What? Kim looks up at him in a state of shock. Did he…? Her brain is racing almost as fast as her heart at his confession.
"Kim…" Jason begins to get nervous as she stares at him speechlessly. "Say something." Or hit me.
She is still trying to find her voice as she glances around find several pairs of curious eyes looking their direction. Turning back to Jason she finally speaks, "This might not be the place to talk about this."
Like there is a 'right' place. "I know." He admits but makes no move for them to leave. "But I have to do this before I chicken out again."
"Again?" Kim is caught off guard by his last word.
"Yeah." A familiar shy smile crosses his face. "I've wanted to tell you for a while now. But how do you tell your best friend that you are crazy about them without sounding…well, crazy."
Kim continues to look at him not knowing how to respond. Crazy? Yes, this is a little crazy. Isn't it?
"Kim, I remember the first time I saw you." Jason tells her. "You were sitting on your front lawn pouting as the movers where taking boxes into your new house. You looked so sad, I was gonna come over and see if you wanted to play but I chickened out and ran inside."
Kim can't help but smile at his boyish grin. She feels her stomach flutter again. "You were brave enough to tell me I was pretty on my first day of school."
"I was." Jason blushes at her words.
"And you asked me to be your girlfriend. It did seem so hard for you then."
"Yes but I was seven. I had no idea what that meant." Jason knows he face must be a bright shade of pink by now. "When I did and finally got up the nerve to ask for real… well, Tommy came along."
Kim looks down at the mention of her high school sweetheart. The guilt over her Dear John letter to him resurfaces in her mind.
"He's okay, Kim. He wanted me to tell you that." Jason says as if reading her mind causing her to look up at him again. "And that he'll always be your friend no matter what."
"That's good to know." Kim answers with a weak smile.
"Well…this just got more awkward." Jason says with a shrug. "Sorry."
"For what?"
"Well for pretty much the whole last week." Jason walks the few steps to lean against the rental car. "I knew it was a bad idea to come here. I waited too long."
"Jason, I'm glad you're here." Kim smiles as she walks over beside him. Reaching out she takes lifts his hand in both of hers. "And I'd be lying if I said I never wondered what this would be like. To be honest it doesn't feel near as weird as I thought it would." She runs her fingers lightly across the small scars she sees on his knuckle before looking back up at him. "You're my best friend. So I have to tell you the truth."
Jason turns his head with a confused look to her. "The truth?"
"I lied in my letter to Tommy." She says keeping eye contact with him despite her urge to look away. "I never really met somebody else." She can see the surprised in his eyes but doesn't give him a chance to talk. "There was so much stuff happening back home it was weird. As much as everyone tried to keep me in the loop it still felt like being left behind. And then Tommy became a red ranger and it was too much. Suddenly our relationship felt…wrong."
"He didn't change, Kim. Just the color of his suit."
"I know." Kim hesitates for a moment. "He's a red ranger now but he's not my red ranger. That was you."
"What about Rocky?" Jason asks. "He took over for me."
"Yeah but you were our leader. The only person I probably would have ever chose to follow into that crazy mess. And do you know why?" Kim smiles at him as she asks.
Jason shakes his head.
"Because I saw how happy it made you and knew that as long as you were there nothing bad would happen."
"But bad stuff did happen." He points out.
"Yes, but you never gave up. Even if as I now know that meant you had to make sacrifices. We were young and dumb and it was an amazing adventure. Now we are just plain old Jason and Kimberly to everybody else." She responds honestly. She smiles again as she feels her stomach doing is own gymnastics' routine. "But to me you will always be my Red Ranger and I think it is time we start a new adventure. Jason Lee Scott, do you want to be my boyfriend?"
It is Jason's turn to be surprised. Slowly his lips start to turn upwards as her words sink in.
