Chapter 8: Preston + Sarah

Preston was putting his books from his last class of the day back in his locker as well as taking out the books he would need for his homework. It's Valentine's Day and he hasn't been able to work up the courage to ask Sarah to be his valentine. He walked over to where all of his friends except Sarah were sitting.

"Hey guys," Preston said.

"Did you ask her yet?" Hayley asked.

"No," Preston sighed as he sat down. Preston didn't really like the fact that they all knew about his feelings for Sarah. He dated Sandy for a little while after they defeated Madame Odius, but Sandy broke up with him because she said that she could see Preston had feelings for someone else. He was upset over his breakup with Sandy. It took him some time to realize that the person Sandy was telling him he had feelings for was Sarah. After he realized that, Levi and Brody seemed to figure out he had feelings for Sarah pretty quickly. Preston assumes that Levi figured it out and told Brody. It didn't take long for the brothers to tell Calvin and Hayley and now all of them have been pressuring Preston to tell Sarah.

"Today is the perfect day to tell her," Calvin said.

"You need to just do it, Presto," Brody added. "You need to let her know how you feel."

"I know," Preston said and cut off any other comment that any of them were about to say. "I just haven't found the right time to tell her."

"Now's your chance," Levi said and nodded over to where Sarah was walking over to them.

Preston turned around and saw Sarah coming over.

The other four rangers looked at each other. "Don't we have that thing?" Levi said once Sarah got to them. The others all agreed and got up and left Preston and Sarah alone.

"Well, that was weird," Sarah said and looked at Preston. "So, what's up with you?"

"Not much," Preston said, and Sarah noticed that he was nervous about something.

"Is everything ok?" Sarah asked.

"It's fine. It's great."

Sarah gave Preston a look that said, 'I know something is wrong. Just tell me.'

Preston sighed. "Remember when Sandy broke up with me a while back."

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. I know that was rough for you."

"Do you remember what I told you that Sandy said the reason she was breaking up with me was?"

"Yeah. You told me that she said it was obvious that you have feelings for another girl which it didn't seem like you had feelings for another girl from my perspective."

What Sarah just said wasn't helping Preston's confidence level. At all. If anything, it made his confidence level drop. "Never mind," Preston said. Now, he was starting to think that it's probably a bad idea to tell her. Preston didn't really want to tell her only for her to not like him back.

Sarah knew that Preston wanted to tell her more but was holding back for some reason. Preston was her closest friend, and she didn't understand why he wasn't telling her whatever was going on with him. "Please, tell me," Sarah begged. "I can tell that there's more that you want to tell me."

Preston took a deep breath. Sarah wanted to know what was wrong with him. The others will keep bugging Preston until he tells her. He had to tell her. It was now or never. Never seemed like a tempting option, but he knew that it wasn't the best option. "It's just...I figured out who the girl that Sandy was telling me I had feelings for was."

"So, she was right?" Sarah asked for clarification.

"Yes, she was," Preston responded.

"Who is she?" Sarah asked when she realized that Preston wasn't going to willingly come out and say it.

Preston took another deep breath to help him calm his nerves even though it wasn't working. "It's you," he finally said.

Sarah was taken aback. "What?"

"I like you, Sarah. I have for a while now. I didn't realize it at first and once I did, I was afraid to tell you, but you are the girl that Sandy could tell that I had feelings for."

Sarah thought back to the past few weeks. There were so many times that Hayley had tried hinting to her that Preston liked her, and she didn't notice any of those hints. Hayley must have known for a while and if Hayley knows, that probably means that Calvin has known since they're dating. And if both have them know, she doesn't doubt that Levi and Brody probably know also. There are some things that can be kept a secret in their group, this was definitely not something that would be kept a secret, except from her since she had no idea. "Wow," she managed to say.

Preston nodded keeping his head down. Hearing only one word come out of Sarah's mouth made him think that maybe his fears were justified, and she didn't like him back. He turned around to start to walk away. It was a mistake to tell her. Why would she like him back? As he was leaving, he felt someone grab his arm. He turned around and saw that it was Sarah that had grabbed him. 'Great. Here's the rejection speech,' Preston thought.

"You should've told me sooner," Sarah said.

"I didn't want to be rejected by you or for it to affect our friendship," Preston said.

"First, I wouldn't let it affect our friendship. No matter what could happen, I will always be your friend. Second, who said that I would reject you."

Preston wasn't expecting that. "What?"

"I like you too. I started having feelings for you while you were with Sandy, and I didn't think that it would be a good time to tell you when she broke up with you. I thought that you could use some time to get over her."

Preston smiled. "That's-that's wow."

Sarah smiled at how Preston stumbled over his words and pulled him down to kiss him. It was the most amazing moment of their lives. After a minute, they broke apart.

"Will you be my valentine?" Preston asked.

"Yeah," Sarah said and nodded. "I'd love to." The two held hands and walked out of the school together. They were both happy that they knew how each other felt.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!