DISCLAIMER: I do not own Power Rangers

AUTHOR: Hey ho! Let's go! All remaining chapters up on the web - yiihaa! Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter =)

Chapter 10

Nick's PoV (Point of view)

Nick swiftly made it back to the hallway. When he didn't immediately spot Xander, he stopped to listen. Footsteps in the staircase gave the green ranger away and Nick set out to chase him. In long rapid strides he climbed to the second floor and was about to call Xander's name when he almost tripped over his friend's long legs. Xander sat at the top of the stair with his back against the wall and the legs stretched out in front of him. If the slouching shoulders didn't give the green ranger's mood away, the look on his face certainly did. Xander looked miserable.

"There you are!" was the only thing Nick could come up with to say. His friend's appearance surprised him. Scratch miserable, Xander was downright haunted, tortured even. The tan in his face from the hours spent in the sun on his skateboard was gone, the playful twinkle in eyes vanished. If Nick hadn't seen the green ranger breathing he could easily have mistaken Xander for a ghost. "You okay, X?"

Xander lifted his head just enough to be able to look back at Nick. He winced.

"This is a complete disaster, Nick! I don't know what I'm doing here. I shouldn't have come."

Nick, sensing Xander needed someone to talk with, sat down on the floor opposite his friend.

"Why is that?"

Xander didn't answer immediately. Nick wondered if his friend was sick or something, he certainly looked unwell. The green ranger looked at everything beside Nick, which didn't give much entertainment. They sat in one end of a narrow corridor. Nick assumed the doors farther down would take him into the Rocca family's bedrooms. His curiosity suddenly awoke. He wondered which one of the doors led into Madison's bedroom.

"He really hates me," Xander finally whispered.

"Who? Mr Rocca?"

Xander nodded and swallowed. Nick tried to recall what had been said between Xander and Mr Rocca during the evening, and realised it wasn't much.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked. "Sure he can come off kind of harsh, but I don't think he hates you."

"He does hate me!" Xander pulled up his knees and used them as support for his elbows. "Or he will when he finds out about..."

Nick felt his curiosity peak again.

"When Mr Rocca finds out about what, Xander?"

"Nothing!"

Xander seemed to curse himself for revealing too much, but at the same time there something he really wanted to get off his chest. Nick decided to give him a helping hand, already suspecting what issue could be about.

"Has this something to do with you and Vida not being able to look at each other?"

Xander looked like a deer caught in the headlight. Bullseye! It didn't take long before a blush had turned the green ranger's recently so pale cheeks and neck bright red. He couldn't look Nick in the eyes which Nick found very amusing.

"Oh, Xander," Nick sighed dramatically, unable to stop a huge grin from dividing his face into two halves. "What on have you done now?"

Xander groaned and raised his hands to hide his face.

"It might be I kissed her!" the green ranger cried out. "Last night at the festival. I don't know how it happened."

Nick had to bite his lip to not laugh out loud. His body trembled by suppressed laughter. He knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help it. Xander and Vida - kissing? No way!

"Yeah, right!" Nick said and shook his head. "I'm not falling for that one. Seriously, what did two of you do? Climb the city statue drunk, singing It's Raining Men? I know you two partied hard last night. You were both hungover this morning."

Xander's head shot straight up and his gaze pinned Nick to the wall.

"I'm serious, Nick. I kissed Vida last night."

The realization struck Nick hard. His grin faded.

"You're not kidding?"

"No, I'm dead serious. I kissed her." Xander hesitated to correct himself. "Or we kissed, or… I don't actually know who initiated it."

Shock. Utter shock.

Nick didn't know what to say. Xander and Vida... together— kissing! Actually kissing?

"Don't look at me like that, I know how bad this is." Xander pulled his hands through his hair in sheer desperation. "I don't know what to do now, Nick. I never thought in a million years this would ever happen."

"You kissed Vida?" was all Nick managed to say.

Xander rubbed his face and nodded. The misery was complete.

"Yes, I kissed her. What am I to do? This is so messed up."

Nick tried to find words-any words really-to say. He came up blank. Xander had kissed Vida. Xander and Vida had kissed. Why wasn't he more surprised?

Nick cleared his throat.

"How did she take it? When you kissed her, I mean."

The question sounded stupid but right now Nick was glad he could speak at all. Xander and Vida had kissed!

Xander thought for a second before he answered.

"She enjoyed, I think. She responded. We kind of... smooched."

Nick arched an eyebrow.

"Smooched?"

Xander shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, you know... first one kiss and then another and then another—again... Hands exploring new places..."

"Xander!" Nick's paralysis was suddenly all gone. "Say no more. I get the picture!"

Oh gosh! Nick really wanted to be able to look Vida in the eyes tomorrow morning. If he wasn't mistaken, they had the early shift.

The boys sat quiet for a moment. Xander was studying Nick in the hopes of finding clues to what the red ranger was thinking. Nick wished he knew that himself.

"So are you like... together now?" Nick eventually asked, realizing he hadn't heard Xander saying anything about it.

Xander looked down on his hands.

"Not exactly." Xander's voice was barely more than a whisper. "You see, I'm not sure Vida remembers that we kissed. She was pretty drunk."

Nick's eyes widened. Oh, now he understood why Xander was freaking out about Mr Rocca. The refined policeman maybe would have let Xander live if the kissed had stopped at being just a kiss, but for Xander to smooching Mr Rocca's daughter while she was drunk...

"Oh boy..." Nick sighed.

"Yeah, so now you know why I'm hiding upstairs..."

Nick wanted to tell his friend that different floors would never be enough safety distance if Mr Rocca found out about the kiss, but he kept quiet. Freaking out now wouldn't do them any good. Realizing he had involuntarily become an accomplice to the crime, Nick thought it was not more than right that he got to know everything about the crime that would cost him his head.

"Tell me how it happened. How did you and Vida end up kissing each other?"

Chip's PoV

Chip wasn't surprised when he entered the kitchen only to discover Vida wasn't there. He hadn't expected her to. The look on her face - although he had only seen it once before and many years ago, involving a ruined bicycle - he had identified it to be the expression of a haunted Vida. Something was bothering her and Chip was pretty sure it had nothing to do with a crashed bicycle this time. He came to a halt in the middle of the room to listen for the unmistakeable clattering sound of a pair of high heels. It only took him a second to locate his pink co-ranger, but it wasn't thanks to her shoes but for the chilly breeze sweeping into the room. The back door hung open and Chip could hear a clinking sound of glass from the garage.

"Oh, V," Chip mumbled under his breath.

He found her sitting on Mr Rocca's workbench, miserable and in the dark, pouring mouthful of cider down her throat. She hadn't bothered bringing a glass with her from the kitchen. She was drinking straight from the bottle, very unladylike. Chip had a feeling she had removed the cap with her teeth too.

Vida didn't look at him when he stepped in to the garage, instead she gave the bottle an angry glare.

"Why isn't there more alcohol in this? I need buckets of it."

Chip watched her pour another mouthful of the pale golden liquid down her throat. She winced.

"Are you okay?" Chip asked uncertainly. He had been through a lot with Vida but he had never once seen her this devastated. "You look miserable."

"I am miserable," Vida grunted and drank more cider.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The look she gave him told him 'no' but he could tell that wasn't the truth. She was ready to burst, all she needed was a gentle push and Chip knew how to give her just that. He walked across the small space and sat down on the workbench next to her. As he did so, Vida's head sank down until it was hanging.

In defeat, Chip thought gloomy.

"It's okay, V," he spoke gently. "You can talk to me."

When Vida didn't start talking, Chip continued: "C'mon, we've known each other for how long? Since we were five? I know something's up and you can tell me. Maybe I can help."

Vida shook her head.

"Not this time, Chip. Not this time."

Chip frowned. This wasn't the Vida he knew. Unlike what other people might think, Vida wasn't much for drama when the two of them were alone. She felt comfortable around him, she had once told him, she didn't have to pretend anything in his presence. It had been comforting to know then, but now it had him worried. For Vida to go dramatic on him could only mean one thing - the thing bugging her was serious.

"Try me", he challenged her. "I've helped you and Maddy through a lot over the years. Remember that time when you had crashed your brand-new bicycle and you didn't dare to tell you dad how it happened? Who helped you raise money to pay for the repairs?"

Vida nodded but then shook her head and made a tortured face.

"This isn't as easy as to mow a lawn or two, Chip." Vida inhaled sharply and put the bottle to her lips again as if to stop herself from revealing too much.

Chip felt the furrow between his eyebrows grow deeper. The bicycle incident usually helped lighten up the mood.

"V, what on earth is wrong? Why won't you tell me what's bugging you? We've always been able to tell each other everything."

"I know, I know, but this time it's different. It's... embarrassing."

Vida looked so defeated Chip had to fight the urge to pull her into a hug, but a hug wouldn't help him find out what was going on.

"Did something happen last night at the festival?" he asked instead.

Vida snorted.

"You can say that again."

Her cryptic reply made Chip wonder. He decided to rephrase his question.

"Did something happen between you and Xander last night at the festival?"

Even in the darkness Vida couldn't hide her blush from Chip. The heat coming from her body let him know he had hit bull's eye.

"I knew it!" Chip cried out in triumph, grinning like damned fool. "I knew something was going on between the two of you. That's why you've been acting so weird all day. I knew it, I knew it!"

Vida glared at him and took another sip from the bottle. She had the look on her face of someone who yearned to slap someone else. Chip ignored the warnings and leaned closer.

"So tell me all about it", he teased. "Did you guys kiss?"

When Vida's face changed from annoyed to guilty, Chip gave up another cheer.

"You did? Really? Wow!"

Vida rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, that's all you've got to say - wow?"

Chip chuckled. Vida was so embarrassed right now it was hilarious. How he wished Maddy was here to help him taunt her. Vida was so not going to live this one down.

"What can I say, you and Xander smooching... I find no words. I never thought I would live to see this day come."

If looks could have killed, Chip would have been dead and buried a long time ago. He wasn't sure what made him the happiest, the fact that two of his best friends were finally moving in the direction he had hoped to see them heading for a long time or that Vida was so embarrassed about it she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.

She muttered, "If you keep smiling like that you will never see the day come."

That only made Chip laugh harder.

"Stop laughing, someone can hear you!"

Vida threw a nervous look at the door Chip had left open to the kitchen. No one had come after them.

Chip pulled himself together long enough to ask: "How was it?"

"How was what?"

"The kiss. Was he good?"

"Chip!" Vida punched him lightly on the arm. She had started to relax. Chip grinned.

"C'mon, don't tell me he's a lousy kisser. With all the girls he is dating he must be amazing."

"If you're so desperate to know why don't you go inside and kiss him yourself?"

"And miss out on you telling me? Pah, never!" Chip stole the bottle with cider from Vida and took a large sip. "I haven't had this much fun in forever." He said once he had swallowed. Vida stole the bottle back and took a sip herself.

"It was more than just one kiss," Vida admitted quietly. "We kinda... made out."

Chip sensed now wasn't the right moment to tease her. "Oh?" was therefore all he said.

Vida stared at the bottle but Chip had a feeling it wasn't the bottle she was seeing. A soft smile had started to spread on her lips.

"He is an amazing kisser," she told him. "Like really amazing."

"Well, he should be. He has got a lot of practice."

To his relief, Vida chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess he has."

Vida's face suddenly darkened. Chip waited for her to continue. When she didn't he opened his mouth.

"So why the sad face if he was so amazing? Didn't you want to be kissed?"

"I... I... I don't know," Vida whispered. "It all happened so fast and then I did this... thing."

Vida glanced at him, saw the ached eyebrow and knew she would have to elaborate. With a sigh she put down the bottle.

"It went down something like this..."