"Oh my God! They killed Kenny!"

"You bastards!"

That phrase is all too familiar. I think I've been hearing that since preschool. Maybe longer than that! It's become so common that it's almost shocking if it doesn't happen. Don't get me wrong! It has happened when Kenny doesn't die. There was a point in time where I thought the so-called "curse" was lifted. We all did. But back in the seventh grade, it started up all over again. And the sad part? It's when I started getting feelings for him.

Everyone knew that if you ended up in a relationship with Kenny, you were taking the risk that tomorrow he might not be there. That's why Kenny never did well in the romance department. It didn't help that he was the school's biggest pervert either. There were a few girls that took the risk but couldn't handle it. Kenny always had a smiling face but I knew underneath he was heartbroken by the whole ordeal.

By the time the ninth grade came around, I think he knew I had a thing for him. I noticed he was spending more and more time with me. We were always seen together. Craig and his gang would always ask us if we were dating in which I would always reply back with a no. By the time the tenth grade rolled around, we did enter into a secret relationship and we had told Stan and Kyle about it. They were happy for us but they were also worried. Kyle would sometimes come up to me and ask the same question, time after time.

"Butters? Are you sure you want to go through with this? You do know the risks you're taking right?"

"I know, I know. But I want this. It feels right. And Kenny feels the same way."

It was true. It did feel right and I was happy. We both were. Kenny treated me with the most respect. I never felt so wanted in my life. We had shared similar life experiences as both of us were abused by some of our family members. We're doing our best to recover from our experiences and we've been helping each other every step of the way.

By the time the twelfth grade hit, we had been together for 3 years and we had managed to keep our relationship private this whole time. By then, I had witnessed Kenny die multiple times. Everything from getting attacked by a swarm of bees to being hit by a truck to being decapitated by bears to getting a golf club through his head. I would cry every time but I was always reminded that in a week or even in a day, he would be back like nothing had ever happened. During the Christmas break, Kenny had surprised me by proposing to me after everyone left the lighting of the town's Christmas tree. I couldn't say no to him. He had purchased a gold band with the money he had saved up from his job as a model. He purchased a matching gold band for himself. When we returned to school, everyone noticed and our secret was out. People were talking about it for months. The word had gotten to our parents. I was prepared for the biggest thrashing of my life but strangely they were okay with it. They had a feeling I was going to end up this way. But I was still grounded for a week for not telling them though. Kenny's mother was fine with it but his father didn't talk to him for a few weeks. Eventually, he forgot the whole experience by drowning himself with bottles of liquors.

By June we had all graduated. Wendy moved out to New York for school while Craig and Clyde went to school somewhere in California. Bebe also went to school in California for fashion design. Token got himself to Harvard on scholarship. Kyle was offered the same thing but turned it down to go to a community college here in South Park with Stan. His mother was furious. Cartman, who miraculously graduated with us, also stayed here and went to college for business. Tweek and Kevin? No clue what happened to them. I think Tweek might of stayed here but Kevin disappeared after graduation. Clyde might know what had happened to him. Kenny and I stayed in South Park. We were going to the same college as our friends Stan, Kyle, and Cartman were. After graduation, Kenny and I moved in together. We rented out an apartment on the other side of town. Kenny continued with his modelling while I got a job working as a waiter for extra cash. We couldn't have been any happier.

Time had passed and our lives were getting better. We were all getting close to finishing college and moving out into the real world. Wendy and Token still had a long way to go in their schooling as they were both looking to become lawyers. Bebe was having her very own clothing line released next year while Tweek took over the family business. Kevin was working on an independent film on the Star Wars fandom. Craig and Clyde were finishing up journalism degrees. Stan and Kyle were working to be geologists so they could replace Randy's stupidity and influence on the rest of the South Park geologists. Cartman was planning on opening his own buffet restaurant here in town. Kenny was also doing a psychology degree. And me? Well, I was looking to become a teacher. Kenny and I were still engaged. We were thinking of going to Canada to get married and spend our time in Niagara Falls for our honeymoon. We couldn't get married in Colorado anymore after the Governor repelled the law when we started junior high.

On top of all this good news, Kenny had stopped dying and stopped right after we got engaged. We're twenty-one now so that was about four years ago. After we had all graduated from college, we all went out for a night of fun. We had stopped at a restaurant and we had ordered just about everything on the menu, excluding the alcohol. Stan and Kyle broke the news that they were engaged and had been since just before our high school graduation. We couldn't help but cheer for them. After that, we invited everyone to our apartment for some drinks and video gaming. It was just past midnight when everyone left. We had a huge mess on our hands but we were too tired to deal with it. It would still be there in the morning anyway.

I woke up the next morning and found Kenny staring at me and smiling. He had asked me if I slept well in which I replied with a "yes". He gave me a kiss on the forehead as he caressed my cheek. I held his hand as he asked me if we could up the wedding in four months from now. I just couldn't say no to him so I happily said yes to him. He smiled back at me as he grew excited. He quickly jumped out of bed, got dressed and brushed his teeth and hair. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and told me that he would only be at the studio for the morning and would be back in the afternoon so we could start planning the wedding. Just before he left out the door, I yelled out "I love you!" He smiled back at me and said, "I love you too." It would be the last time I ever saw him.

It was almost 3 in the afternoon and I had started to worry. He didn't call, he didn't text me, he didn't even send someone out to the apartment to tell me that he would be late. When I was about to pick up my phone and call him, I heard some knock on the door. I opened the door to find two police officers. I felt my stomach beginning to tie itself up in knots.

"Are you Leopold Butters Stotch?"

"I am."

"I'm Officer Bradsfield and this is my partner Officer Nelson. I'm sorry to tell you but your fiancée has died. He was crushed by a falling light fixture at the studio."

My world just fell apart. I broke into tears, something I hadn't done in a long time. I tried to tell myself that he would come back in a week and this would be all over. But a week passed. Then two. Then three. I knew then that he wasn't coming back. Instead of planning for a wedding, I was planning a funeral.

Everyone came to the funeral. Wendy, Token, Craig, Clyde, and Bebe all flew out from their respective places to attend. It was pouring rain but it didn't keep people from attending. When they lowered his coffin into the ground, I collapsed onto the wet snow in tears. My family was doing their best to comfort me but it wasn't working. When the service was over, everyone paid their respects and began leaving. I stayed behind and stared at his grave, looking at the flowers I had placed. Stan and Kyle were right behind me as Kyle placed his hand on my shoulder as a sign of support.

"Don't lose hope now Butters," Kyle said.

"Kyle's right. He'll come back."

I turned to face my friends; my eyes still red and puffy, "But when?"

"Soon. Remember the time he had muscular dystrophy in the fourth grade? We thought he was gone forever but he came back after a few months," Stan explained. I brushed off the rest of my tears. I turned back to his grave. They were right. He did come back. But what if that's not going to happen this time? I mean, everyone's got an expiry date on them. What if that was now? I guess... I'll just have to wait and find out.