Chapter four

This wasn't the way

Sky let himself fall on his bed, which at this moment seemed like the most soft thing he could ever had the fortune of laying his back. Something on his body cracked, and all he could do was to sigh in delight, feeling his muscles relax at the prospect of calling it a day and venture down the path of sweet sleep.

"Tiring day, wasn't it?" Bridge asked, smiling lightly when he saw Sky sprawled on his bed, jacket unbuttoned. Sky's eloquent answer was to grunt in agreement.

And it had been, going all the way chasing down a criminal that was just so sneaky, always disappearing in the last turn of a corner, and they had been trying for about two hours to corner him, which had taken Sky quite the race to keep up behind the criminal's heels, eyes fixed on the figure as he tried hard not to stop for a second to regain some air. It had proven to be worth it, for he managed to tackle him down when the bad guy had stopped just a fraction of second to decide which path to take. But not even with his physical state could he ever withhold running at the top of his speed limit for about thirty minutes while dodging and jumping obstacles to catch a guy that just ran as if his life depended on it. To top it all, the guy seemed like he could keep running if it was necessary… Sky couldn't. Not even if he trained non-stop for the following months could he keep up the run the criminal had taken. It was a mad chase, and it was on Sky's list of 'Never ever do again'. But it had taken them all by surprise, since the B-Squad had assumed it would be an easy catch, but no one had told them the guy ran fast as hell!

"It was amazing how you caught him, though." Bridge acknowledged, taking seat in his bed as he held his S.P.D. jacket between his hands. "You just simply gave that leap over him and took him down."

"Yeah, well, luck was on my side that second. And the moron had it coming, making me run around as if it was a daily thing to do." To say Sky wanted to give the criminal a good punch in the face was little, after he spent half the good life out of his lungs, he wanted nothing more than to capture the damn criminal, and if it meant jumping onto him, so be it.

"And maybe you shouldn't have been so reckless afterwards."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I get it that you jumped over him to at least delay him so we could catch up and arrest him." Bridge then shook his head, an amused smile clear on his lips. "But to then cling to his leg for dear life?" He chuckled. "Sky, he had already hurt one leg."

Sky felt his cheeks heat up at the memory. Well, maybe he had overdone it, and maybe it had been quite the amusing sight: he, clinging on a limping alien, arms firmly wrapped around the leg to prevent the guy from escaping. "He asked for it." Was all he could think to defend his past actions.

"Still seemed to be reckless to me." Sky simply eyed him with a brow arched. "And I know about recklessness, dude."

"You sure do. Now let me sleep, please."

Bridge nodded a 'yes', even if Sky's closed eyes prevented him from seeing it. It wasn't long before they both passed out to enjoy sleep's comfort.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Sky yelled at the annoying sound that had taken away the bliss and joy of sleep from him.

Bridge woke startled, limbs jerking beyond his control at being awakened by that yell. "What's wrong, Sky?" Sky didn't answer, instead, he buttoned his jacket and exited the room. "Oh, good grief, he is cranky." Bridge whined with a hand to his head. He hated to deal with a cranky Sky, for it was just… not his favorite kind of Sky.

After giving one last look to the untidy sheets of his roommate's bed, he followed his friend, hoping whatever had been the reason to interrupt Sky's sleep was good enough to quell Sky's obvious cranky mood. Bridge entered the Command Center still rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. Not two seconds after the room was filled with the others.

"Rangers!" Anubis's firm voice sounded, successfully waking them all. "There's been a sudden disturbance, and I want you to investigate it." The Rangers nodded at their Commander. "Kat will give you the coordinates."

If Sky had wanted to punch someone in the face before, now he wanted to give a kick to whoever had broken the magic spell sleep was having over his body. No need to look after his own security, really, all he cared about was to be done with this whole disturbance to his sleep to go back to his bed. To hell with the aching muscles that screamed at him to slow down, same with the harsh whispered words his friends were telling him, because apparently they couldn't afford being discovered. Well, all he could think about was how that reason wasn't enough to relent him. He was going to get where he needed to be, kick someone's ass and go back to sleep. Or he would have done that if Bridge hadn't pulled him away from the others, thwarting his intentions.

"What is your problem?" Bridge asked in a stertorous whisper.

Sky's hard gaze fixed on Bridge. "I've got no problem whatsoever, Bridge. I, however, want to go back to sleep."

Bridge let go of Sky wrist, his hand ruffling his own hair. "Sky, you can't just go around acting on impulse once again. Look, I get that you are cranky for getting your sleep cut, but you have to get over that." By Sky's eyes it was clear he was still on a state of vexation that could lead to trouble for them all. "Get a grip, Sky! This is a serious matter."

"So you think this is a huge joke from my perspective?"

Bridge pulled a face full of shock at that. "What? Of course not!" His head shook fiercely. Such idea was ridiculous; Bridge knew Sky took his job seriously. "All I'm saying is that you have to stop acting on whim." And he jabbed a finger against the Blue Ranger's chest.

Sky's nostrils flared with anger, and he tightened his jaw, lower lip protruding. "Fine. Just… give me a second, I need to clear a few things in my head."

Bridge was more than glad to allow Sky some space to clear his head, so he stepped back and waited for Sky to calm down while his arms were crossed and his gaze drifted from his friend to the dark place ahead of them were the other Rangers had gone to investigate.

"Why are you suddenly all twitchy, Sky? With your emotions and outburst, I mean." Bridge asked, eyes flickering to his friend for a second before returning to keep analyzing the path ahead, gauging the possibility of staying back just to talk with his friend. "I must assume it all started when you found you had feelings for this guy, isn't it?" Sky's eyes suddenly found a special interest on the floor. "What is it that this whole topic has you so rattled?"

Sky swallowed at the question, feeling his heart beat harder and his thoughts get into a jumble. "Let's go, the others are waiting." Bridge was having none of that, and he stepped before Sky. "Bridge, we have no time for this, there's a criminal to catch."

A curt nod of his friend was all that he got. "I'm aware of that."

"Then why—"

"Wherever you like it or not, Sky, I'm putting a clear end to things right now." His voice held certain sternness to it, compelling Sky to save his opinion after Bridge was done with whatever he had to say. "Now, I have absolutely no idea why exactly are you so snappy from one moment to another, or why are you so afraid of telling someone about it but—"

"I'm not afraid!"

"Then why not tell me?" The desperate tone took Sky by surprise. "Then why not tell Syd or Z or Jack?"

"It's none of their business." Sky answered weakly. That wasn't a good reason for Bridge.

"It is, Sky, and you know it. Right now, our lives—your life could have been in danger, you were decided to just walk into this mess to sort things out by sheer brutal force!" Upon seeing Sky's mouth opening to defend himself, he continued, not wanting to let a spare second for the other man to talk back. "I am getting tired of this, Sky! I know it's hard to suddenly have feelings for someone, but that's no reason to go around as if your—your…" He looked away for a moment as he took a deep breath, his eyes then returned to Sky while worry was etched on his face. "Just tell me what's happening, Sky."

"There's… there's nothing going on, Bridge. And I can assure you my feelings have nothing to do."

"And if they are not involved in this, then what's with those changes in your energy that I've been feeling?"

Sky shook his head, not believing he was having this conversation with Bridge. Silently, he berated himself for letting Bridge feel those changes in his psyche. But what was there to really do, honestly? He suddenly got these thoughts about Bridge and his cool was thrown out of the window, nervousness coming to replace it and that ensued to a never ending line of thoughts of unanswered questions and hypothetical scenarios that could go in a positive and negative way.

"You are doing that now." Sky was snapped out of his reverie, blue eyes meeting green. "Look, if is it because this guy you like did something to you, I'm all ears. I told you: I won't judge you or tell anyone else."

"The only thing he's done is slip into my thoughts without my permission."

Bridge smiled softly at him. "Have you told him yet?"

"I'm struggling to do so." Sky then went to lean against the wall, arms crossing as he shrugged, a smile making its way to his face. "It's just… I'm afraid of losing him if I tell him, alright?" Bridge went to lean against the wall too, and his eyes were fixed on Sky, his full attention going to him. "And every time I think I have finally found the guts to tell him, I back down because he… I have known him for quite the time, and I can't imagine how things would go if he rejected me." A soft sigh escaped his lips, eyes going to stare at the darkness in front of him. "Is a silly thing, you know? How my confidence just dissipates at the thought of him rejecting me and telling me how he doesn't want to see me again."

"Well…" Bridge started, looking for a reaction from Sky's part that signaled it was not his time to speak."If you have known him for quite the time, I don't see why he would reject you. And even if he does, why would he ever think of not seeing you again? I mean, it's a stupid thought, because you are a nice person, really." Sky smiled weakly at him.

"But… what if he doesn't like me after that? What if he sees me in a new light and he doesn't like what he sees?"

"We all have flaws, Sky, and it's up to us to figure out how to overcome them. Long ago I accepted yours and my flaws. I don't care how stubborn you can be, because I like that of you, it's quite endearing on its own personal way. And thanks to you I have learned to live with the fact that I am considered a freak and there will be people who are not okay with that." Sky smiled wider at the memories, remembering those endless night were he had taken his time to insist stubbornly that Bridge should not care about other's thoughts on his powers, because they made him unique. And even if there were people that frowned upon him being a so-called-freak, there was someone who accepted him just like what he was, because there was nothing wrong with it, it was somebody else's problem, not his. Bridge had surely stuck to those words for dear life back then, and it all proved to be worthy, because now he had friends that liked him for whom he was. There was no need to change himself: he was fine just as he was. "And even if that dude does reject you, I bet there are always other people out there who would be more than glad to be your partner, and you certainly have more than one friend. If something goes wrong, I'll be there to support you and so will there Jack and the others." After some seconds of silence, he decided to add something else, in case his friend needed to hear those words. "It's his loss if he doesn't want a great man like you in his life. Trust me, Sky. If you tell him I'm sure he would accept without even blinking. You are just that kind of great guy. So think about telling him soon, will ya?"

Sky nodded silently, trying to find something to say. All he could come up with was to move to give his best friend a good hug. The whistling that echoed in the place made them break apart, and Sky glared at Jack.

"You are such a lousy nuisance." Sky said, huffing.

"Well, the nuisance got the criminal," his hand showed the Containment Card, "so a simple 'Thank you' could work." The smug smile on his face made Sky roll his eyes.

"I could have caught it sooner than you guys did if Bridge hadn't interrupted me."

"Sure you could, man."

"Oh, shut up. Don't rub it on my face that much. Let's go back to get some sleep, okay?" The Yellow, Pink and Red Ranger snickered behind him, and he felt his cheeks flush. "Shut up you three!"

Despite the invisible threat his tone held, Sky couldn't be any happier. He was in such a high after speaking with Bridge, feeling like he could go around and have a long run, just to feel more thrilled as his lungs burned in delight. A happy smile was the only thing he let through.

His resolution always seemed to falter when he was about to tell Bridge he felt something for him, and he was starting to get frustrated at his own shyness. Despite the boost in confidence he had gotten after Bridge had told him those words, he still couldn't bring himself to tell the male what he truly felt, and it was driving him mad. A straight-forward conversation seemed like the best bet for him, but he knew well how his feelings would get in the way, making him blab.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, and he seated at the edge of his bed, offering a smile to Bridge.

"Hey, Bridge."

"Is it true?"

Sky frowned in confusion. "What is true?" Bridge growled in frustration, hand moving through his hair. "Hey, what's going on, Bridge?" He neared his friend, worried.

"Is it true what I heard? That you… you love me?"

Sky was taken aback by the tone used. It seemed as if Bridge couldn't believe such thing to be happening. "Uh, yeah… it is. But how come you know?"

"Who cares about that?! Why do you love me, Sky?"

"What?" Now this had totally taken him by surprise. What did Bridge meant by that?

"Why me?"

"Why do say it as if it's a bad thing?" Sky retorted, somehow feeling attacked by the questions of his friends.

"Because I thought you were in love with another one, not me!"

Sky couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "Why are you suddenly so freaked out? I thought you were fine with the idea of me being gay!"

"And I'm fine with it!" Bridge's arms fell to his sides, palms up and fingers outstretched. "Just not with the idea that you love me." His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath, trying to pick the words that could express what he was feeling now.

But screw the love he felt for his friend, he wasn't going to tolerate the other's attacks on him. "What is wrong with me loving you, Bridge?!" But an answer to his question never came, since Bridge had stormed off their room.

Sky was left there, thoughts racing in his head as he tried to pass the shock of what had just happened. In all honestly, he hadn't even registered fully what had transpired in the past minutes. Somehow, these events seemed like a blurry memory for him, words and actions and looks mixing and making no sense to him at all. It seemed surreal, all of this.

Somehow, he felt betrayed. Why had Bridge told him all those sweet things days ago and now he acted as if he was repulsed by the mere idea of being the person that Sky loved? It made no sense. He felt angered beyond words.

He felt hurt and played and cheated and he just wanted to break things, he wanted to hear how something was broken into pieces. He gritted his teeth as his hands balled to fist and tears sprung to his eyes. What had he done wrong? Where had he done something he shouldn't have along the way? And why Bridge suddenly acted in such a hypocritical way?

The previous events played in his head again, and now that shock and anger were fading he just felt some sort of bitter pain and he hated it down to the core. This was the exact thing he was trying to avoid when all this had started. Feelings were so unreliable things to experience, and people who aroused such feeling where more unreliable, because as easy as they could cause it, they could take it away. Maybe he shouldn't care for Bridge as much as he did. He gave the other male such power over him by doing that. If those stupid emotions of love hadn't developed all of a sudden things could have been going on as usual, and there wouldn't have been so much drama around. He would have avoided all this mess. If he hadn't opened up to Jack nothing of this would have come to be. He would have pushed those emotions aside and things would eventually go to normal.

But thinking of Bridge still made him feel furious. He loved the man, yes, but he felt so hurt by him now that he almost wished he would have never befriended him. Almost.

Taking his pillow, he pushed it against his face, muffling a yell. He hated how weak and naked he felt. This is what he feared: rejection. But now rejection was the last of his worries. Betrayal was far more dreadful than simple rejection. He could have handled a rejection from Bridge, he would have gotten over this love-thing he was having. But this was downright hurtful. He couldn't get the words of Bridge out of his head, how he was telling him one day about how lucky any man would be of having him and then just coming all of a sudden spluttering how he didn't want to be that lucky (or unlucky) man.

And everything was so confusing and this is just what he couldn't handle of letting others butt in his life, because he had no control whatsoever of their actions, everything was so unreliable, so mysterious. He growled as his pillow hurdled across the room, hitting something and making it fall to the ground. Sky didn't see what it was; he couldn't have even if he wanted, for tears made his vision blurry and colors became a mix of undefined forms.

The corners of his mouths were pulled back as he bared his teeth, breath coming out in heavy puffs of air. What had happened that everything had gone from good to just being messed up? Not being able to keep his feelings inside of him, he punched the wall as hard as he could, skin from his knuckles turning a furious pink. Trying to ease his anger, he punched the wall a few more times.

They had seen it coming, the moment Bridge had ran away after hearing such words, they all knew Sky would soon come yelling at them. The thing was that he wasn't yelling. He was doing something that felt far worse than the yelling, because it was a more personal talk where they had been pulled against their will, forcing them to look more closely to the damage they had done. The soft spoken words tainted with hurt as well as those bright blue eyes that begged an explanation of things was more frightening that some yelling.

Sky's head shook for a second, an attempt to organize his ideas. "I'm not going to blame anyone but myself here. I just want to know what Bridge heard." His eyes still were on the floor, eyelashes covering his blue eyes as he spoke.

Syd chewed on her lower lip, eyes darting to the side. Jack and Z shared a look.

"He might have overheard what you feel for him." Z said sheepishly.

Sky grunted softly, nodding. "Okay, thank you." He stood, eyes giving a last glance at his friends before focusing on the door. "Could you not get so close to me for the following days? I want some space."

"Sky…"

The man ignored Z's call, and moved away from them, to a more peaceful place, to somewhere where he could think, were he could go and don't be bothered, were he could get his frustration and anger and pain out. There was a reason why he had told them to stay away from him. He just didn't want some space, he also wanted to avoid any fight he could get into with his teammates, he didn't need more problems than the ones he already had. His feelings were amuck, and he didn't want to snap at them. He had gotten attached to the friendship they held, and he wanted to keep the friendship they had; there was no need to ruin those bonds they had formed over time.

He wanted to tell them to also leave Bridge alone, but he couldn't bring himself to do so, how would he even know for sure if Bridge wanted to be alone? For all he knew now, Bridge could possibly be craving those three's comforting words. But Sky didin't. Sky wanted to be left alone, he wanted to solve things by his own. As he usually did. As it was meant to be.

So for the rest of the day he avoided as much as possible any contact with his friends, and he found he didn't' even had to try to avoid Bridge, for the man seemed to disappear as well for the rest of the day, presumably also trying to avoid Sky as much as Sky tried to avoid him. Did Sky like it? No, he didn't, but he certainly didn't felt good enough to even establish a small conversation with any of his teammates.

By the end of the day, he hadn't even accidentally bumped against Bridge, and for that he was slightly grateful. When he got to their room, Bridge was nowhere to be found, and he didn't know if to feel relieved or worried about it, so he forgot about the subject and went to sleep after brushing his teeth.

When morning came, the thoughts of yesterday were nowhere to be found, and he had forgotten for the moment being about yesterday's events and thoughts and feelings, as he wanted to take a warmth shower before going around his own schedule. He would run for a while, and then he would return to wash away the sweat and dirt before going for breakfast. Nothing odd from the typical routine. Except that this time there was no body sleeping on Bridge's bed. And as much as Sky's still sleepy thoughts were tainted with concern and a little bit of bitterness about his roommate, he decided he would worry once he had fully awakened.

A grunt escaped Sky when he saw something fairly odd and familiar when he was about to get some breakfast, which explained some things. Nearing the body slumped on the couch, he snaked his arms around the body of his friend, hefting him. Bridge's face pressed against his chest, and a tight smile was put on his lips as he felt something wet his t-shirt. Well, he should have cleaned the slobber from his friend's chin before carrying him back to their bedroom. Now he would have to change his clothes.

Once in their room, Sky laid him down on his bed, covering his friend with some green colored sheets. Bridge grumbled something and curled around the sheets, making himself a little ball.

In all honesty, he didn't care if Bridge didn't return his feelings. He still had one of the best friends he could have asked for. Even if it saddened him to think Bridge would never be willing to enter in a relationship involving romance with Sky, it was fine. Friendship was good, and he could live with it. There were many other people out there, all of those possibilities of a romance flourishing between two being was acceptable. Right now, though, he wanted Bridge, he wanted a relationship with the other male, no one else. And maybe it would stay that way for a long time, maybe he would struggle in life and come to terms that Bridge was the one, the person who he would more than happy to share his life with, to spend the rest of his days with such an amazing being that had come to occupy a special place in his heart, in his mind and in his thoughts. Heck, even in his every day routine, Bridge always was there—something he had no power whatsoever, taking in consideration they were roommates and teammates. But still, he was glad he had met the boy, he was glad of those fabulous times they had shared. And he wouldn't let romance lead all of those wonderful things to the oblivion.

If Bridge didn't want to pursue any romantic relationship, it was fine. Even if there was an impingement in the following days, where he would brood and feel hurt and he would want to lash out to people out of sadness or anything else. But he would take his time, he would take a step back out of the situation and he would try to see things on the brighter side of it. But things would come back to how they were.

Or he wished it would be that simple. The bad thing was that there was no rejection, no words spoken in order to ask for a time to think things. There had only been havoc in a span of a few minutes, and there had been something that felt like betrayal to him, and there was no assurance of their friendship still going on. Everything was confusing.

"But I will cherish the friendship we had…" Sky muttered to himself, gaze moving away from the curled ball Bridge was at the current moment.

Feelings and emotions aside, he still had to change his t-shit, and possibly wash that part of his chest that was slowly getting slick with the slobber that was going through the fabric. Furrowing slightly his nose, he got rid of his t-shirt, leaving it over his bed and going for a new one.

Once he had changed shirt he left the room, readying himself for a chore-filled day that, as far as he knew, was going to be shared with his teammates, much to his discontent.

I apologize for how late this chapter is, I really do. But between school, illness, work and all of that kind of stuff, I forgot of the fanfic for some weeks. But now I remember! So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :).