Chapter Text
The drive to school is obnoxiously long as always. Thirty minutes of sitting in his own thoughts ever since his beat up truck radio finally gave out. The truck was basically free from Jimbo, so it’s not like he can complain. The only reprieve he has is when he picks up Kenny and Kyle and gets about five minutes to talk to them. Today was no different, despite the temperature dipping down to negative seven degrees Fahrenheit. Living in Colorado meant school isn’t canceled for a little cold.
Stan parks in front of Kyle's house first, and shoots a quick “I’m here” text. It only took a minute for Kyle to be out of his house, and in the shotgun seat of Stan's car, giving his usual greeting and buckling in, while Stan gave him a bright smile. Kyle has always been punctual like that. It’s something Stan admires because he’s late for almost everything.
Stan drives down only two more houses to get to Kenny’s. One of which being the house he used to live in as a kid. He’s been on the farm for almost eight years now, yet he still wishes to go back to the way things were when he lived in that old house. Apparently another family moved into it a while back, kids around the same age as Stan and Shelly when they were there. Every morning he stares at that house just a second too long, even if he knows his eyes should be on the road. He tries to avoid the memories that haunt him of what he once had.
Kyle and Stan arrive on Kenny’s beaten up driveway, knowing it’ll be a hot second until Kenny comes out. Unlike Kyle, Kenny takes Stans “I’m here” text as a “time to get ready” text.
After about ten minutes, Kenny slides into the backseat, forgoing buckling himself in. Kyle used to get on Stan’s ass for unsafe driving but stopped after one too many depressing comments from Kenny regarding death.
Kenny was luckily the last stop before school. Butters parents don’t want him in a car driven by a teenager, and Cartman ended up in juvie for about a month their sophomore year, which prompted an intervention for Lianne Cartman to send her son to military school. Stan wasn’t quite sure how it went, but he knew that she was there for about six hours, and in the end, Lianne tearfully agreed.
Then again, Stan doubts he would want to be Cartman's chauffeur even if the fatass was still in South Park.
“Dude there’s some weird shit going on at Tweek Bros” Kenny starts. He never says ‘hi’, he always immediately launches into a conversation.
“Oh?” Kyle responds, but Kenny would keep going even if he didn’t.
“Yeah, something keeps getting into the trash cans outside, it’s normally just old coffee beans scattered everywhere, but guess who has to clean them up every Saturday or Sunday morning when it’s freezing fucking cold outside.”
“…Tweek?” Stan guesses. Mostly just to piss off Kenny.
“That guy barely does anything anymore! My guess is he keeps making out with Craig. Basically everything falls on me now, it’s insane.”
“I guess it gives you better odds of becoming a manager when you’re eighteen.” Kyle chimes in with.
Kenny laments, “But that’s literally months away, and honestly barely comes with much of a pay increase.”
“At least you can put it on your resume for when you inevitably quit and move onto something else,” Kyle mumbles while sorting out some papers in his backpack. They’re probably for his debate class or some other extracurriculars that he’s involved in. Even though Stan wouldn’t ever dare admit it, he’s jealous of his best friend’s ability to be involved in multiple projects at once. It’s a trait that he has had ever since they were kids exploring Stark’s pond or making up stories in each other’s backyards.
Stan pulls into his parking space and unbuckles. “Alright kids, we’re here,” He announces, making Kenny snicker.
Kyle organizes himself to look presentable as they clatter out of the well-loved truck. As always, Kenny being the last to get out due to his inability to keep his shit all in one place. Stan stands awkwardly by the driver’s side door so that he can lock the vehicle. Meanwhile Kyle impatiently looms over the truck bed, eager to get the day moving. Once Kenny figures his stuff out, they walk together into school.
The building itself was older, definitely not something to brag about. Everyone kept hearing rumors about potential renovations to the second floor bathroom but nothing ever came to fruition. Even so, it was all Stan knew. A rare sight and feeling of familiarity.
The three are about halfway to the building until Kenny looks to his left and sees a particular blond on the sidewalk near the parking lot. Kenny immediately dropped out of any conversation going on to yell “Hey Leo!”
Leo was a nickname based on Butters real name, Leopold. It was unspoken, but only Kenny could call him that.
“Hiya Ken!” Butters cheerfully shouted back. Completely forgetting his other friends, Kenny jogs over to Butters, playfully knocking their shoulders together. They grew really close when Cartman left, both seeing him as some kind of fucked up best friend, so they turned to each other in his absence. They’ve gotten pretty close, almost attached at the hip at times. Stan supposes they’re kind of like him and Kyle in that way.
They all go their separate ways once the first bell rings. Kyle’s taking far too many APs for his own good, while Kenny and Stan had only a single class together. All this meant is Stan’s school day is depressingly void of much social interaction, just taking shitty notes and keeping his head down.
Really, right now Stan's only goal is to graduate, pack up his shitty truck, and get the hell out of South Park, even if he has no fucking clue where. On the inside, however, he secretly plans on following Kyle to whichever school he ends up going to. Maybe by Kyle’s sophomore year they could share a little apartment together. Kyle could focus on school, while Stan works full time to afford the necessities. It may be tight but they’d manage it together. Because they’d be together. And that’s probably just what Stan wants in the first place. Who could want more with their super best friend?
When lunch rolls around, Stan sits in his usual spot across from Kyle, who sits right next to Kenny with Butters by him. Tolkien normally sits next to Stan, which works well because he couldn’t stand Clyde, Tweek or, god forbid, Craig being by him. Stan doesn’t pay attention to the group, anyway. Sometimes it's him, Kyle and Kenny talking, but more often it’s just him and Kyle. Secretly, Stan loves it when Kyle gets swept up in conversation with the rest of the group. Stan goes completely silent, sneaking quiet stares at the redhead. The best part is when he starts talking about something he’s passionate about. His expressions are so animated, his curls bouncing as his head moves, and he has such a bright light in his dark green eyes. And since Stan isn’t participating, he just gets to watch.
When school ends, Stan drops Kenny off either at his house or Tweak Bros, and then drives Kyle to the farm with him. It's become tradition to walk Sparky together around Tegrity at least once or twice a week, one neither really wants to break.
Today was one of those days where Kyle would come with. The ride back to the farm was silent, sometimes Kyle would rant about school or whatever came across his mind. But nothing exciting must have happened to keep Kyle’s music on full blast as they drove in bliss. Their friendship was one where the conversation didn’t need to keep the energy alive, just each other’s company was enough. Stan tuned out whatever song was playing in the background, it was something that Kyle had put on from his phone. His music taste was peculiar to say the least but Stan never complained. He could feel the other’s foot tap to the beat and the feeling of his friend’s presence kept Stan content in the meantime.
Pulling up to the farm’s driveway, the gravel kicked against the bed of the truck with an oddly comforting sound. Stan parked next to Shelley’s older minivan, a handy down from Sharon. His sister stayed at home while attending the nearby community college. He couldn’t remember exactly what she was studying but knew that Randy okayed it as long as she still spent time helping out at home. Stan was pretty sure that she was in her last year and planned on transferring to a state college come springtime. Whatever she was doing, it didn’t matter since she tended to keep to herself.
The two teenagers hopped out of the truck, Stan’s backpack swinging against the driver’s door with a heavy thud. Kyle followed in suit as they entered the farmhouse. Both of his parents were out at the moment which left the house oddly quiet for once. Ditching their backpacks temporarily by the front door, the boys entered the kitchen to grab a quick snack. Kyle sits down on the picnic-like kitchen table and pulls out his phone, assumingly to check his insulin levels before they leave on the walk.
“Need anything?” Stan chirps to his friend while pulling out some fruit snacks that were stashed in the furthest part of the pantry.
“Got any saltine crackers? I’m a little low right now,” replies Kyle with a scowl.
“Maybe but mom might have used the last of them last night for chili,” Stan mentions, continuing to dig deeper into the pantry.
“Aw man, I missed out on Marsh’s infamous chili night?” the redhead jokingly smirks.
“There’s still some left in the fridge if you want to take it home,” Stan responds even though he’d much rather Kyle stay later to eat dinner with him. The lone teen would prefer if his best friend could stay every night but deep down he knew that wasn’t possible.
Kyle seems to contemplate it but eventually nods his head in confirmation. Sometimes when he’s really deep in thought, he’ll stick his tongue out to the corner of his mouth. It makes Stan smile everytime that his friend does it.
He finally finds what he was looking for, pulling out a half-opened sleeve of crackers. Tossing them over to Kyle who gets up from the table to catch them. Stan makes his way over to the backyard door and opens it to let in Sparky. The doberman mix comes bounding into the kitchen, tongue hanging lopsided from his mouth. He immediately jumps onto Stan to give him all the love that was lost during the school day. The beloved companion was no longer a puppy anymore, showing it through the gray scattering on his muzzle. But he still acted like what he did when he was younger, slobbering anyone who was close enough to his grasps. After the first victim was covered in enough dog drool to last a lifetime, Sparky moves on to an unsuspecting Kyle.
“Jesus dude!” Kyle yelps as the crackers go flying out of his hands due to the mutt knocking them when he collides into the redhead’s chest. Sparky immediately ditches the latest victim in a scramble to pick up all the free treats before Stan could stop him. The two teenagers make eye contact with each other in a moment of utter shock before the room erupts into laughter. Stan bellowing over trying to contain his enjoyment of the dog’s mishaps. Sparky looks up with a mouth full of crumbs, tail wagging innocently behind him as he tries to understand the newfound excitement.
“Sorry about that, I swear he gets attention.” Stan mutters out as he links up the maroon colored leash to Sparky's collar. The canine immediately realizes what is going on and starts tugging towards the front door with all his might. Stan struggles to keep his companion in place in order to help Kyle clean up the mess in the kitchen but can barely move without his arm being ripped straight off. Eventually Kyle seems satisfied with everything and follows Stan out to the front yard, much to Sparky’s relief.
The weather was extremely cold, the air cooling off far earlier than previous years. Stan had his dark brown coat, white stripes lined the edges of his sleeves and underneath he wore a dark red sweater with gray horizontal stripes. Accompanied with jeans and dirty old sneakers, he wore the same red poof ball hat that he’s had since elementary school. Kyle wore tan slacks with a burnt orange turtleneck sweater covered by a green cardigan. Of course, he wore his dark green ushanka but had started to wear it less and less. Unfortunately Stan couldn’t part ways with his hat since it helped cover up his greasy hair.
They followed down the long driveway side by side, sometimes they knocked shoulders but neither one would notice. If they did, nothing was said.
Stan had once asked why Kyle kept joining them on walks. The thirty minute drive to and from Stan’s house was a lot, and Kyle did seem to keep busy with other things. It took him just a second too long to answer, but eventually Kyle reasoned that he likes spending time with Sparky since his mom won’t let him get a dog. Stan let Kyle hold the leash from then on.
Sparky led the charge till the very end of where the gravel met the frost tipped grass. Stopping to turn around and make sure that the others were following, he pulls on the leash to continue further down the road. Sidewalks don’t exist out in the country but if they followed the road then they’d lead to an abandoned farmhouse about a mile away from Stan’s house.
It quickly became a getaway for him, a place that only Kyle and Stan knew about. They even brought some blankets and pillows to make it more comfortable. A safe space.
They walked up the road with small talk keeping them company. Kyle explains how he was close to being valedictorian of their class but Tolkien being his main competitor. Stan quietly nods along to his friend’s rant.
It takes about fifteen minutes but they make it to the makeshift clubhouse. The roof has caved in and the floorboards creaked underneath them. There was plenty of water damage in the old plywood but that's what gave it charm. They even fixed up a room that was probably intended to be one of the bedrooms, adding personal goodies in a box that they brought to protect it from water damage.
There was a large patch of completely clear land right by the abandoned farmhouse. Once, it may have been covered in crops or vegetation, but now it’s just a clear lot in the middle of nowhere, perfect for a game of frisbee.
Kyle and Stan trade off throwing the frisbee Stan brought to Sparky, who always happily trots it back. They start walking back when Sparky seems to be getting a bit tired, panting lightly, but still eager to play. They both get into Stan's car once the Doberman mix was put inside, Kyle having to go home for dinner asap.
The car ride back is silent like before but this time Kyle picks a melancholy song to play on his phone. Stan pays attention, listening carefully to the lyrics before recognizing it.
“Hey, is this the Arctic Monkeys?” he questions, Kyle turns to him and nods.
“Yeah. It's No. 1 Party Anthem, my dad introduced me to it and now I cant stop listening,” the redhead responds with a finger on the volume button as he turns the music up.
Kyle continues to mumble the lyrics under his breath even when they pull up to his house.
Kyle reaches to turn down the volume, “Wanna come in? My moms making pasta for dinner, and I doubt you want more chili leftovers.”
“Um I don’t think I can. Got a lot of homework, y’know?”
“Oh yeah, I get it.” Kyle says, likely trying to mask disappointment. Stan would love to hang out but it’s just harder to be alone with Kyle now, and he’s not sure why. Just alone in Kyle's room, he doesn’t have Sparky or driving to focus on, he's always suddenly nervous. It really doesn’t make sense.
Stan watches when Kyle slips out of the truck with ease. They give each other brief goodbyes, knowing that tomorrow will bring the same routine. As always, Stan waits to drive away until he’s absolutely sure that his friend has made it safely inside.
Stan drives back to the farm. At least the cold has probably killed off most of the weed, so Stan won’t be forced to do any stupid chores. Although that just means a night of having his thoughts to himself. Hopefully he can drown them out to some Radiohead.
Stan lays on his head, shitty earbuds connected to his phone, pressing play on a random playlist. A few hours in, Kenny’s stupid ringtone he set for Kyle blares into the noirettes ears.
Clicking accept, he hears Kyle’s voice saying, “Hey dude, have you done your homework yet?”
Shit.
“Uhhhh,” Was Stan's only reply. Kyle’s been doing this sporadically for years, especially when Stan's procrastination got worse around middle school, finding it hard to get any motivation to do it.
“Is that a no?”
“It’s not a yes.”
“You said you had a ton and you haven’t even started?” Stan can hear Kyle sigh on the other end. “Well I know you must have something for math, so we can start there.”
Kyle took the math class Stan is currently in as a sophomore, so he almost always helps Stan through assignments. Even when he doesn’t ask.
About an hour goes by, the redhead helping Stan through something about polynomials, and the assignment is complete. Stan thanked Kyle before hanging up.
He puts his earbuds back in to continue the song that was playing before Kyle called. Unfortunately, his Spotify has been glitching and stops playing all together sometimes, and instead of pressing a button or two to get it back, Stan just lets his thoughts roam. He stares at his ceiling, reminiscing about his life before he moved to the farm, even if he was only ten at the time.
He can’t wait to get the fuck out.