Always a Frog, Never a Prince
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She must've apologized a zillion times. And he must've said it's okay a zillion times, but Kimberly didn't seem to be able to let it go. Adam sat beside her in his black pickup that he'd got back from the garage yesterday and watched patiently as gradually day became dusk. Kimberly kept on glancing over at him, making sure that he hadn't passed out or something else that was ridiculously unlikely to happen.
Adam saw her open her mouth and as if by reaction said, "I'm fine Kimberly," he absently touched the seven butterfly stitches holding the two wounds on top of his head closed. After Tommy had left it'd taken Adam a whole hour to coax Kimberly out of the bathroom, she was an emotional wreck, her usual big, bright eyes were instead red and puffy and she didn't seem to be able to stop sobbing. In the end it was his willing to let her take him to the hospital that had finally gotten the pink ranger to come out, well…that and the fact that he felt like he was about to pass out due to blood loss.
"Are you sure?" her voice was full of worry, however on the brighter side she seemed a lot more in control now.
'Just two more scars for my collection' his mind whispered quietly, "Yeah, I'm positive." He noticed her eyebrows furrow in confusion as if unable to figure something out, "What's wrong?" he said, she gave him a sideways glance but seemed reluctant to tell him.
Eventually though she caved, "What did you mean when you told Tommy when you said 'I told you what would happen if you came here?'" she saw Adam become very nervous as soon as she asked the question, his eyes were unable to settle and he started to wring his hands together. "Tommy told me that he talked to you," she waited for a response but didn't get one, "what'd you talk about?"
"You know," Adam replied trying to dismiss the comment, "Just things."
"Like?"
"Rocky, collage…" he trailed off.
"Me?" he didn't answer, it was all she needed, "What'd he say?"
"He asked how you were," Adam really didn't want to have this conversation in fear of upsetting Kimberly who had only just regained her composure. He averted his eyes back to the window, watching as the world passed him by.
"And he asked what you thought about him coming to see me," he remained silent, "and you said it wasn't a good idea," he gave a small nod but still didn't look at her, he was afraid to. He didn't want her to be angry with him, by interfering in her personnel affairs. "Why?"
"I just didn't think it was."
Kimberly pulled into the collage campus parking lot and proceeded to park the car, turning the ignition the car died and she turned her head to look at him. His focus was still on the outside world though, "That's not answering my question Adam and you know it," he noticed her voice was soft but didn't want to look her in the eye, "Look at me."
Realizing that he had to Adam turned his head and looked into her chestnut brown eyes, swallowing nervously he cleared his throat slightly, "I didn't want you to get hurt," this time when he said those words he looked her dead in the eye. Studying her expression for any sign of what she thought of that statement he breathed a sigh of relief as she smiled warmly at him.
"Thank you," she whispered quietly, "that was very sweet of you."
He gave a sarcastic chuckle feeling the tension inside him melt away, "Yeah, look where it got me," he laughed as Kimberly's face fell, but before she could say anything he cut in, "I'm joking Kim."
"Well its not funny Adam," they both got out of the car, "I could've really hurt you."
"But you didn't," he responded calmly.
"Tell me what I can do to make it up to you," he sometimes wondered how Kimberly could contain so much good and kindness in a world like this, she really was amazing.
"We were supposed to have dinner tonight right?" she nodded, she looked confused, "Well," he slipped the key into the lock of his door, "how about we order a pizza and you pay."
She couldn't help but laugh, "It's not really the same as going out though is it," she said, that spark that told him she was happy again was back in her eyes.
"Hey, dinners dinner," pushing the door open he walked inside only to get the fright of his life when Rocky stepped out from around the corner. "Jesus," he grabbed his chest, he was sure his heart had skipped a beat, "don't do that Rocky."
He ignored Adam though, "I heard what happened," now this was a surprise, Rocky wasn't his usual sarcastic, joking self, he sounded worried. He noticed Kimberly enter behind Adam, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Adam responded almost robotically, he'd said it so many times now that it seemed second nature to him, "Thank you for your concern though."
"I wasn't asking you," Rocky bypassed his best friend and stood in front of Kimberly, "I heard things between you and Tommy got pretty heated, you alright?"
"Uh…yeah, I'm fine Rocky…thank you. But I feel really bad about what I did to Adam," she pointed to the black ranger who was staring at Rocky in disbelief.
"Oh don't worry about him," the red ranger waved a hand dismissively, "he can take it."
"Thanks," Adam voiced before tossing his keys onto the dresser, "what're you doing here anyway? Don't you have a lecture you're supposed to be in?"
"Na, I can miss this one, no big deal," the black ranger rolled his eyes, "besides, looking after my two best buddies are what's important," he noticed Adam staring at him, he obviously didn't believe Rocky's excuse. "Plus…I saw Trini waiting for me outside the I.T lab, seems *someone*," he made a point to glare at Adam, "told her I was better and she's now hunting me down…"
"Like the dog that you are," Adam interrupted in a mocking voice.
"Not what I was going to say but something like that yes," Rocky turned serious, "so what happens now?"
"How do you mean?" Adam asked, unsure of what his friend meant.
"With Tommy, we going to go over and give him a good kicking?" the black ranger laughed, "I'm serious, if that's what you want then that's what we'll do."
"I don't think so Rocky," he shook his head at Kimberly who smiled, "but thanks for the offer anyways."
"No problem," he suddenly noticed that the room seemed to hold some sort of tension in it between the other two rangers, Adam was seated in the corner while Kim was still standing. Plus their body language was telling him something, then it hit Rocky who smirked at Adam, "Well…guess I'll be going right about now. What've you two got planned for tonight."
Adam shrugged while watching Rocky closely, "Nothing," he replied slowly, "Why?"
"Oh, no reason. Just wondering," he turned to Kim then back to Adam, "see you guys later."
"Okay, see you later," Rocky made the ok symbol to Adam using his hand but the black rangers confused expression got even worse.
Kimberly noticed the expression held by Adam and turned to look at Rocky only to see a closing door, "What was that about?" she asked taking a seat on the bed.
"I don't know, but whatever it was he's up to something which can't be good," Adam shook his head to dislodge Rocky from it and smiled, "So…how about I order the pizza, and you can do something…" he waved his hands about, "girlie."
Kimberly raised her eyebrows, "Girlie?" Adam shrugged, "How about, I'll order the pizza and you can change out of those blood stained clothes."
The black ranger thought about this for a second and nodded, "Toss me that shirt will you," Kimberly did so and Adam retreated to the bathroom. Smiling he closed the door behind him, even though he'd split his head open he felt good, and the reason was talking on the phone right now. Slipping his shirt off he made sure not to catch his stitches before slinging the shirt to one side.
Turning his smile vanished when he caught sight of himself in the mirror, who the hell was he kidding? Nothing could ever happen between him and Kimberly, she'd take one look at his body and run screaming from the room. Dragging his clean shirt on he slowly psyched himself up to reenter the room and act like everything was okay. Shouldn't be too difficult, he was a master at it by now.
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Kimberly heard the bathroom door click shut and smiled, she couldn't believe how well Adam was taking the fact that she'd bust him open like a ripe melon. Most men would've been angry, but not Adam, he was so understanding about it all. He really was one of a kind. She never thought men like that existed, and if she did she'd have never thought she'd be so attracted to one.
Wait…what?
It suddenly dawned on Kimberly that she found herself attracted to Adam, which was absurd. Yes she found him attractive the other night but she'd had quite a bit to drink, she shook her head, she'd had a stressful day and her emotions were on edge. Grabbing the phone she dialed the number to the local pizza place, giving them her order she noticed Adam exit the bathroom and smile warmly at her.
Could she fancy him? And if she did could something ever happen? Now Kimberly was really, really confused.
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To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Note
Kind of a meaningless chapter I know, but things will get interesting soon when Kimberly discovers Adams secret. How will she react, who knows? I do. Anyways once again I am thankful to everyone who reviewed and if you have ideas, comments or just want to say hey please do so again.
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She must've apologized a zillion times. And he must've said it's okay a zillion times, but Kimberly didn't seem to be able to let it go. Adam sat beside her in his black pickup that he'd got back from the garage yesterday and watched patiently as gradually day became dusk. Kimberly kept on glancing over at him, making sure that he hadn't passed out or something else that was ridiculously unlikely to happen.
Adam saw her open her mouth and as if by reaction said, "I'm fine Kimberly," he absently touched the seven butterfly stitches holding the two wounds on top of his head closed. After Tommy had left it'd taken Adam a whole hour to coax Kimberly out of the bathroom, she was an emotional wreck, her usual big, bright eyes were instead red and puffy and she didn't seem to be able to stop sobbing. In the end it was his willing to let her take him to the hospital that had finally gotten the pink ranger to come out, well…that and the fact that he felt like he was about to pass out due to blood loss.
"Are you sure?" her voice was full of worry, however on the brighter side she seemed a lot more in control now.
'Just two more scars for my collection' his mind whispered quietly, "Yeah, I'm positive." He noticed her eyebrows furrow in confusion as if unable to figure something out, "What's wrong?" he said, she gave him a sideways glance but seemed reluctant to tell him.
Eventually though she caved, "What did you mean when you told Tommy when you said 'I told you what would happen if you came here?'" she saw Adam become very nervous as soon as she asked the question, his eyes were unable to settle and he started to wring his hands together. "Tommy told me that he talked to you," she waited for a response but didn't get one, "what'd you talk about?"
"You know," Adam replied trying to dismiss the comment, "Just things."
"Like?"
"Rocky, collage…" he trailed off.
"Me?" he didn't answer, it was all she needed, "What'd he say?"
"He asked how you were," Adam really didn't want to have this conversation in fear of upsetting Kimberly who had only just regained her composure. He averted his eyes back to the window, watching as the world passed him by.
"And he asked what you thought about him coming to see me," he remained silent, "and you said it wasn't a good idea," he gave a small nod but still didn't look at her, he was afraid to. He didn't want her to be angry with him, by interfering in her personnel affairs. "Why?"
"I just didn't think it was."
Kimberly pulled into the collage campus parking lot and proceeded to park the car, turning the ignition the car died and she turned her head to look at him. His focus was still on the outside world though, "That's not answering my question Adam and you know it," he noticed her voice was soft but didn't want to look her in the eye, "Look at me."
Realizing that he had to Adam turned his head and looked into her chestnut brown eyes, swallowing nervously he cleared his throat slightly, "I didn't want you to get hurt," this time when he said those words he looked her dead in the eye. Studying her expression for any sign of what she thought of that statement he breathed a sigh of relief as she smiled warmly at him.
"Thank you," she whispered quietly, "that was very sweet of you."
He gave a sarcastic chuckle feeling the tension inside him melt away, "Yeah, look where it got me," he laughed as Kimberly's face fell, but before she could say anything he cut in, "I'm joking Kim."
"Well its not funny Adam," they both got out of the car, "I could've really hurt you."
"But you didn't," he responded calmly.
"Tell me what I can do to make it up to you," he sometimes wondered how Kimberly could contain so much good and kindness in a world like this, she really was amazing.
"We were supposed to have dinner tonight right?" she nodded, she looked confused, "Well," he slipped the key into the lock of his door, "how about we order a pizza and you pay."
She couldn't help but laugh, "It's not really the same as going out though is it," she said, that spark that told him she was happy again was back in her eyes.
"Hey, dinners dinner," pushing the door open he walked inside only to get the fright of his life when Rocky stepped out from around the corner. "Jesus," he grabbed his chest, he was sure his heart had skipped a beat, "don't do that Rocky."
He ignored Adam though, "I heard what happened," now this was a surprise, Rocky wasn't his usual sarcastic, joking self, he sounded worried. He noticed Kimberly enter behind Adam, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Adam responded almost robotically, he'd said it so many times now that it seemed second nature to him, "Thank you for your concern though."
"I wasn't asking you," Rocky bypassed his best friend and stood in front of Kimberly, "I heard things between you and Tommy got pretty heated, you alright?"
"Uh…yeah, I'm fine Rocky…thank you. But I feel really bad about what I did to Adam," she pointed to the black ranger who was staring at Rocky in disbelief.
"Oh don't worry about him," the red ranger waved a hand dismissively, "he can take it."
"Thanks," Adam voiced before tossing his keys onto the dresser, "what're you doing here anyway? Don't you have a lecture you're supposed to be in?"
"Na, I can miss this one, no big deal," the black ranger rolled his eyes, "besides, looking after my two best buddies are what's important," he noticed Adam staring at him, he obviously didn't believe Rocky's excuse. "Plus…I saw Trini waiting for me outside the I.T lab, seems *someone*," he made a point to glare at Adam, "told her I was better and she's now hunting me down…"
"Like the dog that you are," Adam interrupted in a mocking voice.
"Not what I was going to say but something like that yes," Rocky turned serious, "so what happens now?"
"How do you mean?" Adam asked, unsure of what his friend meant.
"With Tommy, we going to go over and give him a good kicking?" the black ranger laughed, "I'm serious, if that's what you want then that's what we'll do."
"I don't think so Rocky," he shook his head at Kimberly who smiled, "but thanks for the offer anyways."
"No problem," he suddenly noticed that the room seemed to hold some sort of tension in it between the other two rangers, Adam was seated in the corner while Kim was still standing. Plus their body language was telling him something, then it hit Rocky who smirked at Adam, "Well…guess I'll be going right about now. What've you two got planned for tonight."
Adam shrugged while watching Rocky closely, "Nothing," he replied slowly, "Why?"
"Oh, no reason. Just wondering," he turned to Kim then back to Adam, "see you guys later."
"Okay, see you later," Rocky made the ok symbol to Adam using his hand but the black rangers confused expression got even worse.
Kimberly noticed the expression held by Adam and turned to look at Rocky only to see a closing door, "What was that about?" she asked taking a seat on the bed.
"I don't know, but whatever it was he's up to something which can't be good," Adam shook his head to dislodge Rocky from it and smiled, "So…how about I order the pizza, and you can do something…" he waved his hands about, "girlie."
Kimberly raised her eyebrows, "Girlie?" Adam shrugged, "How about, I'll order the pizza and you can change out of those blood stained clothes."
The black ranger thought about this for a second and nodded, "Toss me that shirt will you," Kimberly did so and Adam retreated to the bathroom. Smiling he closed the door behind him, even though he'd split his head open he felt good, and the reason was talking on the phone right now. Slipping his shirt off he made sure not to catch his stitches before slinging the shirt to one side.
Turning his smile vanished when he caught sight of himself in the mirror, who the hell was he kidding? Nothing could ever happen between him and Kimberly, she'd take one look at his body and run screaming from the room. Dragging his clean shirt on he slowly psyched himself up to reenter the room and act like everything was okay. Shouldn't be too difficult, he was a master at it by now.
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Kimberly heard the bathroom door click shut and smiled, she couldn't believe how well Adam was taking the fact that she'd bust him open like a ripe melon. Most men would've been angry, but not Adam, he was so understanding about it all. He really was one of a kind. She never thought men like that existed, and if she did she'd have never thought she'd be so attracted to one.
Wait…what?
It suddenly dawned on Kimberly that she found herself attracted to Adam, which was absurd. Yes she found him attractive the other night but she'd had quite a bit to drink, she shook her head, she'd had a stressful day and her emotions were on edge. Grabbing the phone she dialed the number to the local pizza place, giving them her order she noticed Adam exit the bathroom and smile warmly at her.
Could she fancy him? And if she did could something ever happen? Now Kimberly was really, really confused.
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To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Note
Kind of a meaningless chapter I know, but things will get interesting soon when Kimberly discovers Adams secret. How will she react, who knows? I do. Anyways once again I am thankful to everyone who reviewed and if you have ideas, comments or just want to say hey please do so again.