A Familiar Stranger part 4

"YOU WANT ME TO PRETEND TO BE YOUR FIANCE?!" Wendy bellowed, ignoring Cartman's efforts to shush her, thank God that the room was relatively sound proof. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!"

"Think about it Wendy," the brunet stated. "If the public see the head of this company as a family man, they'll be more inclined to buy the product for their families, it's a simple business plan."

"I don't believe you," Wendy glared.

"That's it I swear," the brunet defended, before sighing when the raven haired girl continued to stare him down. "That and I made a bet with someone."

"WHAT?!" Wendy yelled again. "Why would you do that? Who did you make the bet with?"

"I kind of... uh... Scott Tennorman," Cartman mumbled.

"Wait, I thought you were gonna have nothing to do with him since... you know..." Wendy stated, not knowing whether it was safe to talk about the whole parent chilli thing or not. Not that she knew a lot about it, she'd just heard a whole bunch of rumours about it from other people, some of them not even witnesses to the incident.

"Yeah, but he came up to me at prom -he was a chaperone for some fucked up reason- and told me that no one would ever love me... so I kind of bet him that I could get someone to fall in love with me before I reach twenty five. Then it kind of got out of hand and it's now a five thousand dollar bet," he explained.

"Why am I not surprised?" Wendy huffed. "But you're only twenty one, you have four years left."

"Wendy seriously, you know what I'm like," the brunet pointed out. "Who is ever gonna love that?"

"Well, do I have to be your fiance? I mean a girlfriend could be in love with you," the raven haired girl questioned.

"Well he said it would only be legitimate if the girl was prepared to marry me, so that he knows I haven't just payed some girl to act like she was in love with me," Cartman answered.

"How ironic," Wendy replied sarcastically. "Well this sounds like a pretty one-sided deal to be perfectly honest." Wendy paused, actually considering the proposition -mostly because she felt sorry for him- before asking "What's in this for me? Because at the moment I can't see anything stopping me from opening this door an-"

"Ok, ok," Cartman interjected, panic crossing over his face as Wendy started to edge towards the door. "You get to make your parents happy with the news that you're finally doing something with your life," the brunet tried to get to her weak point, and for a second it looked like she was going to accept.

However, Wendy was smarter than she used to be "And... what else?"

"You've learned haven't you? Dumb hippie bitch," Cartman smirked, but when she reached for the door handle he let out a defeated sigh. "Fine... and a job as my personal assistant."

"Deputy manager and a quarter of the bet money," Wendy retorted smugly. "Or no deal."

"Fine," Cartman replied through gritted teeth. "But you'll still be beneath me," he grinned slyly.

"For that," Wendy smiled. "You have to propose to me. I assume you already have a ring? In case people started asking about it."

"You know me so well dearest," he answered mockingly, dropping onto one knee and producing the single most beautiful ring Wendy had ever seen. It was a simple, silver ring with one fairly big diamond in the middle, but it was sophisticated and elegant and it suited Wendy perfectly. It was almost as if Cartman had actually put a lot of thought into it. This thought almost distracted Wendy, but she was quick to regain her composure.

"Oh no," she smirked. "That won't do. I want you to ask me out there," she pointed to the door. "In front of everyone, and do it properly."

"No," Cartman scowled. "I'm not gonna publicly humiliate myself for your benefit."

"Well then I'm afraid there's no dea-"

"Ok, ok," Cartman huffed, dragging Wendy out into the main office. By now everyone had heared that Wendy and Cartman might be breaking up and had gathered to watch the potential drama. "Everyone listen up!" Cartman called, grabbing the attention of the croud. "I realise that Wendy and I have been pretty secretive about our relationship..." Wendy shot him a glare "...until now, but we wanna do this the right way from now on and include all of you... so..."

Cartman got down on one knee again, taking Wendy by surprise as he stared up at her with loving, devoted, honey brown eyes. 'He's just acting,' Wendy told herself 'He's just acting, he's just acting, he's just acting,' she repeated over and over in her mind "Oh my god!" Bebe squealed, clapping excitedly.

Cartman sighed, a blush colouring his face as he produced the ring again "Wendy Testaburger... you drive me absolutely insane, but I love you. They say opposites attract and I now know that whoever 'they' are, they're completely right. Wendy, what I'm trying to say is that I couldn't live without you're perfectly annoying and sometimes infuriating presence... so will you please, PLEASE marry me already?"

Wendy smirked in response "Hmm, I'll have to think about that," she replied teasingly, Cartman gave her a look of absolute despair "...Ok then I guess," she answered, rolling her eyes playfully. He gently slipped the ring onto Wendy's finger, causing the girl to gasp a little when she noticed that it fit perfectly. Her violet eyes met his honey brown ones for a split second, causing a blush to colour both of their faces before they shrugged it off and Cartman stood up again.

"Woo hoo!" Kenny shouted. "Now give her a kiss!"

Cartman and Wendy shared a sideways glance, before Cartman ran a hand through his hair awkwardly, the blush returning "Nah, you guys don't want to see us kiss."

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" Kenny chanted, before turning and guesturing for the crowd to join him.

"Kiss her! Kiss her!" they chanted.

"Fine," Cartman sighed before placing a small peck on the girl's cheek. "There."

"BOOOOOO!" Kenny shouted, getting the others to join him again. "Give her a proper kiss."

"Yeah," Bebe nodded. "On the mouth," she giggled.

"Let's just get it over with," Wendy mumbled in a hushed tone.

"Ok," Cartman nodded, leaning towards her. They slowly and reluctantly closed the gap between them, pausing when their noses touched, both of them breathing heavily from something other than lack of oxygen... nerves maybe? Then Wendy -wanting to get it over with- pressed her lips forward the extra few inches, crushing their mouths together. The brunet had to admit that Wendy was a good kisser... and vice versa. They had obviously both forgotten how that breif kiss in third grade had felt.

They relaxed into the kiss, arms wrapping around one another as the kiss lasted a little too long. When they finally broke the kiss Wendy started to pull away, but Cartman kept her there, whispering "Good acting Ho."

Wendy blushed -of course they weren't gonna admit that it might have been an amazing kiss- before replying "Not bad yourself, Fatass."

"Wooo! Engagement party!" Kenny shouted enthusiastically.

"What?" Wendy and Cartman chorused.

"Yeah dude, you two just got engaged. You totally have to go out in a large group and get absolutely smashed now, it's like... the rules or something," Kenny stated matter of factly.

"Oh please!" Butters begged. "I haven't been out in ages."

"Who said you'd be invited Butters?" Cartman questioned.

"You have to!" Bebe joined in.

"As long as I'm not paying for anything," Craig deadpanned.

"Nngh- too much pressure!" Tweek exclaimed.

"It would be fun I guess," Kyle added.

"Dude! It would be awesome!" Clyde jumped in.

"Yeah," Kevin nodded.

Cartman and Wendy shared a look of defeat, it was going to be a long night...