VANILLA, BABY • KENICKIE

SEVENTEEN

SEVENTEEN - Out in the Open

The week stretched long and heavy, every hallway at Rydell buzzing with whispers. After the dance, no one needed confirmation that Ducky and Kenickie were back together, or at least that's what everyone assumed.

But it wasn't that simple.

Every time she passed him in the halls, his eyes found hers. Sometimes it was just a flicker, a glance like he couldn't help himself. Other times it lingered, sharp enough to burn. She felt it in her bones, the pull between them, the weight of everything unsaid.

And still, she kept her distance.

At lunch, she sat with Frenchy and Sandy, forcing herself not to glance toward the T-Birds' table where Kenickie leaned back in his chair, trying too hard to look unbothered. In biology, she focused on her notes instead of the heat prickling at the back of her neck when he walked by the classroom door.

Because the truth was, Ducky couldn't give herself to him, not yet.

She needed space. Space to breathe, to piece herself back together after months of lies and secrets. Her father had tried to control her life with his fists and his threats. Her mother had stood by in silence. Even Kenickie, for all his love, had left her in the dark when she needed him most because her father told him to.

Every person she loved had betrayed her in one way or another.

Until she fixed things at home, until she faced her father head-on, without screaming and without breaking down, she couldn't even think about having a relationship with Kenickie.

She owed herself that much.

But every time she caught him watching her, every time her heart stuttered at the memory of his hands on her waist, his voice whispering I love you, the resolve wavered.

At the end of the week, she lingered by her locker, pressing her forehead against the cool metal. She didn't hear him approach until he was right beside her.

"Ducks." His voice was quiet, almost pleading.

She closed her eyes. "Not now, Kenickie."

"I can't just stand around, pretend like nothing happened."

Her hand tightened on her books. "I need time."

The silence stretched. Then, finally, he nodded, jaw tight. "I'll give you time. Just don't shut me out forever."

And then he was gone, leaving her staring at the inside of her locker, wondering how she was supposed to rebuild anything when every brick of her world had already been cracked.

It took Ducky nearly a week to gather the courage. Every night she lay awake, rehearsing the words, imagining how her father might react. But finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore.

She found him in the study, nursing another glass of whiskey, the smell heavy in the air.

"Daddy," she began, voice shaking.

He glanced up, the hardness in his eyes softening at the sight of her. "Dulcibella."

She crossed her arms tight against her chest. "Why? Why did you do it? Why didn't you trust me to handle my own life?"

His jaw flexed. For a long moment, he didn't speak. Then, slowly, he set his glass down. "Your mother noticed," he said finally. "Not me. She noticed you weren't using your monthly things. She came to me."

Ducky's stomach twisted. "You knew? And you said nothing? You just handed me over to him, like I was a child?"

Her mother appeared in the doorway, face pale. "I told him because I was scared, baby. I knew what it meant. I'd been there myself once."

Ducky blinked, stunned. "What?"

Her mother stepped inside, wringing her hands. "I was your age, maybe younger. I thought I was in love. And I was stupid. He left me with nothing. If it weren't for your father..." Her voice broke, but she pressed on. "I didn't want that for you."

"I had an abortion, Dulcibella. Your father helped me, we were friends but he had always had a soft spot for me, I went to him for help and I did what I had to do. My life would have been very different if I had kept the baby."

Lorenzo's jaw clenched, eyes burning with an old rage. "I hated that man for what he did to her. Hated him for taking advantage. And when I saw you, my little girl, going down the same road... I couldn't let it happen. Not to you."

Tears blurred Ducky's vision. "But I loved him. And you never gave me a chance to prove it. You made the choice for me. He wouldn't have left me, daddy."

"I made the choice to save you," he said fiercely, though his voice cracked at the edges. "You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to see you hate me? I'd carry that hate every day if it meant keeping you safe."

The silence was heavy, broken only by her mother's quiet sob.

For the first time, Ducky saw them not as her parents but as flawed, frightened people who had made choices out of fear and love and pain. It didn't erase the betrayal. But it explained it.

Her voice wavered as she whispered, "You broke me, Daddy."

His eyes glistened. "Then I'll spend the rest of my life trying to fix it."

By Monday, the rawness hadn't faded, but at least some of the words were out in the open.

At school, the air shifted again. Rizzo had been circling Kenickie for days, her sharp laugh carrying down the halls, her heels clicking close behind him.

"Come on, Kenickie," she purred at lunch, sliding onto the bench beside him. "We had our fun. Doesn't mean we can't try again. Forget Ducky. She's too much trouble."

The T-Birds snickered, curious, waiting for his reaction.

Kenickie didn't even hesitate. He leaned back, draping his arm across the bench, his eyes hard. "I'm a taken man, Rizz. And nobody-" his gaze flicked deliberately across the room, landing on Ducky where she sat with Frenchy.

"-nobody comes between me and Ducks."

The words silenced the table. Rizzo's smirk faltered, her pride bruised, but she covered it with a scoff before stalking off.

Ducky pretended to focus on her sandwich, cheeks burning. But inside, her heart thundered. He'd said it out loud. No secrets. No shame.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to let the world see them again, but Kenickie already had.

And part of her loved him even more for it.