Everyone Returns To The Lodge

Another hour passed by before Kenny, Nicole, Anna, Eric and Zoey all loaded up on the tram car, Nicole was right, it was immediately more awkward than expected. Anna and Eric could hardly look at each other while, thanks to Kenny's earlier blunder; he felt too weird to say anything with Zoey around. A few times Eric and Kenny made some small talk, or Nicole would crack a joke, but it always returned to the same silence. After the longest twenty five minutes of their lives, the tram got to the top of the mountain, Kenny decided to lead ahead of the other back to the lodge, reaching it within another ten minutes.

"Damn, I never knew Brian's dad was this rich," Eric finally said, marveling at the large wooden lodge as it came into view,

"Dude, you don't even know, wait until you see the inside," Kenny smirked back,

"This is awesome, how many rooms?" Zoey curiously asked,

"Just three...which means you two may have to bunk or stay on a couch," Anna replied, hoping that they'd end up sharing, that way nothing could happen between them,

"Don't worry, those couches...so comfortable, right Ken?" Nicole grinned causing the brown haired teen to blush and stare at the ground, not wanting even to dignify that with an answer, "He's a little shy," Nicole jokingly whispered back to Zoey,

"Stop," Kenny groaned back causing an eruption of giggles from the three girls and a low chuckle from Eric,

"I'm just teasing, Kenny, calm down," Nicole said after a moment, "Want me to make it up to you?"

Kenny let out a small sigh that turned into a short laugh, "Is that your go to every time someone gets upset?" Nicole merely raised a brow and shrugged her shoulders, "You know what, yeah, I would like you to make it up to me." Kenny sarcastically said, challenging Nicole playfully,

"Done," Nicole easily said while abruptly grabbing Kenny and shoving him against a tree, the three others watching in some shock, and embarrassment, as Nicole **** her lips on Kenny. Treating him to an extremely rough and hungry kiss that, after a few seconds, he began to return,

"Uh...let's just...go, okay?" Anna stammered out, tearing her eyes away from her friend mauling Kenny,

Eric and Zoey both nodded, each blushing a small amount, as they slowly trudged towards the lodge, Kenny and Nicole both heard Zoey ask, "So, how long have they been dating?"

Kenny's eyes sprung open, his heart now picking up while Nicole slowly pulled back. She immediately smirked and dismissively shook her head, "Dating?" She scoffed, "Like we need to be together to fuck around,"

"Yeah...this is just, casual, or whatever. Right?" Kenny asked back, more asking than agreeing,

Nicole immediately let out a nod, "Exactly, I like you, and I, sure as shit, am loving having you but this here is just, fun. Like I told you this morning," Nicole explained before leaning in, kissing Kenny once again, though this time Kenny couldn't exactly bring himself to kiss her back. His mind was now flowing with different questions, mainly what happens after the trip and is that a good thing for them both in the long run? Nicole's brow raised, and she let out a little hum while pulling away from Kenny, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I just...let's get inside, yeah?" Kenny replied while slipping away from the tree and heading back on the trail, a now confused and disappointed Nicole followed a few steps behind. The pair caught up with their friends only moments later and reached the lodge entrance as a group once more, "Who's that?" Kenny curiously asked as he noticed a blonde haired girl through the window,

"No idea," Anna replied with a curious look as well,

JJ swung open the front door and immediately took a few steps out onto the deck, "Eric! Holy shit, I thought it was you!" JJ exclaimed with a smile, surprised to see his old friend,

"JJ," Eric said with a smile, "Mindy and Brian in there too?" He asked while passing by the others, reaching JJ with Zoey right behind him,

"Yeah, they're both there, who's this?" JJ asked, peering over to the redhead behind Eric,

"My girlfriend, Zoey," Eric replied, "Zoey, this is JJ, he was probably one of my best friends,"

"Probably," JJ smirked back causing them both to chuckle, "Anyway, nice to meet you. My real names James, but James Jackson set me up for that disastrous nickname,"

Zoey let out a small giggle, "Well, it's certainly nice to meet you JJ,"

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Rachel suddenly said as she appeared in the doorway, "Hey there Kenny," She said with a little wave,

"Oh, Rachel! That's who I saw, what's going on?" Kenny replied with a warm smile,

"Crashing up here for a few days with Kailyn," Rachel replied,

"Shit, JJ, you're sister is here too?" Kenny replied, pleasantly surprised,

"I know, right?" JJ chuckled back, "Can't believe Rachel convinced her to come down here for a while,"

"I'm persuasive," Rachel grinned back, "Now Brian tells me, you were off on a liquor run?" Rachel asked as Kenny reached the doorway, "Tsk, tsk, you used to be such a good kid and now look at you. Breaking the law, a regular Jesse James," She teased,

"Actually, I was just there, Nicole's the one with the fake ID. She bought everything," Kenny replied causing Rachel to glance over to the deep red-haired girl,

"Okay, I'm impressed, depending on what you bought, I may be amazed." Rachel said as the two teens followed her inside,

"Oh, you'll be amazed, trust me." Nicole confidently replied as she passed her the bag,

"Who got the rum!?" Rachel happily exclaimed,

"Guess that was me," Kenny shrugged with a quick glance to Nicole,

"My kind of guy!" Rachel laughed back while shaking the bottle slightly, "This is gonna be gone in the first couple hours, mark my words."

"Wow..." Anna mumbled out, "That's Brian's sister?" She asked JJ,

"Yeah, a bit surprised that Kailyn ended up becoming friends with her but, hey, she seems nice enough," JJ shrugged back, "C'mon inside guys, it's fucking cold out here," JJ said as he waved them inside.

Eric eagerly followed JJ inside and took off his jacket and boots, along with the others. He helped Zoey with her jacket and hung it up for her before taking her hand, "C'mon Zoey, let me introduce you to Brian and Mindy, you'll love them," He said with a smile while pulling her along, leaving Anna by the door, a full frown on her face.

A few moments later Anna jumped at the sound of Brian's voice, "Was that Eric, fucking, Roosevelt?" The blonde teen asked while looking up the hallway,

Anna turned and saw Brian stepping out of the kitchen with a curious, almost worried look, "Yeah, it was, hope you don't mind, but I invited him and his new...new girlfriend up for the party," Anna replied, trying to **** a smile,

"Uh, no, sure that's fine Anna, I don't mind," Brian smiled back, internally screaming in anger as with Eric around he doubted Anna would even show him the time of day, "He's already got a new girlfriend?"

"Apparently," Anna replied, sounding slightly cold,

"Huh," Brian nodded before thinking, he then let out a little shrug and turned around, "Sure didn't take him long to move on, huh?" He muttered out, leaving Anna with another thought to stew on.