Time To Settle This

While Kenny and Tessa headed right out of Juliet's dorm room, Nicole was happily leading Ellie, and Quinn left, moving right for the elevator. Without Kenny's presence, she could already sense two things, first, how awkward Ellie was feeling, and second, how irritable Quinn was turning. "So...that was a fun night, hmm? All of us, hanging out like friends?" Nicole glanced back at either girl, Ellie's eyes were low, and Quinn seemed to be focusing on keeping them off both Nicole and Ellie.

"I've had better ones, but it was fine..." Quinn muttered back,

"It was...nice," Ellie meekly added on.

Nicole pushed her lips out as they reached the elevator, pressing the button and silently waiting for it to arrive. When the doors did finally roll open, and the trio stepped inside, Nicole finally let her plan commence. "I don't know; I had a lot of fun with Kenny last night," At once, both the redhead and blonde snapped their attention to Nicole,

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Quinn snapped back,

"Did you and Kenny do something last night?!" Ellie exclaimed, equally as shocked,

At once, Quinn's fury turned to Ellie, "Why's it any fucking concern of yours, huh? Haven't you figured out yet that he's off limits for you!?"

Ellie crossed her arms and frowned, "Coming from you, that's a thing to say,"

"Finally!" Nicole grinned; the girl reached out and smacked the emergency stop button, stopping their ride dead. "Finally, all out in the open! All of us are fucking Kenny, and all three of us know it!"

"I didn't know that!" Ellie exclaimed as she looked between both Nicole and Quinn rapidly, "Did you know that?!"

"I didn't exactly know it was still current, but, yeah, I knew he at least fucked both of you over the summer," Quinn grumbled back, "Nicole, start the fucking elevator again; I don't want to be stuck in here with either of you,"

"I know you don't, but that really doesn't fucking concern me right now, Quinn; like it or not, the three of us need to have a talk about the elephant in the room, and his name is Kenny." Nicole sternly retorted, "All three of us are with him, all three of us want him, and all three of us are trying to play for keeps. Am I wrong? Elle?"

"I...I really don't feel like talking about this; whatever is happening between you two and Kenny is one thing, but what I am doing with him is my business, no one else's," Ellie swiftly deflected,

"Oh, no one else's business, not like my brother's business, right? That certainly worked out for you, didn't it?" Ellie flinched at Quinn's jab, but didn't dignify it with a response, "You want to talk about him, Nicole? Fine. But it's going to be a real short fucking conversation. You two back off, stay away from him, and we'll be happy. Otherwise, it's going to get ugly, and soon. Kenny is mine. End of story. Now start the fucking elevator!"

"That's hardly constructive, Quinn," Nicole remained calm and relaxed, "Let's at least be honest here; Kenny has been with all three of us but hasn't picked. He clearly doesn't have a winner in his mind,"

"Oh, shut up!" Ellie surprisingly snapped, "Just because he has had sex with you, Nicole, doesn't mean he is suddenly in love with you!" She then jutted a finger out to Quinn, "And just because you two have been sneaking around doesn't mean you're his secret favorite! Kenny is complicated! He doesn't know what he wants!"

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, did you really just talk to me about sneaking around?" Quinn sneered, "Out of all three of us, you're the fakest one here! You only fucked him because you were bored! At least she was Kenny's friend; I seem to remember you enjoying teasing him because you were pent up. You just figured out a better way to work out that issue, didn't you?"

"Don't talk about shit you don't know, Quinn. I was Kenny's first time! He tells me constantly how much he cares about me! He fought to make sure that we didn't just drift away after everything came out! What we have fucking matters!"

"This is good, yes, getting all that tension out. That way, we can talk like people," Nicole encouraged, "Don't forget about our threesome with him, Elle; that was pretty big too,"

"What?!" Quinn exclaimed, "Ugh, you both are the worst!"

"Oh God, Nicole, why did you bring that up?" Ellie cupped her hand over her face,

"Because it's important, we need to all be on the same level here, and we all need to get right over this idea that we're the super special one because. We. Don't. Know. If that's true!" Nicole smacked the back of her hand against her palm, "Kenny is the only one who can make that definitive choice here."

"Pfft, as if! You're just the slut that everyone fucked in high school," Quinn snapped back, and Nicole rolled her eyes with a sigh, "What?! Am I wrong?!"

"Look, little one, I know you're scared and insecure, but don't you want to fucking know who Kenny actually likes out of all three of us? Or do you want to be stuck in this internal struggle with him forever?" Nicole sarcastically muttered, finally getting fed up with Quinn's attitude.

Quinn pursed her lips, "I know it's me; you two just need to leave him alone..." Quinn bitterly fired back,

"And what if your not?" Ellie finally asked with a **** exhale, "I don't like the idea any fucking more than you do, but Nicole has a point. He's been with all three of us this entire summer, and here we all are, still waiting and trying for him to make a choice,"

"And that's the one thing that Clark can't do," Nicole pointed out with a bemused smirk, "I'm surprised when he can decide between Chocolate or Vanilla, let alone pick between the three of us."

"You...have --" Quinn sharply exhaled, "Fine, yes, Kenny can't decide anything for his life. I know that. He panics, overthinks, and always puts it off,"

"Yeah...tell me about it," Ellie murmured in sullen agreement,

"Good, look at that; the three of us were able to actually agree on something!" Nicole gave her hands a clap, "Now, do we think that we can work together to settle this matter once and for all?"

"What are you trying to do, Nikki? Are you trying to convince Quinn and me to write him off or something? Make us think that Kenny just isn't any good for us?" Ellie lowly asked back, her voice just ever so slightly quivering, "Because I'm not buying it!"

Quinn's jaw locked, "Oh, fuck that, I'm not backing down either!" Nicole cupped her face and shook her head with genuine irritation,

"Jesus, just fucking shoot me now," The redhead muttered under her breath, "Okay, can we back up two steps again, Elle? Why would I be trying to make you two walk away? How does that solve the heart of this entire problem?"

Ellie and Quinn shared a cautious glance, "If you're not trying to get rid of us, then what are you trying to do?" Ellie arched an eyebrow,

"Oh my fucking God, am I talking to myself? I am trying to get you two to help me get the fucking truth out of him!" Nicole finally shouted out, her nose flaring and eyes almost lighting, "For all that is fuck, we are all at a goddamn impasse! We either fucking kill each other, which I don't plan on doing, or we make Kenny tell us the truth and pick one!"

"How?! You literally just said you know that Kenny can't make a decision! Do you think bull rushing him and demanding he picks one is going to work? Hell no, I've been doing everything possible to get through to him, and it's still going by inches... thick-headed dummy..." Quinn lowly murmured, thinking back to the night at her house. She was certain if her parents hadn't come home early, that if she just had that whole night with Kenny, by morning, he would have been all hers.

"You're right, that's not going to work; asking Kenny to look us in the eye and choose is impossible, so we have to make him show the truth without him even realizing he's doing it. People can't hide the truth in their actions; he might not even think he has the answer, but it's in there, and I already have a plan to get it out of him," Nicole grinned, "All that I need is an agreement between the both of you. An agreement that we are going to settle this whole thing today, one and for all, and the losers...well, they just have to accept it."

Quinn's eyes were wide, and she blew out a now nervous breath, sliding a hand up and through her hair as she thought. Ellie nervously gulped; her heart was pounding hard at just the thought, though the blonde couldn't tell if it was from excitement or just plain fear. "I...I think I can do that...I'm so tired of being strung along at this point. I need to know what we are." Ellie finally said after a few short moments, "I'm willing to do whatever it takes for the truth."

"Fine, yeah, me too," Quinn abruptly agreed with a few quick nods, "If it gets me the truth that I already know is there and makes you both stay the fuck away from him afterward, then okay, I'm in."

Nicole let herself stand tall, looking at the blonde and redhead with near pride, "Excellent,"

"So, this plan, though, what did you have in mind?" Ellie asked back. Nicole pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, let out a throaty laugh, and smacked the start button on the elevator.