The Talk

It was close to four hours past by the time Scott and Kenny finally pulled back into the parking lot at the base of Kaster Mountain. The once sparsely used parking lot was already well over half filled and checking the time, it was rapidly closing in to the start time for the whole event. "I guess we shaved it pretty close, huh?" Kenny said as he and Scott got out of his car,

"A little too close, it'd seem. Thankfully as long as the stuff is there people won't really care about the waiting," Scott replied as the pair pullled open the back door and grabbed as many bags as they could at once, "Gonna have to make a few trips, but let's pack the tram,"

"Got it," Kenny slightly grunted as the duo started to walk the first set of bags up the metal staircase to the tramcar station, setting them down inside the first car and then rushing back for another set, "I'll shoot JJ a text, and have him give us a hand,"

"Tell him to give me a hand, with so many people already showing up I want you to still have your chance to talk to Anna," Scott sternly said,

Kenny gulped, the first hour of the trip that was all he was thinking about, but by the last hour, his mind had shifted focus to the task at hand. Returning to that thought, confronting Anna with some real, anxious feelings was still unnerving for the teen. Regardless, he knew Scott was right, if he hesitated now, he'd never get the chance to get this off his chest before Eric got there...wait, was Eric already here? Kenny's eyes widened and he looked up towards the mountain peak, "Oh shit...what if he's already there,"

"Doesn't change anything Kenny, you can still talk to her about it," Scott easily replied as the pair reached the car, "Just pull her away somewhere private,"

"But what if he already showed up and they are hanging out? What if she's having a great time and I --" Kenny began to ramble under his breath,

Scott let out a short exhale of near frustration, "Or maybe, instead of thinking all that stuff, we get ourselves up there and you go see what's actually going on," The older man interrupted, stopping Kenny's rant dead, "You can dream of a million different bad things happening or you can not and go deal with reality, Ken. Come on, dude, you know better,"

Kenny felt his cheeks slightly turn flush and he let out a nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck, "R-Right, that would probably be the better thing to do here," Scott nodded back with a smirk. Kenny reached back into the car and grabbed a few more bags.

The duo finished filling the cart with their supplies after three more trips and while getting onto the tramcar, Kenny pulled out his phone and gave JJ a quick text. By the time they had reached the top station and the doors opened, JJ was standing with William, and a few other members of the hockey team that had also arrived not too long ago, Ben Roberts and Henry Carter, "Calvary is here guys," JJ chuckled as the four entered the car and each began to gather either some bags or boxes of booze,

"Kenny, I think we got this, you go do what you need to do," Scott quickly said giving the younger teen a light shove on the back, pushing him out the tram, "You got this," He softly added with a confident nod. Kenny returned it as best he could and headed up the path back towards the lodge.

The brown-haired teen reached the lodge in minutes and was surprised to see just how many people were dotting the large location. He could see through the windows, counting dozens of heads in both the den and kitchen, with more gathered outside, dotting the building. "Damn, Brian really knows how to throw a party..." Kenny said under his breath as he lightly jogged up the front steps and entered the building.

Inside the lodge was more packed than even he could have expected; dozens of people were clinging against the hallway walls, resting on the stairs, moving from room to room with drinks in hand while the echos of Devin's warming up band played over the speakers. Kenny slowly pushed his way through the crowd, peaking his head into each room until he finally found Anna inside the rec-room, sitting with Ellie and a few other girls, giggling and seemingly having a grand time. It was almost instinctual that the blonde glanced up as Kenny entered the room and her whole face lit up, "There you are!" Anna almost exclaimed while jumping up and rushing over to Kenny, pulling him into a squeezing embrace, "I missed you,"

"I missed you too," Kenny warmly replied as he returned the hug in full, hearing a few more soft giggles and whispered from the girls Anna had just walked away from, "Uh, Anna?" Kenny softly whispered into her ear causing the blonde to look up and then over to her friends,

"Oh, will you guys find something else to do!" Anna playfully snapped causing the girls to all coyly look away from the duo,

"Sorry, Anna, we were just wondering if we needed to clear out, you know, so you and your boyfriend can have the room," Ellie teasingly replied causing Anna to roll her eyes,

"Oh shut up, I can hug him because I missed him, not because I want to have sex with him," Anna scoffed before turning back to Kenny, "I'm sorry, I ended up telling them about us and they haven't left me alone since,"

"It's alright," Kenny lightly laughed back, "Nice to know you aren't shy about telling people,"

"Why would I ever?" Anna smoothly replied, "Oh, somewhere in here, Avery is here. I'm pretty sure he's with Quinn and Mindy, I'd guess they'd all want to see you too,"

"Yeah, I'll have to go find them, but, uh, first...can we go have that talk?" Kenny asked as calmly as he could, ignoring the tightening in his stomach,

Anna's brow slightly jumped, "Oh my gosh, right, the talk, I forget. Yes, of course, come on, hopefully, our room is still empty," Anna adamantly agreed, taking Kenny's hand and leading him out of the room without hesitation. Kenny felt some instant relief in her actions and followed along, the pair pushing their way down the hallway, up the stairs, and finally into their room giving it a firm shove shut, "Phew, a lot more people showed up since the girls got here," Anna said to herself with a shake of her head, "It's going to be a loud, long night, huh?"

"Seems like it," Kenny agreed as he awkwardly wandered around the center of the room,

Anna's eyes grew soft and she took a few tentative steps towards the teen, "Ken, what's going on? You've been...strange since we had our morning. You didn't really talk to me too much while we were setting up besides asking to have this conversation," The blonde pointed out, "Whatever it is, I'd like to hear it, so we can hopefully fix it,"

"M-Me too," Kenny agreed sucking in one final calming breath, "Okay, it's not something I expected to have to talk to you about. Honestly, it wasn't until this morning that I realized it was even something that was bothering me,"

Anna let out a small nod, "Okay, what's bothering you?"

"It's nothing you actually did, honest, it's..." Kenny said before letting out a low groan, "I feel like an asshole for even saying this, but it's about Eric," Anna's eyes widened, "Brian told us he was coming here tonight, and at first I didn't even think twice but...you and Eric had a serious history together, you were in love, we both know that. I just -- it started to make me nervous when I thought about him coming here,"

"Oh..." Anna whispered back, her voice mostly void of emotion as she seemed to process that information, "Don't...Don't worry about it, it's fine," The blonde added after a moment and turned her back, "Let's get back to the party,"

Kenny's head tilted and he looked back at Anna confused as she tried to walk to the door, "Anna, hang on, can we...I don't know, actually talk about this?" The teen gently pressed, "Saying that doesn't exactly help,"

Anna's head cocked back, and her brow started to furrow, "What else is there to talk about? I'm telling you it's fine, you shouldn't worry, let's leave it alone,"

Once again Kenny stared back at her, this time, however, the teen let out a small scoff, "Okay? THat's great, but I'm trying to talk to you about him, you know? Eric being here can affect you and me and I just want to be able to --"

"Are you trying to say that you think I'll fucking sleep with him?" Anna shot back, cutting Kenny's thought off, "Kenny, Eric, and I broke up! I am with you now, and him being here doesn't affect us in the slightest. Now I would like to drop this topic and move on, please,"

A frown slowly spread over Kenny's face, "And I want to talk about this," He sternly replied, "I never said I thought you'd sleep with him either, where did that even come from?"

"I imagine that's where this whole conversation is going, right?" Anna shifted in a near defensive stance, much like her voice, "You're worried that I'll see my ex-boyfriend and suddenly fall into bed with him. Well, it's not going to happen and I don't much appreciate the thought,"

"I never said that Anna!" Kenny exclaimed, genuinely shocked by the response, "I'm trying to talk to you about how you feel about him still! I want to know what feelings could come back and if...and if you'll start having second thoughts,"

"Oh so now I'll just break up with you when I see him?" Anna asked back with a genuine look of hurt and disgust,

"No! That's not what I -- Ugh, you're not listening," Kenny groaned while rubbing his face with his hands, and letting our a sharp exhale, "Anna, just talk to me here, I'm not accusing you of anything. I am asking you, please, do you still have feelings for Eric?" Anna opened her mouth to answer but after a moment crossed her arms, and diverted her gaze, unable to answer, "I'll take that as a yes..."

Anna let out a soft exhale and gave a small shrug, "I'm sorry...it doesn't change how I feel about you, but...yes, there is definitely some part of me that feels something for Eric," Anna admitted before the pair were dead silent, only the muffled sounds of the party outside their door, "You have to know that I'd never do anything though, you can trust me, Ken,"

Kenny's head slightly drifted down, his eyes staring down at the floor as he took in everything Anna had just told him. He wanted to trust her, believe that she was telling him the honest truth and that they could try and put things aside but...he couldn't. Anna was acting too strange over the whole thing, the idea of her even talking to Eric was now making him sick. It was at that moment that Brian's advice from earlier clicked in his head. Looking up Kenny wet his lips and stared back at Anna, "If you want me to trust you, don't talk to Eric tonight,"

"What?" Anna returned, giving her head a light shake,

"Don't talk to Eric, don't spend time with him, pass him by like you would anyone else in this party. If we're together I don't think it's too much for me to ask you to stay away from your ex-boyfriend," Kenny sternly finished,

Anna's lips parted, and she seemed to be searching for a response, "So you don't trust me then," She finally said her voice low and hurt, "And no, Kenny, telling me who I can and can't talk to isn't something you get to do now. Eric and I were close friends before we started dating, I'm not going to stub him because you're insecure,"

Kenny's face tightened and he diverted his gaze from Anna once more, "So that's it then, I explained my end and now I just have to sit here and hope things go right? That doesn't really help me, Anna,"

Anna shut her eyes, feeling more disappointed in Kenny with each word, "Do whatever you need to, but I'm not changing my mind..." She softly stated before turning around, "I can't stay stuck in this conversation anymore, I'm going back downstairs to the rec-room,"

Anna pulled open the door and stormed away, while Kenny let out a profound exhale, "Talk to her...yeah that fucking worked," Kenny muttered under his breath as he took a minute for himself before heading out of the room as well.