08

6 HOURS AGO

Billy folded his arms and tilted his head to the side as Zack stood in front of him, smiling sheepishly. Zack, finally, stood up straight and said, "Don't look at me like that, man."

"How am I supposed to look at you?" Billy replied, voice cool. Zack winced, taking a step back from the blue ranger. He'd never seen him so mad before. "There's hundreds of kids in my house right now."

"It's not hundreds," Zack tried to defend himself. "More like…forty or fifty."

"Well, which is it? Forty or Fifty?"

"…I'm not sure."

Billy rolled his eyes and turned his back to the black ranger, pressing his palms against the dresser behind him. The two stood quietly in the bedroom, listening to the muffled sounds of the party below them for a few moments. Zack didn't even dare breathe around Billy, not knowing how the big brain was going to react.

Billy didn't get angry so often, but when he did, it was smart to keep quiet and let him speak. Billy, on a good day, was a man of few words. When he was angry, he became a stone wall. And the glare he'd send was the worst. Zack had only seen Billy glare at him once, and it was something he never wanted to repeat.

"Billy, man, things aren't that bad."

"You say that now, and the next thing you know, everything is going to be trashed. I know how these things go and it was exactly why I didn't want to throw a party in the first place."

Zack folded his arms, letting out a quick breath through his nose. "I wasn't the only one who wanted it," he pointed out. God, this was so tiring. He wanted to do something fun and everyone else had to act like they were 50 years old and keep telling him why it wasn't a good idea. "We all agreed it was a good idea."

"But we didn't agree it'd come to be something like this," Billy pointed out. He gestured vaguely toward the door to the room that continued to rattle, with frantic knocking on the other side. He waited for a moment, the two hearing low giggles in between the knocking. "People are everywhere, and I can't sit back and wonder what's going to happen to my house."

"Technically, it's not your house," Zack pointed out.

Billy glared at him. Then he let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. It was the one thing Zack legitimately hated about Billy, that he didn't yell or get extremely loud when he was angry. He became quiet and sullen, even a bit snappy. But nothing that would make Zack feel any better. It'd be better if Billy were to yell, he could everything out. Receiving the cold shoulder was nothing short of torture.

Zack chewed his lower lip, looking away from his friend. He knew everything was his fault. He felt terrible about it. But all the same, Zack didn't want to feel terrible about it. He was tired of feeling terrible about things. How many times had he listened to his parents continue to—in their mild way—berate him for what he deemed fun. They didn't want him to do dance, they didn't want him to go to parties, they didn't want him to hang out as much. They wanted him to be focused and serious. On school work and football and his future.

And the one time he wanted to get to himself, the one time he wanted to have some fun within the last couple of weeks and he was getting berated for that, too. So Billy could be a stick in the mud at times, why did that have to be taken out on him? Why, after all the time they spent stopping monsters and being the most responsible of those around him, did they not deserve the chance to be teenagers?

Why was he the only one who understood that they had a big responsibility on their shoulders, but they'd be crazy to let it take over their lives? He enjoyed the responsibility, he loved being a ranger, he cared about everyone in Angel Grove and wouldn't trade anything for it. But did that mean he had to lose everything else over it?

"I'm just saying it's a cabin," Zack said calmly. Trying to keep his own anger in check. Hoping he could get Billy to understand. "It's not like it's your actual house. And there were some things we had to fix up once we got here, right?"

Billy nodded at that. It was true. The dock at the lake had to be fixed, the wood creaked and groaned every step any of the group took. So much so that a part of it broke away, throwing Kimberly into the water their first night at the cabin. The ice maker leaked all over the carpet on one of their nights out in the town, making a mildew smell stay for a few days. To the point that they had to sleep with the windows open. That wasn't the last of their problems. Sometimes bugs got in, sometimes it got to be too cold at night.

But they managed to get through everything with a laugh. Why was this any different?

"That doesn't mean I'm going to allow these people to have free reign over my property," Billy pointed out. He rubbed his neck, where a red welt started to form. Zack couldn't help but wince. Bulk and Skull certainly had become very rough when they arrived at the cabin along with the rest of Angela's friends.

Once Bulk barged himself into the cabin, striking Billy along the side of the head with a keg he was carrying over his shoulder, Billy turned to Avalon, who stood behind him with wide eyes, watching her friends go by. Then there were more and more people streaming in as the seconds passed; cheerleaders, football players, nearly everyone from their grade in school. Zack hadn't expected so many people to show up. How many friends did Angela really have?

And things had been fine at first. Until they weren't.

Drinks were being spilled. Things were being broken. Music was too loud. Laughter was too loud. People were starting to fight. Bulk and Skull were egging each other on in the more obnoxious way they'd seen at school. And…there were drinks. Billy didn't mind it so much when it was just Angela who started off the whole thing. Guilt rumbled through Zack's stomach, knowing he was

Billy couldn't keep his thoughts quiet anymore and had dragged Zack into the bedroom to have a word with him. Or, quietly glare at him as the conversation was going. But Zack was tired of it. Tired of having constantly having everyone against him. Just tired of it all.

"Whatever, man," Zack murmured. He shook his head, taking a step back. "You just don't know how to have any fun."

Billy's eyebrows shot upwards. "It's not fun when people destroy someone else's property."

"Nothing is being destroyed!" Zack threw his hands into the air. He let out a frustrated cry. "You just don't know how to have fun. Billy Cranston, world's largest stick in the mud!" He sighed in frustration. "You can never just sit back and have fun. You can't ever let loose. It's why you're such a nerd, man, and get picked on all the time. You can't stand up for yourself and you never will."

Billy's lips pulled up at the corner of his mouth. A long silence stretched between the two. Zack knew Billy wasn't smiling because he thought what Zack said was funny. No, he was hurt. Zack could see it in his eyes. Could see how upset his words had made one of his best friends. But he couldn't stop the words before they came. For some reason, his brain let him say those hurtful things without giving him the chance to process it.

"Have you been drinking, Zack?" Billy asked.

The question caught Zack off-guard. So much so that it was the first time he'd ever not had something to say. Billy figured out his silence quickly, understood what it meant while Zack struggled to figure out how Billy found out. With a nod, Billy stepped to the door and yanked it open. A young couple, a guy and girl they'd seen in their classes looked at the two with wide eyes before quickly muttering an apology and backing away. Billy ignored them, pointing to the open door.

"Get out," Billy said.

He'd said it so quietly, but as far as Zack was concerned, Billy yelled at him. He flinched as much from the cold words as to the quiet vehemence behind them. "Billy, man, come on. I didn't mean—"

"Get out!"

Zack dropped his hands to his sides, took one last look at Billy, and walked out of the guest room. He pushed his way through the crowd that filled the cabin, ignoring all the calls and greetings that turned his way. Ignored Trini trying to ask him what was wrong. What was wrong? A lot was wrong. But there was no point in trying to deal with it now.

Not when there were people that needed to be entertained.

So, Zack walked to the stereo, turned the music up even louder, grabbed Angela, and started a dance circle in the middle of the living room. Nothing got his mind off his troubles more than dancing did. If only other people could understand that and didn't rag on him all the time.

Zack fidgeted, his knees bouncing up and down in the empty examining room the police had taken him to. A makeshift interrogation room. He'd been split apart from his parents, given explicit instructions not to go anywhere. That they'd be back to talk to him soon.

He couldn't stand not knowing. Needed to know what was going on. Would he be charged? What happened to his friends? Zack looked around the room. The same room he got physicals so that he could be eligible to play on the football team as his parents wanted. He started to move slowly, a simply movement of his arms. The wave. Popping. Locking.

Then he was on his feet and moonwalking in a circle, dancing around the room. He moved as quickly as his body would let him. Worked to let out all the stress and worry around him. Tried to release all his emotions and…and everything…

Then he stopped.

Leaned over and placed his hands on his knees, fought to catch his breath. Tears came to his eyes. His breath became more ragged. Normally, when he danced, he was able to smile, putting away everything that was bothering him. Was able to compartmentalize. That time, coming to a stop, Zack felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of sadness.

His friends were hurt.

Dancing wasn't going to get him out of that one.

A/N: Like I said, this story is going to be told in flashbacks, but they'll be numerous flashbacks that jump around until the entire story is pieced together. Let me know if anyone is confused by this, I'll do my best to help you out.

~Av