Title: Pieces

Pairing: Stan/Kyle

Rating: R, NC-17 in later chaps readers… this has been edited for ‘legal’ submission)

Warnings: Slash, homosexuality, heterosexism, homophobia, hate crimes, and gay reprogramming

Disclaimer: I do not own South Park or any of the characters from it. This story was not written for profit.

Genre: Romance

Summary: Radical changes are taking place in Kyle's life. he is being more defiant and more outspoken, but his new self comes with new realizations and admissions that only seem to cause more problems. Can Kyle find someone to walk through his tribulations by his side?

Notes: If you read, please REVIEW.

---

It was a perfect morning in their quiet little mountain town. This was the last weekend before the first day of school. The boys were going to be freshmen in high school and even though this was supposed to be an exciting time for all of them, Kyle was beginning to doubt himself. He lay in his small bed and stared at the ceiling. He was supposed to go somewhere with Stan today. He and Stan had always spent the weekend before school started together, but he was hesitant about something today. He wasn’t really sure if he could face Stan after so much had changed inside him this summer.

“Booby?” Sheila’s voice drifted up the stairs and Kyle winced. He hated it when his mother called him that. “Booby, your little friend is here to see you. I’ll just send him upstairs.” Kyle groaned as he realized he wasn’t dressed yet and Stan was already at his house. What the fuck was the boy thinking?

“Hey, dude,” Stan said as he pushed the door open and walked into the bedroom. Kyle was still lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling. Stan sat on the chair next to the computer and looked at him. Kyle’s room was ridiculously clean for a teenage boy. Compared to this room, Stan’s looked like a national disaster area.

“Hey,” Kyle said groggily as he rubbed his eye with one of his hands. It had just registered with him that he was clad only in boxers and he hadn’t been working out as much as he should have been. He made a face as he thought about his flabby stomach before standing.

“Cute boxers,” Stan commented with a snort. Kyle was wearing these ridiculous green boxers with dreidels on them. Kyle glared at Stan and then walked over to a dresser. He pulled out jeans and a t-shirt and got dressed.

“Fuck off, dude,” Kyle said as he pulled his jeans up. Stan laughed at him and started playing with something on Kyle’s desk.

“How is your dad doing?” Stan asked. He knew that his father had been having a rough time, but he wasn’t entirely sure why. The family tended to keep their secrets very closely guarded. Kyle told Stan everything, but this was something that they hadn’t talked about yet. Maybe it was too sensitive for Kyle to talk about it, but Stan found that he absolutely needed to ask the question anyway.

“Well, we found out that a long time ago he lost our house to the Indian casino. You remember that, don’t you? When they bought our fucking town? I mean who the hell buys a town? Anyway, we found out that dad had lost our house before that entire mess and that is why he was so fucking eager to move out. So he is a compulsive gambler. Imagine that. So he is in therapy for that now,” Kyle said. Stan nodded. He had a feeling that was the something that had started the whole landslide that time. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Stan responded. “Kenny wants us to stop by the tattoo parlor and see his tattoo. Apparently he is getting one and he wants us to look at his design before he gets it set permanently on his skin. We are taking my car.”

“Obviously,” Kyle said as he narrowed his eyes. His parents still wouldn’t get him his own car. Kyle had his license and he was a fair driver. His parents just didn’t trust him with his own car. Stan laughed at him again as they walked downstairs.

“Where are you going today, Booby?” Sheila asked when the two boys came downstairs and into the kitchen. Kyle was starving. He hadn’t noticed it when he was sitting upstairs on his bed, but now that he was moving around his empty stomach was protesting.

“Hey, bro,” Ike said as he came into the kitchen and pushed past him to grab something from the fridge. Kyle mumbled something that could have been a greeting, but it was hard to tell and then looked back at his mother, but didn’t say anything.

“We are going by the tattoo parlor, Mrs. Broflovski. Kenny wanted us to look at his tattoo design,” Stan answered. “I don’t know where we are going to go then, but I promise to have your son back by nine like always.” Mrs. Broflovski smiled. Stan had always been her favorite out of Kyle’s friends. The boy was so responsible.

“And then dad can quiz Stan on his reasons for dating his first child,” Ike said with a sarcastic snort. Stan laughed at the remark as well, but Kyle didn’t see any humor in it. He was only eleven, but he knew a lot more about the world than anyone liked to admit. He was old for his age.

“Shut your face, Ike!” Kyle said as he started to chase the boy out of the room. Ike took off laughing out the front door. At least he knew that Ike was just throwing some good-hearted teasing at him and not trying to be malicious.

“Be nice to your brother, Kyle,” Sheila said as she handed him a toaster pastry. He thanked her and then left with Stan. Mrs. Broflovski decided to start the laundry while she was alone in the house. Her boys were gone and her husband was in his therapy session. At least she would be able to get some work done today.

“How was your summer, Kyle?” Stan asked as they drove down the street toward the new tattoo place. Kyle took in a deep breath and then released it before letting out a small chuckle. He looked at Stan.

“I spent most of it with you. You tell me,” he responded with a smile.

“Smartass,” Stan retorted. He pulled into a small parking lot behind a black and red building. At least this place looked clean. It seemed better on the outside. Kyle looked over it. He had wanted to get a tattoo for a while, but the other place in town wouldn’t do it unless he was eighteen or had his parents permission. Maybe this place was different. They walked inside and Kyle quickly checked his wallet. He definitely had the money.

“Hey, Kenny,” Kyle said as he sat down next to the boy. A tattoo artist came out to talk to the three. “How old do you have to be to get a tattoo here?”

“Fifteen,” the guy answered. Kyle smiled. That was perfect. He began looking through the tattoo book with Kenny.

“This is the design I picked,” Kenny said as he pointed to his choice. Kyle nodded. Kenny took the page his design was on out of the binder and went into the back room. Stan wanted to wait around until they were finished with him.

“What are you doing?” Stan asked as Kyle remained focused on the pages before him. “You aren’t thinking about getting a tattoo, are you? Kyle, your mom will kill me! Do this on your own time.”

“Come on, Stan,” Kyle said. He pointed to a design. Stan took the book to get a closer look at it while Kyle removed his shirt. “Where should I get it?” Stan looked up at Kyle’s naked torso and considered it.

“Near your belly button,” Stan said. The tattoo was a dragon inside a Celtic knot. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to talk Kyle out of this now. After all, it was about time the boy did something his mother wouldn’t approve of.

“I won’t be able to take my shirt off at home,” Kyle said. “Maybe I should get my bellybutton pierced too.”

“What are you? Some kind of fag?” Cartman’s voice echoed through the small tattoo parlor. Kyle rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt back on.

“Excuse me, but this is a gay friendly establishment. Either keep those comments to yourself or get the hell out,” another tattoo artist said as he walked into the main room. He was wearing a rainbow armband, and Kyle assumed he was gay. “Who’s next?” Kyle smiled and stood up, but stopped when he noticed Stan wasn’t following.

“You want me to go too?” Stan asked. Kyle nodded. This was not something he wanted to face on his own. Cartman looked as though he wanted to make another fag remark, but he must have decided it was better to remain quiet.

“Shit! That hurt,” Kyle said as the artist pierced the boy’s bellybutton. The artist smiled as he placed a barbell in it.

“You need to be sure to clean this out twice a day,” he said. Kyle was nodding and he looked down at his new piercing. “Are you sure you can take a tattoo?” Kyle nodded and Stan grabbed his hand. He squeezed Kyle’s hand as the artist started his work.

“Hey, that looks good,” Stan said. He was truly impressed.

“My name is Trevor,” the artists said, still focused on his work. “I have been doing this kind of work since I was twelve in my father’s shop. When I came out to him at eighteen, he threw me out of the house and fired me. I’m not really sure how I ended up in South Park, but here I am.” It wasn’t too terribly long before he was finished and put the gauze over Kyle’s new tattoo.

“I like it,” Stan said as they walked out of the parlor. For some reason Cartman had remained in the lobby waiting for them to get out.

“Let me see your fag piercing,” Cartman said once they got outside. Kyle rolled his eyes and tried his best to ignore him, but then again Cartman did have a point. A boy getting a bellybutton ring was a little gay. He turned and lifted his shirt so the fat boy could see his barbell.

“Sexy,” Kenny said as he walked out with a bright smile. Kenny was never one to keep his opinions to himself. Kyle blushed a bit and hoped Cartman hadn’t seen that. The thing that worried him most was that he was afraid Cartman was getting too close to the truth.

“That’s disgusting, Kenny,” Cartman said. Kenny shrugged it off and then lifted his shirt and pulled off the gauze. His tattoo was in almost the same spot that Kyle’s was.

“Where are we going, Kyle?” Stan asked. He wasn’t looking forward to spending the day with Cartman. The boy really got on his nerves most of the time. He hadn’t changed all that much since they were younger. He was a lot less racist and he took a lot less action against people when he was pissed at them, but he still said things that could cut a person to the very core.

“The lovebirds want alone time,” Kenny mused. Stan shoved him, but playfully, and laughed off the comment just as easily as if he had never even said it. At least they knew Kenny was just joking. Cartman was the one they had to worry about.

“Whatever,” Cartman said. “I don’t want to hang out with these faggots anyway. Come on, Kenny.” Kenny shrugged and looked mournfully at Stan and Kyle before he allowed Cartman to drag him away. Sure Cartman had always ripped on Kenny in the past, but as Kenny got older he stopped caring about the other boy’s comments so much and they had managed to forge a rather strong friendship.

“That leaves you and me together,” Stan said as he leaned against his car. “What do you want to do?” Kyle leaned against the car next to Stan and looked at him.

“Honestly, I am starving. I would kill for some pizza right now,” Kyle said. He laughed and got into Stan’s car. Stan rolled his eyes as he took his place behind the wheel. He never understood how Kyle managed to stay so thin. The boy ate all the time. He did work out quite a bit though.

“Okay,” Stan said with a smile as he started the car. “My treat.” Kyle opened his mouth to object, but Stan turned up music so Kyle’s words would be drowned out. Kyle sat in the passenger’s seat and watched the road intently, his mind wandering.

They got to the pizza place in record time, or maybe Kyle just didn’t notice how long it really took since his mind was drowned in thoughts. He barely noticed when the car came to a complete stop. It was only when Ike came in contact with his window.

“Hey, bro,” Ike said with a smile as Kyle opened the door and got out. The two siblings had grown much closer in the past few years and Kyle loved his brother unconditionally.

“Hey,” Kyle said with a smile as he put an arm around Ike. “What are you doing here?”

“Just catching up with some of my friends before school starts again,” Ike responded. “Look, I’m sorry about my remark this morning. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Offend me? Why would it offend me?” Kyle asked. Ike looked around and seemed satisfied when he saw Stan leaning against the wall of the pizza place and well out of earshot.

“I may only be eleven, Kyle, but I’m not blind,” Ike said. Kyle still looked puzzled. “Even if you don’t see it yet, know that I do, and I will be here for you when you need me most.” He gave Kyle a quick hug and then took off with his friends, leaving Kyle there to contemplate what his little brother said.

“Hmm,” Kyle mused to himself as he walked up to the pizza place. “He can’t possibly think that.”

“What was that all about?” Stan asked after they had ordered their food. “Ike looked pretty intense when he was talking to you.”

“He thinks I am gay,” Kyle said as he looked down at the tabletop. He turned his head to one side and started tearing at one of the napkins. It was obvious to Stan that Kyle was growing increasingly nervous.

“Are you?” Stan asked nonchalantly. The question caused Kyle to jerk his head up and look at Stan. He was almost horrified.

“I… I… I don’t know,” Kyle said. He studied Stan’s face for any kind of reaction. “I’ve never given it any thought. I mean, have you ever thought about it?” Stan shook his head. He couldn’t say that the thought had ever crossed his mind. Maybe it had, but if it did he probably pushed it as far back as he possibly could.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Stan said as he shrugged. “I mean, if you are, then you are. I don’t have a problem with that. It won’t change anything for me.” Kyle laughed. He didn’t think he really was gay, but Ike had brought up an interesting point.

“Thanks, Stan. That really means a lot,” Kyle responded. It really did. Whether he was gay or not, it was nice to know that there was somebody out there that would truly care for him no matter what happened or where his life ended up taking him. “I don’t think I am, but like I said, I never really thought about it before.”

“Neither have I,” Stan said as he shrugged. “Your eleven year old brother brings up a very interesting point.” Kyle nodded. Their pizza was set before them in a record amount of time and the two boys ate in almost complete silence. Kyle didn’t feel like talking about that any more and Stan wasn’t going to pry.

“I should get you home,” Stan said once they were finished. It was only about 6pm, but Stan knew that Mrs. Broflovski preferred her sons to be home early rather than on time or late. Kyle nodded in agreement and they rode to his house in a stony silence. Kyle’s thoughts kept rolling over what Ike had said and Stan was beginning to question his self-identity as well.

“Thanks, Stan,” Kyle said before shutting the car door. He walked slowly up to his house, still thinking about what Ike had said. He sincerely hoped the boy wasn’t going to try and talk to him that night. He walked into the house and muttered a greeting to his parents before heading straight to his room and locking the door. He didn’t want to deal with any of Ike’s comments or questions tonight. He knew his brother was just trying to help, but he didn’t have the answers to anything Ike was going to want to know. He plopped down on his bed and dissolved into an ocean of thoughts as he stared at his bare ceiling.