A/N: Wow guys, been awhile. Anyway, I'm still working on A House is Not a Home and Let Me Spin You a Yarn By The Fire but this little idea just snuck into my head and refused to leave. I blame Big Bang Theory. Anyway, a big thanks to my new beta Heaven's Archer!
'This,' Bridge thought, 'was all Sky's fault.' Not that it was a bad thing but...Bridge hadn't exactly been planning on falling in love with another guy. Bridge remained steadfast in his opinion that it was the blue ranger's fault. If Sky weren't so perfect then Bridge wouldn't have fallen in love with him. But this story isn't about why Bridge fell in love with his friend; it's about what happened after.
Sky sat on his bed, a book open in his lap even though he wasn't paying the book any attention. Instead, he was running through the conversation he had had with Syd a half hour ago. The pink ranger had knocked tentatively on the door and Sky had admitted her with a smile.
"Hey, Syd. What's going on?" The blonde haired girl had perched tentatively on Bridge's bed as Sky moved to sit on his own. "Is something the matter?" he asked, noticing the look on her face.
"Sky...I...I have to talk to you." A feeling of foreboding settled in the blue ranger's stomach and he knew what was coming next. He just didn't know why. "I think we should break up," Syd stated softly. Sky stayed silent, quietly picking at the frayed threads of his comforter.
"Why?" he finally asked. Syd, who had stood up to leave, sat back down.
"Because, while I know that you care for me...I think that there's someone else you could love even more, if you'd just let yourself see it." She paused to collect herself, her fingers playing nervously with the hem of her shirt. "I want you to be happy, Sky, and you're not with me. Not completely," she finished, talking over Sky's protestations. "You could be so much happier. You just need to look and see the big picture." Syd had scurried out the door before Sky could give voice to any of his thoughts, and he had been sitting on his bed, book in lap, staring at the wall ever since. His thoughts were interrupted by the hissing of the door as it opened.
"I don't think you'll get much read like that," Bridge stated, collapsing onto his bed. Sky refocused his gaze onto his fellow squad member but said nothing. "Hey, are you okay?" Bridge propped himself up on his elbows and stared earnestly at his friend's face.
"Syd broke up with me," Sky stated. Bridge's eyes widened in shock and he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up.
"No way! Why? Do you want me to talk to her? Maybe it's just a misunderstanding..." Bridge stated, trailing off. Sky smiled in spite of himself.
"She said that there's someone I love more than her. I just have to figure it out." Sky smiled wryly. "She wouldn't even tell me who she thought I was in love with." He shrugged and set his book on the bed. "I'm going to go work out." Bridge waved as the older boy exited the room and as the door slid shut, the green ranger collapsed back onto the bed. Syd couldn't possibly know...could she? When Sky had told his friend that he was planning on asking the pink ranger out, Bridge had seethed internally. Externally he had slapped Sky on the back and told him to go for it. From that day forward, Bridge had tried to avoid being in the same room with both the rangers. Sky he could handle. Syd he could handle. Sky and Syd he could not handle. The few times he had found himself with the two had always been incredibly awkward and the fact that Syd had taken to staring at him had not helped the awkwardness. But this train of thought was not answering his initial question: Did Syd know? A tap on the door interrupted his train of thought and he heaved a sigh as he rolled off his bed and opened the door.
"Syd!" After he blinked his way past the initial shock he saw that the ranger had been crying and he ushered her into the room. For the second time in two hours the blonde teenager found herself in the room, but this time she sat on Sky's bed and faced Bridge.
"Bridge...we need to talk." The green ranger swallowed around the knot in his throat.
"Sure, Syd. What's up?" he asked nervously as he twisted his fingers together.
"You know I broke up with Sky and I'm pretty sure you know why. I tried giving him a hint, but I don't think he got it. Now it's your turn."
"My turn?" Bridge asked faintly. Syd nodded, her face set in determination. "My turn to - ?"
"To show him that he's in love with you as much as you're in love with him. I want to see him happy, Bridge and he'll be happy with you."
"No." Bridge shook his head. "Sky was raised completely straight-laced. Finding out that a guy is in love with him – or that he's in love with a guy – is going to do nothing but make matters worse."
"Bridge..." Syd groaned.
"No, Syd. It's like Schrodinger's Cat, okay?"
"What?"
"Schrodinger's Cat. In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger, in an attempt to explain the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, proposed an experiment where a cat is placed in a box with a sealed vial of poison that will break open at a random time. Since no one knows when or if the poison has been released, until the box is opened, the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead. Just like Schrodinger's Cat, my potential relationship with Sky can be thought of as both good and bad. Only by opening the box will I find out if the cat is dead or alive."
"Well, in this case, the cat is alive and you know it," Syd argued – understanding just enough to continue her side of the argument. Bridge shook his head.
"No, Syd. In this case, the cat was dead before it was put in the box," he stated, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them. Syd let out an exclamation of annoyance.
"Why do you men have to be so stubborn?" she demanded, standing and heading toward the door. "I'll prove that the cat is alive." Her only response from the green ranger was a sigh as she stormed out the door.
After Syd left Bridge pulled himself into a handstand and thought about what she had said. To suddenly be presented with the opportunity that he had always dreamed of…it would be so easy to spill his guts out to Sky as soon as he came in but he refused to do so for two reasons: 1. He valued Sky's friendship way too much to lose it, and 2. He really didn't want to have to switch teams should things get awkward between them. So, no, he'd thank Syd for trying and tell her to get back together with the blue ranger. Plan - yes. He dropped his legs and stood, bee-lining for the door only to stumble backwards with a small yelp as it suddenly slid open in front of him.
"Sorry!" Sky apologized as he helped the younger ranger stand. Bridge shook his head and waved away the apology before moving to collapse on his bed. Close proximity to a sweaty Sky was not what he needed right now. He flipped into his stomach, buried his face in his pillow and groaned. The blue ranger shot an amused look in Bridge's direction before disappearing into the bathroom. Bridge silently wondered why Sky couldn't shower at the gym like every other guy. "So I saw Syd again." Sky stated as he re-entered the room. "She said she'd been to talk to you." Bridged loved the pink ranger as a sister. He would destroy her as such.
"Yeah, she, uh…she wanted to know if she made a mistake breaking up with you," Bridge lied, hauling himself up to lean against the wall. Sky laughed.
"You can't lie, Bridge. You especially can't lie to me." He paused, taking in Bridge's defensive posture. The younger man sat with his back against the wall, his knees tucked under his chin and his arms wrapped tightly around his shins. "Hey, I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it," Sky stated quickly, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. He sat on the bed next to his friend. "It's none of my business what you and Syd talked about, anyway." Bridge gave no indication that he heard what the blue ranger had said and Sky stood with a sigh. He ran a hand through his still damp hair and stated, "We've never had secrets before."
"Maybe it's time we started," Bridge whispered. Sky frowned - that wasn't the response he wanted - but he dropped the subject and Bridge knew that the blue ranger wouldn't bring it up again unless Bridge brought it up first.
True to Bridge's prediction, Sky completely dropped his investigation into what Syd had said but things between the two rangers were strained. Sky never mentioned that day again but Bridge could feel the curious and searching glances that the blond man sent his way when he thought Bridge wouldn't see him. What the older man didn't know was that Bridge was hyper-aware of the older ranger whenever he was around. He always knew when Sky was looking at him. His Sky-tenses would tingle.
For Syd, it was almost painful to watch. She had hoped that Bridge would get over his stubbornness and tell Sky the truth but it was quite evident he had done nothing of the sort and it was left to her. But she had yet to devise a plan that didn't involve outright telling Sky that Bridge was in love with him. She didn't think Bridge would ever forgive her if she did that. So she watched and waited and plotted.
Sky vented his frustration on unsuspecting targets. It had been a week since he and Syd had broken up and while it should have been awkward between the two of them, it was more awkward between himself and Bridge. The blue ranger grunted in annoyance as he took out another target. He had given assurances that he wouldn't pry into Bridge's affairs, so he sure as heck wasn't going to sneak around behind his back and try to talk to Syd. Sky demolished the last target and decided to use the gym showers for the first time - ever. He didn't feel like going back to his room just yet.
Freshly showered, he left his hair to air dry and meandered his way to the cafeteria to pick up some lunch. However, whispering in the common room derailed his plan.
"I feel so bad for both of them," Syd whispered. "I hoped when I broke up with Sky that he'd get the hint but he's carrying on just as oblivious as ever. So I went to Bridge, hoping that he'd at least give Sky a nudge in the right direction but he's being as bullheaded as Sky." The ranger in questioned tuned out the rest of the conversation, focusing solely on this new piece of information. Bridge knew who Syd though he was in love with. So why hadn't he told Sky? Their friendship had always been based on openness and honesty, but lately Bridge had been keeping secrets… Could Bridge possibly have an interest in the girl? Or maybe the younger ranger had some sort of information about her and felt like Sky would be better off without her. Whatever the green ranger's reasoning, Sky needed to talk to him.
The blue ranger couldn't remember much about the walk back to his shared room but he could clearly remember the feelings of anger and hurt warring in his chest and the emotions must have permeated his aura because no sooner had he stepped into the room than Bridge was looking at him with a look that managed to be both sheepish and guilty looking.
"She told you who she thinks I'm in love with," Sky stated slowly. Bridge nodded.
"And I told her it would probably never happen." At the look Sky gave him Bridge sighed and explained, "She thinks you're in love with a guy. More specifically, she thinks you're in love with me." Bridge almost laughed at how fast Sky's head whipped around to look at him - he was a little surprised the blue ranger didn't get whiplash.
"She thinks…what?" he asked faintly. Bridge merely shrugged his response. Sky stood and paced the room. "She thinks I'm gay?"
"More like bi. You do have a history of dating women." Bridge stated, forcing a weak smile. In actuality, this conversation was going a lot better than he thought. At least Sky wasn't yelling.
"But…you dated Sophie." Sky stated.
"Yeah…" Bridge nodded slowly. "And I liked her, too. Doesn't mean I haven't dated guys, too. Just not since I joined the academy." He didn't want to open that can of worms, thank you very much. Sky pushed down the sudden irritation that flared when Bridge mentioned past boyfriends.
"This is…" he trailed off, unsure how to finish.
"A lot to take in?" Bridge asked. "Believe me, it's not what I had planned for today, either," he stated drily. Sky collapsed onto his bed and ran a hand through his still-damp hair.
"What do you think?" Sky asked, fixing his gaze on the younger ranger. Bridge fidgeted nervously.
"I'll go along with whatever you decide." It wasn't the answer Sky was looking for, but it was the best Bridge could give him without making his true sentiments known. A wry smile twisted Sky's lips and he shook his head while sighing.
"I'm going to need some time to think about this, Bridge. I've never been involved with a guy before and in all honesty, I'm not sure that's a road I want to go down." Bridge nodded his understanding. Sky could have all the time he needed. The younger ranger could use that time to get his suddenly spiraling emotions back under control. Any further conversation was cut off as the alarm alerted the B-squad rangers to Gruum's latest attack and by the end of the day the two men were just happy that they were both alive to worry much about what - if anything - was going to happen between them. Bridge sighed before settling himself underneath his blankets. Across the room, Sky listened as the green ranger's breathing evened out and he tried to figure out the correct course of action to take.