The Thing About Secrets...

"Stop it!" Whitney fiercely whispered.

"Stop what?" asked a confused Newt.

"Stop looking like you lost your virginity last night and staring all googly-eyed at me," the buxom blonde continued to whisper.

"I'm not looking at you like that," Newt weakly protested. He thought back to Jared's comment earlier about him looking like he had gotten laid.

"Yes, you are. And people will start wondering if those two are connected pretty damn soon," Whitney pointed out. She exaggerated how fast people would suspect something happened between the two of them, but she was more worried Newt would crack under any questioning and give up her and Skye. "This is part of what I meant last night about not telling anyone what you saw."

"Fine, I won't even look at you anymore," the teenager grumpily replied.

"That's not going to work either. Just stop looking at me like I'm naked," Whitney suggested but stopped from saying anymore when she saw Ramsey coming back to the table with her omelet. I need to find a way to distract this kid. I can't have everyone asking why he's so happy. Maybe since Sean came back, he can take Newt with him to the bunkroom.

"You sure you don't want an omelet, Newt?" Ramsey asked her classmate, who now seemed intently focused on her plate.

"Thanks, but I'm kind of a picky eater."

"Have you ever tried one?" the strawberry blonde asked. Seeing the shake of his head, "You should at least try one bite. Never hurts to try new food, and Lacey's mom makes the best omelets.

"That's okay, Ramsey. Thanks for--," he continued to reject her suggestion before he stopped when he noticed she had cut off a small piece and held it up on her fork. She slowly moved her hand across the table and toward him.

"C'mon, just try one bite. Please? Try it for me," the attractive girl asked sweetly. Newt stared at the beautiful face that regularly enchanted his best friend and gave in. Ramsey gave a little cheer as she brought the fork to his mouth.

Newt took the piece of omelet into his mouth and tentatively swirled it around his mouth as if he was tasting poison. Finally, he started to chew the piece and swallowed it. He looked back over at the Ramsey, who eagerly waited for a verdict.

"I guess it's not too bad."

"See, it never hurts to try new foods. Maybe you can have more later this week," Ramsey happily suggested. Newt shrugged and gave a noncommittal "maybe" in reply.

Whitney, seated at the end of the table and in-between the two teens, watched in surprise at their interaction. Slowly a small smirk appeared as an idea materialized in her mind. Well, well, well, maybe I don't need to wait until we get back to town to find Newt a girlfriend. Possibly Rammy can be the distraction I need for Newt to keep quiet. Holy shit! I can't believe I never considered this idea before. They both are smart, school driven people who have trouble taking the first step and starting a relationship. That won't be an issue this time with me pulling the strings.

Over in the sunroom, the teen who long had a crush on Ramsey sat in a chair only half-listening as Jeff Lockett talked about his dinner plans. Sean handed the older man another log as he started a fire in the small wood stove. The room was relatively cold, but the blond-haired teenager preferred it as a way to avoid Ramsey and Ms. Goose. Where the hell is Lacey? I need to know what her plan is to help me with Ramsey. Did she anticipate needing a backup plan if we didn't go ice skating today?

Instead of Lacey, the outer door to the sunroom opened, with a blast of cold air hitting Sean square in the face, and Owen walked in with Austin slowly following him.

"I'm just saying that you better find some cleaning supplies and clean that room up fast. You don't want Mr. Diamond hearing what you did in there, not after your fight. Oh, good morning!" Owen added at the end in surprise upon seeing unexpected people in the cold sunroom.

"Out of luck there, kiddo. The whole place knows you were praying to the porcelain god last night," chuckled Jeff.

Austin shot a glare over at Sean after hearing this comment.

"Wasn't just me that told them," Sean responded.

"You better hope he doesn't puke anywhere else, like in your bed," Jeff remarked about Austin's pale complexion after he and Owen left the sunroom.

"That would be about right for this trip," sighed Sean, earning him a look of sympathy from the older man.

"Yep, I know that look: girl troubles," Mr. Lockett declared sagely. "You want to talk to a wise old man about it?"

"Thanks, Mr. Lockett, but not right now," an appreciative Sean said. It would be far too weird to talk about Ramsey with the father of his sudden new rival for her affection. Still, Sean felt a little pain in his heart that Jeff offered advice that his own father never had.

"Sure, I understand," Jeff nodded to himself. "Hey, you want to come with us to the store? Might do you a bit of good to get away from here for a little while."

Sean strongly considered the offer but turned it down. "I still need to find a shower to use, and I don't want to keep you all waiting with the weather getting worse. But thanks for the offer, I mean it."

Inside the cabin, Owen gingerly approached the teenagers at the table. "Morning, everyone. Uh, Whitney, can I talk to you for a minute?"

The beautiful blonde stared straight ahead, never once glancing at her boyfriend. "Go ahead and say what you want to say."

"I was, uh, thinking maybe we could talk in private," Owen softly responded.

"Fine," agreed Whitney, with a loud, exaggerated sigh. "Let's talk in my room."

"How are you feeling, Austin?" Ramsey politely asked. It was clear to everyone he looked pale and hungover.

"Ooh, my head still hurts. I'm not drinking tequila any time soon," moaned Austin, with his hand to his head. He then noticed Newt grinning happily at him. "Think that's funny, Denton?"

"Oh, that's not why Newt's happy. He's been like this all morning," Ramsey quickly noted before Austin started something with the shy teenager.

"Whatever. Uh, is Lacey up yet?" the athletic teen asked, looking around the cabin.

"She's downstairs cleaning off her coat. She must have gotten something on it when she went back to your room yesterday," the strawberry blonde informed him. Ramsey was a little concerned about her friend's worried state and why it took her so long downstairs.

Austin gave off a sound between a sigh and grunt when he looked over at more stairs he needed to take. "Guess I better go find her. I know she's going to be pissed at me over yesterday." With that, he slowly stood up and walked over to the stairs.

He was about halfway down when Lacey rounded the corner below him, surprisingly she was with Skye, and the older woman was quietly telling his girlfriend something about waiting to find out.

"Austin!" squeaked the petite redhead in surprise.

"Uh, hey, Lace. Did you finish cleaning your jacket?" her boyfriend asked.

"My jacket! How did you find out?" Lacey exclaimed, nearly falling back down the stairs with her sudden reaction.

"Uh, Rammy told me. Are you okay?" Austin asked as he noticed Skye grabbing her arm to steady his strangely acting girlfriend.

"Oh...yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't want my parents mad at me for another thing, you know," Lacey managed to get out in relief.

"Yeah, your dad has been glaring at me for the last few minutes."

"I think I'll leave you two alone," Skye softly stated. "I'll talk to you in a little bit, Lacey."

"Okay. Thanks for your help." Austin watched in surprise as his girlfriend quickly hugged the hot brunette. He waited until they were alone before remarking about their sudden closeness. "When did you two become friends? Is she giving you lessons about pole dancing?"

Without even a moment's hesitation, Lacey slapped her boyfriend in the chest. In his weakened state, Austin likely would have fallen over from the sharp blow, but luckily for him, he still held the hand-railing for support.

"That's not funny, Austin! You shouldn't assume awful things about people," Lacey furiously told him.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Lace. I was just cracking a joke," Austin apologized. Damn, she must really be mad at me for yesterday to snap at me like that. "Look, I want to say I'm sorry for everything from yesterday. I shouldn't have gotten into a fight, nearly started another one, and then got hammered. I promise I'll behave for the rest of the trip."

Lacey lunged forward, wrapping him in a firm hug. "I'm sorry too, Auss," she sobbed out.

Surprised at his girlfriend's clinging hug and what looked like tears in her eyes, Austin wondered why she was apologizing. "You don't need to apologize, Lace. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I did, Auss. I'm sorry for everything. Please forgive me!" Lacey started sniffling, and that completely confused her boyfriend. Suddenly, she backed up out of their hug with a worried look. "I--uh, mean I'm sorry for not telling you that Rammy was watching us in the bedroom."

"Ah...that's okay. Now that I think about it, your idea was kind of hot," Austin said with a grin, trying to calm his girlfriend down. She's way more emotional than usual. Shit, she's not about to have her period, is she? Wait, it hasn't been anywhere close to a month since her last one. Maybe her dad getting upset over finding out she's not a virgin is really doing a number on her.

"How about we head back up, and I get you something to drink and a little breakfast," Lacey suggested. Seeing the queasy look on his face, she added. "Just something light. You need some food in you, okay."

A few minutes earlier, Sean looked back into the cabin and noticed his mother had come downstairs. Bridget wore one of the same white fluffy robes that Whitney had given them their first night here to wear to the hot tub. Thanking Jeff again for his offer, the teenager made his way into the kitchen.

"--when I come back down, I will. I just came to grab a coffee for now," Bridget told Rachel. "Good morning, sweetie. I hear you were up early today."

"Morning, Mom," Sean said. "Um, can I use the shower in your bathroom?"

"What's wrong with yours?"

"It sounds like my daughter's boyfriend spent the night puking his guts all over their bathroom," Clive gruffly explained while glaring over into the dining room where Austin had taken the seat next to Ramsey.

"Sure, Sean, but you'll have to wait. JoJo was planning to use it in the next few minutes," Bridget informed her son, who looked down in disappointment at having to wait longer to clean up.

"Why don't you use ours?" Rachel offered, surprising Sean. "I should have suggested it earlier, but I guess I was distracted by everything else."

"Are you sure?" queried Sean.

"Yeah, go ahead and use ours," Clive replied for him and his wife, once his attention was drawn away from Austin, as his daughter's boyfriend left the room. "We're going to be cooking breakfast for a little longer. I'm not worried about you taking a beauty shower like one of my girls."

"Thanks! Do you need me to do anything up there for you?" offered Sean in his gratitude.

"No, but you could grab me another dozen eggs out of the fridge? That can be your toll for using our shower," joked Rachel. "Oh, and some more butter. Make sure it's not the margarine."

Sean walked over and opened the refrigerator. It was an oversized unit, but he quickly found the second to last carton of eggs. Finding the butter was another matter. The fridge was stocked quite full, so he had to move items around just to peer inside. With his head inside, he heard some voices but paid little attention.

"See if you can find the sour cream and a couple of tomatoes in there too," instructed Clive, after he had come over. Sean handed the carton of eggs to the older man. I know I saw some sour cream a second ago. Sean still hadn't found any more butter on the shelf he was looking on. "You see any chives in there?"

Sean looked back and up at the older man with a question on his face. He figured the sour cream and maybe the tomatoes were for his mom's omelet, but he'd never seen her eat a chive before. "It's for Skye's omelet," Clive answered the unasked question.

Nodding, Sean went back to work and slowly started to find the ingredients and passed them around to Mr. Stratton.

"You want an egg sandwich? Oh, yeah, I guess he can have one," Clive's muffled voice sounded behind him. His voice grew louder, "Grab those peppers too. Last thing, I swear."

Finishing up, Sean stood up and closed the refrigerator door. When he started to turn around, he was met by a blood-curdling scream and two shattering sounds. His socks suddenly felt wet, as well.

"Lacey! Are you alright?" Rachel screamed out in concern.

"Lacey, Sean, don't move!" Clive ordered from somewhere behind Sean.

Sean looked down to see orange juice splashed all over the floor at his feet. An egg sandwich lay in a couple of parts just beyond the puddle. Pieces of broken glass and a ceramic plate were scattered all over the floor between his feet and a smaller pair just a few feet away.

Looking up, Sean saw Lacey staring at him in horror. Her mother had slowly rounded the kitchen island behind her. She inspected the ground for broken pieces before she made each step. Farther behind Lacey, Sean could see Austin making his way over to check on his girlfriend.

"Lace, what happened?" Rachel asked her frozen daughter.

"I--Sean...I didn't know he was there," she responded in a strained voice.

"But you knew somebody was in the fridge helping your father. I don't get why you would get so startled," Rachel continued.

"I didn't know it was Sean," she said as if that explained everything. The petite redhead then turned and threw herself into her mother's chest and started crying.

Rachel looked down at her daughter's head and then at Sean in both surprise and curiosity. Sean knew his face also shone surprise over what had happened, and he tried to keep the guilt he felt over Lacey's predicament from showing. Yet, he knew he failed as he saw Austin narrow his eyes at him.

"I'm so sorry," Austin's girlfriend sobbed.

"It's okay, honey. Accidents happen," Rachel reassured her daughter, unsure why she was so upset. Sean knew she likely wasn't apologizing to her mother but to her boyfriend. "Why don't you go sit down while we clean up."

Before anyone else could respond, the owner of the cabin reappeared. "What happened?"

"Lacey got startled and dropped a glass and plate," Clive explained as his wife and Austin helped his daughter over to the dining room table.

"Is everyone okay?" Harvey asked, looking at the upset girl.

"I think so. Do you have a broom and dustpan?" Clive continued as he took charge of the cleanup.

"Sure, it's in the pantry closet. Let me get it."

"Sean, you okay, son?" asked Clive.

Snapping out of the thoughts of guilt he had been feeling, Sean looked over at Mr. Stratton. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Look around and slowly step back." The teenager followed the instructions and managed to not step on any pieces of glass.

"You might want to take those socks off, rinse them out and then take that shower," Bridget told her son with a worried look on her face.

Following the advice, Sean left the kitchen, pausing to stop near the table. "I'm sorry I startled you, Lacey."

The red-haired teenager nodded, but Austin gave him a hard look. Great. Now Austin and everyone else in the cabin will wonder what I did to get her so upset. I should have stayed home with Dad.

He walked over toward the stairs and saw Ramsey exiting the bathroom. "What happened?"

"Tarver scared Lace, and she dropped my plate and glass," Sean heard Austin explain to his crush as he went down the foyer to the coat rack. Suddenly, the front door opened, letting in a blast of cold air.

"Oh! Good morning," Mrs. Gettinger greeted, closing the door behind her.

The teen did a double-take at the older woman's attire. Sybil wore a fleece-looking jacket that appeared far too light for the cold temperatures and a matching fleece headband. Swiftly unzipping the jacket, Sybil revealed a couple of layers of tight-looking material that clung to her curves.

"Uh, morning," Sean managed to respond, his eyes roaming over the MILF's assets.

Noticing the teen's reaction, Sybil smiled proudly. Deciding to tease Sean, she stretched with a moan, leading her to arc her back. The move worked as intended as the blond-haired teen's eyes shot wide open.

"Nothing like a good sweat in the morning. It keeps the blood pumping to all the right spots," Mrs. Gettinger stated, glancing down at the front of Sean's pants.

"What? Uh, I mean, right! I gotta...I need to wash these," he declared, holding up his orange juice soaked socks before grabbing his jacket and fleeing downstairs.

Harvey surveyed the now clean floor. "Looks like we got all of it. Wouldn't want anyone stepping on a shard of glass in the middle of the night."

"I'm sorry for the commotion, Harvey. I don't know why Lacey is suddenly so jumpy this morning," apologized Clive.

"No need to apologize. Accidents happen, and I know Lacey is usually a careful girl," Harvey noted before looking around and lowering his voice. "I know it's not my place to say this, but maybe go a little easy on her over what you found out yesterday. Between that and the fight, she might be a little overwhelmed."

Clive nodded as he realized his own actions might be some of the cause of his daughter's mood. "Uh, thanks. I think I'll do that."

Seeing Fred return freshly showered and changed, Harvey asked, "All set? Well, we better get going to the store before the weather gets too bad."

As Jeff and Harvey walked to the front door to grab their coats, Sybil nearly bumped right into them. Both men raised an eyebrow at her attire.

Several feet behind the two men, Skye stopped Fred. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh shit. Sorry, babe. Harv pretty much ordered me to come with them to the store," Fred apologized to his younger girlfriend. "You going to be okay here with all the teenage drama?"

"Sure, I can handle it," Skye replied with a smile. A thought then occurred to her, and she lowered her voice. "Could you pick me up some stain remover if they have any at the store?"

"Did you spill something? I can ask Harv if he has any."

"No, I...uh, got a little...of you on my bikini top when we were in the cavern," Skye hinted in even a quieter voice. "I don't want anyone to know about that."

"Oh! Yeah, I'll make sure to get some if they have it. Might need it for when we have some more fun," Fred said, leering at his gorgeous girlfriend. Skye gave a soft laugh, shook her head, and walked away.

Fred's mood swiftly shifted as he saw his sister talking with Harvey and Jeff. "What did you forget to bring proper clothes?"

"No, dumbass. I just got back from my early morning jog," Sybil replied.

"Jog? It's fucking freezing outside!"

"It's not that bad once you get moving. You should give it a try," the older Singer sibling responded while looking her younger brother up and down. "It looks like you need it."

"I don't need to work out to look good," Fred spat, pushing past his sister to get his coat.

"Well, I do if I want to keep this figure. It's worth the effort, right, boys?" Sybil questioned, bending over to touch her toes with a fake stretch.

"Dude, stop staring at my sister, assholes!" Fred snapped, shoving Jeff and Harvey toward the front door.

Bridget closed her bedroom door behind her with a smirk. That Whitney sure takes after her father; I'll give her that, mused the older woman. On the way towards the stairs, she'd noticed Harvey's daughter and her boyfriend exiting the master suite, with Whitney's hair messed up and a post-orgasm glow on her face. I miss those days when a couple can't keep their hands off each other and sneak off for quickies.

"Did I hear a scream, Mrs. Tarver?" JoJo asked as she came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body.

"Lacey freaked out over seeing Sean when he closed the refrigerator. She dropped a plate on the floor," Bridget replied while she went over to find something to wear. She then paused and looked back at JoJo. "I don't expect you to give away any of my son's secrets, but do you know a reason why seeing Sean would cause her to react like that?"

"Lacey? I have no clue. Honestly," JoJo said in surprise over the situation. The brunette reached into a drawer, pulling out a plain, gray sports bra.

"Oh, you won't be needing that today, JoJo. Ice skating has been canceled until tomorrow. That weather we were worried about is going to be even worse. So it looks like we're stuck inside today. You can wear something a little more dressy underneath," suggested Bridget.

"That's okay, I like wearing these," JoJo replied before getting an embarrassed look on her face. "They, uh, keep me a little more snug, so they aren't noticeable." The teenager then grabbed a sweater and jeans and went back into the bathroom.

Well, I like something nice underneath even if no one else is going to see them, Bridget thought as she pulled out a silver lace bra and panty set. While pulling them on, Bridget had a concerning thought and moved over to JoJo's drawer. Her worst fears were confirmed as all she saw were sports bras and a couple of unflattering plain bras. "Oh, JoJo," Bridget whispered to herself in disappointment. We absolutely are going to work on this selection. Hmm, I really need to talk to Whitney today about helping JoJo dress better.

Bridget tried to think of a way she could bring up the subject when JoJo returned, but her thoughts were interrupted by two loud knocks at the bedroom door.

"Who is it?"