A/N: This turned out WAYY longer than i wanted. But it also turned out exactly as i wanted! Love or hate? Let me know!
Chapter 21: Awkward!
Sky Tate had never been one to deal with feelings too well. He now knew that he wanted something more from Z, he wanted her love, and he didn't know how to deal with this. Should he tell her? And then see what she says to it? What if she declined? Is it worth to jeopardize their friendship? Whatever they already have built? She might feel the same, and then they might date, which might just be worth it, but then they might not work out, and broke up. No, he couldn't take this chance… no he couldn't ruin what he had with Z!
But Sky had never been someone to deal with suppressed feelings. He knew he'd break and lash out, maybe do something so screwed up that it'd ruin everything he had with Z. it was too risky either way. Sky didn't know what to do, but in the end, after hours and hours of reflection while he worked out in the gym, he decided that he should let it be. If they were meant to be, then something would happen, otherwise, maybe someday he'd get over her.
When he told Bridge that he was in love with Z, the Jewish boy was jubilant! "I told you!" he said, "the untamable lion has been tamed! The great oak has been chopped!" he said, referencing two '60s movies that he and Daniel had been watching in a 60s marathon for the past three days.
"who's oak is chopped off?" Daniel asked as he walked into the common room.
"get your brain out of the drain Daniel" Sky said, sarcastically, "and you two need to stop watching Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies!"
"we watch Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant too!" Dane added,
"and don't forget John Wayne!" Bridge chimed in, and then they got lost in a number of conversations relating to those movies, and Sky left the two of them to it, sprinting off.
Two weeks passed. Sky and Z weren't talking much, Sky tried to avoid her, but Sky didn't let her talk. They used to have sex, but not as often as they used to. Whenever Z approached Sky, to talk about something, more than often, he used to shut her up with his lips. They used to make-out in public, under their 'dating' act. But Z felt like they were drifting apart, and she needed to find out how.
Meanwhile, they had continued their act, and finally, after all the planning and carrying out schemes, they had split Sydney and Joseph. Sky was now happy, because anyone who had hurt Z couldn't be happy, and Z was now avenged. But he was also sad because he knew they'd have to drop the dating act now.
It was only then that his mother decided to call him again to 'talk'.
His mood was already cloudy from this realization, and after talking to his mother, he was even more off. His face was almost red, and he seemed to be embarrassed for reasons anyone listening to his half apart of the conversation wouldn't have known.
Z knew. She didn't know why he was upset, but she knew something definitely was up with him. She had to find out.
She had been realizing that she and Sky were drifting apart all these days, they hadn't had a proper talk since like what? two weeks! Ever since he explained his box of memories to her. She wondered what was up. though she technically couldn't complain, because they talked enough to make others believe that they were together, fake-dating, and if she tried to move further than that, he shut her up with his tongue.
She had to figure out what was wrong with him, and she knew that this thing he was messed up with would be an adequate ruse to get closer to him again. She knew it was sneaky, but she needed him close to her, it was as if she was addicted to him. She didn't want to lose him, as a friend or as anything more.
It was that afternoon that she cornered him in the gym, where he seemed to be spending almost all of his time.
She swung by seductively, when he was doing weights, and hung around, "you're already so ripped, do you really think you need more?" she asked.
"I'm high maintenance," he said, without looking at her.
"Sky," she said persuasively, and she crossed her arms and looked at him, "something is wrong with you, I know that you won't tell me."
He looked at her, irritated, and then put down the dumbbells, and then he looked at her, "nothing is wrong with me baby." He pulled her close to herself, and made her sit on his lap, and began roughly kissing her. She broke the kiss, "you're not getting away with it this time"
He looked at her, and finally, after a long, long silence, in which her piercing eyes kept onto him, he said, finally, "alright Z, there is something"
"tell me, Sky, I can help"
"you can't HELP me" he said, irritated.
"well, I can't if you don't tell me, okay Sky?" she looked at him, and felt like slapping him, and maybe he understood what she had thought, and decided to tell her.
"my MOTHER is asking my presence at a DATE tonight, to TALK to me" he said gritting his teeth.
"date?" Z asked, "she's setting you up with someone?"
"no, HER date" he said bitterly.
"what?" that was hard to digest, Sky as twenty three, wouldn't his mom be like what? Fifty?
"she's forty four," he said, reading her mind, "and well, I don't think love has anything to do with age… or at least that's what she says."
"that's… I'm not judging," she said, defiantly, then she changed the subject back, "where's the meeting?"
"Piccolo's, around eight, tonight" he said, and then grew distant again. Z decided to take a little risk, and asked, "what is getting you so upset?"
"they want to 'talk'"
"yeah, you mentioned. What do they wanna talk about?" Z asked.
"my guess… something I won't like"
"they want you to get out of SPD, right?" she asked, recalling their old conversation.
"there's more to it, I can tell, because she needs to talk face-to-face. Last she had called like that, it was to tell that she was starting to date that guy."
"Sky, you don't need to keep any secrets with me, okay?" she said, taking his cheek into her hand. She slowly rubbed his cheek with her thumb, feeling the little stubble hair that had grown a little since his last shave.
He looked down, avoiding her eyes, feeling guilty that he had been trying to avoid his best friend for TWO whole weeks. Maybe he should trust her.
"alright Z, here's the whole truth. I'm sick of actually showing up there. Not because she's dating a guy, she's dated quite a few guys. The thing is this guy, is my…" he was really, really hesitant, but then seeing Z's eyes, he spoke, sighing, "my senior year chemistry teacher."
That was even more surprising than the first thing, and it explained the strained relations of Sky and Mrs. Tate really well, it also explained why Sky would be so uncomfortable going there. But she knew any sort of extreme response from her would make him shut up; as it was, it was already very hard to get Sky to open up. she nodded, encouragingly, urging him to go on.
"I have a feeling this whole leaving SPD thing is his idea" he said.
"so now what? you will go or not?"
"I have to, no?" he replied, sighing. Then he got an idea, suddenly, his eyes lit up, "Z, why don't you accompany me?" he asked, if she agreed, she might just fix everything up. She had a sort of demeanor, she could convince anyone of anything! She knew just how to make it.
"what?" she asked, surprised, this was a very awkward moment, he had just invited her to the most awkward family 'reunion'.
He, seeing her reaction, wished he could immediately take it all back. His face turned red, as he blushed, and he said, hurriedly, "it's… it's okay if you don't wanna come, okay? It's fine. I can manage it." he pushed her off his lap, and then scurried out of the gym, leaving her staring at the door, surprised.
"what did I say?" she wondered, that had made him run like that.
maybe he had gotten too uncomfortable.
X-X-X
Z Delgado, wearing a knee length dark blue frilled skirt, that had gold borders, and a pretty black sleeveless top, with a deep neck, and covering it up a little, to be decent in front of Sky's teacher and his mother, she had slipped on her leather jacket, and zipped it up. She walked down the seventeenth avenue, her boots making a clicking sound, as she made her way down to Piccolo's. She remembered clearly that Sky had mentioned it was Piccolo's, and it was about eight thirty by the time she reached the restaurant. It was a fancy one, one that Z wouldn't really dream to go someplace like this. BUT she knew she'd be a liability, and so she decided to not engage in anything except the talks. There were two Piccolos' in NTC; Z knew that much, and they were bound to be at one of those two. Luckily enough, the first one was where she found Sky Tate sitting at a table, wearing a red checked shirt, and a loosely hanging tie over it, looking irritated, and with a strong headache. Their backs turned to Z, their faces towards Sky, sat two people, and most probably those two were Mrs. Tate and Sky's chem. teacher.
She was here to join them, after all, Sky had invited her, and so, she made her way to the table.
"hey" she said, with her signature smile, "mind if I join you?"
Sky looked at Z surprised, and then burst into a huge grin, "hey Z! Mom, this is Elizabeth Delgado." he said, and scooted aside, to make space for her to sit, and she looked nervously at his mom, and she smiled, "oh, do join us dear" she said.
She smiled nervously, and took a seat beside Sky, facing the older duo. He placed his arm around her, friendlily. She looked curiously at his mother, why did she seem so familiar? It was almost as if she had seen her somewhere before.
The four stared awkwardly at each other, as a few minutes passed. Then all of a sudden, as a conversation starter, Mrs. Tate asked, "so, Sky, dear, how long have you two been together?" she asked, and that got both Sky and Z nervous.
He pulled his hand away from her and stuttered, "we—we're not…"
"we're not together" Z completed.
He supported, "yeah, we're just friends…"
"you don't look like friends" Mrs. Tate's boyfriend said.
"we have…" Sky looked amusedly at Z, she gave a small chuckle, "privileges"
"my little boy is all grown up, isn't he?" Mrs. Tate asked.
Sky and Z looked at each other, and blushed, then after a minute, Sky's teacher spoke again, "I know this is a little awkward for you, Sky, but I want to tell you something"
"it's not… awkward, Mr. Chavez" Sky said, very awkwardly.
"oh call me Pedro" he said, smiling.
"I'd prefer to say Mr. Chavez, thank you" Sky replied, and Z sat up a little, in attention. Her eyes were still fixated on the blond mother of Schuyler Tate. She had a feeling of power emanating from the woman. Mrs. Tate, what had been her first name? Z wondered why Sky had never told her so.
"just cut to the chase" Sky said, irately.
"alright, Sky, we want your blessings" Mrs. Tate said.
Sky looked at the two, completely shocked, what the hell were they talking about?
"we are planning to start a family"
"isn't Sky your family?" Z asked
"a new family," Mrs. Tate corrected, "together. We want to have children"
Sky, who had just taken a sip of his drink, whatever it was, spit it out into the glass, and asked, in a distorted voice, "what?"
"yes, I mean we have been dating for three years, and well, we thought it would be a perfect time to start something new"
"Aren't you too old to do something like this?"
"yeah, like menopause?" Z asked, and Mrs. Tate smiled, "how old do you think I am, dear?" she asked.
"you know something? You're getting sick in the head mother," Sky said, through his gritted teeth.
"I love her" Mr. Chavez said, "and it was my idea. There is nothing wrong with this"
Sky breathed heavily, "how exactly do you plan on raising this… planned child of yours?"
"that is another favor we need to ask you" Mrs. Tate said, "we know that we are going to be out of the picture soon, but we want you to raise the child as your own, once we are… you know? Gone. You must leave SPD and take classes with Pedro,"
Sky's eyes rolled up in his head, "THAT'S WHY YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE SPD?" He looked incredulously at Z, with a look that said, can-you-believe-this.
"classes?" Z asked,
"yes, we want you to become a teacher, like me." Pedro said, and Sky's eyes flew wide.
"what the fuck? You want me to leave my DREAM JOB at SPD to do something I'm not even good at? WHY?"
"because this is a very risky profession." Mrs. Tate said, calmly, "I was a fighter pilot, in my time, and then I quit the job when I had you, because I didn't want to jeopardize my safety, but Landon didn't do it, and you lost your father" Mrs. Tate said.
"Well great thing you did mother! But I have no commitment, I have no children, I have nothing to be afraid of!" he said and then added, without thinking, "Z can take care of herself even if I am gone!"
Everybody noticed this slip of his tongue, except him, because nobody reacted. It did not take Z long to tie the strings in together… maybe that explained why he had been trying to avoid her for these past weeks.
But then Mrs. Tate replied, "well, we were thinking that both of us are a little… old. And if we have a child, and something happens to us, he/she should have someone who'd take care. We aren't asking a lot Schuyler."
"YES YOU ARE!" He replied, annoyed, "YOU two are hell-bent of bringing this nuisance in this world, and then you have already planned to shove it onto me and my life to ruin it as well!"
"Schuyler please!" Mrs. Tate said, helplessly as her son raged on, she looked at Z for help, that maybe she'd support her; Z looked at her, and then placed an arm on Sky's shoulder, calming him down.
When he was silent, he looked at Z, who looked at the older pair, "you know something Mrs. Tate?"
"I had a great deal of respect for you. Not just because you are the ex yellow ranger with my father, but also because Sky Tate is such a nice man, that he must've gotten a very good upbringing. Meeting you for the first time, all that is gone. I see you for what you are now: a horribly mean and selfish person who would even ruin her son's future and dreams for her own sake!"
Z continued her rant, "Sky Tate is probably the best SPD officer after maybe Cruger himself! I am not kidding. He is sharp; he makes good plans, and strategies. He knows how to be red, and lead the team, without abusing that power. He knows when he messes up and takes responsibility for his actions. If you take him away from SPD, you are doing a great injustice to him as well as Space Patrol Delta! Taking Schuyler Tate away from SPD might risk the world's safety! He literally keeps our squad intact."
Sky couldn't believe Z had spoken so nicely about him. They had become super close all this time, but her saying all of this completely warmed his heart. He didn't care anymore what his mom thought, or what they wanted him to do, all he wanted was to be with Z.
He spoke, "mother, nobody except you knows the shit I went through trying to get into SPD. You know how much I wanted to be the red ranger! It had been my dream since I was SIX! You knew how I wanted to join SPD, you knew I wanted to live up to the legacy, you knew I wanted to make the world a better place! If you cannot understand me… I have nothing more to say!" he said, and then sat back, irritated, crossing his arms like Z.
Z looked at Sky, and then spoke bitterly to the two older ones, "your son is a gem, and if you cannot understand that and respect him, you don't deserve him"
"come on Sky!" she spoke to Sky, "let's go. No point in wasting your time with them here."
He looked at her, a small smile creeping up his face, he looked triumphantly at his mother and teacher, aka her boyfriend, and he said one last mocking sentence, "oh and in case this wasn't clear, mom, I AM NOT QUITTING MY JOB." Then he raced after Z, who was already out of the restaurant by that time.
Skipping slightly on his feet, a really, really broad smile flashing on his face, he caught up with Z, "hey buddy," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
she smiled at him, and then continued walking, he had to sprint a little to keep up with her.
"thanks for sticking up for me" he said, as she stopped at a roadside place, to get them some take-away coffee. He mouthed thanks, and then the continued walking. Was it just him, or was it starting to get chilly?
"it was nothing. You deserved every moment of it" she smiled, "and yes you can enjoy that vanity"
He grinned widely, and then pulled off his tie, shoving it in his back pocket, then he undid the first two buttons of the checked shirt, 'loosening up' as she called him. Then he brushed his hair a little, letting the cool breeze ruffle his hair. She chuckled seeing him like that, without her insisting on it even once.
"you are really phenomenal" he said, then after a pause, added, "I don't know what I'd ever do without you"
"you don't need to find out… I'll always be here with you" she laughed, and oh God how pretty she looked at that moment...
He knew this was the moment! The only moment she could ever agree; it was now or never… He decided to ask her the critical question.
"will you go on a date with me?"
She looked at him, shocked, "what?" she was just shocked. She had never thought he'd actually have the guts to ask her something like this. "Sky, wha—wh—what happened to the whole having-sex-but-not-falling-in-love thingie?"
"I'm not saying I'm in love, but come on! Can't we just give it a shot, see if it works out? I mean if it doesn't we can pretend it never happened. We'll never know if we don't even try! Just one date Z, please?" he pleaded.
"alright, Sky, I'll go on a date with you."
His face lit up! "Perfect, tomorrow night? We're both free!"
"Alright. Just don't bring me flowers," she said, smiling. She didn't want to admit it, but she absolutely loved the idea of going on a real date with Sky, and she knew that she would never be able to conceal that smile, so she made a joke, and then took Sky's hand, and led him, sprinting, off to a park, their cheerful laughter ringing through the cool night air.