Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 18

This was quickly becoming an irritating way to start the morning. Andros grit his teeth together as the cold water rolled off of his skin, feeling heat creep back up his cheeks as his mind flashed back to his dream. No, he told himself firmly, guilty. He shouldn't be thinking about Ashley like that.

He was more or less certain that Ashley didn't want him thinking about her like that, and no matter what his body was telling him, Andros knew that sex wasn't something that he could handle. At least not without a thoroughly undesirable combination of panic and trepidation, though he didn't know about Ashley. He could hardly kiss her without tensing up, but he liked the feel of her lips on his a little bit more each time, and whenever she put her arms around him...

Andros snapped himself out of his daydream and quickly finished showering. Dressing in typical Earth clothes for once, he tossed the uniform he'd slept in into the growing pile of dirty clothes in the corner. Ashley had asked him to meet her at ten, at her house. He was too anxious to wait another four hours before getting ready.

He wouldn't do anything wrong this time, Andros promised himself. He wouldn't make himself look like an idiot again. His face flushed red at the memory of their date three nights ago. Kiss or no kiss, he couldn't embarrass himself that badly again and still be able to look her in the eye.

Andros sighed and sat down on his bed to pull on his shoes and socks. He slid a hand into his pocket, checking to be sure that he had money this time. Zhane had advised him that it wouldn't hurt to bring a small token gift, something like flowers or candy, or the most inexpensive, least tacky piece of jewelry that he could find.

He didn't have a clue when it came to jewelry, and he wasn't sure what kind of candy Ashley liked. It had taken him hours the night before to think of the right flowers, but just as he'd been dozing off he had remembered suddenly the decor in her bedroom.

Sunflowers. He only hoped that they were enough to make up for letting her down the other night. Andros pulled his hair back and stood, straightening the hem of his shirt. Four hours was plenty of time to find some flowers.


"Morning, Mom..." Ashley yawned as she padded into the kitchen still in her pajamas. "Do I smell pancakes?"

"No." Lisa turned slightly away from the stove and gestured towards the plate on the countertop. "You smell chocolate chip pancakes."

"Even better." Ashley grinned and helped herself to two, then paused. "Is Jeff up yet?"

"Eight o'clock on a Saturday?"

Ashley took one more. "I just wanted to be sure."

"Speaking of being up early..." Lisa turned the rest of the way around and fixed Ashley with a knowing look. "What are you up to?"

"I... nothing really." Ashley shrugged and went to dig the syrup out of the refrigerator. "Andros is meeting me here in two hours. We're going on a picnic."

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you go on picnics?"

"Since I met Andros?" Ashley tried, and sighed. "I just thought it'd be easier to talk to him somewhere where there weren't so many people. I think he's... uncomfortable when there's too many people around."

Her mother looked at her skeptically. "So you two are just going to go off alone somewhere?"

"If we were going to have sex, we would have done it on the Megaship already," Ashley said without thinking. "Which we haven't," she added quickly. "And if we did, we'd be careful."

Lisa considered that for a few minutes while Ashley drowned her pancakes in maple syrup and powdered sugar. "Well," she remarked finally, "I have to say that I'm glad to hear that. But Ashley... I don't want to see you making a mistake with this boy."

"Why don't you like Andros?" Ashley asked suddenly, setting her fork back down. "You've always been fine with all the other guys. You never cared how they dressed."

Lisa eyed her strangely. "Andros can wear whatever he likes."

"So it's not his hair?"

"Of course not." Her mother looked surprised that she would even ask. "Ashley, believe me when I say I have nothing against Andros."

"Then what is it?" she demanded. "When you saw us together in my room that day, you... I don't know."

"Trust me, I would have been worse if that had been anyone else," Lisa said wryly. "Ashley, why are you with him?"

"Because I want to be," she answered immediately, swirling her fork around in syrup. "He's sweet and he's caring, and he's just so... cute. He's... not really from around here," Ashley added vaguely, "and he's not used to it, so everything's new to him and he gets this look on his face whenever we try to explain..."

"And when you say he's not really from around here, you mean..."

"Um." Ashley swallowed a large mouthful of chocolate. "Well..."

"Ashley."

She squirmed slightly in her seat, and let out a sigh. "I told you how we went into space, right?"

"That boy is from outer space?" Lisa looked only mildly surprised, and Ashley wondered not for the first time how much her mom knew about her life.

"He's human," she assured her mother. "From a... a space colony. KO-35."

"Ah." Lisa turned off the stove and dumped the empty batter bowl into the dishwasher before she spoke again. "I see."

Ashley sighed and grabbed one more pancake to mop up all the extra syrup. "I really like him, Mom," she said quietly. "He--he's different than anyone I've ever met before."

"Be careful, Ashley," was all her mother said. "I've got to get to work, and you should start getting ready for your picnic."


Andros knocked on Ashley's door and stepped back to wait for someone to answer. He didn't have to wait long; the door swung open a few seconds later, and he found himself the recipient of a friendly glare.

"You're late," Ashley informed him. "You're ten minutes late."

"Oh." Sheepishly, he glanced down at his shoes. "I'm sorry."

She giggled and pulled him into a hug before he really understood what was happening, pillowing her head on his shoulder. "Don't be. I was just kidding," she said. "It took longer than I thought it would to make a couple of sandwiches."

"Oh," he said again, suddenly remembering the flowers. "I have something for you."

Her slightly quizzical expression cleared when he shyly offered her the bouquet, her eyes lighting up as she took them from his hand. "They're beautiful," she said softly, brushing her fingers lightly over the petals. "Thank you, Andros."

Her smile did the oddest things to his stomach, and he swallowed hard. "You're welcome," he managed to say without stuttering. He let out a deep breath as he rubbed his sweaty palms against his jeans. "So, where are we going?"

Ashley smiled mysteriously and gestured towards two coolers that sat near the door. "Here's my keys," she told him. "Will you put these in my car while I get these flowers into some water?"

He nodded, belatedly realizing that he had no clue which of the two cars was hers. Andros opened his mouth to call after her, suddenly laughing softly to himself. Of course it would be the yellow one.

He set the two coolers on the floor of the backseat, a frown crossing his face as he studied the vehicle. It closely resembled the hovercars that he was used to, but Ashley's car looked rather old, and he was sure he saw some chips in the paint...

"Let's get going," she said brightly, coming up behind him. "Hop in."

Andros stared at the car dubiously. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Very safe," she promised, giving his arm a reassuring touch. "I've never even gotten a parking ticket."

"Parking ticket?" he repeated, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Ashley thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, apparently at a loss for an explanation. "Never mind," she said finally. "I swear I'm a good driver."

Andros followed her into the car, though not without reservations. Fortunately, his fears were unfounded. Ashley drove smoothly the entire way of the short drive, steering sharply only to avoid crashing into a bright green car that for some reason was without a roof. From the look on her face, Andros assumed that the near-accident was the fault of the other driver.

"I've never been in an accident, either," she added with a slight grin, her eyes flickering towards him for a split second. "Just don't get into a car with me on the highways, I'm not used to them yet."

Andros didn't bother to ask what she meant. He'd just take her word for it.

Ashley pulled up to a curb and switched off the motor. Andros glanced past her out the window, frowning at the large crowd he saw gathered around not far from the car.

"We can go a long way from them if you want," Ashley said softly, one of her hands lightly brushing his. "I know a good spot."

He hesitated for a moment, briefly thinking back to the restaurant. A secluded spot was an appealing idea, and she smiled when he told her so. They each took a cooler and he followed Ashley across the grass to a shady patch of grass far enough away from all other people that Andros didn't feel the hairs on his neck prickle in warning.

"I meant to bring a blanket," Ashley said suddenly, wrinkling her nose as she set down the cooler. He watched her kneel, her hands feeling the ground carefully. "Oh well... the ground is dry. You don't mind grass stains, do you?"

He just shook his head and joined her on the grass. Ashley scooted closer to him, laughing as the breeze teased her hair. Suddenly remembering Zhane pushing him into the pool, Andros reached up to work free the hair band that held his ponytail in place. Ashley took the red elastic from him with a grin that told him she was thinking about that too.

"I hope you're hungry," she said, as she opened the red cooler. "I think I put the water in the green one... oh, wait, no. It's here." She handed him a bottle and took one for herself.

"There's fruit salad in here too, and the sandwiches are in the one you have. There were supposed to be cookies, but I sort of forgot about them... and since I left out half the flour, they weren't really salvageable." A sheepish grin touched her face. "I can cook, but my baking might kill you."

Andros laughed, helping himself to a sandwich before he passed the cooler to her. "It can't be any worse than Zhane's cooking," he assured her. "He once tried to make me eat a mixture of raw eggs and chunks of ham."

Ashley wrinkled her nose at him. "Well, now I'm not hungry," she complained, but she didn't look particularly upset about it. Andros saw her take a sandwich, so he decided he didn't need to worry about ruining her appetite.

They ate in silence for awhile, but this time it was a comfortable, easy quiet. He didn't feel the same pressure to talk that he had at the restaurant, and it made it far easier to be around her. Besides that, he had some vague idea of what he was supposed to do on a date now, and Ashley didn't really seem to care whether he was doing it right or not.

Not that he didn't feel a need to impress her. He did, and he'd gotten the flowers to make an effort at it. He'd just settle for not screwing up too badly.

"You look nice like that," he told her softly, and he would have sworn that he saw her blush.

"Thanks." Ashley smiled at him before she glanced down at herself, and he shook his head.

"I meant it," he insisted. Her t-shirt was plain yellow and her jean shorts were loose-fitting and comfortable, but as she sat there with him, her face so relaxed and carefree, he couldn't have cared less what she was wearing. "You look happy."

"I am happy," she agreed with a soft laugh. "You make me happy."

Andros set his food down, for a few minutes just savoring those words. You make me happy. He couldn't remember anyone ever saying anything at all like that to him before, and he couldn't help the smile that he felt split his face.

"You make me happy, too," Andros said quietly, surprised at the blush he saw spread across her cheeks. He couldn't deny that he was pleased, though, and he leaned closer to kiss her.

She grinned at him as he drew away, and he squirmed self-consciously under her sudden scrutiny. This was what made him uncomfortable, having her stare at him and not knowing whether it was because of something he'd done or not done, or just because she felt like it. He had to admit that it was flattering to have her stare at him for no reason, at least some of the time, and so he just kept his mouth shut and waited.

"It's nice out here," she said finally, and he decided the change of topic meant that she'd been watching him just because she wanted to.

"It is," he agreed, when a few minutes of silence stretched by. "I like this."

"We could come back sometime," she suggested. "Have another picnic, or we could play volleyball and go swimming."

"No," he said firmly, speaking without thinking. "No swimming."

"You didn't want to the other day, either," Ashley said, looking him over thoughtfully. She hesitated, and he saw her try and catch his eye. "Can I ask why?"

"If you want to," Andros sighed, his gaze fixed firmly on his lap.

He thought she almost smiled at his answer. "Why?"

"I--I have scars," he muttered, knowing that he might as well be honest with her.

"Oh." A sad sort of look crept across her face, but when he finally looked up at her, she didn't seem disgusted or repulsed. He almost relaxed before he realized that she could very well change her mind once she saw how bad the damage was.

"You don't want people to see?" she ventured a few seconds later. "Is that it?"

"Yes," he said quietly, still studying the grass stains on his knees. "That's right."

"Hey," Ashley murmured, reaching out to tap his knee. "Look at me for a minute."

Reluctantly, his eyes flickered up towards hers. He was astounded to see her smile at him, too surprised to move away when she leaned over to touch her lips to his.

"I don't care," she told him softly, her eyes bright with sincerity. "It's not important."

"It's... not?" Andros studied her face for any sign that she wasn't being totally honest with him, and found none. "You don't know that."

"Then show me." The challenge in her voice was unmistakable, and he crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

"I..."

"I didn't mean now," Ashley said, her fingers brushing his cheek lightly. "Not if you don't want to."

She looked him up and down with a faint smile on her face, a gleam in her eye that had blood suffusing his cheeks. "But you're going to have a hard time ever convincing me that you're ugly," she informed him, her grin widening. "Trust me."

He did trust her, probably dangerously so. Something inside of him felt instinctively that she would never hurt him, yet the closer he felt himself growing towards her, the more vulnerable he felt himself becoming. Knowing that he could overpower her if the need be was only a small reassurance. With the right words, she could tear him apart just as quickly as Darkonda could with his blade.

"Andros?" Ashley touched his shoulder, and he flinched away from her before his thoughts cleared. She drew her hand away, watching him in concern. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said quickly, forcing a smile. "Just thinking."

"Okay." Ashley nodded, accepting that. She lay down on her back beside them, one arm behind her head as she gazed up at the sky. "Andros?"

Her eyes met his and she smiled at him, the same smile that had made his insides go weak earlier that day. "I'm glad you're here."

Slowly, he reached out for her hand, sliding his fingers between hers. Her palm was smoother than his own, and the softness of her skin brought a smile to his face. Somehow, he knew that she meant the words with all her heart, and he was almost able to convince himself that she meant everything else that she'd said just as much. Almost.