An Old Flame

Kenny watched as the woman leaned back against her mini-van, her head lowered in her hands as she continued to cry harder than ever. "Fuck me...that's just fucking awful," Kenny whispered out, taking one small hesitant step, then another, and before he knew it he was standing by the woman's side, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude but I overheard everything and I...are you alright? Is there anything I can do for you?" Kenny gently said as he inched closer towards her.

The brunette woman finally pulled her head away from her hands, her deep blue eyes puffed up and red while small streaks of her makeup trailed down her cheeks, "K-Kenny ?" The girl sniffed with a weak smile, "Oh my god, Kenny Clark," She said as happily as she could while wiping her eyes with her sleeves,

"You know me?" Kenny asked in confusion,

"It's me, Nicole," The girl replied while taking a step closer to him,

Kenny's head slightly tilted as his eyes squinted, inspecting the woman closer, putting together the connection of Devin as well, "Nicole...wait, Nicole Moore?" Kenny uttered his eyes springing back open, "Holy shit I haven't seen you since..."

"Since your wedding...if you can remember that, I was the plus one for Devin...we didn't really talk," Nicole finished for him with a small shrug, "But if you're going by since talking, I think that would have been ten years now?" She tacked on while pulling the man in for a short hug,

"God, it's hard to believe it's been that long," Kenny softly chuckled, "We got old,"

"I know, it's...it's...oh god," Nicole attempted to reply before a new wave of emotion overwhelmed her, her face pressing into Kenny's chest,

"Oh, Nikki," Kenny whispered back, slowly running his hand up and down the woman's back, doing his best to comfort her, "I...I couldn't believe what I heard; I'm so sorry,"

Nicole pulled back, letting out a controlled breath, and wiped her eyes once more, "It's my own fault, I never should have gotten involved with that...scumbag piece of shit!" She sharply barked out towards the building, her body trembling in anger as she let out a few angry breaths. The pair went silent, Nicole seemingly burned out of all emotion with her final shout, and Kenny unsure, and unable to find something to say to help.

Nicole stepped back from Kenny, a final calm breath leaving her, "I'm sorry, I've been over Devin for a very long time, part of me always knew what kind of guy he was. The only reason I even care to speak to him still is because of Garrett, I can't cut him out of my life without cutting him out of Garrett's. Even if I don't like him...he's Garrett's father and he loves him," She explained in a low tone,

"I understand," Kenny nodded, "You gotta try to do everything possible to give your child the life they deserve." He continued while pushing his hands into his pockets, "I just don't understand how someone can try and ignore their kid like they're not even there. It's...Nikki, I really am sorry that you and Garrett have to deal with that,"

"Thank you,' Nicole whispered back as she took in a long breath, "I've been dealing with this since Garrett was born, but I've told Devin all I want from him is to be there on birthdays and holidays, and even that's too much for that prick. There is always some fucking excuse about his band, or work, anything to weasel out seeing him,"

"Even at three-hundred and sixty-five days, I feel like I'm not around enough for Ellie," Kenny said with a breathy laugh,

"Awe, that's sweet, you have a daughter?" Nicole warmly asked, "How old?"

"Zoey and I had her six years ago," Kenny smiled, "She's turning seven in a few months,"

"Garrett just turned nine last night," Nicole replied as she pulled out her phone, turning it on and showing Kenny a picture of him on her phone. Kenny nodded as he took a look at the brown-haired, blue-eyed child,

"He looks just like you," Kenny remarked, "But you said nine, so you had him when you were only..."

"Nine-teen," Nicole answered for him, "It was just after we got back from that fucked up week at Brian's ski-lodge, you know with those...criminals?" Kenny silently nodding back, a chill running down his spine as he remembered the frightful end of the week, "After everything I did to Anna...to you...I decided I needed to stay away. I ended up going back to Devin since he was someone I knew still liked me and one thing lead to another, and usually, I was always safe but there was this week where I must have missed one of my birth control pills, and well...along came Garrett," She said with a soft giggle, "Of course at the time Devin was all for it, promising to take care of us both once he made it big with his band, and me being the fool still, believed him. Once Garrett was born though, Devin immediately tried to slip away, I know he's just praying that one day I'll stop showing up. Even to this day he still makes me feel like the biggest fucking idiot in the world for believing in all his shit,"

"Nikki, when we were younger, I think we all were a little...impulsive," Kenny easily argued, "And Devin is the type of guy who loves to think about doing the right thing instead of actually doing it. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself, especially since you're taking responsibility and raising your son the best you can,"

"Impulsive, yeah, you can say that again," Nicole echoed with a small scoff, "I was so crazy back then, I mean, just think about you and me back in the lodge. I clearly liked you, but I was so afraid to commit that I ended up not only pushing you away but destroying our friendship,"

"There was some blame on both sides," Kenny lightly defended her with a shake of his head, "We were teenagers, we were trying to figure ourselves out on top of finding out who we wanted in our lives. I just got lucky and found Zoey that week,"

"I was happy for you too," Nicole admitted, "I never would have told you, but whenever I heard you in the hallways during that last year talking about Zoey to JJ or Mindy, I was glad you were happy," Kenny let out a small breathy laugh that slowly faded off and his eyes grew a bit sullen, "So, your daughter," Nicole quickly continued, pulling Kenny back into a conversation, "Her name is Ellie?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, Ellie Michelle Clark," Kenny smiled as he reached back into his pocket, pulling out his phone, "Hang on...uh, this is her at Juliet's house over the summer," Kenny said while pulling up a photo,

"Awwwww, she's adorable!" Nicole said while taking the phone from Kenny's hand, "She looks so much like Zoey, too," Kenny silently nodded back before Nicole froze, her eyes going wide, "Oh my god," She whispered out, "K-Kenny, I am so sorry, I...I completely forgot about Zoey," She nervously stammered,

"It's okay, Nikki," Kenny quietly replied,

"No, it's not, fuck!" She exclaimed, scolding herself for a moment, "Anna told me everything that happened, and I...Kenny, I really wanted to come to the funeral, but I couldn't get any vacation time, and taking care of Garrett by myself when he was younger was so hectic, I couldn't even think about traveling with him. God, I'm so so fucking sorry, that was so rude to forget about...God, I'm sorry,"

"Nicole, seriously, it's not a problem." Kenny firmly stated, "Don't feel bad for having to take care of your family, and for me personally, I don't think it's a terrible thing. Sometimes I wish I could just forget the end, you know?"

"Yeah," Nicole nodded while gently placing her hand on the man's shoulder, "I'm just so sorry that happened to you, I wish I could have been there to try and help you through that, I wish I had been a much better friend to you so I could have helped you,"

"I don't think I'm through it yet," Kenny said with a breathy laugh, "Especially now that I'm living with Brook in our old house, but...thank you, that means a lot. I'm sorry that....that we ended up losing touch too. We should have buried the hatchet a long time ago,"

"Well, I can go get a shovel whenever you're ready," Nicole joked before her phone went off, and she let out a groan, "Oh damn it, shit...sorry, Anna,"

"What's wrong?" Kenny asked in concern,

"Nothing, Anna was doing me a favor by watching Garrett for me while I ran down here but she has to get to work in twenty minutes, I'm gonna make her late," Nicole groaned with a shake of her head,

"Anna Ross?" Kenny clarified causing Nicole to nod as she sent back a text, "She's still in town?"

"Yeah, she left for college but ended up right back in Greenwall, it was nice having her still close like that," Nicole smirked, "We're still thick as thieves,"

"That's great, I'll have reach out and say hello at some point," Kenny suggested with an easy smile,

"You should, honestly, you may end up needing her. She teaches elementary in the mornings and runs a late afternoon daycare, if you ever need someone to watch Ellie, she'd be your girl," Nicole replied to Kenny's surprise,

"Wow, I wouldn't have expected that, I figured she'd...I don't know but wasn't thinking that," Kenny chuckled,

"I know right?" Nicole agreed sharing the laugh, "Well, I have to run but..." Nicole said while tucking her phone away and smiling sweetly at the man, "We should meet up sometime this week, maybe set up a play date for Garrett and Ellie,"

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea," Kenny nodded only raise his brow as Nicole nervously bit on her lower lip before snatching Kenny's phone from his hand and quickly adding her number, "Oh..."

"Yeah, I'll give you a call, or text, or whatever..." She said with a rather sheepish smile, "It was great to see you,"

"You too," Kenny agreed while stepping towards the brunette woman and giving her another tight hug. "Glad you're still keeping up with the, uh, you know, hair thing," The man finished while motioning to the strip of blue hair,

"Some things never change, Clark," Nicole merely replied. With that Nicole got back into her van and with a final wave to Kenny, drove out of the parking lot. Kenny wet his lips and began to wander back towards Brook's car, he was happy to reconnect with his old friends today, and on top of everything else, he may have found Ellie a new friend. As Kenny got back into the car, he pulled out his phone and stared at the new contact, thinking the brunette girl's nervous smile she flashed him on her way out. It caused an odd feeling, one that he hadn't felt in a long time.