"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

"Sure," Jayden replied and followed her in. She led the way in and plopped herself down on her bed. Jayden put the bowl and cloth on her night stand and sat down next to her. He stared at her. Her bruises were so dark. Both anger and sorrow rushed through him. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone hurting Emily. He'd never let it happen again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Emily snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know. You were just looking at me differently," Emily replied. Jayden turned his head sideways, looking confused. "It doesn't matter," Emily shrugged off.

"Weirdo," Jayden threw out and smiled. Emily pretended to get all offended but ended up giggling. She playfully punched his arm but Emily, being her clumsy self, fell a bit sideways and hit her shoulder into Jayden's.

"Ahhh," she managed to get out. The welt on her shoulder began throbbing with pain.

"I'm so sorry, Em!" Jayden blurted out, not knowing what to do. Emily gave him a little smile.

"It's not your fault Jayden. I was being clumsy," she replied holding her shoulder.

"Here," Jayden said and grabbed the cloth. He dipped it into the ice water and put it on Emily's shoulder. Emily shivered. It felt as if winter had engulfed her. The cloth felt like ice on her skin but at the same time it felt good. It reduced the pain. "Better?" he asked.

"A lot," she replied. Jayden slowly took the cloth off of her shoulder and dipped it into the cold water once again. He took it out and placed it on Emily's back, on another welt. Jayden looked down her back and arms.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. Emily looked down.

"I guess I just didn't want you guys to see me like this," Emily sighed. "I told you before, I don't want to be the weak one on the team; the one that everyone has to protect." She knew Jayden about to say something but she cut him off. "Thank you though, for standing up for me." Emily got that fuzzy feeling again. Jayden had stood up for her. He had gotten so defensive for her. Emily felt herself blush a bit.

"I'd do it again if I had to," Jayden claimed and he took the cloth off again. This time though, instead of putting the cloth on the welt, he lightly touched it with his fingers. Emily shivered at his touch. "I won't ever let this happen to you again." Jayden stated. Emily felt herself blushing again.

"Thank you," she whispered. With Jayden, she felt safe, like nothing could ever hurt her. Jayden put the cloth back on the bruise. He wished he could take all of it away, all of the bruises and hurt. He hated that he hadn't noticed it before. He could have stopped it, stopped Emily from having to go through this.

"So did you ever get it out of Mia?" Emily asked.

"Get what?"

"Why she did all of this," Emily replied. Jayden looked around. This was going to be awkward to explain. Emily noticed his silence. She turned a bit. "Jayden?" Jayden cleared his throat.

"Uhm, she uh did it because she was… well jealous," Jayden got out. Emily was taken back.

"Of what?" she asked.

"Of you," Jayden responded. Emily furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why would she be jealous of me? She's the stronger and better one. What could I possibly have that she' be jealous of?"

"Me," Jayden replied. Emily turned around to look at him face-to-face.

"What?" She was in a world of confusion right now.

"So apparently Mia has a… crush on me," Jayden murmured. Emily's eyes widened.

"What? Mia? A crush on you?" Emily exclaimed surprised. "I would not have guessed that in a million years," Emily laughed.

"Tell me about it," Jayden laughed back.

"Okay, so how does your love life equal Mia hating me?" Emily asked, once again confused.

"Well Mia seems to think that… we're together," Jayden finished. It took a moment for it all to seep in but once it did, Emily laughed.

"Wait, so all of this was just because she thought you and I were dating?" Emily asked, surprised.

"Yep," Jayden replied.

"Oh my gosh, that's so silly," Emily said. She was yet again blushing. Why had she been blushing so much tonight? Was it because of Jayden? Oh gosh, did she like Jayden? She quickly looked up at him. He had on that rare smile of his that she loved so much and oh gosh, his eyes. She could get lost in them. Wait, what was she thinking? No, stop Emily, she thought. When had all of this happened?

"They know something's up, Em," Jayden said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"We weren't as careful as we thought we were. They've seen us go out. That's where they got all of this from. They don't know about Serena so they thought we were sneaking off on a date or something," Jayden paused and patted the cloth on the bruises on Emily's arms. "You need to tell them Em." Emily looked at him.

"I know. I just…" Emily sighed. "It's hard. I feel like if I say it out loud, then it's real. Like Serena's really in the hospital. When I'm here I feel like because they don't know and don't bring it up, it's almost like it's not happening. No one's here to remind me of it and what could happen." Jayden looked up at her. He wished he knew what to say or do to make her feel better, he'd give anything to.

"Em, it's going to be alright," Jayden gave her a little smirk. Emily smiled back at him.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Make me feel safe." She replied. It took a second for Jayden to understand. He smiled. He made her feel safe, Jayden thought. He felt a warm, jittery feeling. A couple minutes passed in silence but it wasn't awkward silence. It was comfortable. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Go for it," he replied still tending to her welts.

"Earlier you said that you promised Serena you'd take care of me… why?" Jayden put the cloth down on the table and turned to look at her. He hadn't realized how close they were, only inches apart from each other.

"Because I care about you, Emily," Jayden answered. Emily looked deep into his blue eyes. He wasn't lying. She felt a surge of warmth flow through her and felt like she was about to blush again.

"Why do you care about me so much? You've been helping me all of this time and never told me why," Emily noted.

"You were hurt Emily. You needed a friend," Emily cringed when he said friend but Jayden didn't see.

"I'm happy you were that friend. I can't imagine not falling apart if it was anyone but you," she admitted. Jayden smiled. Something in the way she said that gave him that jittery feeling again. His heart started racing. It felt as if it would jump out of his chest.

"I'll always be here for you, Em," Jayden assured her and put a hand on her cheek, his thumb grazing it. "I'm not going anywhere." Jayden didn't even realize what he was doing until it happened. He bent over and kissed Emily. Emily was surprised at first but it didn't take long for her to respond and she kissed him back. He cupped her face completely, deepening the kiss and she twined her fingers in his hair. Neither of them had realized they had these feelings buried within them. They've just been slowly building and building past friends and in this moment all of that exploded, making them see what they were missing the entire time.

Jayden finally pulled away from the kiss. He looked at her, his hands never leaving her cheeks. "Wow," was all he got out. He couldn't even describe what the kiss was like. He felt like an empty space in him was filled. Like a void that was always there but he never realized.

"First kiss?" Emily asked. She was beyond happy. Jayden had just kissed her. Jayden, the leader of the team, the strongest of the rangers, had just kissed her. She couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," Jayden said, and blushed a bit, which Emily noticed. Jayden was blushing? For her? She thought. Jayden was the fearless leader. She thought it was impossible for Jayden to ever feel shy much less blush. But yet, here he was doing both… for her. Emily smiled.

"Same here," she giggled. Jayden felt a bit more relieved. He had never kissed a girl before and didn't want to seem inexperienced to Emily. Jayden brushed some hair from her face, never taking his gaze off of her.

"Well I'm glad you were my first," he chuckled. Emily beamed. She thought she was in another reality. Could this really be happening? She smiled even wider.

"Same here," she replied. "I kind of want to make you my second too," Emily giggled. Jayden caught on to what she meant and kissed her again. Of course though, they had to be interrupted. A knock came from the door. Emily, not wanting to, pulled away from Jayden.

"Who is it?" Emily called out.

"It's Mia. Can I come in?" the voice came back. Jayden immediately tensed up. Emily gave him a reassuring look.

"Yeah," Emily called back. She and Jayden separated a bit as the door opened. Mia came in and looked from Jayden to Emily. Emily nodded towards the bowl and cloth. "He's helping me out," she said. Mia then understood.

"Oh okay. Do you mind if I take over?" Mia asked cautiously to Jayden, knowing he was probably still mad. Jayden looked at Emily and she just nodded her head, silently telling him it was okay. Jayden turned to look at Mia.

"Sure," he sighed. "Let me just change the water," he went for the bowl but Mia took it first.

"I got it," she assured him and headed out the door. Jayden looked back at Emily worried.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Mia's not going to do anything," Emily claimed.

"I know she won't do anything. I meant, are you sure you're comfortable talking to her by yourself?" Jayden asked. Emily smiled at him. She took his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers.

"I'm going to be fine," Emily reassured him. Jayden let out a smile.

"Okay," Jayden said and lifted her hand up. He kissed the back of her hand and let it go. "I'll see you in the morning." He smiled as he started walking out.

"See you in the morning," Emily beamed. This night was magical. Just then Mia appeared at the door with the bowl and more ice. Jayden awkwardly passed her on the way out. Mia closed the door behind her. She placed the bowl on the nightstand, where it previously was. She sat down next to Emily and turned to look at her. This could go really well or this could go really bad, was Emily's only thought.