Struggles

Tommy Oliver was a young man who loved his job as a teacher in Reefside high school. It was a job that took his mind of the things he was struggling with in his private life. Tommy was never a man to complain, he was used to facing his problems on his own. The only one that really knew what was going on was his ex-girlfriend, Kimberly Ann Hart, even his best friend didn't know everything.

He and Kimberly were back being friends after they had talked about the letter. She had asked him for forgiveness about the way she had hurt him so much. There had been another boy but even he was history, the young man Jack had been abusive towards her. He had hit her a few days after they became a couple. Kimberly didn't need a second thought to break up with the guy who had told she would regret the decision to leave him. The threat didn't scare Kimberly and soon she found a man who really loved her the way Tommy had been loving her in high school. They were engaged to be married next summer. Her fiancée trusted her and he never complained about the fact that her ex-boyfriend called her every single day. Ian knew that the boy was struggling, he never asked what because he knew it wasn't any of his business. Ian was the man she never thought she could meet, She never thought she would have a second chance on a fairy tale love. Tommy had been listening to her story in the Turbo Zord on the way home, after almost losing her to the evil side he knew he wanted Kimberly as his friend and forgave her everything.

Jason, on the other hand, was still the brother he never had until he met David. Meeting David didn't change that relationship, Jason still was like a brother to him. He knew about the way he struggled about his youth only without knowing what it really was that had made his parents turn their back on him. The power rangers came right on time when Tommy was growing up, they gave him something to live for. They were the one who turned him into the man he was now.

It was a stormy night and Tommy was grading term papers in his kitchen when a knock on his door disturbed him. He looked at the digital clock of his microwave and read 22:00. The person on the other side knocked again.

"Who is banging on my door at this time of the night?" Tommy whispered to himself, while he walked towards the door a button in his hands to open up the basement door in case of an emergency. His Raptors had been schooled into another job after the defeat of Mesogog, they were guard animals now, responding to his whistles. An idea he tried after watching a rerun of the series New World Zorro, his secret joy. He understood the struggle of keeping a secret life secret, being a ranger himself made that he too had to keep his secret life secret.

He opened the door and was shocked to see Jason on the other side. Wearing a red shirt, a leather jacket, and jeans. The thing that shocked him the most was his black eye and the way he held his shoulder. Jason was holding a sports bag over his other shoulder

"Jase, bro, what happened?" he asked worried, forgetting to step aside to let the man enter.

"Can I come in?" Jason asked with obvious pain in his voice.

"Yeah sure, sorry!" Tommy stepped aside and let his bro pass him inside.

"Put your bag here in the corner and follow me towards the kitchen. Can I get you something? Coffee or something stronger?" Tommy asked while he walked him towards the kitchen.

"Do you have some whiskey?"

Tommy nodded and poured out two glasses before he himself walked to the kitchen. He found Jason looking at the term papers that he had been grading.

"I didn't know you had work to do. Sorry to disturb you." Jason's voice was still full of pain.

"Don't give me that crap, bro, you know you are welcome in my house anytime. Are you going to tell me what has happened to you before I am going to take you to the hospital." Tommy's voice was stern but full of worries about the man in front of him.

"I have been kicked out of my apartment and wasn't welcome at my folks home," Jason said while it was staring in front of him to nothing in particular. Tommy had been sitting beside him. He placed a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"What happened bro? What did you do to get a treatment like that?" Tommy knew what it was like to have your parents turn your back on you.

"I have been struggling with some things since my return from Switzerland. Things that changed my life forever, I have accepted them and I was ready to share them with my parents, who are good friends with my lent lord. But I am not ready to talk about it." Jason was ashamed now and didn't want to risk to lose his friend. He would surely turn his back to him if he knew.

"Alright, but you are going to tell me when you are ready! You know you can tell me anything." Tommy's voice was less stern but he was still worried about his friend. He wanted to know one more thing though, "Who hit you, Jason?"

Jason was quiet but a tear escaped his eyes.

Tommy repeated his question, the worry he was feeling rising with every word.

"Who attacked you, Jason?"

Jason looked at the floor his fingers intertwined in each other, his hand resting on his knees.

"Jason?" Tommy was really worried now.

"My father!" he whispered.

"What?" yelled Tommy.

"Can I stay here for a while, until I find something of my own?" Jason asked in a whisper.

Tommy knelled in front of Jason, his hands on Jason's knees.

" Of course you can stay here. You can stay here as long as you like. On one condition! You are going to the hospital first thing in the morning!"

Jason embraced his bro and started crying. Tommy couldn't do more than hold his friend. His trust must have been seriously broken to give such a reaction. Tommy thought about his own parents. Jason would tell him the moment he was ready.

They stayed that way for hours until it was time for them to go to sleep. Tommy walked Jason towards his guest room, he has chosen the room beside his own. He was still worried about his friend. He knew one thing that what had happened too his best friend was serious. After showing Jason his room he sat on his own bed, tears started to run out of his eyes. Everything that Jason had told him opened some old wounds about his own parents the moment they heard about his orientation. Tommy had known his whole life he was bi but he never told a soul. That was the reason he was such a loner. He had been growing up in a small society before they moved to Angel Grove, a society that was against everything that wasn't normal. His parents had sent him to some charlatan that thought he could cure him of his 'disease'. He shook himself out of thoughts and started to get ready to bed. He had sent a message to Kimberly to tell he wouldn't be calling tonight but he would explain it soon enough. He was ready to sleep when a scream had made him jump out of bed and into the guest room.

He saw Jason twirling around in his sleep scream out of pain. Screaming words that, if his story hadn't opened some wounds, this would have done it.

"DON'T CALL ME FAGOT!"

Tommy was shocked by what he had heard was he going to have a chance after all. He would talk to him in the morning but he needed to wake him up first. He shook Jason with his shoulder, "Jason? Jason wake up bro!"

Jason startled and looked around, it was all a dream. He saw Tommy and the worry he had in his eyes. "Could he have heard something? Was he going to throw him out too?" All that Jason felt was fear.

"It's Alright bro, you had a nightmare. Are you alright again?"

Jason nodded.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked again, seeing Jason's fear.

"Yeah bro, go to sleep you have a teaching job to do," Jason said not wanting to reveal that he was without a job too.

Tommy sighed, "if there is something wrong please don't hesitate to wake me, bro. I am just next door."