(SPOV)

It's been nearly a week since my Christmas party and Kyle has already reverted back to trying to avoid me for some reason. To my surprise though, he didn't seem to be avoiding Wendy. She had even ditched me on New Years because Kyle called her over to talk about some problem he's been having.

I couldn't help but feel jealous of Wendy and I think it was showing. I was snapping at her more and more but I couldn't seem to control it. I was just in a bad mood every time I saw her. Every time I saw Kyle, though, I was completely cheery and nice. For a while I didn't know why I did that; treat my girlfriend like my enemy and my secluded friend like a celebrity. It finally clicked when the New Year rolled around; I didn't want to scare him off.

The last time I yelled at him he went back to avoiding me (1). I wanted so badly to question him about this mysterious problem he was having but couldn't bring the nerve to ask for fear I would see less of him. I could only hope he would open up to me with whatever it was so I could help him. I really wanted to help him.

I scratched my head in frustration and waited outside the gym when the bell rang. The other boys flooded out the locker room slowly as the campus was doused in kids ready to go home. My eyes scanned for a familiar pattern of orange and green. To my surprise I found extra orange in the form of a hoodie.

Kenny had his arm dropped around Kyle's shoulder and they seemed to be having a serious conversation by the look on Kyle's face. I couldn't tell from Kenny since his head's facing away from me and I was too far to hear what they were talking about.

I mentally sigh see Kenny again so soon. Kyle had been hanging with Kenny a lot since school started again. I didn't think it's weird since Kenny has been in our inner circle of friends since preschool but the sudden urge Kyle had to spend with him gave my stomach a twist. If he had been hanging with Wendy at school as much as Kenny then I would have gone crazy with suspicion I suppose so I guess Kyle and Kenny weren't such an odd combination.

Slowly I extend my arm up in the air and call out. "Hey guys!"

Kyle's head shoots up and when his eyes meet mine his expression changes immediately. He looks guarded. Kenny shoves off Kyle quickly and turns to face me with his typical goofy smile.

"Hey Stan. What's up?" he asks cheery with a light tone. I smile and approach them gripping the side of my backpack. The sudden feeling of nervousness trickles up my neck for some unknown reason. I shift my feet and mentally scold myself when I stumble around my words. These were my best friends; what did I have to be anxious about?

"You guys heading home?" I end up asking as casually as I can, my eyes flickering between them.

"No. We're actually going to get some pizza," Kenny replies and looks back at Kyle for confirmation. Kyle smiles hesitantly and nods.

"Great. That sounds like fun," I deadpan stupidly.

"Sure. Do you wanna come with us?" Kenny asks and the tension in the pit of my stomach lifts. Kyle quickly glances back at Kenny with something unreadable in his eyes.

What was I thinking? They wouldn't tell me to buzz off, I think relieved and start walking towards the school gates.

"Yeah!" I stop realizing my voice is too loud. Calmer I speak, "Yeah – yeah. I can definitely go."

"Great. Now we're like the three amigos, huh Kyle?" He grins and I smile. Kyle bites his lip and tries to focus on something other than me. My brow furrows but I become too distracted by Kenny to think about it further.

"How was your New Years anyway?" He pulls at the strings on his jacket and I shove my hands into my pockets. I shrug.

"Just hung out with a few people. Jason, Token; you know. How was yours?"

"I got wasted," he laughs and I roll my eyes playfully.

"That doesn't sound like a surprise. Getting drunk off your dad's liquor alone in your room doesn't sound very thrilling though," I remark rubbing under my nose.

He blinks confused. "I wasn't alone New Years – ouch!" I stare as Kyle proceeded to elbow Kenny hard in the ribs. He rubs his side before glaring at Kyle. "Dude, what?" he snaps irritated and cradles his chest confused.

I eye Kyle curiously and glance back at Kenny. "You had more people over? How come I didn't hear anything about that?"

"Kyle told me you were busy. I didn't know you were free," he states and glances at Kyle.

My eyes widen. "Wait, Kyle ditched me to hang with you?" I ask confused now eyeing my best friend who seemed to be interested in everything except the conversation. Kenny tries to defend Kyle without making me angry.

"I would have asked you but I was told you were busy doing your own thing."

My smile falls. "I thought you were hanging with Wendy," I state and look at Kyle for affirmation. He glances and me and shrugs blandly. I am not quite satisfied with his answer.

"She came over too. Don't blame Kyle, dude. I made them come over to make sure I didn't take my mom's keys and go anywhere. It was really brief and just for safety reasons. They were out doing their own thing before I made them babysit me." I'm silent and he nudges at me teasingly. "Come on Stan."

I raise an eyebrow and try to ignore the doubt filling my stomach as I try to steer the conversation on a different subject. "Alright…So are we going to Shakey's or that new pizza place they just built where the old Wal-Mart used to be?"

"Shakey's. Always Shakey's," Kenny explains. Suddenly Kyle seems to jump back into the conversation with a subject I've hated lately.

"What about Wendy?" Kyle chimes and I blink confused.

"What about Wendy?" I respond and notice he's not looking at me again. He keeps his vision ahead of him as we walk down the steps out of the confines of the school.

"Don't you guys usually walk home together?"

"Oh," Kenny fades off and there's a sullen look to him now. "Right! I completely forgot about that. I wouldn't have asked you to come if I knew that. I'm sorry man," he says and puts his hands on his cheeks overdramatically. It looks a little staged to me but I try to force my smile up. I feel like I'm being kicked out of the loop or something.

"I can tell her to go home by herself. One day won't kill her," I reply unconsciously taking a step closer to them.

"You're going to make her walk alone?" Kyle raises his eyebrow and I feel a little downtrodden that he's practically taking her side.

"It's not that far Kyle," I defend and glance between them. They stop now. "It's not like I'm her dad or anything. I don't have to watch after her every second of the day."

He shifts his feet and looks at a car driving by. "I know. I just think something short notice would make her mad. She's like that, you know."

I scoff. Since when would you know what she's like?

"She can deal."

They share a look before glancing back at me. "Alright," Kyle agrees with a shrug that makes my stomach sink. Why is he acting so apathetic about me today? I give him a suspicious look knowing there's a catch judging by his tone. "You can tell her then," he says and points behind me to the tree we always wait under to walk home.

Wendy is standing staring over at us. When I make eye contact with her she smiles happily. I wave slowly and put a small smile reluctantly on my face not really excited to see her.

I turn back towards them when I see her walking over to us. That nervous feeling is seeping back in again and I take a big breath. I know Wendy hates when I spring anything on her but I'm hoping she won't try to play the guilt trip card.

"Hey guys," Wendy says as she pulls me down to kiss my cheek.

"Hey," Kenny greets and Kyle nods in acknowledgment.

"What's going on; are you guys having a little meeting over here?" she jokes. I hear Kyle let out a puff of air through his nose and he looks bored with this conversation. I bite the inside of my cheek completely baffled at his response to Wendy. He seemed to strain to even tolerate her so how could he tell her his super problem that he won't even mention to me? I couldn't understand. Did he like her or not?

Smiling down at her as best I can I pet down her hair hoping it will soften the situation. "No we're just hanging out." She beams up at me and I look away for a moment before coating my voice sweetly. "Funny thing with hanging out." Kenny tries to hide a laugh at my lame attempt to open her up to me basically saying 'Can I ditch you?'

"Kenny just asked if I could go to Shakey's with them and I said I would." I laugh awkwardly and expect her to pout and pull at me to walk her home but she does the opposite and smiles wider.

"That sounds like fun. Can I come too?"

A tug comes from inside my stomach as I want to do something with Kyle alone for a change. Silently I wonder if this is how Kyle feels about Wendy sometimes. She can be smothering. As kindly as I can I try to make it sound like she would only be a hindrance.

"It's just a guy thing," I say scratching the back of my head and she blinks confused. "You'd just get bored. Plus it wasn't even my idea; you'd have to ask them."

She turns her attention to Kyle and Kenny hopefully. "Can I come?"

Apparently Kenny doesn't get my message. "Sure. The more the merrier."

My smile falls and Wendy pulls me closer. "Yay! I haven't had Shakey's in forever."

I make a stiff notion at Kenny and he smiles apologetically. I sigh guessing there's no way to tell her I want to hang with just my friends without sounding like a dick.

"The more the merrier," I mumble listlessly under my breath.

OPQRSTUVWXYZ

Shakey's only has a few other people when we walk in. It's no surprise really; most people only come here to celebrate something.

We take a booth next to the arcade area knowing it won't be loud since there are no little kids around. Wendy takes the aisle seat across from Kyle leaving me scrunched in by the wall across from Kenny. He grins when we take our seats and sticks his hand out.

"What kind of pizza do you want?" he asks as we fork over some money.

The table is silent as I expect Kyle or someone to order but no one does. All eyes are on me for some reason and I fidget confused. "Pepperoni?" I say hoping this is what they were expecting me to say.

"Pepperoni sounds good," Kyle says focusing on Kenny. I notice Wendy is giving him a strange look and I lightly pinch her leg. She jumps and smiles awkwardly.

"Yeah," she agrees and pinches my arm back humorously.

"Alright. Be back in a minute." And with that Kenny is gone. The table becomes engulfed in silence again and I suddenly regret accepting Kenny's invitation to eat. I shift and smile assuming I have to be the one to get the conversation rolling at the quiet demeanor of my girlfriend and best friend.

"This is kind of fun, isn't it? I don't remember the last time we all came to Shakey's together."

Kyle props his chin in his palm resting his elbow on the table. He smiles almost halfhearted at me. "Nope. Can't say I recall any time either."

"Maybe eighth grade?" Wendy offers trying to think back herself.

"And last time Cartman was here," Kyle grumbles and I can't help but laugh.

"Yeah. Didn't you stick straws in your nose and pretend you were a walrus to get Cartman mad?" I joke and Kyle shuts his eyes tightly trying to forget.

"And then he shoved me telling me to stop making fun of his weight and I landed face first on the ground. I had my first bloody nose here…the stain's still on the floor," he groans and we look over to see a now browning spot over by the tables.

Wendy giggles. "I remember that. You totally freaked," she says to me. I frown.

"Well he was gushing blood like a sink. What else could I have done?"

"Avenge me," Kyle says with a stupid smile and I shake my head.

"I avenged you two weeks after when that soccer ball hit him in the face in PE," I explain.

"That wasn't on purpose," he argues and I straighten up.

"It could have been."

Suddenly Kenny appears a pitcher of soda and fountain cups in his hands. He sets them on the table with a clack. Kyle gets out of the booth to let him in.

"I hope you guys don't mind Coke."

Wendy shakes her head and passes a cup and a straw to me. I take it and hold up my straw looking at Kyle. "Are you sure you don't need another one?"

He glowers and tells me to shut up. We all get our drinks ready and Kenny gets the conversation started again. He's always been good at making awkward situations deflate. I guess it was a good idea to come after all; as long as Kenny is here.

Pretty soon our pizza comes and I realize at that moment how hungry I am when the smell hits me. I take a piece and take a big bite. Warmth fills my mouth; I forgot how good Shakey's was.

Kenny is halfway through a story when I see Wendy whisper something towards Kyle. It's nothing really but it's enough to catch my attention. I glance over and notice Kyle hasn't even finished one piece of pizza. Wendy's glaring at him for some reason and not even listening to Kenny.

I don't realize I'm staring till the words stop flowing from Kenny's mouth and his hand shoots in front of my face. I jerk back and look back towards Kenny with large eyes.

"Dude, I know you're enamored by Wendy's good looks but could you stop staring at her for a moment when I'm talking to you?" His tone is light and good-humored. I fidget embarrassed seeing everyone's eyes on me.

"Sorry," is all that comes out of my mouth idiotically. Wendy slowly giggles and pats my hand.

"I don't mind. I'm used to it by now," she says with sugar sweet words making Kenny tease and go "Aaaw".

I kick him under the table.

"That's so sweet of you Stanley," he says not even fazed by the kick to the shin and nudges Kyle who I can't help but notice how stiff he is. He looks over at Kenny before slowly looking at me. I try to brush off Kenny's stupid comments and ignore Kyle and Wendy's weird behavior.

"Shut up," I say embarrassed and thoroughly tired of Kenny's teasing.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I hear Kyle mutter to Kenny touching his shoulder lightly. Kenny blinks and quickly exits the booth to let Kyle through. "Sorry," he says glancing at us before he leaves to go down the hall to the bathroom.

Kenny slowly scoots into the center of his side and gets back to eating his slice of pizza. I sit, my eyes still where Kyle disappeared down the small hall leading towards the restrooms when Kenny starts to tease me again.

"I think Kyle felt your awkwardness across the table," he laughs and Wendy giggles. "He stole my idea to bolt before it suffocated him."

I manage a chuckle and pick up my piece of pizza before deciding to place it back on my plate. I wasn't too hungry anymore. Wendy notices this and smiles picking at a few pieces of pepperoni.

"You're not going to finish that?"

I glance at her confused. "No."

"That's a first. You always tell me that you can scarf a whole pizza faster than your friends," she states matter-of-factly.

I shrug and watch as Kenny finishes his fourth slice. He's probably loving this; pizza is a huge treat at his house.

"He can't out eat me," Kenny replies going for another slice. "No one can do that."

I concede and rest my arms against the table top. "I guess I can't argue on that. You can out eat anybody. But that's not our fault. You barely get any food at home so of course you can out eat us."

"What can I say? Some of us are just born luckier than others."

He smiles and takes another large bite. The longer we sit and talk the happier I feel. Somehow hanging out like this takes the edge off whatever mixed feelings I've been having. I can't help but think how much I miss spending time after school with my friends like we used to in elementary school.

Before too long I take note of the emptiness next to Kenny and my thoughts drift back to Kyle. I glance back at the bathroom curiously to see he hasn't emerged in a long time. While Wendy is in the middle of explaining something dumb Red did I shove at her side.

She stops immediately and looks at me with a bit of irritation. I explain.

"I need to use to bathroom."

She sighs before moving out of the booth and letting me make my way towards the short hallway containing the restrooms. When I get to the end I push open the door rather hard and see Kyle jump and nearly slip on the wet floor. He catches the side of the sink for balance and doesn't look at me till he's sure he won't fall. I stare surprised that my entry jarred him to the point he'd need help balancing.

I take a step inside and let the door shut behind me. Kyle goes back to washing his hands in the sink and sighs.

"Dude there's no need to race to get in here. There's plenty of urinals available," he says and gives me a concerned look. I glance around the bathroom and scoff at his insinuation. Shockingly there's no one else present in here. I suspected he was chatting back here or something. When he moves to get a paper towel he gives me another strange look that I can't pinpoint the emotion behind.

"You okay Stan?"

I nod and lean back against the door. "Yeah. I'm fine." Pausing I tilt my head to the side and glance at him. "Are you constipated?"

Kyle throws the brown towel away and frowns. "What the fuck? No. What makes you think that?"

I look over at him now that he's closer. He looks a bit exhausted and I see he's paler than usual. "Then do you read the newspaper back here or something? You look like shit, dude," I admit blankly.

He shifts his feet and wipes a few beads of sweat from his forehead. "They just don't have an air conditioner back here. It's hotter than hell," he complains.

"Oh," I say raising my eyebrows. It seems fine to me, if not too cold in here.

He leans his shoulder against the towel dispenser and folds his arms. "Well?"

"Well what?" I ask confused.

He motions to the bathroom. "Do you need to pee or did you come back here just to get away from Kenny's over exaggerated and gross stories?" he jokes.

"Both," I lie with a hint of humor in my voice. "Plus Wendy's being a bit too clingy today," I admit reluctantly.

"I know what you mean."

Slowly I look over his face trying to decipher the meaning behind his words. He looks up and notices my possible unease and straightens.

"I mean she can be overbearing sometimes."

That doesn't really make me feel better. Either he's implying Wendy is clingy to him which doesn't seem like the case or he took a shot at insulting my girlfriend. I try to brush it off knowing he didn't mean any real harm by it. Not to mention I was getting a bit aggravated with her lately so I agreed with him.

"I suppose," I try to sound nonchalant about this. "Is that what you've been doing back here then; hiding out?"

I can see his hesitation. He looks like he's about to say something but ends up shaking his head and chuckling.

"That's probably what it looks like, huh?"

"A little," I say with a smile.

"I didn't mean any harm by it. It's just a bit awkward out there."

"So what, you planned on staying in a piss stained pizza bathroom the rest of the day?" I say grinning.

He grips his side again and shrugs. "No. I was just going back out actually."

I roll my eyes. "Right."

"I was," he insists and pushes off the dispenser.

"Uh-huh," I mock and open the door for him. "After you then. We're having a really interesting conversation about Red and her ugly flats."

I see the excitement radiating off his face as he makes his way over to the door. "I can't wait to hear about this. That must be why you came back here, huh? To hide out like me," he laughs.

"You catch on quickly."

As Kyle walks by the last sink I notice a puddle of water by his feet but am too late to warn him.

"Hey – watch it!" I yell and extend my arm in a quick warning. He doesn't have enough time to react.

He slips and has nothing to hold on to when I reach out to make sure he doesn't hit his head against the sink. I grab the closest thing I could get my fingers around; it happens to be the arm he always has around his abdomen.

I jerk it away from him and yank him from falling backwards. He lands on unsteady feet, his wrist still in my hand and I sigh with relief.

"Jesus. I thought you were gonna knock yourself out you klutz," I breathe out and slowly straighten up relieved. When I let go of his wrist to rub the side of my head I glance back at him expecting to hear some sarcastic comment and see a smile; I get the exact opposite. His expression and stony appearance sends a wave of unexpected coldness up my spine.

He looks cautious and his face looks strained as if he'd been punched in the gut. His jaw is set tight and I see and unidentified emotion swirling in his eyes that are as big as dinner plates. Even though I can't tell the emotion in his eyes there is an undeniable feeling I can identify on his face; pain.

I slowly withdraw my hand hovering in the air and stare at my friend who seems like standing alone is a task in and of itself.

"Kyle?" I ask hesitantly completely confused. His eyes jolt up to mine quickly and he straightens holding his side with that arm again. My stomach jolts and I recognize this face. I'd seen it before. It's the same face he wore that night I punched him over Wendy. Guilt with a tinge of dread hits me for some unknown reason as if I'd been the one to hurt him again. I couldn't have, I just saved him!

"Kyle –"

Suddenly he snaps at me. "What the fuck, dude?"

I cringe in confusion at this sudden outburst. "What?"

He takes a few breaths and glares at me. "What'd you do that for? Fuck, I think you popped my shoulder out of socket!"

I blink watching Kyle shut his eyes tightly and I feel my knees start to shake a little. "Huh? No I – you were going to fall," I explain stupidly. Kyle quickly shoves past me and exits the bathroom muttering a few curses under his breath.

Two seconds later I'm right behind him. I popped his shoulder out of socket? I didn't think I pulled him that hard. I reach the table and see the confusion on everyone's faces as Kyle starts to gather his things.

"Kyle, wait! I'm sorry," I say but he ignores me. Shit, did I actually do the opposite of what I always try to do around Kyle; I actually hurt him?

"What's going on?" Wendy asks seeing Kyle's scrunched up face.

"Should I take you to the hospital?" I ask wondering if that's what he wants.

Wendy's eyes bug and Kenny's darts between all of us fretfully.

"Hospital?" Wendy blurts and reaches out towards Kyle who withdraws from her quickly.

"Hold on a second," I say guilt hitting me like a brick wall as I try to help my best friend out with what I've apparently caused. I grab his free arm and he turns on me jerking it away.

"Stan just stop – you can't – you do more hurt than help, ok? Please, I don't need you making anything worse," he mutters at me before turning around and exiting the restaurant.

Wendy and Kenny stare out the window as Kyle storms down the sidewalk nearly slipping on the snow. I stand in disbelief before his words finally sink in. He thinks I make problems worse. The knot in my stomach makes a permanent home and sinks like an anchor leaving me distraught and miserable.

I look down when I hear rustling beside me and notice Wendy gathering her things together getting ready to leave after Kyle. My mixture of emotions takes an immediate turn and I find myself growing with anger. Kyle thought I, his best friend, only made his problems worse and yet Wendy, someone I thought he hated, could solve all his problems and he could tell all his secrets to?

Wendy scoots out of the booth and starts grabbing her things when irritation hits me finally at Kyle's statement and I grab her arm.

She looks up at me confused. "Can we talk?" I ask and she looks nervous.

"What about Kyle?" her voice comes out unsure. "What did you do?"

"I'll go," Kenny chimes in awkwardly and starts grabbing his stuff. "Maybe pizza wasn't a good idea after all. I'll see you tomorrow Stan," he says before following the same direction Kyle took not a moment ago.

With the mediator gone and my friend now angry at me for something I did on accident I was free to discuss whatever I wanted with my girlfriend.

"Sit down for a minute," I say and plop on Kenny's side of the booth pinching the bridge of my nose and rubbing my face in frustration. I look up and notice she's still standing. When we meet eyes she looks down and slowly takes a seat across from me.

"What?" she finally asks.

I remove my hat and place my face in my hand and my elbow on the table. "I think I've been a bit out of the loop lately," I admit bitterly, hurt and jealousy seeping into my tone that I don't try to mask. "So maybe you can enlighten me on a few things?" I shut my eyes briefly thinking back to Kyle's scrunched up face.

She fidgets. "Like what?"

I look at her dead in the eyes now. "Like what the hell just happened. What just happened back there?" I ask desperately trying to understand.

She doesn't know what to say and stumbles for the right words. "You mean with Kyle? I don't know. He's always like that."

"No he's not," I deny.

"He has since the first day I've met him," she defends back, her mouth setting in a straight line.

"No – no Wendy. There's obviously something wrong!" I try to explain and she looks uncomfortable. "He just – Kyle just – I don't know but there was something wrong about it."

She eyes me strangely. "Stan, are you sure you just didn't do something to make him upset?"

I shake my head. "No. I just stopped him from falling in the bathroom and popped his shoulder out." Her eyes widen for a brief moment making confusion swirl in me.

"You popped his shoulder out of socket? Well no wonder he's mad! Why did you do that?" she asks and I can't help but feel like I'm being ganged up on today. The guilt starts coming back and I try to smother it below a layer of frustration.

"I didn't mean to. I just grabbed his arm that was around him and yanked so he wouldn't hit his head against the sink. It wasn't even hard enough to do that, I'm sure of it. I've knocked my shoulder out twice and it takes more than that tiny yank." As I explain this I see a mixture of things dance across her face. She silently chews on her bottom lip thinking.

"His arm?" she asks.

"Yeah. That's usually what's connected to a shoulder," I unjustly snap. She doesn't appreciate it. "It was the closest thing to grab so I did it. I don't know how doing that could hurt him. Kyle's tough so that shouldn't have hurt him," I argue trying to convince myself more than her that I couldn't have physically harmed my friend who I sometimes treated like glass. "Besides I apologized for grabbing him so suddenly. His shoulder wasn't the weird part though, Wendy. How he responded was weird. He shouldn't have looked like that from one little tug." I notice she looks flustered now. I lean over and grab her hands and put on the most distressed look I can muster. "Wendy please tell me. Is there something wrong with Kyle? You've got to know. He's been sharing all these secrets with you."

Her eyes flutter and she gives me a pained look and glances down at where we're connected. "Stan," she starts and I feel eager. I'd put aside all my pride and jealousy towards her hoping she would confide in me. I just want to help.

She looks up at me and gently slides her hands out of mine feeling guilty. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you."

It starts to sink under the surface and I sit back in disbelief. "Why not? I want to help! Does it look like I want to cause problems here? I'm going crazy having to second guess how much I know about my own best friend. Apparently he's not as strong as I thought he was and he's been all over the place emotionally lately. He's isolated one day, happy the next, angry, and then back to isolated. How the hell am I supposed to help when I don't even know how to act?"

"You can start by not treating him like one of your football buddies," she chides.

I throw my arms up and plop back against the seat in frustration. She bites her lip.

"I'm sorry Stan. It's not my secret to tell. When – if he's ready he'll tell you himself."

"If? Why won't he just tell me now?" I ask at a loss.

She looks sympathetic and reaches out to touch my hand. "He doesn't want to make you worried."

"He's doing a shitty job then," I pout.

She looks away. "He knows," she admits and I'm a bit surprised. He knows yet he's still carrying on like this? What could make me worry more than this? "You could talk to him about it," she suggests.

"Guys – it's weird. I'll sound all whiney and probably bother him."

She sits back in her seat defeated. "Then I don't know what to tell you."

You know what to tell me you just won't, I scowl in my head looking out the window.

I can't argue with that and just blow off some steam sitting across from her and our discarded meal. A few more people enter the building and little kid's laughter is heard contradicting our mood in the back. I cross my arms and stare at the ceiling forebodingly.

"I want you to do something for me then," I say without looking at her, my mind now made up. She gives me a curious glance and I muster up the courage to order this knowing she'll disapprove. "I want you to stop going to see Kyle."

"What?" she asks in complete disbelief. I knew it.

"You guys aren't really friends so it shouldn't be a problem."

She looks at me seemingly panicked. "What about when he needs to talk about his problem? He wants me to help him."

I gape. "Did you see how he just reacted? How he's been reacting? Whatever you're doing it's not working."

She frowns and takes a few breaths. "I can help him. Just give us time to –"

"Wendy, have you ever thought about how it's affecting me?" She stops looking confused. I try to explain without feeling like a jerk. "My best friend and girlfriend are holding secret meetings. Not just at Kyle's house but out in public too. Tweek told me at my party that you guys came early in the morning to get coffee. I didn't care that you guys were meeting if it was helping him but then you stopped telling me when and where you're doing these things. You can see why I'd get concerned."

She's surprised. My eyes soften hoping she's surprised at my feelings not getting found out. "I don't really think you guys would fool around behind my back or anything but if this trend keeps up who knows how strained our relationship can get? How mine and Kyle's can get…"

I can see hesitation on her face and frown. "Please Wendy. For me?"

After a moment of silence she reluctantly agrees. I know it's probably not the nicest thing for me to do but Wendy and Kyle meeting behind my back makes me nervous. I don't know what they're talking about and whatever they're doing is making Kyle become distant to me and Wendy want to be around him all the time.

What else am I supposed to think?

OPQRSTUVWXYZ

"Hello?"

I grip the phone awkwardly on my living room sofa as I hear the familiar voice of my friend on the other end.

"Hey Kenny. It's Stan."

"Oh, hey," he chimes and I hear some shuffling in the background. "What's up?"

Shifting in my seat I look out the window at the darkened sky. It had only been a few hours ago that the gathering had gone awry in that stupid booth at Shakey's. Pinching the bridge of my nose I lean my head back and shut my eyes.

"Just, you know, wanted to see how you're doing."

The shuffling stops and I can hear him straighten by the shift in his clothing.

"You mean you wanted to see how Kyle's doing," he corrects me with a slight smile in his voice. I didn't know how he could make something awkward turn lighthearted but I thanked him.

I smile slightly to myself as well. "If you already knew that then why didn't you just answer knowing what I wanted?"

"Because I like to see you suffer?" he responds and the rustling picks up again.

"Thanks." I look up to see Shelly coming from down the hall. She looks mad and motions to the phone. I lip in a minute and she shakes her fist. I mentally groan not wanting to get beaten to a pulp by her again. Kenny continues talking through this whole side interaction.

"So Kyle, huh? You're such a brute nearly ripping his arm off," he laughs and I don't appreciate his humor. Glowering I sink further into the sofa.

"Was it that bad?"

He pauses. "Well he's fine now. I had my dad push it back into place. It was pretty funny to watch actually –"

"Shut up!" I cut off his laugh and wince seeing the mental picture of Kenny's violent dad tearing at Kyle's arm. If his reaction was that bad in the bathroom then the guilt was overwhelming now picturing his face from fixing the problem I'd caused. Biting my lip distressed I continue. "That's not funny, Kenny. Why'd you have your dad of all people do that?"

"Hey," he says a bit unhappy that I'd cut his enjoyment short. "You guys see me die all the time I can't help it if seeing something like that evens the playing field."

I disagree with him completely but don't say anything about it. "Why didn't you just take him to the hospital real quick?"

"For something dumb like that?" he asks and I hear something thud. Was he cleaning his room? "I'm not exactly Token you know. Plus Ky didn't want to make a big deal out of it so he let my dad do it."

"He wanted that?" I ask skeptically.

"Like I said, nothing to worry about."

Shelly enters the room again and I turn away holding the phone tightly to my face. I hold up two fingers hoping she'd give me at least two more minutes. She growls and goes back down the hall.

"So you're sure?" I ask one last time to clarify.

He sighs. "Yes, mom." I frown hating when they called me that. "His arm's probably sore but he's fine. You can ask him yourself if you want."

"I tried. He hasn't picked up. I think he's a bit mad at me," I say defeated and rub the back of my head.

"I'd be too. But you know what they say; God gave us a spare so he'd still be good to go. You only need one arm to do all the important stuff like writing, pushing a grocery cart, jacking off; things like that."

I grimace. "You're nasty."

"When have I not been?" he counters and stops moving around. I hear him settle down somewhere before continuing on a different note. "So what'd you and Wendy do after, just go home?"

I bite the inside of my cheek not really in the mood to talk about Wendy. "We just talked real quick. Nothing important."

"Oh?" his tone is curious and innocent. "I somehow think you're holding something back."

"I'm not," I lie not wanting to explain to Kenny that'd I'd been letting my best friend and girlfriend hang out without me all the time.

"Come on, tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone important."

"What's that? Sorry Ken, Shelly's gonna kick my ass if I don't get off the phone now. See you at school tomorrow," I exclaim quickly and click off the phone before he has a chance to protest.

Sighing I stretch my legs out and pull my hat over my eyes.

"This is giving me such a headache," I groaned into the quiet living room.

Throughout the next week Kyle had acted pretty normal. He was very withdrawn from me as if he wanted to stay as far as possible while we hung out. It was like he was afraid of me touching him.

I couldn't help but feel guilty and glance at his arm. Despite being injured his arm was relatively fine. I wanted to believe that I'd hurt him but something in the back of my mind wouldn't let me do that. His face obviously had pain etched on it but in PE he managed to throw a football just fine.

For the most part Kyle hung out with Kenny a lot more than I wished he would. It wasn't that I had anything against Kenny but he hung around him more than I did. It felt a little like Kyle was trying to make a point to me; back off.

I didn't enjoy it one bit.

As for Wendy things started to get back to normal between the two of us. She had kept her promise as far as I knew and acted cheery like she used to. Occasionally I'd catch her glancing at Kyle and she would squeeze my hand tighter.

I didn't know what her purpose was with Kyle. Was it like Psychoanalysis? Did he just vent to her and feel better? If so why would it matter who he confided in? For a long time I thought it had to be Wendy because he wasn't attached to her and that would make it easier to confide in her but I ruled that out after another week passed and Kenny spilled a very important secret that made my blood run cold.

A week and a half roughly after the pizza incident Kenny and I were talking when he said he ran into Kyle and Wendy at the park with Clyde. I froze which made him concerned by the uneasy expression I was wearing. It was only then that I'd told him about Wendy not being allowed to hang with Kyle anymore without me knowing about it.

His face turned pale and I could see guilt drip off him like he was covered in it. I suppose he wasn't supposed to tell me and that made me relieved yet at the same time a bit angry.

Why would Wendy do that? Without telling me too! Was the urge to see Kyle more than considering her fretful boyfriend's feelings?

Apparently they were and I couldn't help but grip my chest unsure how to filter all these raw emotions. Should I be angry, sad, or worried? All three?

Why were they sneaking around?

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

That weekend I stayed at home and didn't bother calling Kyle or Wendy. Usually they would be calling me to see how I was or if I wanted to do anything but that weekend I got no calls.

Sitting on my bed I stared at the ceiling mulling over everything that had been going on.

Kyle had developed some huge problem and stayed away from everyone.

Wendy got Kyle to confide in her to the point they would hang out without me knowing despite the appearance that they hated each other.

Even though I was uncomfortable with what was going on I told her to just calm down so I could try and pull everything together but she decided to break her promise and meet Kyle.

I had no idea what to think.

I glanced at my phone on Sunday's afternoon wondering if what I was about to do was right. Would it be worth it? There would be no going back once I picked up that phone.

Shutting my eyes tightly I solidified my resolve and glowering. I picked up the phone and dialed. Slowly, painfully slow, after four rings someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Wendy," I breathed out cautiously. She seemed to be surprised.

"Stan? Hey. How are you?" she asks politely and I rub my temple.

"Wendy can you do me a favor?" I ask and swing my legs over the side of my bed.

She pauses. "Sure. What?"

Stopping I gaze at my carpet a long while. I almost think she's going to hang up at the silence when I finally speak with an uneasy voice I try to harden.

"Can you call Kyle and tell him to meet me at Starks Pond in twenty minutes?"

I can now tell she's confused. She's hesitant. "Why would you want me to do that? Shouldn't you do it?"

"No. I want you to. Can you meet me there too?"

"Stan, are you okay?" she asks concerned and I grip the phone at the calmness in her voice.

"I'm fine. Will you do it?"

"S-sure. Of course."

"Thanks. Bye," and I hang up. Biting the corner of my lip I stand and go to get my jacket. This was going to be really hard.

Hopefully neither of them would hate me for it.

He's referring to the night of the derby when he snapped at him in Cartman's car

A/N: Oh man I hope I didn't make Stan seem like an asshole. That's the total opposite of what I wanted. I wanted a concerned friend who doesn't know how to help so he can't help but get angry. This chapter is kind of choppy and rushed so I'm really sorry if it didn't tickle your fancy.