A New Future

"The four men arrested earlier last week on Kastor mountain have officially been identified. Quentin Frost, Terrence Hanson, as well as, John and Henry Bates were taken into custody after the four took a group of teenagers hostage at Leonard White's Ski Lodge. Reports say that Quentin Frost was the leader of this terrifying attack, doing severe damage to Lenoard White's mineshaft before going after his very own children and the friends that were staying with them. It is unclear what Mr.Frost's plans were and thankfully it was stopped by the bravery of the ten teenagers they took hostage as well as one very brave veteran, Richard Irons,"

"God, please turn that off, I really don't want to see JJ explaining the whole thing to the news for the tenth time this week," Kenny weakly begged Zoey who let out a small giggle, walking over and turning the channel,

"JJ, Eric, Kailyn, all of you kids, you were heroes that day," Andera Clark said while putting her hand comfortingly on Kenny's,

"I am so damn proud of you Kenny, I can't even tell you how much," Kenny's father Ethan added on with a warm smile.

"Thanks, Dad," Kenny smiled back,

Kenny let out a groan and pulled himself up in his hospital bed, Zoey let out a concerned hum and swiftly moved to his side, helping sit him up, "Careful, you're still healing and-" She started to warn as Kenny carefully rolled his bandaged shoulder,

"I know, I know, I gotta be careful," Kenny softly chuckled back, taking Zoey's hand and giving it a loving squeeze,

Just then the door to Kenny's room opened and Richard stepped into the room, "There he is, looking better every day," The red-haired man grinned as he reached his bedside,

"Hey Mr.Irons," Kenny nodded back,

"Oh no Dad, is it really time already? I just got here!" Zoey pouted, his shoulders shrinking down and her eyes dropping,

"Darling, you've been here for three hours, your mother wants you home for dinner," Richard replied before going quiet, watching Zoey's sad eyes stare back at him. He let out a low exhale and turned to Ethan, "Cup of coffee?" He simply asked,

"Sure," Ethan lightly laughed back, all too familiar with the routine,

"Ten minutes baby, then we gotta go, your mom will kill me if we let her dinner get cold again," Richard said with a quick wag of his finger, "Kenny, good to see you again, feel better, son," Richard added on, giving the teen a firm pat on the leg before he and Ethan headed out of the room.

"Mom, think you could give us a few?" Kenny quickly asked, his eyes pleading,

Andrea reluctantly got to her feet, "Okay...just, call out if you need me, honey," She said before stepping out of the room leaving Zoey and Kenny alone.

As soon as the door shut Zoey's lips were pressed against Kenny's, their eyes shut, her hands cupping his face while Kenny's free hand laced through her amber hair. "I don't want to go," Zoey nearly sniffed as their kiss broke, "I want to stay with you,"

"I want that too, honestly having my parents here all day every day is killing me," Kenny lightly joked back before pressing his forehead against Zoey's, "Not being with you is killing me more,"

"I'll be back first thing tomorrow, I promise," Zoey whispered back, "And in a few days when you get out of here, you can spend the weekend at my house,"

"I like that idea," Kenny nodded back, "As long as we'll be able to...keep your door closed,"

"Most definitely," Zoey whispered back with a pleased giggle. Kenny pressed his lips against Zoey's once more before they finally pulled away, knowing anything more may get the best of them,

"Mindy and Brian came by earlier," Kenny said while clearing his throat, ignoring his racing heart as his eyes traced Zoey's figure, "They, uh, wanted to hang out with us when I get out too,"

"That would be nice," Zoey nodded as she pushed the loose strands of hair from her face, "I'm happy those two are spending so much time together,"

"Mindy did seem really happy," Kenny nodded back, "Hell, even better news was that Anna and Nikki came by too, together even,"

"Really?" Zoey asked in surprise,

"Yeah, it was short, Nikki and I didn't talk too much but Anna talked to me for a bit. Neither have talked to Eric apparently but Anna said she and Nicole are starting to talk and were going to the mall after seeing me. So I guess things will start to get back to normal for them, but it's clearly gonna take some time," Kenny explained,

"Anna really is too sweet for her own good, I swear," Zoey sighed with a shake of her head, not fully approving, "Oh! Did I tell you about Kailyn?" Kenny shook his head, "The other day when Brian was getting out of here I bumped into her and Rachel in the hallway. We talked for a few minutes and apparently, she talked to her mom and she's going to represent John in the trial. She's pushing for a reduced sentence, but Henry like Terry and Quentin aren't going to be getting out any time soon,"

Kenny let out a slow exhale, "It sucks when you can see someone doing something wrong but knowing they aren't a bad person," He muttered as he thought about the older man, "Hopefully he can help his son, they were both used by those assholes,"

"I know," Zoey agreed. Just then they heard a soft tap on the door and looking over Zoey could see Richard's face through the small window of the door. The redhead let out a long, pained exhale and nodded. She walked back to Kenny's side and leaned forward, planting a long, deep, loving kiss on his lips, "I love you, Kenny,"

"I love you too," Kenny warmly replied, "See you tomorrow?"

"You can count on it," Zoey smiled back heading towards the door of his hospital room. As she opened the door and glanced back and the pair shared a final loving look before she finally left.

Kenny let his head fall back against his pillow and he let out a low sigh, "Hey, hey, hey, none of that shit! This is my time, not Kenny's depressing time!" JJ loudly said as he stepped into the room. Kenny couldn't help but break out into a short but hearty laugh as he looked over to his friend, "Hey, check this out, Brian was talking to me, and apparently, his dad felt so bad about what happened he's offered to fly all of us out to his private resort out in the Caymans for a whole month!"

"Holy shit!" Kenny grinned, immediately thinking of soaking in the sun with Zoey by his side all day, every day, for a month straight. JJ then grabbed his bag and moved over to the television, hooking up a game console he brought with him for the pair to play, "You know, I've thought a lot about that whole trip,"

"Yeah? And let me guess, you wish...you fucked Anna too?" JJ joked back,

"No asshole," Kenny retorted with a laugh as JJ brought him over a control, dropping it on his lap, "No, I was thinking, it was all fucking worth it,"

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Alright everyone, holy shit, it finally happened, I finished the thread after all this time! It was probably one of the best rides I've ever taken in a story and I couldn't be happier with how it wrapped up! I'd really love to hear what you thought about it, what your favorite moment was, what you wished happened, and even what you'd want to see next! Also, if you enjoyed this story as a whole, it'd mean the world to me if you dropped one final like for the whole thread on this chapter! Thank you to everyone who stuck around, liked, commented, read, and just enjoyed my work for all this time!