Kennedy Sticks Around (TF)

Kenny jogged up the hallway, rejoining Claire, who was huddled with a few friends by the punch bowl. "So what's this I hear about spiked punch?" Kenny put his arm around Claire, who smiled up at him and pushed up against him.

Standing directly at the punch bowl, just a few inches taller but with a much more muscular build, was Kenny's long-time friend, Will Greene. High school and the hockey team had put a bit of a buffer between them, to be sure, but the mutual respect for the friendship they had growing up always made run-ins like this one smooth. "Just two more seconds; I think I got the balance right..." Will hummed as he poured just a touch more liquor into the bowl, "But Henry was better at this shit than I ever was." The blonde standing next to him immediately gave him a sharp but still light smack on the arm, "Huh? Oh...sorry, didn't mean to bring up --"

"It's fine," Kenny reassured Will, having not found much worry in focusing on Claire's exes or finding much to be too concerned about. The teen then turned his attention to the blonde girl standing next to Will, his loving girlfriend of over a year now, Ellie Westchester. A former wild party girl turned proper cheerleader, Ellie was as beautiful as she was sweet. "Hey, Elle, Julie, ever text you about coming over?"

"Oh yeah! Is Julie coming?!" Claire exclaimed in a hopeful tone,

Ellie sympathetically looked back at the birthday girl, "Sorry, I haven't heard anything from her. If she's coming, she hasn't told me,"

Kenny sighed, giving his head a disappointed shake while Claire pouted, "That's okay." Kenny gave his girlfriend a squeeze with his arm, "We don't need Julie to have fun, right?"

"We can't have fun until later; people wouldn't want to watch that." Claire winked back.

Kenny's eyes widened, and he quickly looked up at Ellie, who giggled and diverted her gaze, deciding not to make him any more embarrassed. "Well, on that awkward note," Will cleared his throat and stepped aside, cup in hand, "The punch is done, and dare I say it's to perfection."

"Thank God, I think I could use one," Kenny took a step forward only for Kennedy to come barreling past him, shoving him aside,

"Move," Her words were as curt as ever, and Kenny took a step back as she filled a cup with the punch. Ellie raised her brow, and Will awkwardly scratched the back of his head while Kennedy took a full gulp and stepped back. Her eyes narrowed as she finally noticed all the eyes on her, "What the hell are all of you looking at?"

"Are you...staying for the party, Kenzie?" Claire curiously asked her twin.

Kennedy leaned herself against the table and gave an easy smile, "Well, it's my birthday too, right? Why shouldn't I enjoy it for once?" The blonde slowly scanned the other's faces, "Anyone got a problem with that?"

"Of course not, Kennedy," Ellie sweetly replied, "You're right; this is your birthday too, and you have every right to enjoy it with Claire."

Kennedy looked over to Kenny and let out a short exhaling laugh through her nose as she immediately could see the discomfort from the news. Yet, before the girl even had a chance to utter a teasing word, Claire let out an exclaiming cheer. Kennedy's eyes widened, and she stiffened right up as her sister rushed forward, yanking her into a giant hug, "I'm so happy right now! This is the best birthday I could have asked for! You're actually celebrating it with me!"

"Oh Christ..." Kennedy breathed under her breath as Claire all but twirled her sister back and forth in her hug, "Okay. Okay. Okay!" Kennedy finally pushed Claire off her **** grip, and the blonde stepped back with an ear-to-ear smile, "Let me add a condition to this. You have to pretend I'm not here. I don't want you making a big deal out of this, Claire. I mean it."

"Whatever you want! It's your birthday!" At once Claire turned her back to her sister, grabbing a cup of punch for herself and sauntering back to Kenny, taking his hand, "Come on, let's dance!"

Kenny gave Kennedy a final side glance, unable to get a good read on this sudden change of heart from leaving the part to now injecting herself. He didn't want to think it had anything to do with his gift, but the worrying side of him figured that Kennedy must have been plotting some payback humiliation for it now. "With pleasure," He murmured back to Claire as she pulled him away, and finally, Kennedy locked eyes with him and merely gave her eyebrows the tiniest bump, leaving him spiraling as to what that meant as well.

Thankfully for Kenny, the next few hours of the party came and went without a single incident to speak of. Normally, this wasn't Kenny's kind of scene; strobe lights, loud music, and a bunch of liquor belonged more to guys like Brian and Devin. He liked the quiet and preferred to keep it simple, so he'd be lying if Kenny hadn't gained a throbbing headache after only thirty minutes into the whole thing. Yet, just like with all these other changes in his life recently, one thing made it worthwhile, and that was the blonde girl who was grinding against him on the dance floor, letting her perfectly toned body work against his. He didn't like the party, but Claire Thomas, Kenny definitely liked Claire Thomas.

He liked feeling her as they danced and the deeply lustful looks she'd give him when she'd feel what was pressing up against her ass in response. He liked it after the music was done when Claire's birthday cake was brought out, and he watched her blow out the candles with that loveable child-like wonder. And now, as Kenny sat next to her on the couch, he loved the way that Claire was in awe with each present she opened.

Claire let out a scream as she ripped open yet another one of her presents and, this time found a beautiful purse, "Oh my god! I love it!" Claire exclaimed as she looked around the room, eventually finding Ellie giving her an acknowledging wave, "Elle, you're the best! You totally saw me looking at this last time we went to the mall, didn't you?!"

"Yeah, I could tell you wanted it so bad, so me and Will pitched in for it together. You deserve it, Claire." Ellie warmly replied,

"Awwww, you two are the best!" Claire looked around once again until she spotted Kennedy, "Is this perfect, Kenzie?!"

"Yeah, Claire, it's great," Kennedy nodded, but the moment looked away, she rolled her eyes, "And it'll join the fifteen others in your closet you don't use."

Claire grabbed another gift box, tearing it open with just as much excited zeal. This time, however, the entire room burst into laughter as Claire curiously held up a box holding a large vibrating dildo, "Oh my god," She let out a little giggle, "Who did this?"

Lila Smith was the one to speak up, "It was a combination of the whole team. Julie thought it'd be really funny. We got it for you almost a month ago," The brunette said in between her snickers,

Claire shook her head, setting the toy down with a smile, "Well, seeing as Juliet isn't her, I take it she must have realized I don't have any need for a toy like this. I have my most impressive toy sitting right here, and he always delivers." Kenny's eyes widened, and he felt his face burning red as a mixture of Ooooohs and giggles filled the room.

"Uuuuh, how about we just open another gift?" Kenny awkwardly suggested, and to his relief, Claire immediately agreed. Reaching forward, however, Claire's hand ended up grabbing hold of a simple small black box, "Oh, uh, that one is mine, Claire."

"It is?!" Claire all but bounced up and down in her seat,

"Yeah, if you want, we can wait until --" Kenny tentatively started to suggest, but his words fell short as his girlfriend ripped off the bow on the box and quickly pulled it open.

Kenny held his breath, watching intently as Claire took just a moment of looking before letting out a wide smile, "Oh my gosh..."

"It's something I thought you'd really like." Kenny sincerely replied,

"It's so cute!" Claire lifted up the box and showed the necklace to the rest of the party, "See, this is why I have him. My boyfriend gets me! He knows gold is my color!"

Kenny's head tilted, and his eyes filled with confusion, "Yeah, but the necklace is about your sign? You know, after we had that talk --" He very lowly attempted to explain, trying to make a scene or embarrass Claire in front of everyone.

Yet, once again, his words seemed to go in one ear and out the other, "Aw, you're the best," Claire merely replied, leaning in and planting a loving peck on his cheek. Then without another thought, Claire closed the box and set it down, "Okay, next one!"

Kenny blinked a few times and then got up from the couch, doing his best to hide his disappointment in Claire's response, "Be right back; I'm...I'm just gonna grab another drink,"

"Oh, one for me, too, please!" Claire sweetly asked, and Kenny gave her a small nod.

"Jesus, Claire, really?" Kennedy suddenly spoke up, taking the party by surprise, but none more than Kenny. "The least you could do is fucking put the thing on, don't you think?"

Claire curiously looked at her twin, "What's that, Kenzie?"

"The fucking necklace Clark got you!" Kennedy reiterated, "He clearly spent the time to get you something you really would like. The least you could do is wear it, Claire."

Without a moment's hesitation, Claire grabbed the box, "You're so right, Kenzie! This is totally my style, and I should wear it!" The blonde grabbed her gift and quickly tied it on, "Good idea, Kenzie."

"Ugh, that so wasn't the point..." Kennedy sighed in a mixture of irritation and disappointment, "I'm going to bed." Kennedy stormed forward, shoving past Kenny, "Move, Kenny..." The teen did an immediate double take as he watched Kennedy head out of the living room and head for the stairs, climbing them in twos,

"Kenny?" He softly asked under his breath.