The loudest laugh erupted from the pit of Jason's lungs.
That wasn't the reaction Tommy was expecting when he told Jason about what had happened between him and Kimberly. A smack to the back of the head, an I told you so, some nonjudgmental advice, but laughter? That never crossed his mind.
"I'm glad my misery humors you," Tommy growled, his arms crossing against his chest.
The tears in Jason's eyes were inhibiting his view as he drove down Main Street. He never meant to laugh.. that hard, but he couldn't control it. Tommy was an idiot and this had just confirmed it.
"I'm sorry, man," Jason wiped at the corner of his eyes with his sleeve, "I just can't help it. I mean, I was right, wasn't I? There was definitely something going on between you and Kim."
Tommy remained quiet, his eyes trained out the window of Jason's truck.
"Come on, tell me I was right," Jason nudged his best friend with his elbow, "I never get that satisfaction when it comes to Trini. Even if I am right, she twists it so that I end up being the idiot in the end."
Tommy sighed, "That's what I'm feeling right now. I know I did the right thing, but she makes it seem like I didn't."
"Did you do the right thing, though?" Jason turned to Tommy for just a moment. "I mean, really do the right thing?"
Were those words really coming out of Jason Scott's mouth? This was the man that thought no one was good enough to date Kimberly. This is the guy that had to give him the infamous big brother talk when he first started dating her. If anyone was going to have reservations, it was him.
"Dude, are you being serious right now?" Tommy scoffed. "It's Kimberly! When have you ever cheered for someone to sleep with her?"
The thought nearly had Jason vomit in place. "There you go again twisting my words like a woman."
What the hell did that mean?
"I'm sure Trini wouldn't appreciate that," Tommy smirked.
"Whatever, man," Jason rolled his eyes, but followed by dropping his voice, "You're not gonna tell her I said that, are you?"
Tommy returned a light laugh, "Who would have thought Trini Kwan would tame the leader of the Power Rangers."
"You haven't seen her when she's angry," Jason shivered, "She goes all she-hulk on my ass."
"Could you blame her? You are kind of annoying."
Jason gasped, feigning offense, "I'm the one taking your ass home. You could be a little nicer to me."
It was always Jason that came to save the day. Tommy's cast had been cut off at the medical office like he suspected they would. He didn't even have it on for very long, at least not as long based on the severity of his injury. It had only been a little over a month. With his cast finally off, Tommy took the nearest bus over to the Mercer Museum. The appointment with William Clay, Dr. Mercers attorney, had gone smoothly. They spoke about the wishes Anton had outlined in his will over his estate. Everything was to remain relatively normal in order to not uproot the lives all of of the employee's under the Mercer Corporation. Now that Tommy had healed, he hoped to return back to work sooner rather than later. Tommy was even able to briefly meet Trent, Dr. Mercers adopted son while he was there.
He was a kid that was now alone in the world. He'd lost his birth parents and now his adoptive father. Life wasn't fair at times.
It had been five days since then and things in the Oliver household weren't any better. Kimberly would barely look at him half of the time and she found any excuse to not be in the same room as him for too long. The times that they were alone, however, were met with painful silence. So it was only logical that Tommy would ask Jason to give him a ride home when his car died outside the Dojo. He'd gone to see how his schedule would be looking for the following day. He was pretty much back to his old self, but he still wanted to take it easy. When his car wouldn't start, he knew there was no way in hell he would call Kimberly. She had been so busy baking the whole week and he didn't want to bother her.
"Anyway, I didn't say sleep with her, because I don't think that's what Kimberly was asking." He hadn't seen the darkness in her eyes that night. "She was asking for you to give her a chance at a real relationship… and is that so bad? Kimberly is a great person and she loves Kylie so much. What's so wrong about that?"
Tommy sighed, "I know she is.. she's perfect. There's nothing wrong with her— it's me that's wrong."
"What do you mean?"
Tommy sighed, "We want different things, man."
Jason rolled his eyes, "Is it that whole more kids thing that Rocky brought up?"
"Yeah," Tommy nodded, "You know I can't do that for her. I'm not changing my mind."
"So, what? Now you're going to go around living the rest of your life alone? You know Kimberly will find someone that can offer her everything you're not willing to give her."
Of course she would. Guys had pined over her in high school and they still did now. She was beautiful and successful, and any guy would be lucky to call her his. Why Kimberly wanted to waste her time on him, however, he didn't understand. Why him? He didn't have anything to offer her besides baggage.
"She should," Tommy answered, pushing himself back into his seat.
This was useless. It was like talking to a damn wall. "You're an idiot."
"Why?" Tommy spat back defensively.
"Because you're denying both of your happiness over something you know nothing about!"
"What are you talking about?" Tommy scoffed, "You know her as much as I do. You're the one who told me she's dreamed about being a wife and mother since you two met."
"Dreams change, Tommy. Have you asked her if that's what she still wants or are you putting words in her mouth? I never thought I'd see the day when she didn't want to do gymnastics anymore but here we are. People change, people grow up and get new dreams. You're the one that can't seem to let go of the old ones. You're not sixteen anymore. You didn't marry Kim and create a family of your own. Life didn't go the way you planned it, but is it that bad? You have Kylie… and Kim is waiting for another chance, but it won't last forever. Pretty soon your time is gonna run out."
The rest of the drive remained quiet while Tommy tried to digest Jason's words. Was he being stubborn? Of course, but that didn't mean that Jason was any more right than he was. Tommy wasn't ready to move into a real relationship. Some parents could thrive in a single-parent household, but he couldn't. He was out of his element ninety-nine percent of the time, and it didn't seem to be getting any easier as Kylie grew up. There were dance classes, bake sales, PTA meetings, play dates, girl-scouts, as well as all of the other responsibilities he dealt with from work and helping out at Jason and Rocky's dojo. He was constantly being pulled in a million directions. It left very little time for him. How was he going to add another person to his long list? How would he find the time to dedicate to another person? He couldn't.
Those thoughts were briefly put to the side as Jason drove up to Tommy's house, a white van parked in the drive way.
"Who's that?" Jason asked. "Were you expecting company?"
Tommy sighed, feeling his time with Kimberly quickly counting down. "It's my mom."
The two former rangers hopped out of the red truck as soon as it came to a halt on the drive way. Tommy made his way to the front door first, where he was greeted by a bouncy 5-year-old and the scent of cinnamon dancing in the air. His mouth was already watering at the first step inside his house. Kylie wrapped her arms around her fathers waist and quickly her Uncle Jason's. Tommy had spent so much time out that Kylie had already gotten home from school. It was always a struggle finding out how he was going to get her home. On most days, his next door neighbor would help him out by picking up Kylie from school and keeping her at her house until he got off of work. Mrs. Johansen was a lonely widow that would constantly try to set Tommy up with one of her granddaughters. Of course, he'd always decline, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't try to play cupid every time that she saw him. He couldn't really blame her. She was the gossip queen of the neighborhood.
"Mom?" Tommy said, his brow raised, "You're back?"
Carol smiled adoringly at her son, wrapping a motherly hug around him, "I had some free time this week and I wanted to come see you now that you're feeling better."
"That's great," Tommy returned, pulling back a little to see her face, "I just wasn't expecting you."
"I meant to call, but I knew you wouldn't mind."
He swallowed, feeling the tips of his fingers begin to tremble. Maybe it was a mixture of panic and several cups of coffee on an empty stomach. Either way, there was a deeper realization that things were only going to get more complicated. Where would she stay? How long would she stay? Where would she sleep? He loved his mother, but things were already a little strained with Kimberly.
He caught Kimberly entering from the house from the back and their gaze met for a moment. It was a vision he would never tire of seeing. While he speculated that she was upset with him from earlier in the week, her small smile told him otherwise. Maybe things could go back to normal after all.
"Will you be staying long?" He turned back to his mother, a part of him feeling a little guilty for hoping it wouldn't be more than a few days.
Carol looked up for a moment in thought, "Until Saturday morning if that's okay."
Seven days! It was Seven days too long.
"Of course," He forced himself to smile. "You can take my room."
Kimberly shook her head as she stepped forward, "Well, actually, Tommy, I was just thinking that if you're feeling better then it might be a good idea for me to head back. You don't need the both of us here and your leg looks all healed up now."
He didn't immediately respond as he finished taking her words in… she wanted to leave… SHE WANTED TO LEAVE! Was it because of what happened? Were things really that bad? There was a panic, then a ringing in his ear.
"You want to leave?" He asked her and he made no attempt to hide his disappointment.
Of course she didn't, but she couldn't face him. This was her out. "I think you can handle it from here, don't you?"
Did he have to break another bone to keep her there? Because the thought of jumping out of his second story window was sounding quite tempting.
"It just wouldn't be the same without you."
"—that's what I'm here for, Tommy," Carol added.
He needed an excuse— a reason that could keep her with him as long as possible. He wasn't ready to see her leave. He still had to fix things with her and that wasn't going to happen with her in Angel Grove.
"What about the school here in Reefside?" He asked, recalling the bits of information she had been telling him the day before at dinner. "Don't you want to go look at it?"
She thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I do but that's not gonna take more than a few hours. I can probably take a look at it tomorrow. In the mean time, I can probably get a hotel or something. There's no need for you to crash on the couch. "
"Don't worry about it, Kim," Jason said, "You can stay with us."
Was everyone on board with Kimberly leaving? Why make it easier for her?
"You're leaving, Aunt Kim?" Kylie asked, coming from behind her father. She walked over to Kimberly, he small hand coming to take Kims slightly larger one.
"I should," Kimberly said, gently. She crouched down, meeting Kylie at eye level. "Your dad is feeling so much better and your grandma is going to stay with you for the week. Plus, I don't think Uncle Zack is really looking after my plants as he should."
Kimberlys last comment was meant to lighten the mood, but Kylie, like her dad, didn't hide her disappointment. "But I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too," Kimberly returned softly, "but I promise to come back soon."
"Maybe you can help me with my bake sale next Saturday," Kylie suggested, "No one ever buys the brownies daddy makes."
Kimberly let out a light chuckle and turned up to see the redness in Tommy's cheeks. Kylie had all of her heart. After returning back to Tommy's house, and several days of making batches of cookies, cakes, tarts, and pies later, Kimberly came to a realization. She had focused on being turned down instead of why she had been. She couldn't really be upset with him after he expressed his concern over how Kylie would handle having someone else in her fathers life. And he was right, they wanted completely different things. At least for now, she would have to be okay with that.
"Well, I can definitely help you with that. I can come back Friday and bake with you. How does that sound?"
Kylie's little bounce and wide smile told Kimberly enough. The drive back to Reefside would be a long one, but worth it to see her again. Once Kylie was satisfied with Kimberly's answer, she led her grandmother to the backyard where they could continue playing.
A week without Kimberly would be torture and he wasn't quite sure how he was going to get through that. Luckily Kylie suggested the bake sale.
Kimberly quietly excused herself back into the guest bedroom she had been staying in. She'd only been there a few weeks, but she had a lot of clothes that needed to be packed. The empty suitcase that had been living in the corner of the room was now on her bed as she continued to fill it with the clothes she had brought with her.
A soft knock at the door got her attention.
"Come in," Kimberly said.
A light creek came from the door, followed by Tommy walking inside. It wasn't like she wasn't expecting him to make a visit.
"Hey," he said softly as he closed the door behind him. The conversation with Jason was still fresh in his mind, but the thought of Kimberly leaving was more prominent.
She returned a small smile, but continued packing her clothes. She was done being upset with him. It had been too many days.
Tommy took a seat next to the suitcase on the bed, "Are you leaving because of me?"
Kimberly sighed, but shook her head. "It's because you're better. Things can go back to normal now. Just like you wanted."
She didn't mean to pack her clothes faster, but it just happened that way. He reached out for her hand, stilling her movement. He wasn't quite sure why he did that, but he was glad he did.
"But I don't want you to go," He returned.
Kimberly swallowed as she looked down at their joined hands. His touch was both soft and warm, and she was finding it difficult to suppress the feelings he wanted her to.
"Why not?"
"You know why."
She shook her head, "I don't. Tell me."
Stubborn as always, but it was something he would miss if she left. She challenged him when no one else did. They clicked in so many ways.
"We can't leave things like this. We're best friends, Kim. Things are still weird between us. It doesn't feel right having you leave like this."
"We'll be okay," she gave his hand a tight squeeze. "I promise. It took a lot of thinking, but I know it's better this way. So you don't need to worry about us."
Her lips betrayed her heart in every possible way. This wasn't what she wanted, but it's what she would do. She would get over Tommy Oliver. No matter the cost. Unless, he said otherwise.
"I'm sorry for putting us in this position in the first place," He told her.
She shook her head, "Don't be, I'm don't regret anything that happened."
He dipped his head. "Do you think you'll come back to stay with us?"
"You want me to?"
Of course he did.
"I could still use your help and I'm getting kind of used to seeing you in Reefside."
"I'm getting a little used to Reefside too… It feels like home, but I have to check out the school and there's also Paris, you know. I don't know what I want yet."
"Well, I always have a room for you if you need it."
"Thanks," she returned. "Anyway, I'll be back next week and if you still need help then let me know and I'll stay a few more weeks again. I have two get my girls ready for nationals in about three weeks, but I'm free until then."
"Good," he said and stood from his spot on the bed. "The house won't feel the same without you."
Everything in him was telling him to stop being an idiot, to do whatever he could to make things work, but he couldn't say more. Hopefully the time would come, it just wasn't that day.
Author note: Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well. There's so much more to come soon. As always, let me know what you guys think. I'll see you next time!