Back With The Girls

Ellie returned to her friends on the patio still chipper from her encounter with Kenny. The mess was cleaned up and Julie already had a fresh glass of lemonade poured for the blonde. "There you are, we thought you got lost," Nicole said as Ellie pulled out her seat,

"Sorry, I got a little tied up in there," Ellie vaguely replied, "Thanks again for the spare shirt, Julie, I'll be sure to give it back,"

"Feel free to keep it, if you'd like," Juliet waved off without a care, "I didn't wear that one much and you're pulling it off way better than I ever did," Ellie warmly smiled back at Juliet, the two weren't the closest of friends, Nicole being their initial connection to one another, but now the normal ice queen persona was thawing.

"So what did you mean earlier, when you said that you and Will hadn't talked about what happens once college starts," Bella suddenly interjected, crossing one leg over the other, "Do we need to be concerned about our brother going through some heartache?"

Ellie's smile faded off, and her face turned slightly pale, she had hoped the talk of her boyfriend was done, "O-Oh, I was just...talking, you know, like Quinn said, you never know what the future can hold,"

"Like a breakup?" Bella asked, leaning in expectantly,

"Oh come on, what's going on with her relationship is her own business, if she's going to leave him she'll leave him, if she doesn't want to, she won't. Either way, no concern to us," Nicole butted in,

"Have to agree with Nikki on this one, everyone has a right to their privacy," Juliet agreed,

Bella held up a hand, "I'm not prying, only trying to look out for my little brother,"

Quinn let out a small laugh and rolled her eyes, "Gees, guys, come on. Elle was all worked up because Nicole was teasing her about marriage. She's not thinking of leaving my brother, they are happy," Quinn looked over to Ellie with a smile, "Right Elle?"

"R-Right, we are...a lot," Ellie weakly agreed, putting on a **** bright smile,

"Oooh, okay, so things aren't so happy in paradise, huh?" Nicole immediately leaned forward in her seat, "Care to share?" Ellie grimaced and gulped, her eyes flicking between Quinn and Bella, the former looking concerned and the latter disapproving,

"What? Nicole, you just said that what was going on between her and Will was Elle's business," Juliet frowned, "Ellie, you don't need to say anything, it's perfectly fine if you don't,"

Ellie ran her fingers through her hair and let out a short exasperated sigh, "It's not anything major, it's just...just...I have a feeling that things between me and Will are...growing apart, okay?" Ellie meekly admitted, "I've been thinking that once college starts...he's probably going to break up with me,"

"What?!" Quinn exclaimed, springing to her feet, "Why the fuck would he leave you?!" The redhead's teeth were gritted in frustration but as she looked around the table, reality sank back in and she slowly lowered back down to her feet, "I -- I mean, that makes no sense, you two are so good together," Quinn said in a calmer tone,

"I thought we were too, but over these last few months...things have changed...Will is a different kind of guy from the one I knew when we started dating," Ellie softly said, slinking down in her seat, unable to look up at any one of the girls,

"Oh, Ellie, I'm so sorry," Juliet softly said in a genuine, sincere voice, "That can't be easy...emotionally losing someone,"

"No, it's...it's not emotional, it's -- ugh," Ellie groaned,

"It's the sex then," Nicole bluntly concluded making Juliet let out a small gasp and Ellie's face to burn bright red, no longer able to even look at Quinn or Bella,

"Jesus, Nicole!" Juliet exclaimed,

Nicole threw her hands up and shrugged, "Am I wrong? If it's not about the love it's about the sex!"

"That true?" Bella hummed, sounding genuinely curious. Ellie let out another long groan but slowly nodded, "Well, you got us all curious now, what's the problem?"

"Seriously, it was no secret that you and Will got it on constantly," Nicole added as she rested her hand against her cheek, "Is Will Jr. losing his game?"

Juliet look at Quinn and as expected, the redhead was cringing at the thought of hearing about her brother's sex life, "Hey, maybe we all shelf this conversation and head down to the mall, huh?! Wouldn't that be fun?!"

"In a minute," Bella waved off Juliet's suggestion, "I want to hear Ellie's answer first,"

Ellie wet her lips and her leg bounced quickly, "Okay, okay, fine if it'll get you off my back...Will and I...no, we haven't been having sex recently. I really haven't had any in the last month or so now,"

"A whole fucking month? Damn, that'd kill me!" Nicole exclaimed on impulse. The girls quickly glared at the redhead and she cupped a hand over her mouth, "Sorry, I'll be quiet,"

Ellie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Well, what's the issue? I mean, you sound like you've been willing, but clearly, Will is holding back for some reason," Bella asked, trying to get Ellie back on focus,

"No, Will's not holding back, he wants us to still have sex but...like I said, it's different now," Each of the girls raised an eyebrow and Ellie could tell she wasn't going to get away with keeping it vague this time either, "He doesn't want to have real sex, alright? Will is...he started having all these weird desires, new shit to try. He wanted me to **** him, spank him, and one time he even...gave me a...toy to use on him," Quinn cupped her hands over her ears and Juliet cringed, "Now I'm not one to judge what people like, but that's not me! I'm a normal girl, and I want a normal guy! But he just doesn't want to do it like that anymore, and I can't bring myself to try this other stuff!" Ellie rapidly explained before finishing in a huff, looking equal parts embarrassed and frustrated.

Silence lingered in the air, no one seeming to have a response to what they heard but Nicole, "Fuck, if the guy I was dating did that to me, yeah, I'd be pretty frustrated and thinking about leaving him too,"

"I never said I was going to leave him, but he's the one getting more and more annoyed the more I deny him," Ellie corrected before scoffing, "But frustrated is a damn understatement. I've taken up working out to get over the pent-up aggression...that and...well, a few minutes ago I ended up teasing Kenny just to feel a rise," She muttered out without thinking,

"You what?!" The girls all said in unison, but quite clearly all for different reasons,

"Relax, I wasn't going to do anything, I just ran into him and messed with him. You all know Kenny, he's always so nervous and awkward but obvious when it comes to girls. It just felt good to have a guy looking at me for a few minutes," Ellie swiftly explained while holding up her hands,

"Uh, not cool, Elle," Bella muttered in clear disappointment, "Don't think Will would appreciate that<"

"Yeah, you can't just do that to Kenny, he doesn't deserve that!" Quinn added on, her anger much more palpable, "He's a nice guy and no one should be stringing him along!" Ellie tilted her head slightly and Quinn's cheeks turned flush, "A-And you're dating my brother, obviously!"

Nicole on the other hand couldn't help but grin, "Okay, I admit I didn't expect you to say it, but I get it. Clark is cute to tease, it's so easy, as long as it's all in good faith,"

"Okay, No!" Juliet suddenly boomed out taking the entire group by surprise, "No, no, and hell no! No one is to flirt, tease, or even look at my cousin! Off-limits to everything, hear me?!"

"Whoa..." Nicole said under her breath having never seen this side of Juliet while Quinn could only let out a soft missable sigh, all too familiar with the speech to come,

"If you hadn't heard yet, consider this your enlightening. I do not tolerate any kind of play with Kenny, he is like my brother, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt him! Not to mention, if you're friends with me, then you especially stay away from him! My family is off-limits! Now, Ellie, I expect you to go in there and apologize to him and then we can all get the hell in the car and forget about this entire thing,"

"A-Are you serious?" Ellie's face was now red and her eyes holding disbelief,

"Dead serious, now go," Juliet demanded pointing to the house, "Or leave, your call," Ellie glanced over her shoulder to the sliding door and then back to Juliet with a grimace.