With Troy's blessing, Noah felt a lot more confident going into his date with Rebecca. He was still nervous about it, but he no longer had to worry about her older brother breathing down his neck. He could just focus on making himself as charming as possible and giving Rebecca a good time.

She had insisted on dinner in the command center – too scared to leave after all the trouble the Rangers had been through. Noah agreed, and their friends set up a dining table in the main room, not too far from where they had put their kitchen. Claire had promised to cook and Jake had been talked into being the waiter for the evening.

"So, what can I get the lovely couple tonight?" he asked as the two sat down.

"Ooh, this restaurant comes with options," Rebecca teased. She already knew Claire would be making pasta. It was about the only thing she could prepare in such a small kitchen that would be good enough for a fancy date night.

"What exactly are our options?" Noah asked.

"Uh... water, milk, orange juice, and soda," Jake listed off the drinks he remembered having in the fridge.

"Soda!" Rebecca smiled. Noah chuckled and then shook his head.

"I'll just have water. I'm driving home."

Jake frowned at his best friend but then walked off to get them their drinks. Rebecca chuckled at Noah's comment.

"I guess in a fake restaurant, soda is the fake alcohol."

"I'm glad you found that funny," Noah said. "Most people don't get my jokes."

"Their loss. Though I will admit, if you make a science joke then I'm lost."

"Those are the best kinds," Noah said. Rebecca stuck out her tongue and shook her head.

"No. Science sucks. No offence, but it does."

"Why don't you like it?"

"It's hard," Rebecca groaned. "I mean, it's cool if you like it. It's just not my thing."

"What is your thing?"

Rebecca bit her lip and then shrugged her shoulders, "You know, I'm not really sure. Being a troubled teen doesn't exactly leave you with a lot of time to think about your future, you know."

"Have you thought about it since?" Noah asked her. "Anything seem even a little interesting?"

"Any way I can make money off collecting Ranger toys?"

"If anyone could find a way, I'd be you," Noah chuckled. "But seriously, Rebecca, have you given it any thought? I know people always say I'm going to cure cancer or something, but I really want to go into robotics. Now that I know it's possible to create real robots, I kind of want to try my hand at it."

"After all that time they spend trying to kill you, do you really want to build more?" Rebecca raised her eyebrows.

"Mine won't be evil."

"That's what all the mad scientists say."

"I'm not a mad scientist."

"That's something else they say," Rebecca whispered and then smirked playfully. "I am kidding. I'm sure if anyone can figure out how to make a robot that won't attack and kill us, it'll be you. As for what I want to do... I don't know."

"Can I suggest something?" Noah said. Rebecca looked up at him and nodded her head. "Counsellor."

"Of?"

"For teens. You're really good at helping us figure stuff out. You've been through enough already to be able to relate. I think it's something you'd be really good at."

"Like Serena?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I do like helping people."

"Voilà," Jake announced as he walked over to the table with both his friends' drinks in his hands, "A water and a soda. Are you two almost ready to order?"

"Order?" Rebecca frowned. "There's only one thing to order?"

"You asked me to be a waiter," Jake said and showed them both a piece of paper, where he had written down their sole menu item for the evening in an attempt to make them a menu to read from. "I'm just doing my job. Might I recommend the spaghetti bolognese?"

"Whatever. Sounds delicious," Rebecca rolled her eyes while Noah nodded his head in agreement. Jake took back the menus and then walked to the kitchen. Noah and Rebecca could see him telling the chef what they had asked for. While Noah chuckled, Rebecca groaned.

"Seriously?"

"Jake's always been like that," Noah nodded. Rebecca turned back to her date.

"Why are you friends? I... I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just that..."

"It's fine," Noah smiled. "We kind of get that question all the time. I can't really answer it, I guess. Not in a way that doesn't just sound cheesy."

"I don't mind a bit of cheese," Rebecca answered and leaned forward to show her interest. Noah exhaled deeply as he tried to find out where to start. When he and Jake were young and they had first met, they were just kids. As long as they had something in common, they could be friends.

"I guess we just never let cliques get to us," Noah said. "Jake's also the kind of guy who doesn't really care what people think of him. In middle school, he used to sit with me at lunch, even though the soccer team had their own table. I think they teased him about it on the field, but it never really bothered him."

"I'm sure you were teased too," Rebecca said. "At my old school, if a nerd even got within a few feet from a jock, his fellow nerds would tease him about losing a few IQ points."

"That's happened a few times," Noah said. "Some of the guys in the computer club think Jake's just an airhead but, I guess I don't let it bother me too much either. Jake's always been my friend. He's always had my back. I'm not going to dump him because of what other people think."

"That's pretty cool," Rebecca smiled. "I get a little jealous sometimes."

"Jealous? Of me? Becca, we're all friends now."

"I'm jealous of you, Jake, Emma, and Gia. You all have that one person you've always been able to count on. I mean, Troy's great, but it's barely been a year since I met him. We can't reminisce like you guys. We don't have jokes or really know how to cheer the other one up. I know most of the time I'm helping him, I'm just winging it. I don't really know what'll cheer him up. Even with his parents, I mean, I got him to feel a little better, but I don't really know what's going to work next time he's upset. Or the time after that."

"You just need to give it a little more time," Noah assured her. "'I'm sure you'll get there."

"It must feel pretty good, knowing you've got a best friend like that, no matter what."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Noah said and then looked over as Jake brought them their meals. "Thanks, Jake."

"No problem. Enjoy."

Jake set the plates on the table and then walked away to let the happy couple eat privately. He wouldn't be needed again until they were done, and he assumed, based on how the date was going already, that that wouldn't be for a while. He had a little time to take a break and figure out what he was going to offer them for dessert.

He walked to his bedroom to think about it, but on the way he bumped into Troy and Ryan. The little girl was in nothing but a diaper, with a spare tucked under Troy's arm and they were headed to the bathroom. Jake assumed it was bath time. He was going to let them go but Troy called for him to stop. With a loud groan he turned around.

He hadn't talked to Troy at all since their last meeting, where tempers had flown. Jake was a little embarrassed about how aggressive he had been with the red Ranger and he couldn't get past how their argument ended. It had hurt him too much to just let go.

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Jake scoffed. "All that, and you're sorry?"

"I let my own misery get the better of me. You were right to call me out on those things," Troy nodded his head. "I shouldn't have tried to push Noah around like that, I shouldn't have tried to meddle with Rebecca's happiness, just because I was hurting, and I shouldn't have made that comment about you and Gia. I'm really sorry for all of that."

"You know, I don't care what you tried to do to Noah or Rebecca," Jake shook his head. "I wasn't going to let you push them around, and I know they weren't going to let a little thing like your temper tantrum get in the way of them having a nice night. But don't you ever talk about me and Gia that way. You might be our friend, but you have no idea the shit we go through for each other."

"Jake, I'm sorry..."

"And who the hell are you to say she doesn't love me?" Jake growled.

"I crossed a line, Jake. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that."

"Well, you did," Jake shook his head. "You did, and you know what? It hurt."

Jake stormed off into his bedroom. Troy sighed loudly and then looked down at his sister. Ryan was staring down the hall where Jake had gone to and Troy knew what he had to do.

"You'll get bath time soon, I promise," he told her and then walked, with her in his arms, to Jake's bedroom. He knocked, but when Jake told him where to go, Troy opened the door just a crack and then set Ryan on the floor. The little girl, excited for a little adventure, crawled into the room and had a look around. When she saw Jake up high on his bed she made her way over and then pulled herself up.

"Babababababababa," she said to him. Jake turned his head away and rolled his eyes.

"Cute isn't going to change my mind."

"Baba BA baba," Ryan answered. Jake found it a little harder to resist. He picked up the little girl and put her in his lap and then called for Troy to walk in.

"What?"

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Troy asked. "Anything. Anything at all."

"Nothing."

"Look, man," Troy sat down on the bed. "I was hurting. And I know that's not an excuse but... I kind of just said that because I knew it would hurt you too and... I was being an ass."

"I'll say."

"I know you and Gia love each other. And I know she's doing her best with you and that you two are happy and..."

"What if we're not," Jake looked up. Troy frowned deeply.

"What do you mean?"

"I... I mean, I'm not unhappy. She's completely amazing. But... what you said last night didn't just strike a chord because of, well, Gia. It's kind of true."

"I thought you were happy together. I thought you were happy because of how hard she was trying for you."

"And I am! And... that's why I feel like... well, like an ass," Jake said. "I mean, we're up to making out and stuff and... I mean, that's great, but..."

"You can tell me," Troy said. "I can keep a secret."

"It kind of sucks when you think Noah and Rebecca might... get some before Gia and I do."

"I don't really want to think about that," Troy shook his head and groaned. "Just because I gave them my blessing doesn't mean..."

"Dude, that's not what's important. I told Gia I would wait for her and I still stand by that. I just wish, you know, that I didn't have to wait so long."

"Have you talked to her about that?"

"Yeah, because right now would be an awesome time to bring that up," Jake rolled his eyes. "And I don't want to be an ass. She's working so hard to make me happy and... I'm just going to tell her it's not good enough."

"She's not making you happy, though, is she?"

"It'll crush her if she finds out."

"It'll hurt her even more if you never tell her, resent her for it, and then bang the first available girl you see."

"What?"

"That's what dad did to mom. It's what led to Becca being born."

"Oh, that dad," Jake grumbled. He shook his head, "I don't want that."

"Tell her like you told me," Troy said. "It might hurt, but it's the only way you're going to feel better about this."

"I guess she and I have a hard talk coming up," Jake grumbled. Troy gave him a gentle pat on the arm.

"If you want to run it by me first, I'll listen."

"You'll listen to me practice having the talk with my girlfriend?" Jake asked. Troy frowned, but then shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head.

"I did say I'd do anything to make it up to you."

"You're really a man of your word, then," Jake said. "I'll let you know."

"Great," Troy said. He picked Ryan up, "Alright, little monkey. Now it's bath time. Let's go get you cleaned up."