You and I Both…

Disclaimer : Not mine, I just own characters and places that are not Power Rangers related.

: Yay, another updates just within a couple of days. Thank you for everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate them so much. This is the next chapter and it's not as long as some previous ones but I hope you like it. Enjoy! ; )


Chapter nineteen: When I say nothing at all

The world seemed to stop spinning after the 'moving back' words slipped out of his father's mouth. He must have been misheard because he thought his Dad just said that they're going to move back to Texas and that was just not possible. Right?

" W-what?" he stammered when he finally found his voice back and even then his voice was trembling slightly.

Ben cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. His brown eyes that mirrored Tommy's appeared to be dark. " I realize that this is too sudden, I know that. Actually the offer came to me about four days ago and I was looking for the best time to tell you,"

" I can't believe you did it again," Tommy lifted his head to glare at his father. He couldn't help it. " first, you're on purposed not telling me about your relationship with Ms.Hart and now this? You didn't even ask for my opinion. I'm your son?"

" I'm telling you right now, aren't I?" Ben answered rather annoyingly and that fueled Tommy's irritation even more. Who's supposed to be angry, he or his father?

" I don't even get a say on this one, you're stating that we're moving back," Tommy said with greeted teeth, gone was all the good mood from the previous date with Kimberly. He couldn't leave Angel Grove. Now, this place was his 'home'. He loved it here, much more than Texas. Sure, he didn't think he would get attached to this town as fast as he had, but with all of his friends here, moving back was the last thing in his mind. No, incorrect. Going back had never ever flashed in his mind. Maybe once or twice when things between him and Kim were still raw, but now? He was sure as hell didn't want to leave Kim. " what the deal with it anyway? What happened?"

" I was offered a better position in the company," Ben said quietly, leaning back against his comfy armchair. " as the general manager. The old one is going to retire soon and they're looking for someone who can take over. The situation right now at the Texas branch has been a little hairy lately, so they called me back," he added. The company Benjamin Oliver worked at was one of the largest shipping companies in the States and he had dedicated thirteen years of his life working there.

" How about Ms. Hart?" Tommy asked dryly. His Dad couldn't just leave her, just like Tommy couldn't leave Kim so easily.

" What about her?" Ben's plain answer surprised Tommy.

" Well, what did she say about this?"

" She believed that my final decision would be the best for us all,"

Tommy raised his eyebrows. " Just that? She said that she trusted you?"

Ben's chocolate eyes softened a bit and he leaned over, a soft whisper coming out past his lips." Son, you do know that Caroline and I are no longer dating, don't you?"

Silence dropped all over again in the Oliver living room. The only sound that was heard was just the neighbour next door's old terrier. He didn't believe this. His dad and Kim's mom were no longer together. Now they didn't have to sweat over the fact that they, mother-father and daughter-son, dating each other.

One problem finished, here comes another one. Since when did his life become so complicated?

" As a matter of fact, no, I don't know that,"

Ben picked his coffee and took a long sip. " We decided that being friends are the best for us,"

Tommy remained silent. He'd never wanted to know about his Dad's love life and he wouldn't start tonight.

" You said you're going to say something?" Ben asked.

Tommy looked at his father for a long while, thoughts swirling around in his head. " When do they expect your answer?"

" As soon as possible," he put the cup back on the table. " look, Tommy. I don't want to give you any pressure and forcing you to move is definitely not my intention. Just… think about it first, won't you?"

Tommy licked his dry lips, his eyes dropped to the floor. He hoped that the green carpeted floor would pry open and swallow him fully.

" Tommy? Hello, earth to Tommy? You in there?" he blinked when Kim waved her hand in front of his face. Her pout left her beautiful face when he finally smiled apologetically at her and turned his focus back to her. " where were you just now? I've been calling out for you since ten minutes ago,"

" Ten minutes?"

" Well, fifteen or twenty seconds, actually," Kim stood up and dragged her chair closer to Tommy. " but you've had ignored me for the last ten minutes. You're not listening to what I was saying,"

" Sorry, spaced out for a while," Tommy said and took Kim's hand, tracing her knuckles with his fingers.

" It's obvious," Kim nudged his arm and used her other hand to grab her smoothie. Ernie's was the best in town. " you know, it's still weird for me, to be able to hold your hand anytime I want, hug you or kiss you…," she rested her chin on his broad shoulder, letting her warm breath tickling Tommy's cheek.

" So, it's a bad thing?" he teased to hide the crack on his heart. If he moved, she couldn't hold his hand, hug and kiss him anytime she wanted and vice versa.

" Honestly, I like it so much," she said sincerely, getting a smile from him. She pulled back from him and it was when someone called out for Tommy with a cheery tune. Tommy sighed when Marissa patted his back to get his attention. He was fully aware at Kim's eyes that watching the whole process even though she didn't say anything.

" Hi, Tommy," Marissa said once again, standing beside their table. Her hands hugged three books to her chest. Tommy nodded in reply. " Hi, Kim," she turned to the pink clad gymnast sitting next to Tommy.

" Hey," Kim's voice was a bit ice cold. She still couldn't accept that Marissa had spread out the words about her and Tommy's parents going out.

Tommy had to swallow his smile when Kim moved closer and linked her arm with his. If he assumed rightly, the redhead hadn't known about his still fresh relationship with Kimberly yet and that wouldn't stay long because he knew what Kim was doing right now. Now, now, someone's a little bit possessive, wasn't it? "What's up?"

Marissa smiled nerveously. " I just want to say that I'm sorry. I swear, I didn't mean it until the whole school knew about your parents. It's just… my tongue slipped when I was talking to Jessica, but-,"

" It's okay," Kim assured her, not waiting for Marissa to finish her appeared to be nicely rehearsed speech. "that's no longer an issue anymore,"

" Really?" Marissa's surprise was apparent in those hazel eyes.

" Kim's right," Tommy looked down at the smirking brunette and gave her one of his owns.

" Tommy, you're all sweaty," Kim took the towel from his hand and run the cloth all over his face. Her face was serene and innocent but Tommy knew better. Although she'd never complained anything about Marissa's possible crush at him, he could sense the insecurity in those brown eyes. Not that she needed to actually, because at this moment, he had no interest in any other girl who wasn't her. " you better grab a shower immediately,"

The tightening grip on Marissa's books signaled that she had sensed something was certainly different here, but she made no move.

" Yeah, I think I better,"

" Good," Kim touched his nose briefly and went," even though I'm not complaining because I think you're so hot with all sweaty after practising," Kim was positively showing off in front of Marissa and Tommy tried his best to hold back the laugh that had threatened to break free. Then Kimberly turned her head and looked up at Marissa. She said to the stunned girl," don't you agree? Don't you think that I'm so lucky to have the hottest guy in Angel Grove as my boyfriend?"

Tommy succeeded in masking his laugh by coughing. Those words were something that she wouldn't ever say in front of people. Trini or Jason perhaps, but not Marissa. And with him there too. Kim never said something like that to him and he doubted she ever would. Well, maybe someday.

Kimberly Hart: Mission Accomplished.

Marissa gulped like a fish out of the water, her eyes bulging and she looked at Kim with disbelief. As if to search for a confirmation, her eyes moved to Tommy. " You two are dating?"

" Yeah…," Tommy answered, feeling a bit unease to be stared with such an intense gaze.

" Oh, wow, I don't know what to say. Congratulation, I think," she smiled wryly, cleary running out of anything to say.

" Thanks," after another smile, she left them. Tommy couldn't help his snort any longer and his laugh broke at the minute Marissa was out of sight.

" I'm the hottest guy in Angel Grove, huh?" Tommy said, still grinning widely. " you think you're so lucky to have me as your boyfriend?"

Kim bit her lips hard and the smile vanished from her face. " I was being too mean, wasn't I? I've shouldn't done that,"

At her sudden changed of mood, Tommy's eyebrows stood up. " What? You changed your mind already? I really should have that 'my-boyfriend-is-the-hottest-guy' written on a piece of paper," Kim poked him and pouted. " okay, so you're being possessive, that's normal. She will find out sooner or later anyway. You just made it sooner,"

" I was not being possessive," Kim's eyes narrowed.

" Yes, you were,"

" Whatever," Kim sighed and the topic was put aside. Her face turned serious. " it's true though. Now that our parents are not dating each other anymore, you and I are no longer on the table. It shocked me when my mom said they'd decided to be just friends though,"

Tommy felt his heart beating faster at the mention of her mother. He studied her face closely, wanting to know if Ms. Hart said another thing beside her and his father final decision to end their short term relationship. He released a breath of relief when Kim didn't say anything about Texas. He wanted to tell her himself but the words just couldn't be formed. The only person knew about it was just Jason and Tommy had warned him for not saying a word about it in front of the guys and Kim.

" Tommy?"

" Nothing. I think I'll go grab shower. You wait for me, okay?" he slipped out of the chair and took his bag with him.

" Sure,"

Tommy and Kimberly

- Angel Grove Park

The next day

Marissa knew. About the moving plan. If anybody was deserved to know about it, the person was Kimberly. But he hadn't told her yet and somehow, Marissa knew. Okay, so it was by accident alright. He was talking to Jason and not notice the third party that was standing near them. It was purely a coincidence so Marissa was not the person to blame. She's just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Marissa. It's funny how of hundreds of the students attending the high school, it got to be her. At least he had made her promise not to tell anyone and really NOT a single soul this time.

Thus Tommy thought that this day was the right time to tell Kimberly. Hiding something from her was the last thing he wanted. People said that honesty, beside trust, was the basic fondation that made a relationship work. He'd asked her to meet him at the Park, telling her that he needed to say something.

The Park, despite being the place of catastrophic weeks ago, had become one of their most favorite places to hang out at. Now they both were sitting under a big tree, resting their backs against each other's.

" I got a phone call from my friend in Mexico," Kim said. " her name is Gina and I knew her from a gymnastic competition three years ago. She's a really good gymnast,"

" Better than you, I guess?" he joked, making an attempt to test her patience.

" I can tumble and flip back but yes, she's much better than me," her answer was lack of sarcasm but she gave Tommy's back a thud. "now back to the topic. She called me. Hmm… how I'm gonna start this? Okay. She had a boyfriend named Alex,"

" Had?" Tommy asked, hearing the past tense using.

" They broke up," she clarified and pulled some hair off her face. " or more likely, he broke things off,"

He felt her shifting and he peered over his shoulder to see Kim straighten her back and move around to face the pond. He followed her. " What happened?"

" Gina and Alex had been together for the last two and a half year when Alex was offered a schoolarship at Yale," Kim spoke, her eyes looking blankly to the still water. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them. " I've met him twice. He's a really nice guy. Good looking, nice sense of humor… you saw them and you'd know instantly that they're in love,"

" If they were so in love like you'd said then why they broke up?" Tommy leaned back, supporting his body on his hands and stretching out his jeans clad long legs. " something must have happened,"

" Something did happen. You know, a long distance relationship… it's hard sometimes to be away from the person you love," her softly spoken words hit home so much that Tommy shivered.

Long distance relationship.

Did he love Kim? Well, the answer was as clear as the day. He did. It's true that they just met for a short period of time and that they used to hate each other so much or how they always spent day by day with fighting and arguing… But it was also true that he had never felt this strange yet incredible feeling in his heart before. Never let any girl get close to him like he did Kim and he certainly had never gone to bed with a girl in his mind before.

Long distance relationship. Despite everything, could their relationship survive if he left Angel Grove?

" For the first two months, things were still alright between them," Kim went on with her story. " or so they thought. But we have to be realistic. When you're apart from each other, everything could happen, whether you want it or not," she took a short glimpse at him and smiled to lighten up the mood. " Gina and Alex were busy with their own business and they're just… almost losing contact. Both were very busy people and to find times to call or write was difficult between their hectic schedules. They're drifting apart,"

" And then?" every word pouring out from her mouth seemed to remind him of the things that could happen to them.

" After sometimes, Gina received a letter from Alex. She expected it to be a long, heartfelt love letter from her boyfriend overseas but sadly, it turned out to be a broke up letter. He didn't have enough guts to pick up the phone and call her but sending her a letter instead. Can you believe that? That's so heartless," Kim mumbled, breathing hard from repressing her rising anger. " to complete the tragedy, Alex wrote that he had found someone else. That, of course, crushed Gina to no end,"

Breaking up through a letter? This was the first time he heard about that kind of ways to break up with somebody's girlfriend and yes, he had to agree with Kim. It was heartless. At least, this Alex guy could call her and explain how things had gone wrong between them personally and not by a letter.

" Kimberly," he had to tell her. He mustn't put this off any longer or this would drive him crazier than it already had. He was tongue tied when Kim scooted closer and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Kim?"

" I won't lie to you, Tommy," she buried her face on his shoulder, her voice was muffled. " when Gina told me about this, I was afraid. I am afraid. I'm scared that… I don't want to lose you. You mean a lot to me,"

The honesty of her words stirred something in Tommy's heart. " You won't lose me,"

" I know that I'm being silly," Kim pulled away a little to look him in the eyes. Her lips curved into a bashful smile. " I mean, our situation is so different with them so I'm sure everything will be just fine,"

" That's right," Tommy felt like a big two-faced jerk.

" Good," Kim hugged him once again and this time he returned her hug, kissing the top of her head. She sighed when his arms on her tightened. " it's not like you will disappear from the earth tomorrow," she chuckled at her words. " right, Tommy?"

He bit back his words. His early intention of bringing her here was being locked up once again. He couldn't say it to her. Not now, at least.

" Tommy?" she frowned when he's not responding.

His fingertips gently traced her lips and he replied, " I'm always gonna be with you until you're getting sick of me,"

Kim giggled. " Really?"

" Yeah… I won't leave you," he was relief that for once, Kim didn't notice the uncertainty hiding in his voice.


: And that's the end of this chapter. Thank you for reading. This chapter is Tommy oriented and this is short, I know. Honestly, I felt rather sad when I was writing this one. This chapter is kinda emotional, I think. And I believe you all aware of my twist at Alex's broke up letter for Gina. Even until this very second, I still can't accept the fact that they made Kim wrote that 'Dear John' letter to Tommy! I don't think I will ever could. There're still probably about two or three chapters left on this story. I honestly didn't plan this to be this long, but well, it's nineteen chapters already and I didn't even realize that. I hope you keep reading and please don't forget to leave your reviews. They really mean a lot for me. But as always, NO FLAME!

- Yuuri : )