Every Second Of The Night, I Live Another Life

The morning felt like an eternity ago. Ever since the trigger happy teachers decided to open fire, things had gone from stupid to straight out suffocating.

Stan tried to force his eyes shut. He could hear the slow breathing all around him. It seemed like everyone but him was asleep. How? We're locked up in this school for two weeks. What are we going to to about food? What if someone gets sick? Or hurt? These morons wouldn't know what to shoot first. He heaved a frustrated sigh and rolled on to his side. He saw the mess of Butters' blonde hair. For the kid that should have been freaking out most, Butters seemed to be doing... fine. Not good. But... but at least he was asleep.

“Hey! Butters. We'll get you out of here.” Stan whispered an encouraging phrase. He held his breath, waiting for some sort of response. There was nothing but the beep from his watch letting him know that it was already three in the morning. Whether classes would start the next day or not didn't really matter. It was all a big facade anyway. No one knew what they were doing, and everyone was making everything worse. At least I don't have to put up with dad's stupid shit. He's probably- no. I'm not going to think about him. He pushed himself upright and kicked his blankets off.

Stan crept around the two teachers that had been placed in charge of watching over the kids. An empty, unlabeled bottle sat between the two of them. The stench that came from it let him know that he wouldn't need to worry about them for at least a few hours.

Whether the news wanted to let on about it or not, there was something particularly strange going on in South Park. There was no doubt about it that it had something to do with why the entire school had been placed on a mandatory quarantine, but the school still seemed to be practically empty. Not that that stopped Cartman from jabbing anyone and everyone- but mostly Kyle- with his social distancing stick.

He toed the cold tiles of the school floor with his bare feet. Even if it kind of stung, the cold made him feel a little bit more present. He kept his head down, hands deep in his pockets as he followed the empty halls. As he turned another corner, the main door to the school caught his eye. It was littered with chains. They were secure. So were all the windows, vents, garbage disposals... The former police had been tasked with making sure that none of the students would be leaving. And, if they did get out, it would not be living.

Stan had been an excellent scout, and the more he looked at the chains and locks, the more weak spots he saw. All his time trying to learn every use of every power tool when he was playing as Tool Shed had also lent some practical knowledge. In-fact... He placed his hand on one of the locks and leaned closer.

“You making a break for it?” Kyle's voice jolted him upright. He dropped the chain and it clattered against the door. “For Butters, right?”

“I... uh... Well, we need to do something-”

“Dude.” Kyle had his mask on and a blanket draped around his shoulders, but his expression was as easy to read as if it had been blasted in straight sunlight. “What's going on?” He asked, stepping up beside his distraught friend.

“Nothing. I just wanted to make sure it... was locked.” Stan mumbled his words.

“You've been fidgeting with the locks for the last ten minutes. You're literally shaking.” Kyle's eyes were locked on Stan's. No matter how he tried to turn away, Kyle's eyes found Stan's.

“Butters-”

“This isn't about Butters. Butters is sleeping. So is everyone else.”

“Well you're not.” Stan retorted.

“Yeah. Because I'm worried about something.” Kyle responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh yeah? What? Run out of hand sanitizer? Did Craig take his mask off?” Stan asked, not sure if he wanted to be joking or mocking the redhead. “What is Kyle Broflovski worried about?”

“You, idiot.” Kyle scoffed and tossed his blanket at Stan. “At least wrap up. It's freezing out here.” Stan fumbled with the blanket for a bit before awkwardly wrapping it around his upper body. It was still warm from being pressed against Kyle. Kinda smells like him. Stan thought, then instantly regretted the thought. It was weird. He knew it was weird.

“Don't worry about me. Butters-”

“If you say one more thing about Butters...” Kyle placed both hands on Stan's shoulders and stared him dead in the eye. “What's going on, Stan?”

Silence surrounded the two as sirens howled in the distance. They irked closer and closer to the school. Stan's eyes widened and mind swirled until he felt himself pulled forward, closer to Kyle until the two were flush against the other. Kyle wrapped his arms around Stan and held him as tightly as he could.

“It'll go back to normal. Maybe even better.” Kyle whispered. The two stood unmoving as the sirens finally pulled away into the distance.

“You don't know that. No one knows anything.” Stan spoke after a long time.

“Here.” Kyle motioned toward the wall and moved to sit. Stan followed suit and Kyle pulled an exposed part of the blanket around himself.

“You can have more blanket. I mean, it's yours.” Stan tried to pull the blanket open a bit more so that Kyle had more than a folded over lump, but failed to do more than knock Kyle's hat off. This led to the mask falling off which Stan was sure would be an issue. But Kyle let it fall. He reached an arm around Stan and unfolded the large portion Stan had held over his shoulder like some really sad hobo pouch and sat beside Stan. It was the first time in a long time that he'd seen Kyle's face in person. It sure didn't look too bad illuminated by moonlight. Even with the bags the redhead wore under his eyes any time any test, quiz, or exam was nearby.

“We've made it through a lot worse.” Kyle spoke. Stan sighed and said nothing, but he rested his weight against Kyle's body and let his head fall on his shoulder. “And hey, this means we get to spend two weeks with all our friends. No interruptions. None of your dad-”

“Ha!” Stan felt a genuine smile tugging at his lips. The two let the ambiance of the night carry the conversation. Wind howled from outside and rustled the chains on the door from time to time. At first, Stan would jolt to attention at each noise, but eventually, with the warmth of his best friend beside him, it didn't seem so bad.

“This is probably going to suck, but we'll do it together. Right?” Kyle asked, his voice soft.

“Cause we're Super Best Friends?” Stan asked, half-awake. Kyle laughed and pulled the blanket tighter around the two of them.

“Yeah. Super Best Friends.”

“Forever?”