Summer wasn't necessarily fresh anymore; too much had happened ever since it began. Stan's head injury in the camp trip with his boyfriend and his family, having to vacate the town of South Park, it had all been so crazy that it made both Stan and Kyle's heads spin. Both of the boy's moms were very happy to have their sons home again. Sharon was never fully okay with Stan going away for however long. She let him go because she knew Kyle meant a lot to him and she knew that her son was for sure in love and needed to keep his significant other as safe as possible. Stan was sitting up in his room watching an action movie when someone knocked on his bedroom door. "It's open," He called out. Kyle's face appeared when he entered his boyfriend's room. "Hey Ky," Stan grinned. "Happy birthday," Kyle grinned back at him. "Thanks," Stan scooted to the edge of the bed and held out his hand for Kyle to take. Kyle accepted it and felt himself being pulled closer.

"I got you something," Kyle said holding up a blue present bag. "You didn't have to do that," Stan kissed Kyle's hand. He smiled, "Yes I did, open it." Kyle sat down beside his boyfriend, waiting for the present to be unwrapped and revealed. Stan pulled the white tissue paper out from the bag. His eyes showed him the reason to have a smile on his face. Him and Kyle visited the South Park Mall right before school was terminated. They went into a store and Stan had noticed this gray tye-dye hoodie. The black-haired boy said he really liked it, but didn't have money at the time to buy it. Kyle stuck the words his boyfriend said out loud up inside his brain for good memory. Stan pulled it out and held it up. "Thanks, Ky. I love it," Stan kissed Kyle on his cheek. "That's the one from the mall, the one you said you liked," Kyle said. "It is," Stan nodded, still looking it over.

"I think there's something else in there," Kyle obviously knew something else was there, in the bottom of the present bag. Stan set the hoodie down in between him and Kyle. He peeked inside the bag, seeing two concert tickets lying on the bottom. He reached in and picked them out, they were Twenty One Pilots tickets. Stan set them down and hooked his arms around Kyle. Kyle laughed and hugged Stan back. "I love you so much," Stan said kissing Kyle's neck. "I owe you for coming with me to Colorado Springs, nobody else I ever considered my 'boyfriend' would've done that for me, so thank you,"

"But Kyle, they must've been exp-" "Doesn't matter to me. I wanted to do something nice for you," Kyle said cutting Stan off. He took the money out of his savings account. He could make the money back later and put it into the account then. "Thank you so much Ky, this is great," Stan said with thankfulness in his voice. Kyle was practically beaming, he loved seeing Stan smile and show how genuinely happy he was; it was an emotion and a facial expression the redhead didn't see much of when the boys first met. Stan was shy and protective of his feelings never getting hurt. It was almost as if Stan were a protective parent of his kids, his feelings symbolized the kids. Kids were nowhere in the picture at the moment, maybe somewhere down the long road of Stan and Kyle's relationship, but they were just trying to enjoy what was left of summer, without having drama or injuries to deal with.

The concert was on a Saturday 2 weeks from the day Kyle surprised his boyfriend with the tickets. Since Twenty One Pilots were going to be playing in Denver, it wasn't a very far drive from South Park. A hotel room had to be bought, the concert went on till 11 o'clock at night, and neither Stan nor Kyle felt like driving back home that late. Stan still had money from when him and Kyle went to Colorado Springs, so he said he'd pay. Kyle tried to refuse it, but Stan said it was the least he could do. Later on, Kyle went ahead and bought the hotel room online. He wanted to do everything, he didn't want Stan to have to worry about anything. It wasn't any big fancy hotel room, neither was the one in Colorado Springs. The rooms were both fine, but not expensive.

Randy's car would come in handy once again, it was now Stan's car anyway, so there was really no point in even calling it Randy's car. He was still locked up in the South Park Penitentiary, and hopefully he'd be there for a long time. Stan wasn't interested in having any sort of contact with his dad under any circumstances; no way was he going to let him near Kyle or his family ever again. It had been awhile since they'd seen each other face to face; a lot had gone on since that time. Sharon didn't feel like visiting her ex-husband, she didn't want any contact with him either. As far as the mom and son of the Marsh family, they wanted nothing to do with the dad. As long as Randy was gone and away, hopefully everything wouldn't be as hectic as the summer had been. Sharon packed snacks and drinks in a small cooler for Stan and Kyle so they didn't have to buy the expensive food that would be sold at the concert.

She placed the lid on top of the cooler, "When're you both going to be back?" Stan had been eating breakfast at the kitchen table. Sharon made him a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich. "Tomorrow, around noon," Stan said back to his mom. Sharon walked over to the stove where she was making the bacon for her own breakfast sandwich. She folded it onto the already-toasted bagel along with the egg and cheese she already put on it. Kyle was at home eating breakfast as well with his family. "You'll be careful won't you, Kyle?" Sheila asked her oldest boy. "Yes, mom," Kyle answered after chewing the bite of breakfast casserole Sheila made. "You'll be home tomorrow, right?" Gerald asked. "Mhm," Kyle nodded his head while downing the last of his apple juice. Sheila had been hesitant about Kyle leaving the house ever since the return of Lon Broflovski. They hadn't actually discussed the truth of how Gerald wasn't Kyle's biological father. Maybe Lon was lying, maybe it was all a joke.

Kyle couldn't figure out why he'd go into such detail about it if it was a lie, though. He described things pretty realistically while Kyle was strapped to the chair in the hotel room. However, he could've gone into detail to mess with Kyle's head even more than he already had in the previous years. There was time for him to do it, so he definitely could've, it was possible. All the antics in Colorado Springs were completely memorable in the worst way; the known facts of scenery from those moments made Kyle ever want to go back around there. Nothing could be taken back, nothing could be redone over again in a better way, all was in the past, but remained in present mind thoughts. Stan took the cooler from on top of the counter and placed it by the door so he wouldn't forget it on the way to pick up his boyfriend. "I packed two turkey and cheese sandwiches and then some bags of chips, a few sodas are in there too," Sharon explained. "Thanks mom," Stan said. Kyle texted to ask Stan when he'd be there to pick him up.

Kyle: When will you be here babe?

Stan: Leaving the house in 10

Kyle: Okay sounds good, let me know when you're here

Stan: I will babe

The black-haired boy headed over to Kyle's after 10 minutes of getting everything else together like he said; he left after Sharon hugged him goodbye. Kyle was waiting at the front doorstep when his boyfriend pulled up in the Broflovski's driveway. Stan got out and took Kyle bag so he could place it in the trunk. The cooler didn't take up too much room back there. Kyle decided to keep his pillow with him in the passenger seat, just in case he fell asleep on the way to the concert. The redhead offered to drive back to South Park the next day, because Stan was driving the way there. It was agreed on two night beforehand. 40 minutes in the car went by, Stan and Kyle talked here and there. "It's gonna be packed," Kyle commented. "I know, hopefully we won't be stuck in traffic for too long," Stan responded hitting the gas a bit, "We'll check into the hotel, get dressed, have something quick to eat, and then go to the concert."

Kyle nodded, "Sounds like a plan," He leaned over to kiss Stan's cheek. Stan smiled as he accepted it. The highway wasn't all that crowded, so Stan and Kyle were thankful for that. The roads near where the concert was being held were definitely going to be packed, or at least a little bit. The hotel the boys would be staying at for the night wasn't far from the concert. More than enough parking spots were available in the parking lot at the hotel referred to as the Linder Inn. It wasn't high class and it wasn't low class, just like the hotel the two boys stayed at previously. Stan backed the small black car into an empty parking space. Him and Kyle hopped out and unloaded their belongings from the backseat and from the trunk of what once was known was Randy Marsh's car. Kyle and Stan were once again, out of South Park, away from home, away from the last remaining source of danger that would hopefully never bother either one of them ever again.

After waiting a few minutes at the front desk, "Alright your room is 107, hope you both enjoy your stay here," A woman with short blonde hair handed the key to Kyle. Stan and his boyfriend had argued for what seemed like an hour over who was buying the room for the night. Stan originally was going to, but Kyle insisted that he pay for everything, it was Stan's birthday, after all, Kyle wanted to do something nice for the boy who did so much for him and came out of his comfort zone for him; it was the least he could do for everything they'd gone through together. Kyle unlocked the door to room 107 and headed inside, Stan was right behind him with his belongings and the cooler in tow. "Your mom makes good sandwiches," Kyle glanced at the cooler and remembered the 15 minute rest break on the road where he and Stan got to have lunch. "She's always been good at it," Stan agreed with Kyle's compliment that he also considered a fact. "Still hungry?" Kyle wondered. "A little, I will be soon I'm sure," Stan explained after tossing his pillow on the left side of the bed. He usually was the one to take the left side of the bed; no specific reason, it kind of just became the side of the bed that Stan would call his own; Kyle would take the right.

He liked waking up and rolling over to see Stan on his right side. The boys decided to go out and eat first before going to the concert. They both showered at their homes earlier that morning, so showers before the concert weren't necessary. Kyle dressed in a kind of tight-fitting black t-shirt with light blue jeans with a couple tiny fashionable rips. Stan wore his heather gray Twenty One Pilots t-shirt and dark blue jeans with rips at the knees and a few near his thighs and calves. A family diner lived only a small walk away from the Linder Inn.

Kyle checked it out online and found great reviews on it, so the dinner location was settled. It was a "sit yourself" type of diner so Kyle and Stan grabbed a comfy-looking booth open in the back right corner. The menus were already on the table when they arrived at the booth. The waiter walked over with a notepad in hand, "Hello gentleman, can I get you anything to drink?"

Something familiar struck Kyle's ears quicker than it did Stan's. That voice, it couldn't be, but it was. Kyle read the name tag on the waiter's white collared shirt, Conner. Kyle didn't want to start any drama in the middle of Stan's birthday celebration, so he held back his negative attitude and tone of voice and answered, "We'll have two cokes," "Alright I'll get those out for you," Conner walked away with a slight grin at his lips. "That was-" "Didn't even seem like he recognized us," Kyle leaned back in the booth. "He didn't even pause or anything, what the hell is he doing out here?" Kyle shrugged at his boyfriend's angered question. "He could've gotten into college out here, who knows," Kyle replied, "I'm gonna go wash my hands."

While Kyle was in the bathroom, Sharon texted Stan to see if him and Kyle arrived in Denver safely. Stan assured her that everything was fine and that they would be going to the concert after eating. Kyle walked up to a porcelain white sink and twisted the water faucet. He heard the door open and in walked Conner. "Surprised to see me?" He asked his ex-boyfriend. "Kinda," Kyle pumped out two circles of soap onto his hand. "Just so you know I'm not holding a grudge on you and Stan, your his, I know that and I'm okay with that," This was all very weird to hear, but it was refreshing, something Kyle never ever expected he'd get to hear from Conner. "What're you guys doing out here?" Conner asked Kyle, trying to make pleasant conversation. "Twenty One Pilots concert," Kyle patted the water off with the paper towels from the dispenser. "Cool, well I'll go grab those drinks for you guys, good to see you, Kyle," Conner smiled and exited the men's bathroom.

Good to see me? What the hell? Was I just talking to the right guy? Kyle's brain asked questions that really made him curious. There was a bright side to seeing Conner again, he was being friendly and polite, friendly and polite was a breath of fresh air that Stan and Kyle both wanted to welcome since they'd been exposed to so much over the summer. Even though neither one of them could tell if Conner was being real, it was still something positive; negativity needed to stand out of the lives of Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski. Positivity longed to be next in line, it got its chance with a person who was negative in the past, but no longer was. The rest of the time at the diner, Conner spoke some brief words with Stan and Kyle as he brought them the food they ordered and the bottle of ketchup that wasn't at the table like usual. The concert was just around the corner from happening, and Stan was excited. Seeing Stan's excitement let Kyle know he did a nice thing; he gave his boyfriend a reason to smile, and that's all he ever wanted to do.