven here used to hang out with the goth kids until he turned back into a pussy-bitch conformist."

"Better than being a whiny goth kid."

"Whatever, puta." She muttered, pushing past him into the crowded house.

"Well, I'm glad that insulting me runs in the family." He muttered with a small smile.

"It's not very hard!" Karen called out.

He paused, waiting until Karen was finally out of earshot before finally muttering, "You didn't tell me that your sister was a goth kid."

"I didn't think I had to." Kenny turned to him, smiling a little, "Raven?"

"Shut up."

"I didn't know that."

"You weren't supposed to." Stan, to change the subject, pointed at the bag Kenny was holding, "What's that?"

Kenny held it up.

"Well, I thought it was a potluck situation, so I brought Pop-tarts."

"Nice. You can just put it down on the table, and we'll head upstairs."

"Upstairs?"

"My- uh, you know. Room."

"You wanted to...?"

He bit the inside of his cheek.

"I'm sorry, I invited you because I wanted company."

He sucked his breath in sharply.

"Oh." His eyes widened, "Oh- and I brought my sister-"

"Yeah, but y'know it's fine."

"I mean, we can still... hang out. Just need to find Karen, tell her where I'll be just in case she needs anything..."

"I'll meet you up there, then?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Stan smiled.

Kenny told his sister where he was going, telling her to come to him if something happened. She grunted in response, and Kenny smiled, running up to hang out with him.

When he walked in, Stan was kneeling, messing around with an instrument propped up against the wall.

"I didn't know you played guitar."

Upon hearing his voice, the smile returned, and he picked it up to show it off.

"Chicks dig it. Also, uh, I let Buddy out of his cage, and he's... kinda running around."

Kenny slowly got on Stan's bed.

Stan smiled, and started playing. Kenny did his best to smile, show his support, but it soon turned into a grimace. He knew that Stan was purposely playing it badly, but damn.

"It's uh... it would sound better if I actually had a song in mind."

"Uh huh."

He cracked a grin, "Fuck you, man."

Stan didn't seem to notice. He started playing the intro to Marilyn Manson's Sweet Dreams on repeat, hoping that Kenny wouldn't notice it. Stan mumbled out a few of the lyrics, but he timed it wrong, messing it up and making him start over.

Kenny laid on his bed, and zoned out. It was truly a perfect moment, the calm before a storm, the two just enjoying each other's company.

"Hey,

"Sorry about last night, by the way."

"Last night?"

Stan gave him a confused look.

"When I..."

It wasn't on the lips, just a peck on the cheek.

He felt the tip of his ears heat up. "Oh." He muttered. "It's alright."

"Yeah, but it was really out of the blue, y'know? And you weren't expecting it. I should've asked first."

"I didn't really mind it."

Pause.

"What?"

"It-it was unexpected, yeah, but it was more of a, uh... pleasant surprise."

"You..." Stan pursed his lips, a crooked smile shown on his face, "You sound like Leo, dude."

"Leo?"

"Butters, I mean."

Kenny let out a laugh.

"Yeah, but I doubt he'd say something like that in this situation."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, Kenny?"

"Yeah?"

"If I had asked you beforehand, would you have said yes?"

"Probably."

There was another pause. Stan looked up at the blond.

"Can I kiss you?"

"What!" Kenny panicked. Stan did as well, but tried his best to keep it hidden.

"I, uh- I was wondering if we could do like a redo it some shit." He started talking quickly, trying to excuse his fuck-up, "You know, never mind, I don't really-"

"No no- it's fine!"

"What?"

"We can, uh, redo."

Silence. Kenny walked over to the beanbag chair, and sat down a little too close.

Was this the right moment? Could they casually do it again?

While staring, Stan couldn't help but notice Kenny's face coming closer. He tried his best to the same, slowly shutting his eyes to prepare for-

Karen slammed the door open. The two scrambled away from each other, Stan messing with the strings of his guitar while Kenny found a sudden interest in the ground.

"It's almost time to eat, you should come downstairs before Cartman eats everything." She reported casually, hopefully missing the scene.

Stan's eyes widened when he saw a flash of brown scurrying across the carpet

"Karen-!"

Buddy ran towards the door. Karen yelped in surprise, jumping back and letting him run out of the room.

"Shit, my mom's going to kill me!"

He put down his guitar.

"Dude, we'll help you." Kenny offered.

"Karen, I need you to keep an eye on the cat while Kenny and I get Buddy."

"Buddy?"

"My rat."

"Okay, where's the cat?"

Stan pointed towards the door. When Karen nodded in agreement, Stan ran down the stairs, Kenny not too far behind.

The two tried to look as casual as possible, searching in perfect hiding spots while assuring some curious people that absolutely nothing was wrong.

"Kenny, keep looking. I'll ask my mom."

"Dude, didn't you say that she'd kill you?"

"She'll help. I can handle her chewing me out afterward, I just can't let anyone else find out about it."

Kenny reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Stan pushed through the crowd, finding his mom and pulling her off to the side.

"Stan?"

"Mom, we have a problem."

Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Remember my adorable pet rat that we all love so very much?"

"Stanley, what did you-"

There was a scream.

Stan ran to the source of the noise, finding a short Canadian stomping and screaming all while a rat ran across the floor beneath him.

"There's a rat in here!"

Stan caught him before he got stomped on, holding it with a grip that was gentle yet assured that it wouldn't be escaping anytime soon.

"Is your house infested?" He sneered.

"He's domesticated." Stan returned with the same tone.

"You did it on purpose!" He accused.

"Everyone, calm down. It was just an accident." Kenny assured, getting a thankful glance from Stan.

"Sharon." He heard Sheila mutter.

"I'm so sorry, it's my son's pet."

"You can tell him to get rid of it. He's your son."

He didn't look back at them. He wished his mom would've defended him, snapping back at her and assuring that she would do no such thing.

"Stanely, go to your room."

"Mom-"

"We'll talk about your pet later."

Stan nodded, stomping past the crowd and up the stairs.

When the party continued not much later, Kenny followed Stan.

"Hey." He called out.

"Leave me alone."

"Stan-"

Kenny put a hand on his shoulder, and turned him around. He was visibly upset, eyebrows curved and eyes filling with tears. Upon realizing that he might lose him, Stan pulled the rat as close to him as possible, stroking the top of his head with his thumb.

"I'm here for you, dude."

"You've done enough. You can go home."

"Come on, we can do something and-"

"Just get out of here!"

Stan slammed the door on his face.

"Kenny?"

Karen sounded so meek and small, something he never thought he'd hear from her thanks to the goth confidence. When he turned, he saw her hiding herself, face as scared as Stan's was just a few moments ago. It was so out of character that his stomach sank.

"Let's go home." He muttered, smiling and hoping that she'd do the same.

Her face didn't change, "Is he really going to get rid of it?"

"Let's just hope not."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Karen. It wasn't your fault." He lied for her sake.

"But-"

"Come on."