Morning comes

Chloe awoke a few hours later after her early morning bathroom visit and stretched. She lazily regarded Kurt in the opposite bed, lying in a very uncomfortable position with his butt hoisted in the air and his head planted on the pillow. His mouth had fallen open and drool soaked the pillow slightly. Gross.

She wandered out the door and headed for the breakfast nook. Passing through the kitchen, she saw Zack playfully grab Victoria as she cooked an omelette in a skillet. She laughed and threatened him with the skillet if he didn't behave. Zack smiled broadly and pulled her into a kiss.

Chloe grinned, then lightly coughed to make her presence known. Zack darted his eyes to her in mid-kiss, then went tomato red.

"Chl--," he swallowed her name in a cough.

"I see you two are getting along!" She ran up to Zack and nearly tackled him in a hug. She danced against him, bouncing with you. Zack looked at Victoria and she started to snicker in bemusement. "I knew it! I knew it!" She suddenly turned to Victoria with a dead serious look and pointing finger. "Now you treat him right."

Victoria laughed out loud. "Don't worry Chloe, I know how to do just that." Last night appeared clearly in her head and she flashed a sly grin to Zack.

"Good!" Chloe said and pounced on Victoria, making her nearly drop the omelette.

"You guys," Zack said. "Hey, Chloe, where's Kurt?"

"Dead asleep still. Or dead, I really don't care which."

"He didn't try anything did he?"

"I was passed out, but I doubt it." Chloe moved to the dining room door. "I get the feeling his bark is worse than his bite, Zack. No worries, but thank you for the concern." She pecks him on the cheek before leaving.

Victoria regards that for a moment, but forget about it when Zack sidles up behind her again. She smiles and says, "Down boy, later, later!"

"Oh but I know you like the teasing," Zack whispers.

"Zacky," she groans. "Bad boy..."

That was how Ashley found them when she walked into the kitchen. "Oh for fuck's sake," she said, quickly turning away and into a wall.

"Ash!" Victoria ran over to her friend and steadied her through her shoulders. "You okay? Looked like you tripped!"

"Yeah let's go with that," Ashley mumbled, then more loudly stated, "Yeah, I'm fine Vicky." Ashley shook away the impact, tussling her blonde head more than it already was. She took a whiff of the air to change the subject. "Breakfast?"

"Omelettes!" Zack said happily.

"Bell pepper and paprika, garlic and mushroom, and fennel and onion. Heather's family keeps the house well stocked." Victoria returns to the range. "Almost done! I'll be there in a minute." She kissed Zack before he leaves for the nook.

Ashley deliberately waited before following. Being close to Zack right now probably wasn't a good idea for her.

Breakfast proceeded smoothly for Ashley. Brandon joined them not too long after she sat down and she enjoyed the morning kiss he gave her. Gavin and Heather stumbled in with oversized bags hanging beneath their eyes. Both spat out a story about playing with Gavin's handheld game until around 6 before they passed out. Since it was around 9:30 now, the three hours of sleep showed. As breakfast picked up however so did they, so much that Heather insisted on hiking this afternoon.

Kurt wandered in about that time, scratching his head and yawning obnoxiously. He wolfed down three omelettes before Heather had to slap a "thank you" to Victoria out of him. Breakfast too lifted his energy level, and, as everyone talked, Ashley noticed the lecherous stare he fixed on Chloe. She knew Heather's cousin was a misogynistic asswipe only interested in sticking his dick into as much pussy as he could handle, but this stare was the most intense Ashley had seen on him. She grimaced, and made the mental note of trying to keep Chloe away from him. Chloe seemed completely oblivious, laughing away with Zack and Victoria at the time. She should really tell Zack, but that thought lead to the image of Zack's package lit by early morning sunshine, and she stopped herself again.

"So it's decided!" Heather said animatedly, snapping Ashley back to reality. "Kurt, Brandon, and Chloe, you're going hiking with me."

"Say what?" Ashley said.

"Do you mind, babe?" Brandon asked.

"No, no, uh, have fun honey." She kissed him. "I just zoned out for a sec, getting a little exercise?"

"No gym out here, so yeah." He smiled such a genuine smile at her that she returned it. "It'll be for a few hours, we'll be back for lunch."

"Same here," Chloe added. "Gotta keep up that soccer stamina!"

Kurt grinned, but Heather then continued. "Kurt, you'll be with me. Those two just wanna 'work out,' I wanna explore."

"What?" Kurt said gravely. "I thought I could go with Ch--"

"Hell no! C'mon, it'll be like when we were kids!" Heather leapt from the table with Kurt in tow. His face was the epitome of frustration.

"Gavin, were you going birding?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah? I have a pair of binoculars with me," He replied.

"Mind if I go with you?"

"You're into birding?"

"Yeah, why not?" Victoria chuckled. "You'd be surprised, cheerleaders are people too Gavin."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"I'm teasing." Smiling, she bent down and ran a hand through Zack's blond locks. "I'll be back." Zack grinned like a boy in a candy store.

As everyone filed out, Ashley realized that the only person left was... oh boy.

"Guess it's just us!' Zack said, looking at Ashley. "Anything you'd like to do?"

Ashley's stomach churned under a racing heart.