Author's Notes: And here is chapter eleven! Adam, self conscious as always, makes me smile from ear to ear. And Rocky's sweetness is enough to rot my teeth, but hey, that's how we like it. Enjoy!

I'm going to look like a fool, Adam thought as he stared at himself in his bathroom mirror. He wore a dark green turtleneck and a pair of black slacks. He'd spent the last half hour taming his wavy black hair, trying to make it behave itself. Though the result was not bad, it certainly wasn't as good as it could have been. Perhaps the most upsetting part about it was that if he asked his mother for help, he was inviting her opinion, and she always told him how he needed to keep it short. His grandmother would tell him the same thing.

He liked it longer.

Shaking that thought from his head, he stepped out of the bathroom and wandered all the way into the kitchen. The party had been going for about twenty minutes now, but Adam had yet to make an appearance. Rocky had agreed to show up by six-thirty, which was very shortly.

He started at the sound of the doorbell ringing. Was that him?

Adam walked out of the kitchen and headed through the hallway toward the front door. His father made it there first, already having opened it to reveal a familiar face.

"Hi, Mr. Park," Rocky said. "I hope I'm not interrupting. Adam invited me to the party tonight."

"Hey, Rocky!" Adam said with a smile. He was surprised to see the other without his crutches. He looked quite handsome in his deep red sweater and khaki pants, complete with his hair styled. When Adam glanced out the door, he could have sworn he saw Rocky's car, too. Had he driven here?

"Hey, dad, I hope it was okay," he added.

Mr. Park nodded. "Oh, it's no problem, Adam. Just don't hole up in your room all night, all right? Spend some time with your grandparents; then you two can do whatever you like. Good to see your ankle is doing better, Rocky!"

"Thanks, Mr. P!"

When Rocky walked in, he managed to do so with only the slightest limp. He had apparently become quite the walking master in just two days' time. Adam watched his dad disappear into the living room where several other guests were already mingling. His grandparents he knew were in the kitchen with his mother, so he figured now was as good a time as any to talk to them.

"Wanna come with me into the kitchen?"

"Sure! I haven't seen your grandparents in years. Think they'll still remember me?"

Adam smirked. "You're hard to forget."

Together, the two boys walked into the large kitchen. Adam's mother and grandmother stood by the stove, carefully extracting a sheet of quiches from the oven. Adam saw his grandfather sneaking bites of vegetables from the rabbit dish sitting on the kitchen island, upon which lay several other plates of small hors d'oeuvres and finger foods.

"Hey, guys," Adam said as he stepped inside. "Mom, Rocky's here. I invited him, Dad said it was okay. Grandma, Grandpa, you remember him, right? From my birthday a few years back?"

"Ah! Yes, I remember. Hello." His grandmother turned around, the wrinkles around her eyes crinkling as she smiled, then frowned. "Adam, why do you not call us halmeoni, halabeoji?Have you forgotten your Korean?"

Rocky nudged Adam, who just smiled nervously. His spoken Korean was terrible. He could remember a few phrases—hello, good bye, I'm sorry and I'm hungry—but outside of that, it was very little. Neither of his parents spoke Korean with him consistently growing up, choosing instead English, given its benefit where they lived. But as his grandparents had moved to California just prior to having his father, for them, Korean was the natural language of choice.

"Mianhaeyo," Adam replied. It was the only version of I'm sorry that he could remember—it probably wasn't polite enough for his grandparents, but he hoped the effort was enough.

Maybe someday he would speak more…

"Did you have a safe drive here?" Adam asked them, moving over to his grandpa and giving him a hug.

"Yes, all was fine," his grandpa said. "Your father is in the living room, yes?"

"Yes, grandpa—"

"Halabeoji!" his grandmother insisted.

"He's in the living room. I think he was asking for you."

From the look on his grandfather's face, the invite out of the kitchen was a welcome reprieve. Adam knew that he had only gone in there because his wife had asked him to. As much as he loved his grandfather, it surprised him how he tended to follow his grandmother around without question wherever she went.

"Ah, okay."

Once his grandpa left, Adam took his seat at the kitchen island, helping himself to a slice of celery. Rocky sat next to him but refrained. Adam insisted, handing him a baby carrot.

While his mother worked on plating the quiches, his grandmother came close to the island and placed her hands atop the tiled surface. She gave another warm smile. "How is school, Adam?"

"Great, gra—er—great. I've been keeping very busy."

"And you plan to go to more school, right?"

He hesitated. He was sure that his two cousins very close in age to him were going to share their stories on Christmas night about how they had already been accepted into college and were planning on getting their degrees. Adam, meanwhile, was not. He looked from his grandmother to Rocky.

Time to take the plunge, he told himself.

"Well, actually, no, I was planning on helping my friend Rocky here set up a martial arts training school for kids."

Visible disappointment was etched everywhere into his grandmother's face. His mother, too, turned and gave him a look. This was the first they had both heard of it, making Adam feel distinctly uncomfortable. He tried to smile, but inside his nerves were beginning to hum.

"You didn't say anything about that, dear," his mother said, looking concerned.

"Well, Rocky was telling me about how he thinks I'd be an excellent teacher, so I want to try my hand at it. You know I've taught my friend Tanya. She's done really well. I think it'd be great."

Adam watched his mother curiously as she placed the quiche plate directly in front of them. "So, no school? What about you, Rocky? Are you planning on going?"

"If we can afford it," Rocky offered lightly, and with a smile.

"That's why I've been telling Adam to start applying for scholarships for months now," his mother said. "It helps save you money, and your parents, too!"

"School is very important!" his grandmother reiterated. "The only way to get ahead as an adult."

"Yeah, yeah…" Adam shook his head.

He'd had about enough of this now. His nerves were sufficiently shot, thanks to their questioning. Now he remembered why he usually chose to avoid these gatherings. It was always a matter of what was going on next, and whether he was doing what they anticipated he would. Never mind that he wanted to help kids learn discipline, focus and the importance of honor. He wasn't going to college to get an impressive degree and become a doctor, pharmacist or professor, so what did they care? As a child he'd loved to impress, loved to see the shining light in their eyes every time he brought home a perfect grade, but now he was really beginning to grow upset with how his decisions never seemed to be just right.

"We're gonna go mingle," he said to them, already working on moving out of the seat. He reached for the rabbit dish. "We'll take two of these plates out to the guests."

"Thank you, dear," his mother said.

His grandmother immediately began to speak in Korean, which smarted like a slap across the face. She knew he couldn't speak it. What was she saying to his mother?

As he and Rocky left, dishes in hand, Adam's expression hardened.

They stepped into the living room, delivering both plates on a nearby card table that had been placed out specifically for food. The colorful and seasonal table cover helped to hide the dingy grey color beneath. Adam greeted everyone with a terse hello and endured several moments of painful small talk before he excused both himself and Rocky from the room. Once they were safely inside his living space he nearly slammed the door, turned to lean against it and let out a frustrated groan.

Rocky took a seat on the couch. He scratched the side of his head.

"It's never good enough," Adam said through gritted teeth.

Or I'm never good enough.

"They didn't seem completely against the idea, babe," Rocky replied with an uplifting tone. He patted the couch seat next to him. "Come on, sit down, relax."

"You don't get it." The young Asian boy moved toward the couch and plopped himself atop it with a grunt. "It's always like that with my grandma. Oh, you don't speak Korean? Oh, you're not going to school? Oh, you aren't a straight-A student? She compares me constantly to my cousins, even if she doesn't say it."

Rocky stroked his fingers lightly over the back of Adam's neck. It helped calm him down a little, but after a few moments it became increasingly agitating. He reached back to stop them. Rocky understood, as his hand then moved to simply rest on the couch.

Adam continued, "And whenever my mom gets around her, or her own mother, she always becomes this…I don't know how to describe it. Suddenly all that matters is how she is reflected in me. Think of like a stage mom, you know? Like it's a competition for her child to be the best. I'm only one of three even close enough to college age, so I guess by not going, I've shamed her."

He couldn't believe how upset he felt over such a small conversation. His heart was racing, his hands were cold, and his face was flushed. He hated it when his emotions got the better of him, so he tried to remain calm, reminding himself of how he kept his focus and center.

"Who cares about what they want?" Rocky asked. "This is your life, Adam. Hell, this is our life. Together. You know?" He cupped Adam's neck and massaged it gently. "You can always go to school. Your parents will be proud of you no matter what you do. You need to just be happy. That's what they want the most."

"Can I tell you something?" Adam asked suddenly.

Rocky nodded. "You can tell me anything, babe. Always."

"It's about your Christmas gift."

"Ooh, even better, then!"

Adam turned to Rocky. He couldn't help but smile. Talking about it with him had really cemented in his head what an excellent idea he had. He had to make sure to thank Tanya again for giving it to him—she'd helped so much.

"So…your Christmas gift was basically going to be me telling you that I spoke to Ernie and agreed to work with him on securing the rec center every day from six to seven for you to start up your karate school."

Rocky blinked. He raised an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, we talked the other day and he said that he'd be happy to help you get something set up. Since you want me to help, too, I guess we gotta get our butts into gear, huh?"

"Oh, Adam, that's…wow, that's really…that's really something!"

He knew he'd managed to make Rocky speechless, which in itself was a feat. Rocky leapt at him, wrapping his arms around him in a tight, loving embrace. Adam laughed, leaning in and giving him a kiss.

"Merry early Christmas," he said.

"A very Merry Christmas," Rocky replied, kissing him once more.

. . . . .

Doctor Jones' voice was like music.

"You're free to go, Rocky! Just remember, keep the weight on the lighter side until your ankle has time to fully readjust to taking heavy loads. Don't forget to do the exercises I've shown you and you'll be just fine. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me. I'm glad you healed so quickly—but, I'm not surprised. Teens like you have bones that repair like magic. Makes me jealous in my old age…"

Rocky couldn't believe he was finally free of his ankle cast. Sure, it was nearly two months later, but all that mattered now was that his foot could breathe once more. Hell, it just mattered that he could just walk normally again!

When he returned home to his house that afternoon he called over to Adam's house. It was no surprise when Mrs. Park told him that Adam was likely at the Youth Center—he always was.

After giving his mother a kiss goodbye, Rocky hopped into his car and drove to meet up with his boyfriend. Adam was well aware what today was, so why was he here and not at home celebrating with him?

As Rocky entered the Youth Center, he stopped suddenly at the sound of bells and whistles. The entire juice bar had been decorated with a party theme. Across the wall read a sign that said: Congratulations Rocky!

The Blue Ranger's eyes scanned the room for the one person he knew was predominantly responsible. There, standing beside Tanya and Kat, was Adam, a coy grin on his face.

"You guys!" Rocky said, unable to keep from grinning, himself.

"Surprise!" Tanya and Kat said together.

"You seriously threw a party for me?"

"This is big news for you, isn't it?" Tanya asked. When Rocky stepped up toward the juice bar she gave him a hug, smiling. "Getting off that cast has been on your mind since day one. We thought we'd celebrate it!"

When Rocky pulled back, he moved close to Adam, hugging him tightly.

"So, this is a congratulations-for-not-being-incapacitated party?" he asked.

"You could say that," Tommy said, laughing.

As dull pain began to course through his ankle, Rocky glanced around for an open seat. He ended up taking one at the small table they typically sat at in the Juice Bar, letting his foot rest against the linoleum floor.

"It's so good to not have that big old boot on my foot anymore," Rocky said with a relieved sigh. "It's like Christmas all over again."

"Has anybody told you you're dramatic?" Kat asked with a playful look on her face. She took a seat next to Rocky and patted him on the back. "Never a dull moment with you, that's for sure."

Adam sat across from the two of them, a red cup in his hand. "I told everyone how excited you were about today. Tanya and Kat thought it'd be good to have a party for you. You know, since this is really your first injury." He smiled some. "It only took a day or two to get everything together. They worked real quick."

"We're very glad you're back up and running," Billy said as he took a seat. "We can go to the Power Chamber later so you can take back what's rightfully yours, how's that sound?"

Rocky couldn't help but feel a deep sense of heartfelt graciousness for each of his friends at that moment. Sure, it was probably a little strange in the eyes of others to throw a party for something as simple as a broken ankle healing, but nobody knew what that meant for him. Nobody knew that he could now return to his life as a ranger—that he could begin his future goal of running a karate school right here in the Youth Center, with the guy he loved at his side.

Love.

Rocky quieted at the thought. He'd never used the 'L' word in regards to Adam before. Were they ready for that? It seemed like such a big deal. And on some level, he always thought it would hit him the same way it always seemed to hit the movie stars in film—in that perfect, yet just slightly improbable way. Now, here he sat, thinking about how the word had come into his mind so freely.

He looked at Adam. When a sudden bout of shyness took him over, he glanced away, unable to keep from grinning. What was that word his mother used to joke about with him? Being twitterpated?

God, what was he even thinking? His mind was turning to mush. He needed to sit on this a little bit more. Maybe he was just overwhelmed with gratitude and it had thrown his mind for a loop.

"So did Adam tell you what he got me for Christmas?" he blurted out, trying to remedy the current embarrassment rumbling around in his head.

Kat shook her head. "No, tell us!"

"Oh, it's great…"

Rocky couldn't wait to tell his friends all about the idea.

With Adam by his side, he felt like he could really accomplish anything.