Ugh, why am I doing this again? Oh right. Fatass invited me over for a sleepover. Normally on Fridays I'm spending the night at Kyle's or he comes over to my place. But right now he's visiting relatives in Connecticut for the weekend. I tried calling Kenny earlier this evening but he never picked up. Come to think of it, no one has seen him since lunch today.

I was in my room working on the big science project when I got the call. No matter how hard I tried to get out of it, I was out of luck. So now I'm heading to Cartman's place for a sleepover. I walked up to the door and rang the bell. After a few seconds of waiting, his mother answered.

"Oh hello there Stan! Come in!" she smiled. I walked in and she closed the door behind me.

"Eric is upstairs in his room setting up his Xbox 360. You can go on up if you like."

"Thanks Ms. Cartman," I said as I walked up the stairs. I got up to the door and knocked. I opened it and found Cartman setting up his Xbox 360; just like his mother had told me.

"Oh hey! It's best friend in the whole wide world, Stan Marsh. How are you Stan?" He said happily as he hugged me. I was shocked and confused by the sudden contact. Something had to be up.

"Cartman, what the hell are you doing?"

"What? Can't I hug my best friend?"

"We're not best friends fatass. You call me a pussy, a hippie and a fag almost everyday."

"Ugh, that's because you are Stan! Now get over here so we can play some Xbox."

I was a bit hesitant but I followed through. There's a part of me that's curious about what he has store for me but there's also a part of me that's worried and a little bit frightened about all this. He's usually never this nice.

"So what are we playing?" I asked.

"Rock Band. My mom just bought me this limited edition game that contains a ton of 80s tunes."

"Dude no offence, but the 80s had a lot of gay tunes. Where's your Beatles Rock Band game?"

"That son of bitch Craig won't give it back to me!"

"Craig? You let him borrow your stuff?"

"No, he stole it from me. He stole it from me because he's a goddamn asshole and… well, that's about it. Now put this guitar on," Cartman said as he handed me one the plastic guitars.

"But Cartman, I don't wan-"

"Stan!! This is my sleepover so that means we do what I want. You got that?" he yelled. I merely nodded without saying anything.

"Alrighty then, I guess we'll get started now."

Every living organ in me was just screaming at me to get out of here. But I ignored it and continued playing the game. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were some pretty good songs in here like Toto's Africa and Tears for Fears's Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Time must of flew fast because it was almost a quarter to midnight. Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door and Cartman's mother came in wearing her green housecoat.

"Eric hun, it's late. You should be heading to bed soon."

"Awww but mom! We're just about to break 100,000 points!"

"Now hun! We have to get up early tomorrow to visit the family in Nebraska."

"But mooooooom…"

"Now Eric!!"

"Alright ready! We're going to bed!" Cartman shouted as he tossed the guitar onto the ground and turned off the game.

"That's better. Now come give mommy a kiss," She smiled.

"But I don't want to…"

"Come on Eric, give mommy a kissy-kissy!"

Cartman groaned. He knew she wouldn't go away without a kiss. He walked up to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. She giggled as Cartman walked away embarrassed.

"See that wasn't so bad? Good night hun!" She said as she shut the door.

"Give mommy a kissy-kissy," I said as I mocked and imitated his mother's voice.

"Shut up hippie! I'm going to brush my teeth. Don't touch anything while I'm gone!" he shouted as he left the room. I let out a long sigh of relief. I was free of him for at least a minute.

I grabbed my bag and took out my favourite pair of blue pyjamas and put them on quickly so he wouldn't come back and find me nude. After I was finished, I placed the bag next to the bed but left my pile of clothes there. When I was about to crash onto his bed, something caught my eye. Something was sticking out from underneath the bed so I decided to grab and pull it out. It was a notebook. I was tempted to read it but I heard someone coming so I shoved it back underneath the bed and laid down on his bed to avoid looking suspicious.

"Your turn," he said as he yawned. I got up and when to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I was finished, I walked down the hall and back into his room. However he didn't hear me come in so I quickly hid behind the door. He was scribbling something down into the notebook that I previously found. When he was finished, he put the book inside one of the night table drawers. I walked in and pretended nothing had happened.

"You ready for bed?"

"Yeah I think so," he yawned. I walked over to the other side of the bed and pulled over the sheets. I tried to get into his bed but he completely freaked out.

"Dude! Stan, what the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

"I'm... going to bed?"

"Not in my bed! Where's your sleeping bag?"

"I didn't bring one. I thought we were sharing the same bed."

"Stan we're 16, not 6. Don't you think that's just a little gay?!"

"Well, me and Kyle do it all the time-"

"That's because you and Kyle are butt buddies! You're totally gay for each other and you're both too fucking stupid to realize that!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It was his mother who had a look of concern on her face.

"Are you boys alright? There's a lot of shouting going on in here."

"Ms. Cartman, he won't let me share the bed with him! He expects me to sleep on this cold floor of his!"

"Eric, let Stan sleep in the bed with you."

"But moooommmm…"

"Don't be difficult Eric!!"

"Alright fine! Get in Stan," he grumbled as I got into bed with him.

"Good night boys!" She said as she shut the door behind her.

"Good night!"

"You better not let anyone know about this," he snapped.

"Whatever," I mumbled as I curled myself up in his warm sheets.

About an hour had passed and I still couldn't sleep. I still didn't understand why he invited me over for this sleepover. We don't really get along. But he seems to rip on me less than Kyle, Kenny and to a certain degree, Butters. I could never figure out why. But maybe this was my chance to ask?

"Hey Cartman? You awake?"

"Yeah, I'm awake. You couldn't sleep too?"

"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind," I mumbled.

"Like what?"

"Oh it's nothing. You wouldn't be interested. But I do have one thing to ask you though."

"What's that?"

"How come you're much nicer to me than to the others? I mean you rip on Kyle, Kenny and Butters all the time but you rarely do it to me. What's the deal?"

There was silence between us that felt like forever. He hasn't said anything or even moved. I felt like I should of just kept my mouth shut but something in me wanted to keep going.

"Cartman?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got your question. But I really don't know how to answer it. And I'm actually being honest about that. I guess I like you more than I like them. I mean, yeah you're like this faggy, hippie, animal lover but you're also just… average. You're this average kid who's living in a fucked-up town and you don't let it get to you. You keep your cool and you just move on with life. Kyle is everything I hate, Butters is a total pansy, and I never understand what the hell is up with Kenny. I guess that's the reason why I like you more than the others."

"Dude… I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Yeah well… Don't tell anyone I said that or I'll come after you and I'll ring your neck." He grumbled. I couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

"Sure I'll keep that in mind."

I guess he does have a soft side after all. Who knew?