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Kyle sighs heavily.He could’ve told you this was gonna happen the moment he got invited to this damn part, he just knew that Kenny would drag him to this damn place and then disappear on him. He always does and, yet, Kyle still finds himself coming along to parties like these, even if only to make sure that Kenny gets home safely from them.It only takes Kenny two minutes to drift off into the crowd of the party, having already taken way too many shots for the amount of time he’s been h ere. Kyle watches as he makes a bee line toward Butters - Kyle has no idea how he ended up at this party considering the kind of party it is and the parents that he has but he decides it’s really not any of his business. He knows Kenny and Butters have been together for the last few months and Kyle’s happy for the both of them. They seem really happy together. He sort of wishes he had somebody like that, he wants for a love like that- He knows, that’s sappy and stupid but he does. He just.. does.He finds himself lingering in the kitchen, trying to find something to drink that isn’t alcohol.Unfortunately, this is a party he was brought to by Kenny, which means that there’s way too much alcohol going around and probably no water or anything to actually hydrate these people. He gives up on looking for a drink and ventures further into the house, looking for a place to sit. The crowd is dense and it’s hard to navigate through but eventually he finds himself in front of a couch and takes a seat, slumping backward into it right after he scootches a bit to the right, trying to ignore and be further away from the stain there. He doesn’t know what it is and, frankly, he doesn’t want to know what it is.Ignorance is bliss, or whatever it is that people say.He pulls his phone out and scrolls mindlessly through it, trying to find the best way to waste some time because he just knows he’s going to be here for way longer than he wants to be. He’s sat like that for nearly 20 minutes, he thinks, just scrolling through his phone, not really even paying much attention to anything at all - his phone, his surroundings, his own damn brain. He’s kinda just gone. Sort of. In a way.That is, until a song comes on that he’s absolutely obsessed with. He’d even go far to say that it’s his favorite, which means when some random guy next to him - someone he didn’t even notice was there, if he’s being completely honest - start to scream the words (incorrectly), it catches his attention.He takes the man in - he’s tall, wearing a blue and red beanie, and just… woah - and is a bit ashamed to admit that he might be attracted to the guy but the way he’s singing the wrong lyrics puts him off and he has to say something, “You aren’t singing it right,” He shouts, trying to be heard over the loud music.The man turns around and, okay, his face is pretty perfect too.Kyle ignores that thought because what. Nope.“Huh?” The man screams back and then says, “Were you talking to me?” Pointing at himself, clearly trying to strain his ears to hear better.Kyle sighs but he can’t just let up now, “Yeah! You were singing the song wrong!” He shouts as the man sits down way too close to him. Kyle tries to ignore the fact that he’s seated himself directly on the stain that Kyle was specifically avoiding but it’s difficult to ignore that like he’s wanting to.The man just leans into him though, taking a drink from his cup, which is when Kyle notices it. The big lettering on the red cup, written in sharpie, STAN.“Are you a fan of this song?” The man - Stan? - asks, talking at something of a more normal volume since they’re closer together now.Kyle just nods and Stan (probably) turns his head to stare at Kyle’s face. He tries to keep it from heating up, it’s not often he gets studied like that, “Y’know, I’ve never seen you around before. You here with someone?”Kyle nods again, “I came with my friend, Kenny.”Stan gasps, “McCormick?”“Yeah,” Kyle confirms. Of course Kenny is well known from the people at these parties, why wouldn’t he be?“Kenny’s pretty damn cool,” Stan turns away, looking back into the crowd and taking another drink from his cup, “I met him a few years back at a party.”Kyle nods because, yeah, that adds up. He averts his gaze from Stan, effectively cooling his face down, “Do you drink like this often, Stan?”“How do you know my name?” Stan asks and turns his head quickly to look at Kyle.Kyle just points at his cup, the big name written on it.“Oh,” Stan accepts quietly, looking back out toward the crowd, “right.”“So?” Kyle urges on, “my question?”Kyle can feel as Stan shrugs next to him and goes to drink down the rest of what’s in his cup, tipping it over and letting a drop fall out on his lap afterward, “Only when I party,” He answers, chuckling a bit, and Kyle feels like there’s a lot more of a story to that, “that was only my first drink, don’t worry.”For some reason, Kyle can’t stop thinking about the damn stain that Stan is sitting on and it’s burning in the back of his mind. He has to say something, “You know, you’re sitting on a very mysterious stain right now. I don’t know what it is but it didn’t look pretty.”Stan just snorts, breaking into laughter and Kyle can’t figure out what’s so funny. He starts to get defensive, “What the fuck?” He gets up, reading to walk away, grumbling, “I’m just trying to warn you and-”He gets grabbed by the wrist and tugged back down, hearing Stan’s laugh right there in his ear. His heart races, hitting his chest harder and harder each time it beats, “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Stan tells him but Kyle is still confused by the laughter from Stan that has yet to fully die down. He stares at him waiting for an explanation and it finally seems to click in Stan’s brain, his eyes widening, “Oh! Right, yeah,” He chuckles, “that’s from my fuckin’ dad. It’s been there for years and it’s been cleaned like a million times. This is my house, well my parents’ house, I live on my college campus but I’m watching over the place while my parents are out of town and, anyway, the stain. It’s not gross, I swear.”Kyle exhales heavily, of course he’s talking to the guy hosting this stupid party. Of course he is.Stan pushes himself up from the couch, “You wanna go get a drink?”Kyle shakes his head, “I don’t really drink.”“Oh c’mon,” Stan urges, holding his hand out as an offer, a help to get up from the couch, “just one drink.”The rational side of Kyle apparently no longer exists because for some reason he actually agrees. Then, before he knows it, he’s three drinks in and way more open with this Stan guy. They’ve gotten weirdly close just standing in his kitchen and talking, drinking - Stan’s drinks being way stronger than Kyle’s. He learned that he and his girlfriend broke up a few months ago. This makes Kyle think any chance he might’ve had with this guy is completely gone but then Stan reveals that he’s bisexual and Kyle feels like he has a chance again. There are other things that come up too like the fact that they both play the guitar and they have such similar interests in video games and activities. And, god, damnit, he's realized he's down bad and he fears he's not getting up.Kyle’s trying to find it in himself to ask the guy out but then Kenny shows up with Butters. He wraps his arm around Kyle, “You ready to head back?” He’s definitely pretty drunk if the way his words are slurring together is any way to tell and Kyle berates himself for actually drinking so much. He was supposed to be the one to drive them home and-Shit. He’s not usually this irresponsible, he doesn’t know what happened.“I’ll be drivin’!” Butters chimes in as if he could tell what Kyle was thinking.He breathes a sigh of relief, thank god for Butters.“Yeah, let’s go,” Kyle agrees, any thought of asking Stan out gone. He missed his chance, he needs to just go home and accept his losses.He turns around, Kenny still hanging around his shoulders, Butters grabbing Kenny’s other hand, the one not on Kyle. They start to walk until Kyle hears Stan’s voice again, forcing him to pause in his place, “Hey, wait!” He’s drunk too, not nearly as badly as Kenny though.Kyle shrugs Kenny off and turns around, “What’s up?”Stan just shuffles from foot to foot for a moment, “Well, I never caught your name.”“Oh,” Kyle mutters, he could’ve sworn he mentioned it at some point. He must not’ve, he shakes his head, he drank too much. He shouldn’t have drank that much, “I’m Kyle.”“Kyle,” Stan says, testing it on his tongue. He smiles and Kyle might go a little weak in the knees at it but he doesn’t let it show, “Well, it was nice to meet you, Kyle.”“It was nice to meet you too, Stan,” Kyle agrees.“Do you, uh,” Stan clears his throat, it’s obvious that he’s trying to sober himself up - or, at least, look sober enough, “have anything going on later this week or…” He pauses for a second before just continuing on, “would you want to hang out with me?”Kyle’s heart skips a beat but there’s no way he’d say no to that, “I’m free,” is all he manages to get out before he hears Kenny’s voice, about to say something to tease him, surely. Kyle promptly shoves Kenny’s hoodie on and mumbles his speech.It only takes a few moments for them to exchange numbers and Kyle feels more sober after that than he did when he first stepped into this party, with no alcohol in his system.Well, alright then. Time to go home.(He then spends the entire rest of the night thinking about his conversation with Stan, how they joked with each other so easily. The way their conversation slid together without any awkwardness, if you don’t count the beginning. Kyle can’t stop thinking about everything about Stan, to be completely honest. It kind of keeps him up that night, just staring up at his ceiling.)
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kyle wakes up with a deep breath and a pounding headache. He always gets the worst hangovers if he ever drinks, it’s exactly why he never does it. He doesn’t know why he gave in last night, it was stupid of him. He shouldn’t have done it, he shouldn’t have done it at all. Why the hell did he think drinking was a good idea?Then he remembers Stan.He remembers everything about Stan and he’s suddenly no longer oblivious to why he had indulged in a little bit of drinking.Unfortunately, knowing why doesn’t help to ease his headache. He reaches to his nightstand and searches the surface blindly - bumping into what he recognizes as a water bottle that must’ve been left there for him by his roommate - until he grabs onto something that feels like his phone. He picks it up and brings it into view, thankful that it is actually his phone. He clicks it on and squints at the bright screen, immediately moving to turn the brightness all the way down.The first thing he notices is a few texts from an unknown number.
Unknown: hey it's stan :)
Unknown: I would’ve texted you last night but I was, in fact, verryyy drunk by the time the party was over and everyone was gone so I thought that’d probably be a bad idea. crazy that I was able to make a good decision when I was like that lol
Unknown: anyways, I didn’t forget about you or our conversation last night and I still wanna hang out, I think it could be cool to be friends with you :)
8:22 AM
Kyle doesn’t know what comes over him but his first message back is a correction.
You: Anyway*
You: “Anyways” is incorrect grammar
9:02 AM
He shoves his phone to the side for a moment before remembering that he didn’t actually properly respond and pulls it back to him, turning it back on and makes his way back to the text thread. First, he changes the contact name and second, he finally properly responds.
You: Also, I’d like to hang out as well, I enjoyed our talk last night.
9:03 AM
He does actually put his phone to the side this time, swinging his legs over the side of his bed to stand up and stretch. A wave of dizziness crashes over him and he realizes it’s probably a good idea to check his blood sugar. He does that quickly, it’s something he does without really thinking, being so used to it.He sighs when the results come back, saying his blood sugar is too high. Of course it is. It doesn’t take him very long to fix that issue though and just a few moments later, he’s hearing his phone buzz and grabbing it to check what it says. He sits back down in his bed, clicking on the notification from Stan.
Stan: awesome :D
Stan: you got any plans td?
9:11 AM
You: Have you slept at all? I left at like two in the morning and the party was still going crazy.
9:12 AM
Stan: I slept for like 3 hrs, I have work in 20 so I had to be up
9:12 AM
You: Are you not hung over?
9:12 AM
Stan: hell yeah I am
Stan: I’m pretty used to it though so I’m pushing through
Stan: how abt you? you mentioned you don't drink much, hangover hittin you hard?
9:13 AM
You: Unfortunately.
9:13 AM
Kyle tosses his phone to the side, allowing it to get lost in his blankets. He has to make his bed later anyway, right now he needs something to kill this headache and some water. Thankfully, he looks to his nightstand to see the water that he bumped into earlier, cracking it open to take a sip before noticing that there were also a couple of pain relievers there to help with his headache. Thank god for Butters - and probably Kenny. Even though Kenny was absolutely plastered, he probably still had the mind to realize that Kyle doesn’t typically drink, like, ever, and probably asked Butters to leave some water and pain relievers on Kyle’s nightstand.Either way, no matter who it was, Kyle is incredibly thankful to them right now. Now, he just has to wait for the damn things to kick in.He gets up from his bed and decides to push through the pain for now, he made his decisions and he has to live with the consequences now. So, he starts to make his bed, grabbing his phone and shoving it into a pocket when it starts to become a problem in the bed making process. Once he considers it perfectly made, he sits back down and looks back at his phone. There’s more texts from Stan and Kyle doesn’t even wait a moment before clicking onto them.
Stan: if you wanna come over, I got some remedies to help with that
9:14 AM
You: I also have some remedies, it’s called pain relievers.
You: I can’t believe I let you talk me into drinking.
9:18 AM
Kyle finds himself literally sitting there, staring at his phone and waiting for a response like an absolute fool. God, he needs to get a hold of himeslf, he swears. However, when Stan responds quickly, Kyle has no choice but to fall just a little further.
Stan: I have that affect on people
Stan: if you wanna come over, I’ll make it up to you
Stan: I promise
9:19 AM
You: And how exactly would you do that? With more alcohol?
9:19 AM
Stan: for me, maybe
Stan: nothing but a good time for you :)
9:19 AM
You: Oh?
9:20 AM
Stan: okay so I can see how that mightve sounded flirty but that was not my intention
Stan: though, um, I don't think I’d really be mad if you took it that way
9:20 AM
Okay, shit. Play it cool.
Kyle: Yeah, I don’t think I’d really be mad if that was your intention, anyway.
9:20 AM
Stan: cool
Stan: so you… wanna stop by?
Stan: I get off at 3 30 today
9:21 AM
Kyle: Same place as the party last night?
9:21 AM
Stan: yea
Stan: im still watching over the place for another like??
Stan: 4 days? I think
9:21 AM
Kyle: I’ll be there at 5:00.
9:22 AM
Stan: 4??
9:22 AM
Kyle: Will you even be there?
9:22 AM
Stan: my job is a 5 min walk from this place
9:22 AM
Kyle: I’ll be there at 4:00
9:23 AM
Stan: hell yeah
9:23 AM
Kyle: Go to work, Stan.
9:23 AM
Stan: whatever you say ;)
9:23 AM
Kyle’s screwed. He’s so damn screwed.Oh fuck.He has nothing important to do today, which means that he spends the entire day just waiting for when he’s supposed to be showing up at Stan’s house. God, he knows it’s probably an issue of his but he can’t really help it, it’s just sort of what ends up happening.He tries to distract himself by doing a hobby or something but all he can think about is Stan and going to see Stan and the man is consuming his every thought, somehow. He wants it to stop. He wants it done. He wants it over.It only manages to ease up when the clock strikes the time he needs to leave his place in order to get to Stan’s by 4:00 PM. The second it hits, he’s rushing out before even thinking twice about it.Maybe he has problems.Stan seems like a good one to have.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kyle shows up at Stan’s house just before the agreed upon time. It’s only a couple of minutes early so he decides to just walk up to the front door and give it a knock. He knocks a solid three times and waits patiently. It’s weird to see the house in, like, the daylight and also not filled with people.Kyle thinks it’s nicer this way.He isn’t standing at the door waiting long, before he knows it it’s opening up and Stan is standing there, peering out. When he realizes that it’s Kyle at the door, he opens it full, gesturing for Kyle to walk in, “Hey dude, c’mon in!”Kyle smiles at Stan and steps inside, taking the house in now that it’s mostly empty. It’s actually pretty clean, Kyle would’ve expected it to be a complete mess in the same way it was when he left last night but, to his surprise, it’s cleaned up pretty well.“How’d you manage to clean so fast? I swear it was a disaster when I left,” Kyle comments as Stan shuts the door behind him, “it looks a lot nicer in here now than before.”Stan just shrugs, “I find cleaning therapeutic sometimes. I did most of it while drunk last night before I passed out, if I’m being honest,” He chuckles it off and Kyle finds that sound to be one he wouldn’t mind listening to over and over again.“Stronger than me,” Kyle mentions casually, “I passed out the moment my head hit my pillow last night.”Stan laughs, “I take it you don’t drink very often?”“Not at all,” Kyle confirms easily. It’s not something he’s ever really been inclined to do and doing it more than every once in a while has even worse effects on his health than it does on a normal person. Needless to say, he tends to stay away from the stuff.He doesn’t mind indulging every once in a while and he thinks it’s a fun experience, sure, but ultimately it’s not worth it to him. Clearly, the last night version of himself seemed to think differently, though. Thankfully, he’s definitely recovered from that and he finally feels like a normal person again.The two of them walk further into the house, heading toward the living room that Kyle recognizes easily. He’s confronted with the couch he spent most of his night. The couch he met Stan on. He thinks that might be his favorite couch in existence, if he’s being honest. Mysterious stain and all.“You can sit,” Stan interrupts Kyle’s thought process, “no need to just stand there. You aren’t thinking about the stain on my couch again, are you?”Kyle scoffs lightly and moves forward to sit down on the couch. even though he knows it’s clean, he still avoids the stain with his life. Listen, he’d just rather… not sit on that stain. It’s not something that’s really in the cards of want for him right now.Stan flops down on the couch next to him easily, wrapping an arm around Kyle’s shoulder as if it were the most casual thing he could ever do. As if it won’t cause Kyle to tense up, as if his breathing wouldn’t cease because he’s too busy holding his breath. Nervous.God, he doesn’t even know what he’s doing here anywmore. He got swept away but the bit of flirting over text, the fact that this man is gorgeous, and the idea of making another friend.“Y’know, isn’t it proper courtesy to ask someone before putting your hands on them?” Kyle asks, trying to keep his voice level. He’s fine. He’s calm. He’s not nervous.(He wouldn’t have to try to keep his voice level if he was all of those things. He is, however, a liar because he is not fine. He is not calm. He is very nervous.)Stan turns his head to look at Kyle, a soft smirk on his face as he speaks, “Do you want me to stop?”Kyle’s mouth goes dry within a moment of Stan speaking. This isn’t how Kyle foresaw this going, if he’s being honest. Okay, well, maybe he kind of somewhat saw this going this way, there was a good amount of flirting last night and this morning through text but Kyle really wasn’t expecting it to happen this quickly within arriving at Stan’s house.Stan starts to pull away and he scoots over onto the couch, putting a small distance between him and Kyle. He reaches in front of him to grab the remote from the coffee table instead, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, dude, I’m sorry.”“No,” Kyle shakes his head, “I wasn’t uncomfortable, I just…” He trails off, trying to figure out how to properly word the way he felt, “wasn’t really expecting it right then, y’know?”Stan nods, clicking the television on but not really doing much to pay attention to it because his eyes are on Kyle, “And here I thought I was being too obvoius.”Kyle lets out a huff of laughter, something that could even be compared to a scoff of sorts, “You were, Stan. You are.”“And you aren’t going to run away screaming?”“No.”“So you feel this thing between us too?”“Yes,” Kyle mutters out, his mind pacing with the possibilities this conversation could lead to.Half of Stan’s bottom lip slides in between his teeth as he looks at Kyle and takes a deep breath, “Y’know I’ve been thinking about you since last night, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind.”Kyle laughs softly, “Well, at least it’s a mutual thing. I thought I was going crazy last night staring at my ceiling.”“Okay, so,” It’s Stan’s turn to laugh now, it’s a beautiful sound to Kyle’s ears, “I’m actually beyond nervous right now, like I could probably add to that stain on the couch, but I’m gonna-”“Can I kiss you?” Kyle blurts out, interrupting Stan before he could finish whatever he was going to say. Kyle really just had to get it out, he had to ask before he backed out on asking. He’s thought about asking and he just needed to do it now or else he never would. He’s been thinking about kissing the guy for way longer than a normal person might and he had a moment of confidence. The validation of not being the only one to think non-stop about the other gave him the bravery and, so, he asked.Stan sighs but it’s something full of relief rather than annoyance, “Oh my god, I was just about to try and ask you the same thing but-”“Is that a yes?”“Duh,” Stan’s word rings through Kyle’s ear, it’s the last thing he hears before his lips are captured by Stan’s.Kyle kisses back easily. Honestly, he thinks it’s the easiest thing he’s ever done. He doesn’t have much experience, it’s limited to, like, a couple of girls from when he was in high school before he figured himself out and then, like, Kenny afterward.But, honestly, who hasn’t kissed Kenny? It’s basically a rite of passage. No hate to Kenny, he’s one of Kyle’s best friends and- Okay why the hell is he thinking about Kenny right about now? He should be focused on Stan.Stan fills his every sense. The touch of his hands on the side of Kyle’s face, the feel of his side underneath Kyle’s own touch. The fresh smell of what Kyle can only describe as clean radiating from Stan. The sound of Stan’s last word filling his ear, his brain - the sound of Stan’s heartbeat (or maybe that’s his own?) pounding through his ear. The sight of Stan’s entire being flooding his thoughts while he has his eyes closed, leaning deeper and deeper into the kiss. The taste of Stan’s mouth on his own. He was sort of expecting to taste alcohol on Stan’s tongue but all he could taste was mint. Kyle smiles into the kiss a bit, if he didn’t know any better he’d say taht Stan brushed his teeth just before Kyle arrived. Almost as if he were expecting - or at least hoping for - this to happen.They fall into each other easily, it’s not even just the kiss but they way they hold each other, the way they touch, it’s as if they’ve done it a million of times before. Kyle almost never wants to let go, he doesn’t want to part ways.Eventually, they have to, though. Kyle thinks it should be illegal for Stan to stop kissing but, alas, he does and they open their eyes to look into each other’s. Kyle thinks Stan’s eyes are some of the greatest things to exist.Neither of them say a word before falling needlessly into each other. They cuddle up without another word said and Kyle feels expertly safe in the arms of Stan, despite having known him for not even 24 hours. The rest of the night is spent watching whatever movie happens to be playing on cable, neither of them really care because they’re more focused on each other.Kyle rather enjoys spending time with Stan.