No, We Don't Come Easy

January 28th, 2009

Kennedy's plan was to exile himself in the house all day. To soak up all the warmth he could before he had to go out again. He was seated in front of his MacBook, which was sat on the coffee table. He turned it on, went through his long and stressful e-mails, then checked his MySpace and replied to as many fans as he could.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, then stretched his arms as far as he could up into the air and let out a rather large yawn, his mouth wide open. Regretfully, he stood up from the couch and dragged himself to the bathroom. He grimaced at his reflection in the mirror, seeing as his hair was sticking up every which way and he had a little something like bags forming under his eyes. They were a light shade of red now, but Kennedy knew they'd be purple by the end of the day.

He didn't have the energy to take a shower, so he simply put some deodorant on, brushed his teeth and washed his face. Then he got a brush from one of the bathroom drawers and ran it through his messy hair, hoping to flatten it. He sneered, as the brush didn't do anything for Kennedy's wild hair.

He knew Trent would be at work by now, and was surprised they didn't let him stay home because of all the ice. He guessed that maybe they were simply used to it being icy all the time here. He sighed as he put some water on his hair, then flattened it more. Nothing was cooperating with him today. At least in his eyes, nothing was. Then he walked to the kitchen and searched through his brother's pantry, his stomach grumbling all the while. He suddenly regretted not eating dinner the night before. Remember his dinner, he opened the refrigerator. His plate of steak, mashed potatoes, string beans and a roll sat there still with ceramic wrap surrounding it. Kennedy smiled to himself and took the plate out. He ripped the ceramic wrap off the plate and stuck the food into the microwaver, setting the timer on two minutes.

Then Kennedy strolled over to the coffee maker and smiled when he saw a half-ful pot of the brown liquid still sitting there. He stood on his tip-toes and reached to the top shelf of the cabinet above the coffee pot and got down a brown mug, then poured himself some coffee. It was still steaming and Kennedy smiled to himself again, letting the liquid pour down his scratchy throat. His throat was always sore in the mornings, and he always needed some good hot liquid to cure it.

Kennedy had to take a second glance of the piece of paper taped onto the coffee maker. He furrowed his eyebrows, then pulled it off the pot and silently read it.

At least do something productive today. Maybe shovel the driveway? Do some laundry? Maybe the dishes? SOMETHING, Kennedy. Please?

Love you man,
Trent.

Kennedy groaned with complaint as he read the note over and over again. He really was planning on doing absolutely nothing today. But he guessed that day would have to wait for another. He sighed and set his mug down on the marble counter, then looked around the kitchen. There weren't many dishes to do, so he decided to start on them first. He quickly washed every plate, cup, fork, knife and spoon, then smiled, proud of himself. There. Something productive. He then realized that he was running out of clothes to wear during his visit, so he gathered all his dirty laundry and made his way towards the laundry room, which was in the garage. The rather cold garage. It was very stuffy in the garage, so Kennedy opened the garage door, letting the fresh air come in.

The girl came outside her house to get the mail when she saw the boy doing laundry in the garage. She decided to watch because she thought that watching him struggle was rather entertaining on her part. He hadn't even separated his colors, which confused the girl. Everyone knows that you're supposed to separate your laundry. He just dumped all the clothes in at once and the girl chuckled to herself, then shook her head. He obviously didn't know what he was doing. The girl sighed and slowly walked up to Trent's house. She'd known Trent ever since he moved in, but didn't know that another boy was living with him.

"Having trouble?" She asked, causing Kennedy to jump out of his skin. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. It's just - you look like you're having a bit of trouble." She chuckled, causing him to laugh slightly and scratch the back of his neck.

"Ah, no. I'm doing fine, thanks." He smiled. "By the way - thanks for, uh, helping me last night."

"No problem," she smirked. "Are you living here with Trent?"

"Yeah," he smiled softly. "I'm his brother."

"I didn't know Trent had a brother," she gave him a crooked smile. "You got a name?"

"Kennedy," he smiled. "Do you?"

"Do I what?" She smirked again.

"Have - have a name," he laughed, feeling stupid.

"Maybe," She chuckled. "Well, if you're all set then I guess I'll leave you alone. Tell Trent I said 'hi,' by the way."

"Alright," Kennedy nodded his head 'yes,' then smiled as she walked away.

"Have fun, Kennedy."

"I'm sure I will," he sighed, then smiled wide once she was off the driveway. "Wow."

"Kennedy!" She called out, causing him to look up again. "You're supposed to separate the colors, you know!"

Kennedy cocked his head to the side, not knowing what she was talking about for a second, so he shrugged and jumped when the beeper for the washer went off, signaling him that his clothes were done washing. He opened the washer and his eyes went wide when he noticed all his clothes were pink.

"Fuck!" He yelled, causing the girl to laugh and walk back into her house.

Trent arrived at the house around three-thirty, and furrowed his eyebrows together when he saw Kennedy sitting on the couch, his chin resting on his hand, pouting at his clothes in front of him. He laughed, holding his stomach. "Do you even know how to do laundry, man?"

"Mom always did it for me," he shrugged, then groaned. "What am I going to do?"

"Don't ask me," he chuckled again. "I see you did the dishes. Thanks, man."

"No problem," he sighed. "I can't walk around with pink clothes, Trent."

"Well you could," he shrugged, then smiled over at Kennedy and started laughing again. "But you'd look rather rediculous, I think. All the girls would be all over you even more if you walked around with pink dangling off your shoulders."

"Shut up," Kennedy shook his head, then stood up from the couch and sighed. "You're not helping, man."

Trent laughed and shook his head at Kennedy, "I wasn't planning on it."

Later that day, Kennedy walked outside to get something out of his car when he saw the same girl outside shoveling more snow. She smiled up at him and waved. He waved back, then unlocked his car. Again, he desperately tried to open the front door, then he gave up after about five minutes. The girl chuckled and walked over to Kennedy, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

"Need some help?" She laughed and smiled up at him. He was much taller than her, probably more than five inches at least.

"Psh," he shook his head and tried to open the door again. "Yeah." She shrugged.

"It'd help a little if you've lived here your whole life," she smirked, then tugged the door open.

"Thanks," he smiled, impressed with her. "You know, I never, uh, got your name?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Don't laugh."

"Why would I laugh?" He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I just don't really like my name."

"Well, I don't know if I'm going to laugh or not, seeing as you won't tell me what it is."

"Fine," she sighed again. "It's Winnefred." Kennedy smiled softly. "But people usually call me Wendy. Which is even worse."

"Now that's not that bad," Kennedy rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"It is when people expect you to either have red hair in pigtails and say, 'It's waaaaaaay better than fast food, it's Wendy's!' Or, when they expect me to have a boyfriend named Peter that's forever young." Kennedy laughed and shook his head, then got what he needed out of his car. "So, where are you from anyway?"

"Phoenix," He said flatly, starting to miss home even more.

"Arizona?" She asked and he nodded. "Oh, well then. Now I get it."

"Get what?" He chuckled.

"Why you suck at all this," she laughed, gesturing her arms around the ice and snow covering the roads and trees.

"At what?"

"Surviving," she smirked. "I figured you weren't from the north."

"Neither is Trent."

"Yeah, but Trent's been living here for four years now. He's gotten the hang of it." Wendy looked on the side of his face and saw a rather large bruise. "Did you bruise your head from that fall last night?" She chuckled, touching his face lightly, causing Kennedy to blush.

"Nah," he laughed. "A kid hit me with a snowball."

"Oh, that was you, wasn't it?" She grimaced, then shook her head as he nodded. "I'm so sorry. My brother's just - well, he's ten. You know how they are." Kennedy nodded, showing he understood. "But, he's my brother. He's a pain and all, but I'd do anything for him."

"I'd do anything to go back home," Kennedy shook his head.

"But I swear, you haven't seen Minnesota like I have!" She exclaimed, smiling. "There's tons of stuff to do here. And it's beautiful, on top of that."

"I think that depends on your definition of 'beautiful,' " Kennedy laughed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well, what's your definition of beautiful, Kennedy?" She raised her eyebrows, and Kennedy blushed again.

You.

"I don't know, eighty degree weather?" He chuckled. There was a moment of silence before Wendy smiled.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you, Kennedy, but I have a brother to beat the shit out of," she smiled softly and started walking backwards, keeping her gaze on him. She found him rather attractive. "If you ever get bored, I'm right across the street. I'll show you things you've never seen before, Kennedy." She smirked as he waved.

"Bye," he muttered, then took a deep breath and walked back into his brother's house.

"I see you've met Wendy," he chuckled. "You know, she works at a bar downtown. We should go there tonight. I know a few friends who are going, and I think you'd like them." Kennedy shrugged.

Kennendy dressed in a grey and black sweater, a simple pair of jeans and his Converse Chuck Taylors. Then he and his brother walked out of the house and to Trent's car. Kennedy was excited to see Wendy. Something about her, besides her beauty, had intrigued him.

Once they had arrived at the bar, Kennedy ordered a Coors Light and sipped it down in a matter of a half an hour. Wendy had emerged from the back kitchen and smiled at Kennedy, then wiped her hands on her apron.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said in a British accent, causing Kennedy to smile. "I'm guessing you came with Trent?"

"I'm guessing you're right," he slurred a bit, and Wendy smiled.

Two hours later, Wendy was off her shift, and Kennedy was too drunk to drive. Trent had abandoned him and went somewhere with his friends because he thought Kennedy was in 'good hands.' Wendy bit her lip and didn't know what to do. Then she decided she'd drive him home and help him into Trent's house, and that's all she'd do. It won't be that big of a deal, she thought, then sighed and started to get Kennedy off the bar stool. "Come on." She grunted and got his arm slung over his shoulder. "I think you've had enough." She chuckled.

"Some people say that - hiccup - when you're dr - drunkin' - the truth come out," he laughed, causing Wendy to chuckle. She thought he was being way too cute right now. "Did you know that, Wendy-cheeks?"

Wendy got him safely into the car and drove quickly to their street. She knew that getting Kennedy up the steep driveway would be a hard task, and she had braced herself for it. "Alright, Kennedy. Time to get up again. Let's go." He groaned, then giggled, then groaned again and laughed again all the while, Wendy was dragging him up the driveway, slipping a few times. She made it safely to the door, though. "Kennedy, do you have any keys?" He muttered something about Spongebob, then handed her a set of keys. Wendy sighed and stuck the key in the door, but it wasn't the right one.

"It's the thing, one with the - with the - red!" He yelled and Wendy sighed.

"Shh!" She scolded, putting her hand over his mouth. "You're going to wake the neighbors!" She stuck the key with the red in it and sure enough, the door opened. "Thank God."

She dragged him to the living room. "I sleep on da couch," he giggled, then stumbled a little, causing Wendy to lose balance the slightest bit. "Trent don't love me, no he don't. Trent don't love me no more." He sang this in a country accent, causing Wendy to give him the strangest look.

"Whoa," she said, then set him gently on the couch as he stumbled again. "Do you feel sick?" She asked and he shook his head. "That's good."

"Can I - can I whisper tell you something?" He giggled.

Wendy sighed, "Sure."

Kennedy giggled again, then pulled her onto the couch, making her sit next to him. "You're cute."

Then he passed out.

Wendy sighed and scratched her forehead, Well this is great.