Dodging A Bullet

Kenny pulled his shirt over his head and let it fall back down his slightly sweaty body, now redressed. Ellie followed suit, pulling her pants and panties up just a few feet away, "So...um," Ellie looked over to Kenny and let out a curious hum, "I was just thinking more, and I was hoping I could ask you another question,"

"After what happened last time, choose your words carefully," Ellie accepted with a playful wink,

Kenny cleared his throat, shifting around awkwardly, "I was curious...you said that you wanted me, and that...that I was giving you what you wanted but you're still with Will. Not implying anything, only asking out of genuine curiosity, but...why are you still with him?" Ellie's eyes went soft and Kenny gave a small shrug, "I'm not trying to judge, but you don't seem to be too happy with him anymore,"

Ellie reached down and grabbed her shirt, "It's...complicated, Ken. Will and I have a lot of...history and --" She was abruptly cut off as the pair both heard the unmistakable sound of the entry bell going off just outside the office, "Oh shit!" Ellie swiftly pulled her shirt over her head,

"Wait is someone coming in?!" Kenny asked back, "Didn't you lock the door behind us?!"

"I was in a rush to treat your cut, I must have forgotten!" Ellie gave her clothes a few straightening presses and took a quick breath, "It's probably just a customer, I'll go tell them that they have to leave, and then we can get out of here, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," Kenny nodded.

Outside Juliet walked into the gym, perturbed as she looked over at tall the machines and saw no one. She pulled out her phone and checked the time again, "Yeah, it should be closed already but...and where are Elle and Ken?"

"Julie!" The brunette spun around, finding Ellie standing in front of her office door, wide eyes and slightly out of breath, "W-What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, didn't the gym close almost thirty minutes ago now?" Ellie gulped and tucked her hands behind her back, "And where's Kenny? His car is right outside?"

"Ah! Yes, I l-lost track of the time it seems," Ellie stammered back, searching for a good explanation. The office door behind Ellie and Kenny slowly peeked his head out.

Oh shit, Julie! Kenny sheepishly walked out and planted himself next to Ellie, "Hey, Jules, you're out pretty late?"

"You too," Juliet crossed her arms and raised a brow suspiciously, "Decided to do a late-night workout?"

"Workout?" Kenny echoed while looking down at himself, noticing the stains of sweat on his shirt, "Yes! Yeah, uh, I got here like an hour ago and was working with Ellie on some sets!"

"Exactly!" Ellie swiftly agreed with a laugh, giving Kenny a semi-awkward push, "Kenny came in and told me about his plan for the police academy so I was running through a few sets with him,"

"In the office?" Juliet kept her suspicious frown, and Kenny felt his legs starting to go numb, "Come on, what were you two doing in there?"

Before Kenny could speak, Ellie took a step forward and crossed her arms, "What do you mean by that?" The blonde sharply asked back taking both Clark's by surprise, "I was doing Kenny a favor since we're friends and he's your cousin. I don't appreciate the suggestion that it was anything more. We were in the office because I was getting Kenny signed up as a full-time member, he's actually taking this very serious, Julie,"

Kenny slowly turned to Ellie before looking back to Julie, There is no way she's going to buy that...is she? Juliet was silent for a few seconds, staring back at Ellie before suddenly dropping her arms and scampering forward, "I'm so sorry, Elle, that was so rude of me to imply!" No. Fucking. Way.

Ellie let out a relieved exhale and smiled, "It's alright, please, I've already forgotten it," Juliet gave Ellie a thankful smile, "So the current plan is for Kenny to come down here with me to...train, at least a few nights out of the week for now," She explained glancing at the brown-haired teen slyly. "That way by the time we're at the end of the summer, he's going to be a well-oiled machine that'll kill any kind of physical test they can throw at him." Not to mention that I'll personally see to building up Kenny's strength and stamina. He might have some natural talent but he needs a little...refining. But once I do that, Ellie thought of the real extending pounding Kenny could give her, Oh God, I already can't wait!

"That's amazing Ken, I'm so proud of you! You're really taking this seriously!" Juliet encouragingly said before giving her hands a quick clap, "And that means I should suck it up and do the same. Elle, tomorrow let me come in and I'll sign up too. I can work out with you guys!" Kenny cried inside, but Ellie didn't miss a beat, accepting Juliet's offer without hesitation.

With Juliet's curiosity sated and put off their trail, for the time being, Ellie knew it was definitely time to wrap things up for one evening. Finally closing up the gym for good, the three teens all got back to their cars and headed back home. Fifteen minutes later Kenny shuffled into his bedroom and all but collapsed onto his bed. He was tired, pleasantly surprised, a little nervous, and excited for the future all at the same time. Things with Ellie took one hell of a turn, and now he was just hoping that he'd be able to keep things going, though he still had one question lingering in his mind. What about Will?

Kenny shut his eyes, giving his head a small shake. At the end of the day, Kenny knew what happened between Ellie and Will was none of his business, but he had to admit, he did feel a little guilty. Regardless, Kenny knew he was able to live with himself, at least for another few days, and let the situation rest. He changed into his pajamas, plugged his phone into his charger, and crawled into bed. Pressing his head blissfully into his pillow, Kenny was only mere moments away from sleep when he heard his phone suddenly buzz.

He let out a long groan and grabbed the phone from his end table, "God, what now?" He turned it on and focused his eyes on a single text message.

• Hey, are you awake?