Hangovers And Hikes (HD)

The four teens woke early the next morning, and two of them were just about dragging themselves down to the kitchen. A small platter of breakfast was laid out, all good food to soak up leftover **** and kill hangovers. Brian walked around the dining table to his seat, shaking two bottles and setting one in front of Kenny, who let out a groan just from the sound of it hitting the table. "That's your first serious hangover, isn't it?" Brian smirked. Even though Brian might as well have been a professional when it came to drinking, his red tired eyes and pale face still showed that he too was struggling, "Drink that, it's my special tonic, give it like an hour, you'll be feeling right as rain again."

Kenny let out a low mumble, cracked the bottle open, and took a swig alongside Brian. "I am never drinking like that again, message received,"

"I don't know, you were pretty fun last night," Gwen took a bite of her eggs with a bemused smile, "You kept right up with Brian," Kenny had some foggy, hazy memories of the previous night with the multi-colored-haired heiress, but not nearly enough to remember just how far things got with her. "And he was fun, right, Anna?"

Anna let out her own moan of despair and kept her head laid down on the table, her arms cupped around it, shielding her eyes from the blinding sunlight. "Anna, I'm telling you, drink that tonic I made you; you'll feel so much better. I promise."

"How are you two okay right now? I drank the least, and my head is pounding like a drum," Anna pouted as she **** herself up in her seat and grabbed her drink, cracking it open and taking a small feeble sip, "I hate this. I really, really, hate this."

"Must be your first hangover, huh?" Gwen looked sympathetically as she received a nod back, "One thing that always helped me was fresh cool air. We should probably go outside after breakfast,"

"Sounds good to me," Brian agreed and gave Kenny a quick slap on the shoulder, "Don't it, Ken?"

"Sure...whatever..." Kenny mumbled as he focused on sipping his drink, "Stupid whiskey..."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, tiger," Gwen grinned, "You proved your guile last night," Anna lifted her head and glanced over at Kenny, "You drank this guy under the table." Gwen finished with a laugh as she thumbed to Brian, "And you had to help him to bed!"

"Okay, okay," Brian rolled his eyes, "Excuse me for being a little bit smaller than Kenny; less body mass means I tolerate less,"

"Sure, sure," Gwen waved off with a teasing wink before looking back at Anna, who still looked green around the gills, "Aw, honey, you really need to drink that and eat your eggs."

"I'm trying..." Anna nodded as she took a few bites of eggs, though her green eyes didn't once lift to look at Gwen.

At the same moment, Brian leaned over to Kenny, "Yo, listen, you need to do me a solid today, alright?" Kenny let out a small confused hum and looked over at his friend, "Thanks to your little stunt last night, things didn't exactly go to plan, so do me a solid today, and when we go out hiking, break off with Gwen or something for a bit. I want to get some alone time with Anna,"

Any standard tolerance and control Kenny usually had were no longer present this morning. "What?" Kenny snapped back with a frown, "What are you talking about?"

Brian tilted his head, a small frown on his face as well now, "What do I mean? I mean, I want to get some time alone with just Anna, and I'm asking you to help. Just like I helped you so you could get some time alone with Gwen...remember?"

"So what...did you and Anna sleep together already?" Kenny asked back, and Brian raised an eyebrow,

"Why are you asking me that?" He retorted, only for Kenny to shrug, "It's not -- That's not what we're talking about; I'm asking for a solid here. Will you help me out?"

Kenny let out a low sigh, "Yeah," He reluctantly agreed, feeling sick to his stomach for accepting but reminding himself that he had no horse in the race for Anna anymore. They were friends only, and she was allowed to be with Brian if she wanted to. "I'll help,"

"Thanks, man," Brian happily gave him a smack on the shoulder and sat back up in his chair, digging into his breakfast with glee.

Close to an hour later, the four teens were making their way up the mostly cleared trails of Kaster Mountain heading towards the peak. Brian and Anna were leading in the front with Gwen behind them and Kenny lagging at the back. He was, as expected, still a mix of emotions as he watched Anna and Brian making small talk. Why he couldn't shake this feeling of resentment was beyond him.

"We'll be passing by the hot spring caves pretty quick, but I want us to push a bit further. Since we're actually up this far, there is this amazing scenic overlook near the peak that I just have to show you," Brian grinned to Anna who sweetly smiled back and nodded, "How are you feeling by the way? That tonic work?"

"Yeah, and the fresh air," Anna took in a long inhale, "My headache is almost gone actually,"

"That's great," Brian lifted his hand and very lightly rested it on Anna's back for a few seconds.

Kenny diverted his gaze, "What's up with you?" The teen glanced to his left, now finding Gwen at his side, matching his slower pace, "You look miserable,"

No matter how annoyed or jealous Kenny was feeling over Anna, he couldn't help but feel immediately improved each time he found Gwen near him. The very fact that the heiress had been growing so much closer to him was something he was beyond grateful for, "I'm...tired," Kenny gave a half smile, "I wasn't exactly ready for a hike. I was hoping to relax,"

Gwen let out a warm, honey-like laugh, "Lucky for you, we're stopping at a hot spring soon. You can get all the rest and relaxation you want then," Gwen pursed her lips and leaned closer to him, "And once we're back at the lodge, I can help you relax my way," Kenny grinned and Gwen gave him a wink.

She's so fucking awesome...cool, relaxed, sexy as all hell, and actually into me. How I ever even had a damn chance with her is beyond me. Kenny thought before a rush of guilt started to seep into his head. And I'm worried about Anna and Brian still? I can't believe I keep running in this damn circle over and over. Kenny frowned, internally kicking himself for once again ignoring what was in front of him and instead focusing on a pipe dream.

"Oh sweet, this is the split off," Brian suddenly announced, "We follow the right trail for a bit longer and we'll hit that peak in no time. Then we come back, take the left trail, and we can relax for a bit at the springs," Brian glanced back to Kenny and Gwen, and he immediately saw his friend give him a knowing eye.

"Dude, I'm pretty freaking beat," Kenny announced and Brian's brow lifted, "I think I need to break here, maybe just go chill at the springs for a little bit. Sorry,"

"I can honestly get behind that, the mountain is nice, but I've seen enough of them in Sweden and Norway on vacation," Gwen immediately agreed,

"Oh yeah?" Brian replied, doing his best to fight off a thankful grin, "You mind if we still go for it?"

Kenny stood tall, feigning a stretch, "Yeah you two go ahead, I don't want to hold you back," He ushered them off with a wave of his hand,

Brian looked at Anna, "You still up for it? I promise the view is worth it," He promised in a very hopeful tone,

"Oh...um, sure Brian, we can still go and then, meet up with you two in a bit?" Kenny nodded and Gwen gave a thumbs up,

"Sweet," Brian immediately turned around, putting an around the small of Anna's back, leading her off, "Trust me, you're not gonna regret this."

As Brian and Anna made distance, disappearing further up the mountain, Gwen crossed her arms, looking Kenny over, "That tired huh?" The two shared a long gaze, "So does that mean I'm going to be disappointed today?"

"Hardly," Kenny grinned, reaching out and taking Gwen's hand, "Let's check out these springs," Gwen smiled wide, letting Kenny pull her along with an extra skip in her step.