An Attempted Apology?

The sun was slowly drifting out of sight and before long Rachel, Nicole, and Brian returned from their full day of skiing. The White siblings were more than happy to return to the warmth of the lodge and even happier to hear the laughs and noise coming from the den, "Seems like it was a pretty good day for them," Brian smirked,

"Wonder if Kailyn and Mindy are back too," Rachel hummed as she did want to try and spend a little bit of time with her friend,

"Doubt it, but I'm sure they will be soon, remember it's a bit of a distance to get to any stores," Brian reminded his sister as they kicked off their boots and hung up their wet jackets. "Nikki, you good?" The teenager finally asked the oddly quiet redhead,

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," Nicole softly replied,

"What? That's it? No...sarcastic remarks? Flirtatious jokes? Anything?" Brian asked with a smile of disbelief, though a small touch of concern as well,

"No...I'm good," Nicole merely replied as she finished getting out of her snow gear and heading towards the stairs to return to her room,

"Whoa, uh, Rach think you should talk to her or something?" Brian lowly asked the blonde,

"Me? She's your friend," Rachel reminded him,

"I know that but, I-" Brian began to reply only for the door to open behind him and Eric to come walking in behind him, "Oh, hey dude,"

"Hey, the day went by pretty fast, huh?" Eric replied, his tone low and though his voice sounded happy, it was mostly hollow,

"Yeah, you have fun at least?" Brian asked, giving the teen a hopeful look,

"Sure," Eric shrugged before doing the same as Nicole, heading right to the stairs and up to his room,

"Fuck, well that was a mood killer," Brian muttered under his breath, "Whatever, let's go join the lively bunch, huh?"

"Yeah, alright, I think they just need a few minutes alone anyway," Rachel agreed, almost having to do a double-take as she realized who she was agreeing with for once,

The pair made their way through the lodge and entered the living room catching sight off JJ and Anna laughing loudly at their movie as Kenny and Zoey snuggled on the couch, the latter letting out small cute giggles. "Ah, that's nice to see, full smiles for once," Brian grinned as he moved to a lounge chair, plopping down, "Sweet, fire is roaring too, I need to warm up quick,"

"Really, I'm so chilly," Anna replied, her cheeks slightly pink from the cold,

"Why don't you go get a sweater, Anna?" Kenny suggested as Zoey rested her head on his chest,

"I was gonna...but, Eric and Nikki are....back," Anna softly mumbled back, trying not to let her mood shift back to sadness,

"No worries, head over to my old room, I got a few in my dresser, help yourself," JJ easily replied causing the blonde girl's eyes to slightly light up,

"Oh, thank you JJ, that'd be great!" Anna smiled while jumping up, shaking as a shiver rushed down her spin, "I'll be right back!"

Anna ran out of the room and sprinted up the stairs, she ready to get a little extra protection from the cold but wasn't ready to see Nicole or Eric again. She began to skip steps as she moved up to the second floor, her focus turning on getting this done without running into them. She passed by her old room and could hear a running shower, a bit of relief pooled over her though it was quickly replaced by anger as she wondered if Nicole and Eric were sharing that shower.

The blonde teen shook her head, tossing the anger out of her mind as quickly as she could, "No, no, they don't deserve it. You're having fun...just get JJ's sweater and go back to your friends. Your real friends, with two great guys and a really nice girl." Anna muttered under her breath while heading over to JJ's old room, quickly pushing into the room and digging into the dresser on the right. Anna's cheeks burst out into a red glow as she saw JJ's boxers in the first drawer, "Oh my...sorry JJ," Anna instinctually apologized.

She knelt down and pulled open the second drawer finding an assortment of shirts and pants, after a quick search she moved down to the third drawer and smiled as she finally spotted a few sweatshirts. Anna couldn't help but grab the one with his hockey number and name printed on the back, standing up she pulled it over her head and sighed happily as she instantly felt some warmth. Anna pushed the drawer closed and turned away only to freeze in place, Nicole was standing in the doorway, "Hey..." The redhead weakly smiled, her eyes soft and stance nearly meek, "Can we...could we talk? I have something I need to say,"