"Kim, not that I don't love it when you're in my bed, but my parents are home this time."
It was true. Her parents were uncharacteristically home on a Friday night instead of staying over to clean their AirBnB in the next town over, and Trini wasn't too happy about it. Friday nights were meant to be Kim Nights.
"Mhm," Kim muttered, half asleep. "So?"
Trini sat up, trying to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. Kim groaned in protest. Her head had been rudely dropped from Trini's very comfortable shoulder.
"So, they don't know you're here. And that means if my mom sees you, we're dead."
"Why does it matter?" Kim whined. "I'm not gonna get you pregnant."
"Homophobic, remember?"
She rolled over, seemingly deep in thought. Or possibly asleep again. It was hard for Trini to tell when Kim's eyes were closed.
When Kim started to snore, Trini nudged her lightly. "Kim?"
"Mhm, yeah," Kim said, startling a little. "No prob, I'll leave before she wakes up."
"Okay, just be sure this time-"
"-Yeah, yeah, I will," Kim interrupted, pulling Trini back down and into her arms. "I'll be careful."
"Okay, I just don't want my neighbours to see my girlfriend hanging from my window in her underwear again," she said, her eyes closing. She pushed away the thought of her mother finding Kim in the morning. They'd gotten away with it before, it wasn't likely they'd be caught, anyway.
"D'worry, s'all good."
It was not all good.
"Trini, you better be up! You're gonna be late for detention!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen.
Trini's eyes immediately cracked open, her heart starting to pound. She couldn't believe she'd slept through all five of her alarms- her phone was was still sounding.
"Kim-?" She started, but was interrupted by falling off her bed. Kim had taken up all the space as usual.
Kim yawned, stretching slowly. "Hm? What?"
"What's going on in there?" Her mother asked, voice now in the hall. "I heard something fall. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good, mom! Just dropped my, uh... clock!" She cringed. She didn't have a clock.
"Stop yelling," the pink ranger groaned.
"You don't have a clock!" Her mother yelled. Trini started to panic. Her family wasn't one to respect privacy. "What's going on in there?"
Trini moved quickly, slapping Kim awake. "Kim, wake up! My mom's coming!"
"Mmf- what?" Kim said, sitting up quickly. She was definitely awake now.
The door slammed opened, revealing Trini's mother. "What are you hiding-?"
"-It's not what it looks like!" Trini said, speaking quickly.
"Explain."
A million thoughts raced through Trini's mind, trying to think of ways to explain to her mother why there was a half naked girl in her bed, while her daughter was in a similar state of undress. She looked at Kim for some sort of help, only to be met with the same panicked look on her face.
"Um," Trini said eloquently, trying to break the silence.
"I came over early because I was stressed about a lump in my boob, and I just wanted Trini to check it out," Kim said quickly, trying not to cringe at how bullshit it sounded. "And we were just comparing the difference. Y'know, to see if it was normal to have one there."
Kim nudged Trini, urging her to continue. "Y-yeah, mom, just girly things."
Her mother pushed off the door-frame, straightening her back. She gave them one final last look before saying, "okay."
Trini sighed in relief, finally grateful that her mother was so deep in denial about her sexuality.
"Hurry up and get dressed. I don't want you getting more detentions."
The door slammed shut, leaving the two girls to awkwardly get dressed.
"Well, that was close, right?" Kim joked, smiling awkwardly as they cut through the school's parking lot.
The tension had been high since they left the house this morning. Trini hadn't spoken a word to Kim the entire twenty minute walk to school, and Kim was getting increasingly anxious the longer the silence went on.
Trini stayed silent, but this time chose to walk ahead of Kim. Crap, Kim thought. She's definitely mad.
"C'mon, Trini, it was an accident!" Kim said, easily catching up to Trini's pace. "Please don't be mad?"
The yellow ranger whirled around to frown at Kim, causing her to stop just before she could crash into Trini. She backed away quickly, taking a step back from Trini. Although Kim was taller than the girl, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous by the strange reaction Trini had had.
"I'm not mad," Trini sighed.
"You're not?"
"No," the shorter girl continued. She looked so tired. "It was just... too close. What if my mom didn't buy it?"
"But she did," Kim assured her, trying to convince Trini that it was all fine.
"That's just it," Trini said, clearly worried. "I'm not sure that she did."
"Trini..."
"We're counting too much on her being in denial of all of... this! It's only a matter of time before it gets too much for her and she decides to disown me or move away."
"That won't happen-!"
"-you're right, it won't," she agreed, interrupting Kim.
Kim's heart sank. Surely, this didn't mean what she thought it did. "What? What do you mean?"
"I mean... maybe we should," she swallowed thickly. "Maybe we should break up?"
She stopped breathing. This couldn't be right. Those words couldn't have come out of Trini's mouth. "Why?"
"I just think we're better off as friends," Trini said, looking away from Kim. "That way, we can still see each other, and my mom won't be a problem anymore."
"But then we can't hold hands anymore, or- or kiss, or fu-"
"-I know." Trini interrupted again. "But maybe it's better that way."
"Okay," Kim said slowly, reluctantly agreeing. "If that's... what you want?"
"It's what I want." She said firmly, turning back on her heel to continue with her journey to detention.
Kim stayed there, frozen, and only moved after the bell rang. What did it matter if she was late to detention?
"Kim, you alright?" Billy asked, concern lining his forehead.
The bell had just rung, signalling the end of detention, and Trini had left immediately, muttering an excuse about urgently needing to find a new pair of feet at the mall. Zack and Jason were way up ahead, trying to race each other to the pit.
"Yeah, I'm good," she said glumly, too sad to care if she sounded completely unconvincing.
"Is this about Trini?"
Of course Billy would know. He had a strange knack for always being able to pinpoint exactly where the conflict was. "Yes."
"What happened?"
"She broke up with me. Because she was afraid of her mom."
"Oh," he said, awkwardly. Just because Billy had a sixth sense for picking out conflict, it didn't cancel out the fact that he was still a teenage boy. He didn't have much advice to give on the topic. Despite so, he still offered, "I'm sorry. If you need to talk, I'm here."
"Thanks," Kim said, appreciating the effort.
It had been four days since the breakup, and their interaction had gone from non-existent to awkward and stilted. So much for it being 'better [this] way.'
Jason, ever oblivious to the break-up, (Kim wondered if he even knew at this point,) continued to pair the two girls up every chance he got. During one of their sparring sessions, there was a period of time when she would be held up flush against Trini, or vice-versa, only for the other to immediately let go, as if they'd been burnt. It was an awkward time, interacting with Trini, but not saying anything past, "sorry," or "excuse me."
Kim was losing her mind. Trini was so within her reach, but so far away. It was almost comedic how they kept falling into each other's paths.
Another instance was when Kim was in calculus, and Trini was in advanced functions- just across the hall from Kim's classroom. Kim had needed to use the washroom, and just to make sure she wouldn't see Trini, she took the liberty of walking all the way to the art wing, on the other side of the school. It seemed Trini had the same idea, because just as Kim shoved open the door, she hit Trini in the face.
"Oh, fuck, Trini- my bad- I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" Kim exclaimed, rushing forward to help her up.
Trini groaned, but raised a hand up, indicating that she was okay. "It's fine," she said, standing up, and attempted to rush past Kim through the door.
In her haste to sidestep out of the way to let Trini through, Kim had accidentally blocked Trini's path.
"My bad," Kim muttered, awkwardly, as Trini bumped into her.
"S'fine," Trini grumbled, stepping to her right.
Again, Kim mirrored her sidestep. "Fuck."
This went on for about two minutes, until Kim grabbed Trini by the shoulders, (and immediately regretted it, not enjoying the feeling of touching Trini, but not quite touching Trini) and moved her to her left so they could successfully pass.
Kim was complaining about the most recent run-in with Trini to Billy, wherein she'd knocked over the can display at the grocery store, only for Trini to catch her doing so, and helped her clean it up, when he attempted to comfort her.
"Don't worry, Kim," Billy reassured her, while walking her to biology class. "I'm sure she'll come around eventually."
"Thanks, Bill," she said flatly, unconvinced.
"And if she doesn't," he continued, "I'm sure Zack's party this Friday will do something about it."
Kim looked up quickly then, suddenly alert. "A party-? Wait. Zack knows?"
"I would assume so. Trini and him are very close. Wouldn't be surprising if she told him about it, too."
"Right," Kim nodded, agreeing. "Well, this is me, Bill. Thanks for walking me."
Billy waved goodbye, leaving Kim alone at the front of her bio class, intent on avoiding eye contact with the girl at the back of the class.
Not that either of them were looking at each other.
Friday couldn't come fast enough. At this point in time, Kim wasn't sure if she was dreading or looking forward to the party. On one hand, Trini would be there. On the other, Trini would be there. Kim had never been more confused about her feelings until this very moment in time.
"Kim!" Zack said excitedly, pulling Kim into a bear hug as she entered Jason's house. "You look way too thirsty. Let's have a shot!"
To no one's surprise, except maybe Jason's, Zack had decided to invite half the student body to the red ranger's house. According to Zack, your parents leaving town was a synonym for 'party,' and Jason needed to 'chill out and get that stick out of his ass, anyway.'
Kim didn't even have time to get a word in before Zack dragged her to the drinks table and handed her a shot.
"Zack, I don't know if I should be drinking tonight," Kim said, trying to be responsible. If Trini was going to be there, then it would probably be for the best if she stayed sober.
"C'mon, Kim!" Zack pouted. "It's my birthday! I don't wanna drink alone."
She considered it for a moment, feeling guilty from the look on Zack's face. "Fine, just the one," she agreed, rolling her eyes.
"Fuck yes!" Zack cheered, clinking their glasses together before they could down their shots.
Kim winced from the burn, reaching for a cooler to chase down the cheap vodka. After the taste was mostly gone, she frowned.
"Wait. Isn't your birthday in June?"
Zack nodded, already tipsy from drinking earlier. "Yes. But this is my 213th monthiversary. My birthday is technically exactly three months from now."
Kim shrugged. "I'll drink to that," she laughed, pouring in their next few shots. If she'd already done one, she figured she might as well get a little bit tipsy.
Before she knew it, she had already had nine shots, and it wasn't even 8pm yet.
Just as she reached for her tenth, however, Zack dropped his onto the counter and whooped excitedly.
"Holy shit, Crazy Girl, you actually fucking came!"
Despite her clouded mind, Kim felt her heart stutter. Trini was here.
She quickly swallowed the shot, and turned, only to see Zack dragging Trini along with him, in a similar fashion to Kim not an hour before.
Trini came face to face with Kim. She smiled awkwardly, before taking the shot Zack had poured for her.
"So, what's up with you?" Trini asked, after wiping her mouth from drinking her chaser. She reeked of perfume and alcohol, clearly having pre'd before showing up to the party.
"Y'know, same old. Just happy to be out of training," Kim said, smiling in a way she hoped looked charming and not predatory. "What about you?"
"Just the same," Trini nodded.
There was a silence.
Kim coughed. "So, um, you wanna take another shot?"
"Sure," Trini agreed, already moving to pour the shots in.
Having used coolers as chasers and drinking about nine shots in the span of forty-five minutes, Kim clumsily spilled half her shot onto her white shirt. "Fuck," she cursed.
Trini chuckled, effectively reddening Kim's already red cheeks. "You good?"
"'M a little bit drunk," Kim admitted, trying not to slur her words. She hoped she wouldn't say anything stupid. "Wanna go upstairs?" There goes that plan.
Trini downed another shot quickly, before nodding her head, and taking Kim's hand.
They reach Jason's room in record time. Normally, they wouldn't be so inconsiderate to taint his room, but then again, had they been sober, this whole thing wouldn't be happening either.
Kim slammed Trini against the door, effectively closing it behind them. She crashed her lips onto Trini's, trapping her against the wall.
Trini sighed, and with the same level of desperation, wrapped her legs around Kim's waist.
"This is such a bad idea," Kim chuckled, shoving Trini smoothly onto the mattress.
"You're right," Trini agreed, lifting her head up for Kim to continue her attack on her neck, "but we're drunk, so it's allowed."
Kim smirked, climbing on top of Trini, "so all it takes are a few shots for this to be allowed?"
"That's so problematic-" Trini started, attempting to roll her eyes, only for them to roll to the back of her head when Kim very gracefully shoved her knee between the yellow ranger's legs. "Fuck, Kim," she grunted, instead.
The taller girl laughed, hips rolling and hands moving down to Trini's waist. "Wow, T," Kim murmured, impressed at the firmness of Trini's stomach. "You been working out?"
Trini shot her a quizzical look, but still managed to look pleased. "Kim, we're literally Power Rangers. You have abs, too."
She looked confused for a second, considering that statement. "Right," Kim nodded, starting to feel up her own stomach. Smirking, she grabbed Trini's hand, and placed it on her own abs. "Mine are better."
Trini was too distracted to argue, too focused on trying to get enough friction from Kim's thigh through her jeans. She was on the verge of finishing, fisting the pink Barbie from sheets under her- wait. Jason has pink Barbie sheets-?
"-YOU GUYS BETTER NOT BE DOING THE NASTY IN MY BABY SISTER'S ROOM! THAT'S MESSED UP!" Jason called from the hall, his voice muffled by the closed door.
"Is that Jason?" Kim asked, confused, but not stopping her movements. "Wait, what'd he say?"
The door opened so forcefully, it nearly closed again from bouncing back from the impact. Before it could however, Jason stepped into the room, a glare fixed onto his face.
"Oh, God!" He cringed, covering his eyes. "You guys were doing the nasty."
"Oh man, I'm sorry, Jason," Kim apologized, very guiltily. The sincerness of the apology, however, was lost due to the fact that Kim was still moving, and Trini was now loudly moaning under her.
Trini immediately shoved Kim off of her, having realized that she had just very embarrassingly orgasmed in front of one of her very good friends.
"Ow, Trini, what-?" Kim muttered, annoyed.
"-So sorry, Jason." Trini apologized, still not yet sober. "We'll just get out of your hair right now. Hopefully you'll forget this tomorrow morning," she continued, straightening her clothes quickly before pulling Kim out of the room.
"Sick party," Kim slurred to Jason, on her way out.
The walk to Kim's house shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but considering the fact that the girls were very clearly still absolutely smashed, it took twice the time to get there.
"Mmpf," Kim said, as she fell face first onto the bed, "are we gonna have another go?"
Trini groaned, landing on top of Kim. "'Dunno, give me a minute for the room to stop spinnin'."
Kim flipped over quickly then, causing Trini to land in the space next to her.
"So you're still drunk?" She asked, her eyes very glassy. "Does that mean this," she said, moving her face closer to the yellow ranger's, "is still allowed?"
Trini looked at Kim then, so close to her face that she felt cross eyed. She pondered for a second, or it might've been ten minutes, (she couldn't tell, she was too drunk) before shrugging and closing the distance between them.
"Mmf, wait," Kim said, pulling away from Trini. "You didn't say yes."
Trini rolled her eyes before pulling Kim in again to kiss her. "Yes," she breathed against Kim's lips, leaving them to start their second mistake of the night.
Trini groaned, the sunlight from the window hurting her eyes. She rolled over, attempting to pull her pink blanket over her head, only for it to not budge at all- wait. Pink blanket? "Whoa, deja vu," she murmured.
"Mm, no, it's cold." A voice mumbled next to her, after she'd finally pulled it free. "Babe, give it back."
"What the-" Trini started. "Kim?"
Kim opened her eyes then, recognition flooding her face as she took the room in.
"Oh," she said dumbly, "oops."
"Did we-?" Trini looked down under the covers, checking to see if any of her clothes were on. They were not. "-yes," she said, interrupting herself. "We did. Fuck."
"So we did fuck?" Kim asked, rolling over to face Trini. "But I don't remember. Can you maybe show me what happened?"
Trini groaned. "Kim, we aren't supposed to be together anymore, remember?"
"I know," Kim said, frowning. "My bad. I'm just a little hungover. Not thinking too well."
A pang of guilt rushed through Trini. She'd forgotten how much the breakup must've affected Kim, too. Although it wasn't exactly anybody's fault, she couldn't help but feel selfish about it- especially after last night.
"It's fine. Do you mind passing me my pants? I can't get my eyes to properly focus."
"Sure," Kim said, moving over Trini to grab her pants. With their luck, Trini's pants just happened to already be on Trini's side, and because of Kim's chivalry, she continued moving to reach for them anyway.
"Got 'em..." she said, trailing off when she looked down to realize she was straddling Trini, again.
Trini's eyes darkened, hangover and breakup be damned. "We've already done it twice... third time's the charm, right?"
Dropping the pants back onto the floor, Kim nodded quickly, before bending down to meet Trini's lips.
"Kim," Trini started, after they were both sweaty and spent. "I'm sorry-"
"Yeah, yeah, relax, T," Kim yawned, eyes closing as she snuggled into the blanket. "We were drunk. It was an accident. Keep your pants on."
Trini gulped, guilty. "Are you sure? Because-"
But Kim was already snoring.
Trini mentally scolded herself for letting it happen a third time in the last twelve hours, but quickly succumbed to sleep as well. Three rounds of sex did that to you.
Trini woke up to a cold, empty, bed, her head pounding from oversleeping, and last night's events. She tried not to think too much about why it would hurt so bad that she was alone in Kim's room.
Logically, if Trini really felt like sleeping with Kim was a mistake, it wouldn't be fair to be upset about something like this.
She sighed, before dressing herself back up in last night's clothes, careful not to take any of Kim's garments. Taking one last look at the white walls of Kim's room, she climbed out the window and jumped, not wanting to take the chance of bumping into Kim's parents.
"Trini," Kim nodded at her, as Trini placed her tray down on the rangers' usual lunch table.
It was the first time they were seeing each other since The Morning After-After, and Trini still wasn't quite sure how to act. One side of her really missed Kim and wanted her back, but the other side told her it was for the best that they weren't together.
"Kim," she nodded back, settling herself from the seat diagonal from her. "So, what were you guys talking about?"
The table had gone quiet since the yellow ranger had sat down. Jason nudged Billy, who nudged Zack, who was about to speak, until Kim interrupted.
"We were just talking about crashing Katherine Hillard's party this Friday," Kim said, not breaking eye contact with Trini.
She smirked, unable to help herself. Making sure to side eye Jason, "oh, no more parties at Jason's I suppose?" She mentally slapped herself. What kind of signals was she even trying to send to Kim?
Jason reddened across from her, but stayed silent.
"No," Kim answered for him, suppressing a chuckle. "But I take it you'll be there?"
Taken aback by Kim's willingness to flirt back, she quickly recovered. "That's a promise."
Zack looked between the two, confused by their strangely formal vocabulary, and the overall exchange.
"Anyway," he started, trying to break the weird tension at the table. "Should I bring more vodka?"
Yes. The answer was always yes to vodka.
Trini raised her third glass to her lips, scrunching her nose at the smell of it. She swallowed it quickly, already pouring her fourth glass, completely foregoing a chaser. There was no time to waste. She had to be drunk before Kim showed up. Why, she didn't let herself think long enough to figure out the answer.
"T, what shot are you even on right now?" Zack asked, laughing.
"Fourth," she answered quickly, wiping her mouth.
"Jeez, dude, it's not a race," he said, taking her shot glass away from her. "You've only been here, for like, fifteen minutes. Relax."
"That's exactly what I'm doing. Drinking to relax," she pointed out.
But her comment had fallen on deaf ears, as Kim had entered the kitchen then.
"Kimmy!" Zack hollered, filling up Trini's glass and handing it to Kim. "Drink up."
Where Kim would normally try to refuse, she instead readily took the shot from his hand, downing it immediately.
"Another," she cheered, meeting Trini's eye.
And thus initiated the beginning of tonight's intentional mistakes.
The girls were barely even tipsy before they found themselves searching for a room upstairs.
"So like, this is allowed, right?" Kim asked, once they found an empty room.
"Are you asking if I'm drunk?"
Kim fell with her onto the bed, not wanting to be apart from her.
"No- well, yeah, I guess," Kim admitted, in between kisses. "Are you?"
"Yeah," Trini lied, "are you?" She knew she wasn't. Trini only had five shots, and Kim even less. To add to that, Kim was also taller. If she wasn't drunk, then there was no way Kim would be, either.
"Yeah," Kim said, following Trini's lead.
"So this is definitely allowed," Trini confirmed, flipping them over.
"It's only the second time," Trini said to no one in particular, trying to convince herself it wasn't as bad as she had made it out to be.
Kim clucked her tongue, disagreeing. "Technically, it's the fourth."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, but it's fine. Not a big deal," Kim reassured her, trying to downplay the situation. "There was no one else hot enough at the party to bang. Can you really blame us?"
Trini turned away from Kim, not wanting to let her see her smile. "No, I guess not."
The rest of the weekend passed by, but not without a million texts exchanged between the two, as well as a donut run in the morning after.
Soon, Monday rolled around, and they'd voluntarily paired up again for the first time in weeks in biology.
Unfortunately for them, they were both absolutely terrible at biology.
"Okay, Kim, all we have to do is boil these test tubes. It shouldn't be too hard," Trini said, trying to break down the lab instructions.
"Easy enough," Kim agreed, grabbing the first test tube off the rack. "I'll boil them, you record the information."
Trini nodded, reading the empty chart their teacher had handed to them.
"T," Kim said, trying to contain a laugh.
"What?" She muttered, still concentrating on her sheet.
"Baby, you get me so hot, I'm literally on fire," Kim snickered.
"What- Kim!" Trini yelled, panicking. "You're literally on fire!"
Why Kim wasn't freaking out, Trini wasn't sure, but she quickly grabbed the pink ranger's arm and ran it under the sink.
"Dude, your sleeve is burnt."
"I know," Kim sighed. "The things I do for pick-up lines."
Trini laughed then, finally able to calm down after the fire had been put out.
Kim's face split into a grin, pleased to finally be able to make Trini properly laugh again.
Everything seemed to be going back to normal, and Trini wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad thing.
"Are you and Kim back together?" Zack asked, seemingly out of the blue. Trini was surprised to see him at school today, let alone between third and fourth period.
"No," she said, shoving her third period books back in and extracting the fourth period ones. "What makes you think that?"
"You're wearing her sweater."
"How do you know it's hers? It's a plain grey sweater," she said, defensively.
"It literally says 'Hart' in bold letters on the back," he pointed out, and continued, "with a huge 08- Kim's favourite number."
Oh. "Whatever. I was sleeping over last night, and it was cold this morning," she said, slamming her locker shut and walking away.
Zack caught up quickly, walking in step with her. "Trini, what exactly are you doing with Kim?" He asked, clearly concerned.
"Just hanging out," she answered curtly.
"You mean sleeping together?"
She stopped walking abruptly, almost dropping her books. "How do you know about that?"
"You're always disappearing into a room with her at every party, and you're over at her house basically every night. It's not hard to guess."
"We don't mean to be sleeping together, it just happens."
"Trini," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly disappointed in her. "You know she still has feelings for you. Don't take advantage of that."
"I'm not!" She yelled, walking faster.
"Then what are you doing with her?
"I don't know," she admitted, not wanting to talk about it. "We haven't really discussed it."
"Well, maybe you should find out before you break her heart again," Zack said, turning to walk away in the other direction.
"Wanna come over and drink at my house after training tonight?"
Trini turned around to glance at Kim, but continued hiking ahead. They were on their way to the pit, and the path was too narrow for them to walk side by side.
"It's a Wednesday night."
Kim blinked, unfazed. "Yeah, and?" She said, as if drinking in the middle of the week was a completely healthy thing for two underaged minors to do.
Her forehead creased in worry, but she smoothed it out quickly. She was starting to understand why Zack was so concerned about Kim. "Just us?" Trini asked, trying to sound casual. She hoped the panic in her voice wasn't detectable.
Kim nodded, her brows scrunched together. "Yes?" She figured that was implied.
By this point, it was obvious that 'drinking' meant 'fucking.' The truth was, Trini couldn't get her conversation with Zack out of her head. Despite the obvious fact that Kim had just asked her to have sex with her, and that it was clearly a terrible idea, Trini still found herself saying yes.
Trini sat with her legs on either side of Kim's waist, Kim's hands tangled in her hair. A bottle of vodka sat on Kim's desk, unopened.
The yellow ranger's hands moved agonizingly slowly, first from Kim's chest, to her stomach, and then to the button of her jeans. Before she could undo it, however, she stopped her movements.
"What are we doing?" Trini asked, ignoring the sounds of protest Kim made from under her. Zack was right- she had to know. What were they doing? And whatever it was, was Kim really okay with it?
"Making out."
"No, I mean, like…" Trini trailed off, trying to find the right question. "What are we?"
"Friends."
Trini glared, clearly unimpressed at her answer. "Kim, we're literally about to have sex right now."
"With benefits?" The pink ranger supplied, trying to move the conversation along.
Trini paused, hovering above Kim, trying to figure out what that implied.
"What does that... mean?"
Kim frowned, clearly having a hard time trying to be patient. "We're friends, but sometimes we fuck?"
"Yeah, I figured. But what are the rules?" She asked, curious at what that title entailed.
"How about no questions?"
Trini took that in, absorbing the information. "Alright," she said, deeming that as an acceptable response before shrugging and moving to unbutton Kim's jeans.
"So, did you find out what was going on?" Zack asked again, this time on their way to Krispy Kreme.
"Yes, I did," Trini said, proud that she actually had an answer. "Kim says that we're 'friends with benefits.'"
Zack slowed his pace, looking at her in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
Uncertain, Trini stopped walking as well, trying to understand Zack's reaction. "Yes?" She wasn't sure if he was happy or upset with her.
"Trini!" He scolded her, "Kim doesn't want to be friends with benefits!" Well, there was her answer.
"Then why did she say that we were? She seemed pretty fine with it when we discussed it."
Zack rolled his eyes at her, unimpressed. "Were you on top of her when you asked?"
"I…" She trailed off, embarrassed that he had caught her. "Well, yes, but-!"
"Well, there you have it. She wasn't thinking clearly when you asked. Ask again," he said, walking ahead.
Trini frowned, still glued to the spot. She hated it when Zack was right.
It was Friday night, and unsurprisingly, the rangers had decided to go to another party.
This time, however, Trini opted instead to watch the beer pong game, switching her usual shot glass to a red solo cup full of orange juice. She definitely couldn't get drunk again- not after that talk with Zack.
"Hey," a voice said from behind her, their arms snaking around her neck into a light embrace, warm breath tickling her ear. "Wanna go upstairs?"
"Hey, Kim," Trini sighed, already exhausted from the thought of the conversation that was about to unfold. "Sure thing."
They made their way upstairs, Zack glaring at Trini as she passed by. Trini gestured that nothing was going to happen, only for him to shrug and look away.
Kimberly made a bee-line for the room at the end of the hall (at this point they knew the rooms furthest from the party were less likely to be occupied) and dragged Trini along by the hand behind her.
Once the door was shut, Kim fell quickly into her routine of shoving Trini onto the bed.
"Kim," Trini tried, trying to speak in between kisses, "Kim, mmf, wait, stop."
Kim pulled away, clearly confused. "What? What's up? Did you want to be drunk? I'm sorry, I just figured- because last time, we didn't drink-"
"-no, no, Kim, nothing like that," Trini said, cutting her off. "I just wanted to… talk."
"Talk…?" The taller girl repeated, now moving back a respectable distance. "Um, okay. About what?"
"This," Trini continued. "I just want to know, is this what you want? Is this… okay?"
"Yeah, of course," Kim replied, almost instantly.
"You sure? Because if it's not, I need to know."
"No, yeah, of course, it's fine! It's what I want," she insisted, trying to convince herself more than Trini.
Trini shot her a doubtful look.
Kim sighed, breaking under the yellow ranger's stare. "Okay, to be honest, it isn't ideal, but I'll take what I can get."
Trini's heart sank. She knew Zack was right, but it hurt even more to hear that he was right from someone else- even more so from Kim.
"Then what would be ideal?" She asked, anticipating and dreading the answer.
Suddenly, Kim's cheeks reddened. She looked away, somehow feeling more uncomfortable than she did a minute ago. "I don't know," she said, scratching the back of her neck. "I kind of wouldn't be opposed to being your girlfriend again. But I understand why that's not exactly possible-"
"-I don't," Trini interrupted. "Understand why it's not possible, I mean."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we're basically together right now, just without the title. If I think about it, what makes this any less gay if we don't put a title on it? We still have feelings for each other, and we're still sleeping together- all that's left is for us to call each other 'girlfriends.'"
A silence filled the room again, as Trini waited for Kim to say something. What she expected, she wasn't sure, but she just wanted to know what she was thinking.
"Do you have anything to say?" She asked, after the quiet had dragged on for too long.
"No, not really," she admitted, "I'm not disagreeing with you, but not to be rude, you're the one who ended things. It's really up to you how you want to deal with this. So whatever you do, I'm right here."
Trini frowned, finally realizing the gravitas of the situation. She truly fucked Kim up.
"I'm sorry I did this to you," she apologized, feeling guilty as ever. "It was wrong, and I realize this now."
"Trini…" Kim trailed off, unsure of how to comfort her.
"No, it's fine, I'll talk to my mom."
"But what if it doesn't go well?"
"I don't know?" She shrugged, "she found out once, if anything I can probably just convince her to go back into denial. And besides, university is in a few months. So if I get kicked out it shouldn't be too bad."
Kim reached for her hand, trying to show support. "Okay," she said, squeezing her hand. "I'm always gonna be here for you, okay?"
"Okay," Trini said, quietly.
That night, their livers rested easy, and they fell asleep with their clothes on.
"Mom?" Trini yelled when she got back home the next morning, looking for her mother in the empty house.
"Trini?" Came her mother's voice from her office. "Where've you been? You didn't come home last night."
"Mom," she said, stepping into the office. "I have something to tell you."
"Were you doing drugs again? Because if so, I'm going to need you to pee in this cup-"
"-mom, listen." Trini said, interrupting. She rolled her eyes at the cup her mother placed on her desk. "I have something to say."
"Well, what is it? I have these documents to file," she snapped, impatient.
"Um," Trini said, her bravado quickly fading. She'd run all the way home, determined, but now that she was face to face with her mother, it was hard to come up with the proper words to explain what was going on.
Her mother continued to stare at her, tapping her pen impatiently on her desk. "Well?"
"I think I'm in love…" Trini trailed off, unsure of her word choice. "Or maybe in like. Or infatuation. I don't know. I just mean I really like somebody."
"Oh," her mother said, suddenly feeling very awkward. She was surprised that Trini had decided to finally open up, and was unsure of how to proceed with the situation. "Um, with who?"
"A girl- um, Kim," she stuttered, coughing in an attempt to clear her throat. "With Kim."
There was a silence. The longer it went on, the faster Trini's heartbeat pumped.
This was it. The moment of truth. She'd either be kicked out, sent to a conversion camp, or ignored in her household until university started. Gulping, she watched her mother's face turn from sheepish, to indifferent, to smug.
"I knew it. Your father was so wrong, I can't wait to tell him I told you so-"
Confused, Trini cut her mother off. "-hold on. You knew?"
"Yeah, for awhile now," she said, casually, twirling her pen around in her hands. "She was over here all the time, it was pretty easy to guess."
"Wow," Trini whispered, unable to understand the complete 180 her mother did in regards to her sexuality.
"I expect you to follow the open door policy whenever she comes by, though. Wide open."
Too stunned to argue, the small girl nodded, leaving the office.
"Don't forget to pee in the cup!" She heard her mom yell behind her.
Trini walked back slowly, still trying to comprehend and absorb the situation that had just transpired. Out of all the reactions she had expected, that was definitely not one she was prepared for.
It was only when she was halfway back to Kim's house that she realized what this meant.
She could finally get back together with Kim.
Trini climbed through the window pane, very gracefully landing face first onto Kim's carpeted floor.
She heard the bed creak, followed by familiar footsteps approaching her. "Well?" Kim asked, crouching down in front of her still in last night's clothes, not bothering to help her up. "How'd it go?"
She sat up, praying that she had no carpet burn on her face. "Surprisingly well," she said, trying to keep her cool but failing, unable to contain her grin.
"Yeah? What'd she say?" Kim asked, now mirroring Trini's smile.
"She said she knew this whole time. How ridiculous is that?"
"Wow," Kim whistled, amazed. "That's great, but also kind of ironic."
"Exactly what I thought."
"So, like," Kim started, uncharacteristically shy again, "does this mean we can kiss sober now?"
They took a deep breath at the mouth of the pit, nervous and excited at the same time.
"Guess what, guys!" Kim said, stepping into the pit with Trini beside her, holding her hand. The boys looked up from their conversation, noticing the girls enter. Zack smirked when he noticed their hands were joined, while Billy smiled politely.
"Trini and I are back together!"
Jason looked confused, his eyebrows scrunched up together. "Wait. You guys broke up?"