Author's Note: Sorry about the awful delay. Things at school have kept me at my wit's end for months now, and I'm thoroughly exhausted. However, I have managed to scrape together this rather, forgive me, short chapter. It mainly deals with Adam and his unwillingness to lose Rocky over a misunderstanding. Enjoy!

Losing you

At Ernie's Juice Bar…

"You okay sweetie?" Tanya placed her hand over Adam's, trying to lock eye contact with the depressed Green Ranger.

"I'm alright," he mumbled mechanically, taking his hand off the table. Tanya frowned at Adam's behavior and sighed heavily.

"Adam, I know that you're not feeling your best right now. I'm sorry that Rocky left, but maybe in a few days' wait, he'll realize that he misses you and he'll return. You guys have been friends since you were little children. He's your best friend. You're his best friend. It's impossible to ignore that. So, don't worry too much, okay? Come and join Kat and me on a shopping spree. You can relax and cool down that misery of yours." She pointed out, sipping her smoothie.

Adam shook his head. "No, that's okay. I appreciate the offer, but shopping is one of the last things I want to do right now. I think I'm just going to head home and take a shower and maybe a nap. I'm exhausted."

Tanya patted him eagerly, "That's a great idea, Adam. Go home and rest. We'll come by and see you later sometime."

"Sure," the Green Ranger replied nonchalantly, standing up and collecting his belongings, leaving Tanya staring in his wake.

At Adam's apartment…

"You have two new messages." The impassive answer machine said. Adam pressed the play button and sat down, running his hands over his face.

"Hi Adam, this is Kat. I know you've been feeling down lately, so I thought maybe you wanted to join me and Tanya down at the mall for a little shopping spree. I think she'll tell you later if you meet her at the Juice Bar, but if she doesn't or you get this message first, call me back! Thanks!" The machine beeped once, signaling the end of Kat's cheery message.

Guess I don't have to worry about calling Kat, he thought, as the machine played the second message. Not that I really want to talk to anyone at the moment.

"Hi, Rocky, this is Elizabeth Watson. I'm not sure if you'll be able to hear this message, but since this is the phone number you listed, I thought I'd give it a go. I forgot to tell you this before you left for work today, but I need your social security number on your apartment forms. I'm going to have them mailed out by lunch, so if you could get it to me by then, that would be great. My work number is 916-246-9718. Thank you."

Adam stared at the machine with a strange feeling of bewilderment and elation. Rocky's already got a place? It's only been a day and he's already found a place?

Walking to the kitchen, the Green Ranger absentmindedly poured a cup of tea and then, settled into his favorite chair. He flipped the TV on, but his mind was obviously elsewhere.

I need to talk to him. Just for a few minutes. I have to set this straight with him. It could all just be miscommunication. I never meant to hurt him. He's my best friend. I've just been busy with other stuff and I didn't have that much time to hangout with him. But he can't just blame this entirely on me! He had other stuff to do too when I suggested we loaf together. Our schedules were completely different. This isn't an excuse or anything, but I don't want him believing that I would purposefully leave him in the dark. He's my best friend. Things were so much easier when he was a Ranger. Our schedules were the same because they mostly revolved around battling monsters. Now that he's leading a normal life the way he wants it and I'm still a Power Ranger, we hardly see each other anymore. When he's teaching at the dojo, I'll be trying to organize myself for college and the internship or I'll be battling some crazy monster Divatox has so happily bestowed upon us on that day. He can't blame me though. I like a quiet life. I didn't ask to always be in battle. I just want a life like his. He's my best friend.

The words "He's my best friend" repeated over and over his head like a mantra, as though if he stopped chanting the phrase, Rocky would drop out of his life as his ex-best-friend.

Adam's gaze lingered over the phone. He hesitated. The call would be very strange and maybe even unexpected, but he knew what he had to do. He couldn't lose Rocky over something like this. He knew he couldn't. Rocky was his best friend.

At Elizabeth Watson's office…

"Miss Watson?" Rachael's voice echoed through the intercom. "You have a phone call, line one. A Mr. Adam Park inquires to speak with you."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. Adam Park? She had heard that name before somewhere, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. For some reason, the name Adam Park rang familiar bells and bequeathed a weird feeling in her stomach. However, she simply nodded to her assistant. "Thanks." Rachael exited the office, and Elizabeth picked up the phone tentatively.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Is this Miss Elizabeth Watson?" A young man's voice asked.

"Yes, this is she," she replied patiently, drumming her fingers against her desk.

"Hi, my name is Adam Park. I am a friend of Rocky DeSantos," Elizabeth's eyes widened slightly as she cradled the phone gently, listening to Adam. "I understand that you called his—our—apartment this morning."

Remembering the phone call from the early morning hours, Elizabeth replied, "Yes, I called Mr. DeSantos to verify his social security number."

"Right and, I just wanted… to know, whether it's true that… Rocky's found a place." Adam's voice sounded small and terribly shy, and it worried Elizabeth. He sounded like a man who had lost almost everything.

"Well, yes, didn't he tell you? He came around to look at my townhouse yesterday afternoon, and we agreed that he could settle in as soon as I process application forms. It's already been done. His forms are all complete and he can officially move in today," Elizabeth answered. Then a thought crossed her mind. "May I ask why you are inquiring about Rocky's situation? Surely this isn't a surprise to you, if you are his friend?"

There was a moment of silence between the two callers. Elizabeth could hear Adam's breathing deepen heavier and she grew concerned. Just as she was about to call out his name, he replied, "No, this isn't a surprise to me. I just wanted… to make sure that things were okay."

Elizabeth was skeptical. She could hear the hesitation in Adam's voice and the ring of finality, as though he had convinced himself this was the end of something wonderful.

"Mr. Park? Are you alright? You don't sound too well. Maybe we should discuss this further. I can arrange for you to come to my office and we can talk about this face-to-face. Obviously, there is something very wrong with this situation between you and Rocky, and I hope that everything is resolved before Rocky moves in. Rocky briefly mentioned to me about some troubles back at his own place. Perhaps if we sort this all out, then we can all be clear on the matters at hand." She advised in her most professional voice.

Adam coughed a little, but replied strongly, "Sure, that'd be great. I think I do need to think some things over and talk to Rocky too. I think we have a misunderstanding."

"Well, then," Elizabeth sat up in her comfortable leather chair, "We must settle this before things get even more complicated," she checked her watch and sighed inwardly. "Look, I have to leave the office in half an hour. You can stop by my place and we can discuss this later. Rocky will be there too later, after work, so it'll be a good time for all three of us to figure this out. My address is 9355 Star View Pond Drive. It's the seventh house on your left when you enter the drive. The phone number is 619-826-4327." She waited as she heard Adam scratch her information down.

"Thank you so much. I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Watson, but I really must talk with you and Rocky before he makes the biggest mistake of his life." Though Elizabeth had no idea what Adam was talking about, she could tell he was genuinely upset about his friend and wanted to take care of the present circumstance before they became too convoluted.

"It's no problem. I'm looking forward to meeting you shortly. But please, on one condition can you come to my house."

"What's that?" Adam's alarmed voice rang out on the other end.

"Please call me Elizabeth." She grinned pleasantly before hanging up.

Concluding Notes: Ta-dah! Wow, this chapter was awfully short! I'm really sorry about that, but I just thought I'd leave everyone anticipating the grand meeting between our heroes. I wonder how that meeting will go... should I just simply let Rocky and Adam resolve their differences and have the happy ending... or should I give them a hard time and continue on... hmm, well, I've already made my mind, and you'll see what I decide in the next chapter! Until then, arrivederci!