Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or anything associated with it.
Rating: K+
A/N: Okay, an amendment. This is, in fact, the last chapter for Secrets. I am a tad bit sad. However, there will be a sequel! Once Jayden's secret has been revealed on the show :-p At this stage, I don't know if it's going to be exactly the same as the secret in Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (which is the show Power Rangers Samurai is based off), but just in case it is, I won't risk spoiling it for people. So, sorry for the lack of satisfactory conclusion to this! Hope it is still alright! :-D
SECRETS
Chapter 7: Revelations
It was a good thing for Jayden he had training and Nighloks to focus on. He'd never really known any girls before Mia and Emily moved in, so he'd never had this problem in the past. And he was hardly going to go to Ji and ask for advice—he knew Ji would just scold him for not being one hundred per cent focused on their mission.
Ji would be right, of course. Jayden's brain knew that. His feelings, however, were not in harmony with that thought. This frustrated him no end. Like he didn't already have enough to worry about! Keeping his feelings about Mia hidden would just be another item on an increasing list of secrets he was keeping from his teammates.
He remembered now why he'd tried so hard to distance himself from them in the first place.
It'd been a week since Antonio told Jayden he was dating Mia. One of the longest weeks in Jayden's entire life. Just thinking about it made Jayden feel ill and uncomfortable. No. He couldn't keep going like this. Mia and Antonio were dating. Big deal. He couldn't afford to think about it anymore. He had a job. A duty. That would be all he thought about from here on out.
Desperately needing a glass of water, he made his way to the kitchen and had to work hard to stifle a groan. Of course. Just as he decides to clear his mind of her, he'd find Mia in the kitchen, baking a … well, to be honest, he wasn't quite sure what it was.
"Hi Jayden," she said cheerfully as he cautiously entered the room.
"Hey Mia," he said slowly. "What are you making?"
"My special cupcakes," Mia said cheerfully. "They're my own secret recipe. Here, would you like try the icing and tell me what you think?"
No! The voice in his head that called itself 'Common Sense' screamed. Trouble was, Mia was smiling that smile. So innocent, so eager. So deluded as to how terrible her cooking truly was. So the voice known as 'Foolish, Lovesick Jayden' took over, encouraging: What's the worst that could happen?
He took the proffered tea spoon of icing. Steeling himself, he shoved it into his mouth and swallowed quickly. Not quickly enough. A foul-tasting, burning sensation filled his mouth and throat. He battled hard against his natural reflex to gag, and plastered a weak smile on his face.
"Well?" Mia encouraged.
"Delicious," he lied, trying hard to keep the horrible concoction down.
"Excellent. Did you like the pink colouring? It took me ages to get the perfect shade. I call these cupcakes 'Mia's Lovehearts'. It also took me ages to get cupcakes into heart shapes. There are no novelty cupcake trays in this house."
Jayden did not ask what she'd put in to get 'the perfect shade'. And, taking one look at the cupcakes themselves, did not say anything about the complete lack of resemblance to anything heart-like.
Why she'd even thought to attempt pink icing heart-shaped cupcakes in the first place bemused him. Until it all clicked.
Of course.
"So," Jayden began, trying to sound casual. "Are these part of the plan for your next big date with Antonio?"
"Date with Antonio?" Mia asked, confused. She added some more water to the icing—which was fast turning rock hard—so she could spread it on the small cakes. "Why would I date Antonio?"
"Because… he's your boyfriend?" Jayden replied, matching Mia's confused tone.
"Since when?" Mia laughed, genuinely amused by the news. She didn't face Jayden as she was busy icing her creations.
"You don't have to keep it a secret anymore, Antonio told me."
"Wow," Mia replied in a mock impressed tone. "That Antonio is fantastico at keeping a secret. He's so good even I didn't know I was dating him."
"Mia," Jayden began uncertainly. "Are you saying you don't have any feelings for Antonio?"
"None at all," Mia answered honestly. "Why? Does he like me?" Mia perceptibly brightened at this idea, abandoning the cupcakes for a moment.
"I honestly don't know," Jayden's head was starting to spin. What was going on?
"I can't say I ever thought about Antonio in that way. I just don't like him like that, but if he liked me—I'm sure I could learn to like him," Mia said optimistically.
If Mia wasn't going out with Antonio, the last thing Jayden wanted to be doing was giving her ideas. He excused himself, and went out into the garden for some fresh air. He'd been wandering for barely two minutes before he stumbled upon Antonio, sitting on one of the benches playing with the Octozord.
"Jayden! What a pleasant surprise!" Antonio greeted him brightly.
"We need to talk," Jayden said bluntly.
"About what, amigo?"
"About your 'pretty little lady'," Jayden replied.
"Ah," Antonio gave him a knowing smile. "That talk. I must admit, I was expecting this a few days ago. Hoping for it a week ago, but expecting it a few days ago."
"You said you two were dating," Jayden got straight to the point, having no idea what Antonio was rambling on about.
"Indeed," Antonio smiled.
"You were lying," Jayden said, half stating, half questioning. Hoping all the while.
"Indeed," Antonio beamed, replying in an even more exaggeratedly cheerful tone.
Jayden didn't know what to say. He was honestly flabbergasted. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he said, "Why would you do something like that?"
"I told you honesty was a two-way street," Antonio replied quite happily. "You lie, I lie. That's how I play it."
"I didn't lie," Jayden said.
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. And before you say 'No, I didn't', let me remind you: I said I'd be honest about my relationship with Mia when you were honest about your feelings for her. You said you didn't have any feelings for her, so I said I was dating her. We both lied. Solidarity, brother."
Jayden looked away from Antonio, trying to sort out the jumble of thoughts running through his head. Antonio and Mia weren't seeing each other. Mia didn't have feelings for Antonio. The weight Jayden carried on his shoulders felt lighter than it had in weeks, and hope burned in his heart.
"Plus, I had an ulterior motive," Antonio said mysteriously. "I just love to watch you squirm. Man, if I had a video camera… I'd love for you to see what you looked like whenever I touched Mia's hand or whispered to her. It was golden."
"You're sick, you know that?" Jayden asked, laughing. A fair bit of his old humour had returned, now that he knew the truth.
"Yeah, well, you desperately needed a wake-up call. Plus, it was kinda fun pretending to be Mia's boyfriend—without her knowing, of course. We made a pretty good-looking couple, don't you think?"
Jayden just shook his head and laughed. He'd never for the life of him answer that question honestly. He sat down beside Antonio, punching him lightly in the arm.
"Of course," Antonio replied, testing the water. "I think she'd look much better next to someone slightly taller than me. Bluer eyes. Blonder hair. You know, for aesthetics' sake."
"How long have you known?" Jayden stolidly ignored Antonio's subtle-as-a-sledgehammer hints. It would do no good to assume Mia would ever go out with him, just because she wasn't seeing Antonio. Nothing had changed on that front.
"That you held a torch for our darling Pink Ranger? Since about the first day I came here," Antonio replied, stroking his chin in thought.
"Oh," was all Jayden could muster. He hadn't known it himself back then, but in hindsight, he knew it to be true. He scuffed his shoe in the grass in embarrassment.
"Well, truth be told, I only suspected on the first day, but I think I knew after a week," Antonio amended.
Jayden felt his cheeks grow warm. Had it really been that obvious for that long? How could he not have known it himself.
You were too focused on trying to keep your secret hidden from them, that old enemy of his, Common Sense, supplied. How could you think about anything else when you had that weighing on your conscience?
And it was then that it hit him. It made no difference whether Mia and Antonio were dating or not. It made no difference whether he liked her, or she liked him. They could never be together while he had to keep things hidden from her.
Once she knew the truth, she'd never want to be with him. She probably wouldn't even want to stay friends with him. None of them would.
Antonio noticed with alarm how quickly Jayden's whole demeanour changed. Laughing, embarrassed—very Jayden-like one moment. Then the next, this. Antonio could barely recognise his childhood friend. His expression was dark; eyes shadowed, head bowed. What had happened?
"Uh, Jayden?" Antonio asked nervously. "Jayden? You there?"
Jayden got to his feet, dark expression still in place. Why? Why couldn't his life just be normal? Just for once?
"Jayden?" Antonio also got to his feet, matching Jayden.
"Excuse me," Jayden said quietly, roughly.
Antonio looked after his friend's retreating back in complete bewilderment. What on Earth had just happened?
"Jayden!" Mia called cheerfully as she caught a glimpse of him stalking past the kitchen door.
He hesitated, but turned back. He stuck his head around the door, and saw that she'd finished decorating the 'cupcakes'. Seeing her bright smile and eager expression, he felt the ice around his heart begin to melt. It was hard for any of the Samurai Rangers to stay upset when Mia was around.
"They're finished! Do you want to try one?"
No, Jayden thought, honestly. Yet somehow he found his feet carrying him into the kitchen regardless. "What flavour are these?" he asked.
"It's a surprise," Mia said cheerfully. "You'll know once you try. It'll be obvious."
So, against his better judgement, Jayden found himself with a mess that was apparently a heart-shaped cupcake in his hand. He lifted the cupcake to his mouth, bracing himself. He took a bite, again swallowing as quickly as he could, hoping to expose his tastebuds to it for as short a while as possible.
"Well? Do you know what it is?"
Somehow, Jayden didn't think the answer 'poison?' would be received too well. After masterfully passing off his dry retch as an exclamation of delight, he thought hard. It was pink. There was a lot of pink.
"Strawberry?" he guessed, taking a stab in the dark.
"Yes!" Mia exclaimed happily. "That's the main flavour. But I spiced it up with some oregano, chilli powder and nutmeg, to name a few things."
"Really?" Jayden smiled, feeling quite proud of how good he was becoming at handling Mia's cooking, while also fighting off the desire to bring the mouthful of cupcake back up.
"I'm glad you liked it," Mia said. Jayden noticed a slight pink blush had sprung to her cheeks. He wondered if it was only pleasure from his compliments about her cooking. Mia was the nicest person he knew. Not to mention the most understanding. Maybe she'd understand when the secret was revealed. Maybe she'd forgive him from keeping it from her, from them all, for so long. Maybe there was still a chance.
Oh no, he thought. Here we go again.
And that is le end for Secrets! Thanks for reading along :-D And double thanks to all those lovely people who have taken the time to review.
Like I said in my author's note, there will be a sequel. However, that will probably be a fair bit away. But it will happen ;-)
Until then, GO GO SAMURAI!
Little Goose
