A/N: Yay! My first chapter fanfiction under this name! So, um...well, this is awkward. *disappears back into shadows*


Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be. – Anton Chekhov

Sky knew he wasn't popular with his fellow rangers at the academy. He was too quiet, kept too much to himself. His spare time was spent working out – training his body to be stronger, faster, better – or reading – expanding his mind to hold more information, to know everything he could. To Sky, this behavior was normal. It was what he had done since he was a child; it was what Sky had done since he had sworn to take down the culprit who had been responsible for his father's death. It had never occurred to Sky he could be someone more…human. At least it had never occurred to him until he had got utterly wasted at the St. Patrick's Day celebration. His lowered inhibitions would start a series of events which would make the next few days…interesting.

~ Saturday, March 17

"Dude, your cousin is wasted." Romy stated, glancing to where the blue ranger was fighting a losing battle with gravity. Mage peered over his shoulder before biting back a laugh. "Good thing he has off tomorrow," Romy continued. "Otherwise he might eviscerate us instead of just getting even for getting him drunk."

"He might still eviscerate us," Mage replied. "I have photographic evidence in my possession." Romy's eyes widened in mock horror, before he stepped forward, grabbing his boyfriend's hand.

"My dear, it was lovely knowing you, but I think we need to break up." Mage laughed, whacking Romy over the head.

"Come on, let's get drunky back to the academy." Each of them grabbed an arm and hoisted the blue ranger to his feet. They stumbled their way to the academy before being stopped by locked gates. "Well, crap. Now what?"

"We home?" Sky slurred. "This doesn't look like my room. There's no Bridge here." Attempting to stand, the blond ranger fell on his butt. "Where's Bridge?" he asked petulantly.

"We've got to get him into the academy somehow." Romy said to Mage, ignoring Sky.

"M'gonna call Bridge," Sky slurred to nobody in particular. Pulling out his morpher, Sky stared evilly at it for a second – he didn't remember the buttons being this small before – before dialing in the green ranger's number. "Bridge?"

"Sky?" The blue ranger grinned as the tired voice came out of his morpher. "Where are you? Do you know how late it is?"

"I'm at the gate. It's not opening." Sky heard the younger ranger sigh tiredly, before the sound of rustling came over the speaker.

"It locks at eleven, remember?" There was more rustling and indistinct mutterings before he could hear Bridge clearly again. "I'm on my way." Five minutes later the green ranger was unlocking the gate and angrily stating, "You let him get drunk?"

"He got away from us. We couldn't find him right away." Mage explained. Bridge sighed, going to grab the blue ranger. Locking the gate behind him, Bridge concentrated on getting Sky back to their bedroom – not an easy task considering the fact that the older ranger was taller and heavier than he was.

"Sky, pick up your damn feet."

"Why?"

"Because it will help me get you back to our room faster." Bridge nearly tripped when Sky shifted his hands.

"I don't have my key," he stated, trying to dig into Bridge's pockets. "Do you have my key?"

"I have my key. You left yours in the room so you wouldn't lose it. God, you're a handsy drunk," he groused, batting the other ranger's hands away from his body. "Stop that!" Sky giggled, sliding down the wall Bridge had placed him against. "I'm opening this door, and putting you into bed."

" You gonna join me?" Bridge ducked his head, choosing to focus on unlocking the door rather than replying. He hoped the dim light was enough to cover his blush. It was bad enough harboring a crush all these years, but then having said crush attempting to get into his pants while drunk – Bridge really hated his life sometimes.

"Come on," Bridge hoisted his teammate off the ground. Depositing him on the bed, he decided to at least get Sky's shoes and belt off.

"Knew you were trying to get in my pants," Sky slurred, trying to help and really just hindering the process.

"My secret is out," Bridge responded dryly. "I let my friends go out and get drunk just so I can take advantage of them when they're inebriated." Sky scowled at him and Bridge belatedly realized it was jealousy. "I'm joking, Sky."

"Better be," he muttered. "You staying?"

"I'm staying in my bed. I'll be right over there," he stated, pointing to his bed across the room. When he glanced back at the blue ranger, he was already passed out. Bridge chuckled. "So romantic."

~ Sunday, March 18

"Kill it."

"What?" Bridge asked, pulling his head out from under the pillow.

"Alarm clock. Evil. Shoot it." Bridge barely stifled a laugh. Well, this was a new side to the blue ranger that he'd never seen before. Stretching out, the green ranger managed to silence the offending clock and switched the alarm off before burying himself back under the warmth of his covers.

"How bad is the hangover?" he asked, voice muffled by the layers of sheets.

"Don't talk so loudly. Actually, no talking. Be less noisy. Try breathing less."

"Want some water and medication?" A groan was his only response. In reality, Sky really only wanted to spend this day off sleeping. But Bridge said he'd get water and medicine and Sky was pretty certain that the Sahara desert had moved into his mouth during the night, so he'd wait until Bridge came back, steal the aforementioned items and then go back to sleep. Plan. Yes. "Do you even remember what happened?" Sky opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light before tentatively opening them halfway. That was better. Taking the offered pills and water, Sky swallowed three before answering.

"I never remember. At least not right away. It'll filter back throughout the day. How big a fool did I make of myself?"

"Don't worry, I was the only one who saw you drunk," Bridge replied, plastering a fake smile onto his face. Sky's eyes narrowed at the younger boy's expression.

"What did I do?" he demanded. Bridge chuckled wryly and the sound wrenched Sky's heart.

"Don't worry about it. You said everything usually filters back throughout the day. If it does and you want to, we'll talk about it then." Bridge paused, looking at everything in the room before settling back on Sky. "I'm going to go get breakfast. Do you want anything?" The mere mention of food had Sky's stomach roiling in rebellion and it was only with extreme effort that the blue ranger made it to the bathroom in time. Bridge winced at the sound of Sky heaving and quickly exited the room. Making his way to the cafeteria, he picked up breakfast for himself and a large glass of ginger ale and a packet of saltines for the hung-over ranger. He ate his breakfast on the way back to their room, not wanting to upset Sky's stomach with the smell but the main room was still empty on his arrival. Knocking tentatively on the bathroom door he asked, "You okay in there?"

"Kill me now. Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to drink last night?" Bridge bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "And don't think I don't know that you're stifling your laughter!" Bridge burst out laughing.

"I'm putting your ginger ale and saltines on the nightstand!" he called through the door. "I have to go help Kat in the lab today – Boomer's out sick – but I'll be back later to see how you're doing, okay?" A hum of approval was the only response and Bridge exited the room. Shortly after he left, Sky stumbled out of the bathroom and all but fell back into bed. Fighting his blankets to get comfortable, he stopped short, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt the first flashbacks of last night.

He had a beer glass in one hand, laughing uproariously at a story Romy was recounting. Mage was sitting quietly, a content smile on his face but his eyes trained on his boyfriend.

It was dark outside; Shamrocks seemed to be literally pouring down from the sky. All three of them were a little tipsy and Mage was attempting to wrap a tacky, plastic necklace around his neck.

He was sitting outside the academy, morpher in hand. Bridge was telling him that the gate locked at eleven, then telling him to stay there – he'd come and let him in.

Blinking back the impending headache, the first conclusion Sky came to was that he needed to plot revenge against his cousin and Romy. The second conclusion he came to was that he'd have to wait until later to figure out just what he had done to Bridge. He seriously hoped he hadn't tried to make a move on him. Figuring that there was nothing he could do at the moment he curled back into bed.


Waking the second time was instantly better than waking the first time had been. To begin with, Sky woke instantly. Secondly, his head was merely throbbing, not beating out a staccato rhythm against his skull. Then there was the matter of his stomach, which had felt something akin to a ship at sea during a storm when he had first woken. Now it was more likely to resemble the sea during high wind gusts. Sky cheered internally after taking a few sips of ginger ale – his stomach was accepting it. Deciding that he couldn't just lay around in bed all day, however tempting it might be, Sky grabbed a dark pair of sunglasses and decided to brave a walk outside. His head might be pounding and his eyes might be sensitive to bright lights, but he had to do something to counteract all the alcohol. With one hand firmly against the wall of the hallway, Sky set off.

He received some odd looks, but he wasn't entirely sure if it was due to the fact that he was wearing sunglasses inside, or the fact that he was walking around in sweatpants. He didn't really care. Reaching the door to the garden, Sky braced himself for the impending pain before opening the door and stepping outside. He hissed at the sunlight, but he refused to go back inside. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the ground and followed the path around the garden.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been walking in circles but as a wave of nausea hit him without warning, he figured it would be a good idea to sit down. Quickly. Luckily he was by the reflection pool and he flopped onto the stone bench, listening to the pattering of the waterfall. His breath came quickly and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His fingers reflexively tightened and loosened on the edge of the bench and he forcibly swallowed the bile back down. He would not get sick in the academy garden.

Bridge was supporting him back to their room, stumbling under his weight. Sky was attempting to get into the green ranger's pockets; Bridge was batting his hands away, blushing.

Sky was leaning against the wall while Bridge unlocked their door, and Sky was asking if Bridge was joining him in bed.

Bridge was undressing him so he'd be more comfortable and Sky was teasing him about getting into his pants. The entire time, the green ranger wore a blush.

Sky couldn't hold it in anymore. He leaned over and threw up. Panting, he kept his head between his knees. And that's how Bridge found him on his way back to their room.

"Sky, are you okay?" he asked, hurrying over to the bench to check the blue ranger over.

"M'fine. I threw up," he explained, flushing with embarrassment.

"That's okay," Bridge said gently, trying to comfort him. "It's known to happen. Come on," he said, tugging on the older ranger's arm. "Let's get you back to bed. I'll get you some more ginger ale." Sky didn't say anything, but he allowed himself to be led back to bed. Bridge tucked him in before gathering up his breakfast plate and Sky's ginger ale glass. Heading out the door to the cafeteria, he paused when Sky called to him.

"Hey, Bridge? Thanks." Bridge smiled softly.

"You're welcome," he whispered. He shut the door softly behind him, but Sky was already asleep.

~Aren't I just the worst?~