A/N: Hi guys! Here's the next chapter. :)
Anyone else forget this is a Power Ranger story for a minute while reading it? hahaha
September 3, 2004
Angel Grove, CA
After eating the breakfast/lunch that Trini had made me, I sat on the couch with her and watched television. We watched the news to see if there was any news about Nick getting caught or any signs of him. Sadly, there wasn't. There wasn't a mention of Trini and Jason's house either, the police probably keeping it under wraps to not tip Nick off. I was hoping to hear he had been caught and tossed in the slammer but that would be too easy for my life. We ended up watching some cheesy day time soap operas, Days of Our Lives still just as dramatic and cheesy as it had been when I would watch it with my mother. Sami was still fighting with Lucas about who she should be with and there was a secret island where all these supposedly dead people were just hanging out. Times in Salem were a bit crazy to say the least. I decided that my life could be an entire storyline for a soap opera, something that made me laugh and want to cry at the same time.
By the time Aisha came home from work, I was stir crazy. Rocky and Zack trailed in behind her, pizza boxes in their hands. "I grabbed dinner for everyone!" She called out, smiling. Rocky set the boxes on the dining room table and turned, seeing Marci's now fire engine red hair.
"Wow." He said, smiling. "I dig it."
"You would." Zack said, shaking his head. I smirked, knowing what Zack meant by his comment.
"Thanks!" Marci said, running her fingers through it. Trini had helped her scrub the excess dye from her fingers and forehead, leaving it looking raw but not like she had been scalped. She had curled it a little, leaving me to wonder which of the guys she was trying to show off for.
"Is everyone else coming or are we gonna watch Rocky eat all of this?" Trini asked.
"Jason and Tommy will be here shortly and Adam and Billy will be swinging by after they get out of work." Aisha replied, setting some paper plates on the table. "But we don't have to wait for them. Feel free to eat!"
"Don't gotta tell me twice." Rocky said, moving to dig in. Aisha punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Not you! Let our guests get food first." She snapped, glaring at him. He rubbed his arm, making a pouting face as he stepped away from the table. Zack snickered under his breath as he held out a plate to me.
"He'll never learn." I said, rolling my eyes.
"That's for sure. How are you feeling?" Zack asked. I shrugged, grabbing a slice of pepperoni pizza.
"Okay. A little sore but I've had worse." I replied. Behind us, I heard the back door open and Jason walked in, Tommy behind me. Tommy was wearing his uniform for the dojo and Jason was freshly showered. Something told me that he had been working at their house today, trying to clean it up some.
"There you are." Trini said, walking over and giving Jason a hug and a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled.
"I brought your car over. I put the keys on the kitchen counter." He said.
"My hero. How was your day?" He shrugged.
"Not bad. I went to the house and started cleaning up a bit. I'll talk to you more about it later, okay?" She nodded.
"Alright."
"If you guys need help cleaning up, you better tell us." Aisha said, taking a bite of her pizza. "With all of us helping, we can have it cleaned up in no time."
"We appreciate it. Right now, we have to wait for our insurance to let us know the whole deal. I'm just trying to salvage whatever I can. So much was destroyed that it's hard to find what wasn't." Jason replied. Guilt filled my chest and I set my plate down on the table, my pizza only missing a few bites.
"That's awful." Rocky said, shaking his head. "I can't believe that dirt bag did all this."
"It could have been a lot worse." Trini said. "Thankfully, we are all okay and our house is still standing. We will fix it up like new."
"You shouldn't have to." I said. Silence fell over the room and every one exchanged glances. "I hate what me coming back here has caused. I love being back here with all of you but things would have been a lot better and safer if I hadn't."
"Umm…no." Marci said, grabbing my pizza and taking a bite out of it. "Then I'd still be stuck in the wet, sweaty armpit of the country. No, thank you." Aisha shot Marci a look before getting a new slice of pizza and putting it on a plate. She handed it to me.
"We've all told you that we would rather you be here. You gotta stop beating yourself up for it. Nick is the only one who can be blamed for it and thankfully, we all kinda hated him anyway so no wasted energy there."
"That's for sure." Jason said, tearing a piece of crust from his pizza. "Chin up, Kim. We'll kick his ass and everything will be okay."
"Thanks." I said flatly.
"Hey." Tommy said softly, touching my elbow. I shifted to look up at him. "Did you want a ride to your appointment tomorrow? Jason is covering for me at the dojo."
"Actually, I think Trini is going to take me. I didn't want to make you come along." I replied, knowing full well I hadn't even talked to Trini about taking me to my appointment. I just didn't want Tommy to come. If he was there, he might add everything together and figure out that it's his baby. The less involvement he had, the better. It hurt but the fear of having him swoop in and take them away from me was more powerful than the need to have him in their life. At least for now. "Right, Trini?" I asked, nudging her in the arm.
"Huh?" She asked, looking at me confused.
"You're taking me to my appointment tomorrow, remember?" I asked, giving her a look I hope she understood. She stared at me for a second before nodding.
"Yes! Right. Of course. Trini's Taxi at your service!" She said, smiling at Tommy and me.
"Oh. Okay. Well, if you need me to come with you or if you end up needing a ride, just let me know." Tommy said and for a brief second, I saw hurt in his eyes. He smiled anyway though, taking a bite of his pizza. I felt guilty but I knew it had to be this way. I wasn't sure if he was just trying to be supportive or if he had other reasons for wanting to be there.
"Thanks, Tommy." I said, squeezing his arm. He nodded.
"Want something to drink?" He offered, pointing at the kitchen. I nodded and he set his plate down, heading that way. When he was through the doorway, Trini grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side out of ear shot.
"And why are we avoiding Tommy coming to your appointment tomorrow?" She asked in a hushed tone.
"He's my ex-boyfriend, Trini." I said. "Don't you think it'll be a little awkward to be spread eagle with him in the room with me while they check out my pregnancy with my husband's baby?"
"I don't think that matters to him though. I think he just wants to come to make sure you and the baby are as healthy as can be." She said, checking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't coming. "Besides, you know Tommy doesn't look at it that way anymore. I think you should just let him take you."
"Next time, alright? For the first one, I really want you to be there. Okay?" I asked. She hesitated, giving me a long look before nodding.
"Fine. Maybe we can all take turns at some point."
"I'm only going to be pregnant for nine months. I don't think there's enough appointments to parade everyone through." I replied and she laughed.
"We'll have to split it between you and Aisha."
"That we can do." Tommy came back, two water bottles in hand. He handed one to me before taking a sip from his. Trini went back over to Jason and now Marci, the two of them in deep discussion about something involving some action movie. Aisha was talking with Zack about work and I spotted Rocky walking towards us.
"Hey, man." He said, looking at Tommy. "Those Johnson twins are going to be the death of us. One of them broke an arm yesterday. I forgot to tell you."
"Terrific. Good thing we have those accident releases. What were they doing for that to happen?" Tommy asked, looking annoyed.
"They were trying to show off and attempted to break some boards. Too bad for them, they picked the extra wood we had from the renovations and not the correct pieces." Rocky replied. Tommy rolled his eyes.
"I swear those kids are out to cost me a lawsuit one way or another. And neither one of their parents give a damn. I'll have to call tomorrow and check on him. Was it Jake or John?"
"Uh…good question?" Rocky shrugged his shoulders. "All I know is it was one of them. Mom had to ride in the ambulance with them to the ER. I didn't wanna bother you yesterday. Jason probably knows better than me."
"I should ask him. I'll be right back." He said to me. I nodded, moving to the side so Tommy could walk over to Jason.
"You okay?" Rocky asked, turning to me. I nodded.
"As much as I can be, I guess."
"Don't worry about it. I mean, the beginning of the pregnancy was rough for Aisha. She still gets sick most mornings but she's good now. Besides, it might not even be that bad for you. She made these weird tasting popsicles she can give you if you need them." I laughed.
"Honestly, the pregnancy hasn't even been that bad so far. Probably because I didn't even know about it. It's been the farthest thing on my mind since what happened at Jason and Trini's house." Rocky nodded.
"I know. I feel bad but they are going to bounce back. We will help them and they will get insurance for everything. You shouldn't stress over it. Everything will be okay." He said. I nodded.
"Rocky, do you know how to get paint thinner off of something?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Paint thinner?" He asked, looking confused. I nodded. "Well, you could try putting more on it to break it up and then scrubbing it off. Or some chemical remover. It all depends what it's on."
"Metal." I replied.
"Oh! That's even easier. You just have to make sure you let it set for a while and it should come right off. Why?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"I have a project at home I want to do. That's all." I lied. He nodded.
"Let me know if you need any help. I know a thing or two about that stuff."
"Thanks, Rocko. I have to run to the bathroom quick. I'll be right back." I set my plate and water down as he nodded.
"Sure." He walked over to Aisha and Zack again. I glanced around, seeing everyone was still in deep discussion. I headed to the kitchen and spotted Trini's car keys on the counter. I didn't think she would mind me borrowing her car quick. It wasn't going to take me long. I pocketed them and snuck out the back door, closing it behind me quietly.
I had a mission to complete.
I drove over to Trini and Jason's house, parking the car in the driveway. I noticed a large dumpster was in front of the garage now and could see where stuff had been tossed in. I peeked inside, looking around the best I could to see if the pans Trini had gotten from her grandmother were in there. I didn't see them, mostly seeing the furniture from the living room. I walked over to the front door and saw there was a pad lock on it. Frowning, I knew I couldn't get in this way. It took fifteen minutes of checking all the windows before I found the small bathroom one was still open. If I had been just a few inches taller, I wouldn't have been able to wiggle in but I did. I headed into the kitchen and found the pots in a box on the kitchen counter with the other broken glasses. I grabbed another box and put the pots in them, careful of the glass. I walked out the back door and carried it out to the car, putting them in the back seat.
Bringing Trini's car back to life, I headed towards my house. I was going to just drop these off in the garage and come back tomorrow after my appointment to work on them. I figured the garage would be the best place since I could open the door to ventilate the fumes. I knew there was paint thinner there as well, seeing it when Tommy had helped me move some stuff out there. If Rocky was right about this, I could have these back to normal for Trini to surprise her. It wouldn't make up for what I had caused but at least it was start.
I parked the car against the curb and sat there for minute, looking around. I was nervous. I knew Nick was still out there somewhere but I was pretty confident he wouldn't be dumb enough to come here. I didn't see any signs of his car or anyone lurking out on the street. I was only going to be a minute. I wanted to pack some things for Marci and me as well. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the clothes that Jason had packed for me but I missed some of my stuff and couldn't live off just one bra and pair of underwear forever. I'm sure she wouldn't mind me grabbing her favorite fuzzy pajama pants and her sketch book. Maybe she'd stay out of my business if she had something to keep her busy.
I climbed out of the car and grabbed the box, my keys in hand. I looked around again, searching for any sign of Nick. There was no movement, the sound of crickets surrounding me. There wasn't even a car in the area. Sighing in relief, I bee lined it for the front door. Jason had given me the new key yesterday, taking the old one and destroying it for me. I unlocked it and walked in, locking it behind me as soon as the door shut. I flipped on the lights and was met with the sight of the carpet in my living room gone and some of the hardwood flooring ripped up.
I was confused, wondering why it was. Stepping closer, I saw that were was a brownish tint to the material that was there. It took me a moment to realize it was my blood. That was where I had laid, bleeding almost to death until Marci had come home. This was why they didn't want me to stay here, I guessed. They didn't want me to come home to this and probably the other signs of my attack. I set the box down on the loveseat and walked up the steps. I saw fresh dry wall had been put over the area my knee had gone through and there were smaller patches going up the stairwell. At the top, I saw all the flooring had been replaced, a new darker hardwood there. Was this bloody as well and I just didn't remember it? I headed towards Marci's room, opening the door. I grabbed a bag and packed some stuff for her neatly. I made sure to get all her new clothes she had bought for school, wanting her to be able to wear them. I grabbed two of her sketch books and her case of pencils, zipping the bag up.
Leaving her room, I headed for mine. I didn't want to spend much time in here. I grabbed my suitcase and tossed clothes into it. I noted that the mess Nick had made with my pictures and letters were gone. I didn't know where they weren't but they weren't on the floor anymore. Zipping up my suitcase, I saw that my purse was perched up on the bedside table next to my side of the bed. Walking over, I fished in it for the pregnancy test. It wasn't in there though. Had it fallen out when Nick had attacked me? Jason must have picked it up when he cleaned in here. I would need to ask him about it when I got back to Aisha's house.
Grabbing both the bags, I carried them downstairs and put them by the front door. I grabbed the box with the pans in them and headed to the door that led to the garage. I pushed it open, stepping inside. I flipped the light on and saw that the discarded pieces of our flooring was in here in a pile. I set the box on top of the work bench on the far corner of the garage. I saw the paint thinner on the shelf above it and I smiled. It felt food that I was going to hopefully be able to do something for Trini and Jason. I hoped I could find other things to help them with that will make this easier for them.
Turning the lights off, I headed back into the kitchen. I grabbed Trini's car keys from my pocket and walked back to the living room. It had only been half an hour since I left. Maybe I would get back in time for anyone to notice. I knew they would be worried if they had and I wouldn't hear the end of it. But, this was something I needed to do and it was nice to not have someone watching me like a hawk for a moment. I knew they meant well but a girl needs her independence still. Maybe I could make a run for coffee tomorrow when Trini wasn't looking.
A figure standing in front of the front door made me freeze in my tracks. They were wearing a dark colored hoodie, the hood pulled up over their head. They were just out of sight of the hallway light, making it hard to see their face. They moved, taking a step towards me. When they did, I could see that it was Nick. A smug look was on his face as he smiled at me. Fear gripped my heart and my blood ran cold. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be in here. How did he get in here? I had locked the door. I was here, alone with Nick.
And no one knew I was here.
"Hey, honey. Welcome home."
