Always a Frog, Never a Prince
---------------------------------------
Adam watched Tommy closely, it didn't look it but the black ranger was observing the white rangers expression as he un-cuffed Kimberly from the pipe next to the toilet. Rubbing her wrists gently she mumbled a thank you and Tommy moved towards Adam.
Averting his gaze to the floor as soon as Tommy's head turned Adam glanced up when he realized that the white ranger was hovering over him. "What happened bro?" Tommy said, Adam leaned forward so that the leader of the rangers could release him also from his restraints.
"It's a long story, but let's just say that as soon as I get my hands on Rocky. He won't be breathing much longer after it," Tommy chuckled and Adam felt the steel around his wrists slacken off and brought his arms back around to his front, they ached from being stuck in an awkward position for so long. Rotating them a little the black ranger raised himself up off of the floor and craned his back that was also stiff.
"What're you doing here Tommy?" the recently dumb pink ranger suddenly blurted out.
Adam could see that just his presence in the room was making Tommy nervous; his cheeks were turning a light shade of red and he fidgeted slightly. He must've realized that Adam wasn't going anywhere though when he eventually replied, "I need to talk to you about the other day…" Kimberly nodded curtly, "Alone."
"Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of Adam," was Kimberly's response.
But at what must've been the worst timing in the world Adams eyes locked onto the clock that was hung above the door, "Shit!"
"What," Kimberly glanced at the clock.
Adam though quickly jammed up and shook his head, "Nothing," he couldn't leave Kimberly alone, not after the last time.
"Adam, if you've got to be somewhere then…" she trailed off.
He tried to talk, but his mouth didn't seem to be working properly, "No…I…uh…it's just that…I'm…um…"
"Adam!"
The black ranger snapped out of it, "I've got a class in, like, five minutes. And I already missed yesterday due to the," he paused briefly, "situation," he glanced at Tommy who avoided his look, "But it's fine, I'll just…"
"Go," Kimberly interrupted gently.
Adam wasn't convinced, "Are you sure? Because if you'd like I can stick around."
Kimberly nodded and offered a friendly smile, "I'm sure Adam, you've just started college and you can't fall behind. I'll meet you back at the dorm later, okay?"
"O…k," Adam started slowly towards the door, he took a moment to glance back over his shoulder and observe the situation. Tommy stood facing the floor while Kimberly was waiting with her arms firmly crossed across her chest waiting for him to begin. Cursing college one last time the black ranger vanished out of the door and started down the hall.
---------------------------------------
"Kat kicked me out," Kimberly resisted the urge to laugh in Tommy's face and instead nodded carefully, she didn't know whether he was looking for sympathy or for someone to blame it on so instead she replied carefully.
"I don't see what that has to do with me?"
"She thinks I'm still in love with you," there was a small pause and Kimberly tried desperately to look anywhere except directly into Tommy's eyes, "which is ridiculous. I mean…we're just friends now."
"If that," the pink ranger muttered under her breath.
Tommy heard her though and felt a pang of pain directly in his chest, he didn't comment, "I need you to speak to her," Kimberly raised her eyebrows, "Explain the situation to her, about why I came around yesterday. I've tried, but she won't listen to me, she thinks every word that comes out of my mouth is a lie."
Kimberly wasn't convinced, "I still don't see how I can do anything, if she didn't believe you then why would she believe me. I mean you could've asked me to talk to her," there was a long pause, "Which is in fact what's happening."
Tommy could see that he was losing Kimberly fast, he racked his brain in desperation, but found nothing. And so, resorted to the truth, "Please Kimberly, Kat means everything to me," much like Tommy, Kimberly also felt a pang of pain in her chest, "she held me together when you left," there was a small pause, "And I love her."
Kimberly felt her throat tighten; it always did that when she was about to start crying. However, this time she refused to, this week she'd done enough crying to start a new river in Angel Grove. Taking a deep breath the pink ranger counted to ten inside her head and faced Tommy, a look of pure desperation was held on the white rangers face, he really did love her. Sighing she said slowly, "Okay Tommy, I'll talk to Kat," but before the white ranger could start rejoicing she quickly added, "But I still don't think it'll help any."
"Thanks Kim, I owe you one."
Nodding Kimberly turned and exited the bathroom with Tommy in tow, grasping the handle of the door firmly in her hand she took one last look and Tommy before saying, "I'll let you know how it goes."
"I'll be in Jason's, he said he'd let me stay there until I sorted myself out, so just call," Kimberly opened the door and went to step out, "Thanks Kim, I really appreciate i…" he froze, as did the pink ranger.
Kat stood in the doorway, fist raised as if she'd been moments away from knocking. Her look of surprise turned to one of anger as she glared at her supposed boyfriend and the ex pink ranger. "So…talk about anything interesting?" if looks could kill the two of them would have been six feet under by now.
Kimberly was frozen in shock, she could just imagine what this looked like, "Kat," she began drawing the aussies glare, "It's not what you think."
However the comment was ignored and instead Kat said, with both venom and malice evident in her voice, "I think we should talk, don't you?"
"I guess," stepping to one side Kimberly allowed Kat into the room, the blonde breezed past Tommy like he was a ghost before taking a seat on the bed, facing neither of them. "I think you should go," Tommy looked confused from Kimberley's suggestion, "You being here would only complicate things."
Tommy seemed to understand and left via the door, without saying a word Kimberly closed it behind him and turned back to face the shoulders of Kat. Walking to the dresser, she took a seat on a nearby stool positioned directly opposite the bed.
It was as if Kat could sense everything that Kimberly was doing, as soon as the former pink ranger had taken a seat Kat turned her head to stare directly at her. Kimberly did not avoid the stare and instead looked Kat straight in the eye, it was the least she could do. "Well," Kat said suddenly, "let's get started shall we?"
---------------------------------------
Adam's foot drummed vigorously against the solid oak floor of the study hall, he wasn't hearing a word coming from his lecturers' mouth and he kept glancing at the doors and the clock above the white board. He couldn't believe he'd left Kimberly there, alone, and all for a stupid lecture that he wasn't even hearing anyway. He urged the clock to go faster, but instead that just seemed to make it go slower bringing about a groan from the black ranger.
It was going to be one of those days.
---------------------------------------
"Is there anything between you and Tommy?"
Although Kimberly had been expecting the question, it still caught her off guard by how abruptly Kat had brought it up. She had to admit that the Australian beauty certainly didn't waste time, "No." Simple and straightforward, Kimberly didn't want to start rambling so she'd decided to keep her answers short.
"You're sure?" a nod confirmed the question, Kat didn't seem to be buying it though. "So, you're saying that you feel nothing for Tommy, you couldn't care less what he does?"
"Of course not, I will always care for Tommy…"
"So you admit that you have feelings for him," Kat interrupted.
"Of course, but the same kind of feelings that I have for Billy and Jason, Zack and Trini, the feelings I have for all of my close friends. Kat, you have to understand that yes, Tommy and I have history. But he loves you, not me, he asked *you* to marry him, not me." Kimberly trailed off as Kat sat on the edge of Rocky's bed, a neutral look on her face, "Tommy was my first love, and yes I still care for him, yes, I have feelings for him. But I would never, *ever*, do anything to jeopardize what you and Tommy have now."
Kat said nothing for awhile, the two just sat in silence, she seemed to be contemplating what Kimberly had just said and after a while a small, honest smile crept onto her face, "I know Kim," the former pink ranger inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Unfortunately, Tommy doesn't feel the same way."
Now Kimberly was confused, "I don't understand."
"Whenever you're in Angel Grove you're always on Tommy's mind, night and day. I know Tommy loves me, and he'd do anything to protect me, but I also know that what you and he had was ten times stronger than what we have." Kat quietened up again, Kimberly decided to say nothing, the smile on Kat's face became an ironic one, "Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurt because you knew that they didn't feel the same way for you?" Kimberly shook her head. "He still loves you Kim, and I think, deep down, you still love him. And although I know that you'd never do anything to break Tommy and me up, I can't take the chance."
"Kat, you're not making sense."
The pink ranger looked Kimberly directly in the eye, "Then I'll make it crystal clear shall I?"
---------------------------------------
Adam flung his files into his bag and practically flew out of the doors nearly flattening a cleaner that he managed to spin round before breaking into a fast stride back towards the dorm. He swore that if Kimberly was in a state he was going to kill Rocky, then himself.
Reaching fresh air he walked across the lush green grass and entered the car park, climbing the stairs two at a time he reached his floor relatively quickly and immediately grabbed the key from his jacket pocket. Slipping it into the lock of his door he twisted in sharply and entered the room.
Walking slowly, to make it seem that he hadn't been rushing, Adam took the room in with one sweep of his head. It looked the same as it did that morning. Kimberly hadn't come back, just in case though he called out her name but predictably got no response.
"Damn it," tossing his bag onto the bed he slipped back outside and locked the door. Moving silently but quickly down to Rocky's he was about to knock on the door when he heard a voice.
"Oh yeah, that's heaven. Ooo, Oooo, yeah."
Not caring about who was in the room with his best friend Adam thumped on the door three times with his fist, "Rocky! Open up."
"Fuck off, I'm busy."
Adam though was in no mood to be courteous, "Rocky, climb off whatever girl you tricked into sleeping with you and come and open this door," he was obviously being ignored. "Rocky, if you don't open this door then I'm kicking it in, one way or another, I'm coming in."
"FINE," hearing a small shuffling approaching the wooden barrier followed by the distinct sound of a latch being undone, the piece of door swung open to reveal a very pissed off looking Rocky. "What?" he asked irritably.
"Shut up," shoving his friend aside Adam entered the dorm expecting some strange girl to be covering her nude form with the blankets from the bed, however the room was empty, apart from a small basin of water that had ice cubes floating in it. Confused Adam turned to see Rocky hobbling back towards the basin where, after sitting back on the edge of the bed, he lowered his feet in. "What happened to your feet?"
"None of your business," the red ranger snapped.
Adam usually would've pressed the matter but at that moment in time he didn't really care, "Have you seen Kim around."
"Nope, not since this morning anyway," Rocky gave out a satisfied, "Ahhh," as the water soothed his aching tootsies, "Why?"
"Doesn't matter," Adam turned to leave, "Good luck with the…" he made some vague gestures with his hands, "feet thing," exiting the apartment he snatched his cell phone from his pocket. Punching in Trini's number he waited patiently until there was the distinct sound of the yellow ranger answering, "Trini!"
(Hey Adam, what's up?)
"You don't happen to know where Kim is do you?" the black ranger looked up and down the hall just in case she appeared.
(No, why what happened?)
"Tommy showed up, but I had to make it to a lecture so I couldn't stay. And now I can't find her, I'm just worried that she might be upset again," there was a small pause on the other end of the line, "Trini? You still there?"
(Yeah, I'm here) the yellow ranger sounded kinda nervous.
"What? What do you know that I don't?"
There was a sigh on the other end of the line (Kat called me, she wanted to know where Kimberly was, so I told her.)
"Oh Christ," Adam groaned.
(I didn't know Tommy was gonna turn up, what if she caught them together? That's not gonna look very good.)
"You think?" Adam replied sarcastically, calming himself he took a deep breath before he said anything again, "Listen, I'll go look for her. She can't have gone anywhere as all of her clothes are back at the dorm, you keep your phone on just in case she calls. I'll let you know when I find her."
(Okay, good luck.)
Adam hung up and ran his free hand through his black hair, "Great," he muttered, "just perfect."
---------------------------------------
"I want you to leave Angel Grove," the words echoed throughout Kimberly's head, at first she hadn't understood what the pink ranger had meant, so Kat had continued. "As long as you keep coming back here you'll keep reminding Tommy of how much he loves you. And I won't be able to trust him when you're around, and I don't want a marriage like that Kim, to be constantly wondering whether or not he's with you when you're in town. Having constant arguments about where he's been, and why didn't he call, my parents had that kind of marriage, and it wasn't a happy one."
Kimberley's parents had had the exact same marriage too, but they'd gotten divorced when she was nine, but leave Angel Grove. And never come back? "Kat, I'm not sure if that'll accomplish anything."
"It will Kim, please, you know I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think it was the only way. I love Tommy, and I want us to be happy, but as long as you keep coming back…we'll never be as happy as we could be."
The pink ranger was brought back to reality back a slightly cold breeze that filtered through the old stadium where the fireworks display had been held after the rangers had defeated Ivan Ooze. She sat on a bench by the railing facing the barren landscape that held so many good memories for her.
"Boy, when a chick goes into hiding, she really goes into hiding," the familiar voice brought a small smile to her face, but she couldn't bring herself to retort to his joke. "Do you mind if I…" he motioned to the space on the bench next to her.
"Go ahead."
Adam took a seat and also stared off at the old stadium. He'd searched everywhere for Kim, and after three hours he'd finally managed to track her down, after thinking it was hopeless he'd remembered the smile on her face when looking at the picture of the rangers at the fireworks display. Her whole face had brightened, it'd been a long shot, and he was thankful to say that it'd paid off.
"Do you know why this is my favorite place in all of Angel Grove?" Adam was slightly surprised by her sudden speech, he glanced over to her and she looked back to him. Shaking his head Adam saw a small smile full of sadness cross the beautiful creatures face as she looked back out at the stadium, "Because, the night of the fireworks display was the best night of my life, or so I thought."
Adam gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, new ninjetii zords, we managed to save Zordons life, plus that Ivan Ooze was one tough guy to bring down."
"It has nothing to do with the new powers we were given, or saving Zordon. It has to do with what happened after the fireworks display…with me and Tommy," she glanced over to Adam who was looking kind of confused.
"I don't understand," Kimberly just smiled and looked away again, eventually Adam caught on and let out a small, "Oh."
"God I'd never been so happy, if I'd died right then and there I would've considered my life a fulfilled one. After Tommy and I…" she trailed off and Adam nodded, motioning for her to continue, "We just lay there, and I was so happy that my first time was with a man who I loved more than I could've ever imagined. We fell asleep in one another's arms, and the next morning I awoke to breakfast in bed."
Adam stayed silent while Kimberly poured her heart out to him, telling him everything that she felt, letting him see a side of her he'd never seen.
"Then I moved to Florida, and everything changed, after Tommy and I broke up I had a few boyfriends, they were nice guys but I never felt that connection with them that I'd felt with him, you know?"
Adam nodded, "Yeah."
"And now, I come back home and start wrecking everyone's lives. Tommy's, Kat's, even yours," Adam could see her eyes glass over slightly and a small tear fall from her eye.
"Kimberly, look at me," taking her by both hands he turned to her to face him and could now see the tears falling from her face, and it broke his heart. "You have not wrecked my life, you've done the exact opposite, living with you has shown me how much of a kind hearted person you really are. You don't deserve to feel like this, because you've done nothing wrong," Kimberly scoffed slightly at that remark. "Okay, so you've made mistakes, but who hasn't. I know I have. And I'm sure you haven't wrecked Tommy's or Kat's lives either, they'll work it out, couples always do."
Kimberly smiled warmly at him, "I know, or at least…as soon as I leave they will."
"What's that supposed to mean?" slowly Kimberly relayed the entire conversation she'd had with Kat back to him and after every sentence he got more and more angry. And he also understood how Kimberly felt, rejected, like all she could do was cause harm.
"And that's why I have to leave, goodbye" Kimberly tried to break her hands away from his but he refused to let her, "Adam," her squeak sounded almost pleading, but still he refused to let go.
"No!" he stated firmly, "they're wrong."
"No they're not."
"YES! They are," Adam couldn't believe this, the most kindest, most amazing person he'd ever met in his entire life had been brought down to believe that all she could do was cause pain and suffering. He wasn't going to let that happen, she didn't deserve it. "Kimberly," he started softly, "You can think what you want about yourself, but that still doesn't change who you are, ask any of the other rangers and they'll agree with me when I say that you are the most amazing person, in the universe," Kimberly smiled shyly.
"Stop," she whispered gently.
"Why should I stop when it's true, Kimberly, you can't leave Angel Grove. You are Angel Grove, everyone in this town loves and respects you, with a couple of exceptions which you already know about," this actually brought about a smile from the downtrodden ranger. "The question you have to ask yourself Kimberly, is do *you* want to leave Angel Grove and never come back?"
"No, of course not. But Kat…"
"Doesn't matter, she's wrong Kimberly, trust me, she's wrong."
Giving Adam a heartwarming smile Kimberly felt him release her hands, "Why are you so good to me?"
Adam smiled back and stated honestly, "Because you deserve nothing less."
Once again an embarrassed smile crossed the pink rangers face that made Adam's smile grow even wider. "Thank you," leaning in Kimberly felt Adam wrap his arms around her upper body as she snuggled into his chest, her tears had dried up and the pain she was feeling was fading away fast.
Adam closed his eyes and savored the moment, he never wanted to let go of it, it was like one of those freeze frame moments that he'd seen on television so many times. He felt Kimberly pull away gently and he looked down into her deep hazel eyes, they were once again alive with the passion that he loved to see in her, a smile back on her face. He stroked her chestnut brown hair gently around her left ear after a breeze blew some of it loose.
Kimberly could feel butterflies in her stomach as she stared up into Adams kind gaze, his gentle yet strong arms always made her feel more secure, as if nothing in the world could hurt her. And his touch was gentle and considerate as he carefully put her hair back into place, he knew how Kimberley's hair meant to her. She'd never really taken the time to get to know Adam when she was dating Tommy, sure they spoke some but now it was hard to imagine him not being a part of her life, but what part would he be.
Slowly Kimberly raised herself upwards, her soft, velvet lips aiming to brush against his, she needed to know; to see if there was anything more there. However just when contact was about to be made Adam turned his head and Kimberley's lips kissed his cheek softly.
Adam shivered at the feel of her soft breath colliding with his ear, turning back to face her he offered a small wink and pulled away completely. "Come on," he held out a hand for her, "let's go home."
Kimberley smiled warmly, "Okay," letting him take her hand he helped her up and slung an arm over her shoulder, Kimberly allowed herself to be led down the road and towards his black vehicle that was shrouded partly by darkness. Opening the door for her she climbed inside and fastened her seatbelt, with a sigh she settled into the soft seats and almost immediately fell asleep.
Adam climbed into the drivers seat and noticed the peacefully dozing Kimberly, he'd wanted to kiss her so badly that it ached, but he couldn't. Not only was it an awkward time, there were other factors that came into play, ones that she could never know about. He loved Kimberly, and that's why they could never be together.
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Note
There's a treat for you all. I was thinking about ending it a few times at cliffhangers but instead decided to give you two planned chapters in one. Anyways it's 3 am over here and I'm determined to post this part of the chapter but I don't have time to read over it so if some parts don't make sense or seem out of place then I apologize. Anyways once again if you like the fic please review.
Regards
Boulder
---------------------------------------
Adam watched Tommy closely, it didn't look it but the black ranger was observing the white rangers expression as he un-cuffed Kimberly from the pipe next to the toilet. Rubbing her wrists gently she mumbled a thank you and Tommy moved towards Adam.
Averting his gaze to the floor as soon as Tommy's head turned Adam glanced up when he realized that the white ranger was hovering over him. "What happened bro?" Tommy said, Adam leaned forward so that the leader of the rangers could release him also from his restraints.
"It's a long story, but let's just say that as soon as I get my hands on Rocky. He won't be breathing much longer after it," Tommy chuckled and Adam felt the steel around his wrists slacken off and brought his arms back around to his front, they ached from being stuck in an awkward position for so long. Rotating them a little the black ranger raised himself up off of the floor and craned his back that was also stiff.
"What're you doing here Tommy?" the recently dumb pink ranger suddenly blurted out.
Adam could see that just his presence in the room was making Tommy nervous; his cheeks were turning a light shade of red and he fidgeted slightly. He must've realized that Adam wasn't going anywhere though when he eventually replied, "I need to talk to you about the other day…" Kimberly nodded curtly, "Alone."
"Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of Adam," was Kimberly's response.
But at what must've been the worst timing in the world Adams eyes locked onto the clock that was hung above the door, "Shit!"
"What," Kimberly glanced at the clock.
Adam though quickly jammed up and shook his head, "Nothing," he couldn't leave Kimberly alone, not after the last time.
"Adam, if you've got to be somewhere then…" she trailed off.
He tried to talk, but his mouth didn't seem to be working properly, "No…I…uh…it's just that…I'm…um…"
"Adam!"
The black ranger snapped out of it, "I've got a class in, like, five minutes. And I already missed yesterday due to the," he paused briefly, "situation," he glanced at Tommy who avoided his look, "But it's fine, I'll just…"
"Go," Kimberly interrupted gently.
Adam wasn't convinced, "Are you sure? Because if you'd like I can stick around."
Kimberly nodded and offered a friendly smile, "I'm sure Adam, you've just started college and you can't fall behind. I'll meet you back at the dorm later, okay?"
"O…k," Adam started slowly towards the door, he took a moment to glance back over his shoulder and observe the situation. Tommy stood facing the floor while Kimberly was waiting with her arms firmly crossed across her chest waiting for him to begin. Cursing college one last time the black ranger vanished out of the door and started down the hall.
---------------------------------------
"Kat kicked me out," Kimberly resisted the urge to laugh in Tommy's face and instead nodded carefully, she didn't know whether he was looking for sympathy or for someone to blame it on so instead she replied carefully.
"I don't see what that has to do with me?"
"She thinks I'm still in love with you," there was a small pause and Kimberly tried desperately to look anywhere except directly into Tommy's eyes, "which is ridiculous. I mean…we're just friends now."
"If that," the pink ranger muttered under her breath.
Tommy heard her though and felt a pang of pain directly in his chest, he didn't comment, "I need you to speak to her," Kimberly raised her eyebrows, "Explain the situation to her, about why I came around yesterday. I've tried, but she won't listen to me, she thinks every word that comes out of my mouth is a lie."
Kimberly wasn't convinced, "I still don't see how I can do anything, if she didn't believe you then why would she believe me. I mean you could've asked me to talk to her," there was a long pause, "Which is in fact what's happening."
Tommy could see that he was losing Kimberly fast, he racked his brain in desperation, but found nothing. And so, resorted to the truth, "Please Kimberly, Kat means everything to me," much like Tommy, Kimberly also felt a pang of pain in her chest, "she held me together when you left," there was a small pause, "And I love her."
Kimberly felt her throat tighten; it always did that when she was about to start crying. However, this time she refused to, this week she'd done enough crying to start a new river in Angel Grove. Taking a deep breath the pink ranger counted to ten inside her head and faced Tommy, a look of pure desperation was held on the white rangers face, he really did love her. Sighing she said slowly, "Okay Tommy, I'll talk to Kat," but before the white ranger could start rejoicing she quickly added, "But I still don't think it'll help any."
"Thanks Kim, I owe you one."
Nodding Kimberly turned and exited the bathroom with Tommy in tow, grasping the handle of the door firmly in her hand she took one last look and Tommy before saying, "I'll let you know how it goes."
"I'll be in Jason's, he said he'd let me stay there until I sorted myself out, so just call," Kimberly opened the door and went to step out, "Thanks Kim, I really appreciate i…" he froze, as did the pink ranger.
Kat stood in the doorway, fist raised as if she'd been moments away from knocking. Her look of surprise turned to one of anger as she glared at her supposed boyfriend and the ex pink ranger. "So…talk about anything interesting?" if looks could kill the two of them would have been six feet under by now.
Kimberly was frozen in shock, she could just imagine what this looked like, "Kat," she began drawing the aussies glare, "It's not what you think."
However the comment was ignored and instead Kat said, with both venom and malice evident in her voice, "I think we should talk, don't you?"
"I guess," stepping to one side Kimberly allowed Kat into the room, the blonde breezed past Tommy like he was a ghost before taking a seat on the bed, facing neither of them. "I think you should go," Tommy looked confused from Kimberley's suggestion, "You being here would only complicate things."
Tommy seemed to understand and left via the door, without saying a word Kimberly closed it behind him and turned back to face the shoulders of Kat. Walking to the dresser, she took a seat on a nearby stool positioned directly opposite the bed.
It was as if Kat could sense everything that Kimberly was doing, as soon as the former pink ranger had taken a seat Kat turned her head to stare directly at her. Kimberly did not avoid the stare and instead looked Kat straight in the eye, it was the least she could do. "Well," Kat said suddenly, "let's get started shall we?"
---------------------------------------
Adam's foot drummed vigorously against the solid oak floor of the study hall, he wasn't hearing a word coming from his lecturers' mouth and he kept glancing at the doors and the clock above the white board. He couldn't believe he'd left Kimberly there, alone, and all for a stupid lecture that he wasn't even hearing anyway. He urged the clock to go faster, but instead that just seemed to make it go slower bringing about a groan from the black ranger.
It was going to be one of those days.
---------------------------------------
"Is there anything between you and Tommy?"
Although Kimberly had been expecting the question, it still caught her off guard by how abruptly Kat had brought it up. She had to admit that the Australian beauty certainly didn't waste time, "No." Simple and straightforward, Kimberly didn't want to start rambling so she'd decided to keep her answers short.
"You're sure?" a nod confirmed the question, Kat didn't seem to be buying it though. "So, you're saying that you feel nothing for Tommy, you couldn't care less what he does?"
"Of course not, I will always care for Tommy…"
"So you admit that you have feelings for him," Kat interrupted.
"Of course, but the same kind of feelings that I have for Billy and Jason, Zack and Trini, the feelings I have for all of my close friends. Kat, you have to understand that yes, Tommy and I have history. But he loves you, not me, he asked *you* to marry him, not me." Kimberly trailed off as Kat sat on the edge of Rocky's bed, a neutral look on her face, "Tommy was my first love, and yes I still care for him, yes, I have feelings for him. But I would never, *ever*, do anything to jeopardize what you and Tommy have now."
Kat said nothing for awhile, the two just sat in silence, she seemed to be contemplating what Kimberly had just said and after a while a small, honest smile crept onto her face, "I know Kim," the former pink ranger inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Unfortunately, Tommy doesn't feel the same way."
Now Kimberly was confused, "I don't understand."
"Whenever you're in Angel Grove you're always on Tommy's mind, night and day. I know Tommy loves me, and he'd do anything to protect me, but I also know that what you and he had was ten times stronger than what we have." Kat quietened up again, Kimberly decided to say nothing, the smile on Kat's face became an ironic one, "Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurt because you knew that they didn't feel the same way for you?" Kimberly shook her head. "He still loves you Kim, and I think, deep down, you still love him. And although I know that you'd never do anything to break Tommy and me up, I can't take the chance."
"Kat, you're not making sense."
The pink ranger looked Kimberly directly in the eye, "Then I'll make it crystal clear shall I?"
---------------------------------------
Adam flung his files into his bag and practically flew out of the doors nearly flattening a cleaner that he managed to spin round before breaking into a fast stride back towards the dorm. He swore that if Kimberly was in a state he was going to kill Rocky, then himself.
Reaching fresh air he walked across the lush green grass and entered the car park, climbing the stairs two at a time he reached his floor relatively quickly and immediately grabbed the key from his jacket pocket. Slipping it into the lock of his door he twisted in sharply and entered the room.
Walking slowly, to make it seem that he hadn't been rushing, Adam took the room in with one sweep of his head. It looked the same as it did that morning. Kimberly hadn't come back, just in case though he called out her name but predictably got no response.
"Damn it," tossing his bag onto the bed he slipped back outside and locked the door. Moving silently but quickly down to Rocky's he was about to knock on the door when he heard a voice.
"Oh yeah, that's heaven. Ooo, Oooo, yeah."
Not caring about who was in the room with his best friend Adam thumped on the door three times with his fist, "Rocky! Open up."
"Fuck off, I'm busy."
Adam though was in no mood to be courteous, "Rocky, climb off whatever girl you tricked into sleeping with you and come and open this door," he was obviously being ignored. "Rocky, if you don't open this door then I'm kicking it in, one way or another, I'm coming in."
"FINE," hearing a small shuffling approaching the wooden barrier followed by the distinct sound of a latch being undone, the piece of door swung open to reveal a very pissed off looking Rocky. "What?" he asked irritably.
"Shut up," shoving his friend aside Adam entered the dorm expecting some strange girl to be covering her nude form with the blankets from the bed, however the room was empty, apart from a small basin of water that had ice cubes floating in it. Confused Adam turned to see Rocky hobbling back towards the basin where, after sitting back on the edge of the bed, he lowered his feet in. "What happened to your feet?"
"None of your business," the red ranger snapped.
Adam usually would've pressed the matter but at that moment in time he didn't really care, "Have you seen Kim around."
"Nope, not since this morning anyway," Rocky gave out a satisfied, "Ahhh," as the water soothed his aching tootsies, "Why?"
"Doesn't matter," Adam turned to leave, "Good luck with the…" he made some vague gestures with his hands, "feet thing," exiting the apartment he snatched his cell phone from his pocket. Punching in Trini's number he waited patiently until there was the distinct sound of the yellow ranger answering, "Trini!"
(Hey Adam, what's up?)
"You don't happen to know where Kim is do you?" the black ranger looked up and down the hall just in case she appeared.
(No, why what happened?)
"Tommy showed up, but I had to make it to a lecture so I couldn't stay. And now I can't find her, I'm just worried that she might be upset again," there was a small pause on the other end of the line, "Trini? You still there?"
(Yeah, I'm here) the yellow ranger sounded kinda nervous.
"What? What do you know that I don't?"
There was a sigh on the other end of the line (Kat called me, she wanted to know where Kimberly was, so I told her.)
"Oh Christ," Adam groaned.
(I didn't know Tommy was gonna turn up, what if she caught them together? That's not gonna look very good.)
"You think?" Adam replied sarcastically, calming himself he took a deep breath before he said anything again, "Listen, I'll go look for her. She can't have gone anywhere as all of her clothes are back at the dorm, you keep your phone on just in case she calls. I'll let you know when I find her."
(Okay, good luck.)
Adam hung up and ran his free hand through his black hair, "Great," he muttered, "just perfect."
---------------------------------------
"I want you to leave Angel Grove," the words echoed throughout Kimberly's head, at first she hadn't understood what the pink ranger had meant, so Kat had continued. "As long as you keep coming back here you'll keep reminding Tommy of how much he loves you. And I won't be able to trust him when you're around, and I don't want a marriage like that Kim, to be constantly wondering whether or not he's with you when you're in town. Having constant arguments about where he's been, and why didn't he call, my parents had that kind of marriage, and it wasn't a happy one."
Kimberley's parents had had the exact same marriage too, but they'd gotten divorced when she was nine, but leave Angel Grove. And never come back? "Kat, I'm not sure if that'll accomplish anything."
"It will Kim, please, you know I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think it was the only way. I love Tommy, and I want us to be happy, but as long as you keep coming back…we'll never be as happy as we could be."
The pink ranger was brought back to reality back a slightly cold breeze that filtered through the old stadium where the fireworks display had been held after the rangers had defeated Ivan Ooze. She sat on a bench by the railing facing the barren landscape that held so many good memories for her.
"Boy, when a chick goes into hiding, she really goes into hiding," the familiar voice brought a small smile to her face, but she couldn't bring herself to retort to his joke. "Do you mind if I…" he motioned to the space on the bench next to her.
"Go ahead."
Adam took a seat and also stared off at the old stadium. He'd searched everywhere for Kim, and after three hours he'd finally managed to track her down, after thinking it was hopeless he'd remembered the smile on her face when looking at the picture of the rangers at the fireworks display. Her whole face had brightened, it'd been a long shot, and he was thankful to say that it'd paid off.
"Do you know why this is my favorite place in all of Angel Grove?" Adam was slightly surprised by her sudden speech, he glanced over to her and she looked back to him. Shaking his head Adam saw a small smile full of sadness cross the beautiful creatures face as she looked back out at the stadium, "Because, the night of the fireworks display was the best night of my life, or so I thought."
Adam gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, new ninjetii zords, we managed to save Zordons life, plus that Ivan Ooze was one tough guy to bring down."
"It has nothing to do with the new powers we were given, or saving Zordon. It has to do with what happened after the fireworks display…with me and Tommy," she glanced over to Adam who was looking kind of confused.
"I don't understand," Kimberly just smiled and looked away again, eventually Adam caught on and let out a small, "Oh."
"God I'd never been so happy, if I'd died right then and there I would've considered my life a fulfilled one. After Tommy and I…" she trailed off and Adam nodded, motioning for her to continue, "We just lay there, and I was so happy that my first time was with a man who I loved more than I could've ever imagined. We fell asleep in one another's arms, and the next morning I awoke to breakfast in bed."
Adam stayed silent while Kimberly poured her heart out to him, telling him everything that she felt, letting him see a side of her he'd never seen.
"Then I moved to Florida, and everything changed, after Tommy and I broke up I had a few boyfriends, they were nice guys but I never felt that connection with them that I'd felt with him, you know?"
Adam nodded, "Yeah."
"And now, I come back home and start wrecking everyone's lives. Tommy's, Kat's, even yours," Adam could see her eyes glass over slightly and a small tear fall from her eye.
"Kimberly, look at me," taking her by both hands he turned to her to face him and could now see the tears falling from her face, and it broke his heart. "You have not wrecked my life, you've done the exact opposite, living with you has shown me how much of a kind hearted person you really are. You don't deserve to feel like this, because you've done nothing wrong," Kimberly scoffed slightly at that remark. "Okay, so you've made mistakes, but who hasn't. I know I have. And I'm sure you haven't wrecked Tommy's or Kat's lives either, they'll work it out, couples always do."
Kimberly smiled warmly at him, "I know, or at least…as soon as I leave they will."
"What's that supposed to mean?" slowly Kimberly relayed the entire conversation she'd had with Kat back to him and after every sentence he got more and more angry. And he also understood how Kimberly felt, rejected, like all she could do was cause harm.
"And that's why I have to leave, goodbye" Kimberly tried to break her hands away from his but he refused to let her, "Adam," her squeak sounded almost pleading, but still he refused to let go.
"No!" he stated firmly, "they're wrong."
"No they're not."
"YES! They are," Adam couldn't believe this, the most kindest, most amazing person he'd ever met in his entire life had been brought down to believe that all she could do was cause pain and suffering. He wasn't going to let that happen, she didn't deserve it. "Kimberly," he started softly, "You can think what you want about yourself, but that still doesn't change who you are, ask any of the other rangers and they'll agree with me when I say that you are the most amazing person, in the universe," Kimberly smiled shyly.
"Stop," she whispered gently.
"Why should I stop when it's true, Kimberly, you can't leave Angel Grove. You are Angel Grove, everyone in this town loves and respects you, with a couple of exceptions which you already know about," this actually brought about a smile from the downtrodden ranger. "The question you have to ask yourself Kimberly, is do *you* want to leave Angel Grove and never come back?"
"No, of course not. But Kat…"
"Doesn't matter, she's wrong Kimberly, trust me, she's wrong."
Giving Adam a heartwarming smile Kimberly felt him release her hands, "Why are you so good to me?"
Adam smiled back and stated honestly, "Because you deserve nothing less."
Once again an embarrassed smile crossed the pink rangers face that made Adam's smile grow even wider. "Thank you," leaning in Kimberly felt Adam wrap his arms around her upper body as she snuggled into his chest, her tears had dried up and the pain she was feeling was fading away fast.
Adam closed his eyes and savored the moment, he never wanted to let go of it, it was like one of those freeze frame moments that he'd seen on television so many times. He felt Kimberly pull away gently and he looked down into her deep hazel eyes, they were once again alive with the passion that he loved to see in her, a smile back on her face. He stroked her chestnut brown hair gently around her left ear after a breeze blew some of it loose.
Kimberly could feel butterflies in her stomach as she stared up into Adams kind gaze, his gentle yet strong arms always made her feel more secure, as if nothing in the world could hurt her. And his touch was gentle and considerate as he carefully put her hair back into place, he knew how Kimberley's hair meant to her. She'd never really taken the time to get to know Adam when she was dating Tommy, sure they spoke some but now it was hard to imagine him not being a part of her life, but what part would he be.
Slowly Kimberly raised herself upwards, her soft, velvet lips aiming to brush against his, she needed to know; to see if there was anything more there. However just when contact was about to be made Adam turned his head and Kimberley's lips kissed his cheek softly.
Adam shivered at the feel of her soft breath colliding with his ear, turning back to face her he offered a small wink and pulled away completely. "Come on," he held out a hand for her, "let's go home."
Kimberley smiled warmly, "Okay," letting him take her hand he helped her up and slung an arm over her shoulder, Kimberly allowed herself to be led down the road and towards his black vehicle that was shrouded partly by darkness. Opening the door for her she climbed inside and fastened her seatbelt, with a sigh she settled into the soft seats and almost immediately fell asleep.
Adam climbed into the drivers seat and noticed the peacefully dozing Kimberly, he'd wanted to kiss her so badly that it ached, but he couldn't. Not only was it an awkward time, there were other factors that came into play, ones that she could never know about. He loved Kimberly, and that's why they could never be together.
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Note
There's a treat for you all. I was thinking about ending it a few times at cliffhangers but instead decided to give you two planned chapters in one. Anyways it's 3 am over here and I'm determined to post this part of the chapter but I don't have time to read over it so if some parts don't make sense or seem out of place then I apologize. Anyways once again if you like the fic please review.
Regards
Boulder