Songs of Love: a Kenny McCormick sequel 3

Part 3

You sat at a table, staring down at your Creative Writing notes, looking to all the world like they were written in a foreign language, judging by the perplexed expression on your face. The real thing on your mind happened to be how strangely Kenny had acted last night. Surely he couldn’t be that upset about you working through Thanksgiving, could he?

“You know,” said Steve, coming to stand next to you, “Most people relax during their break.” You ignored him, still staring at your notes and thinking about Kenny. “Hey, don’t hurt your fragile little brain, there, kiddo,” he joked, sitting across from you.

You looked up, “Hey, you’re a guy, right?”

He raised an eyebrow, “I like to think so.”

“Not what I meant,” you muttered, “Anyway, I’m having this problem with Kenny…”

You put a hand up to stop you, “If this is a bedroom problem, I don’t want to hear it.”

“No! Okay, now listen,” you snapped, “I told him that I’d be doing some extra work, and he was like, ‘we’re fine, stop working so much.’ And I’m like, ‘we’re fine if this is how we want to live forever.’ Then he got all quiet and then it was suddenly like he didn’t want to talk to me anymore. And I can’t figure out what his problem is! So, is it like, a guy thing, or something?”

He blinked at you, processing the giant run-on sentence that you had just blurted out to him. After a moment, he sat back, shaking his head and laughing to himself. “Haddie, Haddie, Haddie,” he said, “You don’t realize what you’ve done, do you?”

“No, that’s why I’m asking.”

“By taking the responsibility of the finances into your own hands, you’ve insulted his masculinity, and made him feel like you don’t trust him to take care of you in the sense of the traditional male-role.” He smiled smugly, “By doing this, you’ve made him feel like he can’t take care of you, and now he questions whether or not he’s truly needed.”

“Oh… kay,” you tilted your head, “So how do I remedy the situation?”

“Well, you could start by letting him know how important he is to you,” Steve suggested, checking his watch absently, “And then ask him to do something at only he can do. Not like moving furniture, or some kind of chore, but something that lets him know that he really is a necessity to your life. And as an extra thing, never in your entire relationship, should you use sex as a weapon.”

“Whoa! You said you didn’t want to talk about that. Besides, we’ve never even had sex. And what makes you an expert, anyway?”

“I’ve been married for twenty-six years, Haddie,” he said pointedly, “I’ve been through the ups and downs, and there’s nothing you can tell me that will throw me off… Did you say that you two aren’t sleeping together?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Then that’s probably the problem,” he cried in exasperation.

You glared at him, “I was under the impression that people weren’t supposed to have sex until after they were married.”

“Okay, one, that mostly applied back when people got married after knowing each other for six days, and two, I wouldn’t urge you to jump into bed with someone that you’ve only known for a month, but… I mean, how long have you been dating?”

You thought for a minute, “Well… A year and a half ago, we met and had this little fling, I guess. Then, I left for China after graduation, while Kenny stayed to finish his last year of high school. A year later, I came back and we started dating, and we moved in together around the time I started working here.”

“Yep, that’s definitely his problem.”

“Then what about that other stuff?”

He smiled, “Chuck it. The solution is much simpler than that. Well, actually, do keep telling him how much he means to you.” He checked his watch again, then, standing up. “Break’s over. Get back to work, slave!”

You grunted, collecting your things, “Yeah, yeah. Trust you to act cool one minute, then be all bossy the next…”

“I am your boss.” With that, he laughed a little and wandered off to check on some of the other wait staff.

You watched him go, letting out a sigh. ‘That’s almost exactly what Lilie said,’ you thought, dismally, packing your things up.

“Heya, Haddie!” Flint shouted, suddenly popping up in front of you.

You jumped in surprise, but shook it off quickly. “Hey, Flint,” you muttered, still distracted by your recent tiff with Kenny.

He laughed, though you wondered what on Earth he found funny, and started walking next to you as you went to put your apron back on and get back to work. “Are you working on Thursday?” he asked suddenly.

“Eh?” you blinked at him, registering the question unusually slowly. “Oh, Thanksgiving? Yeah.”

“Then I will too.”

“Uh-huh… Okay, then…?”

He laughed again, “Okay. You want me to walk you home after work?”

You flipped through your pad, absently, “No, thanks.”

“Oh, alright,” he nodded, “I’ll see you later, then.”

You heaved a sigh, looking to the clock. ‘Only three hours left, only three hours left,’ you chanted to yourself, plastering a forced smile on your face as you went to take customers’ orders.

You threw yourself onto your bed with a groan, once again too tired and stressed out to study. You looked at the clock and groaned once more, seeing that the cause of your stress would be home in less than an hour. Everyone was telling you that in order to save your relationship with Kenny, you’d have to tell him what he meant to you, and then sleep with him. Lilie had said it, Steve said it, and the only reason you hadn’t asked Kyle for advice was the fact that if he said it, you’d have to accept it as the truth and do it. You wanted to, you really did, but… Well, Kenny was probably under the impression that you were a virgin, and you almost were, except for that one time. You’d had a boyfriend as a sophomore in New York, and things had been fine, until he started hinting and it became apparent that in order to keep your relationship, you’d have to sleep with him. Plus, all of your friends had done it already, and they were asking when you would finally do it, too, and it would be silly to break up over something like that, right? Under the pressure of all of their expectations, you agreed to have sex with him, and it was clumsy and horrible, and you broke up with him two days later, vowing to yourself that you would never allow yourself to be swept up in what other people wanted, ever again.

As it was, Lilie, her brother Lakin, and your brother were the only people who knew anything about it, and it was going to stay that way. But it had, after all, been four years ago that it had happened, and you knew it was wrong to make Kenny suffer for your stupid mistake. Still, if her really cared about you, he’d be willing to wait for as long as you need… Right?

You buried your head under your pillow, frustrated with yourself for not being able to handle something that other people would have probably been able to get over really quickly. You only pulled the pillow tighter over your head when you heard the door open and then close, signaling that Kenny was home.

“Haddie?” he asked quietly, peeking into your room. You only raised your head slightly to stare at him from underneath your pillow.

He sighed, but smiled at you nonetheless, “Hey. How was your day?”

“Exhausting,” you pouted, voice muffled by your mattress and sheets.

“Well that’s not unusual,” he chuckled, “But it seems to me that you’ve got something due tomorrow…”

“I don’t care, I’m never going to leave my room for as long as I live.”

He came into your room and flopped down onto the bed beside you, unknowingly sending your anxiety back up. With a laugh, he lifted the pillow that was over your head and put his head underneath with you. After a minute, he said, as if he had decided something, “Nope. I still have no idea why you enjoy sleeping like this so much.”

And then came the sexy smirk, that made your blood pressure go up to no man’s land, which was probably showing on your face. You wanted him. Oh, how you wanted him.

“Haddie,” he murmured, closing his eyes, “I’m sorry I was so pissy yesterday.”

Kissing his nose, you snuggled a little closer to him, “It’s okay. I probably should have asked you before I went and took extra hours like that… And stripped you of your masculinity.”

“Stripped me of my what?”

“Oh, nothing, just something some idiot told me.”

“Talking to Cartman again?”

You snorted, “Not to save my life.”

He laughed, “And there’s my Haddie back! I was getting worried, with you acting so weird lately…”

That made you feel kind of bad; while you were so worried that he was getting bored with you, you were worrying him with all of your worrying. It was really confusing, but you still found it sweet.

“I’ll just go face my family,” he said out of nowhere, obviously making plans for Thanksgiving.

“You could always harass Kyle until he agrees to take you along to our family.”

“I’d rather deal with my parents.”

You sighed miserably, “And that says a surprising amount about mine, doesn’t it?” You grinned when he laughed at this, and afterward, the two of you settled into a comfortable silence. You could feel it, then. The urge to tell him…

“Hey,” you said, drawing his attention to you, “I…” You paused, feeling strange about it all of the sudden. You groaned at your own fickle emotions. After a minute, though, you thought of something that was exactly how you felt without actually saying it.

“Don’t ever go away,” you said, wrapping your arms around him and deciding that you were ready to sleep.

And sleep, you did.
Send some nice messages, and the next part will be out sooner.