Arnold used a condom so that he wouldn't leave much of a mess, then he cleaned Janet up as best he could under the circumstances. Having a backpack with the essentials always helped. Tissues and disinfecting wipes are always handy to have. Janet really appreciated his diligence in both what he did to her and cleaning her afterwards, and she thanked him several times for both things.

Arnold packed the blankets up and led her back towards the cottage with Janet clinging to his arm. They walked by the cottage and Janet let his arm go as they went over to the cluster of girls still standing near the barbecue pit.

“Good news, Kelly!” Janet said a little excitedly, because her mind was still filled with the fun she and Arnold just had. “Michael won't be bothering either you or Arnold. He's gone!”

“That's a relief.” Sarah said, her arm still over Kelly's shoulders. “We were pretty close to calling the cops because Richard couldn't find him.”

“We thought he might be hiding out in the woods or something.” Tanya said. “I'm glad he's not.”

“We'll all keep an eye out, just in case he returns.” One of the other girls said.

“No, don't.” Kelly said and they all looked at her. “We're here to have fun. It's the last summer party before most of us head off to the college.” She said. “Sitting around and worrying if someone might show up isn't a good way to enjoy the day.”

“I guess that's true.” Sarah said. “Let's just keep it in the backs of our minds, then.”

All the girls nodded.

“So, why did you bring Janet?” Tanya, formerly One, asked Arnold.

“TANYA!” Sarah, formerly Two yelled.

“What? That was the last question Kelly asked Janet.”

“I brought her for Kelly.” Arnold said and every girl gasped, especially Kelly.

“No!” Janet exclaimed. “Not like that.” She said and stepped forward. “I'm not... I mean, there's nothing wrong with that lifestyle... I just... not even my best friend makes me feel like I want to kiss her, and we've seen each other naked a whole bunch of times.”

That made a bunch of the girls nod.

“I'm here... as Arnold's friend... and as an example.” Janet said.

“I don't understand.” Kelly said.

“I came here because he asked me to, and I'm going to explain as best as I can.” Janet said and took her hand. She felt Kelly try to pull away and held on. “Arnold loves you too much to keep hurting you.”

Several girls took in sharp breaths.

“You'll never know how deeply it hurt him to see you hurt, knowing he was the cause.” Janet said. “When he saw you like that and couldn't do anything to help you, he felt like he had failed you.”

“N-no.” Kelly tried to pull her hand away and Janet held on.

“Yes, and you know how protective he is. If it had been someone else that did it to you, what do you think he would have done?” Janet asked, then waited for Kelly and the other girls to think about it. “That's right.” She said. “You know he would have done something about it.”

Kelly couldn't help the tears as they came.

“He was the one that did it.” Janet said. “What can he do against himself, though?” She shook her head. “I was surprised that he still wants to be friends and wants you to be his roommate after that.”

Someone handed her a tissue and Janet took it and dabbed at Kelly's eyes.

“Any other guy would have run for the hills to distance himself from you, and he wants to live together with you for at least the next six years, even knowing that every time you look at each other, all he will see is that he hurt you.” Janet said. “He wants to put himself through hell for you, Kelly. If that's not love, then I don't know what is.”

Kelly was openly crying, with sobs and everything, and more tissues appeared to help stem the flow.

“Like I said, I came here as an example.” Janet said. “I'm not his girlfriend and we haven't even gone out on an official date... but, I am his friend... and I've had sex with him.”

Nearly every girl there gasped in surprise, except for Sarah. She had kind of expected it. No one dressed that nice just to meet a guy's friends.

“W-w-when?” Kelly managed to ask.

“After you broke up.” Janet said. “He gave you his word that he wouldn't have sex or kiss anyone he wasn't allowed to while you were his girlfriend.”

Kelly nodded, a little surprised that she knew so much.

“I won't tell you what sex with him was like, because that doesn't matter right now. What matters is, it happened and I enjoyed it. A lot.” Janet said and tears came to her eyes as she started crying, too. “I can't express... how sorry I am... that you didn't.”

A few of the girls there had tears in their eyes and tissues were spread around liberally, because they had all heard the sad story of their break up.

“Arnold, he... he's too busy to... have another girlfriend.” Janet said. “So, we're just good friends... with occasional benefits.”

“Occasional?” Sarah asked.

“I'm too busy... to have a boyfriend.” Janet said and let Kelly's hand go to wipe at her tears. She took a deep breath and let it out. “We've only had sex a couple of times since you broke up.”

“No way!” Leann said. “But, it's been...”

“I have my medical certification.” Arnold said. “I'm disease free.”

Every girl looked at him in surprise, even Janet.

“Arnold? When...” Janet started to ask.

“I took the tests on Wednesday and picked up the certificate last night.” Arnold said.

“But...” Kelly stopped herself from saying that Heather had been with a lot of guys, then she felt relief that Heather hadn't gotten anything, or passed it on to Arnold, if she did have something. No sooner had that thought crossed her mind when a car pulled up with the sound of sliding tires on gravel.

“Hi, everyone!” Heather's loud voice cut through the clearing and drew everyone's attention. “It looks like we're not too late, Eric. They're just getting the fires going.” She stepped out and shut his car door.

“I did speed a little to get here.” Eric smiled and picked up a plastic bag full of packs of wieners and shut the driver's side door. “Hey, guys! I got the hot dogs!”

“Great!” Todd hollered. “Thanks for making the run.”

“I had to stop at two stores to get them all.” Eric said with a chuckle and walked over to the guys trying to get the fire stoked. “Do you want them here or over at the bonfire?”

“Both.” Richard said. “We've already got the sticks for the wieners and the marshmallows, so people that want them grilled can get them here and those that want open roast can use the big fire.”

“Nice.” Eric said and started to take out half of the packs.

Heather walked over to the girls. “So, what did I miss?”

Kelly did not want to bring up what they were just discussing and opened her mouth to speak.

“I'm disease free.” Arnold said, to everyone's surprise.

Heather gave him a look, then laughed. “That's good to know.”

“It is.” Janet said and took Arnold's hand.

Heather looked from her to Kelly and back again. “Another changing of the guards?”

“Huh?” Leann asked, confused.

“She means Arnold's got a new girlfriend.” Sarah said and looked at Heather. “Janet's just his friend.”

“Uh huh.” Heather said with a crooked smile and took in Janet's outfit from head to toe. “A friend doesn't wear something that expensive, unless she's trying to impress a guy she wants to sleep with.”

“You must be Heather.” Janet said.

That surprised a few people, because none of them told her who she was.

“For your information, I didn't wear this outfit for Arnold. He doesn't care what I'm wearing. I spent the time to look my best, because I was coming here to meet his friends. I could have just shown up wearing the jeans and sweater I have in this bag.” Janet pat the bag hung over her shoulder. “Instead, I put a lot of thought all week into what I could wear this weekend and getting my hair done, because I thought that his friends deserved the effort.”

“You don't think Arnold is worth the effort?” Tanya asked.

“Tanya!” Sarah gasped.

“I think Arnold deserves all the effort I can give him.” Janet said and squeezed his hand. “I wouldn't have come here with him if I didn't think that.” She turned and looked into his eyes. “I couldn't say no when he asked for my help, because I know he would never ask if he didn't need it.”

A couple of the girls gasped when Janet gave Arnold a tender kiss on the lips.

“I came here to help Kelly, because he loves her and he can't help her himself.” Janet turned back to the group of girls around them. “That's what he wants and that's what I'm here to do.”

“Are... are you for real?” Heather asked with a chuckle. “That was the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!”

“I don't care what you think about what I just said.” Janet said to Heather and then looked at Kelly. “I only care what Kelly thinks.” She said. “Do you believe Arnold loves you?”

“Yes.” Kelly said without hesitation.

“Do you believe that he wants what's best for you?”

“Yes.” Kelly said.

“Do you think he wouldn't do everything he could to help you if he could?”

Kelly hesitated for a moment. “He broke up with me.”

“Yes, he did.” Janet said. “That helped you.”

“No it didn't!” Kelly said. “I wanted him to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay!”

“He loves you too much to lie about something that delusional.” Janet said and everyone gasped.

“Janet!” Sarah exclaimed.

“It's not all right.” Janet said. “Do you think he could tell you that? That would hurt you more than...” She shook her head. “Telling you that everything is fine is stupid, and Arnold is not stupid. Your lives changed completely and that's not all right. Your whole dynamic of boyfriend and girlfriend was lost and that's not all right. Both of your hearts were broken and... that's not... all right.”

No one said anything as Janet paused and dabbed at her tears.

“Arnold can't be there for you, not like you want him to be.” Janet said, her voice more confident. “He can't be your lover, even though he wants to be. He can't be your boyfriend and he can't have any kind of relationship with you... except as friends. Good friends.”

Kelly opened her mouth to speak. Janet let Arnold's hand go and held her hand up to stop her.

“No occasional benefits, either. I said he can't do that. Not even playing.” Janet said.

“But...”

“It's not fair to him to keep him like that.” Janet said. “What would you have him do for the rest of his life? Just play a little with you and never have sex again? Ever?”

Kelly closed her mouth.

“Arnold is right. He had to hurt himself by breaking up with you, so you can go out and find the man that you can be with.” Janet said. “He loves you so much that he gave you up, just so you can find someone that can make you happy.”

“Which leaves him single for you.” Heather said.

Janet laughed. “Do you really think that I would have let him stay single before coming here, if that wasn't what he wanted?” She asked. “One of the first things I asked him was if he wanted another girlfriend.”

“So, you do want him like that.” Sarah said.

“Of course I do!” Janet said. “Who wouldn't?” She looked at all of their faces. “I want you all to tell me something. If at any point since you've known him and after everything you've heard, have you thought that if he would take you as a girlfriend, you wouldn't do it?” She asked and looked at their faces. “Go ahead. Tell me you would tell him no if he asked.”

None of them said anything and a few of them blushed, especially Leann, formerly known as Three.

“The thing is, I know he doesn't want a girlfriend and I won't ask. In fact, I won't ask until I know he's ready to move on from loving Kelly. That's not going to happen for a long time, and you know what? I actually don't mind waiting.” Janet smiled. “He's a great guy. He's understanding, patient, and he will do anything for his friends. I honestly couldn't ask for a better friend to have than Arnold.”

“Except Pam.” Arnold said. “She gives you free popcorn.”

Janet barked a laugh. “Okay, you got me there. I love popcorn.”

Everyone stood there and no one said anything for several minutes.

“I'm going to the bonfire.” One of the girls said and walked away.

“Those hot dogs smell good.” Another girl said and walked over to the barbecue pit. The other girls started to peel away in ones and twos to look for their boyfriends and dates, until the only ones standing there were Arnold, Janet, Kelly, Sarah, and Heather.

“I think I'd like to take a walk.” Janet said. “Arnold? Do you want to come with me?”

“Yes.” Arnold said and they walked off, side by side.

“I guess we can't just hate her on principle.” Sarah said. “She's just too nice.”

“I can.” Heather said with a huff. “Did you hear the way she talked to me? What a bitch.”

Kelly opened her mouth for a second, then chuckled. “That's rich, coming from you.”

“I never said I wasn't a bitch.” Heather said with a smile, a real smile. Kelly hadn't seen that in a while.

“Babe!” A guy's voice called from not far away.

The three girls turned and saw Sarah's boyfriend.

“I meant my babe!” He said and pointed to Sarah. “I need a hand in the kitchen.”

“I'll be right there.” Sarah said and gave Kelly a one arm hug and let her go. “Are you going to be okay?”

“No, but Heather's here. I'll just piss and moan at her for what she did and I'll feel better.” Kelly said.

Sarah chuckled and nodded, touched her arm for a moment, then jogged over to the cottage and went inside.

“Go ahead.” Heather said in a soft voice. “I know I deserve it.”

Kelly turned to her and gave her a stern look. “Heather, you are a goddamned idiot.”

“I know.” Heather said. “Good god, I know.”

Kelly's face lost the stern expression, then she slowly put her arms around Heather and started to cry again. “I am, too.”

“Shh.” Heather said and hugged her. “It's okay. It's all going to be okay.”

Kelly started to cry harder at her words, because that was the lie she had wanted Arnold to tell her.

*

“Let's go this way.” A girl's voice said and then she pointed.

“Oh, shit.” Mark whispered. “Someone's coming this way.”

Detective Tanner turned and pulled him into a passionate kiss, then rolled over in the dirt to show that they had been there for a while. “Quick, grab my ass.” She whispered and kissed him again, then kept kissing him as his hands groped her ass over her loose jeans.

The two people walked by slowly, as if they were just going for a casual stroll, and they didn't even pause when they saw Detective Tanner and Mark in the bushes next to the path.

“You would think they'd find somewhere more private like we did.” The girl whispered and they walked on.

Detective Tanner waited for several seconds, then she broke the kiss and sat up on Mark. When she looked to see the couple, she caught her breath. I can't believe it! She thought in surprise. Arnold! “We're going for a walk.” She whispered and looked down at Mark, whose face was red. “What is it?”

“I lied about having a girlfriend.” Mark whispered back.

“What? Why?” Detective Tanner asked.

“I didn't want you to think I was trying to take advantage of you.” Mark said and reached up to grab the bottom of her t-shirt that had ridden up and pulled it down.

Detective Tanner appreciated the gallantry and stood up. “Let's go.”

Mark nodded and did his best to hide the erection he had gotten from her straddling his waist and showing him her bra, then took her hand and followed her down the path.