Trading Advice (TF)

Kenny made his way through the White mansion and out through the back door to the impressively large pool. At the far end, he spotted Brian, laid out in a lawn chair, lounging. The blonde was dressed to swim, but he was bone dry; a set of sunglasses sat on his head, letting his blue eyes be shown, and they were vacantly staring out into the distance, lost in thought. Kenny jogged over to his friend, "Brian, man, thank god. I was hoping you'd be home. I really need to talk to you." Brian let out a hum, a mere reaction to the noise, but clearly, he was still in another word. "Brian?"

"Huh?" Brian shook himself out of his trance, "Kenny? Hey man, what's up?"

Kenny raised a brow and eased himself into the seat next to Brian, "I need to talk to you about something..." Kenny leaned forward, looking at the blonde intently, "Are you okay? You look -- Hell, I don't think I've seen you like this before."

"Like what?" Brian **** on a grin and put his sunglasses on, "I'm lounging, dude, no big deal."

"No, you're thinking," Kenny let out a chuckle, "And as rare as that is for you, I can tell you're thinking about something important."

"Dick."

"Come on, man," Kenny gave him a light pat on the arm, "What's up?"

"It's nothing, I'm cool, I'm relaxing." Kenny eyed him a bit harder and Brian slowly let out an exhale, "It's Julie."

"Juliet?" Kenny shifted awkwardly, "Right...I heard about you two, and that night..."

"Oh, uh, I wasn't --"

"You don't gotta explain shit to me, man. Juliet's her own person, I know you're a different guy these days, it's...just not my business what you two do. So if that's what's holding you up, don't worry about my end. I don't care. It's not my relationship."

"Thanks, but that's not what I was talking about." Brian gave a sheepish grin, "Although, you've now made me feel like a shithead for not considering what you would have thought about this."

"I guess it's a good thing I didn't have a problem, otherwise, this wouldn't be going so smooth." Kenny jokingly retorted, "So if it's not me, then what's wrong?"

"Juliet." Brian rolled his eyes, "Nothing I do can convince her I'm not that guy she thinks I am. I know she feels something for me, but it's like when she realizes it, she takes off. I'm not gonna hurt her, or play with her feelings, but she just can't accept it."

"Then don't give up. If you're sure there is something there between you two, then keep pushing. Juliet's stubborn as a damn mule, but you can eventually sway her if it's something she wants."

"Kinda hard to do when she's out on a date with Mike Frost."

"Oh..." Kenny pursed his lips. He had heard time and time again from Brian how bad of a guy Mike actually was, but Kenny always gave Mike the benefit of the doubt. If Brian was a bad guy who changed maybe Mike wasn't nearly as bad as he claimed. He didn't want to judge a whole man's character based off what an ex-friend would say. Even so, knowing it was Mike on a date with Juliet must have stung something fierce. "I didn't know she was dating him."

"Ran into him the other day, unfortunately. He was so fucking happy to tell me that he's going out with her today." Brian shook his head, "I don't get how she can hate me, but gives him a pass."

"If Mike's a bad dude, Juliet will sniff it out; Don't underestimate her." Kenny attempted to assure the teen, "Plus, it's just one date. Don't put yourself out of the race, you can still prove yourself in her eyes if that's what you want, Brian. Just drop any act, and be your genuine self."

"I've been trying..." Brian sighed in response, "Anyway, what about you? You didn't come over here to hear me bitch and moan about my issues."

"When you put it that way, I don't know if I should even ask." The pair shared a short laugh, "It's Claire."

"Oh?"

"Well, not exactly, Claire. It's...Kennedy."

"Ah."

"Ah? What does that mean?"

"I know you didn't come all the way over here to talk to me about Kennedy being a bitch or something simple like that. You're..." Brian lifted his sunglasses back off, "She got to you, huh?"

Kenny's shoulders slumped, "Is it that obvious?"

"For you, yeah." Brian crossed his arms, "What happened? How far did you go?"

"It was an accident. Claire's birthday, we all had drinks, and I took a shower before bed. When I went back to Claire's room and got in bed we....fucked, but come to find out next morning, it was fucking Kennedy in the bed!" Brian tightened his lips, barely holding in a laugh, "It's not funny, man!"

"I'm sorry." Brian chortled, "So that it?"

"I wish. Since then it feels like she's obsessed or something. She won't leave me alone. The flirting is constant, nothing I say makes her leave me be, and just the other day...she...got me to do something else with her in the bathroom."

"So, you like her."

"What?! No I fucking don't!" Kenny defensively exclaimed,

Brian held up a hand, "Alright, damn, easy. You don't like her, got it. So she's seducing you." Kenny seemed to settle at those words, "Then that makes it easier, you need to do two things. Have self control, and stop being so damn nice."

"I'm not being nice, I've told her I didn't want a damn thing to do with her, and she just laughed."

"Because she doesn't believe you. Ken, you're kinda easy to read, so if she thinks that you actually do want something with her, then --"

"I don't! Damn man, I'm dating Claire! Kennedy's fucking evil, why would I want her?!"

"Okay, okay, just relax. I wouldn't be judging one way or the other." Brian merely replied, "But if you really don't, then you gotta be mean Kenny. Not a little harsh, but mean. Call her bitch. Do shit with Claire right in front of her. Tell her to fuck off. I mean if this girl is tricking you, seducing you, forcing your hand. Then you gotta treat her like you said, as some evil bitch. That...and keep your damn dick in your pants. Can't say much more than that. You need to control yourself."

"I know, I know." Kenny groaned, "I still can't believe I let anything happen at all. I feel like such a shit."

"We all make mistakes, and we're dick's once in awhile." Brian lowered his shades once again, "You can trust me on that one." There was a moment of lingering silence, "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"You gonna keep hiding out with me in depression city or are you gonna head on back to your girlfriend, put her bitch sister in her place, and move forward with your life?"

Kenny blinked a few times and stood up, "You're right. I can't keep hiding and let Kennedy chase me off. I'm heading over to set this straight. Thanks Brian." The teen all but stormed out to his car, intent on settling things once and for all.

Brian watched as he left and let out a small chuckle, "He likes queen bitch, what a fucking twist." He softly laughed to himself, just envisioning the two starkly opposite teens somehow together.

Just wanted to apologize for the week wait here. Ended up needing a personal break for a bit. Feeling much better now.