He Ends Up Distracted

The pair made their way down the stairs that lead back to the parking lot just below the tram station, Zoey feeling a bit more relaxed with each step away from the lodge and Eric. She needed this trip home, just a few hours away from Eric who so desperately wanted Zoey to give her consent to his new relationship. It wasn't even funny how obvious Zoey saw through Eric, he was oozing guilt out of every hole, and he needed Zoey to either tell him everything was okay or get away from him. Though the redhead knew she would do neither, Eric hadn't earned the right to get off scot-free.

"Right this is mine," Kenny smirked as they both reached a battered, slightly rusty, grey Gran Torino. Kenny walked over and with a firm yank pulled open his door, getting in causing the car to let out a loud squeak as it readjusted to his weight. Zoey merely stood staring at the vehicle, her brow raised and her upper lip slightly pulled back in a mixture of concern and disgust, "What?" Kenny smirked as he stuck his head out of the car,

"This is your car?" Zoey asked, comically pointing at the clunker, making sure Kenny saw it too,

"Yeah," Kenny simply nodded back, "She may look bad, but she runs perfect,"

"Look bad...it looks like it's from a junkyard," Zoey muttered back,

"Why does everyone have to be so mean to my car," Kenny sighed with a playful roll of his eyes, "I at least expected you not to judge," He smirked,

Zoey's eyes widened, and she quickly scampered towards the passenger door, getting inside, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it," She sincerely apologized,

"Don't worry about it," Kenny chuckled, "I know it doesn't look the greatest, and it needs some real work, but I'm going to fix it up...er, get someone to fix it up because I wouldn't know a damn thing,"

"So you bought a car to fix up, but you don't know how to fix cars?" Zoey asked with a slightly amused grin,

"Look..." Kenny said with a touch of embarrassment, "I always wanted one of these cars and when I saw this for only a grand, I kinda...broke down," The teen smirked, "JJ tried to talk me out of it, but...obviously that didn't work,"

"It does...seem you," Zoey replied while looking around the near spotless interior. Zoey found it all the more amusing that while the outside looked like junk, the inside seemed like it was brand new. The girl could just barely make out a few locations on the back seat where Kenny must have sewn patches over tears and the floor mats were completely brand new, "It does have a sort of charm,"

"See, it grows on you!" Kenny laughed as he started the car and backed out of the parking spot, spinning the car around and driving towards the road, "So, uh, which way am I going here,"

"Left," Zoey smiled, "We're on the main road here for a good amount of the time, I'm a bit further into Dartwin,"

Kenny let out a nod as he pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive towards Zoey's home, "So, you...lived in Dartwin long?"

"Yeah, well, for the last five years or so," Zoey sweetly replied, "My family had to move around a lot because of my dad's job, but he left it and got something a bit more stable," Zoey explained before her eyes lit up, "Actually, you should totally talk to my dad, he owns an auto mechanic shop, he could definitely help fix this up for you!" She almost exclaimed with excitement,

"Heh, how about that," Kenny chuckled, "If he doesn't charge a lot, absolutely, I'd love for this to look great before I go off to college,"

Zoey let out a small nod and shifted in her seat, finding a more comfortable position so she could easily look at Kenny as they spoke, "What about you, you live in Greenwall long?"

"My whole life, born and raised," Kenny nodded back, "My parents moved there a few years before I was even born, same house and everything." He continued with a content smile, almost envious of the thought, "They both got jobs, and got to live a standard life, not rich or poor, just normal. I mean, I think about it a lot, I hope that whatever happens to me after college is half as good as that."

Zoey blinked a few times slowly as she intently listened to the teen speak, her expression nearly looking dreamy, "That sounds nice...were your folks together long before they got married?" She curiously asked,

"Oh yeah, my dad met my mom in their early teens, actually. They were really good friends, and they started dating midway through high school. They almost broke up when they had to go to college, but apparently, my dad switched schools last minute,"

"Awwwww," Zoey gushed,

Kenny let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, that's what my mom said too. So, yeah, one thing led to another, and before they knew it, they stayed together all through college and my dad proposed on their graduation night."

"That's so romantic," Zoey happily stated,

"Yeah, and again, I hope I get to be half as lucky as my dad. I mean, to find the person you'd be with for the rest of your life while young must be awesome, knowing that you'd never be alone." Kenny wholeheartedly said with an easy smile, "Does thinking about that make me a dork?" He jokingly asked while peering over to the redhead in the passenger seat,

"Not at all..." Zoey softly replied, "It's something I think a lot about too,"

Kenny turned his attention back to the road and cleared his through, trying to stop himself from breaking into a wide smile. He couldn't understand why things couldn't be this easy with Nicole, everything with her always seemed like a struggle in comparison. Kenny wanted Nicole to at the very least be open and honest with him, like Zoey. If she could do that, then Kenny wouldn't have had a problem with her at all this week. But no, Nicole continues to insist that she and Kenny are just "Fucking around for fun."

"What are you going to college for?" Kenny asked trying to get his mind of Nicole as it was beginning to irritate him,

"Hmm? Oh, I'm thinking of going in for astronomy, you know, study the stars," Zoey smiled back, "They're just so much undiscovered out there, and I want to learn as much as I can in my life,"

"That's awesome," Kenny replied with an approving nod, "I don't know much about astronomy though, so like, is it just...looking through telescopes and what not or-"

"Oh that's part of it, but it's really involved, and I'm sure I'd just bore you," Zoey joked with a toss of her hand,

"Hey we got time and...well, my radio doesn't work, so..." Zoey let out a hearty laugh before sitting up in her seat, eagerly beginning to explain the basics of what she'd be doing in college. Kenny found it genuinely interesting but simply hearing Zoey talk was like music to his ears. Her voice was just beautiful to hear, and the amount of passion she had when talking was in its own way charming. Kenny couldn't help but having a fleeting thought, wondering how she'd sound if she was talking about him, saying just how much she liked him and loved dating him.

An hour passed by as Kenny drove towards the far side of Dartwin, listening to Zoey while occasionally having a small fantasy about the two of them. Unfortunately, thanks to all this, Kenny had completely forgotten to bring up the possibility of Zoey possibly being pregnant now. It only resurfaced in his head moments before they reached the red-haired girl's house, and by then Kenny knew it would have to wait until the trip back to the lodge. "It's right there, the house directly ahead in the turnaround," Kenny began to slow as he pulled his car into the driveway just behind a dark green pickup truck, "Oh goodie, my dads home, I'd love for him to meet you,"

"Y-Your dad?" Kenny nearly gulped back, now worried about the girl's father having some six sense, thinking that the man would somehow be able to tell that Kenny had just recently deflowered his daughter,

"Yeah, don't worry, he's really nice," Zoey assured him before turning her attention to the front door opening and a large, heavily built man stepping out onto the porch. He squinted his eyes at Kenny's car for a moment before smiling as he saw his daughter jump out of the passenger seat. Kenny let out a shaky breath and slowly got out as well while Zoey ran over and gave her dad a quick hug and a kiss, "Dad, this is my new friend, Kenny!"

Kenny shuffled towards the porch and looked at the man for a long moment, quickly noticing three worrying but telling things. The man had a buzzcut, his arms had a few defined tattoos and most notably he wore a set of dog tags around his neck, "M-Mr. Irons," Kenny said as he stuck out his hand. The man held his gaze on Kenny for a long minute, trying to get a read on him while Zoey waited for the two men to introduce themselves formally.