A/N: Don't own, don't ask, don't sue. Any and all mistakes are my own fault. Page breaks indicate a new day.
Sky had always considered himself a fairly normal guy. Okay, so he could throw up a force field using his mind, but other than that he was pretty straightforward. He had a caring family, great friends, and he likes girls. Now he just had to figure out why he was in a mental discussion with himself, trying to figure out exactly what to call…whatever…was going on between himself and Bridge. Sky blamed Syd.
It had been earlier that morning. Sky had done his typical morning workout before hauling the green ranger out of bed and dragging him down to the cafeteria before it closed. After ensuring that the younger boy had been properly fed, Sky had gone off to help train the new recruits. At about three o'clock, he had left and went to find his wayward ward. Locating his friend in the common room – lost in the world of ultimate toaster possibilities – Sky had hoisted him off his feet and dragged him to the doctor appointment that Bridge had so eagerly attempted to avoid. It was only after Sky had dragged him out of the lab for dinner that Syd had come up to him.
"Hey, Sky? Don't get angry, but…are you and Bridge…y'know? Together?" Sky's eyebrows shot up.
"Excuse me?" Syd bit her lip.
"Never mind, I just thought…"
"Syd, I'm not gay."
"I'm sorry, just forget I said anything. It was stupid…" Sky didn't think he'd ever seen Syd run so fast.
So now, sitting in his darkened room, occasionally glancing to where Bridge lay, Sky pondered. He knew he wasn't dating the green ranger. But did he want to? What exactly was their relationship, anyway? He knew that he looked out for Bridge more than any of his other friends. But Bridge needed more looking after. If he didn't remind Bridge to eat at least twice a day and all but tackle him into bed then the green geek would work himself into a stupor. And what did Bridge want? Did he expect or want more of Sky? The blue ranger knew that Bridge didn't have a happy childhood and he knew that Bridge liked that Sky was looking out for him. But… Sky sighed, running a hand through his hair, before flopping back into a laying position on his bed. But nothing. Sky had no idea what he was doing.
Jerking awake, Sky rubbed his eyes, stumbling gracelessly out of bed. All but falling into the shower, Sky woke up under the pounding spray. Drying off and dressing before entering back into the room, the blue ranger chuckled at the sight of Bridge, still curled up in bed, little tufts of his hair poking up above the sheet. Sky almost hated to wake him up, but he knew that if he slept much later then the younger boy wouldn't sleep tonight.
"Bridge…" he called softly. "Bridgey…" He shook the younger boy gently, but got no response besides a groan, and all sight of the green ranger disappearing under the sheet. "Come on, Bridge. Time to get up."
"Go away," was the muffled response. Sky couldn't suppress the grin, but he shook his head and moved to the end of the bed.
"Wake up, Bridge." Grabbing the end of the sheets, Sky pulled them off the green ranger.
"Sky!" Bridge shouted indignantly, sitting up in bed and shooting the blue ranger a pout. "I was still sleeping."
"Clearly," he responded dryly. "Come on, get dressed. It's time for breakfast. What do you want?"
"Buttery toast," Bridge stated, wiggling his fingers. Sky rolled his eyes at the predictable response, but made no other objection as the smaller boy disappeared into the bathroom. Five minutes later they were sitting in the cafeteria and Sky drank his orange juice, watching in amusement as Bridge set the world record for most buttered toast inhaled in the least amount of time. "Hey, Sky?" Bridge questioned around a mouthful of toast. Sky raised an eyebrow in response. "You wanna catch a movie or something? Y'know, just get off base for a bit?" Sky could almost swear that the younger boy was blushing. Taking pity on the green ranger, he shot a soft smile at the younger boy.
"Sure, what did you have in mind?" Bridge gave a one shoulder shrug and inhaled another piece of toast.
Sky wasn't entirely sure how this had happened. In fact, if he had known it was going to happen, he would have taken drastic measures to prevent it. As it was, he dutifully transferred the hard-boiled egg from the blue dye to the purple as Bridge instructed. Pulling the egg out of the dye- and Sky knew – he just knew – that he'd never live down the ignominy of having egg dye on his fingers - he placed it in the carton with the others to let it dry. He was only half listening as the coordinator of the Easter egg hunt gave instructions on hiding the eggs. Yes, the eggs should be hidden, but still partially visible so that the little kids could find them as well. Watching the younger boy bounce off with their carton of eggs Sky seriously reconsidered his sexuality.
"See, wasn't that fun?" Bridge panted, flopping next to him on the park bench – flushed and giddy with joy. A small twitch at the corner of the mouth was the only response the green ranger could see, but it had told him everything he needed to know. Bridge stayed quiet, trying to catch his breath and Sky kept his eyes trained on the kids as they ran around in circles looking for eggs. "Thanks." Sky blinked, turning to face his friend.
"For what," he asked, honestly confused. Bridge looked away quickly.
"For today." He explained. "You didn't have to do this, but I appreciate that you did." Sky shrugged.
"It was fun. Even if I do have dyed fingers," he teased. He felt warmth spread through his stomach when Bridge threw his head back and laughed.
Bridge was not stalking the blue ranger. He was not lurking creepily or anything of the sort. He was not willingly searching him out to spend more time with him because he was desperately in love with him. Except, y'know, he was – searching him out and desperately in love with him, that is. Bridge wasn't entirely sure what was going on with his best friend, but something in their relationship had shifted ever so slightly, and it gave Bridge hope that maybe, just maybe, their relationship could progress that last little bit from friends to boyfriends. But he still wasn't entirely sure, which was why Bridge was pretty much sticking to the blue ranger until he had all this figured out.
"Hey, Sky?" he called, ducking a flying body as he entered the work-out room. "New slasher flick came out today. Wanna see it tonight?"
"Sure," Sky finished tossing the last of the recruits across the room, pausing to see if any of them were getting up again. "What time does it start?" Bridge surveyed the damage, suddenly glad that he'd never had to be trained by the blue ranger.
"Nine o'clock tonight." He responded, exiting the work-out room.
"We've got time then. Want to grab something to eat on the way?" Bridge grinned at the blue ranger.
"You know I'm always hungry." Sky laughed and Bridge flushed with pride. It wasn't easy to make the older boy laugh.
"That's because you never remember to eat!" Bridge's only response was to stick out his tongue. Passing their room, Sky ducked in to change quickly before rejoining the green ranger and continuing outside. Their playful bickering continued as they walked to the NewTech Mall, continuing through dinner and barely even stopping long enough to order their tickets and grab snacks. Since it was technically a school night, the theater was uncommonly empty for the afternoon and the rangers had their pick of seats. Sitting towards the middle – close enough to have an awesome view, but far enough back so that they didn't have to crane their necks – Bridge chuckled in amusement as Sky made fun of the previews. Finally settling in as the show started, Bridge couldn't keep the content grin off his face.
"Would you just settle down?" Sky asked, torn between annoyance and amusement. The green ranger kept a firm grip on the older boy's arm.
"I swear to God, Sky, the bush just moved." The blue ranger rolled his eyes.
"It's called wind, Bridge. Of course the bush moved." Bridge whined low in his throat and Sky shook off the green ranger's grip, throwing his arm around Bridge's shoulder in comfort. "Come on, we're almost back to base and then you can crawl under your covers." Bridge nodded into his side. Letting Sky lead him to their room, he watched as Sky switched on the light, checking the closet, under both beds and the bathroom before coming back and standing in front of Bridge. "No monsters in here tonight. Think you can sleep?" Bridge bit his lip, turning puppy dog eyes on the older ranger.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" He watched as Sky smiled softly, rolling his eyes indulgently at the green ranger.
"Sure, why not?"
Sky woke up slowly. He was comfortable and warm and he didn't really feel like getting up and working out. He stretched, pausing when he felt a warm body against his. Whipping his head around, he relaxed when he saw that is was just Bridge – still asleep and curled into Sky's right side. The blue ranger couldn't help himself. He leaned down, brushing a kiss against the top of the younger ranger's head.
"Mmf, Sky?" Apparently he wasn't still asleep. Swallowing around a lump in his throat, Sky answered him.
"Yeah, I'm right here." He watched as Bridge blearily blinked his eyes open before raising himself onto an elbow.
"What are we doing? I mean, are we dating?"
"Maybe…" Sky responded slowly "I don't know. I'm not gay." Bridge sighed, pulling away from the blue ranger and Sky frowned. Not wanting Bridge to leave he asked, "Are you?"
"Am I what?" Bridge asked, tilting his head in confusion. "Gay?" Sky nodded. "I don't know. Guess I never really gave it much thought." In a split decision, Sky pressed forward, pinning the green ranger to his bed and kissing him.
"Okay," he said breathlessly, pulling back. "I'll be gay if you will."