Zoey Abruptly Stops Things

Kenny lightly pressed forward, letting his body bump against Zoey's while he attempted to lead one of his first french kisses, and thanks to Nicole and Rachel he did have a touch of experience. As Kenny's tongue easily began to push into Zoey's mouth, Zoey's hands began to wrap around his lower back fully. The brown-haired teen's head began to swim; something just felt right about what he was doing with Zoey. Even though that he just met this girl, even after being with multiple girls who he had a closer connection with this week, none held a candle to Zoey. However, Zoey suddenly jolted back, stumbling back a few steps while letting out a few panting breaths, "What's wrong?" Kenny asked with a look of concern,

"I..." Zoey whispered back before licking her lips, hanging her head for a moment, "I don't think I should do this, Kenny,"

"Wait, what? I don't understand..." Kenny replied in confusion,

"I-It's not you," Zoey quickly said with a sincere look, "It's just...I just broke up with my boyfriend today, and I met you a day ago, Ken,"

"But, I...Zoey, you kissed me," Kenny replied, still completely confused by the sudden shift,

"I-I know," Zoey stammered back, "It's not you, you're great, but I can't just do this. I need to make myself stop; I need to have that time to think like we planned," Kenny's face dropped in some clear disappointment, if not hurt, "I just have so many feelings going through my head that I need to stop, sort them out. I want to make sure that if I...if we were to..." Zoey began to say before holding her tongue, "Kenny, I just need to know that I'm feeling something for you and not trying to fill a hole in my heart that Eric left," She softly stated as she closed her eyes, waiting for Kenny say something...anything,

"You're right," Kenny simply said after a moment of silence, "I don't want you ending up regretting anything that we did, and I think I need to think some more too. No, I know I need to think about, well, where we stand,"

"Are you mad?" Zoey sadly asked while glancing up at the teen,

"No," Kenny replied with no hesitation, "Not at all, I'm completely on board with thinking about things,"

"Am I still getting a ride back to the lodge?" Zoey weakly joked with a nervous smile,

Kenny let out a hearty chuckle and dropped Zoey's bag on the bed, "Nope, that's it, Zoey. We are completely, and utterly done. How dare you tell me you want to think about us, I came here expecting one thing," Kenny sarcastically replied while theatrically frowning and throwing his hands up in the air. Zoey smiled wide and let out an amused giggle, "Please, at the very least you should know that I'm not that kind of asshole," Kenny calmly stated while picking the girls bag back up and pulling it over his shoulder,

"Thank you, Kenny, I'm glad that...well, I'm glad that I met a guy of your caliber, it's honestly relieving," Zoey nearly sighed,

Kenny let out a friendly smile and shrugged his shoulders, "What can I say, it's just the kind of guy I am,"

"Yeah, the kind of guy you are," Zoey echoed as she absently stared at the man for a moment before shutting her eyes, breaking from her small trance, "B-Besides, we really shouldn't be doing anything regardless,"

"Because of your dad...shit, you are so right," Kenny whispered as he glanced behind him at the door, half expecting Zoey's father to be standing there with a shotgun aimed at him,

"Well, yes, that," Zoey agreed with a short laugh, "But, you forget about one thing, it's also not fair to Nicole," Kenny raised a brow, indicating the need for some detail, "Oh come on, Ken, you know what I mean. How can you say that you want to talk to Nicole, hope that she doesn't screw around with other guys, but at the same time do something with me? It's a two-way street, if she should be faithful to whatever you two still have, then so should you,"

Zoey instantly saw some guilt fill Kenny's face, "You're right...oh hell, I never even really apologized for everything yet. Even if I didn't seek all this out, I've messed around more than Nicole at this point,"

"Well, you two weren't dating," Zoey lightly argued, trying to relieve some guilt immediately, "I'm talking about this instance is all,"

"Regardless, I need to apologize," Kenny sternly stated as his face tightened up, "You're right, it's not fair to just blame Nicole and remain blameless on my part,"

"I wasn't trying to make you feel ashamed," Zoey said in a worried tone before nervously nibbling on her bottom lip,

"You didn't if I feel that, it's because I did something that I'm ashamed of, you didn't do anything," Kenny replied with a weak smile. The pair went silent once more, Zoey now watching Kenny with a feeling of shame all her own, taking what was a good, lovely moment between them and turning it into a minor shaming of Kenny. Though in the back of her head, she knew it was the right thing to do, the last thing Zoey wanted to do was lead Kenny on by finding out later that she didn't actually want to be with him. "You ready to go?" Kenny finally asked,

"Y-Yeah, I can take my bag if you want..." Zoey offered, trying to find some way to apologize,

"Zoey, it's fine," Kenny easily denied, "C'mon, let's get back to the lodge,"

"Okay, Kenny," Zoey mumbled back while looking down at the floor as she moved past him, opening her door and leading Kenny back out of her house. As Kenny walked to his car and opened up his trunk to put Zoey's bag in, Zoey quickly walked over to her father, "Okay, I'm off, I'll see you in a few days, dad,"

Richard pulled his daughter into a quick hug, "You have a good time, darling, and just give me a call if anything happens. I'll be up there locked and loaded to teach whatever unlucky bastard messed with my daughter," Zoey let out a small laugh as she hugged her father. As she pulled away, Richard raised a brow, "Speaking of which...do I owe Eric a visit?"

"No, dad," Zoey replied with a roll of her eyes, "Things just didn't work out, but I'm fine,"

Richard let out a small nod and looked over Zoey's head at Kenny as he got into the driver seat of his car, "Am I gonna have to give that one a visit? He seems quite taken with you," He remarked with a fatherly protective tone,

"Okay, I'm so out of here before you try and give me the talk again," Zoey said with a small shake of her head, "So again, bye, love you, and please don't kill Eric or Kenny,"

"Mmhmm, I'll think about it for now," Richard chuckled back as he waved his daughter off. He watched her jump into the passenger seat of Kenny's car and gave the pair a final wave as Kenny backed out of the driveway. "Oh boy..." The man said under his breath, "That girl is just as interested in that teenager as he is with her,"