TOMMY

I'm startled awake by a loud banging on a nearby door. It's the yelling, however, that really gets my attention. "KIMBERLY ANN HART JOHNSON! YOU OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

It only takes a moment and I hear Kim answer, "Be quiet! People are still sleeping, Trini!"

"I don't care! What is wrong with you?" The door slams shut - hard enough to rattle my own door.

I suddenly remember Zedd telling me that he was going to go down and get some coffee. Praying that there wasn't a major confrontation, I drag my sore self out of bed, throw some clothes on as quickly as I can, make a brief pit stop and head out. I enter the dining room cautiously, instantly relieved that there appears to be no damage, innards scattered around or power burns in the room. I quickly grab a cup of coffee and head for the group.

Zack sees me first. "Morning, Tommy. Didn't think you'd be up yet."

"Probably wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Trini bellowing in the hall and pounding on Kim's door like she was going to break the damn thing down."

"At least it wasn't Kira" Zedd comments. "Her sonic scream would have blown the door completely off its hinges."

"How're you doin', bro?" Jason asks, sounding just a tiny bit anxious.

Puzzled, I answer, "Fine. Any reason I shouldn't be?" The moment the question leaves my mouth I realize that Zedd must have told them what happened last night. It explains everything - Trini's yelling, Zedd not looking me in the eye, Jason's concern. "Really, Zedd?"

Saving my husband from his own scolding, Jason is however quick to cut in. "In fairness, I kind of made him tell me. Plus Kim was none too subtle with her hasty departure from the room when I invited him to join us."

Still looking nervous, Zedd's own words have me relenting - for the moment at least. "Jason's family. I don't have any other family here to talk to and I know the last thing you want to hear is me venting on it anymore or complaining about one of your friends."

I nod slightly in acquiescence and change the subject. "So what time is everybody leaving?"

"In a hurry for some private time with your hubby?" Zack teases.

"Always."

For the next two hours, Rangers are drifting in and out of the dining room - some for food before packing and some to say goodbye on their way out. In the quiet moments, my thoughts return to Zedd and what has happened. Unintentionally, I hurt him. Well, not exactly, but it's still kind of like the bar thing years ago. I didn't react quickly enough or firmly enough or whatever and he's hurt and upset by it. Granted, much of the fault this time is squarely on Kim's head, but it's still up to me to fix it. I sigh to myself. If Zedd didn't know what happened, I could forgive Kim fairly easily given how much she had to drink. But he does know and it would be disloyal as hell to let it go like it was nothing.

The crowd finally thins out a bit, leaving the originals - minus Kim, since Trini returned looking none too happy - and Zedd. While the others are talking about some thing or another, Zedd whispers to me, "I'll leave you to say your goodbyes, love. I'll just head up to the room and get ready." He gives me a wink and a smile before he leaves the room.

I tell the others goodbye, remind Jason that I'll see him in a couple of days before we go home and head back upstairs. I haven't seen Kim leave, so I'm guessing that she snuck out. It kind of makes me angry that she couldn't be bothered to apologize to either me or Zedd. Granted, Zedd would have probably tried to kill her, but it still would have been the right thing to do.

I step off the elevator and find myself face to face with the subject of my thoughts. Her eyes don't meet mine as she says timidly, "Hi, Tommy."

Really? I try very hard to keep my voice neutral. "Kimberly."

"I'm so sorry about last night. I-"

"You aren't getting off that easily. Have you apologized to Zedd?"

She turns absolutely white. "He knows?"

"How could he not?! Kim, I reeked of your scent when I got back to my room! And he could have let that go since you were drunk and I helped you to your room, but the lipstick on my face, throat and collar kinda nixed all that."

"Oh god. I didn't know he knew when I left the dining room this morning. He's going to kill me the next time he sees me."

"If you're lucky, that's all he'll do."

"I'm so sorry, Tommy. Please forgive me."

"No." At her shocked look, I say coldly, "Really, Kim, you aren't stupid. If the situation were reversed, you wouldn't forgive me so easily after I hurt Travis by trying to have you."

"No, I suppose I wouldn't."

"If Zedd didn't know, maybe - just maybe - I could have let it slide. But he's hurt. Knowing his past and how he thinks, he probably thinks you were pretending to be his friend just to get another shot at me."

"It wasn't like that at all! I actually like Zedd, I really do!"

"Could have fooled me."

"Would you prefer I let him kill me?"

I can't help but roll my eyes. "Kim, you know I'm not going to let him do that, for his sake if nothing else."

She sighs. "Yeah, I know. I also know that I need to apologize to Zedd properly, but since I don't think he'll even give me a chance to speak without trying to rip my throat out, I'm going to have to try another time. I know there's no excuse for what I did - what I tried to do. I know what was going on in my head at the time and, now that I'm sober, it sounds really stupid, but at the time it made sense."

"Be that as it may be, I have no intention of forgiving you before he does. Goodbye, Kimberly." I step around her and head for my room, resisting the urge to give her one last disapproving look. I hear her get on the elevator and the doors close as I put my key in the lock and open the door. "I'm back, mate."

I'm more than a little surprised and distressed to find him sitting on the far edge of the bed, head in his hands. Usually I get back to find him more than ready to play, frequently stretched out on the bed in all his naked glory, toys and restraints close to hand for whatever game he's come up with this time. I hurry across the room, feeling the upset that he's trying to hide and quickly take him into my arms. "Zedd, kalleimat, what's wrong?"

"Thomas - I'm sorry. I don't want to ruin one of your friendships. I just can't be around her right now."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

He exhales heavily. "I heard you talking in the hall. Thomas, you aren't the type to hold a grudge against someone over something you view as minor. You don't have to not forgive her because of me."

What now? "Zedd, I don't even know how to answer that."

"Love, if you want to forgive her, it's not being disloyal to me. Technically, you are the one she wronged by her behavior and demands. I understand if you want to forgive her and stay friends. It's who you are."

"Zedd, even if I wanted to forgive her, I can't justify it. Maybe I could forgive her for what she did to me, but I can't forgive her for what that did to you. Yeah, I could probably eventually overlook her attack on me, but the way she hurt you? No way in hell."

"But-"

"No." I hook a finger under his chin and make him look at me. "Zeddic, my love, I cannot and will not try and excuse her behavior when it hurt you so much. If any of my other friends acted the same way, I would drop them just as quickly. If they can't see how much you mean to me, then they aren't really my friends."

A ghost of a smile crosses his face. "Any of them? Even Jason?"

"If Jason actually deliberately hurt you or tried to come between us, I would beat him nearly to death before I made him watch me walk away from him. Jason's my bro, but I wouldn't let even him come between us. Hell I wouldn't allow it even before I was in my right mind."

The shocked look he has is almost comical. "What?"

"Way back in the beginning, after you broke the spell on me and then I pretended to be under the spell again, I was worried that Jason wouldn't want to be my friend any more, remember?"

He thinks for a minute. "And I told you that you'd been friends too long and he cared too much about you to let that come between you, right?"

I nod. "Well, at the time, all I was worried about was losing his friendship. Not once did it ever cross my mind to break things off with you to keep him."

He looks both surprised and pleased. "Even then you'd have thrown him over for me?"

"Oh, Zedd. I was already well on my way to being completely in love with you. I just didn't realize it yet."

"Thomas, I don't know what to say."

I kiss him firmly. "Tell me you love me as I love you, kalleimat, so we can get down to some serious loving and I can prove to you - again - how much you mean to me."

"I do love you."

"I love you too."