Hello People!
Wow, it took forever, but here it is. The third part. And guess what! It's gonna be more than one chapter! Yay! Anyways, once I got started, everything fell into place and since I love writing… Yeah, so more than one part here.
Anyway, the little snippet on song lyrics are from Phil Vassar's Last Day of My Life. I know that song wasn't around in the 90s, but… Creative license. But if it irks you… I'm sorry.
Yes, there is slash. You have been warned. And no. The characters don't belong to me. If they did, I wouldn't be worried about getting a scholarship when I go to college. Only Rocky's family belongs to me… I think… Any similarity to anyone, either living or dead, is purely coincidental… Sorry. Couldn't help myself. And no one was harmed in the making of this fanfiction… Okay, I'm done now.
And thank you soooooo much for all of you that reviewed That Incident Back Sophomore Year and Burgers, Love, and Addiction. I seriously love all of you guys! XRachX, Sparxxa, MzDany, CamFan4Ever, Nomadff7, Bridge Tate, CrimsonStorms, LOSTrocker, Feline-Feral, Melly, PinkStranger, Psycho Tangerine, Sreym, Yuri Ameno, PunkPinkPower, Lttlelola, Jessie13, Burnsy, DallysNYChick, and SpookyandLumpy… You people all just seriously made my day.
Soooooo… On to the first chapter!
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Can't Go Back
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Chapter 1
Why Didn't We Start Dating Before…?
Rocky sat at Ernie's Juice Bar, back against the table he was at as he straddled the chair. As he watched the door, he rested his chin on his crossed arms and sighed quietly. Part of him was aware of the ache in his lower back where the edge pressed in close to where he'd broken the bone. It wasn't enough to make him move. But he was aware of it. Besides, after being in the hospital for as long as he had, just sitting there – despite the pain – was a welcome change.
Momentarily taking his eyes off the entrance to the Juice Bar and Gym, Rocky glanced over at the clock. Four-fifty. It was official. Adam was late.
It wasn't like he was worried… at least not in the traditional sense of a boyfriend. That Adam could be standing him up or anything even vaguely of that nature was absurd. He knew Adam too well to even entertain the notion. Adam wouldn't do that to him. Not his Adam. Unfortunately, the other number of far more likely possibilities had occurred to him and he was struggling not to let his imagination run completely wild. He really didn't want to think about a number of those possibilities.
The problem was that those possibilities had become disturbingly clear to him within the last couple of days. When he had been a ranger himself, things had been different. Actually being in a fight against monsters wanting to take over the world was nowhere near as terrifying as watching his friends fight them. And watching the fights on the news was worse… Seeing Adam and the others take those hits… Knowing that they could easily be hurt or worse…
Turning back to the door, he sighed again, telling himself that five minutes wasn't enough to worry about. His fear of what could have happened was ungrounded. Adam was only five minutes late and he could take care of himself. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. But it was increasingly difficult to think of anything else. He knew how dangerous being a ranger was. The thought that Adam could be hurt though, or even –
That train of thought was abruptly cut off when Adam abruptly came running in, door bouncing off the wall. He was slightly out of breath as he quickly scanned the room. Spotting Rocky, he hurried over.
"Sorry I'm late, Rocky. We had some… business that had to be taken care of," Adam explained in a nervous rush as soon as he stood before Rocky.
It was all Rocky could do to keep from laughing in the face of Adam's nervousness. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one who felt butterflies in his stomach when he was around the other. Plus… truth be told, at the moment he thought Adam looked even more adorable than normal. The Korean teenager was panting lightly, shoulder-length curly black hair in slight disarray, dark almond eyes wide with uncertainty as he fiddled with the hem of his dark green shirt. God, he loved Adam.
Deciding to spare Adam any embarrassment, Rocky flashed Adam an understanding smile. "It's okay. I sort of figured it was something like that." Standing up, he couldn't quite suppress his wince as pain shot up his stiff spine.
Concern flickered across Adam's face. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
"I'm fine," the other teenager quickly assured him as he slowly straightened. "A little stiff but other than that…" He shrugged off-handedly before he started towards the door. "Come on. If we don't go now we'll miss the previews before the movies."
"You are the only person I know who cannot stand to miss the previews."
"Of course I love the previews. How else would I know what movies I want to see when they come out?" Rocky pointed out, his logic making perfect sense in his own mind.
As they reached the door, Tommy, Kat, Tanya, and Justin walked in, reaffirming Rocky's suspicion that Adam had hurried ahead of the others. "Hey guys," Tommy said brightly.
"Rocky!" Justin exclaimed, rushing the former blue ranger. The twelve-year-old was so excited to see him that Rocky couldn't bring himself to pull away, despite the pain that shot up his lower back at the over-enthusiastic hug.
"So… Are you guys still going to the movies?" Kat asked, her innocent voice belied by the smirk on her pretty face.
"Yes," Rocky sighed, wondering what exactly she thought they were going to do there. It wasn't like they were sneaking off to some hotel or back alleyway. Hell, they weren't even going to either of their houses. They were just going to the movies, and since Kat didn't know about the "Incident" from their sophomore year, she had no reason to suspect they would do anything in a public place.
Justin, blessedly oblivious to what was really going on, spoke up. "What movie are you guys going to see?"
"One we're going to be late to if we don't leave now," Rocky answered, taking hold of his shy boyfriend's arm and tugging him along with him. "Come on."
Adam suppressed a smirk. He loved his friends and all – so did Rocky – but they were getting just a little too much enjoyment from watching the two of them together.
"Have fun," Tanya called as they began to cross the parking lot.
"Be careful," Tommy added, trying to not to sound too amused at what was going on.
"Just don't get yourselves kicked out," Kat put in, not even bothering to attempt to hide her amusement. She couldn't help it. They were just so cute together…
Rocky sighed, shaking his head as he approached his truck. Honestly! Was that really necessary?
As the two teenagers reached Rocky's truck, Adam slipped around in front of him, cutting him off. Rocky had a pretty good feeling he knew what Adam wanted, but decided to play the part of the clueless boyfriend instead. He was pretty good at that one…
Stepping forward, Rocky gently wrapped his arms around Adam's waist, pulling him into a hug. The Korean boy seemed to practically melt into his embrace and Rocky couldn't help but sigh happily. Without consciously realizing what he was doing, he tightened him grip on the smaller teenager.
To his surprise, Adam stiffened and pulled away from him with a barely auditable hiss. When he saw the hurt look that quickly flashed through Rocky's eyes, he quickly jumped in an attempt to reassure the other boy.
"No! It's not you or anything… I'm just a little sore…"
If there had been anyone else around, anyone at all, Rocky wouldn't have done it, but since they were alone in the parking lot and out of sight of the people inside… Carefully, Rocky hooked his fingers under Adam's shirt and pulled up, just enough for him to get a good look at the dark bruises that were already beginning to form over Adam's ribs and abdomen.
He sighed, shaking his head as he released the shirt, letting it fall back into place. "Those look pretty bad. You going to be okay?" He met Adam's dark eyes, allowing his concern to show through.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. We've all had worse. I'm just going to be sore for a couple of days," Adam answered. He smiled shyly, his dark eyes taking on a decidedly innocent look. "Of course, I think I'll feel better once we're at the movie theater."
The former blue ranger blinked once in absolute shock before he broke out laughing. "God, I knew there was a reason I loved you," he said with a grin. There was no doubt about it. Adam had been hanging out with him for way too long. He had succeeded in corrupting him.
Finally.
Reaching for the door of his truck, Rocky was slightly surprised when Adam didn't move. The Korean teenager just stood there, left hand on a hip right hand out, waiting.
"What?" Rocky asked in confusion.
With a sigh, Adam reached forward and, before Rocky had a chance to react, pulled the keys from his pocket. "I'm driving. Get in the other side."
"Hey, it's my truck!" Rocky protested.
"Tough. I don't think you should be driving, so deal with it." To lessen the sting of his words, the smaller teenager leaned forward and, rising up onto his toes, kissed Rocky gently on his lips.
"No fair using that to end your argument," Rocky murmured playfully. He really didn't mind letting Adam drive, but there was no way he was going to let him get away with using a kiss to end his argument. Leaning down, he kissed Adam on the forehead to emphasize his size advantage on the other boy.
Adam smiled slightly. "Come on. We don't want to miss the movie."
Driving home, Rocky couldn't help but smile. They had been lucky; Divatox had failed to send down another monster so they had managed to see the entire movie, something practically unheard of since they had first become rangers. In fact… he was fairly sure the last time he'd managed to sit through an entire movie without it being interrupted by a monster attack was two years ago, during the "Incident."
As he pulled up in front of Adam's house, he shifted the truck into park and let the engine idle. Glancing over at Adam, he reached over and gently took his hand. Without any conscious thought, he found their fingers intertwining.
"Have you called Aisha yet to tell her…? About us, I mean?" Adam asked quietly, eyes on their joined hands.
"Not yet," Rocky admitted. "I'm not sure I want to hear her inevitable "I knew it! I told you so!" speech quite yet." He smiled slightly and shook his head. "If she was here, we'd probably have already heard it three times by now."
Rocky almost didn't notice the way Adam's eyes clouded at that, but there was no missing the almost despondent tone in his voice as he said, "If she was here…"
Frowning, Rocky cocked his head, watching Adam in vague confusion. "What's wrong, Adam?" When the other boy didn't answer, Rocky squeezed his hand gently to get his attention. "Why is this suddenly bothering you again? I mean… She's been in Africa for more than a year now. Yeah, I miss her too, but you know she loves what she's doing…"
"I know that…" Adam said, voice sounding alarmingly miserable. "She's gone and not coming back…We're probably not going to see her again. We're graduating… We're going to leave…" He slowly grew quieter as he continued, until the last part was barely even auditable.
It actually took Rocky several moments to catch what Adam had said but even a few additional moments couldn't help him understand what had Adam so upset. "Wait, what? You think that –"
"Rocky, we're graduating!" Adam stared at him as if he couldn't figure out why Rocky wasn't as upset as he was. "Graduating! Meaning we're going to be out of school, everyone's going to be leaving, going somewhere else… Kat's going to New York, Tanya's going to L.A., Tommy's going to be… who knows where with his racing… And you and I…" He trailed off at that, looking away in an attempt to hide the anguish he knew was showing through in his eyes.
Rocky blinked once as he suddenly realized exactly what was bothering Adam. He hadn't even thought about what graduating was going to mean… For some reason, the inevitable separation had never even occurred to him. He'd been so thrilled about getting out of school and having Adam as a boyfriend… and so worried about having put Justin in danger by making him a ranger and Adam being a ranger without him there to back him up… that everything else had pretty much slipped his mind.
"A… Adam… I didn't… I didn't even think about…" Rocky stammered uncertainly, unsure of how to comfort Adam. "I mean… you … none of you guys can leave as long as you're rangers, right? So we've still got time… We can figure something out…" Yet even as he said it, he knew that the extra time given to them wouldn't seem like enough. The more time they got, the more having to go their separate ways would hurt…
"Time…?" Adam asked, voice showing exactly what he thought of that. "We're graduating tomorrow!"
Rocky glanced away from Adam, unable to meet his eyes, because, really, there was nothing he could say that could make things better. Nothing at all…
The Next Day
"Come on. We can change at my house," Rocky said, parking his truck in the driveway and jumping out. "I promised the others we'd meet them at Tommy's house in thirty minutes."
"Hey, where'd your parents go? Didn't they manage to get out of the parking lot before us?" Adam asked as he followed Rocky into the house.
Rocky turned to grin at Adam, "Yeah, but they left straight for the beach. They went on vacation after Bobby and Christina graduated so they wanted to continue the tradition. Kind of a "Congradulations! We got another kid through high school!" trip."
"What about your brothers and sisters?"
A short laugh escaped Rocky. "Yeah, right. Do you honestly think my parents would trust me to watch all my younger brothers and sisters? Maybe the five oldest ones, but not Javy and Maria."
Adam smiled at Rocky, "They're only a couple of three-years-olds. They can't be that bad."
"That coming from an only child," Rocky teased. "They're twins and they're toddlers. That's about as scary as it gets." He shook his head ruefully as the two of them started up the stairs. "The only ones that are staying here are me, Ricky, and Elena." As they reached the top of the stairs, Rocky waved Adam towards his room. "I'm going to check on Ricky and Elena real quick. I'll be back in a second."
"Ricky?" he called, glancing into his brother's room. He sighed upon finding it empty. There was no telling where that boy had run off to…
There was no doubt about where Elena was though. He could here the loud country music drifting through the hall from her room. He honestly couldn't say which of her tapes it was, because he couldn't make out the words
He walked up to the door of her room, pausing outside of her room as he was finally able to make out the words.
-Life is a rainbow, it's a spring snow,
It's the mornin' dew.
An' I don't wanna waste another minute,
Without you.
I'm gonna bring home a dozen roses,
An' pour us a glass of wine.
An' I'm gonna put on a little music,
An' turn down the lights.
An' I'm gonna wrap my arms around you,
An' rock you all through the night,
An' I'm gonna love you,
Like it's the last day of my life. -
He shook his head. That was more than minorly creepy. Knocking on her shut down, he yelled loudly, "Elena! Open the door!"
Abruptly the music cut off and his little sister opened the door. The fifteen-year-old girl stood there, hands on her hips. "What?" she asked, sounding slightly indignant.
Glancing past her into her room, he was surprised to see that she had a backpack out, looking like she was packing. "Where do you think you're going?"
She stared at him as if she thought he was a moron. "I'm spending the night at Gina's house. Duh. Mom told you last night, remember? Weren't you paying attention?"
Honestly, he hadn't been. Obviously. He'd been too busy thinking about Adam and what graduating was actually going to mean. "Oh… Where's Ricky?"
Elena sighed, "He's spending the night at Tyler's house."
"Oh…"
Elena turned around and grabbed her backpack. "Look, I've got to go." She grabbed the tape from her tape player and shoved it in her backpack. "I'm supposed to be at her house in ten minutes."
"Do you need a ride?" Rocky asked.
"It's only a block down the street. I think I can make it, Rocky." She started out of her room, but, rather than going down the stairs, made a minor detour to his room. She stuck her head in the door. "Bye Adam. Keep Rocky out of trouble at the party," she instructed before practically skipping down the stairs and out the door.
Rocky watched her go. Sometimes he wondered about her… Really. How had she even known Adam was here? He hadn't told her. Granted, she knew about the party because they had talked about it yesterday, but Adam… Weird…
"Adam?" he asked, glancing into his room. Thank God he was decent, he could just imagine what would have happen if Elena had stuck her head in and he wasn't… Though he was very distracting…
The Korean teenager was sitting on his bed, already in his jeans, but with his shirt half-forgotten in his hands. Rocky didn't mind the chance to take in the sight of Adam shirtless; that always made any day good.
"Adam?" he asked quietly, feeling a little sinking sensation in his stomach as he realized the look on Adam's face was practically the same one from the day before. "You gonna be okay?"
The other boy didn't react, just continued to sit there with a rather lost look on his face. It wasn't until Rocky gently kissed him that he was startled out of his dark thoughts.
Rocky couldn't help but smile slightly at the confused, slightly disoriented look on the younger boy's face. As those dark brown eyes met his, he made a split second decision. "We're not going to the party."
If anything, the confused look on Adam's face deepened. "Huh?"
A smirk flickered across Rocky's face as he plopped down, rather unceremoniously, next to Adam. "You're worried about the time we have left? Well, I intend to make full use of it. All of it."
Adam didn't get a chance to respond before Rocky had confiscated the use of his lips, putting them to much better use. And honestly… What was there to say to that?
TBC
Wheeeeee. Okay, sorry, but it's like 1:45 in the morning here. I'm a little hyper.
Anyways, I hope you people enjoy chapter 1! Please review! It'd just make everything super!
