Completely Welcoming

"Be nice, dad, Kenny's a really nice guy," Zoey softly whispered to her father who continued to stare down at the teen who's hand was almost shaking at this point. Kenny didn't want to seem like such a coward, but Zoey had neglected to mention that her father was clearly in the military and could probably break every bone in his body without breaking a sweat.

Zoey's father suddenly let his lips curl up into a smile, and he stepped down the stairs, taking Kenny's hand and giving him a firm shake, "Pleased to meet you, son," Mr.Irons calmly said causing Kenny to nearly double over in relief, "Richard Irons," He formally stated,

"O-oh, uh, Kenneth Clark," Kenny replied with a slightly nervous smile as Richard finally let go of his hand,

"You have excellent taste," Richard stated as he pointed over to Kenny's car, "It could use a little TLC, but a Gran Torino is a fine American made vehicle,"

"T-Thank you, sir," Kenny smiled as he awkward glanced over to Zoey who shrugged back. Kenny wet his lips and followed Zoey's father towards his car, watching as he slowly inspected it,

"Inside doesn't look nearly as bad as the outside," Richard remarked,

"No, I...um, I've been working on the inside, the car runs great and doesn't have too many miles, it's just the body that's the issue," Kenny explained, "Uh...Zoey mentioned that you ran an auto shop?"

"Yeah, spent most of my life working as an engineer equipment mechanic in the Marines," Richard casually explained while looking over at the teen who noticeably gulped, "Tell you what, it much easier to work on a car without worry of all hell breaking loose," The man lightly joked,

"I-I bet," Kenny agreed as he rubbed the back of his neck,

Richard gave Kenny's car a final once-over before turning back to face the teen, "Well if you're interested in getting parts or having service done on it, I'd be more than willing to help you out. Probably get you a good deal too,"

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate that," Kenny quickly replied,

Then without another word, Richard walked past Kenny, giving the teen a small pat on the shoulder before curiously looking at his daughter, "How long ago did you meet him?"

"Actually the other day, Eric and I had a change of plans, we didn't end up staying at his house. Did mom tell you about that, I called on the drive over to the ski-lodge," Zoey replied with a slightly concerned look,

"Yeah, she told me," Richard replied with a near thankful look, always wanting to know where his daughter would be, "So, if you and Eric switched things around and you just met him, how come he's driving you home?"

Zoey's face tightened up, and she crossed her arms, "Eric and I...we broke up today,"

"Oh darling, are you alright?" The man gently asked,

"Yeah, thanks to Kenny, he's been kind enough to step in and be a friend for me," Zoey warmly stated causing the man to glance back to the brown-haired teen who awkwardly smiled back, "Which leads me to my point, I'm going to pack a bag and head back to the lodge for the rest of the week. There's a whole group of people up there, and they offered to let me stay for the rest of their trip,"

"Hmm...where is this lodge?" Richard asked with a slight about of suspicion,

"Up on Kaster mountain sir, just an hour up the road. It's the only one on this side of the mountain as my friend's family owns this part," Kenny interjected with a small breathy laugh, "I don't know if you've heard of them, the White family?"

"Not too much, but I've heard their name in passing by a few people," Richard replied, "Actually had a fella not to long ago tell me he sold a guy the title to some old mines up there. Wasn't too happy about it, felt like he got shorted on the amount from the guy," The pair of teens looked at Richard curiously as he spoke, though the man waved the conversation off quickly enough, "Ah, not important, as long as I know where you are in the worst case scenario then I'm alright with this,"

"Thank you, daddy!" Zoey sweetly replied before spinning around, "Ken, come help me pack, I want to get back as soon as possible,"

Kenny stood unmoving for a moment, he took a hesitant step forward before looking over to Zoey's father, "Is that...okay?"

Richard's lips curled into a smirk; he instantly liked the kid, "Sure, just don't do anything, unless you're not too attached to your legs,"

"Dad!" Zoey exclaimed with a set of wide, bewildered eyes,

"I'm only kidding, honey," Richard chuckled before looking back to Kenny, eyeing him for a moment, clearly giving him the message that it wasn't exactly a lie, "Off you go, son,"

"Y-Yes sir," Kenny nodded before nearly jogging over to Zoey,

"Don't worry about him; he likes to mess with people. He actually likes you, though, he wasn't this open with Eric," Zoey assured the teen as they entered the house, quickly heading to a set of stairs and heading up to the second floor. "And he's not dumb, I'm eighteen, he knows that I'm moving forward with my life, and relationships are a part of that," She blankly continued before her eyes went wide, "N-Not that we're in a relationship...obviously!" She quickly exclaimed with a laugh,

"Yeah," Kenny chuckled back, his heart starting to pick up. It didn't dawn on him what was happening until just now, he was bringing a girl back to her house, meeting her family and even being invited up to her room...with all that, all pair needed was the titles of boyfriend and girlfriend, and it'd be a perfect fit. Kenny nervously wet his lips as Zoey opened the door to her room, stepping inside before shutting the door behind Kenny once he too entered. All the teen could think about now was his honest thoughts about the girl who was becoming more and more fixated in his mind with each passing hour.